From Planning to Clients: Building Strong Law Firm Presence

For more than 135 years, the Toronto Lawyers' Association, located within the Courthouse Library, has represented the interests of lawyers practising in the City of Toronto. The association was founded to support its members in three key areas: Knowledge, Advocacy, and Community. To uphold these pillars, the association offers a year-round mix of online and in-person education programs for lawyers, hosts both free and paid events to foster in-person networking, and submits advocacy pieces on behalf of its members to the Ontario bench and bar, all levels of government, and the broader public.

Kristine brings over 20 years of legal experience to Fern Law. Since her first year in law school, she knew she wanted to be in the courtroom advocating for clients. Crafting a solution that empowers her clients is her focus. Kristine deeply understands clients' needs and genuinely cares about every file. Kristine is also a mediator who works with parties to obtain powerful solutions built on respect.

Over 30 years ago, Steve Benmor founded Benmor Family Law Group, gaining unparalleled experience in settling divorce cases for families with significant wealth and assets. Mr. Benmor is proficient in mediating high-net-worth divorces and complex financial cases with his sophisticated financial understanding and in-depth knowledge of divorce law, tax law, real estate law, corporate law and trust law. Driven by a mission to achieve great results for his clients, Mr. Benmor is known for his expertise in negotiation, conflict resolution and domestic violence in order to assist families through the many stages of separation and divorce, with compassion, respect, and urgency. Steve Benmor is one of the only divorce professionals in Canada who is licensed, certified and accredited in all out-of-court divorce options. Recognizing the need to help families avoid conflict and find a better solution for reaching a divorce settlement, Mr. Benmor was designated as a “Certified Family Mediator” by the Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario. In addition to Mr. Benmor’s extraordinary commitment to children and families, the Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario awarded Mr. Benmor his designation as a “Specialist in Parenting Coordination.” Mr. Benmor is one of Toronto’s 24 Certified Specialists in Family Law, one of Canada’s 56 Fellows of the prestigious International Academy of Family Lawyers and holds a Master of Laws in Family Law.

Marly Broudie is the proud owner of SocialEyes Communications, a leading digital marketing and business development firm specializing in working with lawyers, law firms, and other professional service providers. Marly has spent the last decade working in the field of digital marketing and business development. Throughout her career, she has had the privilege of working with numerous lawyers and firms, gaining valuable insights into the unique challenges and opportunities they face in today’s digital age. As the founder of SocialEyes, she has successfully collaborated with legal professionals to develop tailored strategies for enhancing their online visibility, reputation management, and client acquisition. Marly has provided training sessions at various law firms and has authored several articles on relevant topics in the legal marketing area.

Sandra Bekhor founded Bekhor Management in 2005 to enable professionals to realize the vision for their practice from start-up through to succession planning, through the use of business and marketing strategies. From lawyers to architects, doctors, and accountants, Sandra has helped small to mid-sized professional practices successfully emerge in the modern marketplace, with meaningful marketing that stands out from the crowd and the leadership development necessary to sustain it. Sandra regularly speaks, teaches, and writes about practice development for various professional associations and publications, including CBA PracticeLink and SlawTips. In partnership with the TLA, Sandra co-founded "Keeping it Social," a LinkedIn group for lawyers that meets quarterly to learn practice tips and network. Sandra is the instructor for the RAIC’s "Marketing for Architects" course. She is also writing a chapter for the 2nd edition of "Marketing Techniques for Law and Professional Practices," to be published by the American Bar Association in the Spring of 2021.