Lawyers Who Launch

Whether you have a plan that just needs a bit of a recharge or you have no plan at all - this refresh is for you.

Step 1 - Evaluate your networking goals.

Networking is about relationships. Strong networking relationships are mutually beneficial professional relationships. As you start to develop a plan that works for you and your practice area, keep the goal of developing connections into mutually beneficial networking relationships at the forefront.

Step 2 - With whom are you looking to connect?

When you think about networking within your law practice, you will typically come across three types of people - colleagues, referral sources, and potential clients. A colleague is someone in the same field as you that you can share and bounce ideas off of. A referral source is someone that is in an industry or field of law that could be a great referral for you. A potential client is, of course, someone who is in need of your services. 

The reason for making this determination is to help you focus your networking time so you spend your time most efficiently to accomplish your goals. You won’t meet colleagues in the same way you would meet prospective clients.  Focusing your attention on your goals and then developing a plan for how you will reach that goal will save you time and energy because you will be able focus on actions that will serve you rather than simply trying to cast a wide net and see what happens.

Step 3 - Where will you find your ideal connection?

Depending on the type of people you are looking to network with you will look to attend different events and engage in different types of activities. Once you’ve determined the types of contacts you are trying to meet, now look to where those types of people are so that you can connect with them.

Now is the time to start brainstorming about where you will find the people you want to connect with. Start a master list of ideas that you can break out from there. Spend a little time searching for events that attract your future networking contacts.

Step 4 - Make connections.

Once you have identified where you can meet your ideal connections, now it is time to make those connections.  Attend events to meet and connect with these people.  Maybe you book a speaking engagement to attract potential clients.  Perhaps you connect with colleagues at a local bar association function.  Because you have followed the first three steps, you can maximize your time by attending events that are suited to your goals and the people you most want to connect with.

Step 5 - Follow up and follow through.

Networking without follow up and follow through is inefficient and a waste of time.  Networking is not just about how many people you meet or how many business cards you collect.  The key to successful networking is the development of your connections into mutually beneficial networking relationships.  This does not happen overnight and it requires your time and attention.  

The good news is that with your refreshed networking plan you can execute the follow up and follow through you need. There are so many easy ways you can follow through for your networking contacts and provide value. If you see an interesting article, pass it along to a colleague. 

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Nothing contained within this podcast is intended or should be construed to be legal advice and does not create any attorney client relationship. Your jurisdiction will have rules of professional conduct that you must follow. This discussion does not focus on the any such rules, including the rules from the jurisdiction where we practice.

This week we are sharing more effective networking planning.  Speaking engagements are an efficient way to network.  We share our thoughts on why, as well as practical tips for booking your next speaking engagement.

As an attorney, speaking about a legal topic expands your network in a variety of ways. It associates your name with your practice area in a new way. By speaking or giving a talk to your local community, you are providing value while also marketing your practice.

The benefits for you are clear, but this isn’t a one way street. The organizations that sponsor these events are seeking people to present interesting relevant content. The attendees are seeking information. Presenting on a topic that you have expertise in is a mutually beneficial engagement. So how do you get started? You first want to define both your audience as well as you general topic.  Defining your audience and identifying your topic will take some work, but it is well worth the time and energy.  

Once you have your audience and your general topic ideas, you next need to connect with an organization that will bring you in to speak.  Because you know the audience you’d like to reach, look to where those people are. If you want to speak to non-attorneys about a legal topic, you may look to your local government councils, town library, senior center, or PTA.  If you want to speak to other attorneys, your best bet is to reach out to your state or local bar association to seek to present a topic for a continuing legal education seminar.  

Once you’ve determined your audience, topic and organizations, reach out with a topic proposal.  Since speaking for an organization is mutually beneficial, your proposal will likely be well-received and appreciated.  Once you have secured a speaking engagement, prepare your talk, make sure it addresses your audience and their specific needs. Will you give a broad overview or a more nuanced delve into a topic?  Ask yourself, what the message you are trying to deliver through this talk - what is the point of it all.

Be sure you comply with your state’s rules of professional conduct. And at the beginning of your talk, give a disclaimer that you are not giving legal advice. If you have time for Q and A, let your audience know that your happy to answer general questions but not case specific.

