During my law career and my coaching career, I told associates and young lawyers that they are never too young to begin working on becoming a “go to’ lawyer.

Years ago I read The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout. One of the laws is the importance of being first in the mind of your clients. The authors use a common example asking who was the second person to cross the Atlantic solo in an airplane? Likely you don’t know or remember. Yet, most of us know that Charles Lindbergh was first to cross the Atlantic solo in an airplane.

Do you know who was the third person to cross the Atlantic solo in a plane? You likely do not know. But, if asked who was the first woman to cross the Atlantic solo in a plane, you would more likely know it was Amelia Earhart. You are more likely to remember because she was the first in a new category.

What does this have to do with law?

You may be like several lawyers I coached who worked under a senior lawyer who casted a huge shadow because he or she was the “go to” lawyer in his or her field. Knowing the importance of being first in the mind of clients and potential clients, what can you do if you are faced with that challenge?

Think about what you want to accomplish. You need to ask this because it will be challenging to be seen by your clients and potential clients as the “go to” lawyer in something you don’t care about. Then you can take one of these approaches:

  • If you can’t be the “go to” lawyer in that niche, narrow your focus and focus on a new niche. I narrowed my marketing focus from commercial litigation to construction litigation to transportation construction. A lawyer I am coached narrowed his focus from commercial litigation to computer forensics involved in litigation.
  • Do something the “go to” senior lawyer is not doing. Create a Blog, do Podcasts, conduct webinars, make your articles downloadable from your website bio, become active on social networking sites.

You are never too young, never too inexperienced to begin working on being the “go to” lawyer in a niche. What are you doing to become a “go to” lawyer?