Lawyers don’t cold call to sell their services. Aside from the ethical issues it’s bad posture.

You don’t want to chase clients, you want them to chase you, yes?

Last week I saw a posting on a forum where “people with work” and “people who want work” meet. A woman in Los Angeles posted, “I need an attorney to do an ex parte”. (That’s all it said.)

Two attorneys replied. One said, “I am very familiar with many kinds of ex parte motions (reviewed them, as a law clerk, at Los Angeles Superior Court, for 8 years). Feel free to call me for a consultation. xxx-xxx-xxxx.” The second one said, “Can you please call me at xxx-xxx-xxx for details? Maybe I can help! Thanks.”

What’s wrong with this picture?

1. The “best” clients usually don’t hire lawyers by posting on a job board, and
2. The “best” lawyers usually don’t get clients by responding to posts on a job board.

But work is work and if a young lawyer can get some business this way, so be it. When I was starting out, I got a few clients (and a whole lot of experience) by volunteering at a legal clinic. Not great posture but my other clients never knew, unlike a job board on the Internet where everyone can see.

The problem is that lawyers who respond to these postings tell the world they need work. Successful lawyers with more business than they can handle would never look at a job board, let alone respond to a posting.

If you want the best clients, you have to have the right posture. People need to see you as busy, successful, and highly sought after. The busier and more successful you appear, the more people want to hire you, yes?

Yes.

They’ll also pay more to have someone like you as their lawyer. That’s a good thing.

Be the pursued, never the pursuer.

But what if you are just starting out and you do need the work? What do you do?

Here’s what I would do: Get someone else to reply to the posting. A friend, a good client, another attorney. Anyone but you.

They say nice things about you, offer a testimonial or otherwise endorse you and your abilities, and recommend that the job poster call you. If they can add something about how busy you are, even better.

Not only does your posture as a successful professional remain intact, it is enhanced because what someone else says about you is always more powerful than what you say about you.

Didn’t your mom tell you it was important to have good posture? I think this is what she was talking about.

For more on creating the right posture, get The Attorney Marketing Formula.