Name: Ann Frick
Firm Name: Jacobs Chase Frick Kleinkopf & Kelley, LLC
Address: 1050 17th Street, Suite 1500, Denver, CO 80265
Phone: (303) 685-4800
Nominated by: Jessica Jaramillo
Interviewed by: Jessica Jaramillo
Practice area: Commercial Litigation

Most successful/favorite Rainmaking tip:

Ann Frick became successful by becoming well known in her city’s legal community. Good for Ann Frick, you say, but how do I do that?

“Easy,” says Frick. “You get out and try to get to know people – put in the effort to get to know the legal, business and political communities. Simply, it’s a matter of being ever-present – you’ve got to stay in front of your clients and potential referral sources.”

“My favorite rainmaking tip is top-of-mind awareness. Every year we create a unique and funny holiday card. Our firm is well known for our holiday cards; they create top-of-mind awareness.”

You can see these cards in the “outtake” section of the firm’s Web site.

“Promoting your success is key,” says Frick. Frick was recently named to the list of Top 10 Colorado Super Lawyers® and one of the eight “Best Female Lawyers” in Colorado in the local legal publication, Law Week Colorado. Other promotions include being named in The Best Lawyers in America®, C hambers USAand Benchmark.

Biggest influence on career/best career advice:

“The best career advice I ever received was to start this law firm. It was an honor to be invited by Jeff Chase to create this firm with him and the other name partners – timing is everything.”

Percentage of time devoted to marketing:

“Today I devote 5-10 percent of my time to marketing, including lunches, various committees and events. I’m doing more now than I did a few years ago. Marketing now is more acceptable for all lawyers – particularly for woman.”

Proudest accomplishment:

“Of course my proudest accomplishment is the relationship I have with my husband and two daughters. My two daughters, now in their 20s, are happy and successful. Both my daughters have said to me, ‘If you hadn’t have worked so hard we wouldn’t have been as ambitious or worked as hard.’ My hard work made them much more self-sufficient and confident.”

Knowing what you know now, if you were starting out as a lawyer today, what would you do differently?

“I’d get a specialty area of practice. Commercial litigation is not specialized enough. I’d find a niche practice. If I were starting out as a lawyer today, I’d spend money on engaging a top-notch legal marketer to help me create a plan right away. I wouldn’t wait to do this.”

Tell me about one rainmaking strategy or tactic that you initially thought would work, but it failed. Why did it fail?

“Boards – if you going to get on a board – really do it, be prepared to make a contribution, but be willing to market yourself as a lawyer to the other Board members.”

Frick served on the Colorado Ballet Board of Trustees for 10 years. “I love the ballet but I was hesitant and never marketed myself to the people on the board – I should have been doing this – same thing with my position on the Colorado College Board of Directors. Also, we were too late in joining a national litigation law firm network – we should have been on top of this.”

Tell me about one rainmaking strategy or tactic that you initially thought would fail, but it was a great success. Why was it successful?

“I received a litigation referral from an out of state attorney where I had previously served as an arbitrator on one of his cases, I didn’t expect to get a referral to be an advocate where they had only seen me in the role of the arbitrator.”

What has been your greatest frustration about trying to get new business or new clients?

“Not being in a national litigation law firm network – we need to be there. There is way too much competition in Denver for the small market of businesses that need lawyers.”

If you were mentoring a young woman lawyer, what advice would you give her regarding rainmaking?

“Get the specialty and become an expert: It lets you set yourself apart. Get with a legal marketer early on to develop a plan.”

Would you say you ever had a mentor that made a genuine difference in how your career turned out? If yes, please describe.

“Jeff Chase, he improved my skills as a litigator and he invited me to start this law firm.”

hink about when you started out as a lawyer. Now think about the new female lawyers just starting out. What is different now compared to when you started?

“Now, women attorneys have much more credibility with male clients, business leaders, opposing attorneys and judges. Women are not this anomaly anymore. Men don’t think twice about me being a lawyer. Many of the judges now are female – this was almost unheard of when I started out. It’s rare when there aren’t women attorneys on both sides of the case – I remember being the only [female] lawyer in the courtroom in 1987.”

List words that best describe you:

Hard working
High energy
Physically fit
Thorough in my legal analysis and preparation
Disciplined
Fair but tough
Ethical and trustworthy
I have heard others describe me as assertive, competitive, but likeable