Today, I want pass along some of the interesting and surprising things I learned during my time building and leading my own practice group.

Everybody answers to somebody (and that includes you).

I thought having my own practice would free me from the incessant demands and pseudo emergencies attendant to being an associate attorney. I was woefully misinformed. No matter where you are in the lawyering ladder, you answer to somebody. I had to answer not only to my clients and my team but also the firm’s Board of Directors, the firm President and various other partners who had much more political clout than I had.

I won’t have to deal with any more ridiculous emergencies! Hooray!  Wrong. Emergencies continued to harass me but they just came from different places–that partner down the hall who was always disorganized and making promises on my behalf to his horrible clients, the Board who wanted an update on my financial projections for next year, the associate who was having a meltdown in my office, the client who forgot about an important IRS deadline, the paralegal that always seemed to show up at the wrong time to have a long chat about a menial project. There will always be random, unforeseen emergencies. Being in charge and paving your own way will never change that because when you deal with humans, you get drama, poor planning, and frustrating people, no matter what you do for a living.

Getting clients is about relationships not about your skills.

People want to work with someone that they know, like, and trust; it’s that simple. You don’t need some fancy pitch prepared, you don’t have to sell them on the services that you specifically offer. At it’s core, a potential client first wants to know that you will meet them on their level. That you will talk to them like a human, be available to support them, and be willing to support them to resolve any problems they may be having. From there, it helps to be able to provide details about how you might help them but until you have gotten to know them as a person, don’t go there. It’s not hard to find lawyers who can do the job. People hire attorneys not because they can do the job but because they like them as a person, the fact that they can do the job is just an added bonus. When I moved in-house with a Fortune 300 company, the lawyers that I gave work to were the ones that treated me like a colleague and spoke to me plainly and simply. The lawyers I stopped working with were the ones that buried me with their credentials and posturing and refused to give me straight answers on anything. It was simply junior high politics–some attorneys made me feel good and others annoyed me. I couldn’t tell you where any of them went to law school or what credentials they held. They got the work if I liked them and connected with them. That’s it.

It’s never just about you.

When you work in a big firm, it is likely that you will be in some type of a niche practice area. One of the hesitations we often have with selling our services is that not every client needs our specific skills. That doesn’t matter. When you’re selling your services, you are really selling the firm. You’re selling a package of technicians that together can solve any problem the client can throw at them. That is what it’s about. People want the easy button. They want one person they can go to with all their problems who will line up the right people to solve it. They want someone they can direct all of their colleagues to when they have problems. They want a multipurpose tool — that’s the firm. You just have to sell them on your ability to operate that tool on their behalf to make their lives easier. Sell them on the breadth of the firm’s skills and leave your niche elevator pitch at the door unless it is specifically requested.

Act like you mean it.

No matter what type of pitch or informal meeting you have on the docket, make sure that you come prepared. Bring marketing materials. Never let the client leave empty handed. Bring business cards, bring pertinent firm overviews and bios of key players. Show them that you want it but you aren’t going to bury them in formalities and sales pitches unless they ask for it. Give them something they can take with them to show others what you have available. Give them the tools they will need if they ever find themselves asking: Who should I call for questions on this issue?

Everyone has potential.

Get out there, meet people, tell them you’re an attorney and offer to support their business and the business of anyone they know. This means scheduling breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee, drinks, etc. with every person that you know. Literally. You never know whether their friend, or their friend’s friend, or their spouse, their spouse’s friend or family members may need support. The more people you meet, tell them what you do, and offer to help them, the more likely you are to find clients. Spread that word far and wide and reap the benefits. It’s like planting a garden. You aren’t going to just put one single seed for each vegetable you want into the ground and expect a bountiful harvest. You have to plant multiple seeds for each vegetable and see how things play out.

Practicing law is a business after all.

When building your firm or your practice group, there will always be administrative tasks. Practicing law and being the boss is about so much more than actually doing the legal work. Make a decision early and firmly about how much you want to work and how much you’re willing to spend running the business. You cannot do both 100%. (Read that again.) Start making decisions about how much time you want to practice, what that practice will look like, and how that fits within your obligations of running the business.

