Home > Search for "marketing"

A New Spin on Rainmaking for Lawyers: Client Evangelists

Written by

Some people are really passionate about scissors. Fiskars, a manufacturer of scissors, knives and garden tools, recognizes and appreciates their passion—so much so that it’s created an online community called The Fiskateers for customers who love to scrapbook using Fiskars’ products.

Participants in this virtual hobby group exchange helpful tips and ideas. But, more than that, they’re volunteer innovators and ambassadors of the Fiskars’ brand, suggesting new products and trumpeting the benefits of ones they already use.

This is not an isolated phenomenon. Word-of-mouth marketing experts Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba have dubbed this kind of customer enthusiasm—and the organic marketing and sales opportunities it creates—customer evangelism.

Word-Of-Mouth Marketing Takes Hold

In their insightful book and e-manifesto on the topic, McConnell and Huba assert that we’ve entered a new era in which people make consumer decisions by relying on the word of trusted family members, friends and colleagues. Consequently, they state, “customer-driven referrals [have become a] valuable new currency in an organization’s growth.”

Although McConnell and Huba depict a word-of-mouth revolution, you might wonder what they find so revolutionary. After all, how many times have we heard the business adage: “Acquiring a new customer is five to six times more expensive than keeping a current one happy”? But as McConnell and Huba explain, there’s a big difference between mere customer loyalty and customer evangelism.

Customers Crave Emotional Connections

Customer evangelists, they say, have “an emotional connection” to a product or service and, by extension, to the company or individual providing it. Among other common attributes, customer evangelists:

- Passionately recommend your business to friends, neighbors and colleagues
- Deeply believe in your company and its people
- Offer you unsolicited praise and suggestions for improvement
- Forgive occasional service lapses
- Freely extol your virtues

McConnell and Huba conclude that the best way to build and sustain your business in this new era is to cultivate evangelists “who will act as missionary zealots, spreading the word and recruiting new customers” for you.

After first reading McConnell’s and Huba’s observations several years ago, I started weighing their relevance to the legal profession. Most lawyers rise and fall on their books of business—on the quality and quantity of their client relationships. It’s widely reported, however, that client discontent and defection is prevalent.

On a micro level, this problem has been attributed to poor client service, outmoded billing practices, stiff competition among firms and uncertain economic times. On the macro level, there’s the Broken Windows Theory. As originally conceived, this theory of community decay holds that disorder in urban neighborhoods leads people to be disorderly. Metaphorically speaking, if you don’t fix broken windows quickly, people get the message that nobody cares and more vandalism and ruin follows.

In Broken Windows, Broken Business: How the Smallest Remedies Reap the Biggest Rewards (Business Plus, 2005), media and PR expert Michael Levine applies the theory to the business world. He opines that companies should place a premium on identifying and quickly repairing their broken windows—those aspects of their operations that ward off consumers by signaling an indifference to their satisfaction.

Given the ample empirical evidence that the attorney-client relationship window is broken, and in view of larger uncertainties in the current legal marketplace, lawyers and law firms would benefit from engaging in and embracing the tenets of customer (or client) evangelism.

Encourage Clients To Sing Your Praises

This raises a key question for lawyers to consider: What would compel our clients to voluntarily shout our praises until the rafters ring?

According to some authorities, lawyers can turn clients into raving fans by:

- Projecting a professional image
- Maintaining a positive and helpful attitude
- Communicating in a courteous and reliable manner
- Producing excellent work
- Getting client feedback on a regular basis
- Becoming well-acquainted with the client’s industry

While these are all positive action points for lawyers to employ in building and maintaining client relationships, they aren’t essential to cultivating client evangelists.

As McConnell and Huba suggest, client evangelists crave emotional connection and validation that can’t be satisfied by a practitioner’s task mastery alone. It requires authenticity—a desire and ability to put down our guard, open up and let our clients get to know who we are, what’s important to us and where we stand. It also requires empathy and compassion—a desire and ability to see the people behind the legal matters we take on. We need to understand their feelings and needs as well as what’s meaningful to them.

Opening up and being empathic and compassionate with clients might not come naturally to some lawyers. It’s not surprising. We’re trained to translate human relations into the three R’s: rules, rights and responsibilities. As a result, we’re well-versed in transforming complex, emotion-laden situations into a dry set of facts and relevant law. For many, the prospect of having to authentically engage with clients on an emotional level can be pretty daunting.

Tags by users:

Categories: Law Practice Marketing - Tags: law practice marketing, legal marketing, marketing for lawyers, marketing tips for lawyers, rainmakers, word of mouth marketing

Why Coaching and Mentoring Are Vital To Every Lawyer’s Career Planning

Written by

“I wish I had a mentor.” I have heard that statement uttered by more lawyers over the past 18 years than any other except perhaps, “I hate billable hours!” That lawyers want more mentoring doesn’t surprise me. Mentoring and coaching are critical to every lawyer’s career development. In fact, after education, such support is widely held to be the second most significant factor in becoming a successful lawyer.

Law School Does Not Teach You How To Be A Lawyer

Mentoring is not just for young lawyers, either. The need for mentoring and coaching cuts across all stages of career, all practice areas, all environments, all sizes of law firms, in-house departments, genders, ages, races and geographic areas. From the minute we ventured forth from the halls of law school we heard, “Law school does not teach you how to be a lawyer.” Have you ever had one of those dreams where you show up for a final exam and realize you never attended that class and haven’t a clue about the exam? Starting out stone cold in the practice of law felt like that to me. Okay I’m here, now what do I do?

If mentoring is such a key building block in our professional career development, why do most lawyers report that they never received the mentoring and coaching they felt they needed?

When The Bottom Line Rules, Associates Lose

Simply stated, things are not the way they used to be in the legal profession. The modern practice of law with its current myopic focus on the bottom line leaves little time or incentive for developing truly impactful mentoring relationships among lawyers. This leads to a major gap in the acculturation of the vast majority of associates. The lawyers, the firm and clients suffer.

It was not like that in the “good old days.” When my father graduated from law school in the early 1950′s, he started with a firm and right away had a very experienced, successful mentor who was eager to show him the ropes, share his knowledge, give advice, introduce him to the “right” people, work with him and groom him to be a successful trial lawyer. That was common practice in those days.

This organic mentoring relationship has pretty much gone by the wayside. It exists only rarely, and hardly ever for women and minorities. When my brothers and I got out of law school in the 1980s, we each expected to be mentored as my father was. We were surprised and disappointed when that never happened. A large number of my law school classmates had the same negative experience.

Associates Must Take Matters Into Their Own Hands

What has been done to fix the problem? Law firms started various kinds of formal mentoring programs in the 1980s but these have had only marginal success. According to managers in major law firms I have interviewed, these programs that continue today are not meeting the need (even though the firm proudly touts them!) and associates are still not experiencing the relationship part of mentoring that is so critical to their development. The mentor they are assigned is either not fully invested in the concept of mentoring, or does not have the training to be good at it. In fact mentoring skills run contrary to a lawyer’s strengths. On the other side of the equation, young associates do not know how to look for mentoring experiences and instead wait passively for something that rarely happens.

Is there anything that I could have done differently coming out of law school? Is there anything that lawyers today can be doing for themselves while waiting for firms to implement better mentoring programs? Absolutely! Instead of waiting
for the ideal mentor to show up at your office door, you can take full responsibility for your career and seek out opportunities to be mentored. It’s the approach I share with the lawyers I coach in other aspects of career development – whether finding new jobs, alternative careers, or building bigger client bases.

Take Full Responsibility. Build A Network. Create A Plan

There are excellent mentors to be found, but you have to orient yourself three ways. First, you have to take full responsibility for your career and understand that your career development has always been and always will be up to you. Second, you need to shift from thinking of mentoring as something you get from one person. You need to have more than one mentor and think in terms of building a network of people you can turn to for a variety of things – a mentoring “board of advisors.” Third, you need to create and follow a strategic plan, much as you would when conducting a job search or targeting a new client. This is where the rubber meets the road and it takes time, focus and purpose.

You need to get clear about your personal goals for career and business development and create a career development plan. Temporarily at least, you need to stop thinking like a lawyer. Instead of driving yourself crazy obsessing about all the risks and potential downsides in every situation just try to relax and picture where you want to go with your career. Ask yourself: Who do I want to be in five years? Ten years? What kind of clients do I want to be serving? What kind of practice do I want to have? And what are the qualities and attributes of a successful person with that kind of career and practice?

