The Legal Marketer's Blind Spot: Start Treating Lawyers as Clients

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 case lifecycles enables marketers to do their jobs better, build stronger relationships and manage expectations effectively. Powers and Michelle Calcote King also explore how to navigate the "say yes to everything" culture by reframing requests instead of rejecting them, and why creating psychological safety for calculated risks is essential in risk-averse legal environments.

Here's a glimpse of what you'll learn

• Why treating attorneys as internal clients transforms marketing relationships and leads to better collaboration and realistic expectations.

• How understanding law firm economics and billing pressures gives marketers the context needed to make strategic decisions.

• The mentorship strategy that unlocks insider knowledge about the business of law from financial services teams and practice group leaders.

• How to transition from "yes person" to strategic partner by aligning marketing initiatives with firm-wide goals and objectives.

• The framework for balancing urgent requests with high-impact projects while navigating law firm partnership hierarchy and management dynamics.

• Why creating a "fail forward" culture drives innovation even in the traditionally risk-averse legal environment.

• The scheduling and prioritization practices that separate strategic legal marketers from those who remain stuck in reactive, task-oriented roles.

About our featured guest

With two decades of experience in branding, strategy and project management, Powers Tanis leads the marketing, client engagement and employee engagement and experience teams at McAngus Goudelock & Courie (MGC), a nationally-recognized insurance law firm with 22 offices across 12 states. As the Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives, Powers plays a pivotal role in shaping and executing the firm's long-term strategic vision. This includes spearheading and managing high-impact projects, developing and managing long-term strategic plans for the firm and its practices and partnering with the management committee on organizational goals and objectives. Powers is also responsible for developing and executing strategic marketing initiatives that enhance the firm's brand, expand the client base and drive business growth, as well as implementing strategies to foster a positive and inclusive organizational culture.

As a strategic communications professional, Powers aims to help organizations tell their stories through branding, digital and traditional media, and organizational culture. Powers has expertise in branding, marketing strategies, event planning, and fundraising, with specialties in social media strategy, graphic design, event planning, brand roll-out, and strategic communications.

Powers is dedicated to defining, building and maintaining an organization's culture, understanding that a well-defined culture is crucial for the success of both the organization and its clients. At MGC, Powers is heavily involved in building and maintaining the firm's culture through internal employee engagement efforts, community impact, diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and leadership development programs.

Since 2012, Powers has been actively involved in the Legal Marketing Association, transitioning to the legal sector after nearly a decade in the nonprofit sector. Powers currently serves as President-Elect for the LMA Southeast (LMASE) Regional Board of Directors, and is the past co-chair for the 2022 LMASE Regional Conference and LMA's Regional Conference Task Force. Powers has also served on the Local Steering Committee (LSC), most recently as the LSC Chair for the Columbia group. Additionally, Powers has dedicated over 15 years to the Junior League of Columbia, serving on both the Board of Directors and the Executive Management Team in various