a dry run for rainmaking
When I conduct seminars on the practice of law, new lawyers often share that they feel woefully under-schooled in the dos and don’ts of reaching out to potential clients and referral sources they meet in social or business settings. This article discusses how two big firms have addressed this issue by engaging consultants to teach associates the fine art of networking. In one firm, associates teamed on random assignments in which they drafted pitch letters and plotted presentation strategies over a two-week period before making a mock business bid to faux clients. The other firm gave its associates “wardrobe instruction, networking tips, and an intriguing behavioral study” on how lawyers’ “sociability” scores fall well below the average obtained by the general public - with sociability defined as "a desire to interact with people, especially a comfort level in initiating new, intimate connections with others."
