I think that lawyers should know who they are and what type of clients they want (and the answer is not “any client with a pulse.”)
Here is a great example from Maureen Mckay’s website (www.mckaylegal.com):
McKay Legal® has a select clientele.
You are the right type of client for McKay Legal® if you:
1. Want your lawyer to be a member of your team, and a partner in your success
2. Value strategic, creative advice, and are open to new ideas
3. Believe that having long-term relationships with your professional advisors is important
4. Are willing to communicate openly and effectively with me to achieve your goals
5. Prefer if your lawyer tries to resolve disputes amicably before recommending that we start a war
6. May have emergencies which require me to work both day and night, but not all the time
7. Appreciate a lawyer who can play nicely with your other advisors
8. Have not bought into the notion that you should judge the quality of legal services by how large the lawyer’s firm is
9. Want to succeed in your dealings with others but have no need to crush others to satisfy your own ego
10. Know that legal services are part of the investment that you make for your business to thrive and grow
McKay Legal® is not for you if you:
1. Do not value proactive advice
2. Are smarter than everyone else and have no need for advice at all
3. Only hire lawyers to help you to fix problems rather than to avoid them in the first place
4. Are by nature cynical, suspicious, and distrustful. (These characteristics are okay if you are otherwise funny or charming, but if not, please find someone else.)
Think about whether you make it clear to the marketplace what type of clients you are after, and again, a heartbeat should not be good enough.