I have always enjoyed meeting a potential client in person for the first time. In the past, if someone requested a proposal before the opportunity to sit down together I typically declined. Outlining rates and capabilities is one thing, but it is just as important to determine how you gel with someone. A good working relationship is equally as essential as the work itself. So, like many people, 2020 was a jolt to me in that I couldn’t have those in-person opportunities. When attorneys reached out to me last year to see if I was a good fit for what they needed done, they had only to rely on my digital presence. There was Zoom, of course, which was helpful, except for the times my daughter had been on the laptop before I got there and the potential client was greeted not with my headshot, but my kid’s cat with sunglasses icon (unfortunate, but at least I didn’t have the same cat filter experience as that poor lawyer in Texas). 

Ironically, not only did these attorneys have only “electronic Jamie” to evaluate, every single one came to me specifically for advice related to the digital realm. Lawyers who had relied forever on their reputation and word-of-mouth referrals were suddenly realizing their websites hadn’t been updated in years, or their LinkedIn profiles listed them at the firm before their last firm. It was a digital awakening for all of us, for sure.