The Science Behind Best Lawyers: Insights to Maximize Your Law Firm's Recognition
Release Date: 10/27/2025
Win and Keep In-House Clients: A General Counsel’s Insights for Law Firms
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Landing a new client is just the beginning. For law firms working with in-house counsel, the greater challenge lies in maintaining long-term relationships that evolve beyond transactional exchanges. Candisse Williamson, General Counsel at Hartbeat, Kevin Hart's global media company, brings a unique perspective to this challenge, having worked both in Big Law and built legal departments from the ground up at two entertainment companies. In this episode of "Spill the Ink," Candisse joins Michelle Calcote King to explore how general counsels evaluate outside firms and what drives them to become...
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AI as an Accelerant: Tools Helping Legal Marketing Teams Compete Smarter
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AI tools are changing the marketing game for small and midsized law firms, making it easier for them to compete with the bigger players in their markets. In this episode of "Spill the Ink," Michelle Calcote King interviews Jennifer Scotton, the Chief Marketing Officer at Constangy, to discuss how AI is transforming legal marketing. Jennifer's team views AI as an enhancement of human capabilities, not a replacement, and has implemented a firmwide policy emphasizing its ethical use. In this interview, she highlights specific tools her team uses, including custom GPTs for website content and AI...
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The Science Behind Best Lawyers: Insights to Maximize Your Law Firm's Recognition
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Understanding the methodology behind legal rankings can transform how law firms approach the nomination process. In this "Spill the Ink" episode, Elizabeth Petit, Vice President of Research and Development at Best Lawyers, pulls back the curtain on the peer-review process that has been the rankings program’s foundation since 1983. Michelle and Elizabeth also discuss the transition path from the “Ones to Watch” list to “Best Lawyers” recognition, the role of AI in improving rankings visibility without impacting the methodology itself and critical action steps firms should take before...
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Breaking Down Silos: How to Build a Culture of Sharing in Law Firms
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Attorneys are trained to be cautious and confidential, and these instincts often extend beyond client matters into a general reluctance to promote their own achievements. This creates a challenge for law firm marketers trying to publicize wins, celebrate successes and build the firm's reputation in the market. In this episode of "Spill the Ink," Brittany Lewis, Head of Marketing at Bell Nunnally, joins Michelle Calcote King to discuss how a 70-attorney firm transformed its internal culture from keeping accomplishments under the radar to actively celebrating and sharing successes. With 15 years...
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The Art of Alignment: Branding in Decentralized AEC Firms
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When AEC firms grant decentralized offices free rein to create their own messaging, the results can be damaging: wasted resources, confused clients, weakened competitive positioning and marketing teams that unknowingly sabotage each other's work. Yet many firms continue operating this way, treating brand fragmentation as an inevitable cost of doing business across multiple markets. In this episode of "Spill the Ink," Michelle Calcote King sits down with Amy Zelenka, Director of Marketing at Affiliated Engineers, Inc. (AEI) to explore what happens when AEC firms allow their decentralized...
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How to Get Attorneys to Buy In on Legal Marketing Plans
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Good marketing ideas alone won't get attorneys to follow through. In this "Spill the Ink" episode, Michelle Calcote King talks to Sheenika Gandhi, Chief Marketing Officer at Greenberg Glusker, who reveals her proven strategies for transforming attorney resistance into marketing commitment. Sheenika started her career wanting to be a lawyer, went to law school and took the bar exam before discovering legal marketing. Her law school credentials encourage attorneys to listen to her openly, as she gets their world and speaks their language. Bringing her unique perspective to the table, Sheenika...
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Ending the Standoff: AEC Marketers vs. Technical Experts
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In this episode of "Spill the Ink," Michelle Calcote King sits down with Gabe Lett, Chief Marketing Officer at Prairie Engineers, to explore what happens when technical experts dictate marketing decisions and marketing teams get buried in proposal work. According to Gabe, the results are ineffective communication, missed opportunities for business development and frustrated professionals on both sides. Gabe brings a unique perspective to AEC marketing, having grown up in the industry with a father who was a civil engineer and business owner. This background gives him deep insight into both the...
