Who We Are

John is Rain BDM’s founder and chief relationship builder. With a unique background in law, marketing, and sales, he utilizes his particular set of skills to help our clients distinguish themselves from the competition and differentiate themselves in the legal marketplace.

A big-picture thinker, John brings his mix of creativity, emotional intelligence, and vision to every business development coaching engagement and marketing project he touches. He also lives in the real world and knows how to work with lawyer personalities and navigate law firm cultures.

The best way to think of John is as a translator who interprets the language of marketing and human behavior for attorneys, and the language of law for our law firm clients’ audiences. He’s a frequent speaker and writer on legal marketing and client development topics, and also the creator and host of the Sticky Lawyers Podcast.

Education

• Michigan State University College of Law, Juris Doctor, cum laude
• Babson College, Bachelor of Science in Marketing, with honors

Professional Affiliations

• Chair, Legal Marketing Association – Michigan Local Group (2020-2021)
• Member, Michigan Supreme Court Justice for All Commission – Regulatory & Practice Reform Work Group
• Member, State Bar of Michigan
• Member, State Bar of Michigan Task Force on the Ethics and Regulation of Legal Services Marketing (2019)
• Certified Administrator, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Community Involvement

• Member, Board of Trustees, Leader Dogs for the Blind

Representative Publications & News Mentions

• For Firms and Attorneys, Prestige Is a Double-Edged Sword, Law360 Pulse, December 13, 2021
• Is a Values Check the New Conflicts Check for Law Firms? Law360 Pulse, August 5, 2021
• The Next Normal: Business Development and Marketing During and After COVID-19 (with Maureen Hanawalt), Michigan Bar Journal, October 2020
• Mapping Success: Make Your Marketing Plan Agile, Adaptable, Michigan Lawyers Weekly, January 30, 2020  
• 4 Ways Law Firms Can Bolster Their Prestige, Law360, September 18, 2018  
• From Analog to Augmented Reality (with Christina Chen), ABA Law Practice Today, April 2018  
• Does Your Marketing Content Contribute to Information Overload?, Michigan Bar Journal, November 2017  
• Firm Aims to Market Lawyers Without Being Obvious, Detroit Free Press, February 24, 2017  
• 3 Ways Associates Can Become Rainmakers, Law360, February 9, 2017  
• Five Top Tips for Leveraging Thought-Leading Legal Content, LawFuel, January 25, 2017  

White Papers

• Primer on Alternative Fee Arrangements
• Law Firm Marketing Insights: Alternative Fee Arrangements

Representative Presentations & Appearances

• Today’s Business Development Basics for In-House Marketers and the Attorneys They Coach (with Conrad Saam), Legal Marketing Association Midwest Region, July 2021
• Thriving in an Upside-Down World, ICLE Labor & Employment Institute, April 2021
• Business Basics to Start Your Own Your Practice, University of Detroit Mercy Law School Solo & Small Firm Institute, November 2020
• Hello, Account Management. Goodbye, Cross-Selling, Legal Marketing Association Midwest Conference, June 2019
• Want to Motivate Attorneys to Market? Play to Personality Strengths for Guaranteed Success, LEGUS Coffee Café, March 2019
• What GCs Want: How to Win and Retain Business, Center For Competitive Management, February 2019  
• Ethical Issues in Your New Media Practice – Including Social Media Marketing, New York State Bar Association IP Section, January 2019  
• Must-Do Business Development and Marketing Activities, On Balance Podcast, Legal Talk Network, August 2018  
• Marketing You & Your Law Firm in the 21st Century, State Bar of Michigan, Law Practice Management & Legal Administrators Section, July 2018  
• Legal Marketing 101 for Both New and Established Small Firms, Vermont Bar Association, May 2017  
• Getting Smarter about Blogging: Why and How, American Bar Association Webinar Series, October 2015

As a content strategist and consultant for Rain BDM, Dave blends his lifelong passion for writing with the insights about the practice and business of law he gained during his 16 years as a commercial litigator. Except for his family, Bruce Springsteen, and the Chicago Cubs, he loves nothing more than transforming the silence of a blank computer screen into a symphony of words.

A successful legal career and partnership at a prominent Chicago law firm notwithstanding, Dave decided he could no longer deny who he was, so he left his practice and began openly writing full-time in 2009. In the decade since, he has written well-over 10,000 pages of website copy, blog posts, newsletters, magazine articles, and other marketing collateral for lawyers, law firms, physicians, and other professionals across the country. He also served as Deputy Director of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism from 2011-2013.

Dave prides himself on his ability to listen, learn, and understand each client’s unique voice, vision, and value proposition. To him, these are indispensable aspects of crafting content that, as one of his clients once said, “sounds exactly like what I would say, but much better.”

