Leaving a law firm can create tension for everyone involved, and the decisions made before and during that departure matter.

In this episode of The Founding Partner Podcast, Jonathan Hawkins walks through three issues lawyers and law firms need to think about when someone makes a move: notice to the firm, communication with clients, and handling client files. The goal is simple, understand the potential trouble spots before you step on a landmine.

What happens to your law firm if you suddenly cannot run it?

In this solo episode of The Founding Partner Podcast, Jonathan Hawkins breaks down what he calls the “Hit By a Bus Plan,” a practical approach for protecting your clients, family, employees, and firm if death or disability takes you away from the practice unexpectedly.

Does every law firm really need to scale?

In this episode of The Founding Partner Podcast, Jonathan Hawkins sits down with New Orleans personal injury attorney David Vicknair to talk about building a firm on your own terms. David shares how intentional growth, memorable client hospitality, bold marketing, and investing in the right people helped shape his firm, and why growth only works when you know what you actually want to build.

What does it take to grow from a new law firm owner hiring an attorney off Craigslist to leading one of Washington’s largest family law practices?

In this episode of The Founding Partner Podcast, Michelle Dellino shares how confidence, calculated risk, hard-earned lessons, and a willingness to let go helped her build Dellino Family Law Group. She also opens up about the difficult seasons behind the growth, why founders need a clear vision, and what it really means to build a firm around the life you want.

A law firm partnership can work on trust and a handshake, until it doesn’t. In this episode of The Founding Partner Podcast, Jonathan Hawkins breaks down four essential issues every law firm partnership agreement should address before disagreements, departures, or unexpected changes put that partnership to the test.

He also shares a practical bonus tip for structuring partner compensation so it can evolve without reopening the entire partnership agreement.

What happens when a young lawyer combines an entrepreneurial instinct with an early fascination for technology? Erik Pelton turned that combination into a trademark practice that has continued evolving for more than 25 years.

In this episode of The Founding Partner Podcast, Erik shares how flat fees, technology, education, content, and a willingness to learn from failure helped him build a distinctive firm. We also explore why lawyers need to advocate for themselves, how delegation changes a founder's role, and why Erik believes some of his greatest successes began with mistakes.

What happens when a lawyer sees an underserved market and decides to build something bigger around it?

In this episode of The Founding Partner Podcast, I sit down with Bart Denham, founder and principal attorney of Denham Property and Injury Law Firm, to talk about growing from one attorney to twelve in less than three years, expanding into new markets, building a custom case management system with AI, and learning how relationships can fuel explosive growth.

What does it take to walk away from more than two decades of legal experience and build something completely different?

In this episode of The Founding Partner Podcast, Jonathan Hawkins sits down with Steven Nassi, founder of Rock Point Law, to talk about his move from representing insurance companies to advocating for consumers, why he chose lemon law, and how intentional decisions around client service, culture, technology, and hiring are helping him build a firm designed for long-term growth.

How should equity partners be paid, and why do so many compensation systems create unintended problems? In this solo episode of The Founding Partner Podcast, Jonathan Hawkins explores the strengths and weaknesses of common equity partner compensation models, explains why no system is perfect, and shares a practical framework for creating a compensation plan that rewards both ownership and performance.

What does success really look like for a law firm founder? For Jason DeSouza, it is not measured by having the biggest office or the largest headcount. It is about building a firm that delivers exceptional results for clients while protecting the people who make the work possible, including himself.

In this episode of The Founding Partner Podcast, Jonathan Hawkins sits down with Jason DeSouza, founder of DeSouza Injury Lawyers, to discuss entrepreneurship, intentional growth, community relationships, and why knowing your definition of "enough" may be the most important business decision you ever make.