Elizabeth Hill is a Texas attorney and an avid entrepreneur, both owning her own practice and co-owning the Burklee HIll Vineyard with her husband. Her practice deals primarily with commercial litigation, but with a robust and substantial variety of legal services for wineries and vineyards. So, today, we’re going to learn about how Elizabeth carved out her place in this niche, the legal needs of wineries (as well as other alcohol producers), and how she manages to juggle two business, while als...
Oct 14, 2019•39 min•Ep. 184
A couple weeks ago, we re-aired an episode with David Burkus, author of Friend of a Friend , and I received positive response from that episode that I wanted to share another one of my favorites from back in the archives. (But I promise this isn’t going to be a regular thing now.) Originally aired in April 2017, this episode features Ernie “the Attorney” Svenson, an expert in helping solo lawyers and small firms make their practices more profitable and vastly easier to manage. Since this episode...
Oct 07, 2019•54 min•Ep. 183
Lesly Longa Vaillancourt and I started our law careers together as associates in a small D.C. firm, and like myself, she’s since moved to start her own estate planning practice (although I only got as far as Maryland, she made it all the way down to Tampa). So, today, we compare notes on our transition from personal injury litigation to starting an estate planning solo practice, dissecting the good, the bad, and the ugly choices we’ve made along the way. Resources: Learn more at longalaw.com Twi...
Sep 30, 2019•29 min•Ep. 182
Over the years, I’ve had a lot of people ask me what my best episode is, or which ones they should go back and listen to, and I never have a great answer for them — but I recently re-read the book Friend of a Friend by David Burkus, and I was reminded of the incredible value of understanding human networks. So, today, we’re going to re-listen to my episode with David Burkus because I think we can all use a little reminder about this incredible resource that’s always available to us — and how we ...
Sep 23, 2019•50 min•Ep. 181
Stephanie Everett is VP of Community Success over at Lawyerist, responsible for leading the Lawyerist community and Lawyerist Lab, and the co-author of Lawyerist's new book, The Small Firm Roadmap . Don’t let the name of the book fool you, though — it is anything but small. This is a very serious literary work about how to achieve growth and success as a small firm practitioner, and I think it has the potential to become the go-to book for solo attorneys and small firms who want to grow. One of ...
Sep 16, 2019•46 min•Ep. 180
Gary Zalarick is the Principal behind The Legal Assistant, a practice management software for U.S. law firms, and a Partner at Sammarro & Zalarick. Gary and his team originally created The Legal Assistant as a way of leveraging technology to solve some of the problems they were experiencing in their firm — all the way back in 2006 — but it’s grown into something much bigger since then. Resources: Learn more at www.thelegalassistant.com/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gary-zalarick-0698823/ Fa...
Sep 09, 2019•38 min•Ep. 179
Whether it’s as a coach and mentor or the founder and creator of the Attorney Master Class, Dustin Cole is dedicated to helping attorneys build more profitable and successful legal businesses. I actually stumbled onto Dustin’s work after reading an article he wrote for Attorney at Work called “10 Rules for Surviving as a Solo or Small Firm Practice.” That piqued my interest (for obvious reasons) and I liked the article a lot, so I asked him to come on the show and expand on those 10 points for a...
Sep 02, 2019•56 min•Ep. 177
Hey there, fellow Law Entrepreneurs! We had a small snafu that forced us to pull down the episode that was supposed to go live this Monday – sorry about that – so I thought I’d take this opportunity to make a few announcements about what I’ll be doing and where I’ll be going over the next few months, as well as a guest appearance I made on The Lawyerist podcast. Resources: Join Neil at the Clio Cloud Conference (Oct. 21-22) Listen to Neil on The Lawyerist: lawyerist.com/podcast-238-neil-tyra Joi...
Aug 26, 2019•9 min•Ep. 176
If you’re anything like me, the idea of dealing with a bar counsel investigation of your practice fills you with the heebie jeebies – so, I want to do everything I can to make sure I’m not in that position! That’s why I asked Megan Zavieh to come back on the show and share how she helps attorneys help themselves by providing associated counsel assistance to self-represented attorneys. On top of that, Megan shares how she does all of this through a virtual practice. Resources: Learn more at zavie...
Aug 19, 2019•41 min•Ep. 175
Tom Lambotte, co-author of Macs in Law: The Definitive Guide for the Mac-Curious, Windows-Using Attorney and CEO of GlobalMac IT, returns to The Law Entrepreneur to share three new products designed to help small and solo attorneys optimize and grow their law firms: BasicCare , How to Start a Mac Law Firm , and Optimize Method . BasicCare is the suite of tools that GlobalMac IT has been using for years to reduce the time and energy spent maintaining Mac systems, now available to firms of any siz...
