When most attorneys begin their law careers, they fail to find a specialty where they can thrive. Instead, they take on any work thrown their way, which sometimes equates to scraps, because they have bills and student loans to pay. The thought process is some income is better than no income. They're small fish in a big pond.

What if you could find the formula to become the big fish in a small pond? When someone thinks of your niche, you would be the first name to come to mind. And especially in a small town, you can be the big fish with some strategic planning.

In this episode of the podcast, Steve welcomes guest Ronnie Morton to the show. Ronnie's practice, specializing in elder law, is based in the small town of Clinton, Mississippi. While many lawyers claim that it isn't possible to create a niche in a market like his, Ronnie cornered the market on elder law in his town and is the go-to resource in Clinton. That wasn't always the case, though; it took some trial and error to figure out the secret formula.

Before landing on elder law, Ronnie was looking forward to becoming a plaintiff's lawyer, trying multimillion-dollar cases but not seeing the fruits of his labor. He switched directions, became a general counsel, and by age 35, he knew things had to change. That's when Ronnie began learning how to leverage technology to grow his business.

In this episode, you will hear:

• How Ronnie Morton became an attorney and when he decided that his business model wasn't working for him
• How he discovered his law niche of estate planning, what he did to position himself as an expert in that field, and how he self-educated
• Why you'll have to pivot when laws change
• What Ronnie's strategy was for shifting his practice into a niche and how he began to market it using boot camps
• Why his marketing strategy can work for every lawyer--even if they believe it won't
• The types of advertising he's used over the years, what works best for him, and why Facebook hasn't been a good source of revenue
• What he's done to refine his SEO strategy to bring in leads

Subscribe & Review Never miss an episode. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. ⭐Like what you hear? A quick review helps more people find the show.⭐

If there's a topic you would like us to cover on an upcoming episode, please email us at [email protected].

Supporting Resources:

• Morton Elder Law
• Ronnie Morton
• Law Firm Coaching Programs
• The Automated Attorney

Curious about growing your own practice without burning out? Contact Atticus to see whether our law firm coaching can help you strengthen attorney success, refine your law firm business strategy, and build a practice that actually supports your life. This podcast for lawyers is part of our broader legal podcast library, offering practical insights on how to grow a law firm through stronger law firm leadership, law firm pricing and management, smarter marketing, intentional hiring, efficient operations, healthy law firm culture, and sustainable profitability, all while addressing law firm burnout and the realities of modern practice.

You can also sign up for our newsletter to get practical insights on how to grow a law firm: from law firm leadership and management to marketing, hiring, operations, culture, and profitability, so you can build a Great Practice and a Great Life.

A hectic schedule and multiple commitments can make you feel like you'll never get ahead of the game. It just never feels like are enough hours in the day or time to work on your business. You'd love to take back control of your life and your schedule.

Marketing can be a powerful tool in building a business where you decide what types of clients and cases you take. While it isn't taught in law school, learning how to market and brand your business can go a long way toward creating the thriving law practice you've dreamed of.

Brenda Geiger is making her great life work for her and her business. Her firm, Geiger Law, is based in Carlsbad, California, and focuses primarily on estate planning and administration. Brenda has always loved writing and is a genius at using her books as marketing devices. She is a busy business owner, attorney, wife, and mom, but Brenda's one hour a week of writing time is non-negotiable in her schedule.

In this episode, you'll hear Brenda share how she became an attorney, how she established a marketing machine using the books she authored, and the role her team plays in writing and updating her books. She also shares why writing is her favorite marketing medium.

