VP of Communications

Our Story

TopDog Law is not your typical law firm. We're a nationally scaling personal injury firm built for impact and growth — owning the client experience end-to-end, from marketing and intake through litigation. We believe that world-class marketing, paired with exceptional legal talent and operations, creates better experiences and outcomes for clients and the business alike.

Over the past three years, we've grown 2–3x year over year, setting a new standard on the marketing side of the personal injury space and proving what's possible when strategy, speed, and execution align. Now we're applying that same discipline and innovation to firm operations, case management, and national scale — intentionally building the infrastructure, systems, and teams to grow without sacrificing quality, culture, or accountability.

We are a fully remote team that share trust, open communication, and a commitment to doing great work. If you love ownership, thrive in a fast-moving environment, and want to help build something exceptional, you'll feel right at home here.

The Opportunity

The VP of Communications owns TopDog's reputation in the legal space. The mandate is trust and authority. The audience is every stakeholder including potential clients: industry publications, trial attorney forums, plaintiff bar associations, legal media, mainstream business media, local media, state bar leadership, prospective attorney hires, B2B referral partners, and the broader legal community that decides whether TopDog is a serious firm.

The strategic center of this role is a reputational transition. TopDog is often perceived today as a marketing network. This VP drives the shift to a leading, powerful, client-obsessed law firm measured by every placement, byline, and narrative decision.

The role moves TopDog from a historically defensive communications posture to an offensive one. The VP builds and runs that offense, guided by a client-first thesis: a firm becomes trustworthy and credible when its leaders are respected voices, its operations are visibly built for clients, and its results prove the thesis works.

What You Will Own

Founder Platform — James Helm

• Build James into a named industry voice through published bylines in Law360, ABA Journal, Trial magazine, and comparable outlets. Drive podcast placement inside the plaintiff bar and beyond. Secure speaking positions at AAJ, state trial lawyer association conferences, and legal industry events. Develop the message framework James needs to speak comfortably about the firm's transition and business model in interview formats.

Earned Media Strategy & Execution

• Build and run the earned media program from a clean slate. Select and manage the appropriate mix of agency partners based on the strategy you build — a boutique legal PR firm, a national agency with local operations, or a combination. Success is not just clip volume; it's placements that shift how the plaintiff bar, legal press, and business media talk about TopDog.

Attorney Legitimization Program

• Own the firm-wide standards and support system for attorney public presence: LinkedIn standards and posting guidelines, local media guidelines, professional headshots, message coaching for new hires, tagging and cross-posting protocols, and content templates. When a new attorney joins and asks "who helps me post about my new role," the answer is this function.

Attorney Recruiting Communications

• Develop and place communications on Law.com and equivalent platforms, jurisdiction-targeted, to attract elite attorney talent and signal to the market that TopDog is building a serious in-house litigation practice. Own the messaging and placement strategy in partnership with recruiting.

Attorney Referral Communications

• Position TopDog to the plaintiff bar as a firm worth referring cases to. Execute placements in trial lawyer forums, industry publications, and targeted attorney-facing channels. Messaging emphasizes geographic coverage, resources for high-value cases, and fee structure.

Tech & Process Storytelling

• Turn TopDog's client centric tech into PR and media assets. This can include how we leverage AI. Target outlets include Above the Law, Legaltech News, Bloomberg Law, and mainstream business press for major milestones.

Wins Amplification

• Own the end-to-end process for identifying, packaging, and placing significant client and attorney wins. Joint workflow with marketing, case management and the General Counsel. Every result requires bar-compliant framing, results qualifiers, and co-counsel language. Wins placed in trial attorney publications, verdicts databases, local press, and industry media.

Narrative Development

• Partner with the CMO to shape TopDog's narrative platform, pressure-test it, and evolve it as the firm grows. Build that narrative into media objects, research pieces, industry reports, data releases, position papers that the press wants to cover and that advance the category-leadership story.

Firm Transition Narrative

• Structure the compelling public story around TopDog's move from a lead generation model to a national in-house litigation firm. Joint workflow with the General Counsel on compliant framing.

Crisis & Issues Management

• Own the response to adverse verdicts, bar inquiries, employee issues, plaintiff losses that get amplified, and negative press — in close partnership with the General Counsel. Build the crisis playbook and pressure-test it.

Agency & Vendor Management

• Select and manage PR agency partners, media training vendors, awards and recognition programs, and industry sponsorship strategy. The agency mix is a strategic question the VP owns and is expected to address directly in the interview process.

What You Bring

Required:

• 10+ years running communications for a law firm or regulated professional services company where reputation was the operating constraint
• Demonstrated legal industry communications experience with placements in Law360, ABA Journal, Bloomberg Law, or comparable outlets
• Proven experience building or managing an earned media program — not just executing against one
• Direct experience placing founder or executive voices in tier-one legal media
• Direct experience running crisis communications
• Politically astute — comfortable navigating the intersection of a firm's ambitions and its regulators
• Able to drive strategy from day one and already knows how legal media operates

Preferred (Nice to Have):

• PI-specific communications experience
• Comparable exposure through mass torts, product liability, or defense-side communications at an AmLaw 100 firm
• Existing relationships within plaintiff bar media and associations (AAJ, state trial lawyer associations)
• Experience with legal tech or productized professional services storytelling
• Track record of category-defining features in tier-one legal or business press
• Experience building internal attorney communications programs from scratch

Who Thrives Here (Core Values)

We don't hire on resumes alone. We hire for competence, character, and mindset.

• Embrace Change: Open to feedback, embracing change, and always asking "what's next?"
• Committed: You care deeply, have your teammates' backs, and show up to build something lasting.
• No-Ego Energy: Positive, professional, and solutions-oriented. Drama stays at the door.
• Ownership: You do what you say, follow through, and treat the business like it's yours.
• Fast & Hungry: You move with urgency, thrive under high expectations, and are motivated by growth and impact.

What We Offer

• Base Salary: [Min} and [Max], commensurate with experience
• Eligible for performance-based bonus
• Our job postings reflect the compensation range for the specific market and location of each role. Ranges vary by geography based on local market rates and cost of labor.
• Benefits include: Medical, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) with company match, HSA, life insurance, disability coverage, paid time off, and parental leave.

Equal Opportunity Employer

We are an equal opportunity employer. Employment selection and related decisions are made without regard to age, race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identification, or being a qualified disabled veteran or qualified veteran of the Vietnam era or any other category protected by Federal or State law.