THE RAINMASTERS APPROACH
Business Development Training for Lawyers
Equip your lawyers with RainMasters: a practical framework that combines Style, Mindset, Strategy, and Systems to build business development capability and consistent action.
A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO PRACTICE GROWTH
Make business development
a skill your lawyers can use.
LeadWise Group provides business development training for lawyers through interactive workshops and tailored law firm programs. We help associates, counsel, and partners develop a deliberate approach to building a practice—from choosing the right relationships to having productive client conversations and following through.
Training connects strategy with the situations lawyers face: deciding whom to contact, reconnecting with a dormant relationship, asking for a meeting, exploring a client’s needs, or staying consistent when billable work takes over. The emphasis is on practical behaviors that fit the lawyer’s strengths, practice, and stage of development. Our Natural Rainmaking Style approach helps lawyers develop business authentically while strengthening the skills they need to grow.
WHO IT’S FOR
Different career stages.
Different business development needs.
01
Associates & aspiring partners
Build business development habits early. Develop an intentional network, strengthen internal and external relationships, raise visibility, and prepare for greater responsibility for practice growth.
02
New & non-equity partners
Make the transition toward building and sustaining a practice. Clarify a market focus, deepen client relationships, develop opportunities, and create a workable plan for consistent action.
03
Experienced & lateral partners
Refresh an established approach, expand strategically, reconnect with valuable contacts, and develop relationships across the firm that support collaboration and client service.
04
Practice groups & lawyer cohorts
Create shared skills and a common approach to business development. Programs can focus on a career stage, a practice, an office, or lawyers working toward a shared growth priority.
THE RAINMASTERS FRAMEWORK
Style. Mindset.
Strategy. Systems.
RainMasters integrates psychology, strategy, and execution to turn good intentions into consistent business development action and results.
Style
Understand Natural Rainmaking Style and how lawyers build trust, communicate value, and develop relationships. Explore clients’ communication and buying styles so lawyers can adapt their approach.
Mindset
Recognize the beliefs and internal resistance that can hold business development back. Build shared language for approaching discomfort, follow-through, and the shift from intention to action.
Strategy
Define ideal clients, priority relationships, and practice focus. Help participants choose where to invest their effort and translate business development goals into practical plans.
Systems
Teach repeatable approaches to Pipeline, Nurture, Visibility, and Conversations. Give lawyers tools for expanding networks, maintaining relationships, demonstrating expertise, and advancing opportunities.
Four systems that support execution
Pipeline
Identify potential clients, referral sources, and connectors; understand who is already in your network and who is missing.
Nurture
Create authentic, sustainable habits for staying in touch and providing value to clients and contacts.
Visibility
Use positioning, writing, speaking, and other opportunities to make your expertise visible to the right people.
Conversations
Move from connections to meaningful business development conversations, client needs discovery, pitches, and next steps.
The G.R.O.W. progression: Gain clarity and focus, Raise your profile, Optimize your relationships, and Win new business. This progression supports application of the RainMasters framework.
HOW WE WORK WITH YOUR FIRM
Focused workshops.
Connected learning over time.
Training is available virtually or in person. We recommend a format based on the participants, the skills involved, and how much support they need to put the learning into practice.
Interactive workshops
Address a defined skill or challenge through practical exercises, discussion, and realistic business development situations. Useful for a focused learning session or part of a firm event.
Cohort development programs
Build connected skills across multiple sessions. Participants apply the tools between sessions, compare experiences with peers, and refine their approach as they work on their own practices.
Training with coaching
Add individual or group coaching when lawyers need help applying the material to their goals, relationships, or current opportunities. Coaching can support reflection, accountability, and follow-through.
DESIGNED FOR APPLICATION
Use the lawyer’s own practice
as the starting point.
Start with the firm’s goals and the lawyers’ needs.
We clarify the audience, experience levels, practice context, and behaviors the firm wants to strengthen. A senior-associate cohort may need a different starting point from partners pursuing a new market or deepening client relationships.
Practice with real relationships and opportunities.
Participants can work on their own positioning, contact priorities, meeting requests, conversation preparation, and follow-up plans. The aim is to leave with useful next steps and practical tools. Program design also takes account of what the firm already offers and the outcomes it wants participants to achieve.
Define how learning will be put to work.
Depending on the engagement, follow-up can include action plans, peer discussion, coaching, or progress reviews. We agree how to assess application—for example, stronger relationship plans, more consistent follow-up, or clearer preparation for client conversations.
THE LEADWISE APPROACH
Explore the RainMasters
approach in more depth.
Explore the framework behind the training, practical tools for applying it, and the related RainMasters Academy coaching and training program.
Read about the RainMasters framework ↗
Explore RainMasters Academy
For lawyers considering a broader coaching and training program, learn about the Academy and discuss whether it is the right fit.
Put the ideas into practice
Explore business development tools and resources, or learn more about the team behind our training.
RAINMASTERS PARTICIPANT EXPERIENCES
What lawyers say
about the impact.
Practical & manageable solutions.
“This program is excellent. It focuses on practical, manageable solutions. With my coach’s help, I have made positive changes to the way I think about, approach, and execute BD.”
Systematic strategies & processes.
“This was the best BD program, by far, that I have ever participated in. It has helped me become much more systematic and put in place strategies and processes to turn activities into actual clients.”
Specific tangible steps.
“This program provides specific tangible steps I can take to build client relationships, and the insights I got through the program are unlike any other BD program.”
COMMON QUESTIONS
Planning business development
training for your lawyers.
What does business development training for lawyers include?
The RainMasters framework covers Style, Mindset, Strategy, and Systems, including Pipeline, Nurture, Visibility, and Conversations. Training develops the knowledge, shared language, and practical skills to apply it. We tailor the topics and exercises to your lawyers and firm.
How is business development training different from coaching?
Training fills knowledge gaps and builds shared language, frameworks, and skills. Coaching focuses on application, execution, real-world obstacles, habits, and accountability. The two can be combined to help lawyers translate learning into consistent action.
Is the training suitable for lawyers who dislike traditional networking?
Yes. Business development involves more than large events or working a room. We help lawyers identify ways to build relationships and demonstrate expertise that fit their strengths and natural rainmaking style, while practicing skills they want to strengthen.
Can we tailor a program for a particular practice or career stage?
Yes. We can tailor topics, examples, exercises, and delivery to a practice group, office, or cohort, including associates, new partners, or experienced partners. We discuss your objectives and participants before recommending a scope.
Can training help lawyers stay consistent when client work is demanding?
Training can help lawyers make better choices about where to focus, plan manageable actions, and establish repeatable follow-up habits. Reinforcement, coaching, and firm support can help sustain application between sessions.
How does firm training relate to RainMasters Academy?
This page describes training commissioned by a firm for its lawyers, including workshops and tailored programs. RainMasters Academy is a related coaching and training program with its own structure. We can discuss which option best fits the participants and their goals.
LET’S DISCUSS YOUR FIRM
Where do your lawyers
need more traction?
Tell us who you want to develop and where their business development efforts need support. We’ll explore the topics, format, and reinforcement that would be most useful.