In the aftermath of the current pandemic, it can be very hard for those who make the field their own to manage all the challenges in front of them. Lawyers face highly specific issues. In any given day, they might be in court, writing legal briefs and interacting with new clients. The new world of COVID-19 has changed the way lawyers do business today. Many lawyers are not in their offices. They may not be in court of meeting directly with others in their profession directly. Lunch meetings offering a chance to work with clients in a congenial setting are largely a thing of the past.
The World Today
The world today for all professions is a different place and likely to be so for the immediate future and beyond. Right now, there’s also an economic downtown. This is impacting all sectors of the economy including the legal field. Demand for legal services has fallen by the wayside in many instances, as people and companies focus closely on ways to meet their basic needs. While this can seem as if lawyers should do the same, for many this is a marvelous chance to expand into new areas of the law and find new business opportunities.
New Business Development
Business development has long been a difficult area for many lawyers. The nature of the legal field is that it requires a great deal of attention to detail and the ability to help clients when needed. That can mean lawyers are so busy serving clients they leave the development of business at the bottom of the priority list. This can be a huge problem. Business development for lawyers is just as important as it for members of other professions. Lawyers need to understand the importance of this aspect of their field and spent time working closely to ensure they are making it happen.
Making the Time
making the time to engage in business development can feel hard. Yet, even in the COVID-19 world, this process must remain a priority. Many lawyers are caught up in the notion that their time should be totally about fulfilling the needs of their clients to the exclusion of all other possible considerations. Billable hours become the sole criteria in which success is measured. Lawyers need to remember that everyone only has so many hours in the day in which to get things done. Billable hours are the lifeblood of the legal field. However, they are not the only consideration. Attention should be paid to the need to be on top of business development all year long.
Gaining Control
Control over the work flow is one area where lawyers often fall short. Even in the middle of a pandemic a lawyer may feel harried and rushed. Over time, this create the feeling of forever being on the go. As this continues, the lawyer may lose sight of what drew them to the field in the first place. Control is crucial in order to maintain a sense of engagement. Autonomy is where many people find a deep sense of personal and professional satisfaction. Lawyers who allow others to fully control the flow of their business will never find that kind of innate feeling of happiness in their profession. This is why all lawyers today should look for ways to regain it.
A Single Hour
All it takes is a short time to get things in order again and back on track. Taking a single hour in a day can help provide that sense of autonomy so necessary for a successful legal career. That single hour offers so many benefits. This is not only a chance to engage in business development. It’s also a chance to have a close personal look at any lawyer’s overall career path. Examining what you’re doing right now is an opportunity to see what is working and what might be changed.
This is also a chance to think about what is important right now and what will be important no matter what’s going on around you. Building a practice is tough. It’s really hard to get it off the ground if business development takes a back seat to everything else. Many lawyers leave this process to the end. They choose to focus on it only when they have no other choice. That means it only assumes as starring role when nothing else is on the list. By taking the time to make it a priority each day, lawyers can expand business and career development.
Source: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/lawyers-develop-new-business-by-selling-29970/