After your presentation, take time to meet the attendees, bring plenty of business cards, and be ready to network in a new way. If you haven’t worked speaking engagements into your networking plan in the past, consider reaching out and putting a speaking engagement on the calendar.  Speaking engagements are a great way to expand your network as well as benefit your local community with important legal education. 

P.S. - Looking for the perfect graduation gift for you or someone you care about? Look no further than “The Law Student’s Guide to Networking.” The book helps you develop a strategic, time-saving, and effective networking plan. The course gives you the book, networking tools, and guided bite-size video modules that walk you through everything you need to network successfully. 

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Nothing contained within this podcast is intended or should be construed to be legal advice and does not create any attorney client relationship. Your jurisdiction will have rules of professional conduct that you must follow. This discussion does not focus on the any such rules, including the rules from the jurisdiction where we practice.

Embrace New Experiences

Not all practice areas are created equal. You may find yourself with an opportunity in an area of law you may not have considered before, give it a try.  We both could not have imagined where our careers have taken us and if we did not keep ourselves open to new opportunities we would not be where we are.  

Keep in mind that if you give something a try and it’s not a good fit, that’s ok.  As attorneys, as people, we have different interests and strengths.  Just because one area of law or one aspect of law or one type of law job is not a good fit, doesn’t mean that you are a bad attorney or that law school was a waste.  Give yourself the permission to acknowledge that you gave it a try and it wasn’t for you and there is a better position in the law for you.

Law Practice is not Law School

Law school teaches you to think like and attorney and it gives you limited exposure to a variety of different areas of law.  As a lawyer you will spend time in a concentrated area of law.  Actually being a lawyer is much different than the process of learning how to be a lawyer.  This is good news for some, but may be scary for others.  Just because it is different, doesn’t mean it won't be great.  Give yourself the grace to try it out and if you find you do not like a particular practice - try something new.  You have options, you are a lawyer now.

You Do Not Need Your Whole Career Mapped Out on Graduation Day

You are entering an exciting time in your life.  You finally get to begin the career you have worked so hard for.  If you know exactly what you want to do and where you will be doing it - great.  If you don’t, that’s fine too.  We did not secure post-bar exam jobs until after we took the bar exam.  While it was stressful, it all worked out.  Stay focused on what is before you.  Once the bar exam is over, networking is a great place to start!

Happy Graduation and have a great day!

Looking for the perfect graduation gift for you or someone you care about?  Look no further than “The Law Student’s Guide to Networking.”  The book helps you develop a strategic, time-saving, and effective networking plan.  The course gives you the book, networking tools, and guided bite-size video modules that walk you through everything you need to network successfully.  Check it out today!

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Nothing contained within this podcast is intended or should be construed to be legal advice and does not create any attorney client relationship. Your jurisdiction will have rules of professional conduct that you must follow. This discussion does not focus on the any such rules, including the rules from the jurisdiction where we practice.

As we celebrate one year of Lawyers Who Launch, we wanted to share more of our origin story with you all.  The inspiration for everything we do came from challenging times and was nurtured by our friendship.  

Take networking connections and building them into mutually beneficial relationships is at the heart of what we do.  The best networking connection either of us ever made happened on the first day of law school orientation in 2007 - when we met for the first time.  It was then that we became friends and study partners.

At that point our career options seemed limitless and the future was very bright.  But next year changed everything.  In our second year of law school the Great Recession hit.  Established law firms were liquidating.  Job offers were evaporating.  The economy was tanking.  Our career prospects in law looked very different on graduation day than they did on orientation day.

Thanks to the power of networking we both have successful careers in the law.  By 2020, we were both partners in our respective law firms and 2020 was looking bright - until March.

We all know what happened next.  The economy was unstable, schools were closing, offices sent everyone home.  Technology kicked in and we were able to work from home, appear in court from home, and continue work with careful social distancing.

It was at this point that we were sharing our fears and challenges with each other and it was so reminiscent of our fears in law school.  Saying it  out loud to each other just how scared and unsure we were allowed us to find the courage to start a brand new venture (and “say it out loud” is something we continue between us and as a regular segment on the podcast).