In this episode, you will hear:

• Brenda Geiger's background, her busy family schedule, and how she juggles it with her successful law practice
• How losing her father at 19 caused her to drop out of college, why her aunt encouraged her to get back to school, and how she ended up in law school
• How Brenda's practice began and her marketing methodology
• Her marketing brand, how she established it, and how she turned her books into marketing tools
• Brenda's process for writing a book and keeping them updated with new editions and why her team plays a significant role in the process
• Why just one hour a week of writing plays a huge role in marketing her firm
• Why writing is her favorite form of marketing and events a close second
• A slow season in a cyclical practice is a great time to plan marketing events
• What she loves the most about running her own practice
• The advice Brenda would give to her younger self and the one business skill she'd tell young Brenda to learn
• The reason you should be intentionally learning your referral sources' preferences and organizing that information to use it
• Her tips for time management when you have a busy schedule

Subscribe & Review Never miss an episode. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. ⭐Like what you hear? A quick review helps more people find the show.⭐

If there's a topic you would like us to cover on an upcoming episode, please email us at [email protected].

Supporting Resources:

• Geiger Law Office
• Brenda Geiger
• Law Firm Coaching Programs
• My Great Life Focus

Curious about growing your own practice without burning out? Contact Atticus to see whether our law firm coaching can help you strengthen attorney success, refine your law firm business strategy, and build a practice that actually supports your life. This podcast for lawyers is part of our broader legal podcast library, offering practical insights on how to grow a law firm through stronger law firm leadership, law firm pricing and management, smarter marketing, intentional hiring, efficient operations, healthy law firm culture, and sustainable profitability, all while addressing law firm burnout and the realities of modern practice.

You can also sign up for our newsletter to get practical insights on how to grow a law firm: from law firm leadership and management to marketing, hiring, operations, culture, and profitability, so you can build a Great Practice and a Great Life.

In the legal world, most attorneys hyper-focus on their particular area. Often, they're afraid to hire more staff because more staff means more money spent. What they fail to recognize, though, is that a carefully curated team can increase the quality and revenue of their practices multiple times.

It seems counterintuitive that hiring more people could lead to more revenue, yet hiring the right team members can do exactly that. They can remove the tasks from your plate that you don't want to focus on or simply no longer have the time for. Along with having your finances under control and a marketing strategy, you can set yourself up for greater success.

Marc Whitehead is a double board-certified attorney who specializes in disability claims today. His firm has more than 50 employees and continues to grow. A self-described recovering personal injury trial lawyer, he spent the first half of his career taking on car accidents, slip-and-fall incidents, and other cases of that nature. Marc began the transition to Social Security disability claims about halfway through his 30-year career and discovered he could plan his day, month, and even vacations instead of being a slave to his trial calendar.

This episode is part two of Steve's conversation with Marc Whitehead about how he grew his business six times over the past few years. Marc reveals more of the strategies he used to propel his practice's growth, increase revenue, and take back control of his time.

In this episode, you will hear:

• Why you should have a revenue baseline to consider before hiring new team members in a particular area of the business
• Why Marc hired offshore employees to handle hold times on the phone
• How often he examines his process with his team and where they can resolve inefficiencies
• How improving your finances and business processes helps increase revenue
• Why your mindset surrounding staffing needs to change
• Investing in capacity with quality team members increases the quality of your life, practice, and your clients' quality of life
• How having a spouse in your firm can be detrimental to your practice
• What Marc's intake department does and how he decided he needed it
• How a training manual can streamline your intake process
• Marc's marketing strategy to get higher-value cases

Subscribe & Review Never miss an episode. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. ⭐Like what you hear? A quick review helps more people find the show.⭐

If there's a topic you would like us to cover on an upcoming episode, please email us at [email protected].

Supporting Resources:

• Disability Denials
• Mark Whitehead
• Law Firm Coaching Programs

Curious about growing your own practice without burning out? Contact Atticus to see whether our law firm coaching can help you strengthen attorney success, refine your law firm business strategy, and build a practice that actually supports your life. This podcast for lawyers is part of our broader legal podcast library, offering practical insights on how to grow a law firm through stronger law firm leadership, law firm pricing and management, smarter marketing, intentional hiring, efficient operations, healthy law firm culture, and sustainable profitability, all while addressing law firm burnout and the realities of modern practice.

