Biglaw, In-House Counsel

3 Things You Can Do Today To Build The Practice You Want Tomorrow

Nothing is guaranteed, but you can increase the odds that something good will happen to you in the future, as in-house columnist Mark Herrmann explains.

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How can you build a practice?

I already explained this; I gave you a real-life case study. But that was four years ago, so maybe you’ve forgotten. Or maybe that struck you as too much work, so you blew off my advice.

Not to worry: I don’t offend easily.

I’m back again, with new, and less onerous, suggestions. (These suggestions may be less effective, too, but that’s the way it goes.)

What small, painless things can you do today that may well help you build the practice you want a decade from now?

First: Think of an old buddy — one who’s either in law or business — who you haven’t seen for years, and you really regret having lost contact with. Call that person, and set up a lunch date or arrange to meet for a cup of coffee or a drink after work.

Then meet the person, and have a good time catching up.

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At lunch, don’t explain how great you are, or pitch your services, or do anything else that reeks of salesmanship and thus offends you. Just meet an old friend, and stay in touch.

That’s it.

Life is funny. Staying in touch with old friends is a nice thing to do, and it may well yield benefits in the future. One never knows.

So do it.

Second: Identify the most recent idea you ginned up that made you proud.

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I don’t know what that idea was. Maybe you devised a clever argument for a brief. Maybe you worked on a deal and noticed, or resolved, a tricky issue. But surely you’ve had some worthwhile idea in the last few months. (If not, what the heck have you been doing?)

Set fingers to keyboard, and describe the problem and your solution in about five to seven typed pages. That’s it.

I’m not asking much here. Identify a worthwhile thought, and write it up in a very short format.

Don’t tell me you’re too busy to do this: I have a full-time job, too, and I crank out one silly little ditty of about two to three typed pages every week to fill this space at Above the Law. I admit that what I publish here is slightly shorter than what I’m asking of you, and I concede that I don’t always burden these columns with an idea — but I’m doing one of these things per week, for heaven’s sake, and I’m asking you to do one per lifetime.

Have I shamed you into it yet?

Then think about where you can publish the idea you just wrote up. Someone’s interested; trust me. Periodicals are committed to their publication schedules, and the train has to leave the station whether or not there are any passengers on board. Periodicals are desperate for content. So find an outlet, and submit your piece to be considered for publication.

An industry trade journal would be the best place to publish your little nugget, but I’m not picky. If your piece doesn’t make sense for an industry journal, I’ll settle for your local legal newspaper or a bar association journal. Just publish the thing somewhere. That’s a start. A few people will notice that you wrote something. You can send links (or reprints, or whatever) to clients and potential clients. And you’ll see that writing articles isn’t so hard, so maybe you’ll write a couple more, helping to build your personal brand.

That’s my second suggestion for building a practice.

Finally, number three: Be nice to someone at your firm who you don’t know too well and who doesn’t practice in your area. Maybe that just means popping your head in the door and saying hello. Maybe that means meeting for lunch in the firm cafeteria. Maybe it means inviting that person to join you for your daily jog or a beer on Thursday after work. Whatever.

All you’re doing is expanding the folks you know (and ultimately may come to like). That’s not very much, but it’s also not very hard, and it yields benefits: If you’re a litigator, the corporate colleague you just befriended may think to ask you to help when a client runs into trouble. Or maybe that colleague will invite you to a pitch. Or maybe your colleague will move to an in-house position someday, and he or she will think of you when a litigation matter comes in the door.

We’re not placing guaranteed bets here. We’re just increasing the odds that something good will happen to you in the future. That good thing may take the form of new business, in which case you’ve (almost literally) struck gold. But maybe you won’t strike gold. Maybe you’ll just meet a new person who becomes an occasional lunch date or sends you a book when you’re home ill.

Maybe this new contact will generate business, or maybe it will just be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Either way, it was worth the effort, wasn’t it?

Earlier: Inside Straight: Building A Practice — A Case Study

Mark Herrmann is the Chief Counsel – Litigation and Global Chief Compliance Officer at Aon, the world’s leading provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human capital and management consulting. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Inside Straight: Advice About Lawyering, In-House And Out, That Only The Internet Could Provide (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at inhouse@abovethelaw.com.

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