If the phone doesn't ring, it's your outside lawyer

(It's a safe bet that this will be my only post paraphrasing a Jimmy Buffett tune.)

I was out to dinner with a client the other night. He shared with me an anecdote whose lesson is crucial for every outside lawyer.

First, a little about this guy. Most recently, he was both general counsel and chief financial officer of a publicly traded company. He is a classic connector straight out of Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point. He makes friends incredibly naturally, he's not easily offended, and he doesn't particularly hold grudges.

And yet.

And yet we were talking about another law firm, a competitor of mine with a nationwide platform. Turns out a lawyer at this firm had worked with the person who preceded my friend as general counsel. But when my guy assumed the GC post, this firm lawyer never bothered to call him. Didn't call to congratulate him. Didn't call to talk about doing work together going forward. Didn't call at all.

That was years ago. And my friend hasn't forgotten it. Nor will he the next time his firm wants to try and get my friend's business.

The point is that law-firm lawyers fool themselves into thinking that clients will hire them based on their experience, their expertise, their skills, their national presence, and so forth. What they forget is that more often than not, clients will choose not to hire them based on something as simple as a missed phone call.

Memo to outside lawyers: pick up the phone.