Inside Legal Journalism: What Reporters Really Want

By Katherine Hollar Barnard, Elizabeth Lampert, Traci Stuart
December 04, 2025 | 25-minute episode

Communications Media Relations/PR Content Type Podcast

Marketing Management and Leadership

Share this story

LMA Podcast · Inside Legal Journalism: What Reporters Really Want

Episode: 128

Ever wondered what it’s really like to be on the receiving end of your pitches? In this episode of the LMA Podcast, Traci Stuart sits down with Katherine Hollar Barnard and Elizabeth Lampert to take listeners behind the scenes of legal media and hear directly from the experts shaping the headlines.

In this discussion, they’ll unpack fresh survey data revealing:

The biggest pain points reporters face when working with law firms, from generic pitches to slow response times.
What makes a spokesperson stand out — and why credibility, candor and clarity matter more than canned soundbites.
The types of legal stories journalists want — and don’t want — including why trend insights often beat deal announcements.
The most effective ways to get noticed (hint: less is more), and why relationships still matter in a digital-first world.
How media expectations are shifting in the age of AI, rapid news cycles and shrinking newsrooms.

Whether you’re pitching a high-stakes case, firm news or thought leadership, this episode will help you align your outreach with what legal journalists truly value.

The LMA Podcast focuses on hot topics in legal marketing and business development with conversations driven by industry professionals. Listen on SoundCloud, or find us and subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Learn More About Communications with the Third Edition of the LMA Body of Knowledge

The content in this feature correlates with the Communications domain in the LMA Body of Knowledge (BoK). Dive deeper and access the latest edition of the BoK online.

The Third Edition of the LMA BoK showcases enhanced expertise across every domain, introduces new competencies in Client Services, Communications and Technology Management, features more advanced skills across all domains and broadens coverage of competitive and business intelligence skills. Plus, it emphasizes a stronger commitment to nurturing diversity, equity, and inclusion across the entirety of the BoK. Learn more.

Katherine Hollar Barnard
Firesign

Katherine Hollar Barnard is the founder and managing partner of Firesign, a marketing agency that helps law firms and legal service providers attract, win and retain business. She draws upon her tenure as CMO at two AmLaw 200 law firms to build brands that connect and business plans that deliver — and upon her previous career as an award-winning journalist to help clients reach out and respond to the media. She was recognized by PR Daily among its inaugural class of Top Women in Marketing and serves as the 2024-2025 co-chair of the Legal Marketing Association's Strategies & Voices editorial committee.

Elizabeth Lampert
ELPR

Elizabeth Lampert brings extensive expertise in day-to-day public relations, crisis communication and legal marketing. She has contributed her skills to some of the country's most successful law firms and their business clients across a range of practice areas, helping them expand their client base and raise their public profiles in key markets. With a vast network of media contacts, she provides practitioners with numerous opportunities to increase visibility. Known for her adaptability under pressure, Lampert is also a skilled facilitator of tabletop exercises, advising law firms and individuals on showcasing their expertise and enhancing the recognition of their achievements.

Traci Stuart
Blattel Communications

Traci Stuart has more than three decades of public relations experience heavily focused on lawyers and law firms, as well as the real estate and financial services sectors. With a firm grasp on the business end of professional services firms, she works closely with her clients, nationally and regionally, developing high-impact visibility strategies, business development-oriented campaigns, crisis communication plans and litigation support. Immersed in the legal marketing industry throughout her career, Stuart has served two terms on LMA’s international board of directors and in various regional and local leadership capacities.