Many of my clients start their own firms because they want balance and more freedom to do the things they want–spend time with family, travel, etc. But what they overlook is that when they run the show, they cannot continue to practice at the same pace they would if they didn’t have administrative and operational duties. You must get very clear about what kinds of work you are willing to keep on your plate and what you are willing to let go of in favor of running the business (and having a life). With that vision is mind, the evolution of your practice will occur seamlessly, always guided by your ideal future state.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko

At that time in my life, I was roughly 29 years old. I had been practicing for about four(ish) years. I had a solid foundation and I knew enough to be dangerous but to start a whole practice group–pure silliness. What kind of maniacs would take that risk on me?! Despite it all, I sold them on the idea and I gratefully leapt from the arms of one task-master to another.

As I settled in and started to take an inventory of everything that went along with “running” a practice, I realized that I was going to need some support. I already felt myself bristling at the tired mentalities and structures that I disliked at my last firm and I could tell that many of the challenges I had run away from at my last firm would be waiting for me in this new place. So I hired a coach–a female attorney who had successfully built her own firm. I wanted someone who got it. I wanted someone who understood the subtext, the struggles, and the environment without my having to explain it.

(If you are interested in that kind of support, grab a free session now.)

In working with her, I was able to see and deconstruct many of the patterns that were following me into my new firm. I was able to shift into a different mentality — a space of confidence and unwavering belief that I COULD do it. That I did have what it takes. We worked through the imposter syndrome that many of us carry with us especially those of us that didn’t come from professional, college-educated homes.

Working with my coach, I was able to build a practice that was bursting at the seams within one year. Within one year, I had so much work and garnered the confidence and trust of so many large and demanding companies that I was drowning in billable hours. We hired two partners from opposing firms to come and join me…partners that were 20 and 30 years my senior and had been practicing for many years to great success without the oversight and wisdom offered by this 30-something little girl. So naturally, with that change, came all sorts of new challenges.

During that time, I was traveling all over the country selling our services to clients. Every day, my calendar was jammed with breakfasts, lunches, and happy hours where I was selling and schmoozing without end. I was asked to teach at a business school and then to also teach at a law school and I was constantly presenting at one conference or another.

My practice was thriving and I had done what I set out to do. I loved every minute of it.

The last time I related this story to a client, she asked me whether I thought my success was attributable to skills I had developed or whether I just had “it.” “Do you really think that is something I can do? I just don’t think I’m the type,” she explained.

This, people, is why I do this. There is nothing magical about my success.

“I am nothing special, of this I am sure.”

Nicholas Sparks

The only reason people aren’t going out and creating the life of their dreams is that they believe they can’t do it. Because they, like this client, allow themselves to consider that there is some innate “it” and you either have it or you don’t.

Let’s level set here. I am an introvert and I do not love to speak publicly. Prior to joining that firm, I hadn’t spoken publicly since COLLEGE. At my prior firm, I wrote the speeches, I prepped the slides but I was the silent partner — speaking was never permitted for associates. I was good at my job but I was not (and am not) any kind of a legal prodigy. Aside from leading bar crawls during my sorority days, I had never “led” anyone other than a secretary and a paralegal. I had no idea how to set budgets or project income, how to “sell” legal services, how to talk to partners who weren’t pulling their weight, and the idea of presenting my business plan to a Boardroom full of men made me sick to my stomach.

If there was some special “it” that made this stuff easy, I didn’t receive that gift.

I created my success because I INVESTED in myself. I put in the work. I allowed my coach to push me to do things that made me very uncomfortable. I got really good at uncomfortable conversations, I got really practiced at humility, and I learned how to “sell” myself authentically. Does it come easily now? No. It still doesn’t. But I have done it so many times despite the discomfort, I understand now that’s just part of the process for me.

I came to understand that in order to create a different career for myself, I had to do things differently. I had to take time to actually work on myself and that meant I had to get comfortable spending my hard-earned money on the fluffy stuff. I had to invest my money differently. I needed to acknowledge that, in order to create a different future, I was going to have to completely revamp my approach to practicing and that meant getting a coach on my team.

She pushed me to do things I didn’t want to do; things I WOULDN’T have done but for my respect and commitment to her. She helped me to see things about myself that were holding me back and she helped me to find my voice in a world where many of us just put our heads down and “accept” the legal profession with all its warts.

