The clock strikes midnight. Auld Lang Syne is heard as champagne flutes are clinked. Ambitious New Year's resolutions are shared between friends. From the "I'm going to finally lose those dreaded 10 pounds" to "enforced screen-free family dinners," commitments are made by many for a more fulfilling, healthier new year. For attorneys, these resolutions go beyond the personal and include professional goals and aspirations. Inevitably these resolutions center around prospective client-targeting efforts, branding goals, or client retention and growth priorities—in a nutshell, business development. Plans are carefully built in support of these business development goals that typically center around an external audience. While growth opportunities outside of an attorneys office or firm are vast and deep, many attorneys fail to appreciate the value of focusing on their internal audience—collaboration and branding opportunities with their colleagues. When done right, an internal business development focus can not only result in an increase in revenue for a firm and a stronger brand and reputation individually, these efforts can also spur momentum in discrete externally facing business development goals by making them more focused, impactful, and most importantly, fruitful.

As we mark the close of the first full month of 2024 and you sheepishly think back to those idle business development resolutions, I challenge you to look back at your goals and identify tactics in utilizing your internal firm network and resources to propel your business development priorities forward.