This is a rather long blog post, so let me remind you that on June 13, I will be presenting Month 2 of the Lateral Link Rainmaker Series. I will show you how to prepare a business plan that works. Today is an important day for me and for Nancy. 49 years ago today Nancy and I got married. You can do the math. It was June 6, 1970. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, once…

As you know, I am presenting webinars each month as part of the Lateral Link Rainmaker series.  As you will discover in our series, each of you is different and as a result, you may follow a different path to becoming a rainmaker in your firm. But, here are some traits, I hope you share in common.  Rainmakers… Are optimists and believe in themselves Have a clear idea of what they want Are good lawyers always…

I hope you will be able to join me on June 13 for my second Lateral Link Rainmaker webinar. In this one, I will share with you how to prepare a business plan. Several years ago I gave a presentation on career planning to over 200 associates in a large law firm. As I often do, I began by asking how many in the room had prepared a Personal Performance and Development Plan or Business…

I was recently asked: Cordell, why are you giving 12 monthly presentations on rainmaking for free? Great question: My simple answer is I want to help young lawyers achieve the success and career fulfillment they are seeking in a law firm. Years ago when I was responsible for attorney development in my firm, I gave a business development presentation to a group of brand new partners at their orientation. As I surveyed the crowd, I…

If you want to learn more about presentations take a look at this post: Top ten tips for incredibly successful public speaking by David Meerman Scott. I like all ten of the tips. The third tip is to tell stories. That was one of the primary tips I gave Dave when he was preparing his presentation. Recently I was going through some of my old presentations. I found one I gave in 1982 about…

Client development is about becoming a “go to” lawyer and developing relationships. For many of you, becoming a “go to” lawyer is much easier than developing the relationships. After all, if you bill 2000 hours a year in your niche, over time you will know your legal specialty well. How many hours a year are you spending developing your people skills?  How can you learn and practice those skills? First, you need to have an…

This is one of my series on client development skills every lawyer needs to learn. Today, the focus will be on skills to build relationships and get hired. These mostly require that you get up from your computer and get out of your office.   Building Relationships and Getting Hired Networking-Asking remembering names, questions, actively listening Sources of business How to focus on Contacts (Client relationship management) How selling legal services is different How to…