Podcast Ep. 19: Define, Draw, Deepen: My Marketing Model For Women Lawyers

I speak to a lot of women lawyers who are approaching partnership or setting up their own firms, and many of them are terrified.

They worry about hitting ambitious billing targets. They worry about whether they will be able to generate enough work to sustain their practice. They worry about bringing in clients in an increasingly competitive market.

And honestly, those concerns make perfect sense.

Bringing in clients is critical to success as a lawyer. Yet most lawyers have never been taught how to do it.

They would love to know that the clients they enjoy working with will keep finding them next week, next month, and next year. They would love to enjoy business development instead of dreading it. They would love to experience that wonderful feeling when a potential client says yes, knowing that it happened because of the relationships they built themselves.

Instead, many women lawyers convince themselves that they are simply not good at business development.

They tell themselves they are not outgoing enough. They are nervous about reaching out to people. They do not have the personality of a rainmaker.

The truth is that business development does not depend on personality.

It is a skill.

And like any skill, it can be learned.

When I started my business in 2019, I had absolutely no idea how to bring in clients. Today, I know exactly what to do. If I can learn it, so can you.

Over the years, I have developed a simple model that I teach women lawyers who want to build thriving practices. It has three parts:

Define. Draw. Deepen.

Define Your Ideal Client

This is often the hardest step for lawyers.

Many women lawyers hate the idea of defining an ideal client because they want to help everyone. They believe that financial success requires taking every client who comes through the door.

But if you want to build a reputation, become known for something, and create a strong brand, defining your ideal client is essential.

I learned this lesson myself.

When I started my business in 2019, my potential clients were simply "women". I worked incredibly hard, but I struggled to gain traction.

In 2021, I narrowed my focus to women in law and women in finance, two industries I knew well. Things improved, but I was still struggling.

Then, in early 2025, I became much more specific. I focused on women lawyers in law firms who wanted to become partners.

That was the moment my business really took off.

The more clearly you define your ideal client, the easier it becomes to understand their concerns, speak their language, and create services that solve the problems they actually have.

Because I spend every day speaking to women lawyers, I know what is worrying them. I know what is holding them back. I know what they need support with.

That clarity makes everything easier.

Draw Your Ideal Clients Into Your World

Once you know who your ideal clients are, the next step is understanding where they are and how to connect with them.

I use the word "draw" because business development is not about chasing people. It is about meeting them where they already are.

One of my clients had done a brilliant job of identifying her ideal clients. The problem was that she was spending her time attending conferences for lawyers.

As we worked together, she realised that lawyers were not actually a major source of work for her.

Her clients were elsewhere.

So she stopped attending legal conferences and started attending and speaking at events where her clients spent their time.

The result was transformational.

She gained more time, more clients, and more significant matters. In some cases, new clients approached her before she even knew how they had found her.

Another client realised she knew exactly which general counsel she wanted to work with. Instead of spending hours creating LinkedIn content, she reached out directly to those people.

The point is that LinkedIn is only one route to business development.

The real question is this: where do your ideal clients spend their time, and how do they choose their lawyers?

When you understand the answer to that question, it becomes much easier to attract the right people.

Deepen Relationships

The final piece of the model is deepening relationships.

Many lawyers focus heavily on meeting new people but pay far less attention to staying connected with the people they already know.

One of my clients has a wonderfully simple system.

Every month, she reaches out to potential clients and existing clients. Sometimes she sends them an article. Sometimes she shares a podcast. Sometimes she invites them to lunch or to an event.

Nothing complicated.

Just consistent, thoughtful contact.

As a result, she stays top of mind.

This matters because meeting someone once is rarely enough to turn them into a client.

Strong professional relationships are built over time.

One of the best examples I know is Sharon Lewis, Global Head of Finance at Hogan Lovells and a dear friend.

Long before becoming a partner, Sharon invested in relationships with in house lawyers at her level. Over time, many of those lawyers became general counsel and started sending work her way.

She has also consistently championed women lawyers and created opportunities for clients to connect through events and community building.

It is no surprise that every time I speak to her, she has more than enough work.

Relationships create opportunities.

Why You Need All Three

Imagine trying to build a stool with only two legs.

It simply would not work.

The same is true in business development.

There is no point defining your ideal client if you have no way of meeting them and no system for building relationships.

There is no point meeting lots of people if you are unclear about who you actually want to work with.

And there is no point attracting the right people if you never follow up.

A thriving practice requires all three elements working together:

• Define who you serve.

• Draw them into your world.

• Deepen relationships over time.

The Real Goal: Financial Independence

When lawyers tell me they want more clients, I often think they are really talking about something bigger.

They want financial independence.

I recently met a lawyer who left a large firm to go into business with a partner she had worked with for many years.

Initially, she relied heavily on her more senior colleague to generate work. But eventually she realised that if she wanted genuine independence, she needed to learn how to bring in clients herself.

That realisation proved invaluable because not long afterwards they decided to go their separate ways.

Because she had begun building her own relationships and generating her own work, she was in a much stronger position.

Business development is not simply about growing a practice.

It is about creating options.

It is about creating security.

And it is about creating a career that is not dependent on someone else.

A Simple Exercise

Take a moment to think about the best client you have ever worked with.

The one you loved working with and who loved working with you.

Then ask yourself:

• What type of organisation did they work for?

• What role did they hold?

• What stage were they at in their career or business?

• What problem were they trying to solve?

• What was keeping them awake at night?

• Why did they choose you?

• How did they find you?

• What made them trust you?

• What made the relationship work so well?

Once you have answered those questions, look back over the last three to six months.

How much time have you spent in places where that person would spend their time?

Have you written for publications they read?

Appeared on podcasts they listen to?

Spoken at conferences they attend?

If the answer is "not very much", that is excellent news.

Because you have just identified your starting point.

Final Thoughts

Business development is not about becoming the loudest person in the room.

It is not about having a particular personality.

It is about having a system.

When you know exactly who you serve, where to find them, and how to build relationships with them over time, bringing in clients becomes far more predictable.

That is why I teach women lawyers to focus on three things:

Define. Draw. Deepen.

Master those three elements and you will not only build a stronger practice. You will also move closer to the financial independence, confidence, and career freedom that so many women lawyers are seeking.