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How Rainmakers Do It By Gina Passarella The rainmakers who spoke to The Legal for this article couldn’t be more different from one another. They include women and men, litigators and corporate attorneys, large-firm lawyers and small. But they all have the same general ideas when it comes to building a book of business, and they all have little tolerance for excuses. It takes time, effort and interest to become a rainmaker, and all of these rainmakers have paid their dues. "It’s very hard to say, ‘I’m going to be a rainmaker instead of being a lawyer,’" Ronald Klasko of immigration boutique Klasko Rulon Stock & Seltzer said. "You have to be a rainmaker in addition to being a lawyer, and you have to find the time." If he asked himself whether he had the time to do everything that’s on his plate, Klasko said the answer would always be "no," so he just does them. "If you’re looking for a 9-to-5 and you have to work on cases [during that time,] then yeah, it’s probably difficult to become a rainmaker," he said. Rainmaking takes work, a lot of planning and execution, he said. How They Did It Klasko said it could be easier to build a large book of business if one has a niche practice. Not every attorney knows a good immigration lawyer, for example, so getting one’s name out there should result in lots of referrals if an attorney is one of the few in a practice area who is on everyone’s radar. Before he joined Dechert in 1988 as a partner, Klasko was a partner at a small firm that had never done any immigration work. He decided it was important for him to develop a niche practice and learned immigration law with the anticipation that it might become 10 percent of his practice. Little did he know he would end up running his own immigration boutique. He taught himself the law by "asking a hundred people a hundred questions" and ultimately turned into an expert. Each year, Klasko creates a client development plan for himself that looks at emerging trends in his field, what areas of the law he should focus on and which clients he should target. Having a plan and getting the work are two different things. Every time there is a new law or regulation relating to immigration, Klasko said he tries to be the first one to write an article on the topic. That could lead to speaking engagements and ultimately recognition of him as an authority on the new law. Klasko is also a big believer in joining organizations — whether they are industry-based or bar associations — and becoming active within those groups. Not everyone takes the time, and if a certain attorney is always there, that attorney will quickly rise up the ranks of the organization. One of the best things to remember, he said, is that the best source for new business is existing clients. General counsel and executives talk to one another and refer attorneys they feel did a good job. Klasko started out representing mainly individuals but, through referrals, his practice has grown to include mainly organizations. Both Kathleen M. Shay, a corporate partner at Duane Morris, and Nina M. Gussack, head of Pepper Hamilton and its health effects litigation practice, said they were fortunate to have excellent mentors who brought them along to meetings and pitched their skills to clients. That led to stronger resumes, which led to more work, which led to rainmaking. "The more clients you have, the more you get," Shay said. General Advice • Be a
business adviser, not just an attorney. In the late 1980s, Shay said she started noticing other people who she didn’t feel were as good attorneys as she was but were more aggressive and generated business. So she picked up her game. She joined industry groups, became active in the bar and taught a number of courses. One thing that her mentors taught her, Shay said, was that being an attorney isn’t enough. Attorneys have to be true business advisers. Much of Shay’s practice is representing venture finance and emerging businesses that don’t have their own legal departments. She acts as their general counsel, goes to their investors meetings and gets to know their entire business. It can be intimidating to a client if a lawyer from a large firm goes in like gangbusters pitching the firm’s services, she said. Lawyers have to let the client know they are part of the team and understand their business model. Shay said she grew into her practice and it was really over the past three to four years that she started generating millions in business. She now works with a small team and tries to help them in the same way her mentors helped her. Gussack, by all accounts one of the biggest rainmakers in the city, said she was "blessed with a wonderfully generous mentor" in Pepper Hamilton senior counsel Edward W. Madeira Jr. Madeira and other mentors profiled Gussack to clients and would suggest she handle their next matter. That helped her develop an expertise — something she said clients really want — and grow her practice defending pharmaceutical and medical device companies. For Gussack, speaking and writing on the law are part of a larger, more important, goal of being an expert in a field. She said she doesn’t spend a lot of time entertaining clients, making it clear that she doesn’t play golf but has still managed to build business. Instead, Gussack said she tries to share interesting pieces of legal strategy with existing and prospective clients about developments in the law and then lets them know the