SUMMARY and TABLE OF CONTENTS
Getting an article published under your byline, in a respected publication that is read by your clients and referral sources, “is a logical first step in marketing,” says Ford Harding in his excellent book Rain Making.* "Lawyers who are just beginning to market their services “need to build their stature, develop name recognition, and flesh out a resume. Articles do all of these things.”

In this handbook, the third one in The GET GOOD PRESS Series for Lawyers, the authors walk you through all the steps you need to take to choose topics, compose creditable articles and op-ed pieces, and place them in the print and/or online media that you target—though not necessarily in that order. Often the most effective way to go about it is to get an article published (that is, get assurance that the publication is interested in your topic and believes you are qualified to write about it) before you write it.

The authors also give you tips on writing letters to the editor, which is a vastly underrated and extremely cost-effective way to get media exposure and demonstrate your value as a source of valuable information and good advice.

If you don’t have the time or the skill to write publishable articles, this handbook will show you how to collaborate with a coauthor, freelance editor, or ghostwriter to help you get a compelling story out of your head and onto the page. You’ll also learn the most effective ways to leverage your published articles for maximum exposure by posting them to your website, distributing reprints, using them as the basis for a speaking engagement or seminar, etc.

“Under Your Byline” is written by two successful media relations professionals who also have decades of journalism experience. The authors have won prestigious awards for legal journalism and for public relations work that they did for law firms—including helping lawyers get articles published under their bylines.

* Ford Harding, Rain Making: A Professional’s Guide to Attracting
New Clients, Adams Media, Avon MA, 1994, page 24.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Part A: The seven steps

1. Define your target audience (consistent with your marketing strategy).

2. Identify publications for which to write articles.

3. Select topics that are appropriate for your selected publications.

• An interpretation or explanation of a law or a legal trend, and how to exploit it or comply with it
• How to avoid or manage disputes in certain situations
• How to deal with regulatory or law enforcement agencies
• How to navigate the judicial system or communicate with courthouse personnel
• How to get along with lawyers (written in self-deprecating style, of course)
• More topics

4. Conduct research, focus and organize the article, and create an outline.

5. Query editors and get the assignment (or at least some assurance).

6. Compose the article (or collaborate with a coauthor or ghostwriter).

7. Submit the article and work with the editor through the editing process.

David M. Freedman (www.freedman-chicago.com) has worked as a financial and legal journalist since 1978, and has served as a media relations consultant to lawyers and law firms since 1999.

Dave has served on the editorial staffs of professional, business, trade, and consumer magazines and newsletters. He authored two successful non-fiction books, and contributed a chapter on marketing communications to the book Flying Solo: A Survival Guide for the Solo and Small Firm Lawyer, Fourth Edition (ABA Law Practice Management Section, 2005).

Dave has helped financial and legal advisers get interviewed, quoted, and featured in print, broadcast, and online media. He has helped professional advisers get articles published under their bylines in a variety of national and local publications. Dave won a Your Honor Award for excellence in public relations from the Legal Marketing Association in 1991. He has also won awards for legal journalism, feature writing, website content, and newsletter development.

Dave has written extensively on legal marketing, for such publications as Law Practice (ABA), Strategies (LMA), Professional Marketing (PM Forum), In the Loop (LMA-Chicago), FindLaw, Legal Biz Online, The LawMarketing Portal, and Chicago Lawyer. He is the founder of the website Law Marketing Bibliography.


Paula Levis Suita is a co-founder and partner in the Boston public relations and marketing firm of Smith & Suita, Inc. (www.smithandsuita.com). She has helped a variety of public and privately held companies, as well as law firms and professional service organizations, increase their visibility, market acceptance, and sales through media relations campaigns. Resulting coverage has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, New York Times, National Law Journal, Mass. Lawyer’s Weekly, and Jungle Law, in addition to hundreds of local, trade, and online outlets.

Paula was recognized by the PR News Legal PR Award program in 2003 for “Overall Excellence in Media Coverage” and “Outstanding Legal Feature” for work provided for a Cambridge-based law firm.

Prior to co-founding Smith & Suita in 1998, Paula provided media relations and communications support in increasingly responsible positions for several high-technology companies including Prime Computer, Inc. (now known as PTC), VMARK Software, Inc. (acquired by IBM in 2005), and Honeywell Information Systems. She began her career as a news reporter for The Eagle-Tribune newspaper in Lawrence, MA.

Paula is a member of the Society for Professional Consultants and the Gotham Group, Boston Chapter. She is a past contributor to the Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange, and a past member of the board of the Publicity Club of Boston.


Editorial advisers include Dennis Anderson (creative consultant, Highland Park, IL); Charles A. "Biff" Maddock (principal of Altman Weil in Philadelphia); Joshua Peck (media relations manager at Duane Morris in Philadelphia, and president of the Law Firm Media Professionals); Barbara Lazarus in Chicago; and Nick Kalm (Reputation Partners, Chicago).