Once you have a vision for your career, you can break it down into manageable, tactical pieces and set goals to get there. You can identify the steps you need to take at each stage, including the skills you need to have, the people you need to meet, the clients you need to have, and so on.

Find A Mentor Who Fits The Stage Of Your Career

There are some mentoring needs that most lawyers have in common. New lawyers need to focus on developing skills, competencies, professional identity, work/life balance and how to progress on the partnership track if that is what they want, or where to look for alternatives if they don’t want to be a partner. Lawyers who have practiced three to five years also need to learn about leadership, marketing, human resource management, and the financial realities of the law business.

Nor does lawyer development stop when you reach partnership. For experienced lawyers, it is important to find mentoring at transition points – redirecting one’s area of practice, changing employment, or even changing professions. For senior lawyers it can be about many of the same things as well as keeping up with technological changes.

Once you have your career plan in place, you can create a mentoring plan. I don’t mean look for one person to fill all your needs. As I said earlier, the odds of that happening are slim to none. Once you have identified the various areas in which
you need mentoring, you can identify the people who can help you. For example, if you have decided that one of your long-term goals is to be a well-known speaker, then you need to find a mentor who has contacts, influence, and may be able to teach you presentation skills. You would likely choose a different person to mentor you in managing competing work demands; one who is well organized and could show you practical techniques and strategies.

Good Mentoring And The Role Of Coaching

Aside from technical skills, what should you look for in a mentor? What I have found in my personal experiences on both the mentor/coach and protégé sides is that good mentors need to be able to play different roles at different times, depending on the situation. Sometimes they need to instruct and give guidance, sometimes they need to give constructive criticism, and sometimes they need to be more of a coach. Always they need to have patience, to care about the other person’s success, to be supportive, perceptive, a good listener and able to help protégés help themselves.

What I see missing from most formal mentoring relationships in firms is the coaching role, which most lawyers do not know how to play effectively. It requires dramatically different skills from the analytical, directive ones expected from a lawyer. It is more like the Socratic method that is used by first year law professors. The mentor asks the protégé questions that help her discover answers that are inside her already. The coach’s role is that of a sounding board, facilitator, counselor and awareness raiser. Often the coach says little to nothing. Instead, he asks questions to get a clear understanding of what the protégé thinks, wants, and needs. He listens closely to the answers and often asks more questions to help the protégé discover her own answers.

Instead of the mentor telling the protégé how to correct a difficult problem, handle an assignment, or rescuing her from a mistake, he leads her to think through a situation, tap into her own experience and knowledge, and find her own way. By investing a little time on the front end of this ‘coaching conversation’ the partner saves much more time going forward because the associate becomes increasingly more self-reliant, confident and less dependent on the partner. It’s much like the adage, ‘Pay me now or pay me later.’

There are two key reasons why the coaching role is so important to good mentoring. First, it leads to a deeper level of learning both for the person being mentored and for the mentor. Second, it also makes for a higher quality relationship characterized by mutual trust, respect and more open communication. Not a bad payoff for a few extra minutes of attention by the partner!

Since very few lawyers have intuitive coaching skills it may be difficult to find a mentor who also can play the coach role. However coaching skills can be taught and learned, and hopefully one day this type of training will be a regular part of formal mentoring programs. Meanwhile coaching skills can be found in people who may not otherwise be positioned to serve as your mentor. So you can have both, just not in the same person.

Now that you know what you want in a mentor, how are you going to articulate to a potential mentor what you offer? Be ready to talk about your specific goals and explain why this person has the skills and abilities to help you. You don’t even have to use the term mentor – just be precise about what you want him to do and why.

Mentors Come In All Shapes, Sizes And Philosophies

How do you find mentors? You start by networking to identify prospects, both in your firm or company and outside of it. Look at partners, co-workers, ex-bosses, and colleagues in other practices. Business and professional organizations,community groups, and personal interest groups are other sources. For a senior lawyer, a junior partner who is technologically savvy can be a mentor. Don’t assume it has to be someone senior to you – you can find mentoring opportunities everywhere. Talk to friends in the profession and find out who their resources are. Remember, non-lawyers can be great mentors and can teach important practice skills. If your goal is to be a better negotiator, look to business people and mediators as possible mentors. If you need to be better at analyzing complex financial data, seek out an accountant or financial advisor. In return, you can offer your experience and insight as a mentor to them.

Once you identify someone, take the initiative to build a personal relationship. You can take the indirect approach and find opportunities to get to know her better before asking her to assist you. You can also take the direct approach – ask her for ten minutes to talk and lay your cards on the table. Describe your goals, be clear about what you want, and estimate how much of her time it will take. Approach this person with the attitude that you are trying to emulate her, not asking to be taken care of. She is more likely to be willing to share what works for her rather than to help you do your work.

Demonstrate from the outset that you are someone worth investing time in. What I hear most mentors say they want to see in a potential protégé includes: ambition, integrity, determination, a positive attitude, good listening and interpersonal skills, and willingness to take responsibility for her own career. Emphasize your own responsibility in the relationship and be confident about your abilities and how they can help you become a better lawyer.

Lessons That Last A Lifetime

I have to admit that I did not practice what I’m preaching to you here when I entered the profession. Partly because I did not know how, but mainly because I knew early on that the practice of law was not for me. I have, however, followed this approach in my subsequent careers. When I stepped out of the practice in 1991 to start a company placing experienced contract lawyers, I immediately came up with a business plan and determined who I wanted on my personal Board of Advisors. I knew I had a lot to learn about networking, marketing, and all the other aspects of running a business. I began to develop close relationships with a few like-minded, experienced lawyers who believed in what I was doing, who could help pave the way in my networking efforts. I hired a business coach to work with me weekly in all aspects of business skill development.

I have continued to do this in my new career as a professional life coach. When I decided to transition into a coaching career, I sought out coaches I already knew and joined several coaching associations. By doing this I have established
wonderful relationships with coaches more experienced than I, to whom I turn for coaching when I need it. I now have another personal Board of Advisors. As I identify new competencies and situations for which I need mentoring, I seek out new mentors and will continue to do so the rest of my professional life.

About the author of this article: Anne H. Whitaker, vice president of Counsel On Call’s Atlanta office, has more than 20 years of combined experience in coaching, consulting, marketing, law and education. In 1991, she co-founded In-House Counsel, Inc., a pioneering contract attorney placement company in Atlanta. Prior to entering the business world, Ms. Whitaker practiced real estate law in private practice for five years.  She received her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1986, where she served on the editorial board of the Georgia Law Review.  She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia, the Atlanta Bar Association, Lawyers Club of Atlanta, and Georgia Association of Women Lawyers (GAWL) and has created, chaired and spoken at numerous seminars for lawyers on career development and transition. She provides career development coaching for lawyers, is founding member and co- chair of the Atlanta Bar Career Management Committee, and is a licensed provider of the Highlands Ability Battery and other career-related assessments.  To contact Ms. Whitaker, visit www.counseloncall.com.

Tags by users:

Categories: Legal coaching - Tags: coaching lawyers, legal coach, legal coaching, legal coaching for attorneys, legal mentoring, mentoring

Create A Personal Vision And Change Your Life

Written by

Here we are at the end of the series on creating a Personal Vision for your life and career.  The approach I’ve outlined is certainly not a quick solution to finding success, happiness, and your “dream career.”  But I can personally attest to the fact that it is worth the time and effort.  Having a Personal Vision has made an incredible difference in my life.  My current career is fulfilling on many levels, uses my natural abilities, allows me to do what I am most passionate about, is connected to my most deeply held values, continues to incorporate my interests, gives me work/life balance, and allows me to feel like I am making a difference.  I look forward to each day and am energized by what I do.

How did I get here?   In 1998, when I decided to transition into a new career, I did the exercises and asked the questions I have been sharing in these articles, and then created a Personal Vision that specifically defined what I wanted to do next.  Then I began doing the things I needed to do to make it happen.  That was not the first time I used this process.  I went through the same self-assessment and creative envisioning in 1991 when I left the practice of law to start a company.  Truth be told, I plan on tweaking my Personal Vision and using it as a tool for the rest of my life to keep my career and life aligned with my values, interests, and goals.  To continue to have my life and my career my way, I believe it’s a must.

