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“Be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” Legal Marketing Association AMPLIFIES at Leaders’ Conference AND #LMA23 … #lmamkt

30 November 2022

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One of the great joys this year as Legal Marketing Association – LMA International prez-elect is being able to work with existing and incoming leaders to chart our path next year and beyond. One of our annual “rites of passage” is a two day (virtual for now) Leaders’ Conference where we convene leaders across our regions, committees, special interest groups, international board and more to connect and collaborate. Truth be told, I feel in my bones EVERYONE in LMA is a leader, and I don’t want anyone to feel left out. Got that trait from my mama!

The attendees get a small token of our gratitude for their volunteer hours and a note accompanies. Given that I think (and hope) these words may resonate more broadly, I’m sharing them here as well …

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” — Edith Wharton

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples.” — Mother Teresa

Legacy isn’t what we accomplish in this brief moment (when we are honored to carry important titles), but rather it is what we inspire in those who follow us. Our collective calling, as change agents and as growth purveyors, is in elevating our profession overall, rising above the ephemeral and stretching beyond together. We have a unique privilege to ensure success for our next generation. THAT is the moment of amplification before us. Thank you for your service, for your hearts, for your hard work, and for your generosity of time and of spirit. You make a difference in this incredible LMA community.

Oh, and here’s a box of cool stuff to say thank you for being you, to help you amplify YOUR voice AND the voices of others, and to have a laugh (and think) or two.

Love you and grateful for you. Roy

P.S. We’ve also included a book from one of your fellow LMA members – and one of our Leaders Conference speakers – Jay Harrington. This book serves a “meta” purpose. There is great guidance in there around amplifying one’s brand and voice. These tips should prove helpful to you on your leadership journey AND as counsel you can take back to any attorneys you support on their respective growth paths. As our friend and colleague Terry Isner reminds us, “Put your oxygen mask on first so you can better help others with theirs.”

P.P.S. Thank you in advance to our two keynote presenters Jay Harrington and Alycia Sutor; our workshop facilitators from Second City Works including Kat Barker; our Annual Conference chairs Megan McKeon, Lee Watts, Jennifer Petrone Dezso; our many breakout and reflection leaders over the next two days; and our marvelous HQ team Danielle Gorash Holland, Holly Amatangelo, Morgan Frohling, Jennifer Weigand, Lisa M. Kamen. And to Emily Hillman and Kelly MacKinnon for these pics!

The 2023 Annual Conference Advisory Committee (ACAC) is excited to share that the #LMA23 education program is now available! Capitalize your 2022 budgets and use this educational programming experience to justify your attendance. Explore the full 2023 education program today: https://bit.ly/3itjRJJ

It’s ALIVE! Check out our just launched #LMA23 AMPLIFY agenda! This represents hundreds of hours of work from our amazing Legal Marketing Association – LMA International volunteers and HQ team and all of our presenters. So excited! I love what Annual Conference Advisory Committee (ACAC) member Mike Mellor said about this process, “I’ve been so honored to have been a part of the ACAC of this year’s LMA! We are bringing new voices and building frameworks for a more inclusive and richer experience in Florida, and we will all benefit from the vast array of perspectives from all around the world. We hope that everyone will raise their hands and participate this year – challenging the status quo is the best way to drive the industry forward!”

Special thank you to our co-chairs Lee Watts, Jennifer Petrone Dezso, and Megan McKeon and to our HQ team Holly Amatangelo, Kaitlin Heininger, Lisa M. Kamen, CAE, Danielle Gorash Holland, Ellie Hurley, Sarah Logan. And to our fab ACAC crew Amber Bollman, Jon Brewer, Joseph Edmonds, Tahisha Fugate, Mike Mellor, Ruth E. Morayniss, Gail Porter Lamarche, and Arthur Uratani. AND our wonderful pre-con session chairs Ashraf Lakhani, Brianna Leung, Justin Portaz, Jason Klika, Alé Simmons, Susan Slifer, Julie Hollander Eichelbaum, Christine Mitchell Harris, Bobbie Conklin, EJ Stern Bearman, Cheryl Bame, and Michael Blachly. I am in AWE of these amazing humans!