capabilities within her firm to handle that work. The simplest advice that Gussack gives to young attorneys is that the hardest part of getting business is asking for it. "You have to say, ‘I would like to represent you,’" she said, adding that with that comes rejection. There are few attorneys, however, who get all their work handed to them from clients. They have to ask. For Robert C. Heim, a litigator and one of the top rainmakers at Dechert, developing business is an evolving process based heavily on developing relationships. While many litigators get work from the corporate partners in their firms, Heim said Dechert expects its litigation team to generate its own business. That sends a clear message that the litigators have a responsibility in that area to bring in high-quality work, he said. The bedrock of legal advocacy is dealing with clients’ problems, Heim said, but it’s befriending them and knowing their business that can often be just as important. "It’s always surprised me how very personable, engaging people treat their clients as if they are just representatives of the problem rather than people they would enjoy in their own right as people," Heim said. Heim’s No. 1 rule for business generation is to really get to know the client’s business and really get to know the client. That often leads to friendship, which often leads to business opportunities, he said. Rule No. 2 would be to get to know other attorneys in other law firms and get involved in tackling issues of importance to the profession. Heim said some of the most satisfactory parts of his professional life have been the relationships he has created with attorneys in other firms. That, too, helps establish an attorney’s relationship in the community. Heim recently became chairman of the board for Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts. Through efforts like that, he said, networks are built among attorneys, and the work provides a sense of satisfaction. Heim’s final observation, he said, wouldn’t have been true 20 or 30 years ago. He said lawyers really need to be known for something. Find a niche. But It’s a Different Era . . . Most of the attorneys agreed lawyers coming out of law school now are much more aware of the importance of business development than when they graduated. And while they understand that young attorneys are growing up in a different time, with double-income households being commonplace, there was little sympathy. Heim agreed that his suggestions to network and get involved with public interest works required additional time, but rainmaking takes an investment, which ultimately pays off in the end. He questioned how much more time it took to build relationships with clients and become interested in their work. If an attorney is going to a baseball game or play anyway, why not bring along the client, he said. And as far as becoming specialized in an area of law, Heim said law firms applaud that effort and offer plenty of support to help build that work. At a recent roundtable on issues facing women in the profession held by The Legal, some of the women talked about the importance of business development and the difficulty they sometimes find in generating or asking for work. Gussack said that if women perceive their ability to build business to be difficult given the environs of their firm, then they need to redouble their efforts. She said there are enough women in leadership positions in firms these days to help the younger female attorneys. But overall, Gussack said she doesn’t think a mentor has to look like the mentee. There are different types of mentors, she said, including those who teach the trade, those who help in business development and those who teach the management of a law firm. Getting business is about building relationships, and that’s something women excel at because of their good listening skills, Gussack said. Clients just want to know their attorney is hearing what they have to say and responding accordingly. Shay said it really depends on the situation and the woman. She said she "grew up dealing with boys and men" and developed her own level of self-confidence. Often in the legal profession, attorneys have to think like business people and not involve emotions, she said. Women are a little emotional, she said, when they should be objective. Male or female, every attorney has phases of self-doubt, Shay said. The bottom line, Klasko said, is that business development takes planning. Attorneys have to be willing to put in the time and effort and hopefully the business will follow. Look for next Monday’s installment of "Rainmakers and Rainchasers" to read about associate business development programs and what Looking
