The Rainmaking Podcast

Every two weeks, the business development tactics top lawyers use are free at therainmakingmagazine.com

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Most law firm mergers fail to deliver on their promise. Not because the financials were wrong — but because nobody did the cultural due diligence.

Dr. Heidi Gardner is a Distinguished Fellow at Harvard Law School, former Harvard Business School professor, McKinsey consultant, and author of two best-selling books — Smart Collaboration and Smarter Collaboration — both published by Harvard Business Press. She leads Gardner & Co., a research and advisory firm that helps professional services leaders turn collaboration into client growth. In this episode, Dr. Gardner joins Scott Love to break down exactly why post-merger trust and collaboration fail — and what leaders must do differently before, during, and after a combination.

What you'll learn:

Why mergers fail more often than not — and what "working" actually means from a client's perspective

The cultural due diligence most firms skip entirely — and the data you should be asking to see before signing

The two flavors of trust that are both essential for collaboration: competence trust and character trust

Why homophily — the instinct to affiliate with your own tribe — is the silent killer of post-merger integration

How to use data to identify collaboration leaders vs. islands — before and after a merger

Why "not every dollar is a good dollar" — and what a sticky, strategic dollar actually looks like

The difference between leading and lagging indicators of merger success — and which ones to track quarterly

Why hero-worship success stories backfire — and the less sexy story that's actually more valuable to tell

What the Smarter Collaboration Profile psychometric reveals about partnership blind spots and bifurcated cultures

Why law firms absolutely do not invest enough in leadership development — and what that costs them

3 action steps: visit SmartCollaboration.com, get curious about your clients, and examine your collaboration network

Visit: https://therainmakingpodcast.com/

YouTube: https://youtu.be/td3QJm__7Ig

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If you are a successful law firm partner or law firm founder and want to hear about other options, please book a time on Scott Love's calendar here:

https://attorneysearchgroup.com/schedule

Or email Scott to connect with him at: scott@attorneysearchgroup.com
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This podcast is sponsored by SurePoint Legal Insights (formerly known as Leopard Solutions)–turning legal intelligence into opportunity.

For a free demo, visit this link: https://surepoint.com/legal-insights/
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About Dr. Heidi Gardner:
Dr. Heidi Gardner authored two best-selling books Smart Collaboration and Smarter Collaboration, published by Harvard Business Press. A Distinguished Fellow at Harvard Law School, she was previously a professor at Harvard Business School, a consultant at McKinsey & Co., and manager at P&G. She presently leads the research and advisory firm Gardner & Co., and has lived and worked on four continents. She helps professional service firm leaders turn collaboration into client growth and sustained performance.

Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-k-gardner-ab5b825/

smartercollaboration.com

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=smarter+collaboration&crid=3AHLKBDCRF21B&sprefix=smarter+collaboration+%2Caps%2C122&ref=nb_sb_noss_2
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every two weeks, the business development tactics top lawyers use are free at therainmakingmagazine.com

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Every year, around bonus and distribution season, law firm partners ask themselves the same question: is it time to make a move?

In this solo cast, Scott Love — legal recruiter with 30+ years in the industry and specialist in corporate and finance partner placements — walks through the 10-category career assessment framework he uses with partners every day. If you've ever wondered whether your current firm is still the right fit, this episode gives you a structured, honest way to think it through.

What you'll learn:

The 10 categories that determine whether a partner should consider a move — from leadership confidence to long-term personal fulfillment

Why most partners leave for one of two reasons — and how to identify which one applies to you

The 1–10 satisfaction scale: what a six or below actually means for your next step

Why "I'm not asking you to leave — I'm asking you to have a 30-minute conversation" is the right frame

The "rule it out, then rule it in" approach to evaluating another firm without overcommitting

How to use a personal journal to track your diligence at each round without losing perspective

Why the most important question isn't which firm pays more — it's which firm is best for your clients

What the LPQ process actually looks like — and how Scott's team helps partners navigate it

The free resource at partnersonthemove.com: flowcharts, quizzes, ethics guidance, compensation info, and more — no registration required

When to reach out to Scott directly — even if you're not sure you're looking

Visit: https://therainmakingpodcast.com/

YouTube: https://youtu.be/erxMA31lttg

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If you are a successful law firm partner or law firm founder and want to hear about other options, please book a time on Scott Love's calendar here:

https://attorneysearchgroup.com/schedule

Or email Scott to connect with him at: scott@attorneysearchgroup.com
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This podcast is sponsored by SurePoint Legal Insights (formerly known as Leopard Solutions)–turning legal intelligence into opportunity.