“Clark Hill understands that a strong visual presence is becoming more essential on Facebook than it once was.” Thank you, Good2bSocial! #lmamkt

29 November 2022

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Oh my goodness! Thank you, Guy Alvarez and Good2bSocial, for this lovely shout out to what we at Clark Hill Law are doing on Facebook. Kudos to my colleagues Alexandra France, Tommy Franz, and Guinevere Lehman Anderson for their leadership here and to our larger team and firm community for the beautiful content they help provide!

Original post: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/5-facebook-accounts-of-law-firms-who-5077567/

“Clark Hill understands that a strong visual presence is becoming more essential on Facebook than it once was. They find new and exciting ways to add visuals to their posts, whether it is a podcast sound bite with accompanying visuals or a professionally shot video. Clark Hill also uses Facebook as a place to share thought-leadership content and start conversations on topics important to their firm. They often share links to articles, rather than simply only advertising their successes.”

“Come over here. Who are you?” Feeling grateful for kindness and friendship … Passle CMO Series Podcast #Thanksgiving Special … #lmamkt

22 November 2022

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Thank you, Will Eke and Passle, for including my thoughts alongside those of so many fab legal marketing leaders in this lovely Thanksgiving special. LISTEN HERE: https://blog.passle.net/post/102i21h/cmo-series-thanksgiving-special

We are all grateful for YOU and for all you are doing for our profession and industry. EXCERPT:

“I’m Roy Sexton, Director of Marketing for Clark Hill Law and I am also the 2023 international President of the Legal Marketing Association – LMA International. I am thankful for a group of humans I met early on when I joined the Legal Marketing Association. Gina Furia Rubel, Nancy Leyes Myrland, Heather Morse-Geller, Gail Porter Lamarche, Lindsay Griffiths, and Laura Toledo

“We’ve all kind of now moved on and gone our separate ways in some respects, but that was the core group. I tell this story quite a bit. I was at the Orlando LMA annual conference and shy and nervous, which nobody believes, and feeling very insecure and I was lurking around the pool. Nothing good usually comes from that. And they were all there as a social media special interest group, having a meetup.

“And Gina saw me and she said, ‘Come over here. Who are you?’ And sometimes I cry when I say this because she just wrapped me in love and got to know me during the course of that afternoon. And they became my mentors and my friends, and they have been with me ever since, supporting me, giving me hard truth, and helping show me the way through this profession.

“And I had always had a fairly serendipitous career until I met them. And it really locked in that I like what I do, I like who I support, and I will always credit them for the mentoring they provided me early on, the way they adopted me and the way they’ve looked out for me ever since.”

LISTEN HERE: https://blog.passle.net/post/102i21h/cmo-series-thanksgiving-special 🍁

#keepingfamiliesclose – my 2022 birthday fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House Charities Ann Arbor – #niftyfifty

15 November 2022

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Want to join me in supporting a good cause? In honor of my 50th (!!) birthday (December 28!), I’m raising money for Ronald McDonald House Charities Ann Arbor, and your contribution will make an impact, whether you donate $5 or $500. Every little bit helps. This will be my sixth year of doing this birthday fundraiser for RMHCAA: I’m honored to be an RHMCAA board member but I’m even more honored to help support this incredible mission.

Donate here: https://givebutter.com/RMHCAApayforwardthekindness/roysexton

The mission of the Ann Arbor Ronald McDonald Houses is to provide families of children experiencing a serious illness or injury requiring hospitalization or treatment on an outpatient basis, a “home away from home” that assists in alleviating the families’ emotional and financial stress.

“Yet, here we are, and good intentions and happy thoughts don’t fix problems.” It’s Getting Worse: The Gender Pay Gap Among Senior Marketing Professionals Is Widening | The American Lawyer … #lmamkt

20 September 2022

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Important, sobering, essential analysis done by ALM. Thank you, Kayla McCaleb, Patrick Fuller, and team. Change is needed. Yesterday. Thank you, Patrick Smith, for the wonderful chat today and for including my reactions in this coverage.

