Business Development Services for Law Firms
Where Strategy Meets Relationships—and Expertise Drives Growth.
Why Does Business Development Matter to Law Firms?
In many law firms, business development is either an afterthought or an undefined effort passed around like a hot potato. There’s networking, some occasional outreach, maybe a few referral lunches—and then frustration when growth doesn’t follow.
At Fisher Marketing Services, we’ve sat inside law firms. We’ve worked shoulder to shoulder with attorneys. We’ve built marketing departments from the ground up while untangling the disconnect between legal talent and firm-wide visibility. Here’s what we know: referral relationships are powerful, but only when paired with structure, consistency, and strategy.
True business development means knowing:
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Who your best referral partners are—and why
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What your presence is communicating (online and offline)
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Where your missed opportunities are hiding
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How to align your expertise with the right audiences
Without structure and follow-through, even the best connections lose momentum. We’re here to prevent that.
Check out one of our social media posts on the concept of Business Development...
The Often Hidden Problem In a Law Firm: Disconnected Outreach, Untapped Relationships
Every law firm says relationships matter. Attorneys attend events, speak on panels, sponsor charity dinners, contribute to local causes, and post on LinkedIn. But behind the scenes, most of this outreach lives in isolation—never tracked, never followed up on, and rarely tied to results. What should be a growth engine becomes a blur of activity with no clear outcomes.
The issue isn’t that your firm isn’t active—it’s that the activity isn’t aligned with strategy. Attorneys are often left to “go network” without direction. Someone might write a thought leadership article or speak at a CLE, but no one documents what contacts were made or what the next step is. As a result, valuable relationships fade and firms continue to invest time and money in efforts that don’t compound over time.
In our experience, law firms aren’t short on opportunities—they’re short on systems. Most don’t know which events drive the most valuable introductions, which referral sources have gone quiet, or whether their online visibility is actually reaching the right professionals. And without that clarity, you can’t double down on what works—or course correct what doesn’t.
If your firm is experiencing any of the following, you’re not alone:
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You attend events or publish content, but rarely track who engages with it
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You receive referrals but don’t consistently know their source
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You follow up with contacts inconsistently—or not at all
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You can’t connect business development efforts to actual revenue or case value
Here’s the truth: more visibility isn’t always the answer. Clarity, structure, and strategic follow-through is. At Fisher Marketing Services, we help law firms turn every handshake, every post, and every appearance into part of a measurable, relationship-driven growth strategy.
Here are some of our core pillars for business development strategies
1. Strategic Relationship Building That Drives Measurable Growth
From the moment someone hears your name—whether through a colleague, on social media, or at a CLE—you are building brand equity. Business development is about managing that perception, nurturing the right connections, and building systems that allow relationships to translate into real opportunities. We work with firms to:
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Build intentional strategies around professional and community partnerships
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Align referral outreach with your intake, content, and visibility efforts
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Train attorneys on how to position their thought leadership as a business development tool—not just a publishing opportunity
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Create consistent, scalable (CRM) systems that make follow-up simple and measurable
This isn’t surface-level networking or boilerplate scripts. It’s real alignment between who you are, what you do best, and how your community sees and refers you.
2. Visibility Is Not Enough—Presence with Purpose Matters
We often hear firms say, “Our attorneys are out there—we’re visible.” But visibility without positioning is wasted effort. We help law firms turn day-to-day exposure into lasting connections and future clients by optimizing the tools you already have:
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Attorney Bios: These are too often static and generic. We craft bios that actually sell your value to referral partners, media, and prospective clients—built for credibility and connection.
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LinkedIn: This platform is underutilized by attorneys. We teach firms how to strategically engage, share meaningful content, and build relationships—not just post and disappear.
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Publications and Quotes: Your past articles, interviews, and contributions are valuable—but only if used. We help repurpose them into client-facing and partner-facing materials that support your expertise.
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Speaking and Presentations: Whether it’s a bar panel or community workshop, every speaking engagement should have a follow-up strategy. We help you track, promote, and connect with your audience.
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Event Attendance: You’re going—but who are you meeting? We help you plan, track, and follow up after every mixer, CLE, or community event to make sure the effort becomes a result.
3. Tracking Matters: CRM, Intake, and the Feedback Loop (the dreaded CRM term!)
One of the biggest gaps we see in business development is data loss. Someone refers a case… and no one logs it. Someone meets a doctor… and the connection is never followed up. A promising conversation happens… and disappears.
This is where operational marketing intersects with business development. We help you:
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Build a usable CRM or leverage intake data to track source attribution
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Design follow-up systems so your top referral sources don’t go cold
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Train staff to enter meaningful data about relationships and leads
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Create monthly dashboards that tell the story of your outreach ROI
This isn't busywork—it’s business intelligence.
4. Community Involvement That Reflects Your Brand
Community service, sponsorships, and nonprofit work should support your brand—without sounding self-congratulatory. We help firms:
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Identify the right community opportunities that align with their target markets
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Package and promote their service work in an authentic, professional way
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Build relationships with local organizations and thought leaders that turn goodwill into brand recognition
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Show up consistently in your community, and people know what you stand for, referrals follow.
Follow-Up Is Key!
The Fisher Marketing Approach: Business Development That Understands the Strategy—and the Relationship
Too often, law firms fall into one of two traps:
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Building relationships without tracking or follow-up
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Relying on networking without connecting it to firm-wide strategy
We strike the balance:
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We help you identify which connections actually lead to meaningful referrals—and which ones don’t.
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We build systems that elevate your legal expertise into relationship-driven growth—refining your outreach, reinforcing your reputation, and reconnecting your firm to its highest-value sources.
Your expertise builds trust. We make sure that trust turns into lasting referrals—and sustainable growth.