Client: Los Angeles Litigation Law Firm

Challenge: A partner at a Los Angeles-based litigation law firm was hesitant to pursue bylined article opportunities due to her bandwidth and questioned if the article would get in front of her target audience: insurance companies and their policyholders in the construction industry.

Work: Berbay Marketing & PR educated her on the value of bylined articles and made the process turnkey. After a brainstorm with us, we landed on a topic and quickly obtained an opportunity in a construction industry trade publication. The article was published within two weeks. Berbay leveraged the reprint on the firm’s website and social media, in their newsletter and as a handout in their firm marketing folder.

A national insurance company searching for the topic online found the article on the firm’s website and requested a webinar for their entire U.S. team on the subject matter. Berbay worked with the client to develop an engaging presentation and facilitated follow-ups with the insurance company post-webinar.

Result: The client received glowing feedback on the webinar and was added as panel counsel, receiving their first case shortly after. The webinar also established relationships throughout the company beyond the main contact, which has led to additional work.

Client: Washington D.C. Office of International Full-Service Law Firm

Challenge: When COVID-19 regulations were rapidly evolving at the beginning of the pandemic, our client created a COVID task force to monitor news and distribute timely client alerts on OSHA regulations, CDC guidelines, PPP loans, eviction moratorium guidelines and more. Because many other firms set up similar task forces, it was difficult to break through the clutter and garner attention.

Work: Berbay saw an opportunity to build on what the firm was already doing and bolster their current PR campaign by leveraging task force alerts in real-time. We created a  system to funnel news through our team and worked closely with the firm to prioritize information as it came in. We identified alerts we thought would pique the media’s interest and turned them into pitches nearly instantaneously. This allowed us to deliver valuable, up-to-the-minute content to reporters and secure interview and article opportunities for the attorneys.

Result: As a result of quick thinking and systematic planning to capitalize on the task force’s updates, Berbay obtained coveted media coverage for many months. Successes included Globe St., Bisnow, Commercial Property Executive, Bloomberg Law and Washington Business Journal.

The firm was able to further leverage the coverage by posting placements on their website, sharing on social media and sending to their database as a follow up to the legal alert. The coverage also created an expanded presence beyond the firm’s current client base in their target markets.

Client: California Labor & Employment Law Firm

Challenge: Our client had long participated in and sponsored numerous organizations and conferences. Much of the benefit the firm received from their partnerships with organizations was due to their physical presence, but when the pandemic hit, events were either stalled or moved to a virtual format. Recognizing they needed to change their partnership approach in this new environment, the firm turned to Berbay for strategic guidance.

Work: Berbay conducted a comprehensive audit of more than a dozen organizations to identify the highest-value partnerships and ways to enhance relationships while maintaining a similar presence the firm was used to pre-pandemic. Our team also identified missed opportunities, such as getting more involved in written communications to the organization’s membership.

Result: In the face of uncertainty, we reinvigorated their commitment to organizations by securing new opportunities, vetting options, and making recommendations for what would be most valuable to the firm while ensuring they got mileage out of what they were already doing.

Client: Atlanta-based trial law firm

Challenge: A boutique trial law firm in Atlanta was well-known in the courtroom and in the local community for taking on some of the nation’s most complex multi-plaintiff medical, product liability and Qui Tam cases. The only problem was the firm’s visibility didn’t extend outside the local area and while their successes were national, they lacked national exposure.

Work: In discussing our recommended strategy, the law firm never considered using rankings and nominations to garner national exposure and tout their wins. Berbay selected a few of the most coveted national rankings and drafted compelling nominations highlighting the firm’s significant achievements.

Result: Usually what may take several years to win, Berbay was successful in obtaining inclusion on a preeminent national ranking for the law firm on its first year submitting. Not only did it result in the national exposure they were seeking, but through leveraging the award on various channels like the website, social media and marketing material, the firm received several comments on their great work and later a call from an attorney referring a high-profile fraud case.

Client: Los Angeles-based financial restructuring and litigation firm 

Challenge: Amid the beginning of COVID and a changing economy, a Los Angeles-based bankruptcy law firm needed to quickly adjust their marketing strategy in response to the new business climate. With a marketing plan in place that no longer made sense, Berbay focused on creating a firm-wide strategy that aligned with world events and that would break through the clutter of pandemic-related information. In regrouping on the firm’s marketing, we were faced with trying to get the attorneys, who typically operated in silos, to execute the plan in a concerted effort. 

Work: Berbay developed a multi-pronged approach, including creating a business development matrix that broke down potential clients by practice area, attorney, marketing outreach and responsibilities. From there, we executed the new marketing plan by revamping and distributing e-newsletters; publishing a social media campaign on timely topics; generating engaging marketing materials for prospects; and promoting the firm’s webinar series and authoring articles related to COVID issues. We worked closely with each attorney to prioritize and track each step to ensure the plan moved forward. 

Result: We were able to quickly pivot and implement a refocused marketing campaign that was reactive to the economy. As a result, the firm saw an increase in the number of leads coming in the door, which also presented an opportunity to refresh their outdated pitchbook. The firm’s newsletter had a significant uptick in engagement and we grew their webinar audience. These efforts led to new prospects and cases for the firm in a time when many were experiencing a decline in business. This also highlights that a marketing plan can change and evolve depending on current circumstances.  

