You won’t always have time to do a lot. But you always have time to do something. Pick one small action each day. Use the margins. Keep your list close. That’s how a lawyer with no time still manages to grow their practice.

After working with hundreds of lawyers at different stages of their business development journey, I’ve noticed certain patterns. Not quirks of personality or “natural” sales talent, but habits and strategies that show up over and over again among the lawyers who reliably grow practices, year after year.

In a world where people’s feeds and inboxes are flooded with noise, the ability to clearly explain ideas, connect dots, and guide decision-making is a serious advantage. It builds trust, opens doors, and drives business.

If you want to build a legal practice, at some point, you have to tune out all the advice online (much of it contradictory) and move forward.

ChatGPT won’t (and shouldn’t) take over your voice, ideas, or relationships. But it can help you act more quickly on your BD and marketing good intentions more often.

Business development is not about waiting indefinitely. It’s about being present and useful until the right moment comes—and then having the confidence to take the next step.

If you're in the early stages of building your legal practice, don’t try to serve everyone. Focus on serving someone. It may sound limiting. But narrowing your focus is actually what gives you traction. It’s what helps you get found, get known, and ultimately, get hired.

Five minutes of a conversation that isn't about the active matter can open the door to work that isn’t yet on the table—but should be.

At its core, business development isn’t about selling legal services. It’s about helping your clients and prospective clients succeed—by making them better informed and more capable decision-makers.

Once you’ve gotten over the hump of legal competence—when you’re no longer stressed about how to redline a purchase agreement or manage discovery—you graduate to a new category of challenges.