Remember the good old days? The days when hourly rates increased year after year, junior associate time could be billed for, and it was considered unprofessional to try to poach another lawyer’s clients? That wasn’t that long ago, in fact. But times have changed.

The market for legal services is flat. Since the Great Recession, there has been fundamental change in the legal landscape. Much like the housing market bubble that precipitated the economic slowdown, the legal marketplace has shifted from a seller’s to a buyer’s market. This has led to downward pressure on fees, demand for creative, alternative billing practices, and greater competition for fewer opportunities. Work has also moved in-house, as corporate law departments have looked for ways to cut costs and have become not only clients, but also competitors, to solo lawyers as well as law firms.

Change is never easy, rarely fun, but often necessary. That’s particularly true in the legal industry, in which client/consumer needs and preferences are changing rapidly, but lawyers and law firms are failing to keep pace.

In all aspects of today’s economy, consumers are trending toward specialization. In the medical field, the general family practitioner’s office is often just the first stop — many times mandated by insurance coverage — on the way to the specialist. The full-service advertising agency model of the “Mad Men” era is being replaced by agencies focusing on narrow industries and service specializations. Many advertising clients are no longer seeking an “agency of record” but rather the best agency to help with a specific project intended to achieve a specific objective. IT and software consultants are developing solutions not for mass markets, but for industries — from healthcare to financial services — that face common challenges.

These changes are happening in response to market demands — consumers are no longer looking for service providers with broad skill sets, but rather are seeking out specialists with very particular knowledge in industries and market segments. Narrow and deep, not broad and shallow, is what clients value.

My new book, One of a Kind: A Proven Path to a Profitable Law Practice, is in print! Thanks to everyone — my family, friends, colleagues and publisher — who helped make this happen.

I am hosting a free webinar on May 19 during which I will discuss some of the issues addressed in my book. It’s free to attend and I promise a crisp, insightful presentation of ideas that can help you build a profitable and sustainable book of business.

Details are below. Click here to register.

In my new book, One of a Kind: A Proven Path to a Profitable Practice, I discuss the importance of carving out a practice/industry area niche in order to build a book of business. Indeed, when it comes to business development, quality work and technical proficiency are table stakes. Acquiring the skills necessary to develop and sustain a solid client base is required, and that’s a much different skill set.

In today’s market, in which clients are looking for specialists, not generalists, developing business requires niche expertise. While the ethical rules may prevent you from identifying yourself as an “expert” in your particular field(s) of practice, you should be doing everything possible — professionally and authentically — to create this impression in the minds of others.

For years he has toiled in relative anonymity while keeping us safe. No matter the conditions, no matter the odds, he pursues his mission with relentless zeal. His bark is as big as his bite as he works like a dog fending off the enemies of American aerospace. He asks for little in return. His reward: A pat on the back, and a scratch behind the ears. His name: Piper the Airport K9.

Piper is an 8-year-old Border Collie who helps maintain wildlife control at the Cherry Capital Airport by chasing ducks, geese, owls, foxes and other creatures from runways. It’s said that every dog has its day and Piper, Traverse City’s newest celebrity, has gone viral.

If you live in or near Traverse City, it’s almost certain that you’ve heard of Piper by now. If you live elsewhere you probably have as well. For the last two weeks Piper has been an ubiquitous internet sensation and social media darling.

It all began when someone posted a short video of Piper on Reddit. He’s wearing his signature goggles, a Coast Guard helicopter in the background causing snow to swirl in the frigid air around him. Piper sits calmly, cool and unaffected by his surroundings.

Soon after, Piper was everywhere, from The Huffington Post to ABC News. As with all internet darlings, though, his notoriety will inevitably fade. Earlier this week I heard his owner, airport operations supervisor Brian Edwards, comment on a local radio station that Piper is probably on his 14th minute of his 15 minutes of fame.

While the “What” of this story is no doubt intriguing – a super cool, goggle wearing, bird hunting pooch is irresistible “click bait” – the more interesting and lasting part of the story may be the “Why?”.

One of my primary goals at Simply Stated is to educate and inspire lawyers of all ages and at all stages of their careers with valuable content that helps them grow, and derive more satisfaction, from their practices. There is a lot of content on Simply Stated, so if you’re new to the blog a good place to start is with some of my most popular posts. Here is a list to get you started:

1. 17 Things I Wish I Knew as a First-Year Associate
Starting a legal career is hard. New lawyers know very little about the practice of law, or how a firm works. This post touches on some of the things that I wish I knew as a first year associate.

Big firm or small, litigation department or corporate, law firm associates are assessed not only on their work product, but their business development skills, too. The good news is that there are steps that associates at any level can take to quash any questions about his or her practice-building abilities. Attorney at Work’s great new guide, “Build It! The New Associates’ Guide to Business Development,” is loaded with insights and information to help associate lawyers showcase their value to their firms.

The guide features two articles I wrote, including “17 Things I Wish I Knew as a First-Year Associate” on page 9 and “Relationship-Improving Steps for Better Business Development” on page 26. Click here to download the free guide and share with associates and law students. It’s never too early to starting thinking about business development.

Business development is one of the greatest challenges for a new attorney. It’s not taught in law school, nor should it be. It’s something to be learned in the real world. But before chasing down clients, there’s a few things that junior law firm associates should focus on first. Learn more in my latest article published today by Attorney at Work. The full text of the article can be read below:

It’s widely accepted that law schools don’t do a very good job — or in many cases don’t do anything at all — to teach law students how to develop business. Many commentators lament this failure, criticizing schools for not focusing on business development basics.

I think this is wrong. There’s no reason to think that law schools can or should take on this challenge, principally because business development is not something that is learned in the classroom.

The skills attorneys must learn to develop a book of business must be acquired in the real world, through observation, trial and error. Especially error. Yes, business development is mostly about failure, which is one of the main reasons most lawyers don’t like the business development process.