The Legal Rainmaker’s Power Play: Designing Your Own Future
A law student named Tyler skipped a coveted holiday ski trip to cram for Civ Pro, a foundational first-year course on civil litigation. Still stressed about his grades and getting a prestigious big-firm summer internship, he also passed up a once-in-a-lifetime family reunion in the spring to learn all he could about Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Why did Tyler do all this? He was convinced he needed to earn excellent marks to land callbacks, not just on-campus interviews, with a respected firm. Happily for Tyler, his hard work paid off. He landed an internship which he believed might lead someday to a permanent job offer.
Relieved, Tyler thought he’d made it. He’d played by the rules and won.
Until his law firm downsized and let him go in year two. Suddenly out in the cold, Tyler had to fend for himself. This meant he was responsible for bringing in new clients, not his firm. This realization rocked Tyler’s world.
Why? Because he grew up believing solid grades were the key to success—that if he performed well academically, the rest, a good job, a partnership offer, and the good-life, would take care of itself. Rainmaking, the skill of bringing in new business, was never part of his law school curriculum, nor did it seem quite so urgent while he enjoyed the stability of firm life.
But now, as waves of layoffs driven by AI and economic factors reset the legal field, one truth is becoming increasingly clear to more and more lawyers: the only real job security is owning your career. And the number one skill every entrepreneur—and every future-proof lawyer—needs is the ability to make it rain.
There are other misconceptions attorneys hold on this subject. Some lawyers believe rainmaking is just about bringing in business and generating hefty fees. Yes, it’s rewarding to earn well by keeping your colleagues and yourself busy. But looking past the paycheck, it’s also a powerful way to grow your own influence within your firm even if you don’t strike out on your own. To put it another way, the leverage being a rainmaker offers is far more valuable than the mere financial benefits you stand to enjoy.
A rainmaker’s clout can take many forms. For starters, it increases the chance you’ll make partner. Being a good lawyer and working on other attorney’s cases at the firm is helpful to a point, but there are a lot of good lawyers who would love your associate job and the pay that goes with it. Coupling strong legal skills and the ability to bring-in and retain clients is the type of attorney the partners want to add to their select group. Why would they allow you to share their profits unless you added something to the pot?
Certainly, when your friends at other firms notice your rainmaking skills, new and lucrative doors may be opened elsewhere for you. Had Tyler chosen not to go solo after being fired, he would still enjoy greater leverage if he’d learned the art of rainmaking. His vaunted status as someone who could bring in clients could even reverse his situation after dismissal. Instead of having to hunt for a new job, other firms might seek him out. They might even roll out the red carpet, going so far as to allow him to define many aspects of his new role, perks he would never have enjoyed if his reputation didn’t precede him.
This insight doesn’t just apply to newbie lawyers just starting their careers either. It applies to lawyers at any stage. If you develop rainmaking skills and demonstrate an ability to bring in clients, you’ll have more power to build the future you want, one that lawyers who do a great job practicing law, but don’t consistently bring clients in, will never have.
Unlike Tyler, I’ve been fortunate to be a rainmaker throughout my career. The ability to network effectively has been my vocational superpower. Over the years, I used such abilities to build the Hartmann Law Firm as a team of experts, providing the best defense possible in criminal cases ranging from murder and white-collar crimes to DUI and drug offenses.
Reflecting on where I am today, being a rainmaker has been my strategic advantage. Yet many people still believe rainmaking is all about charisma or salesmanship. In truth, it’s a toolkit of soft skills capable of transforming you from a professional who simply does the work to a rainmaker who brings in business.
Currently I’m hard at work writing a new book in which I’ll share more of my experience and insights on this critical subject. For now, here’s one final piece of advice. Getting good grades and knowing the law is merely the entry fee required to be a successful lawyer. If you want to build a sustainable career you need to invest in yourself.
It's the only job security there is in an increasingly insecure world.
Stay tuned for more content to come on this subject. And if you or a loved one are facing criminal charges, please contact me.