This reminder of our time in law school also made us think of law students today and all of the struggles that the pandemic has brought out on top of the usual challenges of law school.  It was this convergence that led us to the inspiration for Lawyers Who Launch - sharing our networking planning and skills with attorneys, and soon-to-be attorneys, because we know how intimidating networking can be and we saw just how important our networks were to our professional success.  We practice what we preach.  The tools, tips, and strategies in The Law Student’s Guide to Networking is the base for how we actually network.  

In the last year we have both utilized our network to help expand the message of Lawyers Who Launch, but also we have exponentially expanded our network in this new venture.

It is so interesting to utilize the strategies we are teaching to find and reach our audience to learn these strategies.  Getting to meet with law students and other legal professionals both virtually and in person has fulfilled us in so many ways.  We know that students and professionals alike struggle with networking.  Getting to now share that with them and directly communicate our message to them has been so rewarding.  Our struggles with networking in law school have really come full circle for us.  Now we are affirmatively thankful for that experience because we understand the difficulty but we have an easy to implement solution that works.

Nothing contained within this podcast is intended or should be construed to be legal advice and does not create any attorney client relationship.  Please keep in mind that your jurisdiction will have rules of professional conduct that you must follow

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Nothing contained within this podcast is intended or should be construed to be legal advice and does not create any attorney client relationship. Your jurisdiction will have rules of professional conduct that you must follow. This discussion does not focus on the any such rules, including the rules from the jurisdiction where we practice.

How do you find confidence when networking? Confidence starts with having a plan–think about who you are and what you want and practice how you will convey that to others.  If you’ve done that preparation, it will be MUCH easier to find that confidence to walk up to someone at a networking event. Preparation is key and once you actually start talking to people at networking events it becomes much easier to continue and meet more people. 

How do you know when it’s time to end a conversation? And how can you do so smoothly Again, preparation is important.  At a networking event, you want to meet a variety of people because you do not know who you will find a connection with.  So go into a networking event with the idea that you don’t want to speak with someone for more than 5-10 minutes, unless, because there are exceptions to every rule, you have a really strong rapport with someone.  Then, bend this rule, speak for a bit longer than 5-10 minutes before you move on.  To end a conversation smoothly, smile and tell the person, it was great to meet you, exchange business cards, and indicate that you’d like to follow up with them in the future. 

How can I follow up effectively without being a bother to someone? Following up is such a vital part of networking, but only if you do it the right way.  Follow up with a networking contact by reaching out to them with a specific call to action.  Ask a question about something you discussed or ask to set up a phone call to learn more about their practice area.  Send them an email and ask if they can make a recommendation to an association or an event.  Give them a reason to respond to your email. 

How can I best connect with new connections on Linkedin? To start, make sure that you are asking someone to connect and include a message.  If it is someone that you have met in person, reference the event where you met.  If it is not someone that you have met in person, explain the connection you may have with the person and why you would like to connect.  Maybe you graduated from the same undergrad or they practice in the same practice area that you would like to break into. 

How do you connect to your contact’s connections? Ask if they will introduce you via email. If they have a strong networking relationship with this contact, they will trust that the student they are being introduced to is someone they can develop a mutually beneficial professional networking relationship with. 

How can you best network as an introvert?  Our top tip for this is to take it in slow measurable steps.  Don’t commit to more than one networking event in a week. Give yourself the time to regroup.  

How do you find time to network? The beauty of having a plan of how and when you will network will help you budget your time.  But in order to maximize your time and your efforts it is critical to have a plan that you can simply implement.  The Law Student’s Guide to Networking gives you the tools to execute a strategic networking plan and build a network that will serve you throughout your career. If you would like to see us at your law school send this blog post over to your law school’s career services office.  We love the opportunity to actually meet and connect with law students and share The Law Student’s Guide to Networking.

Nothing contained within this podcast is intended or shoul

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Nothing contained within this podcast is intended or should be construed to be legal advice and does not create any attorney client relationship. Your jurisdiction will have rules of professional conduct that you must follow. This discussion does not focus on the any such rules, including the rules from the jurisdiction where we practice.

In episode #47, we talked about some mindset shifts introverted attorneys can make about networking to make networking feel less overwhelming.  To help you overcome those concerns, we are sharing 5 tips to take with you for your next networking event.

