Ask Howard Treesong About Law or Lawyering

[Howard Treesong]

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Knowing what you know now, what, if anything, could you have done early in your career to better position yourself later on on the business development front? Or more concretely, what advice would you give to a young lawyer who is concerned about having problems in that area later on?

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Remember that every single professional contact you make is a future potential client, including your opponents. There's no reason to not be aggressive, but stay entirely out of the cheap fouls business. I've had a number of opponents recommend me on cases where they were conflicted: they thought my work was strong and I was personally reasonable.

Second, start working client relationships from day one; not in an over-the-top salesy way, but rather by figuring out what it is that your firm's current clients need. What's important to them? Cost? Clear written product? Instant response time? Careful and articulate budgeting? An effective and inspiring bedside manner? After you've been working on a case for a while and have enough signature, see if you can sit down with a client and ask 'em what they really think about your work: what's strong and what could be improved. Check off on this with your senior people, obviously.

Co-workers, opponents, current clients, law-school classmates, people you meet at conferences -- everyone.