Aug 12, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 174
Christopher Lyle is an attorney by day and tech entrepreneur by night. He created the first version of a really interesting platform called Law Hustle to meet the needs of his own law firm in managing the client experience, and he has since released it as a product that’s helping lawyers all over the country organize and automate their practice. We also discuss how firms can create a comprehensive marketing strategy, which Christopher says should include more than just digital – so don’t put all...
Aug 05, 2019•41 min•Ep. 173
Rick Piereck has quite a few interesting tidbits on his resume: he was in the Army before law school, worked in a few Maryland state attorney offices as a prosecutor, and claims to have listened to every episode of The Law Entrepreneur before opening his own practice. Rick says he used the insights from our wonderful guests over the past 171 episodes as a roadmap to creating his law firm, and I was really interested in hearing about the choices he made based on what he heard and what his practic...
Jul 29, 2019•38 min•Ep. 172
Daniel Mayer has a niche practice providing services and resources to healthcare and mental health practitioners, effectively operating as an outside counsel to practitioners in a heavily regulated industry. This is a vital service area that is getting a lot of attention these days, for a number of different reasons (not all of which are good), but Daniel provides a much-needed legal underpinning to assist and support the people on the front lines delivering these services to these communities. ...
Jul 22, 2019•40 min•Ep. 171
Elise Buie had to evacuate and leave her life in New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina, leading to a winding journey across the country that ultimately landed her in Seattle, Washington, where she now practices family law. She’s had to reinvent herself a number of times through this process but she’s always been able to make it work because, as you’ll hear in this episode, she’s a very personal and personable person, which is also reflected in her firm culture and how she practices law. We also d...
Jul 15, 2019•55 min•Ep. 170
There are questions that come up a lot among solo and small-firm practitioners: What do I do if I have a long-term illness? Or, how do I provide a legacy for my firm so that, when I have to or choose to exit the practice of law, what I built can continue, and even provide for my family? To help us answer these questions, we are joined by Sofia Lingos, the managing attorney of Trident Legal and the Principal of Confidential Counselor Consulting, and Pete Roberts, an independent practice and manag...
Jul 08, 2019•49 min•Ep. 169
Christy Zlatkus has been in family law for about a decade, but she just recently transitioned to a solo practice. She has a really interesting approach to creating an environment and practice that is conducive in the family law space, and it seems to be paying off so far. So, today, Christy shares how she created an office environment that supports the family law practice, why she hired a PhD to help with family conflict resolution and support, and how she is changing the narrative around family...
Jul 01, 2019•38 min•Ep. 168
Margot Roberts is a solo practitioner who focuses on guardianship law – and I’ll admit that, after filing a petition for guardianship, I wasn’t really sure what the practice area entailed. So, this was an extremely enlightening conversation for me, in regards to what guardianship law is all about and how a solo practitioner can build a successful practice, and I hope you learn as much as I did. Resources: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margot-e-roberts-708955149/ Join Lawyer Club FREE, wh...
Jun 24, 2019•38 min•Ep. 167
Molly McGrath is the CEO and founder of Hiring & Empowering Solutions, a company that takes a very unique approach to answering two of the most critical questions that I hear most frequently from solo and small firm practitioners: How do I go about hiring staff and how do I train my staff to best support my organization? Molly has a unique take on outsourcing that I think will be invaluable to solo and small firm attorneys who want to stay focused on what they do best – like practicing law –...
Jun 17, 2019•44 min•Ep. 166
Today we’re joined by a familiar face and a new face, Erin Gerstenzang and Megan Zavieh, who recently delivered a fabulous presentation at the ABA techshow titled “Care and Feeding of Social Media: Enhancing Your Presence Online.” So, this episode is about why attorneys should be using social media – because it is an essential tool for communication with clients and potential clients – and how attorneys can do this more effectively and efficiently. We discuss overcoming the reluctance to join so...
Jun 10, 2019•42 min•Ep. 165
Today, I’m sitting down with two of the people behind CASEpeer, a case management tool designed to support personal injury attorneys – and as a reformed personal injury litigator, I was blown away by the demonstration of this product. I don’t have any stake in this company, and I don’t get anything for having them on the show, but I really do believe it will be an absolute game changer in the personal injury space. My guests are Gabriela Cubeiro, Director and co-founder of CASEpeer, and Darren F...
