The Place to Network: Working ' and Networking ' for a Cause

Altruism. Many people pay lip service to it or aspire to do it “one day,” and yet many professionals seem to never quite get around to actually becoming involved. There are so many charities, foundations and volunteer organizations, all of which need guidance, energy and money, so it would seem so easy just to pick one or two causes or organizations you really believe in and then make time for those. Easy? Not always!

Community Involvement

Community involvement is not so simple for all lawyers, especially because most of them have the specter of billable hours looming over them. To a lawyer, time literally is money. However, it turns out that many lawyers have indeed managed to carve out time from their busy schedules to benefit community organizations. As they tell it, the benefits are many, and the positives far outweigh the negatives. In addition to the satisfaction they feel from helping others, lawyers can also benefit from the extraordinary networking opportunities that charitable work affords them.

Relationships with Important Clients

Matt Miller, an attorney with DiscoverReady, a company that outsources document review for Fortune 500 companies, is based in Charlotte, NC. Miller is on the Board of his local YMCA. He also participates in a Christmas Village project that helps indigent families purchase Christmas toys for their children at low cost, and also raises money for scholarship funds. Both activities are focused on downtown Charlotte, and are geared toward helping children and their parents have a better quality of life.

Miller finds the work extremely rewarding and notes that it has allowed him to build relationships with important clients. He explains, “A lot of people get into the law with the idea of helping people, and many lawyers are socially conscious. And with the current economic state, there is a real push by clients to see their lawyers investing in the community. You need to find a cause you're really attached to ' one that you can devote time to ' and you can develop fruitful business relationships that way.”

Through his charitable works, Miller was able to forge a relationship with a major financial institution client, and those contacts are still active and important to his work at DiscoverReady. “Non-profit work immediately gives you common ground with other people and provides an entry point that's not there otherwise. You can plug in with other professionals who are community-minded and it's easier to meet people on that level.”

Member of a Board

Michael R. Bell is a solo practitioner in New York City. He echoes Miller's sentiment about charitable work allowing you to build relationships with people you wouldn't otherwise meet or have occasion to socialize with. For the past two years, Bell has been on the Board of Comprehensive Development Inc., a program that partners with and raises funds for Manhattan Comprehensive Night and Day High School, an institution that educates older and under-credited students.

Bell notes that involvement in a cause is certainly not the place to actively market your legal services. When asked what profession he's in, he will subtly tell people that he's a lawyer and will answer their questions, but the networking is much softer when you're on a Board.

According to Bell, “Being on a Board gives me certain legitimacy and puts me in a circle I wouldn't ordinarily be in. At events, I'm not just a stranger ' I'm a member of the Board. I go out with other Board members socially from time to time. Without overtly marketing, I am creating the possibility of opportunity and meeting people who could become clients or could refer clients to me at some point.” He notes that aggressively marketing yourself in a philanthropic setting may turn some people off, but you can use your best judgment on this as you become more familiar with your organization and its members. Usually, a more understated approach is advisable.

Attorney Dedication

Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice is a multi-office law firm based in North Carolina. Across the firm's many offices, there is a prevailing dedication to community and civic involvement. Murray Greason is a Senior Member of the firm who was Managing Partner for several years. He notes that Womble Carlyle has always maintained a sterling history for community service, and that he believes it's very important for all attorneys to dedicate themselves to a cause outside of their legal work.

Greason has served as Chairman of the Board of the local American Red Cross chapter and the United Way, and has been actively involved in the Board of Trustees for Wake Forest University and The Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Over the years, Greason has met a great number of people through his work on these causes and also through his church. Many of those contacts have led to longstanding relationships, several of them blossoming into client relationships as well.

He explains that civic and charity involvement is particularly important for young lawyers to weave into their schedules. “Since the projects that associates typically work on don't often put them in touch with real problems and opportunities, philanthropic work allows a lawyer to develop him- or herself as a person and as a lawyer while helping out.”

