Advice for aspiring rainmakers from WilmerHale, Crowell & Mo

Law360 polls BigLaw rainmakers on tips for would-be “finders”:

• Don't just focus on the head honchos. “I always say to young attorneys, you want to make every in-house attorney happy,” said David B. Bassett, chair of WilmerHale's intellectual property litigation practice group.

• Cultivate a good rapport with your law school classmates. Your fellow alumni can become referral sources or even clients, according to Richard M. Goldstein, chair of Bilzin Sumberg ‘s tax group.

• Party with your clients. “[T]hrowing a party for our clients and getting them all together — nobody does that … Law firms tend to be inwardly focused, but we've had great success with it, particularly within our Wall Street financial services practice,” advised William M. O'Connor, chair of Crowell & Moring's financial services group.

• Pick up the check once in a while: “I never understood the concept that everything has got to be on the client's till.”

-posted by brian