Mo asks Craig Budner: What is a business development moment that you’re particularly proud of?

• Craig’s story involves one of the biggest matters of litigation that he’s handled. As a relatively young lawyer, Craig had to convince the client that they could trust Craig and his team with a multi-billion dollar company’s litigation against one of the top litigation companies in the world.
• It was about convincing him that Craig and the company worked the way he needed a firm to work along the way on other cases. The client had to evaluate the team’s behavior over time in prior cases.
• It’s often the things you do when it’s not showtime that matters. It’s how you treat the relationship with care, giving more than you’re taking, and how you reflect listening skills.
• The client saw that Craig’s team worked very well together as a cohesive team when the stakes were high.
• The bigger deals are won before the opportunity arises.
• Learning about the pressures the client was under and the goals of his position was key to developing the relationship that ultimately led to the opportunity to represent him.
• Treating everyone on the client’s team with respect and making sure that he saw other members of Craig’s team perform at a high level was key.
• Creating opportunities for interaction with the client’s team definitely added value. Craig’s team offered him a Hot 5, a weekly summary of the legal brushfires the client was facing, whether or not Craig’s team was handling them.
• Being in the trenches with the client and over delivering for them gave Craig the edge when the big litigation revealed itself.

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