Passle CMO Series Podcast · 2026-09-10 · 5 min
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.
Episode 2 - CMO Series Laterals & Mergers: Dave Southern of Mayer Brown on Making Lateral Acquisitions Pay Off Through Client Collaboration76 / 100Episode 207 - Sarah High of Yetter Coleman on The Big Law Mindset: Reality Of Successfully Scaling A BD Function In A Boutique Firm76 / 100Episode 205 - Helen Griffiths of Fladgate on Delivering a BD Plan That Works in Practice65 / 100Episode 204 - Rob Gijsen of CMS on Rethinking Client Strategy To Drive Real Revenue76 / 100Episode 203 - Roanne Neuwirth on What Separates a Market Position from a Service List66 / 100