As you likely know, in 1978 I began to focus on representing highway and bridge contractors. Back then, I quickly determined is there was not enough work or contractors located in the Roanoke Valley, or Southwest Virginia to keep me busy.
A few years later I was hired by the largest contractor in North Carolina to help with a contract dispute on a project in Norfolk, several hours away from Roanoke. One day I was on the project manager who had hired me told me.
Our general counsel in Charlotte has asked me how I selected a lawyer from Roanoke to represent a Charlotte company on a project in Norfolk involving the Virginia Department of Transportation which is located in Richmond.
Needless to say I was happy when he told me how he responded.
A few years later, I was hired by the largest contractor in West Virginia to litigate a contract dispute involving the construction of Interstate 79. That was the first matter I handled outside of my home state. I associated with a firm in Charleston and tried the case. I found the favorable decision on page 153 in this document.
A few years later I began working all over the country for two of the largest contractors. That ultimately prompted my move to Dallas.
Is your practice limited to the county where your office is, or is it one that can span your state, and maybe even beyond your state?
I coach many lawyers and law firms that I tell to increase business with new clients, they must either do work they are not currently doing, or they must expand their geographic reach beyond their local community.