Attorney Client Development for Associates
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Currently there are almost 1.2 million lawyers licensed in the United States of America with more law students graduating every year. As the industry becomes more competitive and aggressive, building client development skills early on can protect your career and make you a more valuable resource. This presentation reviews the importance of client development and the skills you will need to develop as you enter the legal market.
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Attorney Client Development for Associates
- 1. Prepare to practice:Keys to client development
- 2. Today’s Speakers Michael Blachly Looper Reed & McGraw Matthew Sanderson Looper Reed & McGraw Chad Ruback The Ruback Law Firm
- 3. Law Firms Today …
- 4. Law Firms Today …
- 5. Law Firms Today Old Times vs Modern Times
- 6. So What is Client Development? Building Your Relationships Building Your Expertise Building Your Name
- 7. Social Functions Organizations & Committees Lunches & Dinners How can one person do all of this! Networking & Referrals Speaking at Events Sponsorships Public Relations Attorney Branding Advertising Publish Articles Phone Calls & Emails Direct Mail Web Development Personal Letters Blogs Bio on Firm Website Educational Materials Developing New Relationships Google Alerts Social Networks/ LinkedIn Maintaining Relationships Announcements
- 8. So What is Client Development
- 9. What Stage Are You In?
- 10. What Stage Are You In? Associates: Learning to be a Great Lawyer Your Main Client is Your Boss and the Firm Create a mailing list of future potential clients/referrals Join the local Bar Association (and get involved) Develop A Business Plan Stay on Top of Current Events Engage in at least one face-to-face marketing effort per week
- 11. What Stage Are You In? Senior Associates: Still Learning to be a Great Lawyer Define and Promote your “niche” Add to database of potential clients/referrals Visit client’s facilities, factories, stores Get involved in trade associations related to your niche Write at least two articles per year Present a speech to legal or industry group Engage in at least two face-to-face marketing effort per week
- 12. What The Client Wants The Client Wants An Exceptional Experience
- 13. What The Client Wants “Don’t take client calls or use your blackberry while you are in meetings with me unless it’s a true emergency. Make me ‘feel’ as if I am your only andmost important client even if I’m not.” “Return calls promptly or have someone else return it in your absence to let me know when you’ll return the call.” Source: WickerPark Group
- 14. What The Client Wants “Clients are good at taking bad news - when they aren’t surprised.” “In-house counsel hate to be surprised. Surprises are the worst.” “Communicate with me directly as soon as you think things will be different than expected with fees, outcomes, results.” Source: WickerPark Group
- 15. What The Client Wants “Think ahead. Look to the future and tell me what you think are upcoming issues and trends that will impact my business and how. Then, tell me what I should do about it.” “Demonstrate you understand my business. Spend time on site with my legal department and business people, take a facility tour, attend industry meetings with me and read my trade publications.” Source: WickerPark Group
- 16. What The Client Wants “Show me that you’re thinking about me. When you send me an article or legal update tell me why and how it might affect my business.” “[partner] was amazing. He is our go-to and we wouldn’t think of calling anybody else at this point. We especially appreciated the off the clock strategy session with our CEO last December.” Source: WickerPark Group
- 17. Life Experiences Matthew Sanderson Looper Reed & McGraw Chad Ruback The Ruback Law Firm
- 18. Life Experiences Define A Niche
- 19. Life Experiences Become a Networking Guru
- 20. Life Experiences Utilize the Internet
- 21. Life Experiences Speak & Publish
- 22. Life Experiences Create A System
- 23. Life Experiences Tips from The Pros
- 24. The End … Thank You! Michael Blachly – mblachly@lrmlaw.com Matthew Sanderson – msanderson@lrmlaw.com Chad Ruback – chad@appeal.pro
Notas do Editor
- Thank you Karen.I spend much of my time working on client development for attorneys. In addition, today’s panel members are both young lawyers that are exceptional at client development. In a few short years, they quickly developed their own clients. Hopefully their experiences will give you insight into what you need to do over the next few years.I have Two main goals today:To create a philosophical change in the way you think of client development as a major part of your job as an attorney.To provide you some of the tools you can utilize in your client development efforts as a new associateThese are tools that you can utilize whether you are going to a big firm or a small firm.In addition, these are tools are very similar to the tools you utilize in searching for a job. [TEXAS LAWYER]
- According to the ABA, there are 1,203,097lawyers actively practicing in the United States with 40,000 more graduating from law school every year.Approximately a 2% increase
- In Texas, there is approximately77,049 licensed attorneysSo it’s not like the old days … [NEXT SLIDE]
- In the old days: You graduated from law school Returned to your home town Hung up your shingle Everyone knew you and knew that you were a lawyer Lawyers in those days practiced all types of law whether it was real estate law, family law or criminal lawBack then, You do good work and the phone would ring. Over time it changed to: it was not what you know, but who you know.Now it is Who Knows What you KnowTexas Population in 2009 was almost 25 million people. (24,782,302)329 people per lawyer and that number is decreasing every year
- It’s basically letting the industry in which you practice know that you exist, what you do and why you are great at it.
