Passle CMO Series Podcast

A good rainmaker does not just provide contacts for a firm; they connect them. On today’s episode of the Rainmakers podcast, Alex Haidar sits down with Fadwa Hammoud, Managing Member of Miller Johnson’s Detroit office, for a conversation on how her distinguished career in public service has influenced her approach to business development, collaboration, and rainmaking in the private sector. Prior to joining the firm, Fadwa led a trailblazing career as both the youngest and first Arab-American and Muslim woman to serve as Michigan’s Solicitor General and to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court, following which, she served as Chief Deputy Attorney General in Michigan. Fadwa is a modern rainmaker who drives growth with intention by deepening existing client relationships, building trust, and opening doors to opportunities across the business. Alex and Fadwa dive into: Fadwa’s public service experience, and how it has impacted her private-sector career. How she channels past relationships, reputation, and interpersonal skills into her work. Improved methods of communication and collaboration between partners. The crucial link between a client's success and the firm’s success. Being a selfless leader and its impact on the team as a whole.

The law firm's CMO is now a strategic, board-aligned leader with clear responsibility for driving the bottom line. On today's episode of the CMO Series Podcast, Sam Page is joined by Melanie Hill, CMO at Chambers and Partners, to explore new research into how the role of the law firm CMO is changing and where it's heading next. Melanie shares what the data revealed about how CMOs measure success, with 81% prioritising revenue growth and 69% focusing on client retention and cross-selling, ahead of new business acquisition. She also explains why brand has become a measurable business asset, why 46% of CMOs cite partner alignment as one of their biggest barriers to growth, and why the finding that only 10% see data and intelligence as core and essential points to a significant gap. Sam and Melanie dive into: What Chambers and Partners set out to learn about the law firm CMO through this research Why revenue growth, client retention and cross-selling now lead as measures of marketing success How the CMO has evolved into a strategic, board-level function driving real commercial value Why brand and reputation are now measurable business assets that shape client hiring decisions The challenge of partner alignment and buy-in, and how CMOs can become trusted partners to the firm Balancing short-term pipeline with long-term brand investment to protect future revenue Why data and intelligence should underpin every decision, and the gap the research uncovered

A CRM implementation can involve a huge investment of time, money and resources, but making sure lawyers actually use a new CRM is another challenge entirely. On today's episode of the CMO Series Podcast, Charles Cousins is joined by Eileen Kinney-Mallin, who has first-hand experience leading a global CRM implementation within a law firm. Eileen shares what it takes to drive genuine lawyer adoption, her own experience taking a CRM project from selection through to launch, and how building adoption into the process from day one made all the difference. She also highlights her career journey and how she came to realise the significance of implementing a CRM, and how involving lawyers and other stakeholders early on shaped both the technology and its eventual success. Charles and Eileen dive into: Her career journey and how she came to realise the significance of implementing a CRM The distinction between implementing technology and driving real transformation Why adoption needs to start at the very beginning of a CRM project, not at launch How involving lawyers and other stakeholders early on shapes both the technology and its success Using tangible use cases, like relationship scoring, to show lawyers what's in it for them How firms should measure genuine adoption and success once a CRM is live

Only last month we launched CMO Series: Laterals & Mergers, a podcast dedicated entirely to how law firm marketers and BD leaders navigate the complexities of lateral recruitment and firm mergers. This month we present to you the short form podcast of Laterals & Mergers: 2 Good 1 Bad. We bring on leaders from law and professional services firms to talk about the two good things they have done to drive successful lateral integration or merger, and one bad thing that they or the firm would not do again. To kick us off, Connor Kinnear was joined by Grasford Smith, a Litigation Partner and Co-Chair of the lateral integration programme at Akerman, a role he's held for the past four years alongside a fellow partner in the firm's New York office. Grasford shares insights including welcome videos that go beyond the CV, a structured, stakeholder-mapped onboarding checklist, and the risk of assuming a good programme stays good.