Successful small law firms have changed, and there is no sign of changing back. Firms are more agile, more focused on profitability, and more in-tune with the needs of better-educated clients. And today’s companies that support these successful firms must recognize their own changing role in the new market: to give law firms the tools to increase profitability. To turn “<a href=”http://legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/law-products/promotions/independent-thinking/it-pain-to-gain?trkcode=SLFINDTHNKADV2&trktype=external” title=”Pain to Gain” rel=:nofollow” >Pain to Gain,” as it is said in a must-read article.

With changes in law firms and legal companies—like Thomson Reuters, the company that now offers WestlawNext as the cornerstone in a full portfolio of legal-specific technologies—your next conversation with your consultant should be just as different as the legal culture today. In her free article From Pain to Gain, Linda Kaufman of Thomson Reuters examines what a conversation should sound like: how interactions have changed and why.

And most importantly, she examines three simple techniques to turn a simple conversation into profitable, strategic time.

Don’t have time to download and read a few pages? A quick video also summarizes Kaufman’s points about the shift in conversation.

Linda Kaufman is a vice president at Thomson Reuters, leading the sales and account management teams that serve small law firms. Thomson Reuters’ small law firm business offers such legal solutions as WestlawNext small law firm research plans, the Firm Central cloud-based practice management platform, and FindLaw’s lawyer marketing solutions.

From Pain to Gain is the latest in the Independent Thinking series, offering practice management and business development insights for small law firms.