Lots of attorneys think that if they go to trial and get a huge verdict, they will all of a sudden become inundated with new clients and amazing cases to work on. There is nothing further from the truth. The best method for getting new cases revolves around a more direct relationship building approach.

Of course, your success in trial or in your practice, is extremely important. After all, no one wants to refer cases to someone who doesn’t have experience winning or serving their clients in an exceptional manner. Your success as a lawyer serves as the proof needed to convince both clients and other attorneys that you are a trust-worthy person for them to send clients to. That is pretty much all it does. It isn’t going to cause people to come rushing to you with cases.

You need to build credibility through experience and success but then you need to leverage that to get more referrals for your firm. You need to focus your time and energy on building a consistent stream of cases coming your way, through attorney referrals.

You Landed a Personal Injury Case, Now What?

So…you have positioned yourself as the expert in all things legal in your community. Because of this, you are the go-to resource when people have a legal issue and they need help. A potential personal injury case has crossed your desk, even though you aren’t a personal injury attorney. You know that there are three ways you can handle this situation:

1. You can send the client to a colleague you know and trust who is an expert in accident cases. You will each follow the rules of professional conduct in your state and you will collect referral fees when the case resolves.

   2. You can try to work the case up for settlement (pre-litigation) and keep the entire fee without referring the case out.

   3. You can tell the client you don’t do personal injury and refer them to the state bar hotline or the internet. (This is an option you are too smart to do because you know you are passing up on a referral fee.)

The hugely important shift you need to make is seeing yourself as a “Legal Expert”. This simple shift will open you up to a world of opportunity. Seek to become THE go-to attorney in your community. Teach people that they should come to you any time they have a legal need.

Criminal defense attorneys have quickly realized they could add more than six-figures a year to their practice by literally doing nothing more than sending a client our way. They have continued to send referrals to us and they each now have a passive source of income that keeps them safe and secure, even in a pandemic.