For 19 years, Tanenholz & Marr has done one thing — and done it better than almost anyone.
The firm is a boutique eDiscovery law practice. They help trial counsel and corporate legal departments manage document review — the complex, high-stakes part of litigation where parties exchange millions of pages of records. Government investigations. Civil litigation. Bet-the-company cases.
“We like to say we were the first ones to do it,” David says. “For many years, as far as we could figure out, we were the only law firm providing these services and only these services.”
The work was never the problem. Getting people to know about it was.
A Great Product Nobody Knew About
For nearly two decades, Tanenholz & Marr grew the way most law firms do — through personal contacts and referrals. People who had worked with David before. Colleagues who passed along the name. Word of mouth within the legal community.
Marketing? That was a different story.
“We were, to be honest, clueless in terms of how to do marketing,” David says. “Our product is so good, but people didn’t know about us. People still probably don’t know about us to the extent they should.”
The firm tried the usual things. Networking events. Branded pens and thumb drives. Holiday cards. Sporadic email newsletters through MailChimp — sometimes one or two a year, sometimes nothing for two years straight.
“It was always very sporadic. It wasn’t very organized,” he says. “We were doing things by trial and error.”
David knew someone with marketing expertise should be leading the effort. He just hadn’t found the right fit.
The Skeptic Who Got Surprised
When David connected with eLuminate Marketing, he was skeptical about one thing in particular: the content.
“I was like, these guys keep saying they’re going to create the content, but they can’t,” he remembers. “It’s very niche. People don’t understand this market.”
He was wrong.
Kat, the eLuminate team member managing the account, learned the business faster than David expected — faster than some people the firm had actually hired.
“Very quickly, Kat got it. Many of the things she wrote for us needed almost no editing. She learned the business faster than some people that we actually hired do.”
The content wasn’t just accurate. It had personality.
“We’ll say we want a post that says this, and then she’ll write the post, and we’ll be like, ‘Oh, that was cute. That was clever. That was nice.’ She has a real good flair about her.”
For a firm that wanted to avoid the cheesy, self-promotional LinkedIn posts they’d seen from others, that mattered. Tanenholz & Marr wanted a voice that was smart, authentic, and didn’t take itself too seriously. eLuminate delivered it.
“She understands the business, she understands our culture, she understands our personality. She’s a real partner.”
The Invisible Engagement That Proves It’s Working
David’s business isn’t built on volume. One relationship with the right decision maker at a major legal department can mean millions in revenue. The metrics that matter here aren’t lead counts — they’re awareness, credibility, and being top of mind when the right opportunity surfaces.
And that’s exactly what’s happening.
“People are interacting more. We’re getting noticed more. It’s definitely growing,” David says.
The proof showed up in an unexpected place — his 35-year high school reunion.
“People that did not interact with us at all on LinkedIn — four, maybe six people — came up to me that night and were like, ‘You guys are doing so well. I like your posts.’ I didn’t even know we were connected on LinkedIn.”
That invisible engagement — people watching, reading, and forming opinions without ever clicking “like” — is building the firm’s brand in ways that don’t show up in a dashboard but show up when it counts.
Structure That Keeps Marketing From Getting Backburnered
Before eLuminate, marketing was the first thing to get dropped when client work piled up. Court deadlines, invoices, client calls — they all took priority.
Now there’s a rhythm.
“If left to my own devices, marketing might get backburnered,” David admits. “But when Kat says, ‘I’m going to give you a week and a half to approve these posts,’ and I know I’m the bottleneck — then I can make the time and fit it in.”
Each month, Kat brings ideas. David and the team discuss them. Some turn into posts she drafts. Others become blog assignments or video content for team members.
“I was also kind of surprised. We came up with eight posts the first month and I was like, ‘Okay, I don’t have any more ideas.’ But every month we have ideas and they come up. That’s been the least hard part of this.”
The consistency has created a ripple effect across the firm. A newly hired salesperson has been integrated into the marketing rhythm. A senior associate recently promoted to counsel now sits in on strategy calls and amplifies content on her own LinkedIn. Team members who were reluctant to make videos eventually saw others do it, got over the fear, and became proud participants.
“Our employees see what we’re doing. That’s another benefit.”
What David Would Tell Other Law Firms
For a founding partner who spent 19 years knowing his firm’s work was exceptional but struggling to get the word out, the shift has been clear.
The content is consistent. The brand is growing. The team is engaged. And the marketing no longer depends on David finding time between court deadlines to send a newsletter.
“I was not expecting Kat to provide so much content. She picked up the details and the nuances and had lots of ideas. That was the biggest surprise to me.”
