// Business Development for lawyers & their firms

Help your lawyers build the confidence, skills and relationships they need to win and retain more work.

For over 14 years I’ve helped lawyers and other professional services professionals build stronger client relationships, win more work and develop sustainable business development habits. I’ve worked with firms of different sizes, helping Partners, Associates, and more junior lawyers make business development a practical, consistent part of their role.
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// Tailored support for your lawyers

Business development support is not one-size-fits-all

What is business development for lawyers?

Business development for lawyers is the process of developing the relationships, skills, strategies, and activities needed to win new clients, retain existing clients, and build relationships with introducers and referrers to bring in more work for their law firm.

It is different yet should build on and leverage marketing. This article on: Does your firm really do business development or just marketing? will help you to think about what is happening at your firm.

Many lawyers struggle; read about why most professionals struggle to win new clients.

To engage the majority of fee-earners in business development consistently and confidently, different lawyers, teams, and firms have varying needs.

Typical development areas:

  • building confidence
  • developing specific business development skills
  • identifying gaps in their current approach
  • developing a more coordinated approach across a team or department
  • embedding business development more effectively across the firm

The right support depends on your firm and the individuals within it and what you want to achieve.

I work with law firms, legal teams and individual Partners to improve business development capability and create a more consistent approach to winning and retaining clients.

// who I help

I work with law firms that know they can do more effective business development

Law firms that want to:

  • ensure the majority of individuals are confident in business development, including juniors, as they can play a role
  • help Partners win more work
  • improve client relationship development
  • get the most out of business development activities beyond networking
  • create a stronger business development culture
  • reduce reliance on a small number of rainmakers
  • improve collaboration between lawyers and marketing/BD teams
  • prepare Senior Associates and new Partners for business development responsibilities

My framework, The 5 Ps of Proactive Business Development© provides a tangible and practical way for lawyers to think about business development. It was developed by assessing what every law firm which wants to be successful at business development needs to focus on:

  • Leadership support for change and investment of time and budget.
  • Clear Positioning.
  • Relevant, focused and measurable Prospecting.
  • Excellent People Skills.
  • Understanding and navigation of client and internal Politics.
  • Business development embedded into business as usual.

// Development support to meet your firm's needs

How I help lawyers win more work

Engaging more fee-earners in business development confidently and consistently.

Law firms grow more sustainably when business development is not left to a small number of rainmakers. I help more fee-earners develop the confidence, skills and habits to build relationships and contribute to winning and retaining work.

Read more about a Business Development Culture.

How I can help:

Business development training for specific groups, skills- and topic-focused.

Examples include building and developing relationships, cross-selling, personal profile and positioning, pitching and presenting, and networking at events.

Find out more about Spotlight training.

Establishing the key foundations needed for effective business development, tailored to where your firm and its departments are now.

Read more about The Business Development Culture Programme.

Business development coaching for Partners.

Building confidence and skills for a cohort of new Partners or those on the Partner track.

Making sure they have the approach and skills they need to fulfill their potential and win and retain clients.

Read more about The Prospering Partner Programme.

Individual coaching to accelerate an individual’s business development skills and approach, so they can confidently build the relationships they need and consistently bring in more work.

Read more about The Thriving Partner Programme.

Inspiring your lawyers to think differently about business development. I speak at away days and firm conferences. The why, what, and how are all essential focus areas to make change happen.

Find out more about booking me to speak.

joanna gaudoin

// effective outcomes

What business development support can help you achieve

By focusing on what is required and upskilling your lawyers on their business development approach and skills, outcomes include:

  • More business development confident lawyers
  • Stronger individual capability
  • More consistent business development activity
  • Greater collaboration for improved outcomes
  • Better client and relationship development

It’s about people, approach and skills. Ultimately, to lead to increased opportunities, decreased risk, and the growth of your firm.

Let's talk

// why trust Joanna Gaudoin

Why work with me?

  • I have extensive experience working with law firms.
  • I have substantial experience delivering business development training that helps attendees develop rapport and other practical skills across professional contexts. Also, in designing and leading development programmes.
  • I have worked with many professional people to motivate them to adapt their behaviour and adopt new habits.
  • I build rapport very effectively and have worked with thousands of people on business development and related topics over the last 15 years.
  • I regularly draw on research from organisations including PwC, LexisNexis, the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Thomson Reuters Institute and Harvard Business Review to ensure my advice reflects both current industry trends and practical experience. However, my work is highly practical and tangible, as well as being tailored to client requirements.
  • I am passionate about excellent client service and will work in partnership with you to get the best possible results for your firm.

// Proven Results

Client Testimonials

We asked Joanna to help our 'pitch' team develop their presenting skills within a bid environment by raising the awareness of their communication style and suggested tools to improve their personal impact. This was followed by several workshops on: The Importance of Personal Impact, Rapport Building & Core Skills for those likely to be on a bid team.

