SmallLaw Holiday Party Networking Guide

Free booze combined with the prospect of mingling with vulnerable potential clients can prove irresistible to a hungry attorney still getting used to the street.

Ah, the siren call of the holiday party. It can prove hard to resist for a SmallLaw attorney still building a roster of clients. Free booze combined with the prospect of mingling with vulnerable potential clients can prove irresistible to a hungry attorney still getting used to the street. December can be a great networking month, for if you’re crafty, you can always snag a last-minute invite to some party somewhere, and if you’re not-so crafty, you can just start crashing.

In SmallLaw, we tell ourselves we have to network constantly, but without a firm targeting strategy, you can drain precious time away from your practice. If you’re not careful, you can find yourself at the end of December having only gained holiday weight instead of clients. (And I know this comes after the bulk of the holiday party season, but hey, ATL just started my column two weeks ago.)

But what events to go to? Here are the questions to ask yourself:

What is the target audience?

The first thing you should try to figure out is the target audience of the event. In general, the more narrow the focus the better. An event for an association of small business CFOs is probably going to be more fruitful than a Meetup for [insert city] business professionals. I used to go to entrepreneur events, until I found myself buried under an avalanche of phone calls and emails from financial advisors, realtors, and life insurance salesmen, as well as a skin cream baroness who kept calling to tell me how terrible I look.

Will there be too many attorneys there?

By and large, going to a few attorney-centric events consisting of primarily SmallLaw attorneys is fine. Most of my referrals come from other SmallLaw attorneys. And one of my colleagues (and by “colleague,” I mean one of the handful of fellow solos with whom I’m closest) receives the bulk of his referrals from IP attorneys who work with startups. A trademark attorney is probably going to try to find a corporate guy to help her client conduct a seed-round financing as opposed to try to handle it herself.

Sponsored

Crashing a Biglaw party probably will not get you any business, though based on my experience, you probably won’t get kicked out, since when I’ve invited myself to Biglaw events no one has seen me as much of a threat. (Not yet!)

Am I at the holiday party of a cult?

Hey, it can happen. Maybe you thought Twelve Tribes had something to do with Laurence Tribe. Or you were invited by a comely member and didn’t have time to Google. Make the most of it. Generally the tighter a group is knit, the easier it is to become the group/cult’s go-to legal person. (If you get the feeling they’re more Heaven’s Gate than Illuminati, get paid up front.)

What to do at the party when I don’t know anyone?

Parties with nametags tend to be the friendliest and the easiest to strike up a conversation with people. Even if everyone is in groups of twos & fours, plow right in and introduce yourself. Don’t be the person checking their smartphone by themselves in a corner or (worse) in the middle of the room. Any initial awkwardness will soon subside, and no one should be having an ultra-serious conversation at a party anyway. If one of the people happens to work for a company considering a Reg D offering or whatever it is you do, they’re probably going to want to talk to you anyway.

Sponsored

Also, drop in a lot of “one of my clients does X” so people realize you do actually have clients of your own and they should feel comfortable recommending you to others. Back when I only had two corporate law clients, I talked about them both non-stop. It worked in short conversations, though not so much during a longer event like a lunch when sharp people could figure it out.

It should go without saying, but be careful not to get hammered. Though holiday parties can be a lot of fun, if you don’t yet have a full roster of clients you need to approach it like work. You’re there to either find clients or (more likely) make connections with people who know of persons that could be clients. I’d rather be remembered as the boring corporate lawyer than “the fun dude.”

Last but not least, be happy that you’re an attorney and that you get to help people as part of your job. It shows when you like your job.

Follow Up

The follow-up is easily the most important part of any networking event. If you don’t carve out time afterwards to follow up, your success rate will be comparable to the person on Tinder who goes on so many first dates they don’t have time for any second dates, and then they wonder why after all these dates they’re still single.  To each their own, but for me, I like to send a brief note or a LinkedIn invite the next day, and then follow up with a more substantive message once the holidays have passed. The truth is that rarely is someone going to pay you $200-300 or more an hour based on a simple business card exchange or a funny story at a party. The initial meeting— wherever it should take place — needs to be a stepping stone to a lasting relationship.


Gary J. Ross opened his own practice, Jackson Ross PLLC, in 2013 after several years in Biglaw and the federal government. Gary handles corporate and compliance matters for investment funds, small businesses, and non-profits, occasionally dabbling in litigation. You can reach Gary by email at Gary.Ross@JacksonRossLaw.com.