Fractional CMO for law firms

You didn't go to law school to decode marketing reports.

I run your marketing and intake, do the work and answer for one number: signed cases. Then I set it up so you need me less every quarter, not more.

Book 15 minutes Not this month? Take the seven numbers

No pitch. If you'd be better off with someone else, I'll tell you.

Matthew Tate at his desk in front of a brick wall, pointing at the camera

12 yearsinside a law firm marketing agency

100+ firmscoached over a 15-year career

One numberand a 90-day plan to move it

Every wordapproved by a named attorney at your firm

From click to signed case

You pay for clicks. You get paid on signed cases. Nobody owns the part in between.

Getting found
Where your cases come from, and what each one really cost.
The first call
Who answers, how fast, and what they say when they do.
The consult
Who shows up, who signs, and who's calling back the ones who didn't.
The signed case
One line on one report: signed cases, by source.

I start where your firm is leaking and work along the line. Nothing reaches the public until a named person at your firm approves it. The rest of your firm is yours to run: operations, finance and client service only come up where they get in the way of a signed case.

What I do

I sit in the CMO seat, and I do the work.

You know how this goes. The firm grows on word of mouth and a small budget. There's money in the bank. You're comfortable. Then a few years go by, revenue has barely kept up with inflation, and you realize the business stalled while you were busy practicing law.

Most owners I've worked with don't want growth for its own sake. Nobody wants a 7-figure firm if it means taking home less and working more nights. They want more money, more nights at home, and a straight answer about what's working.

So I set one number, build a 90-day plan and get to work, with AI as leverage, never as a replacement for your judgment or mine. If your budget grows, it grows for a reason you can measure, not because of random acts of marketing.

Monthly marketing reportMade-up example

Impressions184,220

Domain authority+3

Time on site1:42

Keywords in top 10212

Website sessionsso?

Callsfrom where?

Signed cases, by source_____

This is the only line you care about. Where is it?

Made-up report. You've seen the real ones.

How I work

The agency model needs you to keep paying. Mine is built so you can stop.

Agency and coaching models only work if you stay and spend more. I'd rather be the guy you outgrew. If you still need me at this level after 12 months, I've failed at my job.

Illustration, not data.

Half-day kickoff, included
We set your one number and your 3-year goal, read your vendor invoices line by line and write the 90-day plan. No audit fees, ever.
90 days of actual work
I run it. A named attorney at your firm approves what goes out under its name. You get the numbers on a set schedule, without having to ask.
Month to month, with less of me
The hands-on work winds down as your team, or a system I build for you, takes it over. Your bill goes with it.

Services

Two ways to work with me.

One conversation, one recommendation. We figure out which fits on a call, not from a pricing grid.

Start here The person

Fractional CMO

Your part-time CMO, who also does the work.

Half-day kickoff included: your number, your 3-year goal, your invoices, your 90-day plan
I run your marketing and manage your vendors
I fix intake and the consult: response time, scripts, follow-up, show rate, signed rate
One or two channels a quarter, done properly: SEO, ads, content, whatever moves your number
A named attorney approves every word before it goes out
Monthly report in signed cases, not clicks

Best if you need someone accountable right now.

The person + the marketing system

Lead Engine X

All of that, plus an AI marketing department built around your firm.

25 AI agents covering strategy, SEO, content, social, reviews, paid ads, email, referrals and reporting
They draft. A named attorney approves the exact wording before anything goes out.
It runs weekly, whether or not anyone has time to think about marketing that week
When the hands-on work ends, it keeps running for a flat fee, about the cost of a car payment

Best if you want the work to keep going after I step back.

Everything I do, in one list.

Nobody does all of this well at once, and anyone who says otherwise is selling you a package. At the kickoff we pick the one or two that move your number and ignore the rest until they've earned it.

SEO and web pagesPractice-area and location pages, fast and clean.
Local SEOGoogle Business Profile, citations and the Maps work.
AI searchYour next client is asking AI who to hire. No promises about what it says.
Link buildingEarned from real local and practice-area sources. I never buy links.
Content and videoIn your voice, approved by a named attorney.
Paid adsManaged by a person. The ad spend is yours.
Intake and follow-upResponse time, call scripts and follow-up, run by your people.
ConsultsShow rate, signed rate and the fee conversation.
ReviewsA request process your team will use. No gating, no incentives.
Email and referralsStaying in front of past clients and referral sources.
ReportingSigned cases by source. If it can't be measured, it says "unmeasured."
Vendor managementI read the invoices and ask the questions you don't have time to ask.

What I won't touch, in any service: trust accounting, conflict screening, docketing, your matter and document systems, hiring decisions. At most the system prepares the evidence, and a named person decides.

Book 15 minutes

Matthew Tate, head tilted, one hand out, mid-sentence

About

I've been the vendor.
I've written the report.

I'm Matt Tate. I spent 12 years inside a law firm marketing agency: coaching firm owners and running SEO. Over a 15-year career I've coached more than 100 firms, from solo practices to multi-practice shops.

That's long enough to watch the same movie several times. A firm hires a vendor. The reports arrive full of numbers nobody chose. The owner quietly loses track of what's being published in the firm's name. Eighteen months later it starts over with a new vendor, usually at a higher retainer.

A Law Firm CMO is what that experience produced. Not a better vendor: a different arrangement. You'll like me or you won't, but you'll always know where your marketing stands.

Small on purpose: five founding firms, worked closely, references earned. If you want vendor number nine, I'm the wrong call.

2027 is coming either way. Same plan, same report, same results?

Fifteen minutes by phone. Bring the one marketing question you can't get a straight answer to. Not ready until January? Say so. I only take five founding firms, and I'd rather have you ready than rushed.

Book 15 minutes

Questions

What owners actually ask.

What does it cost?

Engagements start at $2,500 a month, and I don't do anything for less. The half-day kickoff is included, with no audit fees, ever. Ad spend and memberships are yours, at cost, on a budget you approve. Which service fits gets decided on a call.

Am I locked in?

For 90 days, because the first month is mostly digging out. After that you're month to month on 30 days' written notice. No long-term contract, no exit fee.

We already use ChatGPT. Why do I need you?

Keep using it. It'll write you a perfectly decent marketing plan. It won't know what a good result looks like at your firm, it won't answer for the number, and it won't be on the call when the number's bad. That part's me.

How is this different from my agency?

An agency's model pays it to keep you and grow your budget. Mine pays me to make myself less necessary. You'll also get a report you can read in one sitting, with signed cases on it.

Do you guarantee rankings?

No. A guarantee about Google is a guess with a contract attached. And I never buy links.

Is my firm big enough?

If you're doing $500K or more and the owner or a decision-maker is on the call, yes. Any number of attorneys. Personal injury, estate planning and criminal defense are where I spend my time, but that's a focus, not a rule.

What if I'm not ready until January?

Then don't book today. Take the seven numbers, run them on your firm and tick the January box. If they turn up something you want fixed, you know where I am.

Who approves what goes out?

A named attorney at your firm, in the exact wording, before anything publishes. Every post carries a receipt showing who approved it and when. A week with no approval is a week with no posts, and that's the system working.

Not ready for a call?

Start here. Keep it either way.

The Signed Case Index

The seven numbers between a click and a signed case, what each one means, how to compute it, and what it costs when nobody owns it. Nothing's held back to make a call necessary.

You get the Index, plus one note in January if you tick the box. Unsubscribe any time.