The Role of Personal Relationships Between Attorneys and Clients in Developing Businesses

SUMMARY

Clients hire attorneys, not firms. When they look for attorneys, they'll first hire expertise and experience but quickly will want to work with someone they understand and trust. The attorney who has strong legal skills coupled with the ability to establish good relationships is destined for success.


This article discusses the role of developing personal relationships with clients, indirect services to clients that can solidify existing relationships and attract new business, and the role of personal activities in the overall program of business development.

Attorneys develop legal expertise through years of law school. But the second element of the success equation-trust from the clients-requires personal, eye-to-eye contact between attorney and client. It develops naturally in the course of work but is improved greatly and to mutual advantage if the attorney endeavors to establish good relationships beyond the working environment through means other than the practice of law.

Personal marketing efforts

Personal relationships are invaluable to retain good clients and develop new ones. Brochures, announcements, and news article reprints will attract attention, but they will never cause a client or potential client to hire an attorney. Every job seeker knows that the resume serves only to disqualify applicants. The hiring is always done after the personal interview is complete and the "chemistry" between employer and future employee is good. Therefore, for individual attorneys, personal relationships make the crucial difference.

A personal approach to marketing is carried out through two kinds of activities, both of which create understanding and trust: indirect services that provide information to clients (at no cost to the client) and those that establish a personal context for the client to better know the attorney. Indirect services are those activities where the attorney's professional background can be utilized and services performed that benefit existing clients and potential ones. But an equal payoff is an increase in client awareness of the attorney's knowledge and skills and an improvement of personal relationships.

There are several types of indirect services. They involve gratis professional services such as seminars, speeches, and executive forums, provided for clients and others. They also involve membership in client business and trade groups, requiring active participation in the professional organizations associated with the attorney's clients and practice areas.

Another area of indirect service is professional volunteerism in nonprofit groups where the attorney's skills and background can be put to effective use. Activities such as "affinity marketing" and "adopting an emerging business" (see Chapters 75 and 76 describing these activities in detail) also utilize the attorney's skills to promote effectively the community and the people within it,

Personal activities create a certain degree of visibility among clients and the community. In participating, an attorney establishes and maintains personal relationships, and is seen in a different light by clients, referral sources, and others. Activities that fit this description are many. They include donations and non-professional volunteerism, such as charitable contribution programs, involving tax-deductible donations for charitable purposes. They can include attorney-sponsored social activities, such as open houses and holiday parties. They also include community-sponsored social activities, frequently pursued by attorneys and managed for maximum business development opportunities.

By understanding these concepts and adopting them into a personal marketing plan, attorneys have a much greater ability to meet both personal and client goals.