← All categories

Intellectual Property Lawyer: Best Referral Sources

Who should be sending you clients, and the rooms they are already sitting in. Tell us where you are and we will send the list.

Get your list

The rooms for IP attorneys, the next meeting dates, and who to ask for when you walk in.

Your top referral sources
  1. Attorney Business & Corporate
  2. Business Banker
  3. CPA / Accountant
  4. Restaurant / Food Service
  5. Bookkeeper
See the full answer ↓
Start here

Your one-page action plan

Five partners, what starts the work for each one, and the three rooms to be in. Print it and keep it in the car.

Networking plan: Attorney Intellectual Property

The five people who should be sending you clients

  1. Attorney Business & Corporate (They send you work)
    Shared trigger: somebody starts a company
  2. Business Banker (They send you work)
    Shared trigger: somebody starts a company
  3. CPA / Accountant (They send you work)
    Shared trigger: somebody starts a company
  4. Restaurant / Food Service (They send you work)
    Shared trigger: somebody starts a company
  5. Bookkeeper (Two-way)
    Shared trigger: somebody starts a company

The three rooms to be in

  1. Vistage: Your partners are in this room: business attorneys, business bankers, and CPAs.
  2. Your city or county chamber of commerce: Your partners are in this room: business attorneys, business bankers, and CPAs.
  3. LinkedIn groups & local B2B communities: Your partners are in this room: business attorneys, business bankers, and CPAs.

Don't confuse this with networking: State bar practice sections. Learning and supplier access, not referrals.

Or have it emailed to you ↑
The people

Who should be sending you clients

Ranked by what starts the job, not by who sounds close to your trade. When something happens that makes people need IP attorneys, who else gets a call that same week?

Match strength is how much of your work starts from the same event as theirs, scored out of 100. Higher means you are more often called into the same job in the same week.

  1. 1 Attorney Business & Corporate They send you work Trigger: somebody starts a company 80 match strength out of 100
  2. 2 Business Banker They send you work Trigger: somebody starts a company 76 match strength out of 100
  3. 3 CPA / Accountant They send you work Trigger: somebody starts a company 71 match strength out of 100
  4. 4 Restaurant / Food Service They send you work Trigger: somebody starts a company 69 match strength out of 100
  5. 5 Bookkeeper Two-way Trigger: somebody starts a company 67 match strength out of 100
  6. 6 Attorney Employment & Labor Two-way Trigger: somebody gets sued 67 match strength out of 100
  7. 7 Graphic Designer Two-way Trigger: a business launches or rebrands 66 match strength out of 100
  8. 8 Financial Advisor They send you work Trigger: an owner sells the company 66 match strength out of 100
  9. 9 Public Relations You send them work Trigger: a business launches or rebrands 65 match strength out of 100
  10. 10 Digital Marketing Agency You send them work Trigger: a business launches or rebrands 64 match strength out of 100

Knowing the names is half of it. We will send the list with what to say to each one. Send me my list ↑

The rooms

Where those people actually are

Ranked by how many of your best partners are in the room, and how much work each one can send you. Give someone nine choices and they pick none, so we have marked the one to start with.

  1. 1 Vistage Your pick Your partners are in this room: business attorneys, business bankers, and CPAs. Paid peer group · Monthly · $2,000+/yr · ~8 hrs/month Chapter finder →
  2. 2 Your city or county chamber of commerce Your partners are in this room: business attorneys, business bankers, and CPAs. Chamber of commerce · Monthly · Under $500/yr · ~4 hrs/month Chapter finder →
  3. 3 LinkedIn groups & local B2B communities Your partners are in this room: business attorneys, business bankers, and CPAs. Online community · Always on · Free · ~3 hrs/month Chapter finder →
  4. 4 State CPA society Your partners are in this room: CPAs, bookkeepers, and financial advisors. Your partners' association · Monthly · Under $500/yr · ~3 hrs/month Chapter finder →
  5. 5 EO (Entrepreneurs' Organization) Your partners are in this room: business attorneys, financial advisors, and PR firms. Paid peer group · Monthly · $2,000+/yr · ~8 hrs/month Chapter finder →
  6. 6 Local business expo Your partners are in this room: restaurants, graphic designers, and digital marketing agencies. Event or trade show · Annual · Under $500/yr · ~1 hrs/month
  7. 7 Your local estate planning council Your partners are in this room: CPAs and financial advisors. Your partners' association · Monthly · Under $500/yr · ~3 hrs/month Chapter finder →
  8. 8 NAWBO (women business owners) Your partners are in this room: bookkeepers, graphic designers, and digital marketing agencies. Chamber of commerce · Monthly · Under $500/yr · ~4 hrs/month Chapter finder →
The competitor trap

State bar practice sections

Most IP attorneys join this room first. It is also the one most likely to be the wrong pick. Everyone in it does what you do. Join it for the training, the licenses, and the ties to manufacturers. Do not join it for referrals, and do not join it instead of the rooms above.

Let us be straight with you. For IP attorneys, a weekly referral group is not the best pick. Your partners gather in professional groups instead, so spend your time there. We would rather say that than sell you a seat you do not need.

These rooms meet on real dates. We will send you the next ones for your area. Send me the dates ↑

Your seat

Is your seat open?

Prime Time takes one Attorney Intellectual Property per chapter. Put a South Florida ZIP into the form above and we will show you which seats are open.

Add your ZIP code in the form above to see which seats are open. Go to the form ↑

Want this as a list you can act on?

Send it to yourself: the partners above, the rooms ranked for IP attorneys, and the next meeting dates for your area.

Send me my list