For a free demo, visit this link: https://surepoint.com/legal-insights/
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About Scott Love:

Scott Love is a legal recruiter solely focused on recruiting corporate and finance partners for global law firms in major markets. He is the host of The Rainmaking Podcast, co-author of Rainmaker Confidential, and speaks professionally at conferences on sales, client development, and recruiting.

📘 Book: Rainmaker Confidential — RainmakerConfidential.com
📖 Rainmaking Magazine: free complimentary subscription at TheRainmakingMagazine.com
🎓 Free Webinars: RainmakingSeminars.com

🌐 Free resource for partners: partnersonthemove.com — no registration required
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every two weeks, the business development tactics top lawyers use are free at therainmakingmagazine.com

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You can have the best legal mind in the room and still lose the pitch. What separates the attorneys who win business from those who don't often has nothing to do with the quality of their work — and everything to do with how they show up.

Paul Marchegiani is the founder and CEO of Vox Vera®, a performance skills consultancy that trains lawyers, executives, and public figures in presence, voice, and spoken communication. A former BigLaw litigator, 15-year Hollywood dealmaker at Warner Bros., NBCUniversal, Miramax, and Amazon Studios, trained opera singer, actor, and the only U.S. lawyer to hold a P.R.A. teaching certification from Patsy Rodenburg, Emeritus Director of Voice at the Royal Shakespeare Company — Paul brings a perspective on communication that no one else in the legal world can.

What you'll learn:

Why legal training produces brilliant writers and analytical thinkers — and what it costs them in a pitch room

What clients are actually evaluating when law firms present (it's not just the law)

Why introvert vs. extrovert is the wrong frame — and what to think about instead

What Paul learned negotiating 1,000+ deals in Hollywood that applies directly to legal business development

How tensions in the body become credibility leaks — and how to spot and release them

What presence actually is (and why the Royal Shakespeare Company's approach changes everything)

Why getting in your head about how you're coming across is the worst thing you can do while speaking

The CEO nonprofit case study: one session, one board presentation, and feedback they'd never received before

Why poetry has a place in the practice of law — and how working with heightened language makes you a better communicator

3 action steps to start developing your Rainmaker's voice right now

Visit: https://therainmakingpodcast.com/

YouTube: https://youtu.be/XRXsJ_maA7Y

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If you are a successful law firm partner or law firm founder and want to hear about other options, please book a time on Scott Love's calendar here:

https://calendly.com/scott-736/half-hour-phone-meeting-with-scott

Or email Scott to connect with him at: scott@attorneysearchgroup.com
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This podcast is sponsored by SurePoint Legal Insights (formerly known as Leopard Solutions)–turning legal intelligence into opportunity.

For a free demo, visit this link: https://surepoint.com/legal-insights/
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About Paul Marchegiani:
Paul Marchegiani ("mar-keh-JAH-nee") is a Los Angeles-based performance coach, former in-house entertainment lawyer and BigLaw litigator, and Founder/CEO of Vox Vera® — a premium performance skills consultancy that trains lawyers, executives, and public figures in presence, voice, and spoken communication. Prior to launching Vox Vera, Paul worked for over 15 years in Hollywood as a client-side studio executive at Warner Bros., NBCUniversal, Miramax, and Amazon Studios. He began his legal career as a litigator at Orrick and Morrison & Foerster after receiving his J.D. from U.C. Berkeley. Paul is an experienced stage performer and the only U.S. lawyer and senior business executive to hold a P.R.A. teaching certification from Patsy Rodenburg, Emeritus Director of Voice at the Royal Shakespeare Company. He teaches communication skills at Stanford Law School, Berkeley Law, and the University of Chicago Law School.

Links:

https://www.voxvera.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulmarchegiani/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every two weeks, the business development tactics top lawyers use are free at therainmakingmagazine.com

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Half of all lateral partner hires don't last. That's not a recruiting problem. It's a vetting, compensation, and integration problem — and most law firms are making the same mistakes at every stage.

Shireen Hilal is the CEO of Maior and a former COO of a national law firm where she drove +20% revenue and +30% profits per partner. She's also a former AmLaw 50 litigator and has led strategy for a $1B division at KPMG. In this Sometimes Tuesdays episode, Shireen joins Scott Love to break down exactly why lateral partner hiring goes wrong — and what firms and candidates can do differently.

