It was great to hear the LMA NE 'Legal Marketing in the Midst of the COVID-19 Crisis' webinar today.  We should have all been in Denver this week at the big annual LMA event so it was great to hear from this year's incoming LMA NE Region President Dawn Sheiker and the following list of presenters:

COVID-19 offers up a huge communication challenge to law firms.  It was no surprise that over 500 legal marketers from the US and all over the world tuned in.  Fantastic advice.  

My key takeaways:

• Acknowledge that business is unusual.  This is not a normal time
• Focus on being helpful
• Do not waste time feeling left behind.  Everyone is a little behind!
• Everyone is looking for resources but you are not Reuters.  Be authentic and relevant to your clients.
•  Do it now!  The situation is changing but do not get paralyzed by that fact everything is changing fast
• The audience is looking for reassurance - internal and external.  Focus on that reassurance
• Be agile.  Be personal and mix up the way you communicate - sometimes from the senior managers,  sometimes privately, sometimes townhall, always from the experts (especially you as marketers &  comms)
• You can also include light-hearted communications

"The firms who know their clients will be the ones who stand out" Dawn Sheiker

• This is an opportunity to reinforce your values.  Be authentic and be human!  
• State that you are fully operational but these are extraordinary times.  Ensure that the practice heads and attorneys are reaching out to their audiences
• Attorneys should be reaching out in an authentic fashion.  They know their clients
• Be focused on what the changes mean to your clients
• Do not think of social distancing.  This is a time of physical distancing.  Social has never been more important
• We are all in this together.  There is an opportunity to join together and help one another

Finally, I wanted to mention the fantastic LMA NE FaceBook page which is an incredibly useful resource. 

Thank you LMA NE!