Lawyers: What’s Your Number One Referral Source?

Who is your number one referral partner?  The likely answer is another lawyer. It may be counterintuitive, but we are not each other’s competition; we are each others best referral source!  If you are a startup lawyer you may have discovered that IP lawyers are a good referral source, if you are a criminal defense lawyer you may have noticed that lawyers in Big Law firms commonly need a DUI lawyer for one of their client’s kids.  As a personal injury lawyer, I have discovered that estate planning attorneys have referred us wrongful death claims.

The Attorney Action Club helps lawyers grow their referral business by getting to know lawyers in diverse practice areas.  Our Third Thursday monthly meetings allow for thirty minutes of open networking. Open networking allows you to talk with and get to know other lawyers.  Each meeting gives each member an opportunity to introduce themselves and share a “Big Win” with the group. Your “Big Win” can be either personal or professional.  If your child just got accepted to university, that’s a Big Win! If you went on a vacation, thats a win! On the professional side, If you just finalized a partnership agreement, closed the deal, negotiated a settlement, acquitted your client, or helped a client resolve a dispute without litigation, the group wants to hear about your “Big Wins”!!

The magic of the Attorney Action Club, reveals itself with time.  Showing up to one meeting to hand out your business card is not a recipe for success.  The process of getting to know, like and trust another lawyer to the point where you are willing to send referrals takes time.  With regular attendance at the Third Thursday meetings, you begin to get know attorneys and attorneys get to know you. Over time, you may get to the point where you say to yourself, “I like that person and would trust them with my referrals.”

Speaking at the monthly meetings is another way attorney action club members can showcase their expertise.  The CLE presentations focus on legal topics that are of interest to lawyers in all practice areas, for example,”What Every Lawyer Must Know About Bankruptcy Law.”

Looking forward to hearing about your “Big Win” at the next Third Thursday meeting.

Published in AAC, Best Practices, Lawfirm, Networking, Professional, Strategy