‘I trained to be a lawyer – not a salesperson’; ‘selling is like stalking’; ‘we have a marketing department – isn’t it their job?’. Such are the typical refrains when lawyers are told they have to develop their business.

If they are not natural rainmakers – and there are not too many of those – most lawyers pray for the good times when work flows in. Then they can do what they were trained to do – deliver excellent technical advice to clients who they know want to listen to them.