Dear LMA Northeast Members,
Following this year’s LMA Annual Conference in New Orleans, April continues our “Build a Bridge” theme with a focus on bridging tradition and innovation. The conference brought together legal marketers from across the country, representing a wide range of firm cultures and backgrounds. What emerged was a powerful reminder: our industry is at its best when diverse perspectives converge around a shared purpose, and when we have the courage to blend established practice with new possibility.
That balance is at the heart of everything we do. Bridging tradition and innovation is not simply a strategic exercise – it is a discipline that requires awareness, adaptability and genuine respect for the cultures we work within.
Consider the Longfellow Bridge in Boston – spanning the Charles River, connecting Cambridge and Boston, and quietly embodying everything we mean when we talk about “where tradition meets transformation.”
The Longfellow Bridge’s preserved granite towers honor the craftsmanship of an earlier era, while its thoughtful modernization ensures it can carry the demands of today. It does not ask you to choose between legacy and progress; it demonstrates that the two are partners. That is the model we return to in legal marketing: honoring what a firm has built over decades while introducing change that is sustainable, intentional and aligned with where the firm is headed.
Navigating firm culture well means listening before leading and earning trust before introducing something new.
This is the work we do, connecting ideas and experiences, spanning the distance between where things are and where they could be. Like the Longfellow Bridge, we are built to hold both sides at once: the tradition that gives our work its foundation, and the transformation that gives it its purpose.
That spirit continues as we celebrate two individuals whose careers reflect that same bridge between legacy and progress. We are incredibly proud that two LMA Northeast members, Dave Poston, Esq., and Trish Lilley, were inducted into the 2026 LMA Hall of Fame.
Dave, founder of Poston Communications and a nationally recognized leader in legal media relations and communications strategy, has served LMA for more than 20 years. He currently serves as the communications director-at-large for the LMA Northeast board of directors.
Trish, as chief marketing and business development officer at Barnes & Thornburg LLP, has helped shape the future of client experience, business development and digital innovation.
Their recognition is not only a testament to their individual excellence, but also to the strength of our LMA Northeast community, and a reminder of the lasting impact we create when we invest in one another.
I hope you all had a wonderful time at the LMA 2026 Conference and feel as reenergized and inspired as I do.
Warmly,
Matthew Goffe
President, 2026
Legal Marketing Association – Northeast Region