Marketing & Business Development Recruiting
Law firm BD and marketing searches look straightforward on paper. They rarely are.
The best marketing and BD professionals at law firms aren't on job boards. They are embedded in firms where they have relationships, credibility, and work they find meaningful enough not to leave casually. Identifying them, earning their attention, and presenting an opportunity compellingly requires a recruiter who understands the law firm environment from the inside, and who has the executive search discipline to run the process properly.
At Onward Recruiting, that's exactly what we bring.
We are proud members of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants (NALSC) and hold ourselves to their Code of Ethics in every engagement.
WHO WE PLACE
We recruit across the full range of law firm marketing and BD roles:
CMOs and Marketing Directors: senior leaders who set firm-wide strategy, manage teams, and align brand positioning with business objectives
Business Development Directors and Managers: professionals who drive client development, lead pitch and proposal processes, and partner with practice group leaders on growth strategy
Pitch, Proposal and Practice Group Marketing Managers: specialists who support competitive bids, RFP responses, and practice-area BD at the execution level
Client Development and Relationship Management: professionals focused on deepening existing relationships, cross-selling, and client feedback programs
Events, Meetings and Travel Managers: professionals who plan and execute client entertainment, firm events, conferences, and travel programs that support BD and relationship development
BD Analysts, Coordinators and Communications: research, operational, CRM, and communications professionals who keep marketing and BD functions running
OUR APPROACH
Marketing and BD searches at law firms require a recruiter who understands the culture. These roles sit at the intersection of firm politics, partner relationships, and commercial performance. Here is how we approach them.
1. Understanding the role beneath the role. A Director of Business Development at a 100-lawyer firm and one at an AmLaw 20 firm are fundamentally different jobs. Before we source a single candidate, we learn your firm's structure, growth priorities, partner dynamics, and what has and hasn't worked in past hires.
2. Reaching the candidates who aren't looking. The strongest marketing and BD professionals are rarely actively searching. They are doing work they find interesting enough not to leave until the right conversation reaches them. That includes professionals already inside law firms, as well as talent coming from adjacent professional services environments. Our network and outreach capabilities are built for exactly this.
3. Evaluating fit on both dimensions. Skills and experience are the starting point. What separates a placement that sticks from one that doesn't is cultural and political fit: can this person earn partners' trust, navigate firm dynamics, and perform in an environment where they rarely have formal authority over the people they need to influence? We assess for both, and we move with the urgency senior searches require.
THE TEAM BEHIND THESE SEARCHES
Law firm marketing and BD searches sit at a rare intersection, and so does the team that runs them.
Lacie Marshall brings 20+ years of legal recruiting experience, including senior talent leadership roles inside law firms. She understands how marketing and BD functions are structured, how they interact with firm leadership, and what it takes for a candidate to earn credibility inside a firm culture. That perspective shapes every search from brief to close.
James Shenton, Co-founder and Managing Consultant at Opus Resourcing, brings 29 years of executive search experience with a 95%+ client repeat rate and a 31-day average time to placement. His practice has placed BD and commercial leadership across global organizations, and his methodology, research-led and built for senior and hard-to-find talent, is applied to every search we run together.
Legal industry insight. Executive search precision. One team.
WHY ONWARD
We understand law firms from the inside. We know how marketing and BD functions operate, how they interact with partners, and what a candidate actually needs to succeed, not just interview well.
Specialized network, not a generalist database. We have built deliberate relationships with marketing and BD professionals across the legal industry. See our case studies below for examples of what that looks like in practice.
Honest counsel throughout. We will tell you when a candidate pool is thinner than expected, when a role needs to be repositioned to attract the right talent, or when compensation is out of step with the market. You will always know where your search actually stands.
Recent Searches & Successes
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Director of Business Development
INVESTMENT FUNDS PRACTICE | NEW YORK | GLOBAL AMLAW FIRM
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Associate Director of Business Development
CORPORATE FINANCE PRACTICE | NEW YORK | AMLAW 10 FIRM
Work With Us
Whether you're looking to hire or looking to make a move, it starts with a conversation. Tell us what you're working toward and we'll tell you what's possible.