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TRANSCRIPT
The Seven Habits of Highly Successful Attorney Rainmakers
By Suzanne Raina Natbony
Guess what lawyers, you are not just in the practice of law; you are also in the business of legal
services. And I don’t mean that “the business of law” is pejorative or runs afoul with our
professional rules of responsibility, which include the duties of loyalty, communication,
financial integrity, confidentiality, diligence, competence, honesty and fairness. Lawyers usually
think that, at the forefront, they need to be analytical and provide great advocacy, research and
investigative skills. While all lawyers should have the 10 MacCrate Skills1 posted on their desks,
lawyers also need to think about themselves as a small business and think about how to have
long term successful working relationships with clients and how to attract the crème de la
crème clients as well. Lawyers know that we can discriminate in selecting clients that we take
on, so why not work to find and retain clients who appreciate our services for the long haul.
Here are 7 habits of highly effective lawyers who run their practice like a business:
1) Good web presence. Your fancy degrees in your office may rarely get seen by anyone
but your coworkers, so make sure your website and social media stay up to date with all
of your achievements. If you can’t toot your own horn, no one else will either.
2) Maintaining your web presence. Downtime at work while waiting for clients to get back
to you with information that you need to start billing should not be spent online gaming
or shopping. Instead, write an article or blog post, ask for a testimonial/review from
your client, reach out to a person/entity you are interested in working for and maintain
that connection, peruse business/networking events for one to attend, use a connecting
app to meet a new connection, check in with old clients/friends whom you haven’t
spoken to in a while. All of the above are marketing types of activities that help you find
1 The Ten MacCrate skills include, the importance of solving your clients’ problems, legal analysis, legal research, factual investigation, communication, counseling, negotiating, litigation and alternative dispute resolution knowledge, organizational and managerial skills and recognizing issues and resolving them.
and meet new clients or get additional work from previous ones whom you like working
for.
3) Get AV Rated or apply for SuperLawyers or another attorney award. When potential
clients look you up, they like to see awards. Go to Martindale Hubbell, SuperLawyers,
Top 10 Verdicts, etc. websites and fill out the applications or read the instructions on
how you can get the awards or ratings. Then make an announcement in your
newsletter, update social media and post the logo on your bio.
4) Networking is not a bad word. Every lawyer had to pass the bar, which took a lot of
focused determination and introversion. Try turning that around to determined
extroversion. Entrepreneurs have to have an elevator pitch and go to regular pitch and
industry events. If you can’t make yourself be social at least once a week or something
more than what you are already doing and, gosh forbid, go out and have fun, with a
drink and talk to people, then your small business would fail.
5) Diversification is not just for investing. We all remember from our bar class when
learning about trusts and estates that it’s best to diversify. Your time is like that too. You
can’t just sit at your desk all day drafting letters and motions, unless you want to
maintain associate or contract attorney status. You need to spend your time talking to
people and building relationships, offering volunteering or pro bono work and creating
content for your web presence. Rather than just writing, try shooting a video about the
legal issue that you called about the most. Point new people to that video to save you
time and save that potential client money on legal fees. They will likely appreciate the
gesture and end up hiring you when they need real help.
6) Be more like your favorite business in pricing and refunds. If a client complains, do you
act like some overseas call center personnel and hang up, do you say, “that’s too bad,”
like you work at an airport retailer, or do you offer to make it right? Do you aim to offer
a client satisfaction guarantee? Understandably, that’s almost impossible sometimes,
but do you spin the goal of client satisfaction in a way that at least makes you someone
your client will want to refer future business? Clients can be difficult, crazy, annoying
and inconsistent, but try to think of yourself as the CEO of Zappos, who wrote the book,
Delivering Happiness.
7) Team spirit. Do not treat people who work with you like they merely work at the same
firm, rather, you work for the same team! I could not believe that I met a paralegal who
said that her firm brought in expert coaches to teach only the “lowly” support staff how
to deal with difficult people, and the lawyers did not have to participate! You can be
both a zealous advocate and be professional to work with. Condescending, bullying and
nastiness should be taken up with your therapist, not your colleagues. Finally, hazing
stopped in college, grow up and treat younger lawyers with respect. High turnover rates
do not help out your clients or your practice.
In conclusion, lawyers need to think about how they operate in a small business sense. Rather
than watching an episode of Suits, try working on some of these tips in your free time to see an
improvement in your professional life.
Suzanne Raina Natbony is a third generation lawyer, licensed in California, and practices in the areas of
entertainment and healthcare law, with a private practice at the international law firm, Aliant LLP. She is
also General Counsel of Beverly Hills Rejuvenation Center, a multistate franchising medical spa, with
headquarters in Los Angeles and CEO of two startup companies, LawTake and Think Do It.
View Suzanne’s profile here.