How Young Lawyers Can Build A Book Of Business Before It’s Too Late

For young lawyers, business development can often seem like something to worry about later in their careers, once they’ve mastered their practice and are closer to making partner. But waiting to build a book of business may be one of the biggest mistakes an aspiring rainmaker can make.

The old model, where a senior partner eventually handed prized client relationships down to the next generation, has largely disappeared. Today, lawyers must take ownership of business development much earlier, cultivating relationships inside and outside the legal profession long before they expect those connections to produce work.

So, how can young lawyers make the most of their limited business development time? Which traditional strategies are no longer effective? And can artificial intelligence help lawyers win clients without sacrificing the personal relationships that matter most?

We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Josette Rodriguez-Winograd, CEO of elite boutique trial firm Elsberg Baker & Maruri, to find out. Prior to joining Elsberg Baker & Maruri, Rodriguez-Winograd served as chief operating officer of Selendy Gay Elsberg. Before that, she led business development departments at Paul, Weiss, Arnold & Porter, and Dechert. Here is what she had to say.

Staci Zaretsky (SZ): What are lawyers still doing that doesn’t really work anymore, and what should they be doing instead?

Josette Rodriguez-Winograd (JRW): Waiting. The traditional model was passive. Partners “waited for the phone to ring” or waited for a rainmaker to retire, at which point they’d slowly pass on the relationship to the next generation, who would repeat the same pattern 15 to 20 years later.

That model doesn’t work anymore because the industry has drastically changed. Waiting for a relationship partner to bequeath their book is a lot like waiting for an inheritance that will never come. Clients hire lawyers, not firms, so even if a young lawyer positions themselves as a successor, they should recognize that there are incumbents at other firms competing for that same opportunity.

Business development is a significant part of your job. Lawyers have to take responsibility for building their own client base from the start. To do that, young lawyers should invest in the relationships they already have. Keep your law school friends close. Get to know the people on in-house legal teams and the co-counsel you work alongside. Make a conscious effort to meet people outside your immediate circle through industry and professional events. You never know where your first client will come from.

SZ: What are the most effective ways for young lawyers to spend limited BD time, and where are they wasting it?

JRW: Many lawyers approach BD like a client matter: developing strategies, researching industries, and gathering information. That’s useful to a point. When it becomes an ideation exercise more than a repetitive action, it’s time to adjust the approach. What works in business development is consistency over time. Thinking endlessly about business development is about as effective as thinking endlessly about going to the gym.

Young lawyers need to make time for BD. Schedule it like any other appointment and protect it. Treat it as nonnegotiable.

Set a target to have a meal with someone twice a month. Make a list of 25 people in your network and try to have a meal or coffee with each of them once a quarter. Join a nonprofit or industry organization that meets regularly and is geared toward young professionals. Choose something you genuinely care about and look for opportunities to take on leadership roles. What matters most is building relationships, more than any other investment of time.

Where lawyers often lose time is by overinvesting in writing client alerts, attending multiday conferences, or sponsoring events for brand recognition. Those activities can support firm marketing, but they rarely translate directly into a personal book of business.

Relationships do.

SZ: When does technology make BD better, and when is there no substitute for being in the room?

JRW: AI is a great tool for getting up to speed on a client’s history, issues, and competitors quickly. Checking LinkedIn to identify points of connection before a meeting is useful. Maintaining contact with a law school classmate across the country is certainly better than letting the relationship go stale. Technology can help you do all of those things more consistently and efficiently.

But they are also things everyone else has access to. They don’t differentiate you.

Winning business requires trust, and trust is still built through human interaction. AI can help you prepare. LinkedIn can help you connect. Zoom can help you stay in touch. But there is still no substitute for sitting across the table from someone, listening carefully, and building the kind of confidence that leads a client to hire you. Every firm has access to technology. Relationships remain the differentiator.

SZ: What advantages do boutiques have, and how can they use AI without sacrificing relationships?

JRW: A law firm’s smaller size used to be viewed as a limitation, but it’s become a feature and a benefit for clients who want Biglaw-caliber expertise without the overhead and large teams that can come with it.

At a boutique, every member of the case team tends to be closely connected to the client and the matter. Associates take direction from partners, not layers of management, and are often in the room when important decisions are made. As a result, clients know more of the team, and younger lawyers gain meaningful client-facing and courtroom experience earlier in their careers.

AI can amplify those strengths by helping lawyers work faster, respond more efficiently, and spend less time on routine tasks. But it should never replace the personal interaction that clients value most. The goal is to use technology to create more time for relationships, not less.

For young lawyers who hope to build successful practices of their own, the message is clear: stop waiting and start building relationships. Technology may help make business development more efficient, but it cannot create the trust that turns a professional connection into a client.

On behalf of everyone here at Above the Law, we’d like to thank Josette Rodriguez-Winograd of Elsberg Baker & Maruri for taking the time to share her business development advice with our readers.

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Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.