Those of you who are young lawyers will not even recognize what it took to become a successful lawyer back in the day. Under the old formula, you:

  1. Billed lots of hours
  2. Got a Martindale AV rating
  3. Worked for loyal institutional clients
  4. Did not make waves
  5. Were told not to worry about client development
  6.  Made partner even if you had no clients
  7. Worked at your firm until you retired

What are the new rules for lawyers? At the risk of repeating what I have written here before, here goes. You must:

  1. Narrow your market of potential clients and become visible and credible to them
  2. Know your clients’ industry, business and the client representative’s special needs
  3. Get out from under the senior partner’s shadow
  4. Anticipate client problems, opportunities and changes before other lawyers and even before the client
  5. Figure out “remarkable” solutions and give them away in articles, blogs, presentations, webinars, podcasts etc.
  6. Connect with referral sources and weak tie connections and help them succeed
  7. Make your clients your friends and your friends your clients
  8. Leave your desk and spend more quality time with your clients
  9. Become more efficient
  10. Provide extraordinary service