Passle CMO Series Podcast

Episode 75 - Matthew Goffe of Eckert Seamans on the opportunities for legal business development professionals

The rise of the marketing and business development function within law firms presents new opportunities for those developing a career in the industry. But how you approach and act upon those opportunities is the key to success.

On this episode of the CMO Series, Ali Bone is lucky to welcome Matt Goffe, Director of Business Development at Eckert Seamans, who shares his journey in legal business development and advice for BD professionals looking to make an impact in their careers.

Ali and Matt cover:

• Matt’s career journey and how he came to his current role at Eckert Seamans
• The pivotal points in Matt’s career and what he learnt from those experiences 
• The key opportunities today for having an impact on the firm and building a successful career
• The differences between sizes of firms in how business development professionals need to approach their roles
• The programs currently creating impact at Eckert Seamans and the most significant opportunities for senior business development professionals to have an impact on their firms 
• How to make the most of the Legal Marketing Association as an opportunity for growth
• The future of careers in legal marketing & BD
• Advice for others looking to make the most of the opportunities that exist in legal marketing and business development

CMO Series Special: Your Guide to taking on 2023

Over the past two years we’ve had the pleasure of speaking to some truly inspirational marketing and business development leaders who’ve shared their insights and advice for other professionals on their career journeys.

 

To kick-start 2023, we had the privilege of catching up with 30 of our CMO Series guests to hear their top tips for legal marketing and BD success in professional services.

 

From all of us here at Passle, we wish you a very happy and prosperous new year!

Episode 74 - Suzanne Donnels of Davies on aligning technology with your firm’s goals for success

Technology in legal marketing and business development offers huge opportunities to help firms progress and stand out in the market. The type of technology and how it’s applied depends on the firm’s capabilities, and more importantly, its goals and ambitions.

Someone with a deep understanding of aligning technology with their firm's goals is Suzanne Donnels, Chief Business Development & Marketing Officer at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg. Ali Bone has the pleasure of sitting down with Suzanne to explore her insights on identifying and implementing the right tech stack to fit your firm’s goals. 

Ali and Suzanne cover: 

• Suzanne’s journey to CMO and how technology has played a role in that journey
• What the definition of legal marketing tech is and the kinds of solutions available 
• How law firm marketing and BD can shape their tech stack and policies to meet their goals
• Example of alignment between goals of the firm and technology
• How far along firms are on their technology journey and the minimum baseline and core capabilities that today's legal marketing and BD departments need to be delivering
• Advice for others looking to make the most of the opportunities presented by technology in legal marketing and business development

Episode 73 - Michael Hertz of White & Case on leading innovation in law firms

From the outside, the legal industry might seem slow to change, but for those working within or alongside law firms, there are constant innovations driving the industry forward.

Today's guest has been right at the centre of that innovation, Ed Lovatt is excited to welcome Michael Hertz, CMO of White & Case to the CMO Series to discuss innovation and how leaders in law firms can approach it successfully.

Ed and Michael discuss:

• Michael’s journey to CMO at White & Case and how it’s influenced his approach to innovation 
• How Michael’s deep experience with the knowledge function within law firms influences his approach to innovation day-to-day
• How leaders can ensure that innovation is cohesive and benefits the firm 
• How to distil what innovations will benefit a specific client  
• The key challenges in scaling innovations within a law firm
•  When and how firms should build their reputation in the market as an innovative service provider
• Advice for others looking to be successful in leading innovation within law firm

Episode 72 - Konstantin Shishkin of Goodwin Procter on growing an innovative legal marketing department

The journey to CMO or Communications leader is often indirect. In many cases, the most successful marketing leaders have wide-ranging experience across different industries, roles and geographies.

Eugene McCormick is lucky to welcome someone who has brought his communications and agency experience to his role in legal. Today on the CMO Series we welcome Konstantin Shishkin, Chief Communications Officer at Goodwin Procter.

Konstantin shares how he’s building an innovative legal marketing team that breaks the mould of the traditional law firm approach.

Eugene and Konstantin cover: 

• Konstantin’s career journey to his role now as Chief Communications Officer at Goodwin
• The unique characteristics or experiences from his work in communications and how they have influenced the marketing and communications team at Goodwin
• The key differentiators regarding the firm’s strategy and the main focus areas
• Influencing the approach to recruitment and growing a marketing team that aligns with the firm’s strategy
• Building the marketing team like a startup and how that differs to other firms
• The problem with the traditional approach to recruiting and building marketing teams in law firms
• The challenges to building a team in this innovative way
• Advice for other marketing and communications professionals in the industry looking to take a more innovative approach to growing a team

 

Episode 71 - Tammy Mangan of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll on identifying and taking advantage of opportunities as a legal marketer

Change is inevitable. But how law firms react to it is a defining characteristic of successful legal marketing. Shifts in the economy, emerging industries and changes in regulation happen often and being able to respond to new opportunities is a skill that marketing leaders need to exercise now more than ever before.