Link to article: https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2022/09/20/its-getting-worse-the-gender-pay-gap-among-senior-marketing-professionals-is-widening/ …

EXCERPT:

McCaleb said she was also disappointed, but not surprised, to find that even as salaries for chiefs and first-chair directors went up across all firm size segments, men were the beneficiaries of the majority of those gains.

“Probably the single most shocking finding for me was that despite the overall average annual salary increased by a stable 11% in each of those versions, the pay gap between men and women increased by 50% from 2018 to 2020 and 40% from 2020 to 2022—both of those percentages being substantially higher than the 11% overall average salary increase,” McCaleb said via email. “In 2018, men out-earned women by $50,000. In 2020, that number increased to $75,000. Now in 2022, $105,000 separates men and women chiefs and first chair directors. It just makes me wonder what that wage gap is going to look like in 2024.”

Although this pay gap exists, for most firms, it is not an intentional or malicious decision to pay women less, according to several observers. Yet, here we are, and good intentions and happy thoughts don’t fix problems.

Roy Sexton is the director of marketing for Clark Hill in Detroit and the 2023 Legal Marketing Association International President. He has been in the legal industry for over a decade.

He believes there are a series of factors that play into creating these gaps, ranging from retrograde thinking on women’s role in the workplace to how marketing and business development are viewed in the legal industry.

“There are those of us who may have felt, at our core, that we are not wanted,” Sexton said. “Historically, some organizations have treated women, as well as people of color and the LGBTQ community, that they should feel grateful to be there.”

He said this thinking perpetuates behaviors such as not asking for a raise or a larger bonus because one doesn’t want to rock the boat and be replaced by someone who can be counted on to not do so.

“We need to arm people with negotiation skills and the fortitude to walk away from a job that is underpaying them,” he said. “But there is fear, perpetuated by that ‘grateful’ mindset, that they won’t find another job. So they just accept where they are.” …

Patrick Fuller, vice president and general manager and another author of the study, said, “Over the past decade, law firms’ concerted efforts to improve diversity and inclusion amongst FTE attorneys produced steady year-over-year improvements. As the marketing and business development compensation survey data shows, law firms must also focus on compensation equity for business professionals. It is beyond unacceptable that women comprise 75% of large- and mid-market chiefs or first-chair directors, yet earn, on average, 30% less than their male counterparts.”

Oops, I did it again … an upcoming presidency, an upcoming webinar, and a real-time #Britney flame war

14 September 2022

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LMA is pleased to announce its 2023 International Board of Directors. The slate of candidates was ratified on September 2, 2022, and the newly elected and continuing officers and directors will begin their terms on January 1, 2023. More: https://legalmarketing.org/2023-International-Board

Legal Marketing Association – LMA International welcomes:

President
Roy E. Sexton
Director of Marketing
Clark Hill Law
Detroit, MI (Midwest Region)

Immediate Past President
Brenda Plowman
Chief Marketing Officer
Fasken
Vancouver, B.C. (Canada Region)

President-Elect
Kevin Iredell
Chief Marketing Officer
Lowenstein Sandler LLP
New York, NY (Northeast Region)

Secretary
Amy Payton Verhulst
Senior Business Development Manager
Jackson Lewis PC
Houston, TX (Southwest Region)

Treasurer
Andrew Laver
Business Development Manager
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC
Philadelphia, PA (Northeast Region)

Treasurer-Elect
Rachel Shields Williams
Director of Knowledge Management
Sidley Austin LLP
Washington, D.C. (Mid-Atlantic Region)

Member-At-Large
John Byrne
Chief Marketing Officer
Gould & Ratner LLP
Chicago, IL (Midwest Region)

Member-At-Large
Jessica Haarsgaard
Business Development Manager
Burr & Forman LLP
Greenville, SC (Southeast Region)

Member-At-Large
Diana Lauritson
Senior Marketing and Business Development Officer
Hogan Lovells
Washington, DC (Mid-Atlantic Region)

Member-At-Large
Trish Desilets Lilley
Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer
Stroock
New York, NY (Northeast Region)

Member-At-Large
Jaime Lira
Marketing Director
Cohen & Malad, LLP
Indianapolis, IN (Midwest Region)

Regional Leaders’ Committee Chair
Robin Devereux Gerard
Chief Marketing Officer
Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth PC
Newport Beach, CA (West Region)

Chief Executive Officer
Danielle Gorash Holland
Legal Marketing Association
Chicago, IL

So darn excited to work with these amazing souls, all of our fab volunteer leaders, our incredible membership, and marvelous HQ support team next year. ✨

REGISTER: https://bit.ly/3wwtImc … “Law firms and legal service providers: Know who’s gonna join us for Stack Ranking, Part 2 on 9/30?

