Zen & the Art of Legal Networking

Join us for this week’s rainmaking recommendation from trainer and coach, Jaimie Field.

Before we jump into this week’s Rainmaking Recommendation, please know that if you need help, there are resources out there for you. As someone who has depression and anxiety, I know that the HARDEST thing to do is to ask for help – so the most important thing I can say here is to ask everyone to check on the people around you, even your “strong” friends and colleagues. They may be the ones most in need of help. But, as we have talked about here on Zen before, it’s okay to break down, self-care is also good business, and although these are US-based resources, I share Hinshaw’s excellent article in our COVID resources with my membership on a regular basis on mental wellbeing, which includes the Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Call 1-800-273-TALK or visit the Suicide Prevention Lifeline website. Thanks to them for putting together such a comprehensive and excellent resource. Please know that although we value the work that you do, YOU are the most important thing, always.

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Are we STILL talking about change??

Yes, we are. And for two reasons – first, we’re really still in a global pandemic (the CDC is just about to recommend that vaccinated Americans wear masks indoors again if some of us have even stopped) and second, we all know the joke that the only constants are death and taxes, but truthfully, the only constants are death, taxes, and change.

So, here we are.

We’ve tackled a lot about how to address change within your firms, but the one thing we haven’t looked at closely is what to do once you’re deep into it – which may be where firms are if they’re committed to sticking with moving to remote work.

How do we create lasting change in our firms?

Join us for this week’s rainmaking recommendation from trainer and coach, Jaimie Field.

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In Rainmaking Recommendation #249, I explained that two of the best tactics you could use were public speaking and writing for showcasing your knowledge.  And while that Rainmaking Recommendation delved into public speaking, this one dives into writing.

Join us for this week’s rainmaking recommendation from trainer and coach, Jaimie Field.

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The two most incredible ways to showcase your knowledge are public speaking and writing.  And if you are not doing one or the other, or even both, you are doing yourself a disservice as a potential Rainmaker.

The internet has become a fixture in our lives and a necessity because of the pandemic of 2020. We can do almost anything on the internet, from buying food to finding love.  But one of my favorite things about the internet, particularly for me, who is an information junkie, is the education and knowledge one can gain.  Most of my friends and colleagues will tell you that I am a wealth of useless knowledge, but then again, is any knowledge genuinely useless?   

Over the last few weeks, we’ve talked about the tendency to want to slip back into old pre-COVID ways of life and what some of our barriers to change might be (here and here). In fact, Law.com recently posted an article about “As COVID Fears Ease, Remote Work Is Slowly Losing Popularity,” [subscription may be required], in which they said,

The number of law firm leaders, attorneys and staff who expect to work from home frequently dropped significantly between 2020 and 2021, according to the The 2021 National Legal Sector Benchmark Survey Results published by Cushman & Wakefield in conjunction with ALM Intelligence and Law.com.

Roughly 70% of respondents, which include 336 firm leaders, attorneys and staff from various law firms, said that they expect to regularly work remotely when asked in the second quarter of last year. Asked again earlier this year, just half responded the same way.”

I can hear some of you saying, “okay, so what? Why does it really matter if we go back to our pre-COVID way of working? Wasn’t that working for most of us?”

Was it?

Join us for this week’s rainmaking recommendation from trainer and coach, Jaimie Field.

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1,327,910

That’s how many lawyers there are in the United States according to the American Bar Association’s 2021 Demographics.

437,540

That’s the number of law firms in the United States in which many of those attorneys practice.

These are huge numbers!  How do you find a way to get new clients when there are so many other lawyers competing for new business?

I have been saying, for almost 20 years, that you cannot be all things to all people.  You need to:

We’re slowly, slowly easing back into a post-COVID world (maybe? Delta variants, anyone?) and with that brings a lot of stress and a lot of change. Potentially.

As we’ve discussed over the past couple of weeks, there may be some temptation to slip back into “the way we’ve always done things,” and while that may feel comfortable and familiar, it’s not a good enough reason to do it. And if you are thinking that you can get away with doing it at your law firm, take heed – recent studies and articles are saying, not so fast:

Join us for this week’s rainmaking recommendation from trainer and coach, Jaimie Field.

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We interrupt the information on Rainmaking Tactics to provide you with this little announcement: THE YEAR IS HALFWAY OVER!

Look at the calendar!  Are you as shocked as I that half a year is already in the history books? Granted, the past 16 months have been like none other we have experienced, but still. . .

Last week, we talked about the temptation to slide back into old habits as the world starts to open back up from quarantine. Things have changed, and they’ve changed dramatically, so there can be that desire to seek the familiar ways of doing things – but we really don’t have to. And with these Delta variants taking a firm hold on us, it will be more important than ever to be and stay flexible. I know that’s not something the legal industry is historically comfortable with, but we showed during the pandemic that we’re actually quite good at it. And that flexibility can be profitable for our firms (even if it’s a bit hard on our psyches). So what we DO need is both better mental health care within the legal industry (and self-care and boundaries) right along with continued moves towards a different way of being and thinking.