"I'm going to rehire those folks even though I don't really trust them," said no GC, ever.

In the client world, trust is like magic dust. It makes everything work, it solves every problem, it gets your bills paid and it gets you rehired. In his book "The Trusted Advisor," David Maister explains that trust isn't won, it's earned. Once gained, it will influence the buyers of all professional services. Once lost, it's gone forever.

It all starts with taking the right assignments. We all face pressure to do more for clients, and to try to institutionalize them. But clients are tired of being upsold, and wary of outside counsel who do this. A better approach is to specialize in the client, look for work you can do expertly, and let go of the rest. This is the first step in creating long-term trust.