You can also sign up for our newsletter to get practical insights on how to grow a law firm: from law firm leadership and management to marketing, hiring, operations, culture, and profitability, so you can build a Great Practice and a Great Life.

As an attorney, working five hours a day sounds like a dream. And growing your revenue six times? No way.

It is possible, it doesn't have to cost you any money, and the secret is in the strategy. Being unafraid to try new things and zeroing in on a niche can take your law firm to the next level of success.

Marc Whitehead is a double board-certified attorney who specializes in disability claims today. His firm has more than 50 employees and continues to grow. A self-described recovering personal injury trial lawyer, he spent the first half of his career taking on car accidents, slip-and-fall incidents, and other cases of that nature. Marc began the transition to Social Security disability claims about halfway through his 30-year career and discovered he could plan his day, month, and even vacations instead of being a slave to his trial calendar.

You'll hear Marc describe how he decided to transition his practice, why his niche is so satisfying, and why he enjoys it so much. He now co-teaches the "Double Your Revenue" workshop and has increased his revenue six times since first attending the workshop in 2015. Additionally, Marc is an adjunct practice advisor for Atticus.

In this episode, you will hear:

• How Marc Whitehead began his career, transitioned the nature of his practice, and how he created more time for himself
• Why he decided to create a law niche in Social Security and why it's so lucrative
• How a cost-benefit analysis led him to hire team members and streamline the work
• Why focusing on a niche enables him to define and refine his processes powerfully
• Marc's successful newsletter and how it acts as a marketing tool
• How the "Double Your Revenue" workshop caused him to increase his revenue six times
• The strategies most attorneys ignore when they consider expansion
• Limiting the type of clients you decide to accept and what that does for your bottom line
• Why he's always looking for other opportunities and why they aren't always a fit

Subscribe & Review Never miss an episode. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. ⭐Like what you hear? A quick review helps more people find the show.⭐

If there's a topic you would like us to cover on an upcoming episode, please email us at [email protected].

Supporting Resources:

• Disability Denials
• Mark Whitehead
• Law Firm Coaching Programs

Curious about growing your own practice without burning out? Contact Atticus to see whether our law firm coaching can help you strengthen attorney success, refine your law firm business strategy, and build a practice that actually supports your life. This podcast for lawyers is part of our broader legal podcast library, offering practical insights on how to grow a law firm through stronger law firm leadership, law firm pricing and management, smarter marketing, intentional hiring, efficient operations, healthy law firm culture, and sustainable profitability, all while addressing law firm burnout and the realities of modern practice.

You can also sign up for our newsletter to get practical insights on how to grow a law firm: from law firm leadership and management to marketing, hiring, operations, culture, and profitability, so you can build a Great Practice and a Great Life.

Young attorneys face big decisions when they leave law school. Should I start my own practice? Should I join a firm? What will I specialize in?

Even if they're just starting out, young lawyers can have a big impact in the legal field. Their fresh ideas and willingness to try new things can give them a distinct advantage over their more seasoned colleagues.

Danny Mazza and Bri Niro, partners in the firm Mazza + Niro, are experiencing rapid growth. Danny and Bri officially became partners just in the past year, but they have a fantastic rapport--each having unique, complementary skills.

In this episode of Great Practice, Great Life, you'll hear Danny and Bri share how they met, why Bri decided to join Danny in a partnership, and how they've used what they've learned from Atticus to propel their practice forward.

In this episode, you will hear:

• Danny Mazza's background and how he decided to specialize in probate law after losing his parents 43 days apart
• How Bri Niro met Danny and why they decided to become law partners
• Why Bri decided from a young age what kind of career she wanted and how practicing law became her goal
• How Bri and Danny grew their practice before they joined the Atticus community
• Why Danny went into practice for himself instead of joining a firm and how he leveraged his outgoing personality to build a referral business
• Bri's approach to getting business in the door using referrals to other professionals
• How they became involved with Atticus and how it helped them experience tremendous growth with calendar blocking
• What Bri and Danny have learned about owning their own business

Subscribe & Review Never miss an episode. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. ⭐Like what you hear? A quick review helps more people find the show.⭐

If there's a topic you would like us to cover on an upcoming episode, please email us at [email protected].

