The Impact of law firm CMOs: Market insights and key trends for Q2 2025

As we step into the final month of Q1, it’s a great time to reflect on what lies ahead this year for Marketing & BD teams in law firms.

Working in an Marketing & BD team is no small feat.

The pressure is intense, the workload is vast, and every task must be executed with precision, efficiency, and the highest level of quality. It’s not an easy job, but it can be an incredibly rewarding and interesting one.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of attending in-person meetings with CMOs from international law firms, and I have to say, I absolutely love these face-to-face interactions.

These meetings served as a powerful reminder of the importance of building, nurturing, and maintaining relationships.

It is inspiring to see the generosity of clients giving their time, which they are short of, the importance of receiving honest feedback and the willingness to embrace failure as a learning opportunity. In the New York market especially, there’s a real sense of people supporting one another.

There's something incredibly powerful about talking to people face-to-face, listening to their challenges, and brainstorming ideas and solutions together. Hosting dynamic round table discussions with like-minded professionals who are passionate about developing and improving their teams has been a truly enriching experience.

It's also reinforced my deep appreciation for the business acumen that CMOs bring to the table and how incredibly hard they work. This is certainly not a role for the faint-hearted.

It has been truly inspiring and a great deal of fun spending time with all of you. Thank you for your time and insights!

Looking ahead to Q2

• There is a noticeable focus on more specialist areas within the Marketing function, particularly in client relationship roles, as well as global positions in communications and bids/proposals.

• Capital markets and private equity roles are also seeing increased demand, especially at the manager and senior manager levels. Interestingly, firms are showing flexibility in their hiring approach, with many open to candidates coming from a broader corporate or transactional background to fill these positions.

• Another emerging trend is the growing willingness of firms to consider candidates across multiple markets in order to secure the best talent. In fact, just over a third of our current vacancies can be hired in multiple locations.

• On a positive note, the Marketing & BD legal space continues to expand, with firms making strategic investments in new roles.

At Ambition, we are proud to be partnering with several law firms on exclusive roles, offering market insights, expert advice, and up-to-date salary benchmarks, all while helping to identify those ‘golden nugget’ candidates.

As we look ahead to Q2, there's plenty to be excited about!

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