Practice Development Counsel

Phyllis weiss haserot
Phyllis weiss haserot


President & Founder


212 593-1549
pwhaserot@pdcounsel.com
www.pdcounsel.com

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Gen Y/Z Rainmaking: Learning from the Daughter of “The Good Wife.”

Recently I was interviewed on a webcast for the Thomson Reuters Legal sales force. One of the questions was: How are law firms addressing the change in how clients are secured? Traditionally, partners would do the bulk of business development. Is that dynamic changing with the younger attorneys (Millennials) that are moving up in the ranks?

My response, which applies to a broader range of professional services than just law firms, is elaborated on here:

Increasingly younger attorneys are expected to be a part of business development almost from the time they enter the firm. It is important for younger professionals to be part of pitch teams so prospective clients know members of the team and their expertise. They need training and coaching and to display confidence. They need to learn to be better relationship builders across generations and areas of expertise. Since clients are increasingly younger than the professionals serving them in some industries and older in others, people seeking business must develop understanding of and comfort with, different generations. Clients are looking for specific expertise, strong particular practice areas, and specific lawyers more than ever.

So what’s coming down the pike in the future? Perhaps some inklings were revealed in the November 22nd episode of the long-running TV hit, “The Good Wife,” which has been keeping quite current on societal issues and the law. Here’s the scenario for those of you who missed it.

Alicia Florrick, practicing now with a young Latina partner in their two lawyer firm, is working out of her apartment under the observation of her 17 year old daughter, Grace who overhears the business arrangements of sharing compensation “eat what you kill” style and that the new firm needs clients. Grace asks to help and proves a tough negotiator in order to get a percentage of the business she brings in. Using creativity, trial and error, determination, persistence, impressively confident cold-calling skills and tech savvy (she arranges a sound loop in the background on her computer to convey a busy office environment) and digital native online research skills, she wrangles 4 large clients for the firm and tells Alicia she is owed $35,000 for her successful client generation. Blackout!

Early studies of Grace’s Gen Z generation indicate they are entrepreneurial, independent-minded, hard working, creative and less reluctant than older generations (including Millennials) to go after business. It seems the show’s writers may have shaped the character’s evolving maturity as a model to watch at work.

Is this something to look forward to? Share your thoughts at pwhaserot@pdcounsel.com or on the Cross-Generational Conversation group on LinkedIn.

© Phyllis Weiss Haserot, 2015. All rights reserved.

* The generational chronology for easy reference: Generations are defined by the similar formative influences – social, cultural, political, economic – that existed as the individuals of particular birth cohorts were growing up. Given that premise, the age breakdowns for each of the four generations currently in the workplace are approximately:

Traditionalists:                       born 1925-1942  
Baby Boomers                        born 1943-1962
Generation X                          born 1963-1978
Generation Y/Millennials          born 1979-1995
Gen Z                                     born 1996 -?

11/2015