The importance of being social – leveraging social media for business development growth

Deborah Farone has had the unique opportunity to play a role in developing the best practices in professional services marketing arena by working with the most respected and most demanding professionals in the world. Farone Advisors focuses on helping lawyers, law firms and other professionals and their firms with their marketing strategy, training and development and strategic planning, as well as speaking at retreats and workshops. She is the author of the best-selling book, “Best Practices: Marketing and Business Development for Law Firms” (PLI 2019), a book based on more than 60 interviews with leading law firm leaders and marketers, general counsel, and innovators in the profession. The book is carried by bookstores of the country’s highest ranked law schools, including Harvard, Yale and Columbia. Over the past two decades, Ms. Farone has carved out a niche by distinguishing herself as the chief marketing officer of two of the United States’ most prestigious organizations, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. Prior to diving into the legal marketing profession, she honed her business development and communications skills by working at Towers Perrin (now Willis Towers Watson), a global management consulting firm, and prior to that, at Ketchum Communications, where she focused on business development for professional services. Ms. Farone has also been involved in the academic arena. She has spoken at the University of Pennsylvania’s Carey Law School, Cornell Law School and Fordham Law School, and has served as an adjunct Assistant Professor on the faculty of New York University. While at NYU, she developed and taught several courses, including “Effective Marketing and Public Relations for Professional Service Companies” the first course of its kind offered by a major university.

Based in Melbourne, Australia, Lewis Grimm has over two decades of leveraged finance experience working on marquee deals in New York, Europe, and Australia. He represents financial institutions, private credit and institutional lenders, and corporate borrowers on cutting-edge domestic and cross-border leveraged and investment-grade lending as well as high-profile restructuring and bankruptcy matters. Lewis was recognized by New York Metro Super Lawyers as a 'Rising Star' for four consecutive years, designated by M&A Advisor as one of 40 leading lawyers under the age of 40, and was named by The Legal 500 US as a 'Next Generation Lawyer'. He is very active on LinkedIn with approximately 25,000 followers and has appeared on various podcasts and other social media platforms.

As the 2023 inductee into the LMA Hall of Fame, Nancy began her career in sales, management, and marketing in corporate America with Time Warner. Nancy entered legal marketing as a first-chair Director of Marketing for Baker & Daniels, now known as Faegre Drinker. She is celebrating over 20 years in business as a Marketing & Business Development Advisor, specializing in content, social, and digital media. She helps lawyers learn how to integrate all marketing disciplines to grow their practices and their firms. She is a frequent LinkedIn trainer, as well as a trainer and coach in content, podcasting, video, blogging, livestreaming, AI, and Zoom and virtual presentations. At her core, she is skilled at the creation of integrated marketing and business development plans. Nancy helps lawyers learn how to use social and digital media wisely, safely, ethically, and efficiently to develop relationships with those who have an impact on the strength and growth of their practice. She also leads firms through their online social and digital media communications strategy when dealing with high-stakes, visible cases. As an early and constant adopter of social and digital media, including artificial intelligence, Nancy is a long-time blogger at The Myrland Marketing Minute Blog, as well as the host of 2 podcasts, Legal Marketing Minutes & Legal Marketing Moments. In 2023, she launched One Thought In 30 Seconds, her ambitious attempt to share one valuable marketing and business development piece of advice on video in under 30 seconds (much harder than it sounds!). Nancy is also the Founder of LinkedIn Course For Lawyers, http://licfl.com, an online self-study and live coaching course to help lawyers build their reputations and their relationships, which helps build their practice.

Frank Aquila is Sullivan & Cromwell’s Senior M&A Partner who has served on the Firm’s Management Committee, as Global Head of M&A and Co-Managing Partner of S&C’s General Practice Group. The Financial Times has described Frank as “one of the most influential and high-profile M&A and corporate lawyers in the U.S.” He was profiled by The Wall Street Journal as one of the top dealmakers of 2019 and 2018 and by Insider as one of the world’s top “M&A lawyers leading the way today” in 2021. Frank has been called upon by global leaders including Amgen, Andeavor, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Baxter, Biohaven, Bosch, Canadian Pacific, Cheniere, Cornerstone Building Brands, Diageo, Diebold Nixdorf, Gamestop, Haleon, International Airline Group, Kering, Kraft, Navistar, Novartis, Subway, Tiffany & Co. and United Rentals to advise them and their boards on M&A, corporate governance, activism, proxy contests, unsolicited bids, ransomware attacks, short squeezes, crisis management and a range of matters affecting corporate policy and strategy. He is consistently recognized as one of the world’s leading lawyers, including as a three-time AmLaw “Dealmaker of the Year,” a “Top 10 Legal Innovator in North America” by The Financial Times, Best Lawyers in America’s Corporate Governance “Lawyer of the Year,” Atlas Award’s “Global M&A Lawyer of the Year,” Who’s Who Legal , National Law Journal’s “M&A Trailblazer,” three-time Law360 MVP, NACD “Directorship 100,” two-time winner of the Burton Award for Legal Achievement, ABA’s “Legal Rebel” and a BTI Elite MVP All-Star.

Gary advises UK and international companies in the high tech, creative industries and clothing/footwear sectors on branding, enforcement and international expansion. He is passionate about retail and creative industries, advises a large number of high street names including individual designers, in the clothing, footwear and accessories sector especially, together with car, motorbike and technology brands. He is best known for acting for Jimmy Choo, Chloe, H&M and Dr Martens, in reported cases, as well as setting up the business mentoring scheme for the British Fashion Council to help their NewGen and Fashion Forward designers. He was included in the Lawyer Hot 100 in 2007, was ranked 34th most important & influential person in fashion by Drapers magazine in its Top 100 in 2008, included in Who's Who of International Trade Mark lawyers in 2009 to date, won the Intellectual Property Magazine Award for Innovation in 2010 and received the Global Client Choice award for IP from 2014 to date. In 2018 I was inducted into the Legal 500 Hall of Fame as one of the elite leading IP lawyers in the UK. I was appointed as an Executive Board Member of the global multidisciplinary network, the World Services Group, in September 2013 providing a platform to build even stronger relationships internationally with a view to helping brands expand around the world. He became Chairman of the Board of the World Services Group in 2015.