Building Strategic Referral Relationships with Attorneys--Where to Begin?

Today we're featuring a guest post by Mark Colgan, CFP, president of Colgan Capital in Pittsford, N.Y. Inspired by the challenges he faced as a young widower, Mark authored The Survivor Assistance Handbook and created Plan Your Legacy—an online service that helps individuals organize their affairs and express their final wishes. As a nationally-recognized end-of-life planning pioneer, Mark has considerable experience building strategic relationships with attorneys, and that is the topic of his post today.

Many advisors are interested in building strategic alliances with attorneys, but aren't sure how to begin, or with which attorneys they should seek partnerships in the first place.

Before beginning your search, it is important to identify whom you want to have as a client. Some advisors only want high-net-worth folks, while others are looking for people with specific needs. Once you have established your primary target audience, begin your search for an attorney that has the same interest.

To develop your list, consider the following search methods:

1. Good old yellow pages. Find every attorney in town.
2. Ask other professionals, like the accountants you work with.
3. Ask your clients who they use. Satisfied clients can be a good source of suggestions—but exercise caution. Clients are not always the best judge of a professional's work, especially in complex legal matters. You don't want a bad lawyer with a charming personality.
4. Search legal directories. Martindale-Hubbell publishes the best-known directory of attorneys in the United States. You can search by legal specialty and geographic location.
5. Call your local bar association. Go to the American Bar Association's website and click on your state. A list of lawyer referral sources will pop up. Focus on those referral sources that meet ABA standards. This means that they operate solely in the public interest and do not charge extra for the referral.
6. Check for area of specialization. Martindale-Hubbell identifies four specialties that relate to financial planning: trusts and estates, wills and probate, eldercare, and family law.

After you have created a refined list, call each attorney and invite them for lunch. Tell them that you are looking for a reputable attorney in their area of specialty to whom you can refer clients. When they hear about the opportunity to obtain new business and get a free lunch, chances are they'll want to meet with you.

Once you are sitting across from them, ask questions about whom they enjoy doing business with and why. Showing a genuine interest in them is the best way to develop rapport. At the end of your meeting, you will walk away with a good idea as to whether or not you have common interests and/or the kind of chemistry that will facilitate a mutually beneficial relationship.

Build your professional relationship on a solid foundation. Instead of playing the "one for you, one for me" game, give them a unique reason that they should send clients to you.  For instance, my practice specializes in end-of-life planning. and I commonly work with widows and widowers. I even have a state-of-the-art website dedicated to helping people plan their legacy.  I'm the only financial planner in the community that has this specialization—so when an attorney with whom I have a rapport has a client with parallel needs, I am sure to get the referral.

And when the referral is client-focused, everyone wins.

Read more about forming strategic alliances with attorneys in these Horsesmouth articles (free registration required):

Teaching Attorneys to Prospect for You
Attorneys don't always understand what investment planning really entails. Explain to them the standards of care involved and you may find yourself on the receiving end of some extraordinarily powerful referrals.

How to Build a Robust Centers-of-Influence Network
Your best client has given you the name of her accountant, estate planning attorney, and insurance professional. This is your chance to meet other professionals who care for the needs of the wealthy. After all, you already have common ground—you share a mutual client.

Collaborative Divorce: A New Opportunity for Financial Advisors
Advisors with a strong planning background can become central players in a more civilized divorce process that's gaining popularity. Those who do will also be tapping into an unexpectedly strong referral network.

9 Ways to Connect With Estate Attorneys
Building strong ties with estate-planning lawyers can yield an abundance of high-net-worth referrals. Here's how FAs initiate these key strategic relationships.