I share my story with you not to boast, but to reinforce what I have been saying since writing the first article in this series nine issues ago.  Creating a Personal Vision has changed my life, and I’ve helped many lawyers to create Personal Visions that have changed their lives as well.  If you don’t already have a life and career that are “your way,” you can.  But you have to know very clearly what “your way” is.  I hope by now you have some ideas about what that looks like.

Assuming you have done the exercises I have described in the past articles, you have taken some time to unplug from your current life and looked at yourself through different lenses to gain new perspectives.  Following this inside-out approach, you have analyzed your preferences, your abilities, and motivations; you’ve also decided the kind of environment and type of work that best suits you.  You then combined what you learned and integrated those pieces of information into a Personal Vision Statement that gave you some new ideas about the kind of career you want.  You may have come up with a specific direction, or you may be considering some ideas.  Either way, the next step is to translate your ideas into reality.

Whether you have a clear focus or just pieces of a puzzle, how do you take your idea and make it real in your life?  Or, if all you have is the pieces of the puzzle but no real idea yet, how do you turn your vague notion into a more focused idea you can pursue?  The process is the same.

Translate Your Vision Into Reality In Three Steps

Step One:  Write your idea down, no matter how vague.  If you have more than one idea, write each one up but on separate pieces of paper.  If it’s a specific idea, think about when you want to start working on it and identify the steps it will take to get you there.  Also identify the things you still need to investigate.  Ask yourself why this plan is attractive to you.

Step Two:  Talk with other people about your idea.  Go beyond your circle of family and friends and reach out to a wider network—but do not include people with whom you work or family.  Explain why you think your new career might be a good fit.  Use their feedback to help you refine and revise your idea.

If you don’t have a clear idea at this point, you can solicit other people’s input and insights.  Start by sharing information about your background and the factors you have identified that are important for your ideal job.  After they hear about your preferences, skills, abilities, interests, they may be able to offer you ideas about careers, jobs,
businesses, and even people with whom you can talk with next to get more information.   You can also ask people you meet what they do for a living—neighbors, people you run into at the doctor’s office, and other acquaintances.  You can even look at classifieds to see what fields are hot and read books that give you ideas of career options.  Ask people
what they are doing for fun both in and outside of law.  After investigating these broad possibilities, come up with a list that might satisfy the requirements of your Personal Vision.  Pick six to eight that most appeal to you and research them.  Then narrow it down to one or two fields that seem the most attractive to you.

Step Three:  Research your idea.  You can start by tapping into the usual information sources such as the library, the Internet, trade publications, seminars, and trade associations.

The Informational Interview Is An Essential Tool

The most powerful research tool you can use is the informational interview.  These are conversations with people about their careers that will help you gain a better understanding of an occupation or industry, and build a network of contacts in that field.  Informational interviews clarify your Personal Vision and check it against the reality of the workplace.  As an added bonus, they are also the foundation of a successful job hunt.  Once you feel certain about what you want to do, they will also give you valuable information about the field you ultimately choose to pursue and prepare you for marketing yourself.

Researching and informational interviewing operate like a spiral:  The more you learn, the more new and important questions you will come up with.  The better your questions are, the clearer and more useful the answers will be.  Your idea will become more focused as you gather information from talking with people about what they do and know.

These interviews can sometimes take you in unexpected directions and open up possibilities you were not aware of.  For example, when you start to research a potential career path, you may realize it is not what you thought and uncover another direction that more closely matches your Personal Vision.  This will eliminate dead ends.  If you
use the informational interview well, your idea will become more precise and aligned with what you really want.  In addition, when you’re ready to propose your new job to an employer, you will be able to connect your career needs with the employer’s needs.

Whom Should You Interview?

Start by interviewing anyone whose occupation is even remotely close to the one you envision.  (Naturally, talk first to those who are doing exactly what you’d like to do.)  Ask people for introductions to others.  If you read about a position in an article or on a website, try to contact the person directly.  Your goal is to gather information from Start by interviewing anyone whose occupation is even remotely close to the one you envision.  (Naturally, talk first to those who are doing exactly what you’d like to do.)  Ask people for introductions to others.  If you read about a position in an article or on a website, try to contact the person directly.  Your goal is to gather information from

Prepare For The Interview

How you approach someone to ask for an informational interview sets the tone for the interview itself.  Call the person and state who you are and how you were referred to him or her.  You want to make it clear you are not looking for a job and are merely researching options.  Be respectful and appreciative of the person’s time.  Here is an example of what you may want to say:

“Good afternoon.  My name is Amy Patton.  John Smith gave me your name and said you were very experienced in graphic design.  I am investigating making a career change and want to find out as much about the field as I can before making my decision.  I would appreciate it if I could have 20 – 30 minutes of your time at your convenience to ask you some questions about your work.  May I buy you a cup of coffee or meet you some place convenient sometime this week or next?”

Before the meeting, research the field so you’ll know what to ask, and compile a list of questions to bring with you.  During the meeting, listen with interest and an open mind; don’t judge or try to sell yourself.  A good rule of thumb is to let the other person do 90 percent of the talking.  You are there to gather information and obtain a reality-check; you are also creating a future networking contact should you decide to go forward with this idea.  The following is a list of generic questions to get you started.

• How did you decide to get into your present career?
• How did you move into your present position?
• What do you like about it?  Dislike?
• Describe a recent day that you feel was productive and that you enjoyed.  What made it enjoyable?  Productive?
• Describe a recent bad day or unproductive day.  What made it bad or unproductive?
• How much of your day do you spend working with people (or computers, merchandise, etc?)
• What personality attributes, talents, and skills would someone need to enjoy or be satisfied with your job?
• What education, certification and other requirements are required for this type of work?
• What do you see for your own future?
• What do you see for the future of this field/industry/company?  What changes are occurring?
• How can my legal skills or training benefit this field?
• What books and trade publications do you recommend I read to learn more?
• What or who has helped and guided you most over the years?
• What advice would you have for someone just starting out?
• May I contact you if other questions arise?
• Who else should I talk to, and where else should I go for more information?  May I use your name as a referral?

Alternately, make your own list, but keep it reasonably short and focused.

After the meeting, be sure to write a thank you note.  Also, if you leave the interview with a referral or a suggested next step, follow up by letting the person know what happened as a result of their help.

Continue informational interviewing until you have a clear vision for the job you are researching.  You should be able to see what the job entails and how it fits with your Personal Vision factors—your abilities, personality, values, interests, and goals.  You also need to know how your idea meets a need in the workplace so that you can market it to others.

Make Your Case

After you’ve gathered all the information you can, you need to convince others that your idea—whether you want to take on new responsibilities in your current job or change careers altogether—is a good one.  You do this by creating a convincing presentation.

Start by talking about yourself.  Communicate who you are and what you have to offer.  Use what you have learned about yourself:  your abilities, interests, personality, skills, experience, goals, even your stage of adult development.  Then talk about what the person or organization you are addressing needs, and give examples of how you can fulfill those needs.  Thanks to all the informational interviewing you did, you will be able to speak knowledgeably about the field.  Share with others your vision for this job—what it entails, how you would work and with whom, what the potential problems might be, and what the factors are that will make it successful.

You can use this approach for moving into an entirely new career or for just making changes in your existing career.  It takes some time but yields great results for getting exactly what you want.

Change Happens? And Vision Statements Need To Be Retuned

I hope that this series has been helpful and that you have been able to develop a clear vision for your career and life that will bring you great joy and satisfaction.  Even if you have only been able to do part of the process, at least that is a start.  Perhaps you are not at a Turning Point or you need the assistance of a career coach to give you structure and accountability.  Whatever the reason, it is never too late to start this work.

Also, it is never really over.  Once you have crafted a Personal Vision Statement Template and taken the steps to make it real, you will need to renew the process at some point in your future.  One thing is for certain—change will occur.  Remember that our lives move in regular cycles from Turning Points to periods of stability back to Turning Points again.  We all long for change at some point, no matter how satisfied we have been with a career.  The work you do to create a Personal Vision now will continue to help you in the future.  When you reach future Turning Points, use the same process to decide what is right for you.  Keep these articles handy!  And don’t forget to “tune up” your vision as often as you need to.