I wanted to share this with you today because I want to dispel this notion that we can’t all have the lives of our dreams. There is no magical “it.” You have what it takes and we have to stop considering that we aren’t enough. Instead, I implore you to consider —

What if you are wrong — what if you have EXACTLY what it takes?

Nonbillable work?

Hard pass.

Many of my clients are resistant to making themselves a priority. Time is money. I get it.

I also get that you have the choice of just “doing” your practice or “investing” in your practice. One will take you much farther than the other but it will first require some priority shifting.

I recently heard an analogy that really drove this home for me. Imagine you have 100 miles to travel and you are on a bike and your are chugging along, doing great, you’ve found you’re rhythm. You got this you tell yourself. You feel strong and you don’t want to stop and get off the bike because you are making great time and you don’t want to burst your momentum. You just are focused on pedaling, pedaling, pedaling. But because you are so focused on keeping moving, you don’t notice that you have your car keys in your pocket and you could simply stop, take out the keys, hop in the car, and be there in a fraction of the time. So you just keeping moving.

You will probably get there eventually but it’s going to take a lot longer.

That is how so many of us live our days. We have hours to bill, projects to complete, things to do. We don’t want to stop and employ any planning tools for our week. We don’t want to take 2 hours to fully engage in a CLE or webinar that could teach us something that would be a benefit to our clients. We don’t want to take the 3 hours to review that new legislation that could impact our clients.

We rebel against the things that aren’t “paying the bills.” We resist taking actions that don’t correlate directly to some emergent need.

What is really happening is that we are not making ourselves a priority. We are not making our development and success a priority. Those things are too amorphous. We can’t wrap our arms around them. We can’t put them on a client bill and get paid for them. So we don’t do them. We choose to stay on the bike and just keep pedaling.

If you stop and ask yourself what you will gain from that CLE or from taking the time to plan and prioritize your week — what is the answer?

Will that webinar teach you something you can employ with future clients? Will that CLE make you a better attorney? Will 2 hours reading that negotiations book make you more effective for future clients? Will planning and prioritizing your week make you more efficient for your clients? Will planning your week save you time and save your clients money? Will you be a better attorney because of what these “non-priority” items can give you?

Logically, we can all buy into why these non-billable tasks are good for our practice and good for our clients. Part of the problem is that we have a hard time letting go of the billables for an hour or two so that we can redirect our focus. We spin in thoughts like

If I don’t get my billables in this month, I’m going to get into trouble.

What if I miss an important email?

I need to answer that phone call.

I can’t check out for an hour in the middle of the day.

I have more important things to do.

Are any of those facts? Do you know with certainty what will happen if you devote an hour each week to plan and priorities your time? Why do you need to respond to that email right now? What happens if you wait an hour to respond?

Be honest with yourself–none of these are facts. They are choices. They are things you are choosing to make a priority: random emails, missed phone calls, constant availability.

I recently had one of my free mini-session clients work through these very same questions. We were able to help see the fault in this thinking. We created some buy-in and excitement for creating a better practice and becoming a better attorney. She left the session excited about growing her skills and appreciating how much those skills would help her clients.

What happens when you go to an in-person CLE or when you get stuck on a conference call for a hour? Do you respond to those emails immediately? Do you answer every knock at your door? Why is it any different when you are instead taking time to invest in yourself?

Does it make you a better, more skilled attorney to jump into all those emails at 8am? Imagine how much you could grow or develop if you committed to making yourself and your development your first priority each day. Take that webinar, go to the CLE, read the strategy books, follow legislative developments.

Go on offense with your career instead of always being on defense.

We create all this drama around why we can’t take an hour to develop ourselves. We believe all these crazy thoughts about how the world will fall if we spend time on non-billable development. We convince ourselves that we need to stay on the bike and we ignore that there is a better way to get there. Another way to create efficiency and success. But it will require you to take a pit stop here and there and make yourself a priority.

In order to become a skilled and successful attorney you have to invest in yourself as well as your clients. If not, your clients’ needs will grow and you will stay stagnant. You are limiting yourself by not investing in yourself.

Get off the damn bike.

But it’s not just about the clients. The same thing holds true for my relationship with fellow attorneys and bosses.

Rules for playing well with other lawyers and co-workers:

Be someone that others can count on.

