Last week, the LMA NYC local group gathered at the K&L Gates office for the 13th annual C-Suite Forum - a panel discussion on what leading sustainable change looks like in the context of the tremendous upheaval within the legal space due to AI, increased propensity for lateral movement and desire to build more comprehensive, cross-functional teams. Moderated by Michael Hertz (former CMO of White & Case and founder of Michael Hertz Consulting), the discussion featured three C-Suite panelists with distinct approaches to change management in a modern law firm:

• Emily Thall, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer, Brown Rudnick
• Andrew Katznelson, Chief Business Development and Marketing Officer, Epstein Becker Green
• Brielle Roldan, Chief Marketing Officer, Dechert

What Clients Are Focused On

Before diving into the panel, Michael framed the conversation with a quick scan of the client landscape. The top five concerns for in-house teams right now:

1. AI Adoption and Governance: clients are still actively grappling with how to deploy AI responsibly and what policies should govern it
2. Regulatory Complexity: a perennial concern that continues to grow, compounded by geopolitical disruption
3. Geopolitical Risk: tariffs, global conflict, and market instability are all feeding uncertainty
4. Pressure on In-House Teams: mounting demand for more strategic advice with flat or shrinking resources
5. Cybersecurity and Data Privacy: especially urgent in the context of AI rollout

Michael then organized the discussion around several broader themes, using a range of questions and prompts to explore each area. The key themes and takeaways from those conversations are summarized below.

How are AI and technology impacting your firm?'

Michael opened by noting that while the conversation would cover talent, the evolving CMO role, and lateral integration, it was hard to talk about any of them without starting with technology, given how much it is reshaping every part of how marketing and BD teams operate.

Brielle framed AI adoption at Dechert as a “forcing mechanism” to reimagine entire processes rather than automate a few steps, with junior team members taking the lead by building their own workflows and presenting them to the full team. For Andrew at EBG, AI is “the ultimate equalizer”, but he stressed that innovating in a vacuum is pointless. He is as quick to recognize someone who does something small and shares it as he is to celebrate a bigger breakthrough. He noted that having a consistent, credible answer to client questions about how AI is improving service has become part of the marketing and BD function. As a former lawyer, Emily's instinct at Brown Rudnick has always been to ask how technology helps do the job better and more efficiently. She pointed out that AI training being mandatory across the firm, including for senior partners who will never use it, is the only way to ensure people understand the risk. She flagged a real example how using AI for Thought Leadership not only defeats the purpose but also highlights the need for transparency and senior review when AI is used. 

One final piece Andrew mentioned summed up all of the hype around AI in a succinct way: “With so much going on, the value of the AI tools we use now needs to be seen and recognized throughout the client experience. Our clients need to be realizing a better overall experience because of these investments, not just their potential."

How has your role changed, and how are you working across the firm?

Michael framed this section by noting that the CMO role has always required working across functions, but that the demand for that is becoming more apparent as firms try to lead tech-driven transformation from the top.

Emily was candid that her role has grown well beyond what a traditional marketing function looks like. She leads an informal data governance group with people from finance, conflicts, and HR, meeting monthly to work through how data flows across systems and escalating to IT what they cannot fix themselves. Brielle's role runs through change management, constantly making sure people understand what is in it for them in addition to what is good for the firm, and being direct about the fact that in legal marketing, recognition and fulfilment carry more weight than comp alone. Andrew emphasized his focus on in-person relationship building. The more you align yourself with what a specific team of lawyers is trying to do at the sub-practice level, the harder it becomes for anyone to question the value of the function.

How do you approach talent and how are you getting involved in the lateral integration process?

The panel kept coming back to these two questions throughout the evening. Michael noted that with the lateral market as active as it is, how involved marketing and BD leaders are getting in the integration process has become one of the more pressing questions in the room. Likewise, the profile of a high performing marketing and BD professional has shifted considerably.

On the marketing and BD side, the panel agreed the profile for who thrives has shifted. Brielle wants people who are already curious, already trying things, and asking good questions about why what they do matters to the bigger picture. Just as AI is only as good as the prompt you give it, the value a team member brings comes down to their ability to think strategically and ask good questions, not just execute. Attitude matters more than background, and with AI handling repetitive work, junior team members who embrace that can be in strategic conversations earlier and build their personal brand in the process. 

On the lateral side, Emily described being regularly brought in as a selling point, walking candidates through what the BD team can do for them and surfacing expectations that had not come up in the formal process. She also flagged the tension that comes with that level of involvement: with so many resources going toward new arrivals, existing partners can end up under-served, and it requires actively rebalancing. Michael noted that some firms respond by building dedicated lateral integration teams anchored by a senior BD professional, specifically to protect onboarding quality without pulling resource away from incumbents.

The firms getting this right are investing in both ends: bringing the right marketing and BD people in, and making sure lateral attorneys land well without the rest of the partnership feeling the squeeze.

If you had more budget, what would you spend it on?

An audience question prompted each panelist to name their top investment priority. The answers were largely consistent: technology and data infrastructure, specifically getting systems to actually communicate with each other. The ambition for a 360-degree view of clients and prospects in a single place exists at most firms, however, the gap between that vision and current reality is still significant. Michael ended by adding a collaboration bonus pool; “there is not enough money that goes into rewarding collaboration.”