You may be asking yourself why any lawyer would need a coach? 
I once asked myself this same question. To get to the answer you have to first understand the simple fact that a law practice–any law practice–cannot succeed without clients. In a private law firm practice your clients usually come from two sources: other lawyers in the firm who have the “client relationship” or your own clients that come to you directly. If you’ve been around a law firm, you know that it is very easy to tell the difference between those lawyers who have the client relationships and those who work for them.
Which would you rather be?
How’s that for an answer? I want to be the “client relationship” lawyer and, therefore, made a decision to put more effort into developing my own clients. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to do it. Like most lawyers, I always believed that if I did good work and put in my time, the clients would come to me. While I have had little difficulty learning that does not work, it was not so easy learning what does. I had the desire but lacked the knowledge.
Fortunately, I found Cordell Parvin’s website and began reading his blog and articles on a regular basis. There are many very good lawyer coaches out there but I was drawn to Cordell’s style of coaching because he not only encourages lawyers to work on client development but actually explains the practical steps for how real live practicing lawyers can do it–in a way that makes sense to me.
“They call it coaching but it is teaching. You do not just tell them…you show them the reasons.” -Vince Lombardi
Spend a little time reading Cordell’s blog posts and you will see what I mean. Then imagine what you can learn from an entire program that ties it all together.
I had a chance to participate in the beta test for Cordell’s new client development series Securing, Retaining and Expanding Relationships with Your Clients and the value of the information exceeded my expectations. Any blog-length comments on the substance simply would not do it justice. I did, however, have a few observations about the individual components of the program that I shared in a guest post on Cordell’s blog and I would encourage you to give it a read: Client Development: Video, Workbook and Group Telephone Coaching Program.
If you have any questions about this program, Cordell’s coaching, or lawyer coaching in general, please feel free to let me know and I will be happy to talk with you about my thoughts and experiences.