There’s an inscription on an old English church I think of often, and hope you will, too – “A vision without a task is but a dream, a task without a vision is drudgery; a vision and a task is the hope of the world.”

If you are new to the series, you may want to take a look at the previous articles:
-Personal Vision: How To Make Your Vocation Your Vacation
-Moving From The Stress Cycle To The Balance Cycle
-What Are Your Natural Talents and Abilities?
-The 8 Critical Turning Points Of Your Life
-Pay Attention To Your Skills And Interests
-How Core Values And Family Of Origin Impact Your Career
-Match Your Personality With Your Job
-Use Your Long-Term Goals To Motivate You
-Your Personal Vision Statement: A Template For Change

About the author of this article series: Anne H. Whitaker, vice president of Counsel On Call’s Atlanta office, has more than 20 years of combined experience in coaching, consulting, marketing, law and education. In 1991, she co-founded In-House Counsel, Inc., a pioneering contract attorney placement company in Atlanta. Prior to entering the business world, Ms. Whitaker practiced real estate law in private practice for five years.  She received her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1986, where she served on the editorial board of the Georgia Law Review.  She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia, the Atlanta Bar Association, Lawyers Club of Atlanta, and Georgia Association of Women Lawyers (GAWL) and has created, chaired and spoken at numerous seminars for lawyers on career development and transition.  She provides career development coaching for lawyers, is founding member and co- chair of the Atlanta Bar Career Management Committee, and is a licensed provider of the Highlands Ability Battery and other career-related assessments.   To contact Ms. Whitaker, visit www.counseloncall.com.

Notes
1.  McDonald, Bob, Ph.D., and Hutcheson, Don, E., Don’t Waste Your Talent: The 8 Critical Steps to Discovering What You Do Best, The Highlands Company, 2005.
____
Resources
1. Arron, Deborah, What Can You Do With a Law Degree?: A Lawyer’s Guide to CareerAlternatives Inside, Outside & Around the Law.  Chapter 17 is on researching options and contains specific questions to ask in informational interviews.
2. Lore, Nicholas,  The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change Your Career for a Lifetimeof Satisfaction and Success.  Chapter 10 is about researching and informational interviews and gives a good list of questions to ask.
3. Stoodley, Martha, Information Interviewing: How to Tap Your Hidden Job Market, 2ndedition, Ferguson Publishing, 1996.
4. Crowther, Karmen, Researching Your Way to a Good Job, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.(April 1993).
5. Levine, Michael, The Address Book: How to Reach anyone who is anyone (Address Book, 10th ed), Perigee, 2004.  Websites, e-mail addresses, and street addresses to assisting making a personal contact.
6. Kaufman, George W., The Lawyer’s Guide to Balancing Life and Work: Taking the Stress Out of Success, 1999, ABA Law Practice Management Section.  A good resource for having a balanced and fulfilling career as a lawyer.

Tags by users:

Categories: Professional Development - Tags: law career development, law career tips, natural talents, personal vision, personal vision statement, personal vision statement template, professional development, what are talents

How to choose the right location for your law practice

Written by

One of my very first law students was a New York policewoman I’ll call Amy who left the police force on a disability pension. Amy was from a small, blue collar town in upstate New York whose population was declining ever since the area’s largest employer had relocated. It hardly seemed like the ideal place to open a law practice. But because she was committed to caring for an elderly aunt and because she owned property there, she returned to her hometown.

Yet the situational analysis we did revealed otherwise. First Amy converted an old barn on her property into an office. Then she established a relationship with the only other attorney in town who was elderly, close to retirement, and unable to take on every case that arose. Soon, he began referring cases to her; she hopes to buy out his business when he retires.

Meanwhile, the quality of her daily life is precisely what she hoped it would be. She lives near her friends and relatives those who know her best. For her, this real estate is “prime” because it satisfies both her personal and professional needs and will for decades to come.

The Best Real Estate Is Near Those You Know

In the legal business, location has little to do with securing the priciest real estate to impress people you have yet to meet. It has more to do with being in close proximity to those who already know you best. Before you can even make a decision about location, however, you have to fully digest and totally internalize three very important concepts:

You are the product. Clients are buying you, your personality, integrity, enthusiasm, compassion and commitment to advocacy. Everything else is overhead, changeable, portable, expandable, but most importantly, expendable. Your product and business are an integral part of your persona and therefore travel with you; they aren’t tied to a physical location. 62% percent of your business will be referrals from friends, relatives and coworkers.

Whether you realize it or not, all your life you have been conducting a marketing campaign, marketing yourself 24/7. The people who know you best want you to succeed. They are proud to say they know a really great lawyer. The qualities which have attracted your friends, spouses, business partners to you and helped foster familial relationships are the very qualities which will encourage them to refer their friends, relatives and coworkers to you when a lawyer is needed.

Successfully locating your practice has everything to do with achieving balance in both your professional and personal lives. You need to select a location where you want to build a personal life or where you already have an established lifestyle for you and your family. If you are like most people, you will ultimately choose to live close to those you have grown up with, whether relatives or friends. Starting your practice close to your support system offers emotional comfort and the opportunity to attain true life/work balance.

Virtual And Home Offices Offer Inviting Possibilities

Today, a lawyer who wants to put down roots in her sleepy home town isn’t limited by her physical location. Thanks to technology, it’s possible to create a virtual law office (VLO). With access to a computer, lawyers can maintain and broaden their practice areas while maintaining their desired lifestyles.

Operating in cyberspace is very freeing for both lawyers and clients. Untethered to specific locations and restrictive schedules, solos can work non-traditional hours while saving on commuting costs. In this era of climbing gas prices, working from a virtual office can benefit your clients as well. Think how grateful they will be to not have to drive to consult with you. In this way, you’ll be addressing not only their legal needs but their unspoken needs as well.

At the same time, home offices are on the rise for a myriad of reasons. For instance, a lawyer who works from home can more easily achieve greater work/life balance, has low overhead, and can raise and enjoy his or her family.

Investigating these various options can further enhance your practice but you have to find what works for you. Not everyone has the freedom to work from home, or to open a hometown practice. Commitments, financial or familial, may force you to open your practice in a less than ideal location. But one of the rewards of being your own boss is the flexibility you enjoy to create a workable solution for yourself, just as Amy did. There’s never just one ideal location; with a little bit of creative thinking and the right computer technology you can make many different locations work for you.

This article was written by Susan Cartier Liebel, the founder & CEO of Solo Practice University which is the #1 online educational and professional networking community for solo lawyers and law students.

Tags by users:

Categories: Solo Practice - Tags: law firm office, law practice location, law practice office, location, office for law firms, offices for attorneys, offices for law firms

What Are Your Natural Talents and Abilities?

Written by

Knowing what you do best -what your strongest natural talents and abilities are- and then finding the work that best fits those talents are fundamental to finding success and fulfillment

Each Person Is Born With A Unique Set Of Talents

Every person is born with a unique set of talents that gives them a special ability to perform certain kinds of tasks easily and yet also make other tasks seem laborious.   Knowing what you do best–what your strongest natural talents and abilities are and how you are “hard-wired”–and then finding the work that best fits those talents are fundamental to finding success and fulfillment.  This is the basic groundwork of your Personal Vision, and is the information you need at each of your career Turning Points as you start to decide what you will do with your life.

Do You Know What Your Hard-Wired Talents And Abilities Are?

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said it well:  “The important thing in life is to have a great aim and to possess the aptitude and the perseverance to attain it.”  Do you know what your hard-wired talents and abilities are?  I hear many of you saying: Of course I do!  Peter Drucker, whom Fortune magazine described as the most prescient business trend spotter of our time, said, “Most people think they know what they are good at.  They are usually wrong.”  I have found this to be absolutely true, at least for myself and the people I have coached over the years.

It’s not our fault.  This is not something that we learn in school, and it is certainly not something that we discover in the work place.  It is very hard to know what your abilities are without an objective assessment tool (we’ll talk more about that later).  Furthermore, the focus in our careers is typically on education, skill- building, and training.  While important, they are not your innate abilities or aptitudes.  Often people confuse the concept of abilities with skills and/or intelligence but they are not the same.  Intelligent, highly-motivated people can accomplish many things for which they have little or no natural talent, but they may not be happy or satisfied doing it.  I have known many lawyers who have become successful in their practices through education, training and experience and yet are still very dissatisfied with their careers.  The missing piece of the puzzle for them was in the abilities area; discovering what their natural abilities were gave them invaluable insight into what was and wasn’t working for them.   Some realized they were in roles that did not allow them to use their strong talents, which was the root of their frustration and boredom.  Others learned that they were frustrated and burned-out because their jobs loaded heavily on abilities
they did not have.  The further you get from fully expressing your talents and abilities, the less likely it is that you will enjoy your day at work.

