Cultivating Relationships

Basil Plastiras, name partner at Plastiras Terrizzi and President of the U.C. Hastings 1066 Foundation, knows the importance of cultivating relationships, especially with classmates. Will your Tower roommate or study buddy eventually have an impact on your business? Basil has great advice to to share on the subject of referrals:

In my experience, the most reliable sources for referrals are friends who happen to be attorneys. Oftentimes, these friends refer the cases out because due to the press of their other matters, conflicts, geography or the case is outside their expertise. It is especially helpful when these attorneys pre-screen the potential clients and call me with a brief factual summary and any particular issues with the case or the potential clients. I try to do the same for them.

One of my most reliable sources of clients is a classmate from my first year study group at UCH in 1972. He ended up in practice in Southern California, while I remained in Northern California. To this day, we still refer cases to each other, even though we see each other only at UCH reunions and, occasionally, other events. Otherwise, our communications are limited to emails, phone calls or US mail.

After I receive a referral and meet with the potential clients, I try to contact the referring attorneys and let them know what happened, whether I took the case or not, and if not, why not. This helps solidify the referral relationship, and reminds the referring attorney that I appreciate the referral and respect his\her role in the process.

- Basil Plastiras '75