Good Questions to ask in Networking phonecall Forum

[lawhopeful10]

I was wondering if anyone had any good questions to ask when you are trying to network with Partners At Law firms over the phone. I understand you don't want to waste their time with easy questions that someone could just look up on the firm's website and I want to have a decent amount in case any of the conversations carry on for a long time. I feel like the how did you get where you are and do you like what you do might be good starting points but this is my first time doing this so any advice or good questions are appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous User]

A good go-to question is to ask if they have any advice for you, as a new attorney starting out, or if there's something they wish they knew when they were starting out.
There are many ways to phrase this question and you should figure out the best way to word it based on how the conversation is going. Whatever their answer is, follow up, ask for more details. (Most) people live giving advice, and by getting them to expand upon their answer, you're making them feel good about themselves.

If you're genuinely interested in their practice group, ask about it. Don't be afraid to ask "what are you working on now?" Or "what challenges do you see your practice group having in the near future?". If you are familiar with their practice group, ask specific questions. Recent developments matter. If you're unfamiliar, use google/Wikipedia and ask them to explain a particular query you might have "I've been reading a lot about X, how dies that work in practice?" Or "i see your firm does a lot of X and Y, but I'm not sure I really understand the difference". Just make sure you don't ask something too basic or too technical.

I once saw that the person I was dealing with was a board member of an industry trade group. Said board increased in size 6 months before, with all the new seats going to people working in a particular niche area of that industry. So, I asked about the shift in power on the board. Turns out it was accidental, and he didn't even realize that it looked like a shift in the focus of the board, but it got me mega brownie points (and a CB)

[lawhopeful10]

Thanks that definitely helps

[Anonymous User]

Thanks that definitely helps

Anon from above

Just make sure you appear genuinely interested (as in, ask follow up questions) and that you gauge accurately how the conversation is going. If the person doesn't seem interested in talking about specifics of their work, shift focus to info on the firm; if they don't want to talk about firm life, ask about advice re law school (what classes do you advise I should take? I plan on going into transactional work like you, should I still participate in moot court?)

Some people prefer talking about the past (school; how dud you get where you are), others the present (what's firm life like? What are you working on?) and still others would rather discuss the future (how do you see the industry changing? What challenges will your practhce group be facing in the near future?)
Figure out what they want to talk about and roll with it

[micwrecka45]

Ask for another person or two to be connected with to make sure the networking ball keeps rolling.

[spiritniffler189]

I don't have a question to add (because I think the ones in this thread are enough for a general call) but when reaching out, I found it helpful to say "I'd appreciate 20 minutes of your time to discuss...". It lets the person know you don't plan on asking them every question you can possibly think of, and makes them comfortable about focusing intently on you for those 15/20 minutes. I did that and got a CB in part because as soon as I hit the 15 minute mark, I said thank you for your time and ended the call. Best of luck.