New York – LAWFUEL – The Law Firm News Wire – DLA Piper, one of the world’s leading legal service organizations with 3,400 lawyers in 24 countries, today announced the appointment of Jolene M. Overbeck to the newly created position of Global Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). In her new role, Overbeck will oversee all aspects of DLA Piper’s marketing and business development efforts worldwide. She is believed to be the only marketing professional to serve as global CMO for three of the world’s leading international law firms.
With more than 25 years of experience in legal marketing, Overbeck is one of the industry’s most experienced marketing professionals. She is known for developing strategy and structure in the marketing, business development and strategic communications programs of international law firms. She previously served as CMO at both Latham & Watkins and Shearman & Sterling. Prior to joining DLA Piper, she was a partner with the Zeughauser Group, one of the industry’s leading strategic law firm consultancies.
“Jolene is one of the most talented and highly regarded professionals in legal marketing,” said Francis B. Burch, Jr., Joint CEO of DLA Piper. “She is undoubtedly the most qualified person to lead our global marketing effort to the next level to help us achieve our vision of becoming the world’s leading global business law firm.”
Nigel Knowles, Joint CEO of DLA Piper, commented: “Jolene led marketing efforts at two leading international firms, and has the extremely rare skills and experience to position DLA Piper as the leading provider of global legal services.”
Added Lee I. Miller, Joint CEO of DLA Piper: “We want to create a brand and marketing program to help drive our ambitious business goals, and Jolene has the proven ability to execute on a global level. We couldn’t be happier having her lead this important effort.”
Overbeck served as CMO at Latham & Watkins for more than 12 years and was responsible for shaping its marketing program—a program recognized as one of the most strategic and comprehensive in the legal marketplace.
Overbeck subsequently joined Shearman & Sterling, an already established blue chip firm based in New York with a significant international platform. She restructured its marketing and business development program, implemented a global branding initiative, and focused on firmwide business development activities, including global client teams.
Peter Zeughauser, founder and managing member of the Zeughauser Group, said, “We deeply value our longstanding relationship with DLA Piper, and we are certain that Jolene will be a key player in helping them achieve new heights of success. She has enormous stature in the legal industry, and is uniquely qualified to be the first leader of DLA Piper’s global marketing team.”
Overbeck is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley. She has written numerous articles on law firm marketing and is a frequent speaker at marketing symposia. She recently co-chaired American Lawyer Media’s CMO Forum.
About DLA Piper
DLA Piper has more than 3,400 lawyers in 24 countries and 63 offices throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the US. It has leading practices in Corporate, Employment, Pensions and Benefits, Finance, Intellectual Property, Litigation and Arbitration, Projects and Infrastructure, Real Estate, Regulatory and Government Affairs, Restructuring, Tax, Technology and Media.
