Following up with a prospective business client can feel like walking a fine line. You don’t want to be pushy, but you also don’t want to let a valuable opportunity slip through the cracks. Many lawyers default to vague messages like, “Just checking in to see if you had any thoughts,” but these types of follow-ups often don’t resonate with decision makers.

The 2025 ACC Chief Legal Officers Survey shines a spotlight on the evolving challenges and priorities of chief legal officers. For legal marketers, it’s a wake-up call to finetune strategies and better align with client needs. This year’s findings highlight how chief legal officers are taking on broader responsibilities, facing mounting pressure to control costs, and dealing with increasingly complex legal and business issues. These trends are more than just data points – they’re a roadmap for how legal marketers can sharpen their strategies, build stronger relationships and win more business for their firms.

The 2025 ACC Chief Legal Officers Survey is out, delivering a look at how CLOs are reshaping their roles, tackling rising challenges and finding ways to drive impact beyond the legal department. This year’s findings underscore a significant shift in the role of CLOs. They’re taking on more responsibilities beyond traditional legal work, managing rising costs and navigating an increasingly complex regulatory landscape, all while facing resource constraints. For law firms, these insights offer an invaluable opportunity to tailor their services and deepen relationships with CLO clients.

Many law firms excel at legal work but struggle with consistent, strategic business development. Too often, firms rely on referrals, respond to RFPs and wait for opportunities instead of actively creating them. While good work brings in business, in today’s competitive legal market, it’s not enough. The firms that thrive are the ones that prioritize business development and marketing as a core part of their strategy – not as an afterthought.

Law firms balance a lot – client work, industry developments and business growth, But when marketing and business development take a back seat, firms risk stagnation. A reactive approach only goes so far. The firms that thrive prioritize strategic marketing, proactive client outreach, and relationship-building. Here’s how to make that shift.

Legal marketers are often seen as behind-the-scenes contributors, managing events, updating websites, doing pitches, client targeting and creating marketing collateral. However, legal marketers are uniquely positioned to drive both marketing and business development efforts that directly contribute to revenue growth. With the right mindset and strategy, marketers can move beyond support roles to become indispensable business enablers.