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.

Consistency matters more than charisma. Track records have an expiration date. The lawyers who stay busy aren’t always the most impressive on paper—they’re the most intentional in practice.

Selling legal services is different from other sales in a crucial way that makes it understandably difficult for many lawyers: you are the product.

Clients don’t want to be impressed. They want to be informed—in a way that helps them make better decisions. They don’t want you to summarize the rules. They want you to interpret what those rules mean for them. They don’t want to read what happened. They want to understand why it matters and what to do next.

No one becomes a rainmaker overnight. The lawyers bringing in millions in business today started exactly where you are: making a decision that their future was worth investing in, even when present demands seemed overwhelming.

What you know (your legal expertise) earns you a seat at the table. But your desire to understand what you don't know is what will keep you there.

Nurturing your existing key contacts is essential. But don’t forget to dedicate time to meet new people—elevating and expanding your network—which can exponentially increase your opportunities.

Observable metrics—views, likes, followers, connection counts—provide the comfort of immediate validation. Don’t get me wrong - it’s great to build visibility and momentum through marketing. Visibility is important - but insufficient.