When lawyers make a lateral move—whether from another firm, government, or an in-house role—the instinct is often the same: start fresh. Learn the new firm’s culture, build an internal network quickly, and demonstrate value as fast as possible. That pressure is real, and none of it is wrong.
But research from my book Breaking Ground: How Successful Women Lawyers Build Thriving Practices (PLI 2026) surfaced two lessons from elite rainmakers that many partners, and especially lateral partners, tend to underestimate. These lessons are deceptively simple, yet they often mark the difference between a slow, stressful ramp-up and genuine, sustainable momentum.
Lesson One: Your Past Is Not Prologue. It’s an Asset.
Too many laterals treat a move as a clean slate. They focus almost exclusively on building new relationships and quietly allow their former networks to fade. This is understandable, but it is also a mistake.
Decades of relationship research show something powerful: if someone once liked, trusted, or respected you, that positive perception is remarkably durable—even after years of little or no contact. Former colleagues, clients, classmates, neighbors, and community connections are not “old contacts.” They are among your most valuable professional assets.
In my interviews, one lawyer spoke about relationships she formed as a child through a local community organization. Those connections lay dormant for years, only to resurface decades later in ways that directly supported her professional life. The common thread was not constant contact, but it was a foundation of trust.
For lateral partners, this matters enormously. Your prior firm, government agency, or company is not a closed chapter. People move. Roles change. Today’s junior colleague may be tomorrow’s general counsel, CEO, or trusted advisor inside a growing business. Reconnecting does not require a hard pitch. Often it starts with something simple and human: a thoughtful LinkedIn message, a handwritten note, or a genuine check-in.
Rainmakers do not abandon their history.
Lesson Two: Do the Marketing That Actually Fits Who You Are
The second lesson is just as important—and frequently misunderstood. There is no universal playbook for business development. While firms often promote best practices, the most successful rainmakers rarely look alike in how they build relationships.
Trying to adopt someone else’s formula can backfire. When business development feels forced or inauthentic, clients sense it immediately. The rainmakers who thrive are the ones who design their approach around who they actually are.
Take Blank Rome LLP’s Stacy D. Phillips, a world-renowned family law practitioner. She is widely respected for the quality of her work, but she is equally known for hosting extraordinary dinner parties that bring together clients, colleagues, and friends. These gatherings are not transactional. They reflect her genuine love of connecting people, building community, and giving back, including a strong and deeply rooted pro bono mindset. For her, business development is an extension of hospitality and generosity.
Contrast that with Baker McKenzie partner Susan Eandi, a brilliant labor and employment lawyer who prefers walks and hikes with clients, colleagues, and friends. These conversations unfold naturally, without an agenda, in settings that encourage candor and trust. Her approach works because it fits who she is.
While both these women have their own style, they ultivate their relationships in different ways. In both cases, clients experience something essential: authenticity. Trust grows when interactions feel natural rather than performative.
What This Means for Lateral Partners
The most successful laterals do not reinvent themselves when they move firms. Instead, they build on what already works.
They maintain and reactivate relationships that predate the move. They clarify their niche and communicate it consistently. And they choose business development strategies they actually enjoy and approaches that align with their personality, values, and energy.
This is particularly important during the vulnerable first year of a lateral transition. When lawyers feel pressure to “prove it,” they sometimes default to activities that drain them, whether endless networking events, forced outreach, or strategies borrowed from colleagues with entirely different temperaments. Over time, that misalignment can lead to burnout or disengagement.
Rainmakers take a longer view. They understand that business development is not a sprint; it is a cycle. Staying in touch, tracking where people go, and following up with genuine care compound over time. Technology can help. With gr4eat CRMs, LinkedIn, alerts, and reminders make it easier than ever to stay organized, but the heart of the work remains human.
Carry Forward, Don’t Start Over
Lateral success is not about wiping the slate clean. It is about carrying forward the relationships, reputation, and instincts that brought you success in the first place.
Your network is larger and more resilient than you think. Your style is a strength, not a limitation. When you honor both, momentum follows.
The rainmakers I studied did not chase every opportunity. They invested in the relationships that mattered, showed up consistently, and allowed their business development to look like them.
That is a lesson worth carrying into any new firm, at any stage of a career.
Deborah is one of the foremost experts and consultants in legal marketing and BD. She built and led the marketing departments at Cravath and Debevoise & Plimpton, establishing practices that continue to set industry standards. Today, she works with many lawyers and firms in the AmLaw 100 and is the author of two books on legal marketing, most recently “Breaking Ground: How Successful Women Rainmaakers build Thriving Practices.” (PLI 2026)