Many legal practice consultants advise attorneys to cross sell legal services to their existing clients. For example, I, as a personal injury lawyer, could let my clients know that my law firm also represents clients for immigration, divorce and bankruptcy. It sounds like a good way to generate new business. Even if you don’t practice in those fields, you can refer these clients to other lawyers and get paid without doing any work. But it’s actually counterproductive.

First, it’s much easier to get clients to call you when they know that you only practice in one field. They will think of you as a “specialist”. It’s the same as a brand. Brands for one product are always stronger. The more diverse a brand becomes, the weaker it can get.