Passle CMO Series Podcast

Lateral hiring is currently at an all time high and the cost of getting it wrong runs into the billions, so why are firms still making critical hiring decisions without using the right tools to get it right.

This week on CMO Series: Lateral and Mergers, we are pleased to share this brand new episode. Eugene McCormick is joined by Mark Levin, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer at Marshall Gerstein, Chicago's largest IP boutique firm. Mark has spent his career studying what makes legal talent succeed or fail, and led him to run a psychometric assessment company working with NFL Combine teams and AmLaw 250 firms.

Mark shares his journey into talent assessment and development, what the legal profession still gets wrong about lateral hiring, and why IP attorneys present a unique challenge for any BD leader.

Mark and Eugene dive into:

• His journey from law into psychometric assessment, and what the NFL Combine taught him about predicting talent
• What the legal profession still gets wrong about lateral hiring
• Why the true cost of a bad lateral hire runs so much deeper than the recruiting fee
• Why IP attorneys present a unique challenge for any BD leader
• What it actually takes to build a business development culture that sticks
• The tools firms need, but rarely use, when making high stakes hiring decisions

Law firms can no longer just coast on stability anymore, they need to start actively building momentum. Marketing leaders are expected to evolve alongside the business, modify strategy around lateral growth, and provide value through data. 

As part of our CMO Series: Laterals & Mergers sub-series, we're revisiting this conversation between Eugene McCormick and Kathryn Whitaker, Chief Marketing Officer at Burr & Forman, on how her strategic approach has evolved since her first appearance on the podcast back in 2022.

Kathryn broke down how marketing can support opportunistic growth, why firms are shifting toward outcome-driven metrics, and why mid-career attorneys may be the biggest missed opportunity in law firm growth strategy today.

In this episode Kathryn discusses:

• Law firm growth through strategic scaling
• Lateral integration to build long-term success
• The importance of data-driven storytelling to inform decisions
• AI's practical impact on efficiency and visibility
• The under leveraged investment in mid-career attorneys

Growth means different things depending on where you sit in a law firm. For lawyers, it's often about winning new work and deepening client relationships. For marketing and BD teams, it's about building the infrastructure, content and hiring strategy that makes that growth possible at scale. Bridging those two perspectives is increasingly becoming a role in its own right.

As we continue to revisit standout episodes from the main podcast, today on CMO Series: Laterals & Mergers, we're looking back at a conversation Charles Cousins had with Craig Budner, former Global Strategic Growth Partner at K&L Gates, now CEO of Budner Performance Group. Craig explored what that bridging role looks like in practice, and how it drove growth across an international firm.

Charles and Craig dive into:

• What a Global Strategic Growth Partner actually does
• The thinking behind launching the K&L Gates Client Conversations podcast
• Where the biggest growth opportunities lie for an international law firm
• How marketing and BD teams can support lawyers to build client relationships at scale
• What makes a strong lateral hire
• Key advice for firm leaders looking to grow their firms

Mergers can provide huge growth opportunities for law firms. Navigating a merger can also present challenges, but marketing and BD teams are well-positioned to help guide and influence a firm's strategic direction and identify new or emerging markets.

Today on CMO Series: Laterals & Mergers, we are continuing to revisit stand out episodes that touch on the topics of lateral hires and law firm mergers. We are thrilled to be re-releasing an episode with Adam Severson, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer at Baker Donelson, to share his insights on taking advantage of market opportunities and the key factors that influence the success of a merger.

In this episode Adam discussed:

• His background and career journey to his role now at Baker Donelson
• The point at which he recognised the huge potential of law firm mergers in providing business development opportunities
• The current landscape for firms when it comes to merger activity
• The role of marketing and BD in influencing strategic growth and taking advantage of new or emerging markets
• The key success factors that indicate if a merger will be successful or not
• Advice for marketing BD professionals looking to successfully influence mergers and capitalise on growth opportunities

It's well documented that better client-based collaboration can boost business development results and build stronger, long lasting relationships between law firms and their clients. What isn't as clear is how firms can turn that collaboration into a real payoff when it comes to lateral hiring.

Today on the CMO Series: Laterals & Mergers, we are revisiting an episode with Dave Southern, former Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer at Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP, now Director of Communications at Mayer Brown, to discuss how greater client collaboration can make lateral hiring pay off.

In this episode Dave discusses:

• His career journey so far and how his experiences have influenced his philosophy on client collaboration
• Why closer client collaboration is so important
• How to improve the results of lateral hiring
• How to apply this process to all clients of the firm and examples of how this has worked
• How this approach fits within the overall go-to-market strategy of the firm
• Advice for legal marketing and BD professionals looking to improve their client collaboration

Marketing and communications play a pivotal role in successfully launching the news of a law firm merger. Being able to strike the right balance between client-centric narratives, internal messaging, brand management, and PR is a fine art.

