LMA: Tell us how you felt when you found out you were an inductee for the first class in the LMA Hall of Fame.

Tarlton: I thought, “Sally [Schmidt] had better be in there!” Much to my surprise, I was also very embarrassed. It was a wonderful honor and I do have to confess it made me blush. The two people who nominated me took me out for a cup of coffee to announce it to me and I was stunned into silence.

LMA: Over the years, who or what do you feel has been the biggest influence on you personally?

Tarlton: A lot of my inspiration comes from places outside of the legal profession. One of the things I’ve been focused on is how to bring in to firms the stuff that works so well in other places. So I think of people like Tom Peters, David White, but also of all of the lawyers I have worked with. You think you’re doing something innovative in a firm, but you have to be careful so that you don’t trigger the firm’s immune system. You’re working hard to make sure that what you are attempting isn’t an irritant or will give the firm sort of a rash. And there is occasionally a person or a partner who says, “Why aren’t you doing it this way?” and it takes you to an every more interesting place.

LMA: What do you think your most satisfying achievement has been?

Tarlton: It’s two things. One is when I see movement because of something I have done, a strategy I have introduced to a firm and it works. It could be things I have started inside a firm and others have then implemented. Another is I have been able to work with incredibly creative people: other marketing people, technology gurus, lawyers, designers. You find creative people in the strangest places sometimes, and when you do, it’s so much fun.

LMA: What are you doing to learn more than you currently know, and keep your thinking fresh?

Tarlton: One of the most enlarging experiences I have had in the last 20 years is when I took on the role of editor for the “Journal of Law Practice Management” of the ABA. That forced me to interact with lots of people in law firms who knew more than I did. I heard about document management, technology issues, staffing and other subjects and learned a lot from authors and editorial board members.

It has been a challenge for LMA for years to provide education for senior members. Sally, Norm and I are members of the College of Law Practice Management, and we also struggle with the same questions.

LMA: Tell us about the challenges you see ahead for legal marketing.

Tarlton: Continuing to change the business model for law firms --there are just so many things wrong with the model we have seen historically. Up to 80 percent of law firms are now using some form of alternative fees. This kind of experimentation is far along from where we were years ago. But there is much room for other, positive changes.