Tip #1 - Look for opportunities to network in places where you already feel comfortable. Think about where you already spend your time and who you spend it with.  Are you a member of civic groups or organizations? Do you spend time volunteering at your child’s school?  This is probably an overlooked area of networking because the initial reaction is to start somewhere new with people you don’t know.  Even if you have not been out in a while, you have been places before, you have been involved with groups or organizations.  Going to events in locations you already know with groups you have already been involved with definitely helps reduce the fear of everything being totally new and foreign.

Tip #2 - Nurture relationships that you already have. Networking is not just a collection of business cards and you cannot treat your contacts like those business cards in your desk - never to be looked at unless you need something. Think about those relationships in your life that you consider personal. How did they become so. Certainly not by meeting once and never speaking again. You had to build that relationship over time and with trust. Networking will not work if you just go to as many events as possible. You have to consider those people you already know and how you can continue to facilitate your relationship with them.

Tip #3 - Send correspondence to your network. A handwritten letter will stand out in someone’s mailbox and will likely peak their interest.  Consider how you can maximize this undivided attention.  You can also send an email or text to thank someone for a referral.  Send a note to let someone know that you value their professional input in a recent matter.  

Tip #4 - Listen more. When you are at a networking event, there can be a pressure to feel “on.” Keep in mind that you don't need to do all the talking. Give yourself permission to listen more.  That takes the pressure off of you feeling as though you always have to have something to say.  Many people like talking about themselves, so let them and you can listen.  Once you have taken the pressure off of yourself you will relax and conversation can flow more easily.

Tip #5 - You are not the star of anyone else’s show. Other people aren’t privy to your thoughts or everything that is going on with you, they have their own stuff that is occupying their minds.  They are the “star” of their own “show.”  People do not necessarily know that you are nervous about speaking to new people, or that you really aren’t sure what area of law is right for you, what your LSAT score was, or what your grades were.  Don’t feel defeated. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.

Are you looking to build your professional network but are not sure where to begin?  Check out “The Law Student’s Guide to Networking” - now available on Amazon.  This guide gives you a step by step solution to help you prepare to network and then actually execute an effective networking plan.

Nothin

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Nothing contained within this podcast is intended or should be construed to be legal advice and does not create any attorney client relationship. Your jurisdiction will have rules of professional conduct that you must follow. This discussion does not focus on the any such rules, including the rules from the jurisdiction where we practice.

Welcome back to Part 3 of the Lawyers Who Podcast mini-series.  In Part 1, Episode #46, we covered how to hone in on your niche, topic, and format.  We also gave you some homework.   Part 1 is definitely the place to start if you are considering starting your own podcast.  In Part 2, Episode #48, we built on Part 1.  We discussed choosing a name, the mechanics of getting started, buying your tech, and a life saving time saving hack that will make your entrance into podcasting so much easier. In Part 3, we are going to talk about getting your podcast out into the world.  We will cover podcast hosting, podcast directories, marketing, and social media.  If you don’t know what half of these words even mean, then you are in good company, because we didn’t either.  

Podcast Host A podcast host is that place that you store and then distribute your episodes. Your podcast host will provide the RSS feed for your podcast.  An RSS feed is really just a listing or a feed of all of your episodes.

Podcast Directory A podcast directory is the place where you listen to the podcasts.  For example, Apple Podcasts and Spotify are two of the most popular podcast directories out there. 

Our podcast host is Buzzsprout.  We have been using them since the very beginning and have been very happy with them.  If you are interested in learning more about all that Buzzsprout can offer you click the link below.  Best of all, if you use this link to sign up you will get a $25 Amazon gift card from Buzzsprout after your second paid invoice and it helps support our show.

Once you know where your podcast will be hosted you still have to get it from the host to the podcast directories.  We have our podcast listed in 18 different podcast directories.  One of the reasons we initially started using Buzzsprout is because they will help you get listed in most of the directories and then when you upload an episode to them they will automatically send it to all of the linked podcast directories.  Other hosting platforms also do this, or some version of this, but when you are picking your host this is definitely something that is going to save you time and energy.