It Is Important To Know How Your Abilities Combine And Work Together To Influence What You Are Naturally Gifted To Do

So what are natural abilities?  They are the inborn talents that are always accessible for you to use, any time and any place.  By the time you are 14 or 15 years old,  your natural abilities have stabilized and, barring any serious disease or physical injury that affects your brain, they will remain with you, unchanging, for your entire life.  You don’t have to practice or even use them regularly to maintain them.

They often drive you into certain kinds of activities.  For some people, it’s a gift for music or design, or a talent for theoretical thought.  Other’s talents are more generalized, such as managing people, or abilities that make writing or teaching easy.  There are certain abilities that are the most powerful and influential talents:  The Driving Abilities.  These are particularly important to know about because they influence, or drive you, whether they are high or low.  In my experience working with lawyers, I have seen many people trace their dissatisfaction at work to having one or more strong Driving Abilities of which they were not aware and for which they had no outlet.  It is also important to know how your abilities combine and work together to influence what you are naturally gifted to do.

Classification: One Of The Driving Abilities

Let’s look at one of the Driving Abilities–Classification.  This ability employs your right brain to solve problems.   Also called inductive reasoning, this type of problem solving consists of your right brain taking unrelated and related facts, observations, and information and arriving at a theory to connect them and explain them.  It’s quick, and those with high Classification love to use it–it’s fun for them.  On the other hand, it also makes it difficult for them to get along easily with those who have other equally valid, but different ways of solving problems.   To give you an example of how abilities affect our lives, let’s take a look at Susan, a person with strong Classification ability.  Susan is a junior partner at a law firm.  She is described by her co-workers as quick and self-assured.

Given a problem to solve, she knows the answer before anyone even has a chance to fully explain the issue.  She often starts responding to what people say before they can finish their sentence, and she has an irritating habit of being right and knowing she is right.  Susan also has little patience with people who are slower than she at seeing the answers.  She often feels she is waiting for others to catch up and see something that is completely obvious to her already.  Susan is happiest when she is fully engaged by problems coming at her fast and furiously, and is very unhappy when she has nothing new to sink her teeth into.   Because she is high in Classification, she doesn’t solve problems logically or in a linear fashion; she solves them with the right hemisphere of her brain–the one that doesn’t put things into language form.  She doesn’t necessarily know how she gets to an answer, but just knows what the right answer is.  Working with Susan, junior associates might notice that when they hand her a brief that they have spent days on to perfect, she scans it briefly, remarking only that “I would change the order of the arguments.”  Susan is using her strong Classification and is quickly able to spot a problem with almost anything.

Classification demands to be used–more than any other strong ability.  If Susan was ever stuck in a menial job that required her to do the same thing over and over, she would be very unhappy.  She might even create problems for herself, seemingly just to have the opportunity to make use of this powerful ability.  On the other hand, people with other problem solving styles must go through a much more laborious process to get to the answer.  Those individuals would not thrive in the same type of fast-paced, rapid-fire problem solving environment that Susan finds so exciting.

Performing In A Way That Works With Your Abilities Will Create More Energy And Leverage Your Talents

Why is it important to know what your abilities are?  First, natural abilities affect the ease or difficulty that you experience with certain types of work activities.  When a particular task requires a set of abilities that are natural for you, you can perform it in less time, with less effort, and use less energy.  On the other hand, when a task requires talents that are not in your make up, you spend more time, put forth more effort, and exert more energy to achieve a similar level of performance.   That explains why certain sets of work activities are relatively easy for one person but not another.   For Susan, her strong Classification ability does not predict how well she will perform as a lawyer necessarily but it gives her critical information.  Of course she needs to know what her other abilities are and how they interact with one another to get a more complete picture.  But she now understands why she enjoys and really needs rapid-fire, fast-paced problem solving and, alternatively, feels drained and frustrated by situations that are more mundane and process-driven.

This does not mean that you should only pursue tasks for which you are naturally gifted.  There are other personal factors–the other 6 Critical Success Factors we haven’t touched on yet–that also cause people to undertake work activities for which they don’t have truly natural talent.  Your values, goals, family influence, interests, and skills also play an important part.   That being said, knowing your talents will help you better manage how you work.  There is more than one way to do a job or accomplish a task, and performing in a way that works with your abilities will create more energy and leverage your talents.     Second, you need to know what your abilities are so you can find activity outlets for them.   Creating outlets, both on and off the job, can make you feel much better about the work that you do.  If Susan was also strong in Idea Productivity– which is a drive to generate a lot of ideas–and she did not get an opportunity to use that at work, she would need to create ways that she could do so outside of the office or she would feel stifled and frustrated.

Lastly, knowing your talents allows you to communicate your preferences to those with whom you work and live.   You are clearer about what is easier and harder for you and you can also appreciate what does and does not come naturally for others.   Susan can now understand why she always feels like she is having to wait for others to “catch up” with her and can develop an appreciation for the fact that others arrive at solutions and decisions in a different but equally valid way.

Frank Was Dissatisfied And Ready For A Change

It should be clear by now that knowing your natural abilities allows you to readjust your career so that you can work with rather than against your hard-wiring.  For an example of this, let’s visit again with Frank, the lawyer we met in
the last article.  Remember that at 41, Frank was dissatisfied and ready for a change.   A success by all standards, he was not only a senior partner at a major law firm with a great book of business, but for several years he had been
managing partner of the firm. He was working most weekends and many nights during the week.  He was generally considered an excellent manager, but felt great stress because he did not enjoy his work anymore.  It took him away from his family even more than his practice ever had, but he didn’t know what he could do about it.

His firm needed him in the managing partner role and his family depended on him to work hard and provide for them.  After taking some time to examine what was important to him, Frank remembered that he had enjoyed
practicing law for a long time after joining the firm but that for the last few years he hadn’t enjoyed his work at all.    As we saw last time, Frank’s first step in developing a Personal Vision was to understand his Stage of Adult Development and that he was at the Midlife Turning Point.   Instead of making a drastic change in his life because he was so unhappy, Frank slowed down and started searching for his own answers to what would make him happy.  In the process of seeking new information about himself, Frank ran across some material about abilities assessments.  On a whim he signed up and went through a battery of tests.  For him, one of the most interesting pieces of objective information he learned was that his pattern of natural abilities was very poorly suited for management.  His talent fitted him superbly for law, but management duties went completely against his grain.

I should note that understanding your natural talents does not equate to whether you can or cannot perform any role.  Because he is intelligent and highly motivated, Frank performed the role of managing partner extremely well.  The problem was that it fell so far outside his pattern of talents that he had to work twice as hard to achieve a result much less satisfying to him personally.

Frank’s Practice Group Became More Productive And He Brought In More New Business Than Ever. He Was Also Much Happier

Even though the role was dissatisfying and made him work against himself, Frank could have continued on as managing partner.  His firm certainly wanted him to.  But when he realized it was a large part of the reason he was so unhappy with his career, he decided to step down from that role–over the protests of the other senior partners.   Frank insisted on the change because he knew objectively he was right.  He also set priorities for his time and set limits on the amount of time he dedicated to his work.  He stopped working late into the evening and every weekend.  He found this was easier to do when he concentrated on the kind of work he loved and for which he was best suited.

At first, Frank’s partners were not wild about this change.  However, Frank’s practice group became more productive over the next several months and he brought in more new business than ever.  Also, he was happier and his practice group was happier.  The firm found another manager better suited to the role.

Of course, Frank’s decisions were more complex and involved more issues than just abilities.  Personality, interests, and family of origin all strongly influenced his actions.  But getting objective information about how he was hard-wired was a first big step.

