In a recent Platforum9 session, Michael Guiney, a business development professional at Kinstellar, a regional law firm spanning Central Europe, shared valuable insights on how business development support can accelerate career progression for lawyers at all levels.

The Evolution of BD in Legal Services

Having started his career in the legal sector in 2005 at Linklaters, Guiney has witnessed significant changes in how law firms approach business development. “The biggest change I’ve seen over the last five or six years is business services people directly selling our services to clients,” Guiney explained. At his current firm, non-lawyer professionals regularly represent the firm to international law firms, private equity funds, and bankers—a paradigm shift from traditional models where only partners handled client relationships.

Start Early, Not Late

One of Guiney’s most emphatic points was that business development shouldn’t be an afterthought in a legal career. “You’re never too young to start business development,” he stated. “I’ve seen many cases when counsel are up for partnership, then and only then are they asked to focus on business development. That’s too late in their career.”

At Kinstellar, business development is encouraged from day one, with all lawyers receiving a BD budget to build relationships with peers. This early investment creates a culture where relationship-building becomes second nature rather than a daunting challenge faced only when preparing partnership applications.

“Business development should be just as important as your technical skills because that’s what’s going to set apart a good lawyer from a great lawyer,” Guiney emphasized. “It’s the ability to generate relationships at your own level that you can continue and develop and harness going forward.”

London-Based Strategy for International Representation

As a London-based BD professional representing partners across Central Europe, Guiney serves as an ambassador for the firm, meeting with significant partners at major law firms to identify market opportunities, open doors, and facilitate conversations.

“I walk around London representing 60-plus partners as their ambassador, bringing them market opportunities, seeing if my network and the firm’s network might be of use to them, and trying to be a broker of information,” he explained.

This approach is particularly effective because it positions the firm in an important decision-making capital while maintaining deep local expertise across multiple jurisdictions.

Sector-Based Market Intelligence

Kinstellar approaches the market on a sector basis, identifying upcoming opportunities in their regions that aren’t yet widely known. “We would work out what are the various upcoming opportunities in some of our markets—market opportunities that you’re not reading about in Merger Markets or other such publications,” Guiney described.

This proprietary market knowledge becomes a valuable currency when meeting with international partners, enabling those partners to have proactive conversations with their clients. “More often than not, these conversations don’t go anywhere, but every partner we meet with certainly appreciates the market insight,” Guiney noted. “It might lead to something else. We are enabling international partners at international law firms to have a conversation with their client they would not have done without our market intelligence.”

Thorough Preparation for Success

When preparing lawyers for international meetings, Guiney emphasizes thorough preparation:

• The team conducts multiple calls before traveling
• They create detailed briefing packs including bios of meeting participants
• They document previous interactions, common clients, and referrals
• They establish clear objectives for each meeting
• They ensure everyone understands their role

“We would challenge them as to what they’re going to say, the significance of each meeting, and what we hope to get and expect from such meetings,” Guiney explained. This preparation ensures that even junior lawyers can contribute meaningfully to high-stakes meetings.

Selecting the Right Representatives

Not every lawyer is suited for promotional business development activities, and Guiney is selective about who represents the firm in international settings. “I would be very selective about who comes to London, and more importantly, what value they’re going to bring to the overall roadshow and individual meetings,” he stated. “There is nothing worse than bringing three lawyers and one says nothing in a meeting. You’re only as strong as your weakest link.”

For more introverted lawyers who struggle with business development, Guiney advises proving oneself locally before attempting to operate internationally: “Show that you’re building and developing relationships in your local market, that you’re a role model for others, and then you can do it on a bigger stage.”

Cross-Border Collaboration

To coordinate business development efforts across multiple jurisdictions, Kinstellar uses a combination of sector-focused and service line-focused calls. Additionally, a firm-wide business development call occurs every fortnight where partners discuss the pipeline of opportunities and facilitate contacts across offices.

“It promotes the culture of collaboration across borders,” Guiney explained. This collaboration extends beyond the partner level—Guiney views all 400 lawyers across 12 jurisdictions as part of his sales team. “We are all in to sell our services, and we can’t do it alone.”

Engaging Junior Lawyers in Pitch Processes

While junior lawyers may not lead pitch efforts, they play crucial roles in reviewing and crafting key sections. “We would work with them on the executive summary—why Kinstellar, what’s our selling point, what’s the 200 words that makes us more distinctive compared to the competitors,” Guiney noted.

This involvement serves dual purposes: it helps younger lawyers understand the business of law while ensuring they can articulate the firm’s value proposition. “Every lawyer that comes through Kinstellar on their induction has to learn the elevator pitch,” Guiney stated. “If they can put it on paper, surely they’ll be able to verbalize it.”

Competitive Market Approach

In smaller markets where major transactions are limited, Kinstellar takes an ambitious approach. “In Bulgaria, there’s probably five or six big M&A opportunities each year big enough to be of interest to international players. Our role is to be involved in all those five deals,” Guiney explained.

This requires mobilizing the entire firm: “We cannot do it with the partners alone. We have to have everybody involved in terms of helping to sell, understand, and interact with the clients or various intermediaries so that we can get a role.”

Retention Through Engagement

Perhaps most importantly, engaging junior lawyers in business development activities helps with talent retention. “Some of the younger lawyers who feel they are not involved in business development, that their career isn’t taken seriously, will go to somebody else,” Guiney observed.

Conversely, “The younger people, when they’re involved in business development and successful, they’re enthusiastic about it, and they want to do more of it.”

Conclusion

As law firms continue to evolve, business development has moved from being solely a partner-level responsibility to a firm-wide effort that begins on day one. By involving lawyers at all levels in relationship-building, market intelligence, and pitch processes, firms can create stronger client relationships while developing well-rounded professionals who are better positioned for long-term success.

For young lawyers, the message is clear: don’t wait for partnership to begin thinking about business development. It’s a skill that, like any other, improves with practice and can significantly accelerate career progression when developed early.