ALLIANCE NEWS - The Chicago Bar Association

Chance Favors the Prepared: Lay the Groundwork
Early for Business Development Success
By Pamela DiCarlantonio
Managing Director, Major, Lindsey Africa
As a legal recruiter who
focuses on placing lateral
partners in law firms, I
have had the pleasure of
meeting many female partners with
large and growing books of business.
In most cases, luck had nothing to do
with their client development success.
Rather, these partners were savvy and
focused, kept their eye on the long-term
horizon, and took steps early and often
to position themselves with existing
and prospective clients. These partners
also worked hard to create their own
personal “brand” and, in doing so, were
able to land substantial business when
those opportunities became ripe for the
taking.
This article provides some
basic tried-and-true advice to junior and
senior female law firm partners who
have the business development bug and
are eager to develop and grow their own
practices.
“Grow up” with your clients.
When she was a young associate, one
attorney (now a junior partner) insisted
on tagging along to client meetings
and social events (and in many cases
agreed not to bill the time). She made
a point of getting to know the young
attorneys (her counterparts) at the client
companies, and worked hard to develop
and nurture close personal relationships
with them. As those in-house contacts
moved up the ladder into positions of
authority, this attorney was perfectly
positioned to obtain business from
them. She was able to start building a
book of business, which led to an early
promotion to partnership and ultimately
a successful and thriving practice with
clients who are also longtime friends.
This is another good reason
to join alumni organizations and
stay in touch with your law school
classmates (beyond an annual catchup
lunch where you have a good laugh
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over memories of the gunner in the
first row whose name you can’t even
remember). You never know where
your classmates will eventually land,
and you could be one of those lucky
law firm partners whose best bud from
law school ends up as General Counsel
of a major corporation. (It could be the
gunner from the first row, so be nice
to him, too!) Many law firm partners
have built enormous books of business
that evolved from such relationships.
Develop and continually
refine your own personal “brand.”
Any young attorney in private practice
faces a daunting number of decisions
when it comes to figuring out what
kind of lawyer she wants to be –
whether choosing a practice area or
examining the law firm environment
that best suits her and her long-term
goals. For any attorney who wants to
become a rainmaker, in today’s law
firm environment developing business
is the best way to be autonomous and
marketable. It is critical to think early
on about such things as:
• where you want to practice geographically
• what practice area (beyond just
litigation or transactional”)
• what type of firm
• what size firm
• what kind of culture is the best fit, and the
reputation of the lawyers who work there
• the overall rate structure that will be most
conducive to bringing in clients
• what the client base looks like and
whether conflicts are common
• your own network and where the most
opportunity lies (i.e., the“low-hanging
fruit”), and
• whether training and support is
offered to young attorneys who want to
develop business development skills.
By thinking about who you
are and who you want to be and feeling
comfortable in your own skin based on
the environment you have chosen, you
will be in a better position to develop
business and earn the confidence of
your colleagues and clients. The truer
you are to your personal goals and
ideals, the better your chances will be
of developing business. It should not
be a one-time exercise, though. You
should continue to refine your personal
brand as you move through your career,
and make adjustments when necessary.
Be loyal and trustworthy.
Many female attorneys tell me that
they find other female colleagues and
clients to be incredibly loyal. Even
though women demand the same high
standards that men do (as they should),
women are more likely to value (and
tend not to forget) hard work, loyalty,
responsiveness, and accessibility.
There is still no such thing as a free
lunch, but once you’ve earned respect
and loyalty from your female clients
and become their trusted advisor, the
business is usually yours to lose. The
same applies to female colleagues;
once you have developed a trusting
relationship, you may find yourselves
seeking out opportunities together and
watching each other’s backs.
Be a good person. Remember
the old male-female comparisons that
said things like “He’s assertive; she’s
a bitch”? This seems like obvious
advice, but in addition to doing a
good job and “holding your own,” it’s
important to treat others – men and
women, colleagues, clients, and even
adversaries – fairly and professionally.
Be honest. Don’t try to cut corners or
be cut-throat. Don’t back-stab. Always
take the high road. Most of all, try not
to fall into female stereotyping traps
that can be unfairly exploited. (And
remember it works both ways. We all
know men who are way more emotional
or oversensitive than we are!)
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