Business Development Coach for Lawyers

If you’re a strong lawyer but business development still feels awkward, you’re not alone. You learned the law and were never shown how to build a practice.

As a lawyer business development coach, I help attorneys build a repeatable way to get clients that fits your personality, strengths, and values. I’m Dena Lefkowitx, Esq., PCC, and since leaving the law in 2016, I’ve helped hundreds of lawyers with their careers. Learn more about me.

The Problem

Law school trained us to practice law. Not to build a practice.

Besides being a competent attorney, there is nothing more important than understanding how to get clients and develop business. Yet in law school, it’s barely mentioned.

Law is also one of the only industries where there isn’t a separate sales force. In private practice, lawyers are the sales force. Professional conduct rules limit paying others to bring work in, which means responsibility sits with the lawyer.

For many attorneys, business development only becomes explicit when partnership is approaching. By then, habits formed over years of practice rarely include networking, marketing, or client development.

Common Situations

If any of this sounds familiar, you’re in the right place

• I’m great at the work, but I don’t know how to consistently get clients.
• I’ve been told I need to build a book, but no one has shown me how.
• Networking feels forced or uncomfortable.
• I’m an introvert and assume rainmaking isn’t for me.
• Billable work crowds out time for business development.
• I feel embarrassed not knowing something I was never taught.

The Reframe

Business development isn’t a personality transplant. It’s a skill.

Lawyers can build business development approaches that align with how you naturally build trust and relationships.

This coaching focuses on:

• Leveraging strengths rather than copying someone else’s style
• Using values as motivation
• Designing a plan that fits real schedules
• Understanding resistance instead of forcing behavior

Reluctance becomes information, not an obstacle.

Outcomes

What changes when coaching works

• A clear, realistic business development plan
• A stronger referral engine
• Confident, natural messaging
• Simple systems for staying in touch
• Consistent client conversations
• Better time boundaries
• A marketing mindset