Whether you are mid-career like Frank or making a first-time choice about a career, it is critical to be absolutely clear about your natural talents when making a career decision.   How do you discover what your natural abilities are?  It is practically impossible to do on your own, and requires an objective assessment that will give you a more complete picture about areas of high, low and intermediate abilities.  Tests for innate abilities are very different from those given for personality and interests.   Those assessments are subjective and based on self-reporting measures.   I know of only one objective, carefully validated measurement tool for natural abilities–the Highlands Ability Battery.  For more information, see Resources below.  The test is available in CD format or online, and you can also arrange to have an individual two-hour feedback session from a specially-trained consultant, which I recommend you do.   This assessment can give you critically valuable information about your talents and is the ideal foundation upon which to build your Personal Vision.

Once you have that information, you will be ready to look at the third and fourth Critical Success Factors that form your Personal Vision:  your skills and interests.  We will tackle these two important areas next time but for now, check out how you are hard-wired.  You may be surprised!

Anne H. Whitaker, vice president of Counsel On Call’s Atlanta office, has more than 20 years of combined experience in coaching, consulting, marketing, law and education. In 1991, she co-founded In-House Counsel, Inc., a pioneering contract attorney placement company in Atlanta. Prior to entering the business world, Ms. Whitaker practiced real estate law in private practice for five years.  She received her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1986, where she served on the editorial board of the Georgia Law Review.  She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia, the Atlanta Bar Association, Lawyers Club of Atlanta, and Georgia Association of Women Lawyers (GAWL) and has created, chaired and spoken at numerous seminars for lawyers on career development and transition. She provides career development coaching for lawyers, is founding member and co-chair of the Atlanta Bar Career Management Committee, and is a licensed provider of the Highlands Ability Battery and other career-related assessments.

RESOURCES
BOOKS  
1.  McDonald, Bob, Ph.D., and Hutcheson, Don, E., Don’t Waste Your Talent: The
8 Critical Steps to Discovering What You Do Best, The Highlands Company,
2005.
ASSESSMENTS  
The Highlands Ability Battery–By means of objective, hands-on work samples,
this assessment helps individuals to understand their natural talents and
abilities.

Tags by users:

Categories: Law Career Development - Tags: change your life, how to become a successful lawyer, law career, law career development, lawyer, legal career, personal vision

Solos Have Unique Advantages During Harsh Economic Times

Written by

Over the last two decades, Big Law has led many to believe the profession operates outside the economic rules governing the rest of the world. Just last year we read about first-year associates receiving astronomical yearly salaries upwards of $200,000. But today we know that the legal profession is no different than any other. In the midst of today’s stock market implosion and shakeout, the profession is cluttered with out-of-work associates and partners. This is due in part to both the system’s own structural flaws and our unprecedented national and global economic crisis.

More than 250 years ago, 90% of Americans were entrepreneurs, mostly of them home-based businesses. As we attempt to reconstruct our economy, I wonder if we’re about to see the return of the home-based entrepreneur, including home-based lawyers.

Solos Are Often Ahead Of The Economic Curve

This is good news for progressive solos who have always understood economic reality. Small, agile, able to make decisions quickly, holding little baggage, solos have traditionally been far ahead of the curve. This enables them to take advantage of opportunities the moment they surface. Great enterprises have always been built upon the ashes of great collapses.

Solos often forget they are much better positioned in most economies because of their solo status. Today’s solos don’t have to worry about office politics, de-equitization, and layoffs, which gives them a tremendous leg up in shaky economic times. They have one focus and one focus only: creating their own thriving business.

But how quickly and deftly can they create and/or revamp their solo practices, shift gears, make adjustments in their personal and professional lives to service their clients and still turn a profit—all the while remaining sensitive to the potential clients’ economic strife? Make no mistake: staying sensitive to and adjusting for this strife is the key to profitability and success.

Fashion Business Plans Based On Predicted Need

The answer to your economic security lies, in part, in predicting those needs that will arise and fashioning a business plan to meet those needs.

Most solos do not practice securities and exchange or mergers and acquisitions law; they practice ‘average person’ law—bankruptcy, divorce, trusts and estates, real estate, criminal, personal injury, small business incorporation, landlord/tenant, and DUI, or a combination of two or three. These areas, which most of us end up needing at some point in our lives, tend to increase in harsh economic times. As we hunker down for this long, cold winter, your clients are, too.

Look in the mirror. As a potential client of your own services, what would make you hire you? Think about your method of engagement, delivery of services, price points and payment methods. (If you say, ‘I do immigration, and I would never use my own services,’ you are missing the point of this exercise.) To ignore your personal circumstances when marketing to and engaging with potential clients is to be out of touch with your potential client base, your business and marketing plan. You are setting yourself up for hardship and potential failure as a solo practitioner.

Next, ask yourself this question: if you were to get a divorce, what would you expect to pay and what terms would you want? How tech-savvy, creative and considerate of your economic reality would you want your lawyer to be? What should he or she offer in terms of convenience, pricing, and communications? If you were declaring bankruptcy or trying to save your home from foreclosure, would thinking about the size of your legal bills stress you even more? How would you address your clients’ fears? How would you encourage them to contact you knowing that pro se status is an option in most of these practice areas? What message will you deliver which will resonate with them and encourage them to hire you instead?

Learn To Live On Less

If you answer, “I’ll just target the very rich,” think again: everyone can’t service the ultra-wealthy. Focusing on premium pricing limits your options. Plus, not everyone wants to service the gilded class. There are many more people who you can serve by reaching out to Main Street America—people who are also the most impacted by the poor economy.

To accomplish your objectives, become more efficient by cutting overhead. You can still deliver services if you use technology effectively and rely on creative pricing structures (those the law permits). By becoming more flexible, you’ll be able to accommodate your clients’ economic challenges while still turning a profit.

This philosophy should also extend to your personal life. If you want to survive, learn to live on less, which doesn’t prevent you from growing. It does, however, create a habit of smart (not excessive) spending, which will allow you to profit with a limitless upside.

This article was written by Susan Cartier Liebel, the founder & CEO of Solo Practice University which is the #1 online educational and professional networking community for solo lawyers and law students.

Tags by users:

Categories: Solo Practice - Tags: home-based lawyers, law practice, solo, solo law practice, solo lawyers, solo practice, tips for solo practice

Create Top-Of-Mind Awareness During Tough Economic Times

Written by

Did you know that prior to the Great Depression the Kellogg Cereal Company was the industry leader? But as the dark days of the Depression receded, C.W. Post emerged as the frontrunner, outselling the field. How did this happen? Reportedly, Post, conscious of the fact that people still had a little money to spend and mouths to feed, launched an aggressive marketing campaign while their competitors downsized their efforts in order to save money. Consequently, Post generated more “top-of-mind awareness” than their competitors which translated into significant sales.

What does this have to do with you and your practice?

In a weak economy, it’s more important than ever to generate and maintain positive top-of-mind awareness with your clients, referral sources and community. Successful rainmakers know that next to your substantive legal skills, the single most important skill that will ensure the success of your practice is your ability to attract clients. Without this, your practice will not survive in the best of times, let alone the worst.

In our combined years of experience in working with, writing about and studying what the most successful rainmakers do, we’ve noticed that the best of the best have a keen eye when it comes to identifying three important factors in the client development process: the characteristics of their most profitable clients; the types of people who influence these clients; and the actions that allow them to get to know these influencers.

Identify The Characteristics Of Your Most Profitable Clients

You can do the same. If, like most attorneys, you focus on several practice areas, identifying your best clients is slightly more complex. It’s important to think of each practice area as a separate profit center or business unit, each offering different services and serving a different type of client.

To discover the characteristics of your clients for each practice area, review your files for the last year and look at the types of people each practice area has served. Once you’ve done this, narrow your search further and identify who your best, or “A” clients are in each group.

Almost without exception your “A” clients generate 80 percent of your revenues and only take up 20 to 40 percent of your time. They pay their bills on time, cooperate with you and send referrals. Typically, these are the clients you most enjoy working with and you are best equipped to handle. To emulate the best rainmakers, study the demographics of these individuals and target their peers as the types of people you want to attract in the future. Then ask yourself, “Who Influences These “A” Clients?”

Identify The Influences On These Clients

If you were an estate planning attorney, for example, your typical “A” clients may be high net worth individuals, both self-made and highly-educated men and women, predominantly in their upper forties to early sixties who have worked hard. Perhaps they are professionals or have started their own businesses and have accumulated assets exceeding a certain threshold.