If you make a promise to someone else, keep it. If you say you can help on a project—show up and be committed. This also goes for promises that you make to yourself. Honoring your word not only shows others that they are important to you, but it demonstrates your values—you value others’ time and you value your word.

Be honest about mistakes.

If you forget about a deadline or forget to confirm that a case remains “good law,” own it. Be honest about it and don’t make excuses. You are human. You are not a robot. Owning your mistakes demonstrates humility and honesty. People trust others who are honest and willing to make mistakes and own them. People are also much more forgiving if they don’t suspect they are being lied to.

Take confidentiality seriously.

We are lawyers, after all, and part of the gig is keeping secrets. Why is it so hard to apply that to your co-workers and relationships? If someone is confiding in you, it means that they see you as a trustworthy person. Why would you then go and erode that trust by splashing their secrets all over the firm? Do not get a reputation for being the office gossip. Build a reputation of being a person that others can trust.

Stop judging.

Law firms can be incredibly competitive but keep in mind that your day will come when others will have an opportunity to judge you too. Be accepting of others and approach them from a place of compassion and curiosity. Believe me, there are people out there who are confused by you too. Don’t be a jerk; you are all in this together. You are part of a firm, not a solo practice. Build each other up instead of breaking each other down.

Do not exaggerate.

This applies to both your skill sets and your billable hours. Everybody knows who pads the bills and everyone knows who is always pretending to be an expert in everything. If you claim to be an expert in something or claim to have invested significant time on a project, people will count on you to be that expert. One exaggeration can ruin your reputation with an important partner or client. People come in and out of law firms all the time and no one is going to hire you if you have a reputation for padding your hours or mis-stating your skill set.

If you can employ these rules, I promise you, your personal and professional life will flourish.

I’ve seen secretaries become vice presidents at Fortune 500 companies and I’ve seen slacker associates become innovative rainmakers. Never sell someone short or classify them as not worthy of your relationship-building efforts. You never know who will be in a position to support your practice in the future. Your relationship and interactions with others have ripple effects.

“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

Besides, is it really so terrible to just show up and try to be a good human to everyone you encounter? If you are successful at that 50% of the time, people will be much more accepting of you when you are failing to be a good human.

It’s never too early to start building your network and your practice. Let me support you in building a powerful and rewarding legal practice. What do you have to lose?

The following are my ramblings for building a thriving practice. Take them as you will. Everyone’s experience will be different.

Network with everyone you know. Everyone.

You never know where these people will end up. From personal experience, I will tell you that once a person finds themselves in a position where they could actually send you legal work (e.g., in-house counsel at a Fortune 500 company), they are not amused when you suddenly call to buddy up to them after all these years. We all know what that call is really about.

Maintain true relationships with people so that when they do find themselves in a position to hire you, you are already top of their mind. Don’t try to force relationships to better your business position. People will sense it and shut. you. out.

Who to keep in contact with? This list is endless but here are a few ideas:

• Schoolmates who live in your city.
• Law school class mates.
• Current and former coworkers.
• Friends of your family members.
• Relatives.
• People you meet at networking events.

You get the picture. Do not discard anyone because they aren’t currently in a position to hire you as an attorney. You will be amazed at where people end up. Develop the relationship. The business will follow.

Join something. Anything.

Don’t overthink it. Just do it. Expand your reach and you will be amazed at where it may land. Examples of where to look:

• Chamber of commerce.
• Legal associations.
• Alumni associations.
• Affinity groups—dogs, plants, baking.
• Leadership programs.
• Toastmasters.
• Women’s organizations.
• Nonprofit guilds or boards.

Not only will this make you a more well-rounded and likely happier human, you might meet some people who can introduce you to future clients. If nothing else, you have something to put on your resume or discuss during an interview when someone asks, “What do you do for fun?”

Don’t like this line of thinking? Read Bowling Alone or The Happiness Project to learn why social interaction is so essential to our communities and our wellbeing.

Play the long game and postpone the elevator speech.

Business development is all about relationships. Pure and simple. If someone knows you and likes you and trusts you, they will do what they can to support you and see you succeed. That being said, cramming your elevator speech down their throats is not going to get you business. It’s probably going to annoy them. Save that for a later opportunity, when your new friend tells you about a business challenge they are having or asks you about your firm or your practice. Wait until they want to hear about it or until they need your advice. That, my friends, is when you present it. Wait until you know what problem they need solved and then present them with how you intend to solve it for them.

