The document discusses business development for law firm associates. It suggests that associates focus their business development internally on developing relationships with partners, rather than trying to directly bring in new clients. Associates can adapt common external business development methods for internal use, such as sharing legal updates and collaborating on publications. Associates should also be persistent in following up with partners and socializing with them outside the office to strengthen relationships over time. Being creative and passionate about certain practice areas can also help associates develop their internal business.

1. Jason Idilbi
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An Associate's Perspective On Business
Development
Law360, New York (October 24, 2014, 9:33 AM ET) --
The late actor Robin Williams, in one of our generation’s
most iconic films, Good Will Hunting, gave the ordinary
phrase “it’s not your fault” a lasting pop culture legacy.
To borrow the phrase in a much less somber context, I
suggest to you, fellow associates, that it’s not your fault
if your perception of business development is slightly off
the mark. From your first tentative steps in your law
firm’s hallowed halls, you have likely heard about the
all-important and ever-present need to develop
business to succeed in private practice. Hearing these
abstractions, you might be tempted to mimic the visible
and external-facing business development methods you
see among your superiors. But that would be a
misguided approach to your business development.
Let’s face it: taking your friends or acquaintances to
Justin Timberlake concerts, professional sports games,
18 holes of golf at the Ocean Course, Sur La Table
cooking classes, or high-brow steak dinners — all with
the lofty goal of bringing in billable matters — is not
how you as a law firm associate are going to develop your business.
Indeed, this reality is reflected in the fact that many firms have no specific expectations for
associates to generate business. The unspoken reasons for this? First, attorneys in our
stage of professional growth typically lack both the expertise to make a winning pitch and
the connections to higher-ranking in-house attorneys who decide where to send their
company’s business. Second, our primary value add as associates comes not from
spending time away from the office on business development jaunts but from bearing a
laboring oar for our partners to ensure utmost quality and cost-effective client service.
That being said, I want to emphasize that there are steps you can (and should) take now
to develop your business. It should start with understanding that your business
development needs to focus on the right set of “clients.” Simply put, your clients are the
partners within your firm. Just as successful partners are those who consistently meet or
exceed client expectations and earn the reward of repeat business and referrals, being a
successful associate requires you to meet or exceed the expectations of the folks who send
you work — your law firm partners — so that you earn the reward of their repeat business
and their referrals (to other partners within your firm or practice group). I’m probably not
telling you anything new here, but simply knowing this will get you only so far along the
path to long-term success: you must deploy this understanding as a springboard to further
action. Just as a partner’s ability to attract new clients and retain existing ones is a
function of much more than delivering dependably good work product, your ability to
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2. develop business from your partners requires you to do much more too. I humbly propose
the following concrete suggestions.
Adapt External Business Development Methods Internally
No need to recreate the wheel here: there is an abundance of easily accessible advice
pertaining to external business development. All you need to do is adapt these methods for
internal purposes. For example, sending clients and prospective clients pertinent and
concise alerts regarding the latest case law or regulatory developments applicable to their
business is a common external business development method. Similarly, you should take
the initiative to follow substantive developments in your partners’ practice areas and
internally share useful summaries of these developments. It’s exceedingly easy to set up
alerts for certain topic areas given plentiful free or low-cost subscription legal news
services. And this actually works in your favor, as your partners are probably more likely
to read an interesting and informative alert from you than to open one of the many
impersonal blast emails that hit their inboxes every day.
In a similar vein, a partner might host a CLE or a “lunch and learn” for clients and
prospective clients; you could offer to co-author a publication, presentation, or blog post
with a partner, or present a topic of interest to your practice group at its next meeting.
One of my best partner relationships stemmed from a publication that I ghost-wrote for a
senior partner; although we previously had little opportunity to work together, I offered to
write something for her in one of her substantive areas of expertise. My initiative and good
work on that (non-billable) matter made an impression and quickly turned into a
productive working relationship between us on her more substantively interesting billable
projects.