Now - you need listeners!  Of course your mom and your law school bestie will listen.  But you want to find people, in your ideal target audience, who you don’t necessarily know yet to be able to find you, listen, and keep coming back week after week.  Before we released our first episode we started promoting the podcast on social media.  We started the Lawyers Who Launch Instagram account.  We are on LinkedIn.  We also this blog.  These are all great ways to get the news of your podcast out there and reach your ideal listeners.  Building an audience is incredibly difficult and takes a lot of work and time.  We aren’t huge, we don’t get millions of downloads every week, we are deep in the work of building our audience and our platform.  But we are bigger than we were a year, a month, even a week ago.   

Nothing contained within this podcast is intended or should be construed to b

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Nothing contained within this podcast is intended or should be construed to be legal advice and does not create any attorney client relationship. Your jurisdiction will have rules of professional conduct that you must follow. This discussion does not focus on the any such rules, including the rules from the jurisdiction where we practice.

In honor of 50 podcast episodes, we are sharing our best networking tips from some of those episodes.

The Law Student’s Guide to Networking - Episode #27 In Episode #27, we shared our networking philosophy, which serves as the foundation for all the advice we give to law students and attorneys.  Our networking philosophy is to make a connection, establish a relationship, and develop that relationship into one that is mutually beneficial.  A networking philosophy is so important because building a professional network doesn’t happen overnight.  Using our networking philosophy as the foundation for building that professional network, we shared our three pillars for building strong professional networking relationships. 

Follow Up and Follow Through - Episode #29 As you are executing the building of your professional network, follow up and follow through is essential. In Episode #29, we discussed ways that you can follow up and follow through for your network after you have met someone that you want to stay connected with.  That starts with figuring out where this person might fit into your network. This episode resonated with so many listeners because the development of the networking relationship can sometimes seem even more daunting than making that initial connection. 

Building Your Network - Episode #20 In Episode #20, Amy shared how she utilized formal professional networking groups to build her network and facilitate referral relationships.  Clients are very valuable to us and it is important to make quality referrals.  When you are practicing as an attorney, client referrals are likely a major part of your networking plan.  But as a law student or even a brand new attorney with little to know experience to offer a client networking might feel overwhelming, to say the least.

Networking With Confidence - Episode #16 In Episode #16, we go in deep to uncover how to build your confidence when networking.  This advice applies to any stage of your career.  We share our best networking tip straight from this episode. Preparation.

Are you looking to build your professional network but are not sure where to begin?  Check out “The Law Student’s Guide to Networking” - now available on Amazon.  This guide gives you a step by step solution to help you prepare to network and then actually execute an effective networking plan.

Nothing contained within this podcast is intended or should be construed to be legal advice and does not create any attorney client relationship.  Please keep in mind that your jurisdiction will have rules of professional conduct that you must follow.  This discussion does not fo

LWL Design Shop on Etsy use code LWLPOD for 15% off your purchase


Nothing contained within this podcast is intended or should be construed to be legal advice and does not create any attorney client relationship. Your jurisdiction will have rules of professional conduct that you must follow. This discussion does not focus on the any such rules, including the rules from the jurisdiction where we practice.

We are sharing 6 reasons why we think small firms are a great place to start your legal career.

#1 - Exposure to Legal Work Immediately Small firms do not often have the time or space for a formal training or an elaborate onboarding program. You will start working on a variety of tasks your first day.  Hitting the ground running can be intimidating, but it is in your employer’s best interest to help you be successful so take a deep breath and go for it.

#2 - Working with Clients Quickly You will likely have the opportunity to work with clients sooner rather than later. Whether that includes sitting in on meetings, getting on the phone, responding to emails, or following up with clients, you’ll have the opportunity to be client facing much more quickly at a small firm.  Getting that experience early on to meet with clients and see how a client meeting is run will been incredibly helpful as you move from being a new associate to bringing in your own clients. 

#3 - Narrow Your Practice Area In a small firm you may get the opportunity to narrow your practice area interests.  More and more firms are getting very specific with their practice areas. Working at a small firm, you can better focus and pursue the practice areas that interest you most. 

#4 - Building a Book of Business Because you will have the opportunity to work with clients and narrow your career focus so early in your practice, you can focus on building your own client base and book of business. On your first week in a firm you are likely not expected to bring in new clients that week.  But at some point, maybe sooner than you anticipate, you will be expected to bring in new clients.  Because you have been interacting with clients from such an early stage, you already have the skills to handle this type of work.

