The Challenge: Business development has become a grey zone for many lawyers—caught between core legal expertise and the growing demands of clients. For mid-level lawyers, the challenge is no longer whether business development matters, but how to make it practical. This article offers a simplified roadmap to turn uncertainty into measurable results.

Understanding the Scope of Business Development

Although this article will focus on a simplified roadmap for practical application, it is useful first to view the concept of business development as a whole and to visualize the breadth of its scope.

The following table outlines the key areas of responsibility and related tasks in business development for law firms.

Defining the Simplified Roadmap

Now let us clarify our simplified roadmap as follows:

1. The components of the business development system
2. The performance and key performance indicators (PI and KPI) of the business development system
3. The return on investment of business development

The components of the business development system

Business development systems require structuring around the value to be delivered to the client. A common mistake is to design a plan focused on presenting the law firm itself—its strengths, areas of expertise, and best practices. However, the real objective should be to build around the questions: What does the client expect? Why should they choose me? Which concerns or needs are they seeking answers for?

In this equation, the two main components are the law firm and the client, while the supporting component is the set of communication tools.

When looking at the correlation in the visual below, the first step is to carefully evaluate the client’s expectations and strategy together with your own firm’s expectations and strategy, and to connect them within the framework of client value.

Defining the Client “Persona”

The next step is to create a clear profile of the clients we aim to target in business development, which is referred to as a persona.

When developing a persona, it is important to construct a detailed representation of an individual, step by step, as if this person were standing before us and embodying the client we aim to reach through business development.

Give your persona a name and specify his or her job title. Including a representative photo is also recommended.

✅ Role & Area of Responsibility

✅ Goals & Priorities

✅ Time & Operational Dynamics

✅ Industry &  Legal Risks

✅ What Is He/She Looking For?

✅ Content Preferences & Engagement

❓ What key question might be on the persona’s mind?

Naturally, when selecting a law firm to work with, a client seeks clear answers to certain key questions. For example: “In the event of an urgent legal issue in this country, how quickly can they intervene?” or “Can I easily track our progress with clear and measurable figures?”

From this point on, decide which key points you should highlight in your communication with a client who has these questions in mind.

⭐ Demonstrate that you have the lawyers and operational capacity to follow up on the client’s matter quickly and bring it to a conclusion. 📊 Demonstrate your practice of delivering data-driven results. 📑 Highlight your reporting and monitoring system. 🚨 Refer to case examples to demonstrate your flexibility in responding to emergencies. ☎️ Emphasize that there will be a single point of contact available to the client at all times.

From Client Insight to Communication

As shown in the visual, communication tools may include:

• Publications
• Website
• Seminars
• Conferences
• Visits
• And others

The next step is to align these tools with the persona. For example, you might approach it as follows:

1. What area of expertise do I want to demonstrate, and therefore, what type of articles should I focus on?

How can I track the impact of my articles? At this point, data from Lexology, the firm’s website, and LinkedIn provide valuable insights into whether you are on the right path. In particular, the analytics offered by Lexology create a highly objective benchmark. Beyond simple metrics such as the number of reads or the Lexology Index, you can also see who has accessed your article, allowing you to adjust your approach accordingly. For this reason, as you will see in the following section, Lexology analytics are also included among the performance indicators (PIs) for business development.

2. At which conferences, congresses, or events can I meet and engage with my target client or lead?

You also need to examine what types of events your persona is interested in and attends. You can narrow the field by reviewing the participants from previous years. For the events you plan to attend, it is essential to review the participant lists in advance, track which individuals within your focus are attending, and organize a formal or informal meeting with them beforehand.

Of course, for these meetings you will need a well-prepared elevator pitch. It is helpful to imagine it this way: If I had only one minute with this person, what would I say?

3. If I had the opportunity to establish contact through visits, which three clients would I choose to visit in their own offices? How and why would I select them?

Of course, preparation is also essential regarding what my message would be and how I would follow up on the outcome of the visit.

The communication suggestions provided above are intended only as examples. You can both diversify them and apply them to a wider range of communication channels. Let us also reiterate the key point: “What does the client expect from my firm?”

From Action to Results: Measuring Performance

It is necessary to establish a set of performance indicators that link the success of properly designing and implementing the business development process with the level of success in its impact on business outcomes. We can assess whether the business development process has been successfully designed and executed through process performance indicators.

Below you will find examples of process performance indicators.

Publication performance (Lexology-based):

• Number of publications
• Number of reads
• LexScore
• Thought Leader (Influencer)
• Editor’s Choice

Event Performance:

• Return on event participation
• New clients gained through events
• Extraordinary increase in instructions from existing clients
• Extraordinary increase in billable hours from existing clients

Service Quality Indicators:

• Response time to correspondence
• Invoice disputes
• Positive or constructive feedback (if any)

Now it is time to link the process with business outcomes.

New Clients

• Number of instructions
• Billable hours

Existing Clients

• Number of instructions
• Billable hours
• Cross-selling

Conclusion

Business development requires aligning client expectations with the firm’s strategy and measuring both process and outcomes. With a clear roadmap—built on personas, communication tools, performance indicators, and legal marketing practices—mid-level lawyers can turn abstract concepts into practical results, strengthening client relationships and driving sustainable growth.

Key Takeaways

• Business development is no longer optional—it is a core skill for mid-level lawyers.
• Defining clear client personas helps align firm strategy with client expectations.
• Choosing the right communication tools and legal marketing strategies ensures stronger client engagement.
• Measuring success through KPIs, PIs, and service quality indicators links effort to tangible business outcomes.
• A simplified roadmap turns the “grey zone” of business development into a practical, results-driven process.