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OCTOBER
2003
What's new this
month:
1. Brad makes projections -
continued.
2. A New
Rainmaking
Strategy
3. Successful
Lateral Recruiting
4. Improving your
Rainmaking Skills | |
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LATERALS provides more than 12,000
law firm partners with monthly information on recruiting
and lateraling issues. We
are attorney recruiters who have lateraled and/or merged over
1,000 attorneys since 1979. As a result, LATERALS is
about the real world of lateraling.
Visit the Sears & Associates
web site at www.Mentoringpros.com
and learn about our unique attorney recruiting services.
Visit our Media Center
to listen to and read about our view on rainmaking,
lateraling activities and to read back issues of LATERALS,
online. | |
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CREATING SOLID LATERAL PROJECTIONS --
MAKING IT
WORK
As we pointed
out last month, there is no more difficult part of lateraling a
new partner than estimating his book of business. Both
the new firm and the potential lateral want to be as flexible
as possible about their compensation and billing
estimates. As a result, there are countless scenes like
the one we're going to portray taking place.
When we left Brad last month,
he was interviewing in his potential new firm's conference
room. Follow
this link if you'd like to review last month's story. We
offered four endings. The majority (5 to 1) of
readers we polled chose ending #4. So, as a result of
your choice, Brad has changed his mind about being vague. He
is now ready, if not able, to draft his projections. This
month's continuation story starts with the last paragraph of
last month's story.
This new story has three
possible endings. They are shown at the end. You can take your
choice ... kind of like a murder mystery in which you choose
the ending. Your choice may help you to put your own thoughts
in perspective.
Brad said, "Ok,
I'll estimate ... but that's all they are ... estimates. I'll
do my best to achieve them. But some of it may be beyond my
control. When Jerry set up this meeting he gave me the outline
of a business plan and urged me to complete it before the
meeting. He offered to do it with me. I'll go back now and do
it with him and then we can get together."
As soon as Brad was
outside the building, he reached for his cell phone and called
Jerry.
"Jerry, I'm glad you're
there. I just finished the meeting. I like the Firm and the
lawyers, but you won't believe what happened. They don't
understand a critical reality about the practice of
law."
"What do mean,
Brad?"
Brad was talking into his cell
phone as he walked. "They don't know how difficult it is to
project results for a law practice and they don't understand
how fickle clients, and lots of other problems, can make a
projection useless, particularly in this down
economy."
"That means they tried
to get you to estimate results. Am I right,
Brad?
"Right, but mine isn't a
steady corporate practice supported by the same regular
clients every year."
Brad was now
standing on the corner, surrounded by other people, waiting
for traffic. He cupped the cell phone close and whispered into
it. "I told them I'd think about it if they insisted, but to
me it's all bull."
"Brad, did you tell them you'd
get back to them?"
"I told them I'd think
about it over my lunch and get back to them about what I
believe I can do, after I talk to you. Jerry, I don't
even know how a plan and a projection relate to each
other."
"I can show you that. What counts is
what you want to do."
Brad said, "Maybe I
should just give up the whole idea and stay where I am."
TO
CONTINUE READING THE
STORY>>>
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RAINMAKING
STRATEGIES
A NEW RAINMAKING
STRATEGY
Prospective clients want to know that they can
'trust' you before giving you a matter to
handle, right? Gaining that trust almost always requires that
they see you as a 'real person' not just a picture and a bio
in your firm's marketing materials. Here's an
interesting rainmaking strategy to deliver very real messages
to clients.
Through the years in working with rainmakers I
always delighted in listening to their 'stories' -
stories that demonstrated, by their actions, who they were as
people. I've collected many of them and
recently published an online Anthology of 'heartfelt' stories
written by rainmakers who put the interests of clients, equal
to or ahead of their own interests. The stories are wonderful.
They're all published at www.LeadersWithHeart.com.
Meet the 23 managing partners,
senior law firm partners and associates, judges and
corporate officers who've shared their stories, and think
about adding your own story to the Anthology. Here's a brief
look at four stories.
Meet 'Jack'
Williams the former Managing Partner of Thachter Proffit &
Wood. Read
how "group hugging" became a daily firm tradition after
all 1000 employees escaped from Tower Two of
the World Trade Center on 9/11.
Meet Mike
Kail, the Vice Chairman of Steptoe &
Johnson. Learn how he suggested
that 50-words could settle a case between a
Fortune 200 client firm and a state agency - it worked
and they settled.
Meet Barry
White, the former Managing Partner of Foley Hoag.
Read how Barry changed his interpersonal
skills to become a successful rainmaker.
Read about the managing
partner of a firm who used a full heart to make a
deal with a major new lateral candidate. It will bring tears
to your eye, promise!
We cordially invite you to contact
us about adding your story to the Anthology. You'll be able to
link to it from your web site, feature it in your own
personal marketing material or use it any other
professional way, you'd like. The stories are only
300-500 words. Not hard to do. Visit
the Leaders with Heart web site for article
guidelines.
Each month we'll share several
stories with our 12,000 subscribers. We look forward to your
participation. Let your story be a showcase for your
prospective and current clients.
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THE WORLD OF
LATERALS
SUCCESSFUL LATERAL
RECRUITING
What are the most
important requirements if a firm is going to have successful
growth by laterals? Here is our view of the six we consider
most important. In this sense "important" means
successful. As attorney recruiters our measure of
success is what causes laterals to "prosper." What we
mean by "prospering" is what happens after the lateral joins
the firm. How long does he stay? What happens to
his billings? How good is the personality
blend? LINK
THROUGH TO LEARN THE SIX KEY POINTS WE'VE LEARNED ABOUT
LATERAL PROSPERITY, ALONG THE
WAY! | |
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© 2003.
Sears & Associates. All rights reserved.
Laterals is published monthly by
Sears & Associates, a national attorney search firm since
1979.
About Laterals and your
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Executive Editor: Jerry Sears jerry@mentoringpros.com
Publisher: Ellen Caravello ellen@mentoringpros.com
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Technology
Evangelist: Mark Margaretten, Second Story Solutions, LLC mark@mentoringpros.com
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Chris Pelosi, e-techStrategies LLP webmaster@mentoringpros.com
Sears & Associates
RECRUITING AND DEVELOPING RAINMAKERS SINCE
1979
Delray Beach, FL USA
(561) 638-4750
phone
(561) 637-6585 fax
Web Site: http://www.mentoringpros.com
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