When faced with the dilemma of whether to spend more time billing hours or to devote it to non-profit work, young attorneys in particular are torn because they feel pressure to make their numbers. However, Greason cautions young lawyers about focusing only on legal work. “If you just sit at your desk and grind out billable hours, you won't be a well-rounded person. You'll grind yourself into dust. Get out and do something. When you do, the economy benefits and in the end, the legal market benefits as well.”

Kevin Pigott, a Womble attorney based in the firm's D.C. office, agrees wholeheartedly that lawyers need to be well-rounded, and that it actually helps them attract business if they have more of a work-life balance. He says, “It's good for business to be more balanced. People don't want to get advice from someone who's strapped to a desk. Try to spend 20% of your time doing things other than lawyering. Get out and network, go golfing.”

To that last point, Pigott hosts an annual golf tournament called The Old School Invitational each year, which raises money to benefit The House, an after-school day center for at-risk teens in a precarious Washington, DC, neighborhood. Over the years, the golf tournament has raised over $100,000 for The House.

Pigott actually asks his clients to participate in the golf tournament and also to donate money to the cause. As he explains, the transactional nature of his practice leaves him as someone more in the nature of a counselor or close adviser to his clients, so the fact that he's involved with the charity actually underscores the role he plays. “I call my clients and ask them to support the charity. I prevail upon them to do something good and something right. Though I'm not doing this to rub shoulders necessarily, I find that it does strengthen my relationships with my clients.” Pigott says that his clients participate in the tournament year in and year out, and he's even taken some of his donor-clients to The House for a tour of the facility. He is delighted to find that his solicitations are oftentimes met with words of support from his clients, thanking him for the opportunity to participate.

From a branding standpoint, Pigott says that being involved with this golf tournament forms part of his identity with clients and at the firm. They know him as a lawyer, a golfer and a person who raises money for this charity. It helps to set him and his firm apart from other attorneys.

Pigott notes that there are many soft benefits to his being involved in the golf tournament. “Doing philanthropic work is important because it makes you happier. You're growing and being challenged, you're doing something valuable for the community, and you're developing closer relationships with people. It's all to the good.”

Enriching Your Life

Ranlet S. Bell of Womble Carlyle's Winston-Salem office has had extensive involvement in the community, having been President of the Junior League, among other positions. She has found community involvement has enriched her life tremendously and has led to several referral opportunities within the firm. She remarks, “I've met fascinating people and have received lots of referrals along the way, many of which have become clients for my colleagues at the firm.”

Ms. Bell recommends that attorneys try to find which causes they can get genuinely enthusiastic about. “Try to discover what you want to do versus what you need to do. Find out what excites you so it's not drudgery ' you can actually enjoy it.”

Through her regular work, she is often in a position to help wealthy people set up private foundations or make gifts to charities, which she finds satisfying. Through her work she also helps people establish charities that address needs in the community as identified by her clients. “There are so many worthy causes, whether you are helping the poor and needy, setting up a school to help autistic children, or funding beautification or the arts. You have to find a balance, keeping your eyes on growing your practice within the firm while also doing things that are personally rewarding to you.”

Conclusion

There is clearly no shortage of philanthropic activities that a lawyer can engage in, nor is there a limit to the positive results that can be gleaned from them. Civic and charity work puts you shoulder to shoulder with people who are leaders in the community and in the business world. By investing your time, skills and money in volunteer efforts, you stand to benefit your own morale, while also making and furthering contacts that can be extremely helpful to your legal career, both now and down the road. Altruism doesn't have to be something you do “one day” ' it can be something you do “today”!

Christy Burke, a member of this newsletter's Board of Editors, is president of Burke & Company LLC (www.burke-company.com), a New York-based public relations and marketing firm that specializes in serving the legal and technology industries. In addition to providing communications consulting, Christy also organizes corporate retreats and professional development programs for companies large and small. She can be reached at 917-623-5096 or [email protected].

