What junior associates must know about marketing

It’s that time of year again.  Law school graduates are reporting to their first jobs, and junior associates are moving up a level.  Many have a vague idea that the legal profession is changing, and they should be doing more about marketing.  But what?

In an article on Critical Relationship Building Skills For Associates Arnie Herz argues that in the transition “from backpack to briefcase,” associates must develop new skills.  In law school, he says, “Intelligence is king.”  But in the real world of legal practice, “Relationships are king—healthy and lasting business relationships with clients, partners, team members and opposing counsel.  Intelligence, although necessary, plays a supporting role in making these human connections.”

When Paul Bunge listed Fifteen Rules For Winning as a Junior Associate, his Rule Number One was “be nice to people.”  It starts with the senior lawyers who control your career and your workday.  The customer is always right.  From the perspective of junior associates, the most important customer is the lawyer who supervises your work.  And being nice to other lawyers is just the beginning, Bunge says.  Associates also need to develop strong working relationships with “secretaries, paralegals, clerks, court reporters, bailiffs and other support personnel... you need them more than they need you.”

If people have never been your long suit, buy a copy of Dale Carnegie’s classic, How to Win Friends and Influence People.   I know, the title sounds stupid.  I avoided reading the book until just a few years ago, although I had spent several decades getting a Ph.D. in psychology, teaching courses, and even writing a few psychology textbooks.  But I learned more about people from Carnegie’s book than from all those academic studies combined.   He does not offer magical secrets or brand new insights, and an awful lot of it sounds like common sense.  But the book got me thinking in new ways about my own relationships, by pulling me in with stories, examples, and basic principles. 

I’ve convinced a few lawyers to read it, and some have been equally enthusiastic.  One grizzled senior partner told me, “This book changed my life.”  He was only half kidding. Another said that he keeps it in the table next to his bed for night time reading.  And you can’t beat the price:  I saw a used copy on Amazon for $.08 plus shipping.

For most lawyers, I think Carnegie’s most important advice is:  “Never criticize, condemn, or complain.”  Trying to get people to change by criticizing them is like trying to teach a pig to whistle:  it doesn't work and it annoys the pig.

Other folksy suggestions from Carnegie include: 
• Become genuinely interested in people, and show it.
• Address people by name.
• Encourage others to talk about themselves.
• Learn what other people are interested in, and talk about it. 
• Make the other person feel important—and do it sincerely.

Once you’ve applied Carnegie’s ideas to improve relationships in your office, then you can start thinking about the bigger picture of how to some day find your own clients.  Start with my blog post Business development for associates – Eight steps to make the most of your limited time.

You may need to spend a lot of time on my Step 1:  “Review your firm’s policies and expectations for associate marketing.”  Maybe you’ll be lucky and your firm’s policies will be crystal clear, so that you can move quickly to implementing them.  But large law firms have dozens or hundreds of owner-partners.  Some of them will be masters of complexity and ambiguity.  All of them will be good at arguing.  So you may get different policies from different partners.  That’s when you’ll know that you have arrived in the real world.  Good luck.

After you understand what’s expected, go back on Amazon and buy a copy of The Law Firm Associate’s Guide to Personal Marketing and Selling Skills by Catherine Alman MacDonagh and Beth Marie Cuzzone.  (Full disclosure: I am a contributing author.)  When the American Bar Association recently started publishing their “Law Firm Associates Development Series,” this book was the first one they released.  That tells you something about the importance of marketing to associates.

Still want more?  See my list of the Top marketing and sales books for lawyers. 

Or here’s an even better idea:  Forget about reading, and put more time into building relationships. 

While short-term marketing is aimed at the people in your office, long-term marketing involves everyone you know.  Start by keeping in touch with your law school classmates.  In five years, all will have interesting stories, and many of you will be able to do favors for each other.  In twenty-five years, you will collectively be ruling the world, and the favors will get bigger.  As long as you’ve kept in touch.