Client: Los Angeles-based trial law firm

Challenge: During the COVID pandemic, a leading Los Angeles-based plaintiff’s trial law firm, planned to file a wrongful death lawsuit against a SoCal Sheriff’s Department for its involvement in the shooting death of an unarmed, homeless Black man that sparked protests on the issue of police brutality and racism. Cellphone footage from witnesses captured the deputies’ interaction with the man, which escalated and eventually led to his death. However, the dashboard video footage from the officers’ vehicle that captured why they initially approached the man, was not released to his family or the attorneys after multiple requests. The law firm turned to Berbay to facilitate a press conference in conjunction with the lawsuit filing to educate the public that the Sheriff’s Department was not being transparent or forthcoming with crucial evidence, and to place pressure on the Department to ensure the full series of events were released. Making the situation even more complicated, the press conference had to be planned in accordance with public health guidelines for COVID-19.

Work: Prior to the press conference, the Sheriff’s Department released a heavily edited version of the cellphone footage that did not depict the full story in order to put the Department in the best possible light. Our client’s priority was to ensure the public knew there was more to the story and to place pressure on the Department to turn over this key piece of information. Berbay worked to ensure all crucial pieces of information were delivered to the media and that the press conference was held in an outdoor location that allowed for media to social distance.

Result: The press conference was a huge success – we obtained top-tier media placements nationally and locally, including: Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, U.S. News, Orange County Register, San Clemente Times, Daily Mail, East Bay Times, KNBC, Voice of OC, KABC, Sacramento Bee, Mercury News, New York Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, CBS, FOX11, KTLA, KFI-AM, KNX-AM and more.

Through Berbay’s efforts, we generated increased awareness of the lawsuit and four months later, due to public pressure, the Sheriff’s Department released a Critical Incident Video with the dash camera footage. As a result, the law firm amended their original lawsuit to assert that the deputies had no reason to approach the man. CBS This Morning, MSNBC The Beat with Ari Melber, and many other outlets covered the developments.

Client: California-based law firm

Challenge: The firm wanted to capitalize on dozens of pending California legislation that would impact their clients.

Work: Berbay didn’t want to waste the client’s time and resources drafting pitches for legislation that wouldn’t pass, but with so much of media strategy being dependent on timing and offering an angle that will pique journalists’ interest, we knew we couldn’t wait until each piece was signed or vetoed. Our team developed a strategy that would allow us to have information in place and be able to pitch as soon as the decisions were published without overly limiting our scope of work. We obtained information from the client in advance, prioritized each topic to winnow down the list to the 10 most important pieces of legislation, identified the spokespersons and compiled targeted media lists. Once we got notice of each legislation being signed into law, we quickly drafted and distributed tailored media pitches (upon client approval.

Result: We obtained multiple interviews and article placements in national and California-based outlets, including Associated Press, Bloomberg Law, Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee, Daily Journal, Western City Magazine, SF Weekly and more. The firm’s attorneys were positioned as experts at the forefront of issues addressed in the legislation, and as a result of having materials ready for distribution, were some of the first to be quoted in the media. They were also able to share their comments with clients via the firm’s e-newsletter, on their website and social media.

Client: Los Angeles-based high-stakes litigation law firm

Challenge: The firm represented the plaintiff in a lawsuit against a well-known attorney. The plaintiff wanted media coverage to bring attention to his lawsuit, however, he was unwilling to speak with the press directly or have his photo published.

Work: Berbay drafted a statement on the client’s behalf and distributed to local and national media requesting that they respect the plaintiff’s privacy for no further comment. Because it was such a high-profile case, we had to carefully navigate media requests while honoring the client’s wishes.

Result: Despite the interview and photo limitations, we were able to secure dozens of media placements with the plaintiff’s statement, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, USA Today, ABC News, CNBC, NBC, Reuters, NPR, Bloomberg and more.

Client: Los Angeles-based plaintiff’s trial law firm

Challenge: The firm was filing back-to-back negligence and wrongful death lawsuits the week of Thanksgiving against utility companies on behalf of victims and surviving families of the devastating California wildfires.

Work: When we obtained an email from our client informing us of the lawsuits, we sprang into action. Understanding how crucial it was for media efforts to be among the first law firms in a soon-to-be long list filing lawsuits against the utility companies, we distributed the first of three press releases and media alerts, within 48 hours, and facilitated the first of three press conferences. Media outreach was particularly challenging given that it was a holiday week and many reporters were out of office, but by using every communication tool at our disposal and tenacious follow up, we ensured all outlets were aware of the lawsuits.

In the following months, among uncertainty after one utility company filed for bankruptcy, we offered our client as a resource to provide insight on what plaintiffs could expect. In addition to coordinating media efforts, we facilitated the firm’s online and print advertising campaign, including implementing a micro website and search engine optimization (SEO) campaign to promote the firm’s “Town Hall Meetings,” which were held to inform wildfire victims of their rights and options to seek recovery for their losses beyond what their insurance providers could offer.

Result: The firm was able to generate greater awareness for the lawsuits and signed up several new cases. We obtained more than 450 placement for our client, both print and on-camera interviews, including several prominent national and local outlets: The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Forbes, The Associated Press, USA Today, Buzzfeed, FOX LA, KTLA, CBS Los Angeles, NBC Los Angeles, Telemundo, Ventura County Star, KPCC, Estrella TV, LAist, The National Law Journal, Daily Journal and many more.