As part of our new CMO Series Laterals & Mergers series, we're revisiting this key conversation between Will Eke and Will Brewster, former Head of Communications at Clyde & Co, now Leadership Communications Consultant. Will has first-hand experience successfully launching the news of a law firm merger. In this episode, he walks through the different stages of Clyde & Co's merger with BLM from a communications perspective, sharing the challenges, opportunities, and lessons for others navigating the same path.

This conversation covers :

• When Will was brought into the merger with BLM, and the first stage of the process from a communications perspective
• The main challenges during the initial phase
• The key factors for success ahead of launching the communications campaign, and how they played out in practice
• How to keep clients at the heart of the campaign
• The impact of the merger on the team
• Advice for marketing and communications leaders navigating a merger

Moving beyond practice group silos and towards a one firm, one solution approach starting with what the client genuinely needs has never been more relevant for global firms.

On today's episode of the CMO Series Podcast, Will Eke is joined by Tamasin Manwaring, Global Director of Product Business Development at Linklaters, about what it takes to build a client first product strategy at global scale. Drawing on a career that spans EY, Freshfields and more than a decade leading global disputes BD at Hogan Lovells, she shares how Linklaters is putting product BD into practice.

Tamasin talks about her journey into product BD, what makes it distinctly different from traditional practice group BD, and how she's bringing partners along on a more collaborative, client first approach.

Tamasin and Will dive into:

• Her career journey and when product BD became a central focus
• What makes product BD different, and why firms are shifting towards it now
• How to map a product against real client needs
• Bringing partners aboard a collaborative, client first approach
• Building a one firm, one solution culture across 30 offices
• The key barriers to cross-selling and holding a team accountable
• Her one piece of advice for BD leaders going product led

Adapting the big law playbook and driving the same high standards without the big law budget has never been more relevant for growing firms.  

On today's episode of the CMO Series Podcast, Will Eke is joined by Sarah High, Director of Marketing and Business Development at Yetter Coleman, about what it takes to successfully build a BD function from the ground up in a boutique litigation firm. Drawing on big law lessons and her ability to drive real strategic growth, she shares how to succeed on a boutique budget.

Sarah talks about her journey from big law to boutique litigation, what it means to be a one person team building the framework for growth, and how she's leaning on external partners and AI to deliver big law results.

Sarah and Will dive into:

• Her early priorities while establishing the BD function
• How to balance a strong legacy with modern growth strategies
• The importance of strong communication with external partners
• Where AI and technology is making the biggest impact
• Expert advice for others building a function from scratch

As the role of a legal marketer evolves beyond traditional definitions, it is important that marketing and BD professionals actively redefine and shape the role’s future direction.

On this week's episode of the CMO Series Podcast Alistair Bone is joined by Jennifer Shankleton, Chief Growth and Development Officer at Brennan Manna & Diamond LLC, a title introduced in recognition that the marketing label no longer captured the full scope of her role. Jennifer sits on the executive committee and works across BD coaching, associate mentoring, and growth strategy.

Jennifer brings a rare inside view of what it looks like building a marketing department from scratch, pushing past the limits of the marketing label, and running a function that wide inside a midsize firm with significant growth ambitions. Jennifer’s experience speaks to what marketing and BD professionals can achieve when the scope of their contribution is allowed to grow alongside their ambition.

Jennifer and Ali also explore:

• Her professional career journey 
• Key milestones in the evolution of her role
• Navigating the need for stakeholder buy-in
• Her coaching and mentorship program
• Concrete results demonstrating her positive impact
• Practical advice for others looking to shape their career

Building a BD function that actually drives revenue, not just activity, is something many law firms talk about but few get right.

On today's episode of the CMO Series Podcast, Will Eke is joined by Helen Griffiths, Head of Business Development at Fladgate, who brings a genuinely distinctive perspective to the role, having spent her career across litigation funding, global law firms and a leading commercial barristers' chambers. Since joining Fladgate in 2024, Helen has overhauled the firm's approach to BD, introducing a more structured, targeted model built around clear ownership and measurable results.

Helen and Will discuss:

• How a career spanning small agile businesses to large global firms shaped her approach to stepping into the Fladgate role
• What she found when she arrived, and the four priorities she set from day one
• How she brought both the BD team and fee earners on the journey, and where the resistance actually came from
• How the firm is measuring what's working and what it has stopped doing
• What's on the technology roadmap, including a CRM transformation in progress
• Her one piece of advice for BD leaders trying to build a plan that sticks