Legal Persuasion in Distinction & Differentiation

By Jeremy M. Evans

Jeremy M. Evans is the Founder & Managing Attorney at California Sports Lawyer®, representing entertainment, media, and sports clientele. Evans is an award-winning attorney and industry leader based in Los Angeles. He currently serves as Vice President of the California Lawyers Association. He can be reached at Jeremy@CSLlegal.com. www.CSLlegal.com.

When starting – or even sustaining – a law practice, the first question inevitably will be, how do you attract and retain clientele? It is an honest and important question. The simplest answer is that an attorney wanting to attract, retain, and keep clients must practice with distinction and differentiation. With a plethora of large firms in established metro areas in California, there are no shortage of marble-incrusted firms with large conference rooms overlooking a beautiful cityscape. How does a young, small law office pull clients in and away from BigLaw?

Practicing with distinction and differentiation requires the traditional notion of being an honorable attorney with a good reputation. Reputation (consisting mainly of how fellow attorneys, referral partners, the community, family, and friends feel about the attorney) has a direct correlation to receiving clientele and is therefore important. People almost exclusively refer prospective clients to attorneys they know, trust, and can rely on to handle a matter. Being able to complete the task at hand, learning how to refer cases in areas outside your expertise, or ask for help in complex or unfamiliar matters are all important qualities for a successful attorney to have.