By: Hy Pomerance, Psy.D. Leadership Development Executive and Business Psychologist
Highly effective partners in Big Law blend firm leadership, internal people leadership, and external business leadership. At Berman Leadership, we work with our clients to build capability in both. This series will give an overview of how we optimize all aspects of leadership in some of the most prestigious and relevant Law firms. This first post will focus on the external business development that drives their business success.
Rainmakers aren’t simply lawyers who win matters; they are Partners who run a disciplined business-development system every day. Their advantage is less charisma than consistency: clear market positioning, rigorous relationship management, and operational routines that compound over years.
They start with focus. Rainmakers pick a niche—an industry, regulatory regime, or problem type—where they can be undeniably top-tier. That positioning guides everything: which conferences they attend, which publications they write for, which executives they seek out. They translate legal expertise into business outcomes, framing issues in the client’s language (risk, revenue, time-to-resolution), not the firm’s service lines.
Their calendar is their strategy. Daily, they touch the market: three proactive outreaches before noon (a client check-in, a referral source, a prospect). They maintain 30–50 active relationships with systematic contact cadences—monthly for A-accounts, quarterly for B-accounts—tracked religiously in a CRM. Every outreach has a “why now”: a regulatory change, a board agenda item, a peer’s deal, a risk window. They send short value drops—one-slide briefs, benchmarks, or a relevant introduction—rather than generic “checking in” emails.
Rainmakers build pipelines like sales leaders. They keep a visible funnel of targets (new logos), expansions (new matters with existing clients), and cross-sells (introductions to other practices). Weekly, they hold a 30-minute pipeline review with their BD manager: stage, next action, owner, close probability, and blockers. They measure leading indicators—meetings booked, decision-maker coverage, proposals out—knowing revenue lags activity by quarters.
Thought leadership is a production line, not a sporadic article. Quarterly, they publish a flagship piece tied to board-level concerns, then atomize it into client alerts, webinars, and conference talks. They pair insights with community: GC roundtables, breakfast briefings, or invite-only salons that create peer learning (and soft commitments). They practice “one-to-many” leverage: one deck can power five client conversations.
Client experience is designed. Rainmakers set responsiveness SLAs (same-day acknowledgment, 24–48 hour initial advice), define matter kickoff checklists, and agree on “value agendas” with clients—three business outcomes the legal work must advance. They run quarterly client reviews: what’s working, what’s not, upcoming risks, and a simple NPS check. After every pitch or matter close, they do a rapid debrief to refine pricing, messaging, and team roles.
Inside the firm, rainmakers orchestrate talent and cross-sell credibly. They map relationship owners across the client’s org chart, convene internal account huddles, and bring the right specialists into conversations early. They prep associates for business conversations, not just legal memos, and mentor a bench that extends their reach. They share credit to encourage collaboration; origination points follow value, not politics.
Pricing and scoping are strategic weapons. Rainmakers offer optioned proposals (good/better/best), articulate assumptions and risks, and use matter data to propose AFAs that align with client incentives. They protect margins by preventing scope creep through clear change notes and proactive resets.
Most importantly, rainmakers manage their energy and signal reliability. Mornings are for outbound and deep work; afternoons for client calls and internal coaching. They batch admin, protect learning time, and maintain a short list of “critical friends” who challenge their approach. Over time, these routines build a reputation: the Partner who understands the business, shows up with timely insight, assembles the right team, and delivers without drama. That reputation is the real rain.
At Berman Leadership Development, our pragmatic Partner coaching methodology assists Partners in their first 2-5 years to adopt the routines of successful rainmakers. Our years of experience working with Big Law Partners in a wide range of practice areas and Law Firm cultures brings deep insight into how each client can adapt a routine that will work for them.