Meet the Women Rainmakers!

Deborah C. Stevens

Interview by Heidi A. Barcus

Name: Deborah C. Stevens
Firm Name: Lewis, King, Krieg & Waldrop, P.C.
Address: One Centre Square, Fifth Floor, 620 Market Street, Knoxville, Tennessee 37902
Phone: (865) 546-4646
Interviewed by: Heidi A. Barcus
Practice area: Tort and Commercial Litigation

Deborah C. Stevens is President/Managing Shareholder for Lewis King. She practices in the area of tort and commercial litigation. She has served as lead trial counsel and successfully defended product liability claims and other catastrophic injury cases, including medical malpractice claims and trucking lawsuits. Ms. Stevens represents several major automotive manufacturers and has served as their lead trial counsel for cases across the country. In addition, Ms. Stevens has defended professional liability claims and has represented major insurance companies in the prosecution and defense of insurance coverage cases.

Most successful/Favorite Rainmaking tip:  Rainmaking is just about keeping in touch with people that you would like to have as friends. It is developing relationships. Think of it as doing something for your clients and potential clients. Ten to fifteen years may go by before a relationship turns into a business client.

Biggest influence on career/best career advice: The biggest influence on my career was my partner, Charlie Lewis. Charlie taught me that while your clients may be political, you cannot be political with them. The lawyer must maintain neutrality at all times because the clients’ positions may change over time. From my first day at the law firm Charlie treated me as an equal. Early in my career, one of his friends told him that it was not appropriate to bring a woman on a business trip. It never crossed Charlie’s mind that I was not capable of doing the job. He was always professional with me and within a few years, his colleagues were bringing women to meetings.

Percentage of time devoted to marketing: A rainmaker is always marketing. It is always about doing good work, whether sending an email, taking a telephone call, attending a seminar, going to the grocery store on the weekend, or arriving at the airport for a personal trip. A rainmaker cannot turn marketing on or off.

Proudest accomplishment: At one point in my career, I was asked to be national trial counsel for a major automobile manufacturing company. Our firm in Knoxville, Tennessee was competing against nationally renowned firms from Chicago, New York, and other major metropolitan cities. Knoxville not only got on the case list, but I ended up being designated as one of their lead trial counsel. That decision enabled me to try cases in places I never would have had the opportunity to practice law. That is my proudest accomplishment.

Knowing what you know now, if you were starting out as a lawyer today, what would you do differently?  I stumbled into a pretty good path. I began practicing in a very rural county in Tennessee. In Morgan County, I had the opportunity to try cases every day when Court was in session.  I was in front of juries as a first and second year lawyer. That experience helped shape me and helped me transition into my current position.

Tell me about one rainmaking strategy or tactic that you initially though would work, but it failed. Why did it fail? My firm had an opportunity to present itself to a new potential client that had moved into town. They were represented by another firm. We had put together a good team, but what we failed to do was practice. We found ourselves repeating each other over and over during the client presentation. I sat back and thought to myself, “I wouldn’t hire this firm.”

I do not think I appreciated that experts and other witnesses are a referral source. Throughout my career as I began to refer business to experts that testified for me, they in turn referred business back to the firm. I wish I had appreciated that strategy earlier.

What has been your greatest frustration about trying to get new business or new clients? My biggest frustration is the mixed signals that clients give to their lawyers. We try to learn as much as we can about clients, but sometimes they are not clear about what they really want. We talk about value; we talk about alternative fee agreements. It is frustrating is to spend hours and hours developing an alternative fee agreement and then hear back from the client that they would rather just stay with the hourly rate.

Additionally, clients’ preference for electronic communication as opposed to telephone calls can be frustrating.  Often, clients and attorneys miscommunicate using e-mail when a telephone call would provide a clearer message.

If you were mentoring a young woman lawyer, what advice would you give her regarding rainmaking? I would tell a young lawyer that women seem to have an unnatural fear of marketing. In fact, it is quite the opposite; women should have ten times the advantage as men in marketing. We are good at building relationships and we are sincere about these relationships. The way women develop business relationships may not be on the golf course, but there are other successful ways to market. Women should not try to market the way men do. We don’t dress like men, why are we trying to market like men? Additionally, I would tell a young woman to find a board of advisors, not just a mentor. The board of advisors should have men, women, elders, peers and other professions to help you guide your career.

Would you say you ever had a mentor that made a genuine difference in how your career turned out? If yes, please describe. I really had two mentors: Charlie Lewis, who made a huge difference in the way I went about rainmaking. However, equally important was George Morton who taught the importance of being an excellent lawyer. He taught me to be good at what I did and that you can never over prepare. Once the clients were in the door, Charlie taught me to keep that relationship going.

Finally, I need to mention Kathleen Buxton who was the Clerk of the Court in Morgan County. She was not a lawyer but played a critical role in my early career. Ms. Buxton would call me when something had been “filed against me,” and by the time I got to the courthouse she would have similar cases pulled so that I would know how to respond.

Think 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? Everything is different about the practice of law. First, the fact that there are women in the profession is a change. When I graduated there were only four women practicing in the area.

List words that best describe you: Confident, dreamer, performer, steady, and likes to have a good time.