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I’m a second year in litigation at V25 big law firm in NYC. I’m quickly realizing that no matter how good of a lawyer you are, it doesn’t matter unless you have a client to work for. I know it may be a bit early to think about this, but I’m curious how ppl in this industry go about developing clients. Eventually, I would like to have a client(s) of my own some day.

I’ve been curious about client relationships at my firm, and after asking around, a lot of it seems to come from old high school/law school buddies, family connections, etc. From what it seems to me, I basically have to hope one of my law school buddies becomes GC somewhere.

Aside from that, how do ppl get clients? Join organizations? Which ones? Go to conferences? Any insight/stories here would be helpful.

From my understanding, at most large firms, the large institutional clients are handed down from partners to associates (kind of like succession planning). Obviously there are a few superstars that can land huge clients, but I don’t think it’s as common as people think.

I can speak from the perspective of biglaw abroad (corporate), where the process feels different compared to in the US.

You are encouraged to develop relationships with the junior and mid level bankers that you work on deals with so when they become more senior they recommend you for transactions. You can also give presentations for in-house counsel on various legal issues to get your name out there.

You may also try to find areas where the law is developing and there are no established players and then market yourself as an expert in that area. I suspect this is why there are so many free law firm memos floating on Google.