Client Development In 2016 Figure Out What Not To Do

Developing the Next Generation of Rainmakers Client Development: In 2016 Figure Out What Not to Do When I spoke in Montreal last week, an associate asked. How will I know what networking events to attend and what ones are a waste of time? I thought that was a really terrific question and it gave me the idea for the blog post today. By the way, I had a longer answer, but I started this way: If an event has the word “networking” in the title, I recommend avoiding it. You will spend lots of time with people trying to sell you something, and who most likely could not afford to hire your firm to do anything. As you may know, I’m the keynote speaker (great honor) this week at a Boston Bar Association  day long event for their young lawyers called Brand Yourself. Looking back now, I wish my local bar association would have had an event like this one. I could have saved an incredible amount of time. My topic for the program is Starting Right for Career Success. I love the topic, because some young law firm lawyers tend to think all they need to do is “good work.” Clearly, every young lawyer must do good, or even great work, but that is not enough to get ahead. Those same young lawyers need to start early building their profile and relationships both in an out of their firm. When I was a young lawyer, it was pretty easy figuring out what to do. There were only a few choices on how to use client development time. In 2015, continuing into 2016, there are so many choices on how to use your non-billable time. It’s far more difficult to make the right choices. So, I contend one of the challenges to get off to a good start in 2016, is to figure out what “not” to do. For each young lawyer it will be different. It will depend in part on: If you are a young lawyer, once you have done the self assessment, then it is time to create a plan for your non-billable time. Divide your time into: Here are three more final thoughts on what to avoid. I practiced law for 37 years developing a national construction law practice representing some of the top highway and transportation construction contractors in the US.