“Meet our special guests: Roy Sexton of Clark Hill Law; Drew Hawkins of Womble Bond Dickinson US LLP; and Gordon Braun-Woodbury of Calibrate.

“Our esteemed colleagues will weigh in on the 2022 RubyLaw Legal Marketing Tech Study and opine on our insights. Come hear what they have to say!”

I seem to have started a flame war with Britney Spears 😂 – Britney, we do love you, but please stay kind.

“A Magical Combination: Law Firm Branding & Culture Development” … Thank you, Elise Holtzman and The Lawyer’s Edge, for making me feel so welcome and seen. #lmamkt

30 August 2022

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Thank you, Elise Slosberg Holtzman and The Lawyer’s Edge, for making me feel so welcome and seen and for all you do for our community. Love you!

Listen here: https://thelawyersedge.com/podcast/roy-sexton-interview/

“After supporting the rebranding of Clark Hill Law, Roy realized just how magical the combination of branding and culture development can be. In the process of branding, you’re uniting company values, the customer experience, and a diverse team, which, in turn, helps develop the true, authentic culture of your organization.”

I am a proud Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit board member!

3 August 2022

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Thank you, Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit! It is truly an honor to serve on this board 🎭💕

VIEW VIDEO HERE: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mosaicyouththeatre_mosaic-board-member-roy-sexton-how-does-activity-6960660016177582080-MGwa?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=ios_app

MEET our BOARD MEMBERS! 👋 We sat down with Mosaic Board Member Roy Sexton to ask: “How does Mosaic foster inclusion for Detroit’s youth?”

Want to meet more of our Board Members? Visit https://lnkd.in/gkPn2H-U

Ask for more in life. You deserve it. And one day you’ll have a Susan in your life too. #simplytogether22

24 July 2022

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I hope at least once in everyone’s career they get to have a boss like this. It looks like we are about to launch into a duet of “Islands in the Stream.” But actually this was at the end of our #simplytogether22 Clark Hill firm retreat. My boss Susan Ahern (pictured here) told me how much she appreciated my contributions, how meaningful they were, and how important I was to her and to our work family. I said I felt the same about her. There may have been tears (mine … natch).

It’s a rare privilege to work with someone, let alone an organization, that celebrates you for your authentic self, letting you shine in ways meaningful to you. I have that at Clark Hill. Susan has encouraged and inspired me to be myself fully at all times, to center my talents around empathy and grace and compassion, to leverage the strategic “pause,” and to work harder and smarter than I ever have in my life. She’s elevated me and my work in ways I’d never thought possible. She’s been my ally and my advocate, and she’s helped me discover a higher standard for what I do.

Ask for more in life. You deserve it. And one day you’ll find you have the good fortune to have a Susan in your life too.

Thank you to my beloved colleague Maram Salaheldin, an epitome of intelligence and wit and kindness, for snapping this moment for posterity.

P.S. I think that “encore” behind us is prescient and apropos after this amazing event.

#simplysmarter

As shared by our colleague Alex France 💕

Tempus fugit! Legal Mastermind Podcast mid year recap … with yours truly #lmamkt

19 July 2022

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AUDIO: https://www.spreaker.com/user/11522142/2022-in-review-so-far-mixdown

Thanks, Chase Williams and Ryan Klein of Market My Market and Legal Mastermind Podcast! Truly an honor to be included in this mid year recap alongside such fab folks …

“2022 In Review So Far features Chuki Obiyo , Brenda Pontiff , Tobi Millrood , Sarah Tetlow , [me! 😁] Roy Sexton, Steve Pockross , Russ Cersosimo Jr. , Juyoun Han , and Frans Johansson.”