Jun 03, 2019•50 min•Ep. 164
Today, we’re discussing an interesting and important subject that I have been ignoring for too long: eDiscovery. I had sort of willingly ignored this subject because I didn’t fully understand it and didn’t see it’s applicability to my practice areas, but our industry has gotten to the point that we simply can’t keep ignoring the needs and requirements of eDiscovery, especially given some recent changes in professional conduct rules for attorneys. To teach us more about what eDiscovery is and why...
May 27, 2019•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 163
Daya Naef is an attorney and the creator of a coaching program called The Success Partner, in which she provides direct coaching to those who are transitioning into law or a new area of law. We’ve talked to a few other legal coaches on the show before, but Daya brings the unique perspective of someone who comes from biglaw. Resources: Learn more at https://www.thesuccesspartner.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dayanaef/ Join Lawyer Club FREE, where lawyers and law firm owners come to r...
May 20, 2019•28 min•Ep. 162
Melissa Fecak went through a number of different careers – like toy designer and veterinary technician – before starting family law 19 years ago, where she now focuses on mediation and collaborative law. Her diverse background has resulted in a number of unique challenges and opportunities while growing her firm, and I think this episode will provide some valuable inspiration if you’re also going through a difficult or unexpected transition, as well as some valuable insight into the collaborativ...
May 13, 2019•45 min•Ep. 161
Allison Williams is back and she has something new to share with us: Law Firm Mentor . Allison first joined the show back in episode 125 , when she discussed creating one of the most successful child abuse defense practices in New Jersey (if not the most successful). We talked about what it took to go from small firm attorney to CEO – Allison scaled her practice 846% in four years, and it is now a multi-million dollar business that only takes 5-10 hours of her week – and that transformation is e...
May 06, 2019•49 min•Ep. 160
Storey Jones is the developer of a new platform called dtour.life, which I saw demonstrated at the ABA Techshow, and I think this is going to be a game-changing platform for family law attorneys. Dtour.life is the first dedicated SaaS divorce management platform, and in this episode, Storey shares all the ways it will save attorneys time, money, and aggravation – while making them better attorneys along the way. Resources: Learn more at http://dtour.life LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sto...
Apr 29, 2019•49 min•Ep. 159
Travis Luther is the creator of LawFather, an award-winning digital media agency for lawyers and law firms. They offer clients traditional digital marketing services like web design and search engine optimization, but on top of that, they create innovative mediation and trial support products like digital settlement brochures. They also created a cloud-based app called TrialLine , and I think this could be a real game changer for how lawyers store, collate, and present information, particularly ...
Apr 22, 2019•54 min•Ep. 158
I just saw Michael Simon and Andrew Pery present a fascinating discussion at the ABA Tech Show, and I knew it was something I had to share with all of you. Their talk focused on how attorneys can make robots work for them, and today, they’re going to share how solo and small firm practitioners can use artificial intelligence and robots to grow or optimize their firms. Michael is an eDiscovery and information governance expert and the Principal (and Ronin) at Seventh Samurai. He was also an early...
Apr 15, 2019•47 min•Ep. 157
Kimberly Bennett runs a boutique trademark and business strategy practice out of Atlanta that provides a subscription service for businesses all around the country. It is a flat fee for virtual general counsel law services, and it just might offer a glimpse at the future of professional service business models. I’d never really considered a subscription-based business model for law firms before talking to Kimberly, and it really was an eye-opening conversation for me – and I think it will be for...
Apr 08, 2019•39 min•Ep. 156
Erin Gerstenznag is a technology wizard and a solo criminal defense practitioner, and today she shares how she uses technology to leverage her offerings as a criminal defense attorney. We’ll learn how to use technology to gain efficiency and proficiency in a solo practice, including Erin’s robust and well-thought-out client intake process, which covers everything from the initial phone call to the start of a legal matter. Resources: Learn more at https://www.eringerstenzang.com/ Instagram: https...
Apr 01, 2019•41 min•Ep. 155
Chris Godfrey is an estate planning and elder law attorney out of South Bend, Indiana, which is also where he studied law at Notre Dame after competing as a professional football player for nine years. Chris’s family members also lend their assistance to the practice, creating a very homey and familial space to develop his firm. We discuss the flexibility of estate planning and elder law, the technology he uses for scheduling and billing, experiments with different marketing strategies, and movi...
Mar 25, 2019•31 min•Ep. 154
