Passle CMO Series Podcast

Hosted by Passle

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100

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Oct 2026

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About the show

The must-listen podcast for professional services marketers, featuring conversations with leading voices in business development and marketing across the sector. Each episode explores practical strategies for building authentic visibility, improving effectiveness, and unlocking new growth opportunities in a changing market. Produced by Passle, the platform behind the Thought Leadership Suite and CrossPitch AI, built to power thought leadership and cross-selling for the world’s leading professional services firms, including Ropes & Gray, Linklaters, Quinn Emanuel and many more. Find out more at passle.ai .

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60 recent

October 27, 2026Episode 31719 min

Episode 213 - Gillian Ward of Reed Smith on What a CMBDO Needs to Bring to the Role Today'

Firms expect Marketing and BD to shape strategy at a high level, and they increasingly expect that strategic input to demonstrate clear revenue impact. In the latest CMO Series Podcast, James Barclay, our CEO, is joined by Gillian Ward, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer at Reed Smith. Gillian is one of legal marketing's most accomplished and experienced CMBDOs, and she joins us to talk about what Marketing and Business Development leaders must bring to the table right now. Gillian also shares her insights from conversations with partners about revenue generation and managing a global team Gillian and James also jump into: What a CMBDO needs to bring to the role today. Her top three focus 18 months into the role, and what that means for her team’s delivery. How a Manager running a high-investment event should demonstrate impact and ROI for the firm. How Reed Smith's global footprint shapes what she expects from her team What she looks for from a regional senior BD manager leading a global sector like energy, and how that’s evolved. Her advice for senior marketing and BD professionals on what to focus on in their first 90 days at a new firm.

October 20, 2026Episode 31631 min

CMO Series Rainmakers EP 8: Fadwa Hammoud of Miller Johnson on Driving Growth With Intention.

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.

October 13, 2026Episode 31427 min

Episode 212 - Drew Hawkins and Rachel Hutson of Womble Bond Dickinson on Building a Seamless Digital Platform for Marketing and BD

Every firm’s marketing and business development are built on a foundation of digital infrastructure, but how does a modern, technologically aware firm organise their marketing and BD objectives effectively? On today’s episode of the CMO series podcast, Avary Flynn sits down with Drew Hawkins, Senior Director of Marketing & Operations, and Rachel Hutson, Senior Manager of Digital Marketing, from Womble Bond Dickinson. Drew and Rachel explain how utilising new software systems can revolutionise productivity, efficiency and ease of use for a firm. With the help of Passle’s CrossPitch AI, the Womble Bond Dickinson team can develop through more seamless processes. Avary, Rachel, and Drew dive into: How the Womble Bond Dickinson team managed content creation and distribution. How CrossPitch AI encourages networking and inter-firm collaboration. The link between improved communication and increasing referrals. Technology and AI’s impact on administrative effectiveness. Time-saving methods in busy, dynamic environments. Their key piece of advice for other marketers thinking about their infrastructure and platforms

October 6, 2026Episode 31211 min

Episode 211 - Melanie Hill of Chambers & Partners on How the Role of the Law Firm CMO Is Changing

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

September 29, 2026Episode 31136 min

Episode 210 - Gaius Powell of Wilkin Chapman Rollits on Turning Pre‑merger Considerations into Post‑merger Value

A merger doesn't end when the ink dries. For Wilkin Chapman Rollits, the real work started afterwards with harmonising systems, bringing two firms together, and taking time to build new firm values that actually reflected the combined business. On this episode of the CMO Series Podcast, Will Eke sits down with Gaius Powell, Director of Marketing and Business Development at Wilkin Chapman Rollits. Gaius talks through his career journey, the client‑driven thinking behind the merger, and why the firm chose to wait before relaunching its values. He also shares how they designed client feedback interviews around those values to understand how they show up in practice. Will and Gaius dive into: Gaius's career journey and what led him to Director of Marketing and BD at Wilkin Chapman Rollits How Rollits partners joining Wilkin Chapman ahead of the merger helped set the stage for what followed The main considerations behind the merger, and the thinking around building a strong presence across both regions What day-to-day life looked like post-merger, integrating laterals and building a shared culture Why the firm waited to relaunch its values, and what that process involved How updated interview-based client feedback shows the values showing up in real client relationships

September 24, 2026Episode 31023 min

Episode 209 - Eileen Kinney-Mallin on How to Drive Lawyer Adoption of Your CRM

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

September 16, 2026Episode 3095 min

Episode 2 - CMO Series Laterals & Mergers: 2 Good 1 Bad with Craig Budner from Budner Performance Group

Last week you heard from Grasford Smith, a Litigation Partner and Co-Chair of the lateral integration programme at Akerman, to hear his insights on two good things that have worked for the programme and one thing that he and his Co-Chair would avoid doing again. This week we’re bringing you another exciting episode of 2 Good 1 Bad. Connor Kinnear sits down with Craig Budner, CEO of Budner Performance Group and former Global Strategic Growth Partner at K&L Gates, who had a front‑row view of a major law firm merger, guiding Hughes and Luce through integration and seeing firsthand how firms grow through both merger and lateral expansion. With Craig’s 25+ years of experience, he shares the importance of connecting lateral integration with business development, holding laterals accountable through both leading and lagging indicators, and the costly lesson of skipping due diligence during a period of urgent hiring.

September 10, 2026Episode 3084 min

Episode 1 - CMO Series Laterals & Mergers: 2 Good 1 Bad with Grasford Smith from Akerman

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.

September 3, 2026Episode 30735 min

Episode 7 - CMO Series Laterals & Mergers: Heidi Gardner and Ivan Matviak on How Law Firms Can Turn Relationships into Revenue

Every law firm claims to prioritise collaboration, yet very few have figured out how to turn it into real, measurable revenue growth. Today on the CMO Series: Laterals & Mergers, host Connor Kinnear, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer at Passle, is joined by two of the world's leading experts on smarter collaboration in professional services, Heidi Gardner, Distinguished Fellow at Harvard Law School and bestselling author, and Ivan Matviak, Co-founder of Gardner & Co. and CEO of Smarter Collaboration International. Together they unpack what the data really says about collaboration and lateral integration, and what CMOs and BD leaders can actually do to turn it into a genuine growth driver. In this episode Heidi and Ivan discuss: The single most important research finding every law firm leader needs to hear about collaboration and growth What an outsider's view from banking, consulting and consumer businesses reveals about blind spots in legal BD Why top firms are shifting from hiring for books of business to hiring for talent, and what that means for recruiting Where firms typically get stuck turning anecdotal knowledge about growth opportunities into action How the data quantifies the link between collaboration and revenue, and where the biggest missed opportunities are The early warning signs that a lateral hire is failing to integrate, and how much of that comes down to culture versus individual fit Their closing advice for CMOs and BD leaders building the case for a smarter collaboration initiative

August 27, 2026Episode 30627 min

Episode 6 - CMO Series Laterals & Mergers: Mark Levin of Marshall Gerstein on The Lawyer Who Cracked the NFL's Hiring Code and Brought It Back to Big Law

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