If you’re like some of my clients, 2012 may not have been the year that you’d have liked in terms of billable work.  After all, the economy hasn’t come roaring back, and there’s more competition than ever for new work.  A recent Citi Private Bank/Hildebrandt study found that the average lawyer’s hours are down by about 100 hours per year when compared with 2007.

So what’s a person to do?

I wish I had a silver bullet to share with you that would fill your plate with new work in the next three months.  But sadly, my time-tested advice still applies: successful business development requires patience and persistence.  To land a new client, it takes an average of eight significant contacts over a two-year period.

So what can you do in the meantime?  Ask yourself this question: “Six months from now, when I’m busy again, what will I wish that I had done with this time?” 

You might wish that you’d revised your bio and marketing materials to emphasize your new niche.  You might wish that you’d visited partners in your other offices to explore cross-selling opportunities.  You might wish you’d written that article on “Hot Legal Trends in the Cloud.”  You might wish you’d taken each of your “A list” clients out to lunch.

Or you might wish that you had gotten home for dinner with your family most nights, taken that long-overdue vacation to Hawaii, or finished a few of those half-read books on your nightstand.

Whatever you think you’ll wish you’d done, get busy doing it now.  You won’t regret it – and it sure beats hiding out in your office and feeling bad about your lack of billable work.

And by the way, don’t forget to keep track of the business development activities you engage in during this period.  That information will be useful when it comes time to write your compensation memo.

But the truth is, filling your time productively is only half the battle in surviving a slow period.  Not being as busy as you’d like tends to sap your confidence.  It’s hard to convey confidence to others when you’re not feeling it yourself.  And nobody wants to hire a lawyer who doesn’t display confidence, since confidence is crucial when it comes time to argue in front of a jury or negotiate a deal. 

How can you feel more confident?  First, start by reviewing your accomplishments.  Don’t be self-effacing – this is for your eyes only.  Write down all the cases you’ve won, the clients you’ve brought in, the people you’ve mentored, the leadership positions you’ve been asked to assume.  Impressive, isn’t it?  And if you don’t already do this, start keeping a file of all the laudatory things clients or colleagues say about you.  Review these anytime you feel your confidence waning.

Next, surround yourself with positive people.  In the short term, commiserating with others whose practices are a bit slow may make you feel better and less alone.  But in the long term, it can lead to negativism and inaction.  Don’t let all those people who say they are swamped with work get you down – maybe they are and maybe they aren’t.

To ensure that busier times are ahead, stay engaged in business development now and remain positive.  You’ll be glad you did.