The applause was enthusiastic when lawyer Mary Ann Dunham of Pittsburgh, PA, was named the 2009 Greater Pittsburgh Athena Award recipient.  An energetic community leader, she was acclaimed for creativity in the profession, serving the community and assisting other women to reach their leadership potential.

She is also a wife, mother of two and chair of the firm's Women's Business Development Committee at 450-lawyer Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC – and the Originate! Woman Rainmaker of 2010.

“The techniques I use in business development are really just finding opportunities to get to know business owners and to do it in an informal setting where I can get to know them as individuals while learning about their business,” Dunham said.  “Sometimes that can be done by joining boards of organizations and getting involved in something that they do in the community.  I’ve been involved in nonprofit events, such as golf outings, charitable sponsorships and fundraisers. It's a win-win to make a difference in the community while building relationships with clients and business contacts.”

A shareholder, she is chair of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions Practice Group and advises clients in the advanced manufacturing, technology and service industries on a variety of transactions, including acquisitions, divestitures, mergers, financings and joint ventures. She also focuses on advising foreign clients on their U.S. investments.

Being a mentor

The Athena award — named after the Greek goddess of strength and wisdom — is unique among other regional honors for women in business because of its focus on mentorship.  It is Dunham’s willingness to be helpful to others that plays a key role in her business development efforts.  In addition to the Athena award, she has been:

• Selected to the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers® list in 2007.
• Selected as a 2005 Fast Tracker by the Pittsburgh Business Times. The program recognizes 50 talented individuals under the age of 45 who are having a significant impact on the business and social climate of the region.
• Named a Pennsylvania Rising Star by Philadelphia Magazine, based on the recognition of her peers, in 2005.
• Named one of the 40 Under 40 by Pittsburgh Magazine and PUMP, the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project, in 2004. The "40 Under 40" are young leaders honored for their ceaseless work to make Western Pennsylvania a better place.

Being visible in organizations with potential clients is another business development technique she has mastered.  “I’ve been pretty lucky as far as getting exposure – and that came from community involvement.  Being involved with organizations that people value is important.”

“For example, I was on the chapter board of directors of the Association for Corporate Growth. The ACG is a great networking organization for my practice, but the membership is predominately male. So, I viewed it as an opportunity to be out there as ‘Mary Ann Dunham business lawyer’ in a forum recognized by a large portion of our business community.  I encourage all women to take this approach,” she said.

Focus on women

She has focused on the role of women in business – but not to the exclusion of men. For example, she is the Chair Emeritus of the Board of Directors of the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwestern Pennsylvania.  “I actively pushed to put men on the board. One of the points I made is that if you really want to effect change in the region, we need male representation and input.  It was the right change for that organization,” she said. “It’s wrong to view women’s initiatives as something exclusive to the female gender. If you’re going to be successful, your approach needs to be inclusive.”

This is a message she carries to the firm’s Women's Business Development Committee. “We need to make sure we aren’t just marketing to other women. In the great world of business, proportionately the number of women who can give business is far less than the number of men.  Women lawyers should be able to market themselves across the business community,” she said.  “When people look at what I do, we’re trying to help women in our firm improve their own business development and increase their book of business – and that’s gender blind.  I was once asked to serve on the board of either the YMCA or the YWCA. I chose the YMCA so I’d be involved in things that weren’t just focused on women.”

There are 155 women lawyers at Buchanan – roughly one out of four lawyers. Dunham explained, “We came to realize it is immensely important that if we're putting money toward an event, that it has the ability for our women to actually interact with others.  We realized that business development success is based on relationships.  We strive to create the opportunity to build relationships. So if someone wants us to sponsor an event, the firm's Women's Business Development Committee will evaluate it based on the following criteria.

• Speaking engagements. “If there is an event or conference the firm is being asked to sponsor, we're more likely to agree if we can participate as a speaker. We want to be sure we’re using our resources to promote and elevate ourselves and the firm.”
  
  
• Charity tables. “The key to making the purchase of a table worthwhile is to make it a business development opportunity. We do this by filling only half of the seats with our own attorneys and in turn have each of them bring along a client or business contact."  
  
  
• Client activities. At one time the firm hosted an annual women's golf outing.  But, not a lot of women at the Buchanan golfed, so the Firm wasn't getting a lot of value from that event.  A few years later, we retooled that single event into a package that included several golf lessons. We set up a package where 20 people would get golf lessons once a week. I arranged it so that we had 10 of our women participating with 10 guests from the business community.  I wanted to make it a business development opportunity.  It has been very successful and we've done it for a couple of years now. As a result we have a handful of women at the firm who are really into golf.  It wasn’t extremely expensive, and it has turned out to be a great opportunity to develop relationships," Dunham said.

Seeing and seizing opportunities

Another of her business development skills is acting like an entrepreneur and pouncing on opportunities. The Pittsburgh Chapter of the Womens’ Presidents’ Organizations asked Dunham if they could use space at the law firm for meeting.  “I immediately agreed to it--but also asked that our firm be able to participate.  Having a seat at the table of important conversations enables us to see what these women executives are discussing,” she said.

Agreeing to have the firm host the organization's meetings turned out to be beneficial. “These are now some of my closest comrades and business acquaintances.  Several have become clients.  It’s been invaluable to me to hear what their concerns are – their focus was different than I expected.  It was a great learning opportunity for me and a great way to get involved in the community.  I now go to their national convention with them.  It’s a great networking opportunity and chance to find out what’s making these businesses tick.  It’s a great source of referrals, too.”

The Women's Business Development Committee has held wine-tastings, cooking classes and speeches by prominent people — as similar committees at other law firms do.  But with Dunham's leadership, they look for opportunities.  “A few years ago the local newspaper pointed out successful women in the community.  At the suggestion of a colleague, we decided to hold a celebration of the women who were honored and invite all the women picked for 40-under-40, Athena and Fast Trackers to the Duquesne Club, a prominent club in downtown Pittsburgh.  It was an excellent opportunity to bring together all of these notable women and honor their contributions to our region” she said.

“It wasn't cheap but has proven to be worth every penny spent.  Out of that has come regular client business — on a monthly basis it exceeds what we spent on the event.  I try hard to measure the success of our events.  When an initiative actually develops into business, it’s a thrill,” Dunham said.

Another key to her rainmaking success is that she’s not all business.  She golfs with her husband and spends time with her young kids.  Having a personal life is a factor that attracts clients to rainmakers.  Clients expect a lawyer to be a technical expert, but what they really want is a personal advisor or business confidante.

One last tip

Dunham makes a point of keeping her profile up-to-date on the firm’s website.  See http://www.bipc.com/professionals.php?PeopleID=132.  Foreign companies have called on her because web searches reveal that she was a student in Germany and Austria.  “This was new business that came because someone did a web search and called me out of the blue,” she said.

“I’m not sure that my web profile is spectacular – but it’s worked for me.  I rewrote my profile after I participated in a class at the Womens' President Organization on how to market yourself.   The program was not addressed just to attorneys but to market yourself in general.  Although people can Google me and find out how to get in touch, I also make a point to keep my personal contacts up-to-date.  You never know when you’ll be able to find business.”

© 2010 PBDI/SAGE PDI. This article comes from the special February/March 2010 Rainmaker Issue of ORIGINATE!, the online monthly newsletter (with ongoing support resources) dedicated to helping individual lawyers develop business successfully in order to build their careers. Our September 2008 anniversary issue and September 2007 inaugural issue are complimentary; otherwise articles are usually available to subscribers only. Find out more about subscribing at www.pbdi.org/originate.