Law Library

Success as a Virginia Lawyer

February 2, 2006 by Joel Bieber

I just finished reading a business article on how to compete with large companies. Its theme was that a small firm can actually have the edge over larger firms, because you do not have to worry about managing large scale organizations at the expense of personal relationship building. This might not specifically address to law firms, but it is applicable to how we have built our law firm.

New law graduates ask me how to build a law practice. How did I become a rain maker to generate new clients to our firm? The two-pronged approach is to keep working to get new cases in the door and continue to work hard for the clients that have already retained you.

I maintain personal client contact with new business sources such as doctors, other lawyers and a variety of different community organizations. However, it is also important to stay in touch with past clients who are your "best mouth piece" to talk about your work product. These are simple referral principles. Relationship building involves more than sending holiday and birthday cards. It stems from an innate competitiveness that is tormented by bad results and a refusal to be satisfied with less than getting a client what they deserve.

I personally feel a tremendous responsibility to succeed for our clients. That fervor translates to work product. That work product translates to new clients.

Small firms, such as The Joel Bieber Firm can compete against large firms by making sure that we make a difference, one client at a time. When a prospective client is considering Virginia lawyers to hire, you want them to know that their claim does matter to you.

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