Purpose – This paper aims to identify practices used by marketing specialists and legal practitioners who have direct contact with clients in establishing and nurturing relationships with clients in the legal industry. In particular, it seeks to examine their responsibilities at different stages of the relationship development process. A conceptual framework is proposed to analyse the single case study of this research. Design/ methodology/ approach –The relationship marketing practice of the marketing specialists and legal practitioners from a global law firm, Z (one of the ten largest law firms in the world measured by income in 2010) was examined through 15 in-depth semi-structured interviews with key personnel. Findings - Ten client relationship marketing practices by firm Z have been identified. Whilst organising and attending social events; managing the communications or interactions process; managing the cross-selling; service recovery; changing the impression; truly understand your clients’ businesses and industries and other small little “gestures” are similar to the findings found in the previous study by Claycomb and Martin (2002), social bonds beyond professional level; treating every job seriously regardless of the size and utilising Client Relationship Management (CRM) software are three practices which have emerged from this study. Research limitations/ implications – Although the ten practices presented are pivotal in contributing to a client relationship success, the effects of each practice should also be assessed. Further research is needed to develop a study to measure these effects and the quality of the client relationship. The underlying intention is to find ways to apply the practices more effectively. Practical implications – This paper demonstrates that in order to succeed in the highly competitive marketplace; law firms need to understand not only the potential outcomes of each relationship marketing practice but also how to practice it systematically. Originality/ value – A new relationship development process model incorporating the essence of the customer relationship life cycle was developed and its practicality was confirmed by the research findings.