Tips for Building a Client Base to Grow Your Law Practice: Making Rain When John Ferrell, 47, first started out as a lawyer, he said getting and keeping those first few clients were the hardest parts. But that was back in 1990. Fast-forward to the present, and Ferrell ranks among the top rainmakers, serving as a founding partner of the Palo Alto-based Carr & Ferrell LLP, an intellectual property and corporate law firm in California. (116 views)