Desperate Acts aren't Always Useless Acts

I've had a nice confluence of the real world with the theoretical in the last several weeks.

Hungry for work, I decided to call a lawyer I know to see if he had any ideas where I could pick up some work or who might be looking to hire someone like me. You see, I am at the point where I am simultaneously looking for employment and looking for new clients (more on that in a later post).

I don't even know this lawyer all that well. In fact, I have probably spoken to him less than half a dozen times over six years.

So why did I call him? I knew he liked me. He interviewed me six years ago for a position with a firm he and an old friend were starting. He was solo at the time, his friend was (I believe) leaving a firm, and the two of them were starting up a new firm. He liked me enough, at least, to have me meet together with him and his new partner after he met with me alone. But they never made me an offer.

Then, out of the blue, around a year ago he e-mailed me to see what I was up to and perhaps if I could help him out on a project or two (which never came to fruition). Since then, I've e-mailed him every few months to let him know how things are going and to keep the relationship alive, so I would be on his short list if he needed help.

As I said, this time I called him specifically for advice on where I might pick up some work and/or find a job. He gave me the names of two busy lawyers he knows. I've already completed one contract project for one of them and am started on another. I've been in touch with the second lawyer and we should be meeting soon.

Here's the confluence of the real world with the theoretical world: I opened Carolyn Elefant's Solo by Choice to a random page the other day, and saw one of her marketing tidbits. I don't have it in front of me now, but it boiled down to this: instead of sending out a mass mailing that's likely to get thrown into the wastebasket on receipt, call half a dozen people to see if they can guide you to some work.

I placed my call out of desperation. But it also turns out to have been the sensible thing to do.

Lesson: if you already know some lawyers when you start your practice, keep in touch with them regularly. Seems obvious, so I'll add this caveat. Take extra care to keep in touch with lawyers that like you, whether they like you on a personal level or a professional one. The guy I called? I'd never done a stitch of work for him. He knew me from my resume, three personal meetings, a phone call or two, and a couple of e-mails describing my efforts to gain more business. But we got along very well on a personal level, and it paid off.

I've called to thank him for steering me to these other two lawyers, and you can bet your britches I'll keep this relationship alive. (After all, I like him on a personal level as well.)