Dear Associate,

In our law firm, we have a policy to encourage you to build relationships outside of the firm.

We do that because:

• It generates goodwill in the community,
• It allows you to learn from and be influenced by others, and
• It results in additional referrals, clients, and revenue.

To that end, we reimburse you for taking people to lunch by paying for your lunch, their lunch, parking, and your mileage to and from lunch. We think having you out in the world is a win for us, so we’re willing to pay for it.

Do we put restrictions on who you can take to lunch? A few. We’d like you to take other lawyers and professionals who might refer business to you at some point. However, we don’t require any particular results or reports. We’d prefer that you use our funds for business lunches rather than taking that cute young man/woman you met at the gym who works at the mall.

Why do we pay for lunch? Because it’s good for the law firm. But that’s just part of it.

Paying for your lunch is more than just good for the law firm. Paying for your lunch is good for you. In fact, it’s great for you.

Your lunches:

• Enhance your reputation in the community,
• Give you an opportunity to connect with community leaders and others,
• Enable you to generate business for the law firm and for yourself,
• Create an asset (you), and
• Provide you with something you can take with you (and monetize) for the rest of your life wherever you are and wherever you go. Please understand that law firms give money—much more money—to lawyers who bring in clients. That’s how law firms work.

Enjoy your lunch. Go build great relationships.

Best wishes,

Lee

P.S. (note to law firm owners) How much does this cost? Next to nothing! Most of the associates won’t take anyone to lunch regardless of how often you offer. It’s like they don’t care about generating business for themselves. It’s like they don’t like the idea of making more money. Don’t stress: you’ll be lucky if you spend anything at all.