Solo Practice University had a good article recently on the fact that law schools still aren't teaching marketing to their students. While some of the commentators did advise Ms. Liebel that a few programs are out there; her overall point is a salient one.
The fact is that, like it or not, today's private-practice attorneys need to know marketing and sales because they need to get clients.
Back in the day, it may have been possible simply to hang out a shingle, do no advertising, and build a successful practice. Now, of course, that's a pipe-dream. Lawyers are a dime a dozen. Paying clients are dear. Whether you practice in a solo setting or in BigLaw, without a book of business of your own, you are expendable and your work is a commodity.
If your school didn't/doesn't teach it, learn it on your own, but if you expect to succeed in what has increasingly become a harsh environment for lawyers, you can't just sit around for the clients to come to you.