Joanna helped our team build confidence when presenting, better understand their communication style and form new techniques to leave a positive impression when delivering pitch presentations as well as in general meetings both internally and externally. Joanna grasped our requirements and delivered a clear and simple programme for all levels across our business. I really enjoyed working with Joanna and highly recommend if your organisation needs support in this area.
Ann TranHead of Human Resources, Henry Riley
Joanna designed an engaging and practical workshop for our second-year trainees on Business Development Skills. We were keen for this workshop to be practical-focused, as our trainees are very keen on having clear takeaway actions following a training session. We also wanted the workshop to place emphasis on building up an internal network within the firm, which Joanna did a fantastic job at incorporating.

This meant that although the trainees aren’t necessarily engaging in client development themselves yet, they now appreciate the importance of building their internal network and maintaining their existing relationships so that when they become more senior they have a built-in network. Joanna also led a section on how to effectively network at events, which the trainees found especially useful given the practical advice she shared in this segment.
Learning & Development Team Large International Law Firm
Joanna came to our office to run a seminar entitled the Skills and Confidence to Get More Out of Networking. The seminar was excellent and very well received. Several members of the team mentioned what a great public speaker Joanna was and everyone from junior to senior team members learnt something new.

Joanna managed to effectively mix up the session so that there were periods of her speaking, chats and role play which meant no one got bored. It was a most enjoyable and useful session and I would heartily recommend it to anyone who needs help networking (which is, let's face it, all of us)!
Philippa SturtPartner at Joelson Law, London
Joanna has delivered content and events for ICAEW members on communication skills which are always well received. In both webinar and in-person formats the feedback has been excellent. At the dinner for business leaders at Chartered Accountants' Hall in London, she provided an informative and insightful presentation and subsequent discussion on how best to handle difficult conversations.

Joanna is an expert in her field and someone I highly recommend for improving communication skills in both professional and personal settings.
Simon GrayHead of Business, ICAEW
Joanna has been working with TV Edwards for several months, supporting our goal of making business development an integral, day-to-day practice within the firm which is a significant undertaking. Her work has included collaborating with five teams to identify strategies for targeting key clients and services, and leveraging business development tools to create clear, actionable plans. She has designed and delivered several workshops to support this effort, all of which have been very well received. It has been an absolute pleasure working with Joanna. She has been pivotal in developing a strong business development framework for our firm, and her insights, engagement, and structured approach have delivered tangible value. Joanna is personable, professional, and highly effective in her work. We are excited about the next phase of the programme, where she will be training our staff in key BD skills. I would recommend Joanna without hesitation.
Hayley EdwardsHead of Marketing, TV Edwards

// How i work with you

Support to achieve your objectives

I partner with you to tailor the solution to what you require. This depends upon how business development is happening (or not) currently and what you want to achieve.

I upskill your lawyers so they are lifelong equipped, through a combination of facilitation, training, and consultancy – tailored to what we need to achieve. To develop business development strategies and plans, as well as implement them with excellence.

After you’ve contacted me, I typically start by discussing in-depth with you to understand what outcome you want, as well as what you have tried before, and any specific challenges or opportunities.

This means I can develop a tailored approach that takes into consideration:

  • Whether your lawyers understand the importance of business development and why they need to contribute, for the firm and themselves
  • If a revised approach is required, a clear business development strategy and activity plan
  • The existing skills of the team and where there are gaps
  • How business development is embedded so it works with the way your firm runs, and that business development is reviewed regularly, so it evolves and continues to deliver results

// Find Out More

Frequently asked questions about business development for lawyers

Helping lawyers develop the relationships they need with existing clients, introducers/referrers, and potential new clients to bring in work for their firm and grow the practice.

It's not the same as marketing, but it needs to complement and leverage it. It's about the strategy, plan and skills.

Lawyers need to bring in work; clients want to know, like, and trust the lawyer who is going to be doing their work.

Some legal work is repeatable, but some of it isn't, therefore, there's a need to bring in new work.

Many law firms rely on too few people to do this, which is risky and doesn't maximise opportunities.

Business development upskilling isn't part of qualifying. Therefore, it's important lawyers start to engage with business development as soon as they can. 

Joanna designs development support according to what is required. This may be simply about key skills, a team approach to business development, or working with a cohort of individuals or an individual to improve their confidence and business development capability.

Joanna spends time with you to understand what is required to design the most impactful approach.

Lawyers often fear business development. They often think it is just about awkward networking at events. It is far more than that.

When lawyers understand why they need to do it - the importance and the benefit to them and their firm, what to do and how, most engage well.

Marketing and business development overlap, but they are different. Marketing is the overall positioning of the firm in the market - making people aware it exists and the value it brings to clients.

However, people buy people, so clients want to know the person or people who will actually do the work. It's a relationship business; therefore, individual lawyers need to build their market profile and relationships to bring in work. Technical knowledge is often comparable; how you engage with clients creates a differential.

Great business development should build on and leverage great marketing.

Absolutely, whilst senior lawyers are always likely to lead on relationships and bring in the work, juniors play a valuable role. Getting them involved in supporting the business development efforts of the senior lawyers so there's a team approach. This not only uses resources well but gets juniors used to business development being a key part of the role early on. So it's not a surprise later on, and they can build their knowledge and skills over time.

It's also valuable to get juniors to build their profile and network early. You can't build a network the minute you need one.

Know you want more of your people to bring in more work consistently?

let's talk

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