Who do these individuals typically listen to? Research shows that these individuals confide in and trust their CPAs above any other professional. In this case, CPAs are the type of referral source with the most access and influence over the kinds of clients you want to serve. Next to CPAs, business and professional associations may wield a great deal of influence in terms of which lawyers these high net worth individuals consult for their estate planning needs.

To apply this to your own practice, ask yourself who has the most influence over your clients. If you’ve captured the names of those who’ve sent you your best clients in the past, you should be able to look through your files or in your database to identify the types of people who are in a position to send you good clients in the future. Apply this exercise to your practice to come up with the types of referral sources you should be targeting.

Network

Now that you know who they are, take steps to network with these individuals. The best rainmakers aren’t shy or reticent about cultivating relationships. We recommend you begin by making two lists. On the first, write down all of your referral sources everyone who has sent you at least one matter in the past two years. These are the people with whom you currently have some rapport. Make it your business to build and maintain rapport with this very important group of people.

Some of our more dedicated rainmakers actually create a spreadsheet to help manage this task. It contains 13 columns: one for each month, and a column on the far left listing all their best referral sources. They then keep track of the number of times each month they make contact with a particular referral source. Why go to all this trouble? Because the most successful rainmakers know that people like to do business with people they like. And for referral sources to like them, they must spend time with them. This chart or visual guide shows them at a glance who they are spending time with and who they’re not. Here’s the secret: With increased rapport comes increased referrals.

On the second list, write down the categories of people who influence your best clients. These are the people you want to target. They are in similar professions and positions as the referral sources who have proven to be good sources of business. While it may sound funny, you are, in effect, looking at which referral sources are the best and attempting to clone them.

While you are busy cultivating the first list of people your existing referral sources ask for introductions to the second group. While this doesn’t work when referral sources are competitive, you may be surprised to see how willingly your current referral sources help you network with people they know. Give this a try. It’s the fastest route to expanding your network.

If no introductions are possible, join organizations that are likely to be made up of your targeted referral sources. Make it your business to know where they go after work. Read what they read. Write articles for their trade journals. Attend their conferences and speak at their meetings. Hold seminars on subjects that would interest and attract them.

To keep your practice healthy and successful, you will need to maintain a minimum of three purposeful marketing contacts per week and a have a network of approximately 20 good referral sources. None of the strategies we’ve talked about is expensive, but all take an investment of your time. By diligently building “top-of-mind awareness” among your target influencers, you will start receiving more of the referrals you seek.

In these difficult economic times, don’t take the hunker-down and wait-it-out mentality favored by the Kellogg Cereal Company during the Great Depression. Clients still have issues to resolve and money to spend. See the downturn as an opportunity to raise your profile and be the C.W. Post of your legal community.

Tags by users:

Categories: Law Practice Marketing - Tags: advertise your law firm, attorneys, attract clients, law firm advertisement, law practice marketing, marketing for lawyers

Global Thinking Goes Beyond Location

Written by

You don’t have to practice law abroad to engage in its globalization. Your firm may compete for new and existing work against a foreign firm because the client is international or because the foreign law firm has just opened a branch in your city. Client industries are consolidating, and US firms are experiencing competition from foreign law firms setting up shop in the U.S. or taking on clients that used to be accessible only to U.S. firms. A relationship with a “local” law firm may now include firms just about anywhere in the world depending on the client’s ownership structure. Likewise, U.S. law firms are setting up more offices abroad.

With careers in law taking on a global flavor, young associates need to build their knowledge of the global market so that they can understand future business development and practice scope.

For example, if a German firm acquires one of your firm’s biggest clients but your firm will continue to handle legal needs for the U.S. subsidiary, how will the relationship change? How can your team proactively position itself as preferred legal counsel? What challenges to the new relationship need to be met?

Even if your primary focus isn’t business development, you can still keep these questions in mind. Here are a few other tips.

Learn What You Can About Diverse Business Cultures

Every country views business dealings in different ways. Customs, greetings, work schedules and case timelines, dress codes, food and drink and even ethics vary.

Use your natural online research skills to learn what is acceptable and expected in the legal environments of different countries. This information can come in handy and impress partners when client relationships change or the firm considers expanding abroad.

It also helps to understand some of the legal jargon and precedent-setting cases among your foreign competitors. Trade publications like U.K.-based Managing Partner can give you a taste of what’s happening in the legal field abroad.

Leverage Contacts

Do you already have friends in other countries with whom you communicate through online social networking channels? You can expand your network by connecting with young associates in other countries who can give you an inside scoop on what’s happening in their fields and in their firms.

Assume that your overseas contacts are just as willing and open to share information as your U.S. colleagues. All you have to do is break the ice and initiate contact. These connections can help you to better understand social and business customs, too.

For international career-building advice, check out the International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA), a bilingual non-profit association devoted to lawyers and inhouse counsel aged 45 and under.

Build Alliances

Chances are your firm belongs to an international alliance or association of similar firms. Find out about the group your firm belongs to and investigate ways you can participate. The group may have an emerging leaders track, marketing group or other subgroup that is looking for volunteers.

By joining these organizations, you can lead your firm to new opportunities without incurring the expense of opening an office abroad; you’ll also position yourself well for other leadership opportunities.
Play To Your Strengths

Thanks to our legal environment, U.S.-based firms will remain the best choice for many clients. State and local law in particular requires attorneys who are entrenched in case precedents and the organization of the courts.

However, your team and firm most likely possess other strengths that foreign-based firms can’t match. Knowledge of individual judges, multi-state admissions, the variety or skill-intensiveness of your practice groups, your reputation in a particular industry—all these can be leveraged to enhance your firm’s competitiveness.

Take stock of what your firm does best and what skills you could acquire to add to its global footprint. If you become a thought leader in your own career, you will certainly enhance the bottom line of your firm along the way—in any market.

Tags by users:

Categories: International Business - Tags: big clients, business relationship, career in law, careers in law, challenges, firm, foreign law, globalization, international business, international law firms, law abroad, relationship among international firms, us subsidiary

What Makes Cynthia Doll Successful?

Written by

Our clients need us to hear both what they are trying to express and the emotions behind it.

An interview with Cynthia Doll:

TCL:  What’s your personal definition of success?
Success is achieving satisfaction and respect in your field, while also creating the time to nurture the important relationships in your life, like family, friends and community.

TCL:  Who is the most successful person you know?
I would say anyone who can actually achieve both professional success and maintain strong and stable personal relationships would be successful. It sounds simple, but because of the demands of our profession, it can be easier said than done. It’s a constant balancing act sometimes work wins the battle for first place on our minds and agendas. Other times, your family demands first priority. The most successful people are those who realize that and try not to get too stressed out during those times of ever-shifting priorities.

TCL:  What have been your greatest accomplishments?
Professionally, maintaining a dynamic practice in employment law and litigation for almost 16 years and acting as co-chair of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs’ Labor and Employment law practice group for approximately five years have been most fulfilling. More fundamentally, I feel a great sense of accomplishment any time a client entrusts me with a new matter or case.
On the personal front, I have a wonderfully supportive husband of 20 years and two awesome kids, and they are my greatest personal accomplishments.

TCL:  What have been your setbacks or disappointments?
Like any lawyer, at times I have allowed the practice of law to consume me and have had trouble making time for the truly important things in life. I have had to struggle to cultivate the ability to leave work at work. I have also competed for new business and not received the nod, which again can be discouraging. My advice (which I have to remind myself when these things happen to me) is to dust yourself off and find the next prospect or try the next case without beating yourself up too much about what you did wrong.

TCL:  What influence did your mother have on your life?
My mother was in many ways the primary influence on me. She was the valedictorian of her high school class, and I’m sure good genes from both her and my professor father helped me to do well in school. My mom worked outside the home and favored women’s rights (then called “women’s lib”) in the 1970s. Although she led the life of a minister/professor’s wife, I remember her yelling “Right on!” at the TV when news came on about the women’s movement. She encouraged me to excel academically and pursue my professional goals. She also was a devoted mother who set an excellent example that I try to emulate with my own kids.

TCL:  What influence did your father have on your life?
As a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a minister, my father was devoted to his scholarship and his students. I took after him in loving to read and having an affinity for school and for research and writing. The law is a learned profession, and his example provided a firm grounding for a legal education. I like to think that from his devotion to his students and love of teaching, I learned to be passionate about what I do and to care deeply about my clients and their welfare.

