Tuesday, June 20, 2000, 12 noon at

BRICK'S RESTAURANT

Cost is $12.00 (includes beverage) Make your reservations today by calling Randi at Vicky Mendoza's office, 324-7533.

CARSON WOMEN LAWYER'S LUNCH

Lunch choices are: Blue Corn Fried Chicken Salad, Grilled Mahi Mahi Tacos, Health Club Sandwich (portobello's, jack, veggie's). Cost is $11, which includes beverage. Call Ronda Moore at 684-1228 with your choice by Tuesday afternoon, June 13.

SHELLY O'NEILL

If you have an announcement for the July NNWLA Newsletter or future Newsletters, please fax the information to Vicky Mendoza's office at 324-7266 or call Randi at 324-7533. Thank you.

In July, we will focus on Rainmaking. We will have a panel of our distinguished and successful members share their rainmaking ideas and secrets. This should really be a good meeting. Don't miss it.

In August, we will have a Rainmaking event at which you can practice the skills that you learned at the July meeting. It will be a wine tasting at Viaggio's on August 22 at 5:30 p.m. We have a great menu planned as well as some great wines too! It will be an evening event so we hope to see many Carson members too!

The Law Library Board of Trustees invites you to the law library's open house and celebration of the 85^th anniversary of its opening to be held on June 27 from 5-7 p.m. This occasion will also serve to celebrate the completion of the law library remodeling project. The remodeled Law Library was completed in July and the library reopened on August 9, 1999. The Board has been working for many years to move the law library to a larger and more functional space.

"Winning rainmakers listen and hear what clients say. They make promises and design actions to take care of client needs."

resolutionworks@msn.com

"What I see consistently in successful rainmakers is a winning attitude. They make rain because they know they can."

sprohofsky@MANDKlaw.com

"Winning rainmakers don't seek new business. They focus on inspiring and earning trust in a new relationship. Their uniqueness lies in their ability to demonstrate concern and advance a probable solution."

mcmurray@airmail.net

"Persistence, commitment to the highest values of the profession and always returning calls (from clients, especially, but also vendors and others)."

LawBizPoll@aol.com

"Be an active listener. Know when not to talk about yourself or your accomplishments. Most importantly, know when not to ask for business."

c/o siglitzen@burkelaw.com

"A winning rainmaker possesses the promise of a new school year, the attentiveness of a new love, the concern of a new parent, the protectiveness of a much older sibling and - most importantly - a true love of people and being of service."

Conroy@DRLAW.com

Getting to know the client, and helping the client get to know you: Relationship building is the heart of rainmaking. "And the relationship has to be real ," says renowned rainmaker Mary Cranston, chair of the 520-lawyer Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro. Cranston says a number of factors are involved in hitting the critical connection.

"The key is to understand the client on both an intellectual and personal level. The first is easier for lawyers because of their intellectual training. The second is harder because it's based on personality types. If clients are a different type than you, it's harder to make the connection. But it's certainly not impossible. If it's not your long suit to start with, training is available. In fact, much of the needed interpersonal skill is learnable." For help in opening up to different personality types, Cranston recommends good training in business development and presentation skills as well as in EQ-the ability to read the unspoken messages from people and situation. "By learning how other people view the world, you can be more perceptive and pick up on cues," she says.

Equally important: "Like any relationship, there's got to be an investment of time. E-mail contact and mailings are good, but things like lunches, dinners and other face-to-fact contacts are needed for a real relationship."

How about finding out what's important to the client in terms of business needs? "Always ask some open-ended questions to allow the client to expand freely. Ask questions like, 'What are your goals for the next two years?' and 'What questions or concerns do you have about the future of your company?'". Cranston stresses that "good client service and adding value to the client is something only the client can lead you to. Finding out what's key to the client is critical. It leads you to see the big picture from the client's perspective." That, in turn, leads to better client service.

Building a strong rainmaking network, Cranston adds, is also about making and maintaining connections. "When I started out, I established my relationships based on personal 'connection,' on how well I got along with the people as individuals as opposed to based on the 'reiterations' of where their career might go. I guess I still do this to a great extent-and I can recommend it to other rainmakers.

This grant is an opportunity for special bar associations such as NNWLA to apply for grant funds for special projects in the amount of $2,000 per application. The projects must be of a public service nature, topical and useful and have statewide application. They must also help promote the Bar's message of "Making the Law Work for Everyone". We have had recent meetings showing interest in informing teenage boys and girls about sexual harassment in the workplace which might be a project we could pursue. NNWLA would like to form a committee to accomplish this goal. The deadline for the application is June 30, 2000. If you would like to participate or have ideas for a project, please contact Vicky Mendoza at 324-7533.

Hosted by Volunteer Attorney's for Rural Nevadans. Saturday, September 9, at 6 p.m. please contact Vicky Mendoza at 324-7533.