Meet with as many of your coworkers as possible.

Print off the employee roster and start making the rounds. Tell them you want to hear more about their practice or would like some insights into their work, the firm, or a particular client. Whatever. Just get those meetings/coffees/lunches scheduled and make it happen.

The goal: Learn from them and about them and allow them to learn about you and your practice.

These people will not only have clients that they might want you to support but they might have clients that NEED your support and they just don’t know it yet. Furthermore, these people will have invaluable insights in the firm, its people, and its politics. Schedule the meetings and start taking notes.

Examples of things to talk about:

• What do you think sets our firm apart from the others?
• Where do you see the firm going in the next 10 years?
• How do you think the firm has changed since you joined?
• What brought you to the firm?
• Tell me more about your story and how you ended up in law school and this firm?
• What are some ways you have found success in getting clients and developing your business?
• Tell me about your work and what you offer to our clients?
• What is your ‘target client’ and how could I help you with those clients?
• Are there areas you think I should learn or develop some additional knowledge that might help you or your clients?
• Would you like to hear about my practice area and how I support our clients?

This rule also applies to your peers at the firm. Fast forward 10 years into your practice–who do you hope will be sending you referrals or collaborating with you? Those peers are just as important as the partners and the clients.

When I left my first firm, I kept in touch with a few of the other female attorneys and partners I liked and respected. Years later, one of these friends recommended me for my current position. That friendship and connection paved the way for opportunities several years down the road. Had I lost contact with her after she left the firm, who knows where I would have landed.

When I got to work drumming up clients for my new practice group, I met with every partner I could pin down. I asked them to introduce me to their clients and others in the firm who could support me. Those meetings are where I built my practice. Those relationships plugged me in with clients who didn’t even know they needed my specialty.

Do your homework.

When you meet with a client (or a partner) for the first time, do you legwork. You should know about the company and have a general sense of their business. Review any governmental filings you can get your hands on. Review the internal files. Show up to that meeting already invested in that person and that client. People like to feel important. They like to feel special. By doing your homework you equip yourself with all the tools to let that other person know they are important to you.

When I was helping my clients interview and hire new service providers, I can’t tell you how many times we cut providers simply because they clearly didn’t know anything about the company and didn’t take the time to study my clients’ needs. Don’t be that service provider. Do the work.

Similarly, have your elevator speech ready if the opportunity arises. And never, ever, go to a meeting without a notepad, business cards, and marketing materials about your practice or a copy of the recent article you wrote.

Fill your calendar.

When you are newly hired, you won’t likely be busy right out of the gate. So, make sure your calendar stays full doing CLEs, meet and greets, networking events, reading relevant articles, preparing marketing materials or file memos on relevant developments. Offer to support partners in their marketing efforts or to track new legislation. Your calendar should be full. Get creative and find ways to fill it that will develop you, support the firm, and ideally benefit a partner or client. Sign up for speaking engagements, offer to speak at bar association events –force yourself to learn a topic and go speak about it. Too much for you? Offer to write a speech/presentation for a partner. Contact trade journals and offer to write an article or offer to support your partners in doing the same. If you spend your time trying to make your partners look good and make their lives easier, they won’t forget it.

Make yourself available.

This doesn’t mean that you always have to be 100% available and it doesn’t mean that you have to be at the office all hours of the day. Establish regular hours so people know when to expect you and feel like they can rely on you to be available when they need you. At a minimum, your hours should loosely track the hours kept by the partners you intend to support. Get people in the mindset of thinking of you as a person who is responsive and hardworking. Once they have that perception of you, studies have shown they will not likely change it, even if you change. Put in the time early on and become someone that others can count on.

Have a positive attitude and be open to anything.

You never know what will happen to the firm, your practice group, your area of expertise, or your mentor. Hedge your bets and be willing to learn and try new things for the first few years. Make yourself an invaluable and irreplaceable utility player.

Have your own back.

Make sure to keep diligent track of your marketing and development efforts. These tasks often go unseen by compensation committees and management. Do the work to track your efforts and advocate for yourself. If you don’t have your own back, how can you expect others to?

Struggling to implement your own practice development plan? Coach with me and learn from my experiences and create your own successful practice.