I BET OP is the person who previously posted that she was thinking about going to law school. Here's a tip: law is lucrative, but i(at least at the upper echelons) is not well suited to someone who come across as a "hustler", and that's how the OP comes across. There are plenty of abulance chasers out there, and you'd probably do a great job for them, but they don't hire marketers -- they post on taxicabs adn the sides of buses. A white-shoe firm isn't likely to to hire someone who doesn't have a college degree and who doesn't have any industry experience.

One thing you need to understand about law firms and lawyers in general is that they are very risk averse when it comes to hiring. As a former legal recruiter, I can tell you that except in the best of markets, it was almost impossible to place an attorney in a job for which s/he did not have on point experience for. If, for example, a lawyer had one year's experience as an insurance coverage lawyer, hated it, and tried to move to another firm to be a securities lawyer, the other firms would not even consider that resume. Never mind that such a junior person could easily learn securities law. They were pigeonholed and rejected. Why? Because there were plenty of other applicants with one year of securities experience, and firms want a sure bet.

So no one cares if you can "think outside the box." They don't want that. They don't want you to spend five minutes learning the job because all firms have gotten lean in staffing and everyone is doing the job of two people and no one has the time to take 3 minutes to explain to you what the difference is between the DC Bar and the Bar Association because they've got to respond to 50 emails from crazed partners demanding that something impossible be done yesterday. They want someone with experience that is precisely on point with the job description who can come in and seamlessly hit the ground running, particularly in this very competitive economy. They will want it, and they will get dozens of resumes that have that experience.

That's the reality check for you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My god, can you write a sentence that doesn't include an ellipse?

*Ellipsis* Stupid autocorrect.

Right?! At least OP didn't do the .............

Anonymous wrote:My god, can you write a sentence that doesn't include an ellipse?

*Ellipsis* Stupid autocorrect.

My god, can you write a sentence that doesn't include an ellipse?

Here is my two cents from someone in the field. First, I haven't found that legal marketing pays any better than a lot of other marketing positions, especially with no experience in the legal field. I think there are plenty of industries that pay as well as law firms (of course, this depends on the firm). Second, while it sounds like you have a lot of marketing experience, there are a lot of people in DC with legal marketing experience--the city is crawling with them. So while its not hard to switch firms once you are in the field, I have never met anyone in legal marketing who didn't work their way up in a law firm. Also, a lot of firms will hire JDs to work in their marketing department so you are also competing with many attorneys in DC. Frankly, I feel that those with law degrees offer as much if not more in this type of position than those with years and years of marketing experience (and I don't have a JD so I am not speaking about myself).

You should attend Legal Marketing Association events and talk to people there to see how they got into the field. That is by far the best resource for someone who wants to break into the field.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's a test pattern for you, as requested. Sentence. Punctuation. Capitalized word at the start of the next sentence. Let's see if you can follow it for the rest of the discussion.

I am not writing a formal letter to the President.

Geesh!

I am in a chat room. Is there no place that we can be informal on this site? Uptight is your word for the day.

Oh honey. This isn't a chat room. You're so lost, aren't you? You are making me think you are the marketing equivalent of those kids who audition for American Idol who are completely off key, can't carry a tune, and don't have all the words to their song memorized, but angrily yell at the judges that they'll be famous and the judges are nothing, all because their mom told them they are beautiful singers.

I am sorry...This isn't a chat room? What is it then? A forum of probably over paid people who are generally lazy and incompetent since they are on a chat room in the middle of the day! 5pm is sort of the middle of day!

You're here too. Doesn't that make you lazy and incompetent as well?

I am off today. I just love this site. People are fun. I do learn a lot. I like to argue anyway. But I will stand firm in my belief that you can learn an industry...you can't learn marketing. Sales and marketing are 2nd nature. You either have it or you don't.

You're a little sociopath, aren't you?

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if Morrison and Foerster is uptight? They did name their website http://mofo.com/. I remember when I first heard of them...I loved it, but I thought it was a crazy move in DC which is such a conservative city...even the libs are conservative. So was it a crazy move? Are they in slums of the law firm world?

Morrison & Foerster is headquartered in San Francisco. I doubt the DC office had veto power over a firm-wide branding decision.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, you seem to know everything. Best of luck to you.

Not really...I just don't know why people are so fearful of people switching industries...especially in sales and marketing.

I mean in all honesty...I feel I can do anything...mostly because of my solid work ethic and talent for being able to learn things quickly.

I just feel like I should be doing something bigger than what I am. I feel so small and insignificant. I can't really change my overall field, but I am certain I would be more valuble to someone else, something more meaningful or at least something more on a larger scale. I came into my job doing one thing, now I am the head of a department I knew nothing about...Not only am I rocking it in that department it is all about this one specific thing...which now I have literally become an expert in. I have the degree without the degree...sorry I can't be too specific.

NP Fact #2: you will not find "more meaningful" work trying to get a big law firm more clients or promoting their image to support higher billing rates. If you want more meaningful, why don't you try marketing for a non-profit, or a public interest campaign? It could be good for you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i think people typically look for experience in the industry not because someone else cannot learn the industry, but because it is just easier to hire someone that they know has done that type of work before. or someone who knows what they are getting into and the expectations/culture (which yes differs from company to company within an industry, but in general the structure of the position and authority should be similar).

anyway OP i know you were looking for advice but it looks like you have pissed off the lawyers and consultants so you probably will not get much of it anymore

That is ok people are all in a hissy...for what...my confidence...I believe any reasonably intelligent person, who was a marketer, could learn my job...What is hard to find is someone who will think outside of the box, do anything that it takes to grow the business and someone who is reliable and double checks their work. Most people are lazy.

Well I know that those positions pay well. I just wouldn't know how low on the pole I would have to start.

You sound like one of the OPs on this board who has a billion dollar idea that he/she thought would fix the deficit - off by orders of magnitude.

Yes, mofo is full of uptight people who can't stand bad writing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's a test pattern for you, as requested. Sentence. Punctuation. Capitalized word at the start of the next sentence. Let's see if you can follow it for the rest of the discussion.

I am not writing a formal letter to the President.

Geesh!

I am in a chat room. Is there no place that we can be informal on this site? Uptight is your word for the day.

Oh honey. This isn't a chat room. You're so lost, aren't you? You are making me think you are the marketing equivalent of those kids who audition for American Idol who are completely off key, can't carry a tune, and don't have all the words to their song memorized, but angrily yell at the judges that they'll be famous and the judges are nothing, all because their mom told them they are beautiful singers.

I am sorry...This isn't a chat room? What is it then? A forum of probably over paid people who are generally lazy and incompetent since they are on a chat room in the middle of the day! 5pm is sort of the middle of day!

You're here too. Doesn't that make you lazy and incompetent as well?

I am off today. I just love this site. People are fun. I do learn a lot. I like to argue anyway. But I will stand firm in my belief that you can learn an industry...you can't learn marketing. Sales and marketing are 2nd nature. You either have it or you don't.