to Move Up, Partners Are Getting By Gina Passarella In suburban kitchens, coffee shops and back tables of restaurants across the city, law firm partners are quietly seeking the help of business development and marketing professionals on how to get out from under the shadow of that more senior partner and build their own book of business. While it might not be as sinister as that description sounds, there is a palpable fear among some fairly high-level partners in the city's largest firms about what their future holds. Now those partners are trying to take control of their own destiny. In talking to a number of marketers, coaches and recruiters, there is a clear sense that in these economic times, having a portable book of business is increasingly important. Firms are threatening de-equitizations, in-house marketing departments are facing budget cuts and partners are hoarding work more now than in the past five years, according to these industry analysts. Pretty much 100 percent of marketing consultant Stacy West Clark's clients were law firms up until the first attorney came to her about two years ago. It was really in January, however, that Clark started seeing a number of high-profile attorneys seek marketing help on their own dime, without the knowledge of their law firm. "People are very, very hungry for help developing a book of business," Clark said. These attorneys get the message that their compensation will be "dramatically" cut if they don't start bringing in business. There are generally two schools of thought Clark is seeing in terms of why attorneys are seeking this outside help. Either they fear they will be let go, de-equitized, or otherwise see their compensation cut, or they want to be a viable lateral candidate, she said. While many of these attorneys might look good on paper in terms of billables and experience, they are often working for the clients of an even more senior partner who ultimately gets the credit for the origination, Clark said. Chuck Polin, the chief executive officer of The Training Resource Group, said Clark's description of the market is "absolutely true" of his recent experience. Polin and his team have spent the past 15 years coaching lawyers on how to build a book of business and how to get in front of the right decision-makers. In 2008, he said they have more clients than in the previous 14 years combined who won't let them use their names and are paying on their own dime. Many of the clients had their most recent review in December or January and were told they could lose their equity status, he said. Now these attorneys want to build their books of business. Polin said law firms have plenty of worker bees. They are looking for business generators. "It's competitive as hell out there," Cathy Abelson of Abelson Legal Search said. There is a very "dog eat dog" attitude at some of these large firms when it comes to who is getting credit for the representation of certain clients. Because Philadelphia is not a huge growth region, that attitude is becoming all the more prevalent in tough economic times, Abelson said. Oxford Legal Associates President Ronalyn Sisson said there is a concern out there on the part of both equity and non-equity partners who don't have a book of business about what their place is in their firms in the next five to 10 years. From a recruiter's perspective, there is little she can do for a potential lateral who doesn't have access to some business. She said billables at the lowest end of the spectrum have to exceed $300,000 in order for a practitioner to have a chance for a lateral move. In order to combat that problem, Sisson has created Oxford Legal Consulting to focus on career coaching. She provides one-on-one development for veteran attorneys who may have experience, but not a book of business. The general consensus among several recruiters and marketers is that $500,000 is probably on the low end for some of the firms in Philadelphia. And of course, there is always what a firm would like to have and what it would be willing to consider. Firms the size of Morgan Lewis & Bockius, Dechert and DLA Piper, for example, would like to see about $2 million in business but might be interested in someone with $1.5 million in work, some of the recruiters said. For the firms just under that tier with headcounts in the range of 400 to 700 lawyers, $1 million in business is the goal, but often $750,000 is the reality, the recruiters said. Firms at 150 to 400 attorneys would like to look for books of business between $600,000 and $750,000 but would often have conversations with potential laterals who have $400,000 to $500,000 in business with good rates. As David Maola of Major Lindsey & Africa pointed out, rates are extremely important — maybe even more so than a book of business. A partner with $1 million in business with low rates wouldn't have a chance of moving to some of the city's largest firms because their clients wouldn't be able to afford the rate increases, he said. Those same firms also might not be thrilled about the idea of discounting their rates for a lateral partner's government-entity clients, for example. In the Pittsburgh market, rates are the biggest driver of what recruiter Valerie Esposito said is "great concern" among the younger and mid-level partners at the city's largest law firms. There are only so many lawyers who can get — and so many clients who will pay — $400 per hour rates, she said. That makes it increasingly difficult to build a book of business, she said. Even attorneys with books of business can't grow them as rates are increasing, which Esposito said is translating into those partners looking to move to smaller firms that can handle lower rates. The concerns being seen in Philadelphia, she said, are "hugely exacerbated" in Pittsburgh because it's a much smaller market with fewer clients who can afford to help turn their outside counsel into rainmakers. Both rates and books of business, however, might often apply only to a partner's current firm. If you can't bring either with you — no one is going to want you. Institutional Clients Sisson said the attorneys who should be most concerned are those in large firms with several institutional clients. Polin pointed out that corporate counsel are