printMarketing Tip of the Month
Top Ten Marketing Tips
for Mid-Level (Three to Five Year) Associates
By John Remsen, Jr.
With law school and your first couple of years of practice now behind you, it’s now time to ask yourself the following questions. Have I declared my major? Have I started to develop relationships with partners at the firm who are practicing law in that major? Have I been paying attention to my A-List?
If you don’t have answers for these questions, you might want to revisit TheRemsenGroup’s previous article “Top Ten Marketing Tips for First and Second Year Associates.” If you’re ready to take your marketing to the next level, please read on.
To continue down the pathway to becoming a lawyer who has his own clients and isn’t reliant on others to give him work, you have to cultivate good habits and sustain them over time. If you have already done your homework and are on your way to incorporating our advice from the first article, here are our top ten recommendations for taking your game to the next level.
1) Market Yourself Internally
By now, you should have declared your major (a.k.a. “niche”, “area of expertise” or “area of specialization) which means you’ve started working in a specific practice of law that really turns you on - where your passion lies. One common complaint from associates is that they aren’t in a position to refuse work from partners. That may be true in some cases, but you can determine what type of work those partners put on your plate by making sure everyone at the firm knows what you want do. Cozy up to the partners who are also majoring in your area of law and actively seek work from them. When you get that work, do a stellar job. At this point in your career, the partners are still your most important clients, and you need to develop relationships with those who can fill your days with the kind of work you want. Become the indispensable or “go-to” associate in your area of law. It will be easier to say no to assignments when your plate is already overflowing with the kind of work you love.
2) Strive for a Leadership Position in the Bar
If you followed our advice in the first article, you’ve been active in your local or state bar. Take it up a notch by actively seeking a leadership position in the appropriate bar section or in the young lawyers division. You could become chair in two to three years by developing key relationships with your fellow bar members and by lobbying for help from the partners involved in those sections. This will go a long way toward building credentials in your niche as you start to gain recognition as a leader of the legal community.
3) Become a Recognized Expert through Writing
If you consider writing one of your strengths and something you enjoy, it’s a good practice to establish yourself as a subject matter expert. Offer to write articles for your firm’s newsletter or for the bar. Offer to co-author an article with a partner. See TheRemsenGroup’s previous Marketing Tip on getting the most out of a bylined article for more.
4) Become a Recognized Expert through Speaking
Another great activity to establish a reputation as a thought leader is public speaking. The key is to develop great presentations, customized to the right audiences, and getting in front of those audiences consistently. A speech delivered once, and never to be heard again, does little for you. Again, solicit help from a partner in your area of law or volunteer to help the partner with his speaking engagements. Offer to present to other attorneys or summer associates in your firm as part of their professional development (and your internal marketing efforts). Then repurpose your presentation for external audiences, like the local bar association or trade organizations. Ask the partners if they think your presentation would be appropriate to offer a firm client. See this Marketing Tip from TheRemsenGroup on effective public speaking, including the best before and after tasks.
5) Support the Firm’s Marketing Efforts
Gain a reputation as someone who goes the extra mile and is an enthusiastic contributor, and partners will start to see you as a future leader of the firm. We had lunch with a managing partner recently who is ready to step out of the role after ten years of firm leadership. When asked if he knew a lawyer in the firm who could take his place, he answered “Yes, but the problem is that he’s a fifth-year associate.” Only five years into his practice, this associate has distinguished himself by getting involved in non-billable firm initiatives. And this investment has earned the notice of the firm’s managing partner.
6) Get Strategic with Your Time
Now that you’ve established some good habits, it’s time to be more focused and thoughtful about what you’re doing to develop your career. You should turn to very specific goals and objectives. David Maister has written an article about cultivating the habits of friendship. We’ve asked you to develop an A-List, but now it’s time to up your game a little here and step outside your comfort zone. Look at that A-List with a more strategic eye. Refine the list and invest in relationships with people who can hire a lawyer with your skills. Clients hire lawyers, not law firms, so people who can buy your expertise need to know who you are. Mid-level associates are not expected to reel in sophisticated matters, but you must work on cultivating relationships with people your age. It won’t be long before people with whom you went to law school or played tennis will be in a position to hire you or refer business to you.
7) Get Involved in Social Networking
In addition to networking through your local bar, the Internet provides a number of social networking sites where you can connect with friends and colleagues and market yourself. Popular sites include LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Your firm may have an alumni Web site and events. So may your law school or undergraduate alumni association. Make sure you have the most current and compelling information out there because you never know who you may run into in the virtual world. They might just be looking to hire a good lawyer.
8) Read - Better Yet Write - Blogs
One of the most effective social media tools is a Web log, or blog. Your firm or attorneys in the firm may already be using this online tool to publish articles or information about specific areas of law. In our previous article, we told you to start reading your local newspaper or business journal and other publications to learn about the business community. You can expand on that by searching for and reading blogs from experts in the industries you serve. The ABA Journal includes a list of law blogs, or blawgs, on its Web site at http://abajournal.com/blawgs/. You might even enter the fray by authoring your own blog, or co-authoring a blog with one of your partners. Consult your firm’s social media policy before publishing anything online.
9) Join Industry Trade Associations
We’ve asked you to invest time at the local bar, and hopefully you’re striving toward leadership positions there. At some point, you need to set your sights on a more target-rich environment like an industry trade organization. What organizations are your clients participating in? What conferences do they attend? Join and start to participate in these associations. For example, if you’re a banking lawyer and you want to meet people who work for financial institutions, consider joining the local chapter of the National Bankers Association. That’s not the same as joining the banking section of the bar where you’re going to be surrounded by your competitors. If you want to meet clients, you’ve got to join their associations. This article from TheRemsenGroup references ways to find new clients by getting active in their industry trade associations.
10) Invest in Career Coaching
The state bar doesn’t require you to earn CLE in getting organized or becoming a good public speaker. However, those may be areas where you need improvement and have the most potential to fire up your career. If you’re having a hard time juggling work or getting organized, look into a time management coach. Want to take your public speaking or oratory skills to the next level? Research and hire the best speaking coach or join your local Toastmasters. Haven’t a clue how to put together your wardrobe so that you look and feel like a lawyer? Work with an image consultant.
As we mentioned at the beginning of this article series, there are two kinds of lawyers in private practice. Lawyers with clients, and lawyers who work for lawyers with clients. Which would you rather be? If you want to be a lawyer with clients, developing lifelong, sustainable marketing and business development habits as a young associate will put you in a great position ten to fifteen years from now. The time to start developing those habits is now.
About the Author
John Remsen, Jr. is President of TheRemsenGroup, an Atlanta-based marketing and management consulting firm that works exclusively with lawyers and law firms. His articles have appeared in numerous ABA, ALA and LMA journals and publications. For more information, visit www.TheRemsenGroup.com.
© 2010, The Remsen Group