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The MIT Program: How Strong Habits Drove 82% New Business Growth at One Law Firm
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Many law firms invest in excellent business development coaching, see fantastic initial results, then watch performance gradually decline. Anna Hedgepeth, Chief Strategy Officer at Cranfill Sumner, observed this cycle happening firsthand at her firm and set out to develop a psychology-based system that would produce lasting results. Anna joins Michelle Calcote King on this “Spill the Ink” episode to discuss the “Most Important Things” (MIT) program, which has increased attorney matter originations by 82% on average at Cranfill Sumner. The disciplined 15-minute biweekly meeting requires...
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The Legal Marketer’s Blind Spot: Start Treating Lawyers as Clients
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You can’t sell a product effectively without understanding it. In law firms, that product is the attorneys. To sell legal services, legal marketers need to invest in not just learning the firm’s clients and industries, but also the nuances of the attorneys they support and the economics that drive their daily decisions. In this episode of “Spill the Ink,” Powers Tanis, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives at McAngus Goudelock & Courie and 2025 Legal Marketing Association Southeast Region President, joins us to discuss how grasping attorney pain points, billing pressures and...
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Challenging AEC’s Myth That “Anyone Can Do Marketing”
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The misconception that “anyone can do marketing” creates barriers that relegate AEC marketers to tactical roles rather than strategic business partners. In this “Spill the Ink” episode, Michelle Galindez, Director of Marketing and Communications at Syska Hennessy Group, discusses practical strategies for marketing leaders to find their voice, challenge assumptions and demonstrate value in terms that resonate with technical executives. Michelle has spent nearly a decade reinforcing Syska Hennessy's global marketing function into a trusted strategic business driver. She covers actionable...
info_outlineUnderstanding the methodology behind legal rankings can transform how law firms approach the nomination process. In this "Spill the Ink" episode, Elizabeth Petit, Vice President of Research and Development at Best Lawyers, pulls back the curtain on the peer-review process that has been the rankings program’s foundation since 1983.
Michelle and Elizabeth also discuss the transition path from the “Ones to Watch” list to “Best Lawyers” recognition, the role of AI in improving rankings visibility without impacting the methodology itself and critical action steps firms should take before the December 12 nomination deadline to ensure their lawyers are positioned in the correct practice areas.
Here’s a Glimpse of What You’ll Learn
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Strategic considerations for nomination decisions, including experience thresholds and practice area selection approaches.
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The distinct pathways and requirements for lawyers at different career stages, from emerging talent to established practitioners.
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What law firms should understand about the relationship between the “Ones to Watch” list and “Best Lawyers” recognition.
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Critical timing and accuracy considerations for the nomination process to avoid common classification pitfalls.
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The methodology that distinguishes Best Lawyers' peer-review process from popularity voting and client satisfaction measures.
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The ways Best Lawyers incorporates AI technology while maintaining the integrity of its quantitative ranking methodology.
About Our Featured Guest
Elizabeth Petit gave serious consideration to pursuing a legal career, but a twist of fate brought her to the research department of Best Lawyers' parent company in 2010. She remained with the organization and has led the Research and Development department since 2012.
Guided by the long-respected transparent methodology of Best Lawyers, Elizabeth has established the consistency of the quality of research throughout the organization's platforms and services, most notably its three institutional programs: Best Lawyers, Best Law Firms and Lawyer Directory.
Elizabeth initiates many Best Lawyers products and plays a pivotal role in guiding their execution. She has found it particularly rewarding to have maintained the original mission of the company while enhancing it in new and creative ways.
Elizabeth earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Tulane University before receiving her Master of Arts from the University of South Carolina. Additionally, she holds certificates in Project Management (2019) and Non-Profit Management (2009) from the University of South Carolina, where she also served as adjunct faculty member from 2009-2020.