Law Firm Media Professionals, a US membership organization for law firm PR people, is to launch its first overseas arm in the UK.
The London chapter will meet for the first time on Tuesday, October 21 2014.
Details are yet to be finalized, but London-based PR firm Spada, led by Gavin Ingham Brooke, is helping to establish the UK chapter and support its growth.
LFMP is an association for those active and interested in law firm media relations and communications – in-house executives, consultants and agencies, and reporters and editors.
You could describe LFMP as a specialized version of the likes of the Legal Marketing Association, Professional Services Marketing Group, and Professional Marketing Forum.
I’ve been invited to and attended a number of LFMP events in the US over the years, and they are always engaging.
Plus it’s a great way to catch up with your peers and colleagues at other laws firms and agencies.
The standard format is a speaker or panel – usually a journalist from a legal or business publication, or a specialist consultant – followed by a discussion and question-and-answer session.
Law firms take it in turns to offer their buildings as host venues, and usually provide nibbles and drinks.
Events are free to attend.
For example, the latest LFMP event, held on September 18 2014 in New York, featured Paul Barrett, formerly of the Wall Street Journal, and now Bloomberg, who discussed his new book, “Law of the Jungle,” about the legal battle over Texaco’s oil find in Ecuador.
I expect the UK events will follow a similar structure, with one exception: this being Britain, drink-sodden hacks and flacks will no doubt decamp to the pub afterwards in contrast to the professional sobriety of our American friends.
LFMP was formed in 2002 and is led by US legal PR guru, Joshua Peck, who has a day job at the Philadelphia-based law firm, Duane Morris.
Since its launch in New York, LFMP has expanded to other cities, with sessions taking place on a rotating basis in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, DC, Boston, San Francisco, and Houston.
In Chicago, the group is called Legal PR Chicago.
The next event on the calendar is in Houston, Texas – “Social Media in the AM LAW 100”
Those interested in attending the London session should contact Natalie Beardwell at Spada at nataliebeardwell@spada.co.uk
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