Shannon Lombardo is the Director of Business Development at Saul Ewing LLP, a national law firm with more than 400 attorneys. She leads strategic growth initiatives focused on attorney business development coaching, client relationship development, and revenue generation. With extensive experience in legal marketing and business development, Shannon partners with attorneys and law firms to build stronger relationships, identify growth opportunities, and achieve their business objectives.
WHAT'S COVERED IN THIS EPISODE ABOUT BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT FOLLOW-THROUGH
Lawyers may understand that business development matters and genuinely intend to make it a priority, but that intention often gets pushed aside by client work, billable-hour demands, and the discomfort of doing something that does not feel as familiar as practicing law. Even lawyers who want to build business can struggle with where to start, how to stay consistent, and how to keep going when the results take time.
That means firms have to look beyond simply teaching lawyers what to do. More training will not solve a problem rooted in discomfort, lack of confidence, competing priorities, or a lawyer who is not ready to engage. The real opportunity is understanding what is actually getting in the way, then creating the right level of support and accountability to help lawyers take action in a way that fits them.
In this episode of The Lawyer's Edge podcast, Elise Holtzman talks with Shannon Lombardo of Saul Ewing LLP about why lawyers struggle to follow through on business development, what makes business development training more effective, how accountability supports consistency, and where responsibility lies between the firm and the individual lawyer.
2:12 - Why lawyers struggle to prioritize business development
5:34 - How unrealistic rainmaker examples can discourage lawyers
8:35 - How to assess whether a lawyer is ready for business development support
11:01 - Building a business development plan around the individual lawyer
14:58 - Why Saul Ewing moved away from one-off training programs
18:14 - Why one-time business development training rarely changes behavior
22:21 - Matching business development support to the individual lawyer
24:51 - The psychology behind business development resistance
27:28 - What internal business development teams can and cannot own
29:32 - Using accountability to help lawyers stay consistent
31:48 - Why small, consistent business development actions matter
32:56 - What disengagement from coaching may actually signal
Mentioned In The Gap Between Wanting to Do Business Development and Actually Doing It
Saul Ewing LLP | LinkedIn
Shannon Lombardo on LinkedIn
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The Lawyer's Edge
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This episode is brought to you by the coaching team at The Lawyer's Edge, a training and coaching firm that has been focused exclusively on lawyers and law firms since 2008. Each member of the team is a trained, certified, and experienced professional coach—and either a former practicing attorney or a former law firm marketing and business development professional.
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