TCL:  Name one of your heroes (other than your parents) and tell why he or she is heroic to you
Sandra Day O’Connor, because of the obstacles she faced as a woman lawyer when they were scarce and because of her role as the first female Supreme Court Justice. I was privileged to meet her when she visited the University of Louisville School of Law in 1992 to accept the Brandeis medal. A picture of us together at that event now hangs on my office wall.

TCL:  What talents or natural abilities make you good at what you do?
Again, I love to read and write. I also am a good listener. We lawyers have a tendency to like to hear ourselves talk. But it is equally important to listen, especially to our clients. Listen to what they are saying and also listen for the subtext or the emotional message. Our clients are going through stressful and unfamiliar experiences like getting sued for the first time. They need someone who will both hear what they are trying to express and tune in to the emotions behind it.

TCL:  What have you learned to do that was not a natural talent but has helped you be successful?
Marketing, marketing, marketing. You can’t sit at your desk and wait for clients to magically show up. I’ve had to build a practice, make my own contacts and make a name for myself in the profession. Client development can be challenging. I have had to push myself to engage in structured marketing efforts including joining networking groups, making presentations, “doing” lunches, even attending cocktail parties, which, honestly, aren’t my favorite places to be.

TCL:  What would a person starting out today have to do to enter your profession or position?
First, they should take a deep breath and be sure this is what they want to do because the legal profession can be consuming. A solid liberal arts education is the best foundation for moving on to law school. At law school, future lawyers should do their absolute best and should spend the summers working at firms or for government agencies in areas in which they have an interest.

TCL:  What values do you hold in highest regard?
Unquestionably, honesty and integrity, particularly as they relate to the practice of law. The reputation of the law has suffered as lawyers have lost sight of these overarching principles. There is no client so important, and no result so critical, that they would justify compromising your honesty and ethics.

TCL:  How would you characterize your personal style?
Diligent and persistent, but not too serious to have fun with the practice of law. I like to think I bring creativity to my practice and have the ability to see a case or problem from a novel angle that some might not have considered.

TCL:  Do you have a personal vision, a positive picture of yourself in the future? If yes, what is it?
I learn something new as a lawyer every day. I hope to spend more time mentoring young lawyers and growing our practice group regionally. I have a long-term vision of creating time for writing, travel and creative projects.

TCL:  What are you most interested in or passionate about?
Aside from work and the law, I am passionate about my family and love to travel with them. I devour books of all types and am always looking for new authors in fiction and subject areas in nonfiction. I am passionate about the continued progress of women in the profession and at my firm.

TCL:  Which life skills have you developed that serve you best?
Perseverance, diligence and the ability to work hard toward a goal, whether for a case or client or in my personal life.

TCL:  What magazines, newspapers or journals do you read regularly?
I read the Courier-Journal just about every day. I read many legal publications and also make time for fun magazines like Self.

TCL:  What Internet websites do you frequent?
The Courier’s website, MSN.com, Google, various law blogs, eBay for bargains. I drop by at The Onion for satire on occasion.

TCL:  What are your favorite books? What books have you read recently that you would recommend and why?
I don’t have one favorite author. I am always reading a new book and feel at a loss when I run out of books to read. One I read recently and enjoyed was The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Diodge. The book summarizes recent research in the field of neuroscience that shows the brain is capable of healing itself, including from injury, stroke and even mental illness. It was fascinating.

TCL:  What are your favorite films? What films have you seen recently that you would recommend and why?
It can be difficult to find time to go to the movies, and when I do, it tends to be for kids’ films. I try to see most or all of the Oscar-nominated films each year. I enjoyed Little Miss Sunshine, which was nominated for best picture in 2007. It was an offbeat but hilarious departure from the big budget pictures that the Academy usually prefers. I have profound hope for the future of us as humans, so I really don’t have a concern per se about “life on the planet.” The largest challenge for this country is combating the forces trying to tear down democracy, such as terrorism, while still maintaining our way of life.

TCL:  What is fun for you?
Dancing, exercise (cardio and weights), travel, any fun activity with my family.

TCL:  What especially galls you?
In the practice of law, it is the appalling decline in respect and courtesy for one another as lawyers. Come to think of it, you see these same trends in every day life as well. On the flip side, I always make sure to thank people when they do something kind or courteous, like holding the door or saying “excuse me,” “please,” etc.

TCL:  If you had it to do all over again, what would you do differently? Why?
I really don’t see myself doing anything much differently if I had it to do over again. I have been blessed to have made some great decisions as to career and family that provide deep meaning to my life.

TCL:  What do you want to make sure you accomplish before you die?
I would like to learn to play the piano, learn at least one foreign language (I know some German, but it’s extremely rusty) and travel, travel, travel.

TCL:  Is there anything you’d like to add?
Thank you!

Tags by users:

Categories: Kentucky Bar Association - Tags: cynthia doll, cynthia doll lawyer, how to build a successful law practice, law career profile, law practice, successful lawyer

Shine Despite The Myths About Your Generation

Written by
I read an article recently that took a humorous look at how to manage different types of lawyers who are millennials, also known as Generation Y. Some were dubbed high achievers destined for the White House and global restructuring while others were described as more interested in their firm’s Internet access than actual work.

Are you a high achiever or a slacker? To get on the fast track with your career, you should know a few things about how your more senior colleagues view you and how you can shine despite the many millennial myths.

Myth #1: Millennials Are Capricious

Even Generation Xers shake their heads at the young associate who quits a job unexpectedly without another opportunity lined up. While you may be more cautious, your generation has the reputation for making whimsical decisions, and for not being reliable in the long run.

Senior partners are less likely to invest a lot of time or money in your development if they believe that you’ll be leaving in six months or a year to “follow your bliss.” This attitude, however, inadvertently creates a higher churn rate of young associates.

To bust this myth, take opportunities to talk about your role in the practice and what you hope to achieve. Create your own 90-day (or three-year) personal development plan and let the bosses know that you are serious about contributing to the firm. This will send a message of stability that your peers probably aren’t duplicating.

Myth #2: Millennials Expect Instant Rewards

Just because you’re referred to as Generation Y doesn’t mean that you expect bonuses and promotions and trips to exotic destinations at every turn…or do you?

Yes, my young associates, I know that you appreciate rewards for a job well done, but no one is applauding anymore just because you showed up. Be prepared, prompt and ready to contribute to the conversation.

There still isn’t a law firm I know that offers a partnership in less than five years; for many it’s much longer. Even if you’re not interested in this, you still need to prove yourself—especially in that first year—and sometimes the work is less than stimulating. If you can perform your job enthusiastically and watch for more challenging assignments while providing excellent feedback and suggestions, the partners may throw you a bone if not a cookie.

Myth #3: Millennials Are Allergic To Long Hours

“How do we promote these people when they don’t seem interested or want to put in the necessary time?” asks the senior partner who has sacrificed and sweated for the firm. At the same time, the young associate is asking, “If I get all my work done in 9 hours instead of 12, why can’t I go play basketball after work?”

There is a pervasive belief that trickles even into work/life balance crusaders from Generation X: long hours equal advancement. Communicating a strong work ethic is important if you want to get noticed.

As I mentioned in an earlier article, get in the habit of checking and following up on email, texts or your Facebook friends first thing in the morning, around noon, and then at night. By scheduling it, you will improve productivity—and also appear to be hard at work! In reality, you are focused on important tasks during the day and handling correspondence efficiently, which is a great career habit.

Keep in mind that the dynamics of law firm culture will change as younger partners gain power. You might still work long hours, but where and how you put them in could change and they won’t be the only determining factors in your success.

Myth #4: Millennials Need Coddling

Partners and marketing directors alike have complained to me that young associates need too much handling and lack initiative. Raised by the most hands-on, involved parents to date, they tend to look to others for reassurance and feedback before they make decisions.

This isn’t necessarily a bad trait, but a little initiative and imagination can go a long way with management. Be an order taker, but also look for ways to add value to the firm that others may not have suggested. Not all of your ideas may fly, but you’ll establish yourself as an independent thinker capable of more than what’s served to you.

The fast career track requires commitment, a willingness to work in the trenches at times, focus and an agile mind—excellent advice for professionals at any age or level.

Now go bust some myths!

Tags by users:

Categories: Law Career Development - Tags: career, law career, law firm, strong work ethic, young associate, young partners in law firms

Next Page »