"Bar Associations -

Come hear Ann Bersi, President, Nevada State Bar, Myra Sheehan, President elect of NTLA, Ann Morgan, past President of Washoe County Bar, Margo Piscevich, President elect of Inn's of Court, discuss the benefits of membership in these Bar Organizations for Women Lawyers.

BRICK'S RESTAURANT

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

The annual Nevada Women's Fund Women of Achievement luncheon is scheduled for May 24, 2000, at the Reno Hilton at 11:45 a.m. Margo Piscevich is our nominee. We have a table for 10 at $70 per seat. Call Randi at 324-7533 for reservations.

Margo has made significant contributions to Nevada's legal community, including being elected the first woman president of the State Bar of Nevada, member of the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Nevada, founding member and president of the Northern Nevada Women Lawyers, the first Nevada woman selected for membership in the American Board of Trial Advocates, the first Nevada woman selected as a Fellow of the American Bar Association, and first Nevada woman member of the International Association of Defense Counsel. Margo is currently president-elect of the American Inns of Court, Bruce Thompson Chapter, an organization dedicated to improving the practice of law.

CARSON WOMEN LAWYER'S LUNCH

The next Carson Women Lawyer's lunch will be held in June. Please look for date and location in next month's Scoop. Attendance at the April Carson meeting surpassed the attendance at the Reno meeting. Congratulations, it is good to see the Carson group growing.

If you have been reading your newsletter, you have probably notice that I have been reprinting articles devoted to the topic of client development or "rainmaking" which seems to be a real issue for all lawyers and especially women lawyers. In July and August, we will have two meetings devoted to this topic too. So I'm just getting you prepared for those meetings. So use what is helpful to you! See you at the July and August meetings!

CONGRATULATIONS to NANCY MOSS GHUSN
on the arrival of her son,
BENJAMIN GEORGE MOSS GHUSN,
born April 18, 2000, weighing 5 lbs. 10 oz.

"The lawyer who is a first-class rainmaker is still unusual," says Don White, of White and Associates, in Naples, Florida. White travels the country teaching rainmaking skills. "For most attorneys, luring good clients and keeping them satisfied is a pipe dream. It's a dream because they talk about rainmaking, but they don=t set goals and follow through on them consistently."

The opportunities for young lawyers to attract clients are better today than ever before. "Over the past 20 years," says White, "corporations and people who use legal services have become less loyal to their attorneys. Legal services are viewed as a commodity, and this view has created opportunities for young lawyers to attract clients."

What is the most important secret successful rainmakers rely on to attract clients? Experts agree: provide excellent legal service. A second key to success: a lawyer must let potential clients know he or she is available and confident he can help with their legal problems. The ways to convey this message are as individual as each person=s personality and experience level. There are, however, some tried-and-true methods that a young lawyer can use when planting the seeds for future clients.

The essential ingredient for rainmaking success is providing excellent legal work for your clients. "First and foremost, be a good technician. If you are not, people will find out quickly," advises Joe Juster, a partner at Calfee, Halter & Griswold in Cleveland. A client has a right to expect good legal work and good service - and too many lawyers forget the service.

"I began to earn my clients' trust slowly but steadily," Juster stays, "by honoring the commitments I made to them. If I told a client I would call in two weeks to update him on his matter, I made sure I did it. They knew that if I followed through on small things they could trust me to get the job done on big things".

Try to stay involved with one client=s legal issues over several years so that you can develop a relationship with him or her. "Referrals made by existing clients are testimonials, the most powerful kind of recommendation," says Juster.

Use your first years to learn how the rainmakers you admire attract clients. "Identify the lawyers in your firm or community who successfully attract clients and shadow them to figure out how they do it," advises White. "Then, take what you=ve learned from them and develop your own style."

After identifying methods of rainmaking, decide which activities feel comfortable. "A shotgun approach is less successful than concentrating on activities you enjoy," suggest Juster. "I like to meet people and get to know them. Others in my firm would rather spend hours preparing for and giving a speech to lawyers or business people. Their style works for them and mine works for me."

One young lawyer started by asking for a partner's help in publishing an article. The lawyer researched and drafted articles with a partner in her firm and learned how to get them published. "Start small," advises Lynne Z. Gold-Bikin, Immediate Past Chair of the ABA Family Law Section and an attorney in Norristown, Pennsylvania. "Begin with legal journals. The editors are often desperate for good articles."