Altruism. Many people pay lip service to it or aspire to do it “one day,” and yet many professionals seem to never quite get around to actually becoming involved. There are so many charities, foundations and volunteer organizations, all of which need guidance, energy and money, so it would seem so easy just to pick one or two causes or organizations you really believe in and then make time for those. Easy? Not always!

Community Involvement

Community involvement is not so simple for all lawyers, especially because most of them have the specter of billable hours looming over them. To a lawyer, time literally is money. However, it turns out that many lawyers have indeed managed to carve out time from their busy schedules to benefit community organizations. As they tell it, the benefits are many, and the positives far outweigh the negatives. In addition to the satisfaction they feel from helping others, lawyers can also benefit from the extraordinary networking opportunities that charitable work affords them.

Relationships with Important Clients

Matt Miller, an attorney with DiscoverReady, a company that outsources document review for Fortune 500 companies, is based in Charlotte, NC. Miller is on the Board of his local YMCA. He also participates in a Christmas Village project that helps indigent families purchase Christmas toys for their children at low cost, and also raises money for scholarship funds. Both activities are focused on downtown Charlotte, and are geared toward helping children and their parents have a better quality of life.

Miller finds the work extremely rewarding and notes that it has allowed him to build relationships with important clients. He explains, “A lot of people get into the law with the idea of helping people, and many lawyers are socially conscious. And with the current economic state, there is a real push by clients to see their lawyers investing in the community. You need to find a cause you're really attached to ' one that you can devote time to ' and you can develop fruitful business relationships that way.”

Through his charitable works, Miller was able to forge a relationship with a major financial institution client, and those contacts are still active and important to his work at DiscoverReady. “Non-profit work immediately gives you common ground with other people and provides an entry point that's not there otherwise. You can plug in with other professionals who are community-minded and it's easier to meet people on that level.”

Member of a Board

Michael R. Bell is a solo practitioner in New York City. He echoes Miller's sentiment about charitable work allowing you to build relationships with people you wouldn't otherwise meet or have occasion to socialize with. For the past two years, Bell has been on the Board of Comprehensive Development Inc., a program that partners with and raises funds for Manhattan Comprehensive Night and Day High School, an institution that educates older and under-credited students.

Bell notes that involvement in a cause is certainly not the place to actively market your legal services. When asked what profession he's in, he will subtly tell people that he's a lawyer and will answer their questions, but the networking is much softer when you're on a Board.

According to Bell, “Being on a Board gives me certain legitimacy and puts me in a circle I wouldn't ordinarily be in. At events, I'm not just a stranger ' I'm a member of the Board. I go out with other Board members socially from time to time. Without overtly marketing, I am creating the possibility of opportunity and meeting people who could become clients or could refer clients to me at some point.” He notes that aggressively marketing yourself in a philanthropic setting may turn some people off, but you can use your best judgment on this as you become more familiar with your organization and its members. Usually, a more understated approach is advisable.

Attorney Dedication

Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice is a multi-office law firm based in North Carolina. Across the firm's many offices, there is a prevailing dedication to community and civic involvement. Murray Greason is a Senior Member of the firm who was Managing Partner for several years. He notes that Womble Carlyle has always maintained a sterling history for community service, and that he believes it's very important for all attorneys to dedicate themselves to a cause outside of their legal work.

Greason has served as Chairman of the Board of the local American Red Cross chapter and the United Way, and has been actively involved in the Board of Trustees for Wake Forest University and The Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Over the years, Greason has met a great number of people through his work on these causes and also through his church. Many of those contacts have led to longstanding relationships, several of them blossoming into client relationships as well.

He explains that civic and charity involvement is particularly important for young lawyers to weave into their schedules. “Since the projects that associates typically work on don't often put them in touch with real problems and opportunities, philanthropic work allows a lawyer to develop him- or herself as a person and as a lawyer while helping out.”

