As Managing Partners look ahead to 2026, the range of realistic growth options is narrowing. Some firms will pursue scale through mergers or acquisitions. Others will be acquired.

For firms determined to grow independently, the issue is no longer whether opportunity exists. It is whether the firm is set up to recognize it and act on it consistently. In many cases, growth is constrained not by demand or access to talent, but by fragmented client ownership, silos, uneven collaboration across practices, and limited visibility into work that could already be done for existing clients.

Nexl's Rethinking Rainmakers report shows that firms that rely less on individual rainmakers grow faster, retain clients more effectively, and deliver more services per client than their peers. These results are not driven by expansion or headcount. They come from firms that have found ways to share knowledge, coordinate effort, and build trust across the Partnership.

Cross-selling starts with trust

Cross-selling works when clients experience the firm as joined-up. In many firms, that still isn’t the case. Client knowledge often sits with one partner. Introductions depend on personal relationships. Opportunities feel risky to pursue and easy to ignore.

From a leadership perspective, this creates a gap. Partners are encouraged to collaborate, but often lack the information or context needed to do so with confidence.

Firms that perform well treat cross-selling as part of client service, not a sales exercise. They look for signs of need, involve the right people early, and focus on being helpful rather than persuasive. Over time, this builds credibility and trust with clients.

Awareness is where growth stalls

The report highlights a fundamental problem. Most firms do not have a clear view of how many services they provide to their clients, or where future work might come from . When lawyers don’t know what colleagues do, or what clients are dealing with, opportunities pass unnoticed.

In practice, this often means firms realize too late that a client needed help they could have provided. By then, the work has gone elsewhere, or the moment has passed.

Firms that grow organically tend to spot these signals earlier. They pay closer attention to what is happening across their client base and use that information to start better conversations sooner. This shifts the firm’s role from reacting to requests to anticipating problems.

Collaboration needs support

Collaboration is something most firm leaders talk about. Without proper support, it rarely occurs consistently and seldom changes outcomes at scale.

The firms making progress have invested in ways to connect people around shared clients and shared insights. They make it easier to see where others are involved, what is happening with key accounts, and where follow-up might be needed.

This matters because growth does not require more lawyers. It requires better use of the lawyers already in the firm. The data show that firms with stronger visibility and more disciplined coordination outperform those that rely on informal networks and individual effort.

The growth is already there

By 2026, firms that are not acquiring or being acquired will need to be more deliberate about how they grow.

For many, the opportunity sits inside existing client relationships. The firms that succeed will be those that can see it clearly and act on it reliably, rather than leaving it to chance or individual initiative. 

In practice, firms making progress are putting far more discipline around how insight is shared, how client signals are surfaced, and how the right people are brought into conversations earlier.

Nexl's Rethinking Rainmakers Report