Every March, millions of people fill out NCAA tournament brackets convinced they’ve cracked the code. But by the end of the first weekend, most of those brackets are already in shambles.
Unfortunately, this article won’t help you win your office pool or predict which Cinderella team will upset a top seed. But it will tell you how to put your team’s best foot forward in the competition for legal work and advance your firm through the business development (BD) bracket.
Every pitch meeting, RFP or client conversation is its own version of March Madness. Multiple firms enter the bracket, but only one walks away with the new business. After more than three decades working with law firms, we’ve learned something important: The firms that advance aren’t always the ones with the longest résumés or the most impressive statistics. They’re the ones that understand something more powerful: Human connection wins business.
When law firms bring their humanity into the game, clients connect, teams thrive and firms stand out in an industry that often struggles to differentiate itself. In honor of March Madness, here are five keys to advancing through the business development bracket.
First Round: Culture Attracts Talent
By the time a team reaches the NCAA tournament, talent alone isn’t enough to advance. Winning programs usually have something deeper: an enviable, winning culture. The same is true in law firms. Some of the most interesting conversations I’ve had with firm leaders start with marketing questions and quickly turn into conversations about culture.
One attorney we worked with left a large firm after years of facing challenges many women encounter: rigid hierarchies, limited advancement opportunities, and environments that didn’t leave room for the whole person. When she started her own firm, she shared something that stuck with us. She wanted to create a firm where she could reach down and pull other women up.
That philosophy shaped everything about the firm, from hiring to mentoring to leadership. Talented lawyers were drawn to the opportunity. Clients responded to the authenticity and the firm’s brand strengthened. What started as a personal value became a strategic advantage.
Culture is no longer just an internal issue. Clients notice how firms treat their people. Firms with strong cultures keep advancing in the BD tournament.
Second Round: Leadership and Empathy Set the Tone
Every team that reaches the tournament has a leader who sets the tone. Law firms are no different.
After hearing us speak on empathy in leadership, a managing partner told us he realized something uncomfortable: His associates were afraid of him. After reflecting on it, he began to change how he listened and communicated.
The results were dramatic. Recruiting improved. Retention improved. Team morale improved. Empathy didn’t weaken his leadership. It strengthened it.
Strong leadership doesn’t mean dominating every room or controlling every decision. The best leaders create an environment where their teams can contribute, grow and succeed together.
When leadership evolves, the culture of a firm evolves with it. And when leaders empower their teams, those teams perform better, both inside the firm and in front of clients.
Sweet 16: Put the Whole Team on the Court
While every great team needs a leader, championships are rarely won in an isolation offense while everyone else watches. The same holds true for winning business in the pitch room. Corporate counsel wants to see the full team, not just the rainmaker. They want to hear different perspectives and get a sense of who they’ll work with day to day.
Too often, firms walk into a pitch with one partner doing all the talking while the rest of the team sits quietly behind a PowerPoint slide that displays the team’s photos and biographies. That approach misses the opportunity. Don’t just point at your team. Bring your team. Give everyone the chance to speak and connect.
The connection that ultimately wins the business isn’t always made with the lead attorney. Sometimes the client connects most strongly with a younger partner who shares a similar experience. Sometimes it’s the associate who tells a story that resonates. Sometimes it’s the quiet technical expert who demonstrates a deep understanding of the client’s industry. Those moments happen when everyone on the team can contribute.
The best pitch meetings feel less like presentations and more like conversations. They’re asking a simple question: What will it feel like to work with these people? When the answer is positive — when the team feels cohesive, authentic and collaborative — the firm advances.
Elite Eight: Stop Pitching Like Lawyers
When lawyers prepare pitch decks, they often focus on credentials, rankings, and case lists. Those things matter, but they form the scouting report, not the conversation.
By the time you are sitting across the table from a client, the due diligence has already been done. They have read the bios and reviewed the rankings.
We’ve heard general counsel say it plainly: “Don’t tell me what I can find on your website. Tell me something I don’t know, especially about you.”
At that moment, the conversation is no longer about qualifications. It is about connection.
Smart lawyers are everywhere. Clients want smart lawyers who are also genuine people.
One of the most powerful ways to stand out is to tell the authentic story behind the lawyers on your team. The most memorable brands are not manufactured marketing ideas. They grow out of real stories — the passions, experiences and values that make professionals who they are. They give clients something powerful to connect with: the people behind the practice.
Final Four: Personalize Your Attorneys
It’s the Final Four. The stage is bigger and the competition tougher. To stand out at this level, firms must find ways to rise above the field, and one of the most powerful ways to do that is through the personalization of their attorneys. One great example comes from the founder of an intellectual property firm and accomplished pilot we’ve had the pleasure of working with.
She uses her plane and passion for aviation as her “secret business weapon,” she says. She flies to manufacturing facilities and innovation hubs to see clients’ inventions firsthand. She immerses herself in the environments where innovation happens. She often says that understanding a client’s technology up close leads to stronger patent strategies.
When we began highlighting that part of her story, it immediately resonated with clients. It demonstrated curiosity, commitment and a willingness to go the extra mile to understand their businesses. That authenticity has become a defining part of her brand. What began as a boutique practice has grown into a global IP firm serving more than 600 clients worldwide.
Stories like that travel (pun intended). At a recent NAMWOLF conference, a litigator who had heard about the IP firm founder and pilot’s story approached Jaffe. She said, “I want you to do for me what you helped do for her.”
She shared something fascinating about her background. Before becoming a litigator, she had been a trained dancer. We instantly loved the idea. Litigation, after all, requires discipline, timing, preparation and performance, just like dance. The metaphor felt natural. We’re now working with her to explore how that story can become part of her personal brand and her firm’s identity, an authentic way to humanize her practice and differentiate her firm in a crowded marketplace.
And perhaps the most rewarding part of that conversation was hearing why she reached out in the first place. She had seen how personal storytelling helped another lawyer stand out, and she wanted to bring that same humanity into her own firm’s brand. That’s the power of authenticity.
National Championship: Putting It All Together
Teams that cut down the nets didn’t get there because of one highlight moment. They won because they executed the fundamentals throughout the tournament. They demonstrated leadership, teamwork, discipline and trust.
The same is true in business development. Firms that consistently win pitches bring all these elements together. They build cultures that attract talented people. They lead with empathy. They bring the whole team into the room. They stop pitching like lawyers and start connecting like people. And they tell stories that make their attorneys memorable.
When those elements come together, the conversation shifts from credentials to chemistry.
That’s when firms separate themselves from the competition and put themselves in position to win the business, just like the teams that cut down the nets in March.
One Shining Moment
At the end of every NCAA tournament, a familiar song plays while the highlights roll. It celebrates the teams that survived the bracket and captured their moment.
Law firms have their own version of that moment. It’s the phone call or email saying the client chose your firm. Often that decision wasn’t made because of a slide deck or a ranking. It happened because something about the team felt different.
Maybe it was authenticity. Maybe it was chemistry. Maybe it was humanity. Whatever it was, it created a connection. And connection is what ultimately wins the game. Because in the end, clients don’t hire brands. They hire people.
The firms that remember that are the ones still standing when the confetti falls — having their own one shining moment.
If you need marketing partners to help guide your firm through the business development bracket, feel free to reach out to Terry M. Isner at tmisner@jaffepr.com or Tommy Santora at tsantora@jaffepr.com.