Today, my guest is Kirk Simoneau. Kirk is an attorney up in New Hampshire, and is this fascinating story of how he went from law school to a fairly sizable firm and within a very short period of time, became the managing partner at a very young age for a venerable firm that had been around for a long time. And it's a really interesting story that then segues to the creation of his own solo practice, Red Sneaker Law. And there's some really interesting stories about how Red Sneaker Law came to be...
Feb 21, 2022•44 min•Ep. 305
Today, my guest is Eric Pines. Eric is an attorney who now operates a medium-sized law firm of about 30 employees and they're spread across multiple locations, as is often the standard these days. I wanted to have Eric on board because he could speak to the growth from a solo practice, that he started in his garage, hiring a few friends to help him run his business and has now moved on to have this medium-sized practice We talked about all the lessons learned, things he did right, things he did ...
Feb 14, 2022•39 min•Ep. 304
Today I have two guests - Lauren Lester and Jessica Bednarz. Lauren is an attorney operating outside of Denver, Colorado, and has a client based law firm focusing on Family Law principally. It's really interesting how she structured her law firm to be client centered and to take full advantage of the limited scope opportunities and productize the packaging of legal services to meet her client needs. Jessica has formerly worked with the Chicago Bar Association, and then went on to work for the Ch...
Feb 07, 2022•46 min•Ep. 303
Today, my guest is Sue West. Sue is a personal injury attorney outside of Houston, Texas, and we're going to talk about how she has gone from a law office, essentially in her spare bedroom, to a freestanding physical location in the suburbs and serving clients with a emphasis on client relations and coaching them through, and helping them through, the process of recovering from difficult times catastrophic, in some cases, accident. In this episode, Neil and Sue discuss: Sue’s journey from being ...
Jan 31, 2022•34 min•Ep. 302
Today my guest is Steve Fretzin. Steve is one of the giants in the legal marketing and business development space. I wanted to have Steve on today for a couple of different reasons, principally because he's got a new book called Legal Business Development Isn't Rocket Science. And isn't that the truth? It summarizes some of the things written in the earlier books and adds some new material. It's very broad in terms of his treatment of the things that a budding law entrepreneur would want to know...
Jan 24, 2022•44 min•Ep. 301
Every year this at this time of year, December, Stacey Brown Randall devotes the month to goal setting. And what you're going to hear on this episode is me admitting that I'm an utterly terrible person at setting goals. I'm the poster boy for why goal setting is important, and I have demonstrated ample ability to foil my own progress by not setting the goals in a way that they're achievable, or sustainable, or maintaining the momentum to realize them. So I thought, hey, let's get Stacey on. We'l...
Jan 17, 2022•44 min•Ep. 300
Starting your own practice isn’t something they teach in law school. Join me as I sit down with legal professionals to hear firsthand accounts of just how they did it. Today, my guest is Laurie Gilbertson. Laurie has a very interesting career. She started off as a district attorney in the Queens County, New York office. From there she transitioned to being a fixture on Court TV along with other New York media outlets commenting on cases in the news and developing her communication skills and hon...
Jan 10, 2022•40 min•Ep. 298
Starting your own practice isn’t something they teach in law school. Join me as I sit down with legal professionals to hear firsthand accounts of just how they did it. In this episode, Neil and John discuss: Transferring the lessons from The Four Seasons and Disney to your business. Focusing in on what most of your clients want. Hiring for your firm before individuals have graduated law school and passed the bar. Answering your clients questions, and training your employees. Key Takeaways: You d...
Dec 20, 2021•48 min•Ep. 297
Starting your own practice isn’t something they teach in law school. Join me as I sit down with legal professionals to hear firsthand accounts of just how they did it. Today, my guest is Laura Frederick. Laura is a solo practitioner and entrepreneur. She comes out of big law and out of the commercial world, with most recently stopped at Tesla, of all great places to work. She started her practice to deal with contract law and writing contracts in a way that's a little more achievable or understa...
Dec 13, 2021•49 min•Ep. 296
Starting your own practice isn’t something they teach in law school. Join me as I sit down with legal professionals to hear firsthand accounts of just how they did it. In this episode, Neil and Jeremy discuss: Lessons for moving into your own solo firm from a big law firm. Digging deep into the tools that you have. Challenges of opening a new, solo firm. Implementing processes in your law firm (even if you are the only lawyer right now). Key Takeaways: The tools that we have now, compared to a d...