reducing the number of firms they hire and looking to do more work with more practice areas within those firms. That, in turn, makes it easier for the firms to create institutional clients. Frank D'Amore of Attorney Career Catalysts agreed there is some of this underground marketing assistance going on but said the lateral market is still really busy. Attorneys are more interested in moving now either because the bad economy shines a light on problems within their current firms or they don't feel they have a future in their current firms, he said. D'Amore is seeing, however, a bit of change when it comes to who can easily switch firms. For the people on the margins of having a large enough book of business, it is becoming increasingly difficult to change firms, while those with large books of business can still move very easily. The real change in hard economic times affects those handling a lot of work for institutional clients, D'Amore said. Those attorneys may have been able to move on their own prior to the downturn in the economy simply with the potential to develop business. But with the demand for books of business, law firms are taking on more groups than single laterals. It's often the only way that one attorney who works for institutional clients can have a chance of luring those clients away. If the attorney brings with him three or four of the other lawyers who were working with the client, the client might have more motivation to follow the attorneys, and not the firm, D'Amore said. Abelson said a lateral move might be the way an attorney could finally come out from the shadow of the more senior partner. If the more junior partner has been servicing a client for years and built a solid relationship, that client might follow the partner to a new firm, she said. What About In-House Marketers? Peggy Dixon of Abelson Legal Search was surprised to hear people were going out on their own for marketing help. She said firms are investing now more than ever in in-house business-development professionals and many firms work with attorneys to create individual marketing plans each year. Those firms are also providing training programs for any attorneys who might be interested, she said. She admits many attorneys aren't great at business development. According to Dixon, about 20 to 30 percent of lawyers are natural rainmakers, another 30 percent are interested in learning and the rest have no interest at all. While Michael Coleman of Coleman Nourian said portable business is more important now than ever before, he agreed with Dixon that most of the help in building books of business comes from inside the firms. He said the coaching phenomenon that is present now wasn't even discussed five years ago. Many firms are going to the partners they want to keep and suggesting those attorneys go through some business development training on the firm's dime, he said. Even though firms see the value in that type of training, a marketing department in a firm of hundreds of attorneys — no matter how large the department — can't help every single attorney. "I don't know that the marketing team has the time to provide the same type of direct one-on-one ongoing assistance that one may need on a coaching basis," Coleman said. Ultimately, it is up to the individual attorney to get on the radar screen of his or her chief marketing officer so it is known they are receptive to business development training, he said. While many in-house marketing teams focus on the broader goal of practice group development, Polin said attorneys couldn't all be lumped into the same cookie cutter. Each attorney has his or her own quality that can help develop business. Wolf Block CMO Julie Amos said her department's work is driven by the needs of practice groups, but she and her staff also meet with individual attorneys. She said the department tries to ensure it's accessible to all the firm's attorneys in all of its offices, including associates. Wolf Block offers a number of training seminars that are open to any interested attorney and they aren't just done by the marketing department. The New York office has training almost weekly on how to become a rainmaker or leverage media attention to build an attorney's profile, she said. Wolf Block has considered hiring an outside vendor to work with individual attorneys and key attorneys from each practice group, Amos said. She isn't aware of any attorneys who went out on their own to get that assistance but said she understands why some might consider it given it's their own professional advancement. "I would imagine that every CMO in the city would hope that the attorneys in their firm would come to them first for guidance to see if their needs could be met with firm resources," Amos said. According to D'Amore, even firms with 50 attorneys are putting all of their partners through business development training. A problem might actually arise, he said, if an attorney's book of business gets too big. When an attorney starts bringing in more than $3 million or so in business, some of that work inevitably has to be handed off to other partners, he said. That could lead to other partners luring those clients away if they decide to switch firms. So is there ever a bright side to this business development business? Look for next week's installment of the series on Monday, May 5, to read about local rainmakers, how they got there and what advice they have to offer.
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