Besides his affinity and talent for content writing, Dave also has an innate ability to retain terabytes of useless trivia, which he deployed to win an episode of “Jeopardy!” in 1998.

Education & Affiliations

• Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, Juris Doctor
• University of California, Los Angeles, Bachelor of Arts in Political Science
• Certified on the register of federal Administrative Law Judges

Caroline has held legal marketing roles from coordinator to director, from small law to AmLaw, and from Chicago to Miami. Plus, she loves dogs. What more could we ask for?

Creating memorable experiences is what Caroline does best. On the marketing side, she devises strategies and implements plans that engage law firms’ target audiences and generate new client opportunities. She advises firms on branding, messaging, and differentiation in a competitive legal marketplace. She is an enthusiastic leader who gets her mojo from being a trusted advisor to trusted advisors.

Strategic event planning is Caroline’s secret superpower. She has successfully designed, managed, and executed hundreds of doings and happenings, including large-scale conferences, retreats, and gala celebrations, as well as intimate dinners, flower arranging classes, and fashion shows (it’s true). Each one has had a unique feature that resonated with the law firm’s clients, prospects, and other guests.

As a business development coach, Caroline is both a truthteller and an avid cheerleader. She understands the client journey and helps lawyers build relationships and create experiences for their next best clients.

Education & Affiliations

• Tulane University, Bachelor of Arts
• Legal Marketing Association

Representative Publications & News Mentions

• How Law Firms Can Capitalize On Marketing As Demand Lags, Law360 Pulse, July 25, 2023
• An Insider’s Strategy for Planning the Perfect Online Event, Michigan Bar Journal, April 2021

People, places, and things aren’t just nouns (thank you, Schoolhouse Rock). To Jill Clark, they are opportunities to make connections. Passionate is an arguably overused word, but Jill is genuinely, sincerely, no-bones-about-it passionate about legal marketing. She is driven (another trite but accurate term) to help lawyers grow their businesses and cultivate deep client relationships.

And she has the chops to back it up. Before Rain, Jill spent 18 years transforming the marketing department of a 100+ attorney firm into a model of marketing execution, client development, external and internal communications, public relations, and brand management. Jill herself led the firm’s business development coaching efforts, client feedback program, and crisis communications services. She regularly speaks to industry audiences on these subjects and even guest lectures on legal marketing and personal branding at Capital Law School.

At Rain, Jill is a client service evangelist, drawing from her extensive talents to help our clients understand their clients’ journeys, needs, and expectations. She works with law firms to get a 30,000-foot view of their marketing goals, then rolls up her sleeves to put the tactical wheels in motion to achieve them. Yup, she’s all that and a bag of chips.

Jill’s penchant for connecting and collaborating dates to elementary school, where teachers often commented that she “talks too much during class” on her report cards. If only they could see her now.

When she’s not serving as a trusted strategic advisor to Rain’s clients, Jill spends time with her three children, new son-in-law, dog, and granddogs. She is a huge proponent of being nice to strangers and random acts of kindness and constantly searches for that next perfect glass of wine.

Education

• The Ohio State University, Bachelor of Arts in Communications

Professional Affiliations

• Legal Marketing Association
  • — Past President, Ohio Chapter
  • — Multiple regional and national leadership roles

  Awards & Recognition

  • 40 Under 40, Columbus Business First

  Community Involvement

  • Family-Faculty Team, Nationwide Children’s Hospital

Someone has to keep all of us on track, in line, and up to date. Fortunately, we have Sabrina.

As Rain’s project manager, Sabrina knows who’s working on what for which clients and when tasks need to get done. Around here, if anyone misses a deadline, they answer to her. She also helps with our communications and website needs, keeping clients, contacts, and followers up to date.

Not much gets past Sabrina. She keeps a close eye on our business, taking every opportunity to streamline processes and improve the systems we use. Before launching her project management career, Sabrina taught kindergarten and pre-kindergarten in general education and substantially separate special education classrooms. Like her former students, we’re lucky to have her.

Education

• American International College, Master of Education, Special Education and Teaching
• Bridgewater State University, Bachelor of Science, with a Concentration in Child Development

We always say, to work at Rain, you better lace up your running shoes. But one person on our team – Nikki Horn – demonstrates the qualities that a graphic artist and a marathon runner have in common.

Nikki is a champion who goes the distance, climbs steep hills, and avoids bonking (yes, it’s a running term; look it up). Going for gold is nice, but performing better on her next endeavor is what matters most. For more than 25 years, Nikki has delivered innovative approaches and ideas to law firms, professional services providers, and other businesses.

Nikki has a wry sense of humor and never lets you see her sweat, making her a great fit at Rain. Running or designing, the tunes on her headphones are nothing but 80s alternative – cutting-edge music with harmonies where you wouldn’t expect them, similar to the work Nikki produces for our clients.

