BCD

I wouldn't say that behaviour makes him a whore, as much as it shows what a phony manipulator and greedy opportunist he is. It also shows how completely clueless the guy is.

I am a lawyer myself and attend a pretty wealthy church (no, I did not select the church for networking reasons, which personally I find reprehensible). What this guy will find is that his attending a church solely for networking purposes will actually work against him. This is for a combination of reasons, including the fact that (i) most wealthy people already have a lawyer, (ii) many of the existing, long-term members of the church are probably lawyers themselves, and (iii) people entrust important legal matters (at least the matters your typical attendee at a wealthy church would have) with someone they know VERY WELL (not just some guy you sat next to one time in chuch) or someone they are referred to based on the lawyer's reputation as being very skilled (not a brand-new lawyer straight out of school). Perhaps just as important, a lot of wealthy people are very sophisticated in business matters and in dealing with people in general. They will smell your naive little friend's phoniness and hucksterism - as this stranger starts hitting them up for legal work shortly after he meets them - a mile away. So, not only will they not hire him, but they will "run" in the opposite direction and probably warn others about him.

Having said that, let me also make one other comment. The greedy and phony guys I went to law school with, who talked like your friend about having all of these wealthy people as clients and having a sophisticated law practice, are all doing crappy ambulance-chacer work for the complete scum of the earth. They are also the ones who have had bar complaints made against them. I hope your friend grows up before this fate is bestowed on him.