Dec 06, 2021•32 min•Ep. 295
Starting your own practice isn’t something they teach in law school. Join me as I sit down with legal professionals to hear firsthand accounts of just how they did it. In this episode, Neil and Joe discuss: The power of education in marketing and advertising. Building your preeminence in your field. The difference between scale and growth. Re-architecting for the future. Key Takeaways: You can’t beat your competition by copying (or attempting to copy) them. It doesn’t work. People don’t buy from...
Nov 29, 2021•58 min•Ep. 294
Starting your own practice isn’t something they teach in law school. Join me as I sit down with legal professionals to hear firsthand accounts of just how they did it. Today, my guest is Kelsey Johnson. Kelsey is a product marketing manager for AWeber, which is an email marketing platform that quite frankly, I use and have used for years and years. Aweber is a perfect platform and they have enough robust capabilities and complexities, and technical skills that you can grow with that platform to ...
Nov 22, 2021•50 min•Ep. 293
Zeb Anderson is an attorney and a proud geek. He founded an application called LegalQ that can run on any Android or iOS smartphone which helps connect potential clients with attorneys for 15-minute conversations that can hopefully lead to a continued business relationship. It’s a brilliant application and addresses many of the trends taking place in the marketplace today. It also provides justice to those who otherwise wouldn’t even know whether their problems have a legal solution or not. Ther...
Nov 15, 2021•35 min•Ep. 292
Starting your own practice isn’t something they teach in law school. Join me as I sit down with legal professionals to hear firsthand accounts of just how they did it. This week, I’m talking to experienced attorney, Russell Farbiarz, who successfully managed to transition from criminal law to business law and estate planning. Our conversation covers everything from the early days setting up his own practice to how the legal profession has changed (or, ultimately, hasn’t) thanks to COVID. Listen ...
Nov 08, 2021•38 min•Ep. 291
Today’s guest is Jay Ruane, a lawyer, author, entrepreneur, and sought-after speaker. He runs a successful criminal defense firm, a rare perspective for the podcast. We dive into some of the differences between criminal defense attorneys when it comes to marketing and business practices, such as focusing on the loved ones of clients rather than the clients themselves. We also discuss some of the misconceptions around criminal defense and some of the unique skills required for that kind of work. ...
Nov 01, 2021•43 min•Ep. 290
These days, everyone is online. If you aren’t then that’s a red flag for consumers, but at the same time, how on Earth can you possibly stand out from the crowd? Legal marketing consultant, Karin Conroy, is on hand with the tips you need to hear. How has the online landscape changed since everyone flocked to it in the ‘90s? What are the best website templates for legal marketing and which ones give clients the wrong ideas? Resources: Controy Creative Counsel Karin Conroy on LinkedIn Join Lawyer ...
Oct 25, 2021•45 min•Ep. 289
Amanda Butler Schley has the fascinating story of transitioning from big law to a solo practice, and then taking that legal practice to sea – literally – by doing her work all around the world from a sailboat. She’s transitioned back to a land-based practice these days, but continues to use all of the lessons she learned from running a practice out of the middle of the ocean. And now she’s here to share them with us. Resources: Email: abutler@lawgroup.biz lawgroup.biz LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/a...
Oct 18, 2021•45 min•Ep. 288
Jodi Silbermann is a longtime paralegal, based in California, and focused primarily on family law and estate planning. She has started her own business providing paralegal services and divorce coaching. She’s also written and published a book on the divorce process and how one can navigate through it. We talk about how Jodi can either work with an attorney to facilitate the legal process to be more efficient, or otherwise use her expertise to proceed without an outside attorney. She’s in an inte...
Oct 11, 2021•34 min•Ep. 287
Sam Mollaei has an interesting approach to law practice. He runs seven different virtual law firms, and he relies heavily upon automation to do that. He’s joining us on the program to go over some of the tools he uses. He shares his top 5 game changing tools – specifically, how you can leverage automation to scale up your business, and his process for starting a law firm on one page. Resources: legalfunnel.com Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/legalfunnel Loom Slack Google Workspace Todoist Up...
Oct 04, 2021•47 min•Ep. 286
Stacey Brown Randall is a returning champion to the podcast, having previously appeared on the show twice. She is the be-all-end-all when it comes to referrals, and given how important referral marketing is, we’re going to revisit some of the most vital aspects of it. It’s the primary source of new clients for most firms, and we can’t focus on it enough. Resources: StaceyBrownRandall.com staceybrownrandall.com/layers staceybrownrandall.com/gbr Listen: Roadmap to Grow Your Business Podcast Read: ...
