Law firms are starting to realize that to highlight their strengths and differentiate themselves from the competition, they need robust marketing and business development. However, according to the 2024 Wisnik Law Firm Marketing/BD Survey, two-thirds of responding firms admitted that their marketing and BD teams lacked the staffing to meet this challenge.
Since the legal profession is expected to expand by 5% over the next decade, law firms will need to keep adding talent to their marketing teams. And the demand for experienced law firm marketers has led firms to seek out executive recruiters who are able to support them in finding the talent they need.
CMO2Go founder Erika Steinberg spoke with three leaders in the executive recruiting field to hear their insights and predictions about the state of legal marketing recruiting in 2025. These conversations covered the kinds of legal marketing professionals that large and midsize firms are seeking, the amount of time it can realistically take to find and hire quality candidates, and the pros and cons of recruiting talent from outside the legal sector.
The Talent Law Firms are Seeking
Different size firms tend to seek candidates with different skills and experiences. Midsize law firms commonly search for generalists – people who can handle both marketing and business development work. They need people with broader experience who can wear multiple hats and roll up their sleeves to do the work at hand.
Larger firms seek candidates with more specialized expertise; experienced BD people are particularly sought after. It’s not uncommon for a firm to look for very specific practice or sector experience, which can affect the amount of time it takes to source candidates.
If you’re a law firm marketer yourself, consider a strategic approach to your career that takes into account what law firms are currently seeking, as well as your own interests.
If you’re beginning your legal marketing career, it’s common to start at a larger firm where you’ll get wider exposure to varied roles. Even though your own role might be more narrow in scope and the hours may be long, you’ll work alongside colleagues who handle a variety of responsibilities, and will get a much better sense for what options are most appealing for your own career growth. Then, if you want to make the leap from Big Law to a midsize firm later on, that experience will be invaluable in making the transition.
However, there are also benefits to starting out in a midsize firm. Eva Wisnik of Wisnik Career Enterprises points out that marketing staff in midsize firms get more exposure to firm leadership, which can be attractive if you choose to join a larger firm later on. The number of lawyers and other professionals is more manageable, so you’re more likely to have the capacity to take a deep dive into projects. You’re also likely to know most of the people you work with, making it a more personal experience.
Seeking Talent Outside the Legal Marketing Pool
The demand for legal marketing professionals means that firms may need to recruit outside the typical law firm box, and should actively discuss that with their recruiters early on in the process. Hadleigh Katz, Director of Executive Search at Calibrate, noted that “we’ve seen great success placing candidates from Big 4 firms into law firms. In fact, several Am Law 100 firms have recently requested a mix of legal and Big 4 candidates for their searches, recognizing the value of cross-industry expertise.”
So if you’re already in the marketing field, especially at a Big 4 firm, moving to legal marketing could be a great career opportunity for you. Those who are interested in such a move should talk to current legal marketers in their networks to see if it’s a fit. Or, even better, speak with those who have already made this switch. Erika’s article in New York Law Journal, “How Senior Marketing Professionals Can Transition to the Legal World,” is a good place to start learning about the pros and cons of making such a move.
However, law firms aren’t for everyone, and those making the leap from other sectors could be in for a culture shock. It’s crucial that marketers coming from other industries thoroughly understand how the partnership model works, and how they are likely to succeed within it. As Eva points out, the partnership model is flat, and “you really have to understand how to influence, and influencing is different from leading.”
Jason Caramanico, Senior Managing Director of Celeritas Recruiting, agrees that not everyone thrives in law firms. “It’s an environment of excellence. The demands on the attorneys by their clients are high – the clients expect perfection and unmatched customer service. So lawyers expect that from their business support teams,” and that attitude permeates throughout the organization. However, if you can make the leap successfully, “you’ll have an amazing career.”
Recruiting is Time-Consuming
Those looking to hire legal marketing professionals should be ready to wait, especially at the CMO level. A CMO search can take as little as three months, but it’s not unheard of for it to take close to a year. Vetting candidates and scheduling alone, especially if a firm wants potential candidates to visit several offices, can take quite some time. And at the CMO level, it’s not unusual for a firm’s chosen candidate to give 30 days of notice to their current employer. Firms should definitely have top candidates meet with a number of stakeholders; speeding up the process can result in hasty decisions, leading to a poor mutual fit and lack of retention.
It’s easier to find senior marketing professionals below the CMO level, but a search could take longer if a firm is looking for a particular skill set – for example, a business development professional with experience in a certain sector or practice area. The search can also take longer if the talent they wish to hire needs to have managerial experience. If that’s the case, firms may need to sweeten the deal, because for a viable candidate, this could be a lateral move.
2025 Predictions
Legal marketing hiring has been a rollercoaster these last several years. In the early part of the 2020s, we saw lots of hiring and movement. Eva noted that some people even changed jobs twice during those years.
The recruiters Erika spoke with tend to believe that 2025 will be a busy time for legal marketing recruiting – unless the economy goes south. Jason is hoping that the Fed will lower interest rates and the economy will get a boost, which should increase M&A activity. “The countercyclical practices, such as litigation and bankruptcy, did well in 2024, but everyone seems to be looking for the transactional side to pick up so firms can relax a bit more.” If that happens, we will likely see another robust hiring year.
Right now, the uptick in mergers and lateral movement is generating a lot of marketing and business development work at law firms. Younger partners are big believers in marketing and need a lot of support. In addition, everyday marketing activities keep increasing, including client events, content needs, social media, and digital marketing – plus the ongoing shift to an industry focus and to client teams.
Law firms’ marketing departments and BD teams are not only stretched thin, but plenty of marketers are moving to other firms. Eva noted, “About a third of the law firm marketing professionals who responded to the Wisnik survey changed firms in the last two years.” However, the good news is that 90% of this talent believes they will still be in legal marketing roles more than two years from now.
The trend of professional services candidates moving into legal services will continue, predicts Hadleigh. “Law firms are increasingly adopting a more client-centric approach, emphasizing strategic relationship management and long-term client retention.” She also notes that candidates coming from professional services firms bring years of experience with this type of strategic mindset.
Hadleigh emphasized that we could also see more movement at the C-level, “influenced by broader industry trends, firm strategy and market shifts. Firms may be undergoing digital transformations or broader strategic shifts that require new leadership with different skills. As the legal sector continues to become more competitive, there is a greater need for senior leaders who can drive marketing initiatives that not only attract clients and drive revenue but elevate the firm’s brand and visibility.”
Keep Your Marketing Momentum While You Search
Law firms need to build up their marketing and BD muscle, but in a field where quality is so important, there aren’t many shortcuts. Pausing your firm’s marketing initiatives or cutting back on essential work is not the way to go.
To avoid such delays, law firms can work with professionals who can handle the essential work while the firm and the recruiter conduct the search. And yet, law firms don’t seem to ask their executive recruiters about finding stopgap help that can step in; surprisingly, the three recruiters Erika spoke with said their clients have not asked about short term services like this.
At CMO2Go, we speak fluent lawyer. We are veteran professional legal marketers who can step into your firm’s senior-level roles and handle the work for as long as you need, then step aside once you find the key marketing talent you’ve been seeking. Schedule a call with Erika to learn more about how we can bridge the gap at your firm.