Ever notice that the most successful lawyers aren’t necessarily the best lawyers? If you’re smarter, work harder, and do a better job than those other lawyers, why do they earn more than you do? 

It’s because being a better lawyer doesn’t mean prospective clients and the people who can refer them will notice you, trust you, and hire or refer you. 

You may be a brilliant lawyer, dedicated, hard-working, and well-liked, but if you’re not good at the business side of your practice, you’ll always be a step behind. 

The good news is that you can change that. It starts with a decision. 

The most important decision of your career.

You have to decide to commit to the business side of your practice. That it is at least as important as the legal work and deserves your time and energy and money. 

Decide to get serious about business and marketing. Study it, schedule time for it, and consistently and enthusiastically work at it. 

Average lawyers don’t do that.

Average lawyers provide lip service to marketing and management, taking action only when something falls in their lap, there is a fire to put out, or they have a few extra minutes between appointments.

Unless driven by desperation, they don’t schedule anything, try anything new or otherwise work on improving the business side of their practice. They see it as a burden, an expense, at most a necessary evil, instead of embracing it as the path for achieving their biggest goals. 

Why? Ego, mostly. They believe that to be successful, they shouldn’t “have to” do anything more than be a good lawyer. Or they don’t know what to do and aren’t willing to find out. 

They might assume that the lawyers who earn more have the right connections, innate interpersonal skills, or just got lucky. 

Excuses. And any excuse will do. 

Don’t make excuses. If you want to achieve more, decide that you will do everything possible to make that happen. And do it. 

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