Law Firms Want Growth but Do They Trust Their Marketing?
The CMO Marketing Mindset | November 2026 | Edition 16
I read a law firm growth report recently that had me thinking about the conversations I have with lawyers. There is enthusiasm about growing the practice, concern about what marketing costs, and a question that can be surprisingly difficult to answer: "Julie, how do we know if this is actually working?"
It is a fair question! One that I embracefully...dread...at times. If I am being painfully honest here with you. But, yours truly, has no problem diving in and working at getting to the fix.
So, when you are responsible for a firm, its people, and its future, you should understand what your marketing investment is contributing. But getting a useful answer requires looking beyond the marketing report and into how the business operates. That is where the conversation gets interesting—and occasionally a little uncomfortable. Grab your coffee. Let's talk about it.
The Gap That Caught My Attention
The 2026 Law Firm Growth Report from Martindale-Avvo and FindLaw surveyed 408 legal professionals at US firms with 20 or fewer attorneys. It found that 60% of firms were pursuing moderate to significant growth, while 61% reported less than moderate confidence in measuring marketing ROI across their channels.
Having been an in-house marketing director for plaintiff law firms, I understand the tension behind those numbers. My volunteer work as a co-chair of the Legal Marketing Association's Social and Digital Media SIG brought additional perspectives from across various types of law firms, and my work with lawyers today keeps these issues very much in view.
Marketing is expected to support growth, yet it can be left working around business decisions that nobody has fully settled.
"More cases" sounds clear enough until we discuss which cases, what makes them desirable, and whether the firm is positioned to attract and handle them. Those answers shape the strategy. Without them, marketing can become a collection of activities that everyone hopes will add up to growth.
Before We Blame the Leads
The report also found that one-third of respondents identified poor lead quality as their biggest marketing challenge. That deserves attention, but I would want to unpack what "poor quality" means before recommending another campaign.
➜ Are inquiries coming from people whose matters fall outside the firm's focus?
➜ Is the messaging attracting expectations the firm cannot meet?
➜ Or are suitable prospects calling and getting lost somewhere between the first inquiry and an attorney conversation?
Each situation calls for a different response. Asking marketing to fix all three by generating more leads can become an expensive exercise in frustration.
This is where my in-house experience influences the questions I ask. I want to understand what intake is hearing, why matters are being declined, and whether that information makes its way back to the people directing marketing.
Somewhere in that conversation, there may be a much better growth decision than "increase the budget." And honestly, wouldn't we all prefer to find that out before spending it?
Marketing Should Give Leadership a Clearer View
A CMO needs to connect those pieces and help leadership make informed choices. That includes questioning whether the firm's positioning supports the work it wants, whether expectations are reasonable, and whether the client experience supports the promise being made.
The law firm has a part in this too. Marketing needs access to outcomes, timely decisions, and candid feedback. An agency cannot explain which inquiries became valuable clients if that information never leaves the firm. An in-house or fractional marketer cannot confidently recommend a direction when priorities keep changing without discussion.
Confidence grows through that working relationship. It comes from understanding why an investment was made, seeing what happened, and having enough context to decide what comes next. That is the level of marketing leadership I want more firms to expect—and make room for.
The Close
As we head toward year-end planning, I hope you give this some thought before carrying the same marketing questions into another budget meeting.
➜ You do not need every answer immediately.
➜ You do need a conversation that gets beyond whether the phones rang more often this month.
If you are a lawyer, a law firm leader, or the marketer trying to connect all of this, I would love to hear where the conversation gets stuck for you. Those different perspectives matter, and bringing them together is part of why I enjoy this work and sharing this newsletter with you.
Thank you for spending a few minutes with me this month. Hopefully your coffee is still warm. Mine depends entirely on how far into the marketing discussion we get!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
Your Editor-At-Large,
Julie Fisher
The seat is open, join me and let's talk.
About the Editor-At-Large
Julie Fisher is a Fractional CMO with more than 30 years of business, management, and marketing experience, including in-house law firm marketing leadership and small business consulting. Through Fisher Marketing Services LLC, she provides strategic marketing leadership and practical guidance to law firms and professional service businesses. Learn more about Julie Fisher, Fractional CMO.