#5 - Learning the Business of Law In a small firm you will have much more of an opportunity to learn the business behind running a law firm.  Many attorneys are essentially small business owners. While law school prepares us in many ways, most law schools do not provide experience or education in the business or running a law practice. Working at a small firm exposes you to the practicalities of what running a law firm requires. Whether you are later asked to become a partner of your small firm or you decide to start your own firm, learning the business or running a law firm will be very valuable in your future endeavors. With a small firm, like a small business, you have to wear many hats when you are the one running things.  Larger firms have entire departments devoted to the running and management of various aspects of the firm.  When you are with a large firm your exposure to all of those different pieces is much more limited because they are working on a larger scale.  In a small firm, you can really learn and then later actually work on various aspects of the business of running a law firm.  This is an experience that is hard to duplicate elsewhere.

#6 - Networking At a small firm, you’ll have the opportunity to meet with other professionals, such as CPAs, financial advisors, real estate agents, and of course other attorneys. Developing these connections into professional networking contacts will help you grow your career whether you stay at that small firm or transition to a new role.

Nothing contained within this podcast is intended or should be construed to be legal advice and does not creat

LWL Design Shop on Etsy use code LWLPOD for 15% off your purchase


Nothing contained within this podcast is intended or should be construed to be legal advice and does not create any attorney client relationship. Your jurisdiction will have rules of professional conduct that you must follow. This discussion does not focus on the any such rules, including the rules from the jurisdiction where we practice.

Welcome back to part II of the Lawyers Who Podcast mini-series.  In part I we covered how to hone in on your niche, topic, and format.  We also gave you some homework.   If you are considering starting your own podcast, part I of the Lawyers Who Podcast mini-series is not to be missed.  This week we are going to build from there.  We will discuss choosing a name, the mechanics of getting started, buying your tech, and a life-saving time-saving hack that will make your entrance into podcasting so much easier.

Choosing a Name -Just like with the episode ideas, we recommend starting with a master list.  Once you have started working on a list then you can start researching those names that you like.  This is an important step.  You need to know if someone else is already using that name and also what people will find when they search your name.  Do not forget to separately search podcast directories in addition to your general internet search.  You certainly want to make sure that no one else has the same name for their podcast because when your audience goes to search for your show you want to make sure they find you and not someone else.  As you narrow down your name you also want to consider what the name tells your listeners about your podcast.  Is your name a play on words?  Does that make sense for your business and your brand?  What does it say about the topic of your podcast? The selection of a name, while strategic, is also very personal.

Mechanics of Recording-How will you record your podcast?  If you have a solo show then this one is fairly simple.  You’ll need a good quality microphone and you will need to have a program on your computer to record your audio.  If you have a solo show, we would personally recommend Audacity for both Mac and PC as your recording platform.  You can then edit in that same program.  Since we record our episodes together, we record in a very user friendly program called Zencaster.  After we are done recording we upload the audio to Audacity to do the editing in that program.  Once the episode is complete, we then run the audio track through Auphonic to process the audio, which basically cleans it up and improves the sound quality.  With Auphonic, you get two free hours of audio processing per month.  

Equipment -One thing that you will have to spend a bit of money on it is your equipment.  It is worth a little bit of an investment to get a microphone that is a better quality than what you will find built into the headphones you use for phone calls.

Click here for our favorite podcasting equipment.

Podcasting Hack-As you are learning the steps you need to produce and edit your podcast - WRITE IT DOWN.  It sounds so basic, but there are a lot of steps.  Haley did not take any notes when she was originally learning, and after finalizing the trailer, she had to go back and relearn everything in order to do the first full episode.  

Nothing contained within this podcast is intended or should be construed to be legal advice and does not create any attorney client relationship.  Please keep in mind that your

LWL Design Shop on Etsy use code LWLPOD for 15% off your purchase


Nothing contained within this podcast is intended or should be construed to be legal advice and does not create any attorney client relationship. Your jurisdiction will have rules of professional conduct that you must follow. This discussion does not focus on the any such rules, including the rules from the jurisdiction where we practice.