For more than twenty-five years, I’ve helped clients say exactly what they mean.

Peter Darling · J.D., Penn Law

Lawyers and my corporate clients often have strong ideas about their work: how industries are changing, how regulators are thinking, how disputes unfold. Turning those ideas into clear, effective language requires a unique kind of integrative expertise. That’s where I come in.

A law degree, applied to legal marketing

I have a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. That background allows me to understand the reasoning behind the work I write about. It also helps me work productively with both lawyers and marketing teams, translating complex legal and business thinking into language that supports business development, thought leadership, and client communication.

In practice, that means helping clients shape how their expertise is presented — on websites, in articles, in white papers, and other forms of client-facing writing. Much of my work begins before the writing does, helping clients clarify how their capabilities should be explained.

Strategic writing for professional expertise

The writing I produce is usually part of a broader strategic effort. A practice group may want to clarify how it presents its work to the market. A partner may want to develop a piece of thought leadership that explains an emerging issue. A legal services company may need messaging that reflects the importance of its technology.

In each case, the work requires understanding how expertise should be positioned, explained, and communicated. It also requires understanding what the audience should hear, and why. My role is to help make this possible.

From the inside of companies

Before I wrote for law firms, I worked inside young companies. I joined a pre-funded internet advertising network as employee number 14, and was its first salesperson. I ended as Director of Business Development, following an IPO and a $690 million sale. Since then I have spent three years on the communications strategy of a global technology company’s internal design organization. I have also been the first Chief Marketing Officer of an AI startup entering the legal market, advised a maps publisher in India for several years, and launched an AI-based venture of my own. That experience is why I can join a strategy conversation as an operator: I’ve done it. The ventures →

Experience

Over the course of my career I’ve worked with major law firms, professional services organizations, and technology companies on projects involving messaging, thought leadership, and client-facing communication. My work has included:

• Law firm websites
• Practice and industry positioning
• Attorney biographies
• Ghostwritten thought leadership
• Marketing content for legal services companies

Representative clients include Orrick, Morgan Lewis, McDermott Will & Schulte, Dechert, Apple, and the American Bar Association. See the full client list →

Personal writing

Along with my client craft, I write essays about work, culture, and everyday life on my Substack, Specifics. Read more →

Background

Over the years I’ve lived and worked in New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago, Silicon Valley, and Santa Cruz. Today I’m based in the Finger Lakes region of New York, where I work with clients around the world.