Branding for Firms: Ethics & Strategy

Jeremy Babener | Structured Legal

Jeremy is a nationally recognized tax expert. He counsels plaintiffs and plaintiff-side law firms on settlement planning, helping to maximize recovery outcomes. He also reviews and structures settlement transactions for trust companies, insurance companies, and other financial institutions. Jeremy has worked across a broad spectrum of cases and settlement sizes, including individual claims, mass torts, and class actions. His role often includes drafting and refining settlement terms, proposing tax-efficient and financial strategies, and negotiating their adoption with defense teams. He frequently speaks on settlement taxation and ethics at law schools such as NYU School of Law and the University of Chicago, contributes articles to Forbes, Bloomberg, and the ABA, and shares his insights on CNN, Fox News, and CNBC.

• Education and Credentials

Jeremy is a nationally recognized tax expert with extensive experience advising on the tax and financial aspects of legal settlements. Earlier in his career, he served as a Fellow in the Office of Tax Policy at the U.S. Treasury Department, where he gained insight into federal tax policy. His background provides a strong foundation for advising attorneys and clients on complex settlement-related tax issues.

• Recognition and Leadership

Jeremy is widely recognized for his expertise in settlement taxation and planning. He chairs the Legal Committee of the Society of Settlement Planners and is known for helping shape discussions around ethical and tax considerations in settlement practice. His leadership roles reflect his influence in advancing best practices within the settlement planning community.

• Professional Involvement

He is actively involved in several prominent legal organizations, including the American Association for Justice (AAJ) Public Education Committee and the American Bar Association’s TIPS Plaintiffs’ Practice Committee. Through these roles, Jeremy contributes to professional education and policy discussions affecting plaintiff-side practitioners.

• Experience

Jeremy has worked on a wide range of cases, including individual claims, mass torts, and class actions of varying settlement sizes. His work often involves structuring settlement transactions, developing tax-efficient financial strategies, and negotiating settlement terms with defense teams.

Melissa Delaney | PI Presence

Melissa Delaney is a public presence professional who works with attorneys and other brand professionals to elevate their companies, practice areas, and individual brands. Through her work, she supports clients in developing websites, social media strategies, digital content, and communications, as well as newsletters, brochures, and other client-facing materials. She also brings experience in drafting requests for proposals (RFPs) and pitches for firms seeking new business opportunities. Melissa coaches attorneys both individually and in team environments, helping them grow their clientele and expand their personal brands through networking, social media, and related activities. In addition, she collaborates with industry-specific practice groups to develop targeted marketing and business development strategies and action plans, and she works with organizations to design corporate events that support broader marketing objectives.

• Education & Credentials

Melissa Delaney holds a Master’s degree in organizational psychology, which she leverages to help law firms and organizations develop collaborative, goal-oriented strategies across teams and practice groups.

• Recognition & Leadership

Melissa is recognized for her ability to seamlessly integrate into teams and support both leadership and team members with insight into building high-performing, goal-oriented groups, a skill that is valued by those she works with across organizations.

• Professional Involvement

Her professional work involves partnering with attorneys, law firms, and industry-specific practice groups—including areas such as Entertainment, Life Sciences, Intellectual Property, Finance, Project Development, Housing, Cybersecurity, Healthcare and FDA, Class Action, and general Litigation teams with global reach—to develop marketing strategies, business development plans, and communications initiatives.

• Experience

Melissa’s experience includes crafting websites, managing social media strategies, developing digital content and communications, and producing client-directed materials such as newsletters and brochures. She also has experience preparing RFPs and pitches, coaching attorneys on client development and personal branding, facilitating team-based strategy development, and organizing corporate events such as retreats, conferences, industry events, and in-house training sessions that support organizational marketing efforts.

SESSION 1 – Picking Between Branding Strategies and Tools | 2:00pm – 2:15pm

Examine how law firms can evaluate and select branding strategies, digital platforms, and marketing tools that align with their goals, target audience, budget, and ethical obligations while maximizing visibility and client engagement.

SESSION 2 – Balancing Aggressive Brand Presence with Professional Integrity | 2:15pm – 2:30pm

Discuss how attorneys can maintain a strong and competitive market presence without compromising professionalism, credibility, or ethical standards, particularly in highly competitive personal injury advertising environments.

SESSION 3 – ABA Model Rules 1.5, 5.3, 5.5, 7.1, 7.3, 8.4 | 2:30pm – 2:45pm

Review key ABA Model Rules impacting legal marketing, including fee communications, supervision of nonlawyers, unauthorized practice concerns, false or misleading statements, solicitation restrictions, and professional misconduct related to branding and advertising activities.

SESSION 4 – Ethical guidelines in lawyer advertising | 2:45pm – 3:00pm

Explore the ethical rules governing attorney advertising, including truthfulness, solicitation restrictions, testimonial use, and disclosure requirements under ABA Model Rules and state bar regulations, with a focus on compliant marketing practices for personal injury law firms.