Jennifer Green is lucky to welcome to the CMO series Tammy Mangan, Director of Marketing at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, to explore how legal marketers can recognise and take advantage of opportunities in the market.  

Jennifer and Tammy cover:

• How Tammy came to be in your current role and when was it in her career that she realised how important it was to be aware of and able to take advantage of opportunities as a legal marketer
• Why looking for opportunities and turning them to the benefit of the firm is so key for marketing at a law firm
• What a potential opportunity look like for a firm and what marketers do to be more aware of possible developments
• How marketers be nimble and ready to move quickly enough to make opportunities  matter
• Once the opportunity becomes obvious and the firm has committed to the plan, what the first steps are in making the most of that development
• Advice for marketers looking to see and react to opportunities facing their firm

 

Thanksgiving Special

This Thanksgiving we’re celebrating and giving thanks to our CMO Series guests as they share their gratitude to the people in their lives that have helped them succeed in their legal marketing and business development careers. 

In this special bumper-packed edition of the podcast we hear their personal stories, the inspiring people and the advice that have guided these leaders on their paths to success. 

We’d like to wish our friends and colleagues a very happy Thanksgiving!

Episode 70 - Jeanne Hammerstrom of Benesch on Longevity, Growth, Execution & Retention as a legal CMO

Longevity, growth, execution and retention. These are just some of the facets a legal CMO has to manage. 

In this episode of the CMO Series, we explore the various dimensions of the job of a CMO. Eugene McCormick is lucky to be joined by Jeanne Hammerstrom, CMO at Benesch to discuss the key challenges facing legal CMOs today and how she’s built a successful team that has stood the test of time.

Eugene and Jeanne cover:

• How Jeanne came to be in Cleveland and the steps along the road to CMO at Benesch
• The secret to longevity in senior legal marketing roles
• The value of longevity and what success looks like
• The "sales mentality" approach within the firm and what that looks like in practice
• How to build a support infrastructure for high performers and that impact on new recruits
• How to structure a small team for success
• The key to retaining top talent that the firm needs
• Advice for senior legal marketers

Episode 69 - Deirdre Christin of Covington and Burling on building a more impactful career as a legal marketer

As a function, legal marketing is becoming increasingly more important and plays a core role in creating impact. With this evolution, there is a greater opportunity for legal marketers to have more impact on one of the world's largest and most critical industries.

Ed Lovatt is lucky to welcome someone creating meaningful change in her legal marketing career to the CMO Series. On this episode, Ed has the pleasure of talking to Deirdre Christin, Chief Marketing Officer at Covington and Burling LLP about how legal marketers can have more impact on their firm. 

Deirdre and Ed cover:

• How Deirdre came to her role at Covington and when she first recognised that ‘impact’ was so critical 
• Why finding the right firm that aligns with your values is so important
• What marketers should be looking for during a recruitment process to find the right firm
• When the firm/marketer fit is right, how marketers can go about finding the right opportunity at their firm that will have an impact
• How marketers can approach buy-in within the firm when they have an impactful idea
• How to identify when something has made an impact

 

Episode 68 - Todd Arritola of Winstead on the role of Marketing & BD in driving change in the modern-day firm

Marketing and business development functions within the legal world often become synonymous with one another.  There are distinct differences in their roles and lessons that law firms can take from the world’s leading professional services firms when it comes to driving change.

 

Someone who has brought ‘Big Four’ industry experience to his role in legal is Todd Arritola, Chief Business Development Officer at Winstead. Eugene McCormick has the pleasure of sitting down with Todd to talk about the changing role of Marketing and Business Development in the modern-day law firm and how they are becoming the catalysts for business transformation.

Eugene and Todd discuss:

• Todd’s career journey, from his time in some of the Big Four accountancies to his current role at Winstead
• The key differences between Marketing & Business Development at the Big Four compared to those within legal, and the lessons that legal Marketing and BD teams can learn from outside the industry
• How Marketing and  BD departments can gain that seat at the table and have a real influence on the direction of the business
• What the move to industry focus vs practice focus in legal means for Marketing and BD departments and what their role is in that movement
• The importance of having a business mindset and thinking like a business partner when it comes to clients and how BD professionals can position themselves in that way
• What a successfully positioned marketing & BD team looks like and examples of firms that are headed in the right direction
• The challenges or potential pitfalls for BD teams looking to take this approach
• Advice for legal professionals looking to take their business development practices to the next level