Jaimie Field – Enlightened Rainmaking

What to keep your clients happy?  Respond.

One of the main reasons why clients state that they leave their current attorney’s can be classified as “attorney indifference”.   Attorneys do not respond to emails, voicemails, or requests for information.

More often than not, it is because the attorney does not have any current news about a case.  Ergo, most attorneys decide that because of this, a client’s contact does not warrant a response.

This does not excuse you from responding.

It takes less than 60 seconds to hit the reply button and respond to an email with “Thank you for contacting me.  So far there is nothing to tell you, but as soon as something comes up, I will get in contact.”

It takes less than 2 minutes to call up and say:  “I cannot really chat right now, but I just wanted to let you know that I got your call and so far nothing new is happening, but feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. “

Attorneys need to remember that most clients are not used to being in legal disputes of any kind.  This is scary to a client and they just want to be reassured that their attorney is still working on their behalf.

Recently I wrote a sarcastic and smarmy blog post:  A Thank you to all of the Unethical Attorneys Out There .   The point of the blog post was, in terms of Rainmaking, you cannot create relationships built on lies and unethical behavior.

While there were a number of attorneys who were able to read my sarcasm, there were a number of wonderful, ethical attorneys who thought I was out to smear the legal industry.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

What I did learn was an incredibly valuable lesson which I already knew but had forgotten.   Sarcasm is easily misconstrued on the internet.

As someone who teaches Attorneys how to get more clients, I also teach that sarcasm is not always appreciated and that you have to know your audience.

It is something that I should have remembered when writing the post.

To the two attorneys who reminded me of that – Thank you.

Ladies & Gentlemen who practice law in the USA I am really happy to make this offer:

Would you like a

• free,
• no obligation, and most importantly
• no sales pitch

45 minute Telephone* Rainmaking Training Session with me ($275.00 value)?

The first 25 Attorneys to sign up for the bi-monthly Rainmaking Recommendations email by following the instructions listed on this page will be contacted to arrange a date and time.  Please mention in your email that you read about this offer.

Terms and Conditions for this Offer:

1. It is only open to the first 25 Attorneys who respond to this offer and who are licensed to practice law in the United States of America.
2. The Training Session Must Occur between July 16, 2010 and September 3, 2010.  A mutual time will be determined by email.
3. You must follow the instructions listed here .
4. You must be truly want to become a better Rainmaker and are willing to do the work – I cannot do it for you.  However, I can coach you on how to create relationships, find the places to meet new clients, and obtain new business.
5. This offer ends after the first 25 Attorneys who reply or on Friday, July 30th at 5:00PM  EDT which ever comes first.

* If your office is within a 15 mile radius from mine we can discuss scheduling an in-person session where I will come to you.

(Comments below will not qualify you for this offer – but feel free to make any comments you would like)

I want to say “Thank You!” to all of the unethical attorneys out there.

To all of the attorneys who have, and are, currently out there committing crimes against the public and their clients, thank you:

• who have raided their clients escrow accounts to pay for lavish lifestyles
• who have billed clients for the most ridiculous items and amounts
• who have made unwanted sexual advances towards clients
• who have committed Identity theft
• who have artificially inflated the prices of stock
• who have created phony billings
• who have inflated grades to get jobs
• who have used client’s information to obtain credit cards
• who sold his name to a debt collection company so they could use it to harass and threaten consumers
• and for practicing without a license

This list could go on and on, and of course, my expression of gratitude is entirely sarcastic.

The reason why I have chosen to write on this subject on a Rainmaking Blog is because I believe that Rainmaking and all of the choices you will make for your life are affected by your system of ethics.  We all know right from wrong, legal from illegal.  Remember one of the first things that we were taught in law school:  “Ignorance of the law excuses no man” (John Selden)

There is a well used and most cliché saying which does and will continue to populate this blog over and over:  “People do business with people they like and trust.”

People are not as stupid as many would like to think.  I am of the opinion that people are a lot smarter than we give them credit for.  People really do have natural “bullsh*t” detectors.  While we hear many stories of people who have gotten away for long periods of time with unethical and illegal behavior, eventually they will get caught.  Sometimes you can pull one over on them, but for the most part people have this “gut feeling” that they are being taken advantage of.  In addition, you cannot get away with this for very long in this day and age.

Thanks to the internet, people are now endowed with the power to do research on you.  They can take into account everything that is out there and burst every PR bubble you build.  One bad review can haunt you to the end of your days.

Rainmaking is about creating relationships.  If the relationships you create are based on lies it takes effort to continue to uphold these fabrications.   It also takes up time.  Keith Ferrazzi had a wonderful blog post: The Ultimate Time Management Principle which he learned from Jason Womack:  Always tell the truth.

Just be aware that if you lie, cheat, steal or commit any violation of ethics (even minor) you will (eventually) get caught.

Oh, and thanks for voluntarily thinning the number of attorneys out there so that the good, ethical ones can get clients.

Please feel free to make your appreciation known below – submit a comment or rant

“How can I help?”

The interesting thing about this question is the various responses you can elicit.

When asked of friends or family it may bring a closer relationship.

When asked of colleagues it may bring to light issues they are having with which you have the solution.  Or it may result in you being able to make a referral of some of your contacts to them.

When asked of prospective or current clients it may draw out new legal matters with which they may not have known that you or your firm may be able to help.

When you give you receive, in so many ways.  Unfortunately, most people spend their entire lives asking “What’s in it for me?”  If you stop asking that question and ask the one stated above you’d be surprised at all the good that comes back to you.

Rainmaking Recommendations are sent the first and third Wednesdays of the month.  They are bite size tips that, when implemented will cause you to make rain. To learn more about Rainmaking, Goal Setting and Achieving the Life you want as an Attorney please contact Jaimie B. Field, Esq.

Did you know you can schedule an in-house, customized Rainmaking training workshop for your law firm? Begin telephone or Skype individual rainmaking training from wherever you are in the world with Jaimie?  Contact for more information