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 NAME:
Donna Fraiche
FIRM: Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell
& Berkowitz
TITLE: Shareholder
LOCATION: New Orleans, LA
PRACTICE AREA: Healthcare Law
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE RAINMAKING TIPS?
Know your particular practice area exceptionally well
in order to become the name (regionally and
nationally) that decision makers think of when they
experience a need you are able to fulfill, or a problem
you can help resolve. Once you know your subject area
well, begun to speak publicly on the topic, and publish
articles about the topic, the media will start interviewing
you as a subject matter expert when relevant things
become newsworthy.
Sometimes the first touch is serendipitous. Being able
to make business from business is more important than
first touch origination. But this doesn’t happen
overnight. Clients who are satisfied with you will give
you referrals. Clients and others can help build your
practice through word of mouth. Keeping your clients
satisfied can have a positive impact on your practice.
Participating in activities and trade associations
where you can come in contact with potential clients
and/or referral sources is helpful.
One visible case or transaction can really help you.
It gets your name and reputation out there.
BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON CAREER/BEST CAREER ADVICE:
Be available to communicate on an immediate basis. Voicemail
and e-mail provide a vehicle for immediate and close
attention to business opportunities. For example in
a large firm, someone could send out e-mail asking “Does
anyone know how to do....” You need to read fast
and accurately, react fast, and deliver the goods. It
could reward you with some new client work or new matters
for existing clients.
It is important to give a client or prospective client
a sense that you will be there for them when they need
you. For example, a client was referred to me for a
project on an urgent basis. I was on a plane when the
call came in and my assistant handled the call and then
left me a voice mail. As soon as I got off the plane,
I checked my voice mail. My assistant had left a message
that a new client was looking for me and she had told
him I would be getting off a plane at 8:05. At 8:06
I called the potential client. The potential client
was thrilled that I was so responsive. He wanted to
talk and talk and hired me on the spot. If I had not
been so readily available, that client would have found
someone else as his need was time-sensitive. Further,
I started off on a stronger, longer, and better relationship
with a client I might not have even had absent such
responsive and time sensitive action on my part.
Most lawyers think about what they need and not what
the client needs. Getting future referrals and future
work from the same client is directly related to satisfying
the client’s needs.
PERCENTAGE OF TIME DEVOTED TO MARKETING?
About twenty hours per month.
PROUDEST ACCOMPLISHMENT?
My teenage daughter, medical school son, and my grandchildren.
In the practice of law, resolving for a client an extremely
important regulatory issue with significant impact on
healthcare delivery, education, and quality.
Many professional women see their family role as being
an integral part of their lives. But it’s not
easy to keep the balance. You have to work hard at it
and your family has to buy into the concept and be willing
to understand that there are times when you just have
to take calls or do other work.
TELL ME ABOUT ONE RAINMAKING STRATEGY OR TACTIC
THAT YOU INITIALLY THOUGHT WOULD WORK, BUT IT FAILED.
WHY DID IF FAIL?
I operate under the theory that when it works, it works,
and when it doesn’t, it is a loss of precious
time and money: I often give presentations and have
in the past written articles. Other than enjoying the
academics and theatrics of presentations, I have not
really obtained as much in the way of direct business
referral as I might have thought. However, the speech-making
and publication side of demonstrating legal expertise
is helpful in establishing a base-line reputation and
name recognition or association with the particular
practice area.
TELL ME ABOUT ONE RAINMAKING STRATEGY OR TACTIC
THAT YOU INITIALLY THOUGHT WOULD FAIL, BUT IT WAS A
GREAT SUCCESS. WHY WAS IT SUCCESSFUL?
I serve on a number of highly visible non-profit or
community boards. I have not served for the purpose
of getting business but rather to use my ability to
help an organization or cause in which I believe, or
to give back. In a few instances I have received legal
work from other board members who are executives or
decision makers in their separate businesses. Those
referrals were often based on the demonstration of characteristics
that these leaders needed in the legal arena. I never
expected to get the business, but it came.
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST SURPRISE ABOUT PRACTICING
LAW?
That it is less about what goes on in the courtroom
and more about dealing with the preparation or the transaction
in the day-to-day setting as clients need and require
strategy and answers.
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR GREATEST FRUSTRATION ABOUT
TRYING TO GET NEW BUSINESS OR NEW CLIENTS?
Watching other lawyers compete for and succeed in getting
a client about whose business they know little about.
Their success was often as a result of bidding a lower
hourly rate. Hourly rates have little to do with ability
and much to do with misunderstanding of the resources
to be allocated to successful solutions for clients.
IF YOU WERE MENTORING A YOUNG WOMAN LAWYER,
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE HER REGARDING RAINMAKING?
A woman in the profession has a distinct ability to
make rain but needs to recognize her particular personality
strengths and use them accordingly. Not everyone makes
rain in the same way. If you are a great speaker, then
speak. If you are not comfortable in a public speaking
forum, don’t do it or it will hurt, rather than
help, your chances of getting business. Find the rainmaking
vehicle that allows you to shine, one that capitalizes
on your strengths, and it is far more likely to work
for you.
WOULD YOU SAY YOU EVER HAD A MENTOR THAT MADE
YOU A GENUINE DIFFERENCE IN HOW YOUR CAREER TURNED OUT?
People who are generous about sharing their time and
knowledge with you can make a positive difference in
your career and life. In my early days, my mentors were
older men. They were almost like grandfathers. These
mentors helped me to build a bridge between being a
student lawyer and being a lawyer that can satisfy clients
and the needs of the firm.
THINK ABOUT WHEN YOU STARTED OUT AS A LAWYER.
NOW THINK ABOUT THE NEW FEMALE LAWYERS JUST STARTING
OUT. WHAT IS DIFFERENT NOW COMPARED TO WHEN YOU STARTED?
When I started practicing law there were fewer female
lawyers. Older men were our mentors and in my case,
they were great mentors. My mentors were not threatened
by my accomplishments or determination. Older lawyers
spent time with you and taught you the business and
the expertise associated with quality practice.
Today, it seems that no one really has the time to
mentor anymore. There is not the 1 on 1 teaching in
firms like there used to be. We don’t do the shadowing
thing anymore. Clients won’t pay for a second
chair nor should you charge for a second chair. Often,
we now just send young associates off to a seminar.
The bigger the firm the more it would seem to be important
for them to provide mentoring. Large firms have more
resources and some of the cost of mentoring can be considered
as part of the cost of doing business. To me, mentoring
is a cost of doing business and a professional responsibility.
In a large firm young lawyers depend on work being handed
to them because of the reputation of firm. Then they
become a partner and don’t know how to get business.
Generally, the typical small firm or solo lawyer is
better at developing business since no one else will
hand it to them. Whether large or small, firms that
are interested in providing quality mentoring can do
so if they institutionalize mentoring behaviors and
reward them.
LPM Women Rainmakers is a national forum enabling women
to network and develop business opportunities. By understanding
how to develop business, women can exert greater control
over their careers and integrate their personal lives
successfully with the practice of law. For more information
on LPM Women Rainmakers, visit www.womenrainmakers.org.
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