Marketing: What Are You Already Doing Right?
On a panel for a webcast by the Law Practice Management Program about “Finding and Keeping Good Clients,” we discussed the efficacy of public speaking. Rick Albers, a real estate lawyer in Austin, recounted that another lawyer once told him that he had spoken many times at continuing legal education programs, and never got any business from it. Rick’s mouth dropped open. He himself had referred four matters to that lawyer over the last several years. Rick made those referrals because he knew from hearing the lawyer speak that he was knowledgeable in the relevant area of practice.
Many years ago, when I had my own law firm, my father asked me how I got my clients. I blinked, dumbfounded by the question, and finally responded, “I wish I knew, Dad, so I could get more of them.” That question spurred me to examine my list of current and former clients. I discovered that 75% of my business came from referrals from other lawyers. To my surprise, many of those referrals came from my competitors!
Don’t Wait to Read This: Tips for Procrastinators
- It involves an unpleasant task.
- We don’t know or are unsure about how to do it.
- The task involves a tough decision.
- We don’t have all the materials or information we need.
- The project is too big and overwhelming.
- We underestimate the time required and have a lot to do.
Questions May Be the Answer for Performance Problems
Do you have an employee who just doesn’t seem to be performing up to snuff? Is there a way to rehabilitate that employee? Or do you have to choose between termination and tolerating inferior performance? Employee turnover is time consuming, disruptive, costly and often bad for office morale (including yours). Before jumping to the conclusion that the employee just isn’t working out, it’s worth making sure that the problem does not lie elsewhere. If you don’t eliminate that possibility, you may be doomed to experience the same song, second verse with the next employee.
The Unwritten Rules for Associates
When I was a young associate in a big law firm, I began to fear that there were unwritten rules to the game that everyone knew except me. Sometimes I wanted to cry out, “What are the rules? Just tell me what they are! I’ll follow them!”
Gradually over the years I began to figure them out, one by one, often as the result of transgressing them. Sometimes I was fortunate enough to learn a rule by merely observing the consequences of a transgression by another associate. On rare occasions a more senior associate, or even a partner, would bless me by privately advising me about one of the rules.
Law firms really do want their associates to succeed, so why do they seem to hide the rules of the game? Here are my guesses at a few possible explanations:
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10 Tips for Developing Associates into Rainmakers
10 Tips for Developing Associates into Rainmakers
Today most law firms, large and small, expect partners to bring in business. In determining whether an associate makes partner, the firm usually considers whether the associate has the capability to bring in business.
Some firms don’t do a very good job of communicating this expectation to their young lawyers, however. In fact, some partners may actively discourage associates from spending time on business development activities, if that takes any time away from doing billable legal work. The firm then unrealistically expects a new partner to support himself with his own business like turning on a water faucet.
While firms that think longer-range may not begrudge the time an associate spends on client development, they don’t all have a policy for reimbursing associates for business development expenses. Young lawyers still trying to pay off student loans are expected to pay for any marketing lunches or other outside activities, bar association and section dues, and community association dues. Asking associates to lay out their cash to benefit the firm they are not yet members of can have a significant tempering effect on their efforts. Finally, some savvy law firms actively support mid-level and senior associate efforts to develop clients by providing time and financial resources, but very few provide real guidance to young lawyers about how to market themselves.