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<i>Sales and Service Strategies</i>: Law Firm Culture and the Effect upon Women Rainmakers

By Catherine Alman MacDonagh and Marcie Borgal Shunk
March 27, 2007

Law firm culture is the primary obstacle to business development, according to LSSO's Women Lawyers Survey: Sales and Business Development Issues. Out of the 418 participants who responded, more than 40% of female lawyers suggest that various organizational and institutional barriers inhibit their ability to be successful at sales.

Research, however, reveals that firm culture as a deterrent to success can be overcome through training, determination and teamwork. While it is likely true that firm culture actually does hinder business development more than it helps, it is also true that the most successful women rainmakers are finding ways to circumnavigate these obstacles and drive success despite how their firms recognize, measure and reward business development.

Law firms certainly can do more to drive business development success. Yet the arguments against billable hours, origination credits and 'eat what you kill' compensation systems are not new. These traditional law firm structures have been under attack for years. What LSSO's study of women lawyers reveals, though, is that firm culture is not a defining or critical success factor. True rainmakers recognize firm culture as the deterrent that it can be and are able to find creative and innovative ways to work against the grain.

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