updated on 09 November 2021
Reading time: five minutes
As a lawyer, you must implement business development (BD) strategies.
BD is as much a part of modern lawyering as drafting contracts and coordinating conference calls.
With tech-savvy clients demanding more legal services for their money, competition for work is on the rise. Having said that, BD requires an entirely different set of skills to fee-earning work and lots of practice.
Business development in a nutshell
Simply put, BD is the “creation of long-term value for an organization from customers, markets and relationships”.
In the context of a law firm, it usually takes the form of creating and maintaining client relationships (ie, finding new clients and holding on to existing ones). This is achieved through building networks (eg, during networking events or on LinkedIn) and contacts and trying to ensure that when someone needs legal advice, it’s your firm that they think of first.
There are two central aspects of commercial awareness, these are:
What does business development involve?
In terms of practical application, BD may involve pitching to potential clients for a particular piece of work. While this is likely to be spearheaded by a firm’s partners and associates, trainees will be involved with preparing and researching the pitch and may be encouraged to attend.
BD also covers the need to capitalise on inter-office relations, such as meeting with and getting to know your colleagues, so that if a client comes to them with a legal issue that is beyond their remit, they will refer them on to you.
In fact, cross-selling within a firm is one of the best ways to build a business and to ensure you become the go-to trusted adviser for all a client’s legal needs.
Most firms that we speak to get their trainees involved in BD from the get-go, encouraging them to attend and even host client events, as well as take part in the numerous junior professional networking events that are held regularly around the country.
Writing articles, presenting papers or speeches, or even managing the firm’s social media presence is another great way to get involved with BD at the junior level.
Business development: straight from the horse’s mouth
Here are just a few extracts from our Meet the Lawyer section, with views from a range of lawyers at different types of firms and at different stages of their careers who talk about their involvement with BD and why it’s important:
Early awareness of this crucial part of running a successful law firm will help you to stand out from the crowds of other would-be trainees who are not as commercially aware.
You may not know it, but you are probably already building relationships that may be professionally useful in later life. The other students that you’re at university with, your tutors and lecturers, your family and friends – these connections are all a rich source of future referrals.
As with most things networking-related, the earlier you start and the more of it you do, the easier it becomes. Attending law fairs, firm presentations and open evenings, and chatting to firm reps, is all part of the process and an essential way to develop key soft skills.
Undoubtedly, BD will form an important part of your legal career – start working out now how to engage with it effectively!
If you’re interested in finding out more on BD:
Christianah Babajide (she/her) is the content coordinator at LawCareers.Net.