Despite the much-publicized "tech wreck" among high technology companies, the industry as a whole remains one of the most promising and robust markets for emerging growth companies. So it is not surprising that law firms continue to target the high-tech sector as a good market to drive profitability for their firms.

However, law firms targeting this market sector often make the mistake of identifying these potential clients as high technology companies instead of companies that focus on high technology. This subtle nuance is the key to why some high-tech-focused law firms are suffering and why others are having trouble identifying the role they can play in assisting these types of clients.

Bottom line: When you peel away the layers of jargon and flashy graphics, companies that focus on high-tech are simply companies with the same needs and problems as any other business. They need help protecting their intellectual property, finding office space, dealing with employee issues, securing financing and settling disputes with clients or suppliers.

The main difference between your high-tech client and your commercial real estate client is the environment in which they operate, both real and perceived. They have very real and specific needs that address protecting their ideas in a space that demands high speed, high return and high confidence in their future success.

There are also perceived needs. High-tech clients continue to think they operate in a different community from the "old world" economy. Keep in mind that to effectively develop and retain high-tech clients, your lawyers will have to fully integrate into their community. But just because your firm has gone business casual 24/7, the absence of a tie does not buy you a ticket into that community.

If your firm wants to attract and retain high-tech clients, follow the trends - and understand what makes those clients tick (and keeps them awake at night).

1. Check Attorney Egos at the Door. Tech clients think they are every bit as smart as (or even smarter than) some of your best attorneys. And you know what? Many of them are. The best method is to use a subtle approach when presenting educational background.

2. Experience Is Critical. Don't just provide a menu of services; talk about the ingredients. High-tech companies want to know that your firm has done similar work for other tech companies. Get permission from clients to use their names in new business pitches and on your firm's Web site (tech companies want to know who your firm works with). Also, make sure that your firm's lawyers know not only about the clients but their products or service offerings as well.

3. Join the Club. High-tech companies cluster. They cluster a lot. Their culture encourages cooperation, despite cutthroat competition. If you think this community has done away with the good ol' boys/girls club, think again. Reputation is everything, and referrals are the name of the game. However, attorneys must realize that they may have to develop an entirely new referral network to reach this industry that is known for its extreme tunnel vision. High-tech companies want to hire attorneys who have a visible presence and are known as players in the technology industry, not just the legal industry.

4. Positioning and Marketing Counts. Millions of venture capital dollars were spent on advertising by dot-com companies during the last two Super Bowls. The reason is obvious: For many of these companies, their businesses depended on high visibility advertising to stay in front of existing and potential customers and demonstrate their unique market position. The lesson learned here: Tech clients like to brag and talk about the service providers they are using. They like to see a print ad or airport display, nudge their traveling companion and say, "That's OUR law firm!"

5. Be a Community Participant, Not Just a Spectator. If your firm's idea of networking is to buy a table at a start-up company conference and have 10 lawyers from your firm sit around it - save your money. If lawyers are not active in the conference or organization and working the room, they are wasting their time and the firm's money. Lawyers need to get involved in tech community activities and organizations and take a leadership position. As an example, a very effective role is to become the membership committee chairperson of the local technology council.

6. Be Able to Paint a Picture of the End Result. Tech companies have to paint a picture constantly for their investors and clients - it is not what they have now that is valuable, but what they will develop in the years to come. While providing detail on your firm's experience is important (what the lawyers can do), your lawyers also need to describe what they will do for a client. How many firms in your city can do patent work? A whole bunch. A law firm that can paint a picture for a tech company CEO of how that firm can put him or her on a beach sooner (due to the incredible success of the patent) rather than later is the one that wins the business.

7. Tech Companies Like One-Stop Shops Many technology CEO's are the chief executive, marketing guru, business manager and top salesperson, all rolled into one. They have many things to worry about - screening and hiring a law firm is often near the bottom of the list. To be more effective here, form client service teams that emphasize solving all of a client's legal issues instead of only the ones your firm pitched at the beginning of the engagement.

8. Tech Companies Thrive on Revolutionary Thought. Make your firm stand out. Be creative in your business pitches. Emphasizing your law firm's "personality" can go a long way to making a lasting impression. Keep in mind that entrepreneurs often start their companies with the thought that they are somehow going to change the world. Attracting and retaining high-tech clients centers on demonstrating this belief throughout the attorney/client relationship.

9. Lawyers Are a Necessary Evil. Realize that a lot of emerging tech companies view hiring a law firm as a necessary evil. If they could do without you, they probably would. The main thing they worry about is having their law firm slow them down by giving a lot of reasons why something cannot be done, as opposed to finding a way to make that something happen - quickly. A way to overcome this perception is to educate clients on the steps needed for a particular matter, as well as the time it may take to complete them, and keep the project moving toward completion.

10. Tech Companies Are Very Worried Right Now. The companies that survived "tech wreck" have realized that building a multimillion-dollar international business is actually pretty complicated. Help them see the light at the end of the tunnel and not just focus on the lines on the road directly in front of them.

The firms that have been the most successful in attracting and retaining high-tech clients are the ones that position themselves as having a full-service technology practice (IP, real estate, labor and employment, etc.) rather than a full-service firm with a technology practice.

High technology companies have all of the same issues as any other company does - even though they might not believe that to be true. The challenge for law firms is to turn their attorneys into regular insiders in the high-tech community, as opposed to lawyers who hide their neckties in their briefcase five minutes before attending the annual technology council awards dinner.