Monica Smith Vice President Public Reputation Services

About Monica

Using a firm’s business development plan as a foundation, Monica helps clients combine traditional PR tools with the growing opportunities presented through PR 2.0, including blogs, social networking and other interactive, online elements to achieve the best outcomes and business growth opportunities. Monica’s background as a marketing-generalist-turned-law-firm-publicist gives her the unique perspective to approach public relations from a strategic standpoint. Having spent her career in professional services marketing, with much of that inside one of the largest international law firms, Monica understands the unique opportunities that accompany the legal industry and the demands that lawyers and their marketers face.

Monica’s clients benefit from her notable ability to maximize a law firm’s media potential. Her ability to position mid-sized law firms amongst the rankings of top tier firms has made her a sought-after resource. She understands the enormous value of a sound public relations plan and incorporates innovative tools to achieve greater visibility for her clients within traditional and 2.0 media outlets, speaking engagements, bylined article placements, and rankings. As a result, she has placed clients in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Dow Jones, the National Law Journal, ABA Journal, InsideCounsel, other legal and trade publications, local business publications, and online and blog outlets.

Further, Monica counsels clients on how to marry public relations with solid business development strategies. Her clients regularly couple their successes in the media with proactive marketing tactics, which result in enhanced visibility and recognition from clients and prospects.

Monica serves clients around the country from Atlanta. Being part of the Jaffe PR public reputation team allows her to spend more time on what she loves best: developing client relationships and implementing PR programs that underscore clients’ business development goals.

Monica is well respected within the legal marketing community. In 2010, she served as president of the Legal Marketing Association’s Southeastern Chapter (LMASE), the largest of the Legal Marketing Association’s 18 chapters. She co-authored an article in the New Jersey Law Journal titled, "Social Media Marketing and Niche Legal Practices: A Match Made in Heaven," and “Rankings: Then and Now,” published in the March 2008 issue of the Legal Marketing Association's publication, Strategies. Monica enjoys speaking to law firms and industry groups on the use of 2.0 tools by lawyers.

By joining Jaffe PR in 2007, Monica has come full circle in her career. She began as an assistant publicist in one of Central Florida’s leading public relations firms. Her clients included law firms, real estate developers and other professional services companies. Monica then moved on to hold positions in the marketing departments of some of the nation’s top law and accounting firms, where she managed diverse markets, and multiple practice and industry groups. After playing these integral roles, Monica formed her own company, which provided outsourced marketing and communications solutions to professional services firms.

Monica received her Bachelor of Business Administration degree, magna cum laude, from Stetson University in Florida. She majored in marketing, and minored in Spanish.

 

 



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