One of the fastest ways to grow your practice is to create (and then worship) your referral network. There are several ways to create them. Here are a few:

Create a network with lawyers and law firms with whom you do not compete:

  • First, identify the areas you and your firm do not practice in. Make a list. Then, look in your sphere of connections for a lawyer who has impressed you who is a practitioner in that area. If you know of no one, check with the alumni office of your law school for help to identify law school classmates who are in that field. LinkedIn has a wonderful “alumni” tab for colleges and law schools (and even some high schools) that lets you know where your classmates are working and what they are doing now. But if all of this does not reveal someone to whom you can refer to with confidence, check out who heads up the local bar committee for the practice area.
  • Then, meet. Invite the lawyer to have lunch and explain that you are building a referral network and would like to hear what their practice is like, what a great client looks like to them, what their favorite kinds of matters are and more. Explain that you want to have their practice “top of mind” status. Who would not come to this lunch? Who would not be incredibly grateful that you want to think about their practice and potentially send them work. Because of this, they will then ask you how they can help you, and it is now your turn to gush about your practice. This works folks.
  • Two more times. That’s right, I—and many of my colleagues—believe your referral bench should be three-deep for each area in which you do not practice. Giving out three referrals instead of just one makes three lawyers love you for thinking of them—instead of just one—and it gives the person seeking a referral more vetted choices to find the right match.
  • Next, calendar a “touch” that inures to the personal or professional benefit of your referral sources every quarter. I have a three-page list of what I tell my clients to consider doing to make a referral source’s life better. Worship your referral sources and you will remain top-of-status with them.