5 tips for lawyers to ask for work without feeling awkward

In the same episode, she unpacked the often-overlooked challenge lawyers face when it comes to asking clients for work, and questioned whether overcoming this discomfort is now essential in an increasingly competitive legal market.

Prodonovich’s first strategy flips the traditional approach on its head, encouraging lawyers to abandon a transactional mindset and start with genuine curiosity by asking contacts, clients, or referral sources how they grow their practice, run their business, and achieve success.

“Rather than thinking what you’re going to get out of this or what you can get from them, perhaps a conversation with a contact that you have, a client or a good referral contact about how they build their practice, how do they build their influence, how does their business build work?” she said.

“Perhaps that gives you a chance to reflect and talk about, well, how you get most of your business, let’s say, from word of mouth and how important referrals are to your growth. So start by seeking to understand how they work, then you can reflect on your practice and see if there’s a meeting of the minds there.”

Once lawyers truly understand how others operate, she urged them to ditch the tired, transactional ask for work and instead bring clients into the fold, sharing what they are building and the problems that genuinely energise them.

“Then give them permission to perhaps share your plans. So rather than asking for work, let’s say out of context or in a silo, let them know what you’re building, let them know what you enjoy solving or doing,” she said.

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While she concedes the approach may feel “high risk”, Prodonovich reframes it as a powerful act of trust, explaining that it often compels valued clients to lean in, champion your efforts, and take a genuine stake in your growth.

“Maybe it’s a high-risk move, but it’s a high-trust move to let them know what you’re doing to get out and about and to get business yourself,” she said.

“Because I find that with a lot of good clients, if you’ve done a great job, they want to help you. If you let them know what you’re building, you might then get them involved and invested in building your practice.

Spotting a frequent blind spot of clients and referrers often underestimating the full scope of a lawyer’s expertise, she urged lawyers to boldly fill that gap, clearly showcasing what they do and the complex problems they excel at solving.

“I do quite a few client interviews, and I chat with buyers of legal services, and while they certainly admire and respect what lawyers are doing for them, they really don’t have the optics of everything you do or how people engage you,” she said.

“So one of the things is just to let everyone know your clients and referrers, but let people know what you do.”

Instead of sticking to a bland elevator pitch, Prodonovich urged lawyers to spotlight the problems they’re passionate about solving, noting that openly sharing their expertise can spark opportunities in places they least expect.

“It’s not descriptive like I’m a lawyer with firm xyz, but I enjoy solving this type of problem. I’m often brought in when there’s this type of workplace investigation. If people have trouble with protecting their IP, I’m someone they call in this sector,” she said.

“I’m not a fan of the elevator pitch ... but if you let everyone know what you do, then you’ll be surprised at where opportunities turn up.”

Rather than diving straight into problems, she encouraged lawyers to celebrate what clients are proud of, turning conversations into constructive, curiosity-driven dialogues that naturally lead to challenges – rather than reducing every interaction to a problem to be solved.

“I’m most interested in what might be changing in their business. I would start with what they’re most proud of. So what’s gone well or what success have they achieved?” she said.

“My advice is to position a conversation in a more constructive phase. You can then move into problems, but don’t be the problem seeker that every conversation someone has with [you], you’re looking for a problem that you can solve.”

By steering conversations towards what clients are proud of and their future goals, Prodonovich explained, lawyers can uncover subtle opportunities to provide support and add real value.

“In asking about their business, look for some positive things or what they’re most proud of and perhaps what their goals are or where they see their business in, let’s say, 12 to 24 months,” she said.

“There might be something that crops up with that about how you can help or how someone in your network can help.”

Finally, Prodonovich advised lawyers to ditch the tension of asking clients to replace someone and instead focus on becoming part of the client’s portfolio – a low-pressure strategy that builds loyalty while keeping them top of mind for future opportunities.

“Asking a client to be part of their portfolio reduces that friction. The tense exchange could be that you’re asking them to get rid of someone or to do someone else’s work, because a great client has good relationships,” she said.

“That’s something we all want: a client who’s loyal to relationships. So rather than trying to kick someone off, maybe ask if you can be part of their portfolio, or how could you be part of that portfolio if the need ever arises? It’s a lower-pressure tactic.”