BD often becomes harder than it needs to be because expectations are set in bursts.
There are periods where activity ramps up, plans get made, and BD feels front of mind. Then work intensifies, capacity drops, and BD slips. Progress ends up being judged against short windows that rarely reflect how a year of legal work actually plays out.
A more useful way to think about BD is over a longer cycle, and to be clearer about what needs to keep going even when work is heavy.
This is particularly relevant for associates and senior associates, where time is limited and expectations can feel vague.
‘Enough’ BD isn’t about doing everything
For most lawyers, ‘enough BD’ is mainly about staying active without burning out.
That means shifting the focus away from everything you could be doing, and towards a small baseline that’s realistic even in busy periods.
In practice, this tends to be a small number of activities that support visibility and relationships without requiring significant additional effort. For example:
- staying in touch with a handful of priority contacts, rather than trying to expand networks
- ensuring matters are followed up once they conclude, even if no new outreach is planned
- contributing to BD through client conversations, internal collaboration, or shared firm activity
The emphasis is not on volume, but on continuity.
Allow BD to ebb and flow without disappearing
Over the course of a year, BD will naturally expand and contract. There will be periods where it makes sense to invest more time and others where maintaining a baseline is sufficient.
Treating those quieter phases as part of the normal rhythm, rather than something to be corrected, makes it easier to return to more proactive activity when capacity allows. You maintain some form of momentum because BD never drops out completely.
Be clear about what can pause
Clarity about ‘enough BD’ also comes from being explicit about what doesn’t need to run continuously. Not every initiative has to be active at all times, and not every opportunity needs to be pursued immediately.
Knowing which activities can pause without consequence reduces friction and simplifies decision-making, particularly during intense periods.
For associates especially, this kind of permission matters. It removes the background guilt/panic that often sits alongside BD and replaces it with more deliberate decision-making.
Look at progress over time, not week by week
We know that BD is a long game in most cases. So it’s therefore best assessed over longer horizons.
Reviewing progress quarterly or annually gives a far more accurate picture than judging activity week by week.
When you define BD in this way, it becomes easier to maintain a steady presence across the year — without relying on ideal conditions or constant (and unsustainable) intensity.
For many lawyers, that sense of “this is enough for now” is what makes BD feel doable in the first place.