Networking has a negative reputation among so many lawyers. It’s often time-intensive and, if not done well, can be a waste of time. Lots of us (especially us introverts) dread the thought of walking into a crowd of strangers, so we spend time with people we already know, hang out on the fringes of the […]
I clerked for a Federal judge in my first job after law school. Among the many lessons Judge Forrester taught me was to look for the existence of a “Q case”, the source from which the rest of the precedents would flow. In practice, I learned that some questions require the thorough search that would […]
Over the years, I’ve put together a lot of tips about how to accomplish more, how to get energized, and how to make the most of time away from the office. In honor of the unofficial start of summer in the U.S. (and vacations everywhere!), I’m sharing a potpourri of greatest hits here. Click on […]
This week, I met with a lawyer who’s been in practice for 50 years, who will be using The Reluctant Rainmaker to teach a law school class on business development. We touched on how the practice has changed over the years and why he encouraged his sons to become lawyers, but the bulk of our […]
The subtitle of Daniel Pink’s recent book To Sell Is Human is The Surprising Truth About Moving Others. I’m not entirely sure that the truths shared in the book are altogether surprising, but the book puts a human, approachable face on a necessary skill that suffers from a bad reputation. Pink starts by proving that […]
How do you track the results you get from your business development efforts? I recently spoke with a potential client and asked that question. Her response? “I don’t need to track my results. I know what’s working.” She had a $25,000 book of business, and based on our conversation, I suspect she could triple that […]
Warning: Being a fungible billing unit is bad for growing your law practice! I’ve written previously on finding your Unique Service Proposition, which distinguishes you from other lawyers (and non-lawyers) serving your ideal clients’ legal needs. In that article, I noted that if you are one of a pool of fungible practitioners, you’ll be forced […]
Newsletters offer a way to stay in contact with a large number of contacts easily, consistently, and productively. Newsletters focus on substantive information, and assuming you’ve defined your areas of practice carefully enough, your content will be valuable to recipients and therefore welcome. Better yet, if your topics are timely and if you include an […]
This month, I’ve selected quotes from some terrific blog posts about relationship. Read the quotes, and then go check out these posts. They’re too good to miss. We all like people who like us. If I show you I’m genuinely happy to meet you, you’ll instantly start to like me. (And you’ll show that you […]
One of the primary objections lawyers have to business development is that business development equals sales, and “sales” is a four-letter word. (Sometimes the stereotype of math-challenged lawyers does stick!) The word may conjure the stereotypical used car salesman, ready to unload a lemon just to make a quick buck. And, of course, no one […]