Eying New Clients: The Lawyer As Private Eye

Published January 20, 2015

A little detective work will go a long way toward finding out about new clients. John Grisham and Scott Turow and others have written wonderful thrillers about the legal profession, so why can’t you and your colleagues become sleuths in a business fashion? Arming yourself with information will help ensure that you can offer appropriate legal services and receive full and timely payment in return.

The best possible way to understand the client’s business is to visit at the client’s place of business. Not only does this ingratiate you to the client, but it also gives you an amazing opportunity to snoop in order to find problems of a legal nature as well as problems with the client’s credit.

While you are getting your personal tour of the plant, scan the inventory and pick up the names of suppliers. The client will give you as references the names of the vendors that they always pay on time. You want to know how the other vendors are treated.

Look at the physical condition of the business. Is the building in good condition? Do the employees look busy? Does the work seem orderly? Are people standing around? Are employees wearing appropriate safety devices? These visual signals can give you clues about the viability of the business while also helping you advise the client on legal matters. Does the company, for example, want to hear about safety issues from your plant tour or from the OSHA supervisor who is following up on a complaint?

Another good way to find out about a client’s business is to simply ask questions. Clients love to be the experts, so ask them about the processes you are seeing. And while the client is explaining the ins and outs of his business, he is also telling you exactly what you want to know about how the business is doing, who the competition is, and what the future looks like for the company.

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Audience type: Administrators, Associates, Large Law Firms, Small Law Firms, Sole Practitioners