Supporting Resources:

• Practice Growth Diagnostic
• Mazza and Niro Law Firm

Curious about growing your own practice without burning out? Contact Atticus to see whether our law firm coaching can help you strengthen attorney success, refine your law firm business strategy, and build a practice that actually supports your life. This podcast for lawyers is part of our broader legal podcast library, offering practical insights on how to grow a law firm through stronger law firm leadership, law firm pricing and management, smarter marketing, intentional hiring, efficient operations, healthy law firm culture, and sustainable profitability, all while addressing law firm burnout and the realities of modern practice.

You can also sign up for our newsletter to get practical insights on how to grow a law firm: from law firm leadership and management to marketing, hiring, operations, culture, and profitability, so you can build a Great Practice and a Great Life.

It can be hard to let go of control--especially as an attorney running your own law firm. One advantage of relinquishing it can be increased profitability and taking back your time to accomplish more important tasks.

Can non-lawyers successfully implement the initial meeting process with prospective clients? Steve believes they can. Attorneys often become bogged down in the details--especially in initial meetings--and spend valuable time responding to emails and offering free legal advice.

Steve's guest on this episode of Great Practice, Great Life is Patti Paz. Patti is an adjunct practice advisor, paralegal, and team leader. She also co-leads Practice Growth Programs and is Steve's co-instructor for a program teaching non-lawyers to do initial meetings.

You'll hear the three common objections attorneys have to non-lawyers conducting initial client meetings, the five Ps of an initial meeting for non-lawyers, and why a process map is crucial to teach non-lawyers how to navigate these intake meetings.

In this episode, you will hear:

• The three common objections attorneys have to non-lawyers conducting initial client meetings
• Why emotional needs are about the attorney and not the client
• How positivity and actively listening to your team member can help make the transition to non-lawyer initial consults smoother
• The five Ps of an initial meeting for non-lawyers and how a process map can help
• Why it's crucial to understand what appeals to the prospect during the intake process
• Why the intake process is part of an ongoing improvement process inside the firm
• How having a non-lawyer conducting the intake process can save you time and revenue

Subscribe & Review Never miss an episode. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. ⭐Like what you hear? A quick review helps more people find the show.⭐

If there's a topic you would like us to cover on an upcoming episode, please email us at [email protected].

Supporting Resources:

• Patti Paz: Practice Advisor & Attorney
• DISC Assessment
• Build My Great Team: Law Firm Staffing with Atticus
• Law Firm Team Leader Certifications

Curious about growing your own practice without burning out? Contact Atticus to see whether our law firm coaching can help you strengthen attorney success, refine your law firm business strategy, and build a practice that actually supports your life. This podcast for lawyers is part of our broader legal podcast library, offering practical insights on how to grow a law firm through stronger law firm leadership, law firm pricing and management, smarter marketing, intentional hiring, efficient operations, healthy law firm culture, and sustainable profitability, all while addressing law firm burnout and the realities of modern practice.

You can also sign up for our newsletter to get practical insights on how to grow a law firm: from law firm leadership and management to marketing, hiring, operations, culture, and profitability, so you can build a Great Practice and a Great Life.

In a booming economy, running a successful law practice can feel effortless. The engine chugs along--often with only minor supervision. But when the economy changes and inflation comes into play, the practice model must also evolve.

This episode of Great Practice, Great Life explores how to maintain a well-oiled machine when attorneys and practice employees alike are struggling to overcome increasing expenses and stagnant wages amidst inflation.

Glenn Finch is a longtime friend of Steve's and a partner at Atticus. Married for 20 years with four children and five grandchildren, Glenn is also a Colonel in the Florida National