Craig Brown.

Key Service Areas

  • Business Development Coaching & Training
  • Law Firm Leadership Peer-Based Roundtables
  • Business Development Train-the-Coach Programs
  • Retreat/Meeting Facilitation and Keynote Speaking
  • Collaboration and Team Building Summits
  • Sales Acumen Assessments & Psychometrics

About

Craig Brown uses his experience as a lawyer, business developer, and seminar leader to train and coach lawyers to build relationships that lead to strong books of business and satisfying careers.

Widely recognized as an authority on building law firm clientele, Craig has worked with law firms for over twenty-five years in the areas of business development, training, coaching, strategy, knowledge management, research, and as a practicing attorney. Prior to Gladstone, he founded The Motivera Group, an independent business development consultancy for law firms, and Modena Seminars; a seminar-based training company focused on law firm seminar development and training.

Craig has developed and conducted hundreds of action-oriented seminars and workshops for law firms and businesses using leading-edge adult- learning methodologies. He is the co-developer of the Lawyer Behavior ProfileTM used by hundreds of lawyers to identify and apply key business development strengths. He also co-developed LateralAdvantageTM, a groundbreaking, law firm-centric tool designed to assess law firm lateral partner candidates’ natural business development acumen.

Before building his training companies, Craig worked as a sales consultant at Thomson West. In that capacity, he was named “Consultant of The Year” for three consecutive years. Additionally, he worked as part of a launch team that took an initiative from startup to owning 80% of market share in under four years. Prior to Thomson West, Craig was a lawyer in private practice in California.

Craig is a sought-after speaker at law firm retreats and industry events and is a guest lecturer at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. He is a JDSupra Readers’ Choice Awards Top Author and is certified to administer and advise on the Gardner & Co. Smart Collaboration AcceleratorTM psychometric instrument.

  • J.D., University of California, Hastings College of the Law
  • B.A., American Studies and Philosophy, Brigham Young University

  • “Become a Rainmaker at Your Law Firm by Performing this One Simple Task Every Day,” (Sept. 14, 2020)
  • “Remote Successes: Finding Value in Working at Home,” (Aug. 3, 2020)
  • “21 Law Firm Business Development Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make Curing a Pandemic,“ (July 6, 2020)
  • “My Conference Was Cancelled; Now What? How to Salvage Missing a Networking Opportunity,“ (June 2, 2020)
  • Book: “Guidance for Law Firm Leaders: The Legal Profession in a COVID-19 World,” contributing author, (June 2020)
  • “5 Things You Must Do to Increase Law Firm Top-line Revenue in a Pandemic,” (May 28, 2020)
  • “Be Careful, Working Remotely Carries Risks. Know-How to Avoid Them.“ (April 15, 2020)
  • “What to Do When Clients Don’t Need Your Services Right Now but May Need Them Later,“ (April 7, 2020)
  • “8 Things You Can Do to Develop Business for Your Law Firm During a Pandemic,”  (March 23, 2020)
  • “How Your Prospects Choose a Lawyer: It’s Just Like Painting a Wall,” The National Law Review (May 2018)
  • “How to Ensure Your Business Development New Year’s Resolutions Become Reality,” The National Law Review (Jan 2018)
  • “Build Your Network Like a Roman: Now Before You Need It,” The National Law Review (Nov 2017)
  • “Is Free-Advice Hurting Your Bottom Line?” The National Law Review (Oct 2017)
  • “Law Firm Business Development: How to Stop Procrastinating,” The National Law Review (Dec 2016)
  • “Storytelling for Business Developers,” Strategies (July/Aug 2016)
  • Corporate Counsel CLE Seminar, “Why Should I Keep Talking to You? Forming Foundations for Trusted Relationships” (2/18)
  • LSSO’s RainDance Conference, “Coaching Advantage, A Field Guide: Building Coaching Programs that Motivate your Lawyers to Act”
    (2/17)
  • Webinar – Panelist, “New Approaches to Sales and Business Development in the Law Firm” (8/16)
  • LSSO’s RainDance Conference, “Perfecting Your Presentation with SHED” (6/16)
  • 23nd Annual Marketing Partner Forum, “Carpe Diem: Transforming Sales Relationships through Pipeline Management” (1/16)
  • Webinar, “Getting a Foot in the Door: Teaching Lawyers How to Approach New Prospects without Using Skill, Luck or Charm” (11/15)
  • LMA Continuing Marketing Education Conference, “Power of the Pipe: The One Thing That Makes All the Difference” (11/15)
  • Legal Marketing Technology Conference, “Rapid-Fire CRM: The No Spin Assessment of CRM Solutions” (10/15)
  • Webinar, “Overcoming Lawyer Business Development Fears” (10/15)
  • Webinar, “From Sherpa to Guide – Using Lawyer Strengths to Create Law Firm Business Developers” (9/15)
  • Master of Ceremonies, LSSO’s RainDance Conference (6/15)
  • LMA Annual Conference, “From Sherpa to Guide: Building Business Development Plans that Motivate your Lawyers to Act” (4/15)
  • 2018 JDSupra Readers’ Choice Top Author
  • Thomson West “Consultant of the Year” for three consecutive years
  • West Publishing “Gold Key Club” Top Sales Representative for four consecutive years
  • Recipient, American Jurisprudence Award for Trial Advocacy
  • Varsity Coach of the Year, Boy Scouts of America, Orange County Council
  • Member: 2014 Board of Advisors, Legal Sales & Service Organization
  • Member: 2013 Board of Directors, Southern California Legal Marketing Association
  • Member: American Bar Association
  • Member: Montgomery County Bar Association