EXPERIENCE
As a coach with over 25 years experience in the legal industry working with attorneys to achieve their business development and professional goals, Marianne knows the intricacies of law firms and the business of the practice of law.
Marianne is a nationally recognized and award-winning trainer, coach, and speaker. She has the distinction of being one of the nation’s first in-house law firm training professionals and was responsible for developing and implementing a hands-on attorney training program that was ranked #1 in the American Lawyer by associates.
What makes her unique is that she knows the business of the practice of law from the inside out. Working in law firm management within AmLaw 100, medium and small law firms, as well as in the courts and as Director of Client Relations for the Bar Association of San Francisco enabled her to develop a keen understanding of what it takes to succeed in today’s competitive legal market. She is exceptionally well versed in the inner-workings of law firms and highly skilled at advising attorneys in navigating their careers successfully.
Business Development
Marianne’s mission is to guide, teach and inspire attorneys throughout the United States and beyond to grow their own books of business and create greater self-determination in their careers. She teaches her clients the art of business development, “the rules of the game”, and how to maximize their special strengths to overcome the challenges they encounter at different stages in their legal careers. Marianne believes that many of the challenges faced in private practice can be conquered through developing one’s own book of business.
Career Management
Marianne’s additional law firm experience in professional development, recruiting and training enables her to guide clients effectively through career management challenges. She also served as a trainer and instructor for Arizona Women’s Education and Employment (AWEE) and Rio Salado College job search skills training program. She has assisted hundreds of women in making successful career transitions.
More than 3,000 attorneys in the United States and Canada have benefited from Marianne’s coaching and training.
Awards and Distinctions
Business development faculty of the nationally recognized Ladder Down program. (The Arizona Association of Defense Counsel received the 2013 DRI Diversity Award for its sponsorship of this program in Arizona. The New York Law Journal recognized the Defense Association of New York in 2015 for its commitment to diversity by implementing this program in New York.)
National columnist for the Defense Research Institute Women in the Law eNewsletter
Past co-chair and of the National Association of Women Lawyers Survey Committee on the Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms including co-author of NAWL’s 2008 and 2009 Survey Summary Findings on the Status of Women in Law Firms.
Past member of the ABA Law Practice Management section
International columnist for Women Legal Magazine for three years (published in the United States, the UK, Australia and Canada).
Education
Business Management Coursework – University of California at Berkeley, 1988 and 1989
Graduate Studies Coursework – University of Cologne, Germany, 1983
B.A., University of Wisconsin, with distinction, 1982
REPRESENTATIVE CLIENTS
Marianne works with attorneys at firms across the U.S. and Canada. Some of them include:
Ballard Spahr
Bowman and Brooke
Broening, Oberg, Woods & Wilson
Davis Wright Tremaine
Burch & Cracchiolo
Carpenter Law Firm
The Cavanagh Law Firm
Diaz Law Offices
Dickinson Wright
Fennemore Craig
Fisher & Phillips
Fragomen
Gust Rosenfeld
Hahn Loeser
Jennings Strouss
Jones Skelton & Hochuli
Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith
Lawrence & Bundy
Lightfoot Franklin
Littler Mendelson
Morris James
Osborn Maledon
Perkins Coie
Polsinelli
Quintairos Prieto Wood & Boyer
Ryley Carlock & Applewhite
Sacks Tierney
Forsberg Umlauf
Schneider & Onofry
Snell & Wilmer
Spencer Fane
Sterne Kessler
Thompson Hine
Winston & Strawn
Dentons
Gordon & Rees
Orrick Herrington
Allegheny County Bar Association
Arizona Women Lawyers Association
Defense Association of New York
Defense Research Institute
Legal Marketing Association
Los Angeles Women Lawyers Association
National Hispanic Bar Association
San Diego Lawyers Club
State Bar of Arizona
Duquesne University School of Law
James E. Rodgers College of Law (UofA)
Rutgers Law School (Camden)
Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law (ASU)