Founder of a public relations firm that has a special flair for serving lawyers, UK-born and educated Paramjit Mahli sees the legal profession through the eyes of a former journalist and a modern businesswoman.
Who are the clients of SCG PR Network, and what do you do for them?
Our clients are law firms, many of them in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. They range in size from one to 500 lawyers. They want good public relations on a shoestring budget. We charge an annual fee. Our client list numbers fifty firms and is steadily growing.
What does your firm offer wannabe lawyers?
We re-publish articles on networking and business skills, free to all. We publish a free monthly newsletter called FocusPointe! We will be conducting free quarterly teleseminars. We've learned that a recent law school graduate's understanding of the practice of law far exceeds his or her business skills. Our objective is to help them excel early in their careers.
Who are among the highest paid legal professionals today?
Everyone loves to hate plaintiff attorneys who handle medical mapractice, product recalls, tobacco suits, class actions. However, they are among the profession's highest earners. Corporate attorneys whose clients are Fortune 500 companies are also high earners. Depending upon the state, divorce is quite lucrative as well.
What skills that a lawyer may possess today translate well into compensation?
It's the ability to make rain. Whether you're in Arkansas, New York or Beijing, if you can be effective with people and bring business into the firm, you will be well compensated. And your job will never be outsourced or offshored.
How important is gender to success in law in the U.S?
The number of women entering legal careers has increased greatly in the past twenty years. However, the law itself and the legal profession are not clearly female-friendly. Childbirth can easily damage or derail a legal career. Enormous hours on the job are family-unfriendly. When women leave a traditional male-dominated law firm to start a new firm, they often succeed if they have entrepreneurial abilities.
What lawyers make the best businesspeople?
A lawyer who can bring in business to a law firm may very well be capable of building any business.
What lawyers make the best elected politicians?
In African countries the political leaders often come from the military. In democratic nations lawyers tend to populate the top political ranks. Twenty five of the 42 U.S. presidents were lawyers. Eleven of Canada's 21 prime ministers were lawyers. The orderly mindset of a legally trained person is compatible with writing and enforcing national laws.
When matching up legal expertise with media requests, what subject matter is in greatest demand today?
Bankruptcy topics are in big demand. Environmental issues are very popular, moreso since the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Current affairs in the local and national news drive our daily public relations activities.
Where would you like to be five years from now?
I'd like to have a team of a dozen people with offices in London and Asia as well as New York and Los Angeles. I'd like to have productive relationships with innovative lawyers, reporters, and marketing companies.