Networking for Lawyers

I did a speaking tour this spring that I called "The Undeniable Tour." It involved a two-week road trip from San Diego to Seattle with five speaking engagements along the way at law schools and bar associations. The tour also provided the ...

Your referral network is a living thing. If you don’t feed it and water it, it will die, and if you don’t prune it back occasionally, it will collapse under its own weight. If you’ve developed a network by identifying good sources and asking ...

A common frustration among lawyers is that their networks are too low caliber to provide access to decision-makers. If you have a business development plan, it is probably too generic to give you a meaningful edge over the competition. You wish ...

What lawyer doesn’t like getting a good referral? The potential client’s matter fits your practice, and he’s heard good things about you from the person who sent him over. So what are you doing now to get more of the referrals you want? You ...

Question: I'm an inexperienced lawyer, and naturally timid. How can I be expected to thrive in a networking environment? What's the best way to follow up after meeting someone? When should I ask for their business? In this ...

If you’re a law firm owner or partner, you know the drill — when you’re not working in your business, you should be working on your business. For most of us, that includes a lot of networking — attending mixers, going to lunches, interacting ...

Ah, spring is in the air! The flowers are blooming, the birds are chirping and I have just received annual invoices from the two business organizations to which I belong. Between the two, I just paid about $500 for the opportunity to list my ...

Every lawyer needs a good network. With fellow lawyers, yes. But you need lots of other people in your network as well. And not just because it's a source of good new business. Smart lawyers draw on (and give back to) their networks for ideas, ...

I always emphasize the importance of remaining optimistic when coaching lawyers on the topic of job hunting. And, lawyers being lawyers, I always need to provide some reason why they should remain upbeat. I have a simple answer: The job ...

Lawyers typically dread attending events like annual bar association fundraisers, CLE conferences — or any gathering where there will be a large number of attendees. In short, they dread the type of event where their "working the room" skills ...