When faced with the dilemma of whether to spend more time billing hours or to devote it to non-profit work, young attorneys in particular are torn because they feel pressure to make their numbers. However, Greason cautions young lawyers about focusing only on legal work. “If you just sit at your desk and grind out billable hours, you won't be a well-rounded person. You'll grind yourself into dust. Get out and do something. When you do, the economy benefits and in the end, the legal market benefits as well.”

Kevin Pigott, a Womble attorney based in the firm's D.C. office, agrees wholeheartedly that lawyers need to be well-rounded, and that it actually helps them attract business if they have more of a work-life balance. He says, “It's good for business to be more balanced. People don't want to get advice from someone who's strapped to a desk. Try to spend 20% of your time doing things other than lawyering. Get out and network, go golfing.”

To that last point, Pigott hosts an annual golf tournament called The Old School Invitational each year, which raises money to benefit The House, an after-school day center for at-risk teens in a precarious Washington, DC, neighborhood. Over the years, the golf tournament has raised over $100,000 for The House.

Pigott actually asks his clients to participate in the golf tournament and also to donate money to the cause. As he explains, the transactional nature of his practice leaves him as someone more in the nature of a counselor or close adviser to his clients, so the fact that he's involved with the charity actually underscores the role he plays. “I call my clients and ask them to support the charity. I prevail upon them to do something good and something right. Though I'm not doing this to rub shoulders necessarily, I find that it does strengthen my relationships with my clients.” Pigott says that his clients participate in the tournament year in and year out, and he's even taken some of his donor-clients to The House for a tour of the facility. He is delighted to find that his solicitations are oftentimes met with words of support from his clients, thanking him for the opportunity to participate.

From a branding standpoint, Pigott says that being involved with this golf tournament forms part of his identity with clients and at the firm. They know him as a lawyer, a golfer and a person who raises money for this charity. It helps to set him and his firm apart from other attorneys.

Pigott notes that there are many soft benefits to his being involved in the golf tournament. “Doing philanthropic work is important because it makes you happier. You're growing and being challenged, you're doing something valuable for the community, and you're developing closer relationships with people. It's all to the good.”

Enriching Your Life

Ranlet S. Bell of Womble Carlyle's Winston-Salem office has had extensive involvement in the community, having been President of the Junior League, among other positions. She has found community involvement has enriched her life tremendously and has led to several referral opportunities within the firm. She remarks, “I've met fascinating people and have received lots of referrals along the way, many of which have become clients for my colleagues at the firm.”

Ms. Bell recommends that attorneys try to find which causes they can get genuinely enthusiastic about. “Try to discover what you want to do versus what you need to do. Find out what excites you so it's not drudgery ' you can actually enjoy it.”

Through her regular work, she is often in a position to help wealthy people set up private foundations or make gifts to charities, which she finds satisfying. Through her work she also helps people establish charities that address needs in the community as identified by her clients. “There are so many worthy causes, whether you are helping the poor and needy, setting up a school to help autistic children, or funding beautification or the arts. You have to find a balance, keeping your eyes on growing your practice within the firm while also doing things that are personally rewarding to you.”

Conclusion

There is clearly no shortage of philanthropic activities that a lawyer can engage in, nor is there a limit to the positive results that can be gleaned from them. Civic and charity work puts you shoulder to shoulder with people who are leaders in the community and in the business world. By investing your time, skills and money in volunteer efforts, you stand to benefit your own morale, while also making and furthering contacts that can be extremely helpful to your legal career, both now and down the road. Altruism doesn't have to be something you do “one day” ' it can be something you do “today”!

Christy Burke, a member of this newsletter's Board of Editors, is president of Burke & Company LLC (www.burke-company.com), a New York-based public relations and marketing firm that specializes in serving the legal and technology industries. In addition to providing communications consulting, Christy also organizes corporate retreats and professional development programs for companies large and small. She can be reached at 917-623-5096 or [email protected].