KermaPartners|UpWyse and Latin Counsel hold panel on valuable content for lawyers  

On Thursday 21 September, KermaPartners|UpWyse and Latin Counsel as media partners successfully celebrated the webinar "Relevance of valuable content in marketing strategies for lawyers".

The digital event featured a keynote panel made up of: Natalia Villanueva, partner for Central America and the Caribbean at KermaPartners|UpWyse, Valeria Di Palma, regional director of Consortium Legal, Magdalena Almonte, partner and leader of Intellectual Property & New Technologies at Ulises Cabrera, and Monica Fuertes and Manfred Peters from Latin Counsel.

During the meeting, the panellists discussed what is valuable content in the context of the legal industry and its impact on client relationships. Manfred Peters of Latin Counsel explained that "valuable content not only demonstrates the knowledge and competence of the firm or the lawyers, but also establishes a relationship of trust and can bring new clients by providing useful and relevant information".
Likewise, Monica Fuertes from Latin Counsel, emphasised the difference between paid and unpaid content, "pay -to-play" practices, as well as when is the right time to invest in paid publications, which can be allies for firms depending on the strategy and objectives set, "I would say that for a marketing department the most important thing is to be more proactive than reactive, to look at which areas we want to strengthen and invest in those areas", she said.

The panellists addressed essential issues for generating valuable content and creating both trust and profitability for firms, as well as key strategies for writing this type of information and strengthening the organisational and personal brand of lawyers. For Natalia Villanueva, partner at KermaPartners|UpWyse. "The marketing plan should be the North of every firm that wants to differentiate itself and wants to make its value known through content". She added that the organisational culture is key when it comes to outlining strategies as an organisation, and noted the importance of knowing ourselves, knowing the scope of what we are looking for, and understand who we are offering our services to.

A central theme of the dialogue, after explaining what is valuable content and strategies, was the relevance of personal branding within the marketing strategies of law firms. Valeria Di Palma, regional director of Consortium Legal, told about her experience in this process, as well as the real impact of an established brand. She indicated that personal branding is the impression that a lawyer leaves on others in terms of knowledge, skills, ethics and professional style. In addition, she highlighted how the generation of content supports the development of personal branding. "The generation of content plays a fundamental role in building our personal brand and vice versa, personal branding in the generation of valuable content, because it allows us to demonstrate the experience we have, and  because it allows us to differentiate ourselves in the markett". "We can contribute with our grain of sand by educating people through valuable content".

Interestingly, Latin Counsel has noticed that the editorial that has had the higherst readership lately has been written by associates rather than senior partners. It is important to note that there is room for everyone and that firms should give more lawyers the opportunity to develop their valuable content. This should be part of the organisational culture of law firms.

To conclude, Magdalena Almonte, partner at Ulises Cabrera, spoke about the legal implications of the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT to generate content, and responded to the big question: How ethical is it? She explained the implications of creating work with artificial intelligenceand and talked about what happens when this new or improved work is infringing third party rights. This is the biggest challenge when using ChatGPT. Today’s legislation is not designed for this type of conflict, and the big challenge is how to apply that legislation to these situations.
She went on to explain that "as far as content creation is concerned, it is very much related to what is copyright, to what extent what is produced on the basis of Artificial Intelligence is protected by copyright, and who owns the authorship of this creation".

AI tools can be an ally for any professional, but Magdalena Almonte recommends that "they should always be used under supervision, and making sure at all times that the person can demonstrate his or her sources and purposes".

About the panellists:

Valeria Di Palma
Valeria is a leading corporate lawyer with a solid track record of more than 15 years of experience. Valeria currently holds the position of regional director at Consortium Legal, a prestigious leading law firm in the Central American region. In addition to her distinguished career as a lawyer, Valeria is also a passionate advocate of legal marketing. She recognises the importance of positioning the firm and its leaders through the creation of valuable content and the promotion of her personal brand.

Magdalena Almonte
Magdalena Almonte is a Partner at Ulises Cabrera and heads the Intellectual Property and New Technologies department. She has more than 10 years of experience concentrating her practice in Corporate Law, Intellectual Property, Consumer Law, Competition Law, Health Regulation and New Technologies. She has extensive experience in New Technologies, her legal advisory work in this area allows the firm to identify the legal measures and actions available to protect and preserve the right to image; the privacy and integrity of individuals, and to seek the imposition of sanctions where appropriate.

Natalia Villanueva
She treasures a complete professional experience in the service, creative and legal industries. She accompanies firms and lawyers in Central America and the Caribbean in key projects for strategic positioning, such as: legal rankings, strategic marketing and communication plans, business development, event coordination, corporate social responsibility, personal and employer branding, digital marketing, among other essential services. She has been responsible for the execution of successful digital marketing and business development campaigns focused on target audiences in different practice areas of law firms.

Mónica Fuertes
A graduate in Media & Communication Studies from the University of Greenwich (BA Hons), she has spent the last twelve years working in international legal publishers and directories, including seven years at Chambers and Partners, where she developed the Global Practice Guides; and three years at Law Business Research, where she worked with brands such as Latin Lawyer, GAR, GCR, GRR and GIR in the Insight department as Business Development Manager, both in London. He currently manages the publication Latin Counsel from Madrid, an international platform founded twenty years ago by Ana G. Trigás (Doctor in Law; PH.D.).

Manfred Peters
He has a decade of knowledge and experience in law focused on leading firms in Costa Rica (Corporate, Environmental, Tax, Technology and Labour Law). In 2022 he decided to further his studies and pursue an Executive MBA in Madrid, Spain and started working on creating content on innovation topics with lawyers from all over Ibero-America.
 
Enjoy the event again here: https://youtu.be/elRcaF6Ihgk