Like a Rain legal marketing professional, a long-distance runner needs strength, agility, discipline, and support for and from a committed team. Whether Nikki is working on a new branding program, envisioning and executing print and digital marketing materials, matching images to words for traditional or online advertising campaigns, or devising the creative strategy for a new client initiative, you can count on her to cross the finish line with a new personal best.

Education & Accomplishments

• University of Detroit Mercy, Bachelor of Arts in Communications and French
• A 15-time marathoner with several more half-marathons to her credit

Michele combines her immense talent, inventiveness, and imagination to deliver creative solutions that convey each client’s unique story.

As Rain BDM’s graphic designer, Michele manages a long list of projects including logo design, business cards and identity packages, marketing collateral, social media branding, print and electronic newsletters, trade show displays and signage, e-book templates, and just about anything else with a visual element. Every piece she delivers is distinct, making even solo lawyers and small law firms look as polished and sophisticated as their larger competitors.

Michele has more than a decade of professional experience with print, digital, and branding projects. During her career, she served as the art director of a major metropolitan magazine and oversaw catalog design, e-commerce, and email marketing for a multinational clothing retailer. She has worked with a broad array of clients, eventually gravitating toward law firms and their visual communication needs.

Education & Affiliations

• Art Institute of Portland, Bachelor of Science in Graphic Design
• Member, American Institute of Graphic Arts

Jamie creates content that makes sense. Plain and simple.

Sure, she’s a licensed attorney with trial experience in three states. Yes, she has a background in storytelling from a previous career in television and theatrical production. But her real talent is writing quality, reliable, well-researched pieces that our clients’ audiences want to read.

Jamie’s specialty is online content-including blogs, web pages, eBooks, and email newsletters–but she covers a variety of practice areas and subjects. Whether the client comes up with a topic or she suggests one, each piece of content she delivers channels the right voice, tone, and structure to grab the reader’s attention and boost the client’s internet presence.

A resident of Manhattan (the one in Kansas), Jamie lives with her husband, an active-duty Army helicopter pilot stationed at Ft. Riley. When she’s not putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboards, she enjoys cooking, baking, running, travel, and yoga. Oh, and she’s studying to become a certified sommelier too.

Education & Affiliations

• DePaul University College of Law, Juris Doctor, cum laude
• Bowling Green State University, Bachelor of Arts in Theatre, Art, and Political Science
• Member, Washington State Bar Association

Jonathan Spencer is a legal marketing triple-threat: a lawyer by training, more than a decade of high-level in-house business development and marketing experience, and the patience of Job.

Before joining Rain, Jon rose through the ranks in the marketing department of a full-service, 150+ lawyer Midwest firm. If there was a task to execute—pitch prep, public relations, event planning, advertising, social media, ranking submission, branding, rebranding, or website launch—he did it. And he continues to do those and other projects for our clients today. Jon is the conductor whose wide-ranging project management, quality assurance, and client service experience help him orchestrate law firms’ long-term strategies and short-term activities.

If we had to identify the one talent that sets Jon apart, it’s his technical aptitude. There is no new thing or next big thing that escapes his curiosity, including the latest in marketing automation, CRM systems, digital ad platforms, and even audio and video editing software.

Jon plays many roles for our clients, including stage manager, chief of staff, and friendly taskmaster, to name a few. No matter which hat he wears, he works behind the scenes to make others look good and keep projects on or ahead of schedule. He may stand just outside the spotlight, but make no mistake—he’s a driven leader with proven legal marketing chops.

EDUCATION

• Wayne State University School of Law, Juris Doctor
• Western Michigan University, Bachelor of Science in Political Science and Criminal Justice

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

• State Bar of Michigan
• Legal Marketing Association

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

• Head Coach, National Flag Football League – Michigan
• Head Coach, Saline Elementary Science Olympiad Team
• Event Coach, Saline Middle School Science Olympiad Team

If you don’t know your em dash from a hole in the ground, Ann will kindly set you straight. As our copy editor and proofreader, she makes sure words and punctuation find their proper places in the content we create for our clients.

A former high school English teacher, Ann transitioned to the business world to manage internal and external communications for a medical society, a human resources consulting company, and a large health insurer. Each new role exposed her to new platforms and channels, but her mastery of syntax remained constant. She was the final set of eyes and had the final say on whatever content went out the door.

At Rain BDM, Ann is still knee-deep in words, using a variety of tools to scrutinize clients’ web pages, attorney bios, blogs, social media posts, advertisements, newsletters, brochures, and holiday cards, among other things. She’s got style (AP Style), tracks changes like nobody’s business, wields a mighty red pen, and has the uncanny ability to read documents forward and backward equally well.

Education

• Michigan State University, Bachelor of Arts in English, with honors