Chapter 2 A to Z Business Development Guide for Lawyers

• Library: Building Rainmakers: The Definitive Guide to Business Development for Lawyers (ABA) (2016 Ed.)

Chapter 2 A to Z Business Development Guide For Lawyers

How to Make Best Use of the Guide

There are over 400 topic-centered discussions in this Chapter. To make searching for a specific topic easier, the topic title headlines are listed in alphabetical order, A to Z. In many cases, though, the expert's comment covers more than one subject related to the title headline. So the topic title is only indicative of the content, but cannot always convey in one keyword what is being discussed within a quarter page to many pages.

For example, one title starts with a "T", The Solution: Here's How You Turn Skilled Lawyers into Skilled Rainmakers. So, it is critical that you scan all the titles because, as in that example, not all titles fit neatly into one A to Z keyword.

I highly recommend that you take one minute right now and go to the Chapter 2 Index of Topic Titles at the end of this chapter on page 352 to review a complete listing of all 400+ topic titles. Check off those titles that you would like to review as soon as possible.

Each headline title is followed in parenthesis by the name of the professional who made the specific comment. Their bios can be found in Appendix A.

When reading these short subject-based discussions by a specific business development professional, take note of those techniques and approaches that are commented upon by more than one speaker. Repetition of a particular strategy is a good sign that it represents a successful revenue generating idea that you, too, should consider. Or, someone may have developed an entirely unique approach you should examine. Some topics, such as the "Elevator Pitch" are so essential to creating a positive first impression and generating a "next step" that more than a dozen experts are asked how they address this topic with their attorneys.

Every business development technique in this book is designed to help you thrive in today's highly competitive legal marketplace.

Refer to the List of Contributors and read their biographies in Appendix A and you'll know why you'll want to dive right in and start benefiting from their wisdom. The consultative value of their 700 plus years of combined experience in growing law firm revenue is inestimable.

Build more rainmaker skills within your firm and watch your revenue numbers grow.

Rainmaker Topics Listed in Alphabetical Order

Accountability

(Hans Haglund)

No matter what law firm you are with, there is someone at the top that is managing a team to execute on objectives. As a business development (BD) support team, you need to manage in the same way. For example, tell attorneys they need to make five business development calls a day, to a mix of new and existing clients. Then follow-up to make sure they are making those calls. You should swing by their office and make sure that if they don't have something to send to clients or have an engaging inquiry about their business issues, you help them figure out ways to re-connect with those clients and potential clients. Some really appreciate the follow-up, some are not as grateful, but most people seem to respond more effectively if someone holds them accountable. It's the old saying, inspect what you expect.

When you get down to the individual level, all lawyers are not all alike, but there are certain ways that you can present business development concepts that makes it more appealing or at the least more concrete. [See also Business Development: A Tactical Approach: Do The Math, and Client Development: Getting Into Their World Using 70/30.]

Advice to an Associate: Going from Skilled Lawyer to Skilled Rainmaker: Part 1

(Gerry Goldsholle)

Let's face it, the typical recent law graduate is clueless about the economics of law practice, how a law firm operates, what's involved in running a law practice, and what's truly important to becoming a financially secure lawyer. No matter how capable a lawyer you may be, no matter how prestigious your coveted position as an associate at a top law firm may be, and no matter how hard you work, if you fail to learn what's really important - not what the firm claims is important - the odds are that at some point you'll have to begin looking for a new job.

Your perceived ability to bring in new clients and generate more business from existing clients - in other words your rainmaking ability - is often far more important to upward mobility and financial success at a law firm than legal brilliance, the ability to write outstanding memos and briefs, dazzling oratory, or the capacity to work 24/7. Although each of those elements may contribute to success, something you've been graded on since kindergarten is also at play - your ability to "work well and play well with others." That one is at least as important as any other factor in being seen as a rainmaker.

Law firms generally don't expect new associates to be bringing in new clients - especially the type of clients and matters the firm would be willing to handle. So unless you were hired because you're the scion of an extremely wealthy or politically influential family, or because one of your parents is a senior executive of a major corporation, the good news is that actual rain-making is neither anticipated nor required for the first few years. Criteria the firm will be using to evaluate you - how pleased the partners are with you, whether or not you are someone who consistently does great work, meets deadlines, avoids surprises, and can be relied upon, form the basis on which you will be judged in your early years.

It's an absolute certainty that the partners will be eliciting informal feedback on your performance from more senior associates, and from each of the partners you work with, as well as from the firm's clients you interact with. During an associate's initial years the ability to keep the partners and the firm's clients happy serves as a far better proxy for your eventual business generating ability than any stray client, with a one time, relatively modest matter you might otherwise attract.

Another great proxy for your potential as a rainmaker is the ability to spot legal problems and areas of vulnerability your firm's existing clients are not, but should be aware of, and would want your firm to address. If, working with the partners, you can parlay those legal problems into an additional or expanded assignment that generates meaningful revenue for the firm, you'd likely be recognized as a future rainmaker. Make sure that you receive at least some of the recognition for generating that new business.

Advice to an Associate: Going from Skilled Lawyer to Skilled Rainmaker: Part 2

(Gerry Goldsholle)

Rainmaking is the primary route to financial success from the practice of law. Given the ever-changing nature of legal practice, being a rainmaker, and having a book of portable business - clients who rely on you and will likely follow you to a new law firm should you change firms - makes you valuable to your existing firm, and many new firms. It gives you power so that if your current law firm fails to treat you properly, folds, merges, or changes direction -you're in control of your destiny, and that's more than just a "good thing." Having a block of portable business is becoming increasingly critical. Without portable business, or an essential expertise in a lucrative area of practice, you are just one of many very skilled but relatively fungible lawyers.

Regardless of your status in a law firm, without a meaningful client base you're just the "hired help." While you may be well paid, particularly if you have some unique knowledge or skill, are highly productive, and are willing to work extraordinarily long and hard, you're unlikely to land in the corner office, have your name on the door, or receive the large partnership share. In contrast, the law firm's rainmakers - even if they are not the best lawyers in the firm - make the big bucks, just as the big rewards in pro sports tend to go to those who score the most points in football, basketball and baseball.

One of the factors that goes into rainmaking is being recognized as having an in-demand skill. During my tenure at MetLife we would try to hire outside counsel on the basis of need and skill, as needed. Unlike many other large companies we did not have any one firm to which we'd look when we needed outside counsel. We'd go to the law firm that we regarded as the best specialists to address for the particular problem. Today, more and more of corporate America's legal work is being done in-house - going out only when needed, such as for rapid coverage, specialized experience, geographic location or the like. And clients can and do change outside counsel at the drop of a hat.

Every lawyer has to realize that the key to success is not how good the work is objectively - that's the ultimate client decision, which often is very subjective - but how satisfied the client is with the work given the costs and hassle incurred. Let me emphasize that I am talking not only the actual financial cost - the bill - but also the client's internal costs. If you are viewed as someone who bothers the client's executives with what they regard as needless requests for information, or someone with a propensity for taking up a lot of their time, such as making them hang around while you polish that affidavit they have to execute - particularly when the need for doing so is not fully appreciated by the company's executives - the executives' perceived difficulty in working with you will be communicated to your law firm and remembered long after the bill and the matter's outcome are forgotten.

Unlike a law firm, the priority of almost every American business is to do even more business, and get any legal matters over and done with as rapidly as possible and with the least possible disruption, cost, or distraction. On many matters a business would be far happier "losing" quickly than winning after a lengthy, time absorbing battle that, in the scheme of things...