Sep 27, 2021•47 min•Ep. 285
Kara Vaval is an attorney in the Fort Lauderdale area who has built her virtual practice from scratch. As a result of having to confront the problems many women unfortunately face in the legal industry when they decide to have children, she made the decision to set out on her own and go virtual in order to balance the roles of motherhood and business owner. She’s been able to take what she’s learned from the process and create a course helping legal practitioners thrive while working solo. Resou...
Sep 20, 2021•42 min•Ep. 284
Daniel Kramer is the head of a successful personal injury law firm out of Los Angeles. He transitioned from a previous practice into this new specialization in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We talk about what he had to do differently because of it, what has changed, and if he expects things to go back to how they were before. We also discuss finding strategic partners to accelerate growth and creating standard operating procedures for consistency. Resources: kramerlaw.com dkramer@kramerlaw...
Sep 13, 2021•36 min•Ep. 283
Michael Saad is the CEO and founder of the digital marketing firm Digital1010. What sets them apart from others in the field is the way they provide their services in a number of different ways: from white glove service to task-oriented concierge services in various areas of digital marketing and branding. He works with big companies and small firms alike, so he has solutions that will work at any level. We talk about the importance of knowing your marketing even if you plan to hire for it, the ...
Sep 06, 2021•44 min•Ep. 282
Mike Kim is a brand strategist for business thought leaders, coaches, authors, and anyone who wants to create impact with their ideas and get their message heard. He’s given a TED Talk and been featured on PBS, CNN, Fox, and more. He’s also the author of You Are The Brand . Attorneys tend to struggle with brand-building, especially solo or small firm practitioners who don’t have the money to spend on an advertising agency or brand manager. He’s worked with attorneys in the past and knows how to ...
Aug 30, 2021•47 min•Ep. 281
Justin Stivers is the owner of the Probate Firm, obviously focusing primarily on probate administration with some estate planning as well. There’s an interesting story of how Justin arrived at that specific niche, and how they grew into one of the preeminent firms in the area providing these services. Whatever field you are in, you’re going to find some value in this conversation with Justin. Resources: probatefirm.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/the-law-offices-of-justin-b-stivers-llc Facebo...
Aug 23, 2021•36 min•Ep. 280
Cara O’Brien is the managing partner at The Law Office of Evan K. Thalenberg PA, a well-established firm in Baltimore. She shares how she joined that firm straight out of her clerkship before going on to steer it through the phases of growth, adaptation, and change that come with technology along with navigating the pandemic. She also brings the perspective of being a mother who is trying to raise a family while working in their practice. Resources: probonomom.com Email: cobrien@ektlaw.com Insta...
Aug 16, 2021•42 min•Ep. 279
Patricia Rodriguez has a fascinating story about how she came to be in the position to attend the University of Southern California and ultimately Temple Law School. Despite all of that, she prefers not to focus on the past, instead looking to the future. As she puts it, “If you work to make every day a good day, once you put a couple of those together in a row then pretty soon you have a good life.” Her positive outlook shines through and gives a refreshing perspective to the profession. Resour...
Aug 09, 2021•44 min•Ep. 278
Mark Rockwell offers a unique approach to the business coaching world. He started off as an attorney before going into business and building several successful companies. He then decided to help others as a coach. He gravitated back towards his original career and now helps attorneys build their businesses. We talk about the complications that arise when hiring for your firm without systems in place, how a lack of standards and processes leads to unnecessary confusion, and how to find a coach th...
Aug 02, 2021•50 min•Ep. 277
Tiffany Christianson operates a small firm out of Scottsdale, Arizona focused on business law and estate planning. We hear how she built that practice from the ground up and turned it into the success that it is today. She identified a problem when it came to reviewing large scale and complicated documents with her clients. It led to the creation of a service called DocuPlayer, which integrates a number of technologies to assist attorneys in reviewing complex documents with their clients, while ...
Jul 26, 2021•36 min•Ep. 276
Joey Vitale is an attorney in the Chicago area focused on trademark law. He has an interesting story relating to certain events in his life – both professionally and personally – that directed him to build a practice that catered to the work-life balance that met his objectives. This led to his very successful trademark law practice, with a mix of online and service-based products. He’s a good example of the modern law firm model and has a lot to teach us about building a business that supports ...
Jul 19, 2021•47 min•Ep. 275