- So, what client development tools are available to a typical attorney:AttorneyPublic Relations (Speaking Events, Publish Articles)Web Development (Blogs, Google Alerts, Bio on Firm Website, Social Networking)Directing Mailing (Personal Letters, Educational Materials, AnnouncementsBranding(Sponsorships, Advertising)Networking & Referrals(Social Functions, Joining Organizations & Committees, Lunches & Dinners)Phone Calls & Emails (Developing New Relationships, Maintaining Relationships)SO HOW CAN ONE PERSON DO ALL THIS! [CLICK]
- Well the answer is you can’t do everything (at least at this stage of your life). So you have to find the right mix for you.
- So what stage are you in? These are the various stages through your career. The Good news is that the Rainmaker, which is the honey pot of client development, can be obtained early on in your career.
- Learn To Be A Great Lawyer: Your main priority is just learning how to be a lawyer. Take every opportunity to learn and hone your lawyering skills. Arrive on time and stay until the jobs done. Ask thoughtful questions. Pay close attention to detail. Meet deadlines. Seek feedback about your performance. Find a good mentor to help you with your business skills and time management. Your Main Client Is Your Boss and the Firm: Treat your supervising attorney as your client. For now, they are your client. Get to know what they want, what they need and find ways to exceed their expectations. Learn about the firm and get to know the other attorneys.Build a Referral Database: Keep in touch with your old and new contacts. Build an excel database filled with your old classmates and friends from high school, college and law school. As you join organizations such as the local bar associations or young lawyers association, add people you meet there to your database. Mark those that you think are most likely to go far in business or send you a lot of business and regularly work those relationships.Join the Local Bar Association Join the local bar association and/or the young lawyers association. GET INVOLVED! Don’t just join, but find a way to be active. Otherwise, you just paid a lot of money for a newsletter. Develop a Business Plan: Develop a Business Plan that outlines your goals and objectives. Review it monthly and create action items to make sure you accomplish your goals. Stay on Top of Current Events: Subscribe and read business publications and newspapers. This should be a daily practice and will help you understand the business world and allow you to find opportunities for your client. Setup Google Alerts to send you daily emails about the areas you are interested. You should set one up for your name, each client and your client contact’s name, as well as industry topics. iGoogle allows you to see news every time you open your browser. This all gives you knowledge of the industry in which you practice and hopefully a few tidbits that you can pass on to your client. Face to Face Meetings: Have lunch w/ your clients. Make it a goal for at least one lunch per week. Take your clients to sporting events or social events.
- Find Your Niche: It will take several years but you will need to find your niche in the legal industry. You can’t be all things to all people. So you will have to focus your practice on a specific area of the law or business industry. You are more likely to be successful if you are an employment law attorney focusing on the hospitality industry than if you were a general commercial litigator. And once you find your niche, let the world know! Join Organizations/Network: As you develop your practice, join organization in the industries in which you practice (i.e., oil and gas, real estate, construction, etc). Stay on Top of Current Events: As your practice niche forms, subscribe to and consider publishing in those industry publications. Write/Speak: It might be a few years before you can do this but look for opportunities to speak at events or publish articles in the media on your area of expertise. This will help build your credibility as an expert in your field.
- So what does the client want? The ultimate goal is to provide your client with an exceptional experience.So rather than me telling you what the client wants, here it is in their own words:
- These are actual comments from law firm clients courtesy of the WickerPark Group who does nothing but analyze client feedback.Bottom Line - You are there for the client
- Bottom Line - Be Honest / Communicate
- Bottom Line - Know your client’s industry and their business
- Bottom Line - Look for opportunities for your client and Provide an exceptional experience.
- Thank you Karen.I spend much of my time working on client development for attorneys. In addition, today’s panel members are both young lawyers that are exceptional at client development. In a few short years, they quickly developed their own clients. Hopefully their experiences will give you insight into what you need to do over the next few years.I have Two main goals today:To create a philosophical change in the way you think of client development as a major part of your job as an attorney.To provide you some of the tools you can utilize in your client development efforts as a new associateThese are tools that you can utilize whether you are going to a big firm or a small firm.In addition, these are tools are very similar to the tools you utilize in searching for a job. [TEXAS LAWYER]