After 14 years at Cravath, Swaine & Moore and 14 years at another leading firm before that I made a call to a fellow CMO to share some exciting news: I was leaving and launching an advisory business. I also planned to write my first book.
Her response? Congratulations. It was so nice knowing you.
Full stop. End of conversation.
Nearly three decades of building relationships, developing business, and leading marketing at major law firms and she made it sound like my professional life was over the moment I stepped outside a firms walls.
She could not have been more wrong. That moment taught me something I carry with me to this day: in this profession, the lines between vendor, consultant, and client are not walls.
We are part of the same ecosystem.
I have sat on both sides of the table. As a CMO inside a firm, I depended on smart, creative vendor partners who understood our business, pushed our thinking, and showed up as true collaborators, not just service providers.
When I moved to the advisory side, those relationships did not end. They deepened. The context shifted, but the trust, the shared knowledge, and the mutual respect remained.
And Ive also been the client, hiring a law firm and other consultants. In my business, I have worked to help law firms, general counsel and their departments, and other providers like legal technology. Again, we are all part of the same ecosystem.
Outside experts who are stay close to their law firm colleagues both in marketing and in the partnership itself bring insight, creativity, and knowledge that no RFP can capture. Law firm leaders who treat these experts as friends have some of the best thinking available to the, often at no cost.
We have all heard you never know. In a profession changing as rapidly as ours, that has never been more true.
The colleague you overlook today may be your most valuable connection tomorrow. The vendor you dismiss as a vendor may become your most trusted advisor or the person you turn to for your next job.
Be generous. Stay curious. Keep every door open.
You truly never know.
Pictured in my NYC office.
