How to Talk About Your Work in a Way Lawyers Trust (Even When You’re New)

One of my favorite ways to approach marketing and networking is with a spirit of generosity. Not only is this more enjoyable, it’s also far more effective.

People can feel the difference between someone who is grounded and collaborative versus someone who is trying to get something from them. Notice the difference between these two approaches:

“Please send me referrals. I’m really trying to get started doing immigration evaluations.”

Versus:

“I recently expanded my practice to provide immigration evaluations. This work is deeply meaningful to me, and I’d love to collaborate with you.”

The energy behind those conversations is completely different. One comes from scarcity and insecurity, and the other comes from confidence and generosity.

When I was first getting started in 2012, confidence was not the easiest for me. I’d been in the field a few years at that point and I’d built some confidence as a therapist, but I was brand new to immigration evaluations. And when I started reaching out to immigration lawyers, nerves could sometimes get the better of me.

It took some really intentional growth on my part to step into this new work. 

The first step was to get training. I remember sitting in a room, mostly with medical doctors and psychologists, learning how to document signs of trauma for asylum seekers. 

I remember the instructor telling us that lawyers, judges, and immigration officers need our insights. They rely on us to give them the full picture of what someone has been through and how it’s impacted their functioning.

For the first time, I started wondering, “Could my expertise actually be beneficial here? Do I have more to offer than I realized?”

Over time, I learned to bring this confidence into conversations with lawyers and paralegals, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the richness of these collaborations. Here are some lessons I’ve learned about effective ways to approach lawyers (even when you’re brand new):

First: Harness the confidence you already have as a clinician and stand strong in it.

Remember: You bring a tremendous amount of expertise (no matter how new you are to this particular niche). As clinicians, we already know how to assess mental health symptoms. We’re doing it all the time. With immigration evaluations, all we’re doing is applying our skill set to a new context.

Second: Bring a spirit of generosity. You’re not approaching lawyers asking for anything. You’re actually giving them the opportunity to collaborate with you and to benefit from the expertise you bring to their cases.

Third: Share what the work means to you. This is an amazing way to connect with lawyers who share the deeper sense of purpose that brings you to this work. 

Fourth: Describe your approach. When you take a solid training on immigration evaluations, you’ll learn how evaluations can support different kinds of cases. Mentioning a few of these details is an easy way to show that you’re informed and you know what you’re talking about.

Over and over, I’ve seen how these kinds of conversations help lawyers begin building trust in a therapist’s expertise and can lead to meaningful partnerships. I’ve been delighted to develop connections with incredible lawyers who deeply care about their clients and are doing amazing, life-changing work.

And when a lawyer and a therapist bring their collective skills together for a client’s case, the results can be truly remarkable. It’s amazing where confidence and generosity can lead us, and the difference we can make in the world.

If you'd like to learn more about immigration evaluations, how therapists can build confidence, develop referral streams, and get started, we’d love to invite you to watch our free introductory webinar on immigration evaluations.