Networking for Lawyers: How Does Being a Part of the Community Help Your Career?

It is now more critical than ever for lawyers to develop their connections. Networking could help you develop as a professional in your practice area and improve your legal marketing. One of the best ways to obtain new connections is to become part of the relevant lawyer networking community. 

We asked Lauren Mack, an organizer of a global community, to share her experience of participating in an innovative legal network and how it has helped her career.

In 2012, not long before I was about to graduate from law school, I heard about a “legal hackathon” happening at Brooklyn Law School. I was intrigued, so I went and was inspired by what Prof. Askin and his students were doing. Out of the hackathon, Phil Weiss started a Meetup group called Legal Hackers with classmates Warren Allen and Tariq Badat, which I quickly joined and, not long after, offered to help organize with them.

I wanted to attend Legal Hackers because it was very different from the other legal networking events I was attending at the time. The topics of discussion didn’t always have an answer or guidance, so we often asked, “what if” or “how can we address or solve this?” I loved the focus on actually DOING rather than just talking about problems with the law or technology.

The group also had a strong sense of community. I would see the same people at each networking events for lawyers, and we would often hang out afterward over dinner and/or drinks. I made much stronger connections this way than I would at any other networking event, many of which I continue to maintain today. The Legal Hackers community was so inspiring that we had no choice but to keep it alive and grow it as much as we could.

It is important to be a part of a community because the legal profession is very collaborative.

It is essential to be a part of a community because the legal profession is very collaborative. Even when representing opposite sides, you often need to work together to resolve an issue, whether finalizing agreement terms or settling a dispute. 

Having a community where you run into the same people over and over again allows you to get to know them on a more personal level. This opens the door to expedited negotiations and client referrals. It absolutely helps to be a part of a community and ultimately benefits your clients.

Networking has definitely helped me in my career path, although it was often difficult to foresee how at the time. I was hired at my current firm because I ran into one of the partners at a digital music conference, and he remembered me from seeing me at similar events years before. Referrals from other attorneys I have met through networking (or their legal networks) are also the primary way I obtain clients, which can be critical for professional growth if you are employed by a law firm.

In addition, my closer connections and I often consult each other on our respective practice areas, and through them, I can obtain answers to general questions quicker and easier than if I had to research it myself or engage outside counsel.

Pick one to three areas of focus and brand yourself as a go-to resource, whether it be an area of law, a type of business, or a dispute. Of course, you can back that up with knowledge and experience. 

If you can demonstrate expertise in a particular area of the law or a specific type of business or dispute, then that is more likely to stick in a potential client or referral source’s mind, and they will be more likely to turn to you in the future when that type of issue arises.

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