A part-time CMO runs your marketing and reports cost per signed case.
Legal CMO Expert, part of Ergonomc, makes S M Fahim your firm's fractional CMO, in charge of the budget and the vendors who spend it, and working inside your accounts every week.
Legal CMO Expert is a brand of Ergonomc LLC.
What each case cost in September
| Channel | Spend | Signed cases | Cost per case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | $12,000 | 6 | $2,000 |
| SEO | $4,500 | 5 | $900 |
| Referrals | $1,500 | 3 | $500 |
| TV | $18,000 | 2 | $9,000 |
| All channels | $36,000 | 16 | $2,250 |
What changes in October
TV drops from $18,000 to $6,000. The $12,000 goes to SEO and referrals.
What a CMO does that an agency doesn't
An agency does the work: ads, content, links. A CMO decides which of that work gets the money and measures each vendor by the signed cases it brings in.
At many firms nobody has that job. It falls to a partner, between cases. With Legal CMO Expert, the CMO takes on:
- The strategy, and a written plan to carry it out
- Oversight of every vendor's results
- Budget decisions, channel by channel
- A dashboard built for your firm
- Changes in your accounts, every week
Two ways it runs
Legal CMO Expert leads your existing team or agency, or builds your marketing department from scratch.
If you keep your agency and your staff, the CMO gives them a written plan. If you have no marketing team, or one you don't trust, the CMO brings in the people you need for search, paid ads, content, design and development. They work under the CMO, who hires and replaces them, and you deal with one person.
Lead the team you have
You
The CMO
- Your agency
- Your staff
Build the team you don't have
You
The CMO
- Search
- Paid ads
- Content
- Design
- Development
How it runs
Five steps, from a test of your web form to the report every month.
Test the form first
The CMO fills out your web form as a prospect would, then follows the inquiry to your CRM and the callback. If inquiries are lost there, more spend loses more of them.
Fix the tracking before reporting on it
Each inquiry needs a record of the ad, search or page that first brought the person in. If your form doesn't record it, that gets fixed first.
Review the spend, then write a 90-day plan
Every channel and contract is set against the signed cases it can show. The plan says what gets done, who does it and what each channel can spend.
Move the money
Spend comes off what doesn't sign cases and goes to what does.
Report every month
Cost per signed case by channel, against the plan, with what changes next month.
A week of the CMO's work
The CMO works inside your accounts every week. This is one made-up week.
Between reviews, you hear from the CMO when something needs a decision.
The week of October 5
- Oct 5Budget$12,000 moved from TV to SEO and referrals
- Oct 6VendorAds agency call: two campaigns paused that signed no cases
- Oct 7IntakeLast week's web inquiries checked against the callbacks
- Oct 8ApprovedA truck accident campaign, with three changes
- Oct 9NumbersThe week's signed cases, from the CRM
Waiting for your decision
Replace the TV buyer when the contract ends in December
A dashboard you can check
Legal CMO Expert builds your firm a dashboard with cost per signed case, by channel and against the plan.
The numbers come from your ad accounts and the status your team sets in your CRM when a client signs. You can open either one and check them.
October 1 to 12
- 1Spend
- $14,700
- 2Signed cases
- 7
- Cost per signed case
- $2,100
Where the numbers come from
- 1Spend, from your ad accounts
- 2Signed cases, from the status your team sets in your CRM when a client signs
Every campaign is approved before it launches
Your vendors work to the CMO's written plan. The CMO approves their campaigns before they launch and replaces vendors who don't deliver.
From your ads agency
New campaign: truck accident searches on Google Ads
- Where it runs
All of OhioColumbus area- Daily budget
$400$250- Where clicks land
Home pageTruck accident page
The CMO's answer
Approved with three changes. It goes live once the truck accident page is up.
Your CRM, and where each case came from
Cost per signed case needs two things on every record: where the person came from, and whether they signed. Legal CMO Expert works on your CRM too, in Clio, MyCase, Filevine or a custom build, and on your marketing automation.
Ghost Intake, our intake software, writes the ad, search or page that first brought the person in onto the Lead Docket record. It works with WordPress and Lead Docket; another CRM is a custom build.
Terrence Holloway
Motor Vehicle Collision · Source: Ghost Intake · Created 10:14 AM
Answered 4 of 6 questions, then stopped. What happened: Car crash When: Within the last 30 days Medical treatment: A few days later Any report: Police report
An engineer in the CMO seat
S M Fahim, Ergonomc's founder, trained as a mechatronics engineer (BSc, RUET) before turning to marketing. When the missing piece is software, Ergonomc builds it.
Ghost Intake was first installed at Rudin Law, a personal injury firm, in August 2026. S M Fahim has run the firm's marketing as its fractional CMO.
When it isn't the right one
Sometimes a CMO is the wrong hire, and something else should come first.
With little budget and no vendors to direct, a CMO has nothing to run. Start with the website and the search work.
Websites and SEOIf you want a monthly advice call, hire an advisor. This role is hands-on, every week.
If the numbers can't be shared, nobody can report cost per signed case. The work needs access to your ad accounts and your CRM.
If you're not a law firm, WP SEO Geeks does websites and search for local businesses.
WP SEO Geeks
Questions about a fractional CMO
Is there a minimum term?
No. Legal CMO Expert works month to month, with no minimum commitment.
Do we have to replace our agency?
No. The CMO can lead the team or agency you have, and replaces vendors who don't deliver.
Which CRMs do you work with?
Clio, MyCase and Filevine, or a custom build.
What it costs
We don't list prices here. Legal CMO Expert quotes after a call.
Legal CMO Expert is part of Ergonomc and operated by Ergonomc LLC.