When an attorney seeks business clients, it s important to be able to speak their lingo. For example, if a client has a business problem, the attorney should have an intelligent conversation instead of shallow chit-chat about the family or the client s last golf game. Conversation and advice from an attorney that helps a client in his or her own business is usually well-received, and it also lets the client know that the attorney can see the entire impact of the current situation on the client s business. This builds trust and confidence in the attorney and creates referrals. Treat partners as clients.
Most large firms tend to be a conglomerate of sole practitioners.
Unfortunately, the attorneys fail to really integrate their practices with others in the firm. An outstanding and too-often underused source of new business is your own partners and the variety of relationships that they have with the outside world. If you treat partners clients, they will respond better to help you build your area of expertise. The more people that are committed to your success, the faster will be your rise up its ladder. Make yourself invaluable.