What you'll learn:

Why the LPQ (lateral partner questionnaire) is not enough — and what you need to do instead

How to assess the real portability of a book of business (hint: headline revenue is the last thing to look at)

Why cultural fit isn't a soft factor — and how to assess it with the same rigor as financials

The "coloring in the lines vs. entrepreneurial" framework for diagnosing cultural misalignment before it happens

What actually comes out at dinner vs. a 45-minute Zoom — and why in-person matters for expensive hires

Why confirmation bias derails lateral hiring decisions — and a simple fix that adds real data

What the onboarding vs. integration distinction means — and why giving someone a password is not integration

The trend Shireen is hoping becomes standard: tying a sponsoring partner's year-end metrics to the success of their lateral hire

What candidates should ask that no one thinks to ask — including talking to a recently acclimated lateral partner

3 action steps across vetting, comp, and integration to immediately improve your lateral hiring outcomes

Free resource: Shireen's one-sheet of the right late-stage questions to ask — reach out to her directly via the show notes

Visit: https://therainmakingpodcast.com/

YouTube: https://youtu.be/z5ZdvcjrdA8

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If you are a successful law firm partner or law firm founder and want to hear about other options, please book a time on Scott Love's calendar here:

https://calendly.com/scott-736/half-hour-phone-meeting-with-scott

Or email Scott to connect with him at: scott@attorneysearchgroup.com
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This podcast is sponsored by SurePoint Legal Insights (formerly known as Leopard Solutions)–turning legal intelligence into opportunity.

For a free demo, visit this link: https://surepoint.com/legal-insights/
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About Shireen Hilal:
Shireen Hilal is the CEO of Maior, where she helps law firms build better strategies and improve operations. Shireen founded Maior after two decades in law and professional services, including practicing as a litigator in AmLaw 50 firms, serving as the COO of a national law firm (+20% revenue and +30% profits per partner during her tenure), leading strategy for a $1B division of KPMG, and building change programs at BDO. Shireen also writes columns for Law360 and Today's Managing Partner.

Links:

Maior's website: https://www.maiorconsultants.com/

Shireen's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shireenhilal/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most law firms say they want to cross-sell. Few have the internal foundation to actually make it happen.

Rebecca Hnatowski is the founder of Edwards Advisory and a specialist in cross-selling strategy and lateral integration for law firms and professional services organizations. In this episode, she joins Scott Love to break down why cross-selling initiatives stall — and exactly what has to be in place before the first client conversation ever happens.

What you'll learn:

Why "let's cross-sell" without internal groundwork almost always fails

The trust problem at the root of most cross-selling breakdowns — and how to fix it

Why partners refuse to share clients (and how origination credit structures make it worse)

How to build a manageable cross-sell target list from data your firm already has

A gap analysis framework: how to identify which clients have unmet legal needs in other practice areas

How to use AI (including Claude and ChatGPT) to research target clients and identify opportunities in minutes

When to bring in an external consultant vs. handle cross-selling initiatives internally

How a post-merger integration timeline affects cross-selling readiness — and when to wait

How to turn a target list into actual client strategy conversations (including the perfect year-end ask)

Why leaderboards and internal competition keep cross-selling initiatives alive past the first six months

3 action steps to start building a real cross-selling program at your firm today

Visit: https://therainmakingpodcast.com/

YouTube: https://youtu.be/7dBb6ypgRvU

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If you are a successful law firm partner or law firm founder and want to hear about other options, please book a time on Scott Love's calendar here:

https://calendly.com/scott-736/half-hour-phone-meeting-with-scott

Or email Scott to connect with him at: scott@attorneysearchgroup.com
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🎙️ The Rainmaking Magazine helps lawyers, consultants, and professional service providers build thriving practices through smarter business development.

📖 Subscribe to Rainmaking Magazine — free complimentary subscription: https://www.rainmakingmagazine.com
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This podcast is sponsored by SurePoint Legal Insights (formerly known as Leopard Solutions)–turning legal intelligence into opportunity.

For a free demo, visit this link: https://surepoint.com/legal-insights/
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About Rebecca Hnatowski:
Rebecca Hnatowski is the founder of Edwards Advisory, LLC, where she helps law firms and lawyers turn relationships into opportunities for growth. Drawing on nearly 20 years of in-house legal marketing and business development experience, she helps firms put cross-selling into practice by strengthening internal relationships, identifying client needs, and connecting colleagues' capabilities to those opportunities. Through tailored strategies, interactive workshops, and coaching and accountability, Rebecca helps attorneys follow through — and helps firms make more of the talent and relationships they already have.

Links:

Learn more at: edwardsadvisory.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccahnatowski/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices