Everyone wants to be a rainmaker. Television shows and movies romanticize the concept of the big-time attorney with the mahogany office that just cannot seem to hang up the phone because business is booming. Many articles, CLEs and books about building business focus on securing new clients. Less attention is given to best practices for cultivating an existing client relationship—an imperative task for which responsibility is shared from staff to partners.

The legal field is rife with acronyms. A short and simple one is at the heart of this article: “LTR.” To “learn the ropes” on cultivating a client relationship, remember the end goal of establishing a “long-term relationship” with the client. Cultivating a client relationship requires meeting and adapting to a client’s evolving needs. That is particularly true in a world which has been reshaped by a global pandemic, resulting in a multitude of new legal issues and exposure.