Suggest a young-lawyer column to the editor of a local bar group magazine or newsletter. If you are looking for business clients, suggest a legal column for a chamber of commerce newsletter. Keep a clip file for article ideas. Always popular are "how to" articles such as when and how to incorporate a business.

Another young lawyer researches and writes a partner's speeches. She writes them, he revises them, and then she goes with him to the presentation so she can meet the person who schedules speeches. A few days later, she calls that person to ask if there are any opportunities for her to speak. Program planners for continuing legal education courses are often receptive to fresh faces. "We ask young lawyers to speak as part of panel discussions," says Carol Noteboom, director of the Minnesota Institute for Legal Education.

Outside the legal community there are many opportunities to speak to business people or consumers. Develop a list of associations whose members include the people you need as clients. These can be trade, civic, business, professional men or women's groups, or religious associations. "I called my local chamber of commerce and asked if they knew the names of organizations that used speakers. Then, I contacted the groups and offered to speak on taxes and estate planning," says Janet Jamison of Jamison & Jamison in St. Paul, Minnesota. "I now speak about once per month to different groups."

Develop a reputation in one area of law. "Give yourself three years to build credibility, then find opportunities to get your name out," advises Susan Raridon of Hildebrant, Inc., the nation's largest legal management consulting firm.

Lynne Gold-Bikin became known by volunteering her time. "I was a family law attorney, and knew I needed to develop a reputation for myself. So, I called women=s shelters and offered a half-hour of legal time to any abused woman who needed me. I also organized the Domestic Violence Committee of the ABA. Over time, I became known as an expert in family law."

Don White advises lawyers to join organizations to meet with potential clients. "At the four or five year point of your legal career, start interacting with people who are one or two steps from decision makers who hire lawyers. Focus on the market where your practice will be in five years and target groups who attract people likely to hire your specialty. An environmental lawyer may want to focus on chambers of commerce and business groups. Corporate lawyers should join community, social and athletic clubs. Litigators should develop relationships with general counsel. Build rapport with these people; as they move into decision-making roles, they can hire you.

"However, warns White, "I'm not just talking about meeting large numbers of people. Position yourself to meet those people who can help build your business."

Making the time to attract future clients is a struggle when young lawyers are groaning under huge billable-hour requirements, learning to practice law, and keeping up with growing families. "Of course it's difficult to invest the time to attract clients. However, lawyers who don't invest the time are seriously disadvantaged when they expect partnership," warns White.

"You must be selective about how you spend your time. Ask yourself, 'do I go out to lunch a couple of times per week with someone who works on my floor?' Instead of lunching with co-workers, target a person and schedule lunch with a potential referral source. You can meet enough people to fuel your practice by going to meetings one night per week and one lunch per week," says White.

Juster explains, "I limit the time I spend because I have two children. For instance, I never take referral sources to ball games or to play golf. I reserve that kind of time commitment for existing clients. Instead, I schedule breakfast meetings at 7:30 and get to the office by 9:00."

"After a year of meeting new people," says White, "you will be well on your way to wooing new clients. If you really want to shine, a few days after your meeting send them a copy of an article you or someone in your firm wrote. A few weeks later, call to say hello and ask if you can help them with any legal concerns.

"I practice estate planning," says Jamison, "so I decided that drafting wills and trusts with fees equal to or less than the community standard would attract elderly clients who are price shopping. I get them in the door, deliver my quality service and then cross-sell them on estate planning. We are genuinely interest in our client's lives, and find that many of them have elderly parents who need estate planning services.

Identify other professionals who deal with the public. Let them know what you do and that you always need new business. They could include hairdressers, psychologists, insurance agents, bankers, doctors and chiropractors. Don't overlook other people in your building as referral sources. Talk to them in the elevator and tell them what kind of work you do. Be friendly, but be sincere.

Rainmaking means developing relationships with potential clients and explaining how you can help them in an understandable way. "When you believe in your gut that you can help someone, you can easily sell your services,"says Juster. Pro bono work may create big opportunities. Jamison explains, "We gave tax services to a church secretary because we knew she needed a lawyer and couldn't afford one. Ever since, she gives our name to everyone who calls looking for a lawyer. This has been a blessing for us."

