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Valuable Lessons from This Great Recession

By Kimberly Alford Rice
July 29, 2010

As the economy teeters along, firms struggle to recover from the labyrinth of layoffs, microscopic attention to expenditures, and the cautious decision to add new attorneys and staff. Despite posting profits in 2009, some firms still grapple with how to engender more rainmakers from their attorney pool to spread the business generation responsibility more evenly. After all, not all lawyers are rainmakers. At least, some do not perceive themselves to be.They are not comfortable “marketing,” but instead prefer to handle the new files that come in the door.

Given the economic factors at play and the shifting legal landscape, there is no better time to examine and enhance how your firm is investing in its business development program. Ameet Sachdev, a leading Chicago Tribune business reporter covering legal affairs and law firms, put it this way, “If the recession taught lawyers anything, it is the value of business development. Those with large books of business or longstanding relationships with clients were more admired as corporate firms faced a downturn in legal work. The cocoon that protected lawyers respected for their critical thinking but with few business contacts was shattered.”

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