A love of networking and selling oneself seldom tops the list of reasons why attorneys go into practice. But however much they might want to spend all of their time using their legal skills and tackling challenges on behalf of clients, solo and small firm attorneys in particular need to make business development a daily activity, according to business development expert Steve Hughes.

Still, you don't have to be an extrovert, says Hughes, who will speak at the first ISBA Solo & Small Firm Institute session in September. "There's the misnomer out there that to be a really good rainmaker and bring in a lot of business you have to be the extroverted salesman type and slap people on the back," he says. "Introverts, and 'ambiverts' - people in the middle [of the spectrum] - can be better at it [than extroverts] because one thing they do is listen. And ask the right questions and show people how smart they are by their questions."

That's to say, you have "permission - it sounds silly - to be who you would be, anyway. That's OK," Hughes says. "You don't have to become a different person in the business process." Find out more in the August Illinois Bar Journal.