Trust is a key ingredient in generating clients. "Many people don't trust other sources, so they rely on referrals made through the church," says Jamison. Juster puts it differently. "If I have known someone for four years," he explains, "I know all about his business. He is not going to shop around for a lawyer. He will call me."

I worked the contacts I had when I first started practicing law," Jamison explains. "I let a financial planner give me a sales pitch, then I gave him one. Now, he refers clients. Life insurance agents need referral attorneys to draft wills for their clients. Other processionals are happy to make quality referrals because they are looking for cross referrals from me."

Joe Juster moved to Cleveland after he practiced corporate law in another city for four years. "I knew I needed to do something to jump-start my career in a new city, so I made a point to meet a new person every week for the next two years. I wanted to meet people who needed a corporate lawyer so I concentrated on bankers, investment bankers, accountants and business executives. Setting my sights on huge corporations would have been laughable. Instead, I identified my market as small-business entrepreneurs. After I finished the work for my first client, I contacted the accountant with whom I had worked and invited him to lunch. He gave me the name of a banker, and I went to lunch with him. The list kept growing with other young professionals looking to expand their own networks."

How did he keep track of all those contacts? "After a while," says Juster, "I began forgetting where I met people, so I devised a 3-ring notebook system with categories for clients, prospective clients and possible referral sources. Then I subdivided the referral sources into bankers, investment bankers, accountants and miscellaneous. I recorded each visit or phone call and the content of the discussion next to the person's name and asked my secretary to diary a follow-up contact. Then when I contacted that person again I could ask 'Tom, how did that problem work out that you told me about three months ago?"

He didn't stop there. "In the third and fourth years I narrowed my list of contacts to those with whom I felt a special rapport. I met with them regularly and got new names from them. My network is continually growing and being refined," Juster continues.

When meeting a potential client who is already represented, never disparage his attorney, warns Juster. Instead respond, "I know the firm. They are capable of doing good work, but if you are ever in a situation where you need an attorney due to a conflict or if you need a second opinion, please keep me in mind."

The time required to effectively sell oneself intensifies as an associate nears partnership. "Rainmaking requires 50 to 100 hours per year at the associate level," says Raridon. "When a lawyer gets close to partnership, he or she should put in 100 to 300 hours in business development. New partners need to invest 300 to 400 hours in business development and firm management.

Now, it's time to shift into high gear. Schedule those "power" breakfasts or lunches twice per week. Send a newsletter to current and past clients, all clients whose cases were rejected, expert witnesses, former staff, referring and prospective referring attorneys and friends. Younger lawyers may be a good source of business so spend time with them and assist them in their careers.

Make a point of referring business to others whenever possible. If you make a referral to anyone else, send them a letter telling whom you referred and when you made the referral. This will make a better impression than hoping the client will remember to mention your name. Accelerate your efforts in the organizations in which you are involved. "Don't be content to serve on committees," suggests White. "Lead them."

If your practice involves screening many potential clients, such as in personal injury, consider meeting with every potential client. "I meet with everyone who calls with a case," says Bill Foster, of Foster & Associates in Minneapolis. "Even if I don't take their injury case, they get personal service from me and often those people refer cases to me. They remember that I took the time to meet with them and to explain why I couldn't take their case in a friendly and understandable manner."

Seven to ten years into your career, others may now perceive you as successful and no longer in need of new business. When you are asked about your practice, have a prepared response that conveys both your success and your willingness to take new clients. One such response: "My practice is going well but I can always take on new clients." Consider asking long-term acquaintances who have not referred work, "Is there anything I can do to earn your business?"

Business development is a long-term endeavor. Young lawyers will be disappointed if they expect every effort to yield a bottom-line payoff. "It takes five to seven years of planting the seeds before they being to grow, but believe me they do," says Gold-Bikin.

Juster recalls a potential client that he called on for four years before the client gave him a small piece of his business. "I did a good job for them, and four months later, they asked me to become their general counsel."

While developing your legal skills, take time to develop your rainmaking skills as well. Decide which activities you enjoy. "Start with something you are passionate about," advises Gold-Bikin, "whether it is politics, art or theater. If you are going to do it for at least five years, you should enjoy it. Don't get involved if you don't enjoy it because it will show." As the season of your legal career progress, your rainmaking will change from a sprinkle to a downpour.

Honoring CASA Volunteers and Charles McGee Founder's Award Recipients