{"id":159950,"date":"2026-08-10T07:27:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T15:27:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/08\/10\/the-three-pillars-of-business-development-for-lawyers\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T07:27:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T15:27:54","slug":"the-three-pillars-of-business-development-for-lawyers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/08\/10\/the-three-pillars-of-business-development-for-lawyers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Three Pillars Of Business Development For Lawyers\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a recent conversation with Elise Holtzman, founder and CEO of The Lawyer\u2019s Edge, Steve Fretzin tackled one of the most persistent myths in the legal profession: that rainmaking is something you\u2019re either born with or you\u2019re not.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What Elise laid out was the opposite. Business development is a learnable skill, and like any skill worth having, it requires the right mindset, a repeatable process, and the willingness to build a team that helps you scale beyond what you can do alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New Challenges Mean You\u2019re Succeeding\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the most freeing ideas from the episode was the reframe Elise offered around the challenges that come with growth. <\/p>\n

Most lawyers hit a wall at some point and read it as a sign they\u2019re doing something wrong, or that they\u2019re not built for this.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The Three Ps\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Steve brought his own framework into the conversation to complement Elise\u2019s \u201cthree pillars.\u201d <\/p>\n

Here, Steve shares his the \u201cthree Ps\u201d of business development.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

How Real Rainmakers Scale<\/strong><\/p>\n

The third thread from the episode was one of the most practical: what happens when you\u2019ve built a strong book of business and you want it to grow further without doing everything yourself?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Elise described the concept of sponsorship, a more intentional and mutual form of mentorship. <\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

From Random Acts of Marketing to a Real Strategy\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The through line across this entire episode is the shift from scattered effort to focused, scalable rainmaking. Hope is not a strategy. Showing up to the same conferences and waiting for the phone to ring is not a strategy. What works is clarity on who you\u2019re trying to reach, visibility in the right places, a process you can actually follow, and a team that grows alongside you.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Business development done right doesn\u2019t feel like selling. It feels like building something that compounds, and it\u2019s available to any lawyer willing to treat it like the learnable skill it is.\u00a0<\/p>\n

View the full podcast here:<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

Steve Fretzin is a five-time bestselling author, host of the\u00a0BE THAT LAWYER\u00a0and\u00a0Future Rainmakers\u00a0podcasts, and a business development coach who works exclusively with attorneys. For more than 18 years, he has helped lawyers build strong books of business without selling, pitching, or chasing, using his proven Sales-Free Selling\u2122 approach. His clients consistently become top rainmakers and credit his coaching and systems for driving meaningful, measurable growth. Steve can be reached directly at\u00a0steve@fretzin.com<\/a>, or through his website at\u00a0www.bethatlawyer.com<\/a>. Connect with him on LinkedIn at\u00a0https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/stevefretzin<\/a>. His ALL NEW\u00a0BE THAT LAWYER Community\u00a0is changing how lawyers develop the skills never taught in law school. Learn more at\u00a0www.bethatlawyer.com\/community<\/a><\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The post The Three Pillars Of Business Development For Lawyers\u00a0<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a recent conversation with Elise Holtzman, founder and CEO of The Lawyer\u2019s Edge, Steve Fretzin tackled one of the most persistent myths in the legal profession: that rainmaking is something you\u2019re either born with or you\u2019re not.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What Elise laid out was the opposite. Business development is a learnable skill, and like any skill worth having, it requires the right mindset, a repeatable process, and the willingness to build a team that helps you scale beyond what you can do alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New Challenges Mean You\u2019re Succeeding\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the most freeing ideas from the episode was the reframe Elise offered around the challenges that come with growth. <\/p>\n

Most lawyers hit a wall at some point and read it as a sign they\u2019re doing something wrong, or that they\u2019re not built for this.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The Three Ps\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Steve brought his own framework into the conversation to complement Elise\u2019s \u201cthree pillars.\u201d <\/p>\n

Here, Steve shares his the \u201cthree Ps\u201d of business development.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

How Real Rainmakers Scale<\/strong><\/p>\n

The third thread from the episode was one of the most practical: what happens when you\u2019ve built a strong book of business and you want it to grow further without doing everything yourself?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Elise described the concept of sponsorship, a more intentional and mutual form of mentorship. <\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

From Random Acts of Marketing to a Real Strategy\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The through line across this entire episode is the shift from scattered effort to focused, scalable rainmaking. Hope is not a strategy. Showing up to the same conferences and waiting for the phone to ring is not a strategy. What works is clarity on who you\u2019re trying to reach, visibility in the right places, a process you can actually follow, and a team that grows alongside you.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Business development done right doesn\u2019t feel like selling. It feels like building something that compounds, and it\u2019s available to any lawyer willing to treat it like the learnable skill it is.\u00a0<\/p>\n

View the full podcast here:<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

Steve Fretzin is a five-time bestselling author, host of the\u00a0BE THAT LAWYER\u00a0and\u00a0Future Rainmakers\u00a0podcasts, and a business development coach who works exclusively with attorneys. For more than 18 years, he has helped lawyers build strong books of business without selling, pitching, or chasing, using his proven Sales-Free Selling\u2122 approach. His clients consistently become top rainmakers and credit his coaching and systems for driving meaningful, measurable growth. Steve can be reached directly at\u00a0steve@fretzin.com<\/a>, or through his website at\u00a0www.bethatlawyer.com<\/a>. Connect with him on LinkedIn at\u00a0https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/stevefretzin<\/a>. His ALL NEW\u00a0BE THAT LAWYER Community\u00a0is changing how lawyers develop the skills never taught in law school. Learn more at\u00a0www.bethatlawyer.com\/community<\/a><\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The post The Three Pillars Of Business Development For Lawyers\u00a0<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a recent conversation with Elise Holtzman, founder and CEO of The Lawyer\u2019s Edge, Steve Fretzin tackled one of the most persistent myths in the legal profession: that rainmaking is something you\u2019re either born with or you\u2019re not.\u00a0 What Elise laid out was the opposite. Business development is a learnable skill, and like any skill […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":159799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1340900360-1024x666-m88Xuk.png?fit=1024%2C666&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}