The virtue to the external-facing approaches mentioned above is that they show
clients/prospective clients that the partner is thinking about them and attuned to major
legal developments that might impact their business. When a new matter comes along,
this care and attention will hopefully position the partner at the top of the
client’s/prospective client’s mind. Applying these methods internally similarly demonstrates
your commitment to your firm’s practice and your substantive expertise in a subject area.
Your consistent efforts will ultimately position you at the top of a partner’s mind when a
client sends over a new matter that needs to be staffed.
Be Persistent
Business often takes time to cultivate and requires patience and stamina. In our industry,
it’s not uncommon for partners to pitch to the same prospective client multiple times
before those efforts bear fruit (and sometimes they don’t). Your partners might also
require some sustained attention before sending something your way. It is in your best
interest to continually make your interest known. At my old firm, I was particularly
interested in a partner’s practice but was having trouble getting assigned to one of his
projects. When I timidly approached him about this at a happy hour, he apologized and
likened himself to an airport runway — lots of things landing and taking off on a given day,
he helpfully explained — leaving him frequently too busy to think to assign projects
beyond his one or two go-to associates. While I worried that my persistence would annoy
him, he stressed that I should persist in reaching out to him because at some point I would
strike at the right time, just when a project had “landed” and before it had already “taken
off” elsewhere. Sure enough, we were eventually able to work on a project together and
my work on it positioned me to become another one of his go-to associates.
Socialize with your Partners Off-Campus
Just as friendship or good social rapport can turn into a lasting attorney-client relationship,
a good social relationship between a partner and an associate facilitates a positive
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3. professional one. Every so often, try to get one of your partners in a setting where you can
each temporarily forget your work obligations and shoot the breeze about your personal
interests. If you’re able to do so, you’ll be much better off in the long run than the office
drone who eats lunch at his desk all day and never attends an after-hours function.
Speaking of after-hours, you should certainly feel free to plan a social event (perhaps a
stand-alone happy hour, or even a recurring weekly or monthly event) to draw your
partners and other colleagues to a casual event outside of the office. For example, I
recently booked tickets to a concert in my neighborhood and hosted several partners,
associates and their significant others for a pre-event party. Since then, I’ve had a richer,
more personal relationship with everyone that attended.
Be Creative
No one has a monopoly on innovation in business development, and I’m constantly hearing
about new and unique ideas. You should use your own professional and personal interests
as inspiration for ways to network and grow your business internally. If you enjoy playing
softball (or any other sport), then start or captain a team for your firm. Or if you enjoy
drinking wine, offer to host a small group of partners and spouses for a wine tasting. If
you’re involved in a nonprofit or community organization, invite partners to the annual
fundraiser or to a volunteering event. On the professional side, if you are drawn to a
particular niche practice, try to assemble a team of your colleagues to grow the practice
within your firm. My firm recently started a new interdisciplinary practice group, and I wish
I had had the foresight to see it as an emerging area and suggest that we create the group
sooner. That said, I now belong to this group and am developing my internal business by
connecting with the partners who are dual-practicing in this group and in their primary
practice areas.
Parting Words
In our line of work it’s easy to fall into a pattern of punching the clock day in-day out,
especially when your schedule is demanding and the last thing you want to do is think
about ways to develop your internal business. Not all of these recommendations are
terribly time-consuming, though, and I am confident that your efforts will be rewarded in
due time. I’m also confident that the young associate who tries to proactively develop his
or her internal business — whether by some combination of the above suggestions or
otherwise — will be much better positioned for long-term success. And just think: when
you do reach partner status and have the time, experience and connections to develop
business externally, you’ll have all the tools and ideas you need.
—By Jason G. Idilbi, Moore & Van Allen PLLC
Jason Idilbi is an associate in Moore & Van Allen's litigation practice in the firm's Charlotte,
North Carolina, office.
The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views
of the firm, its clients, or Portfolio Media Inc., or any of its or their respective affiliates.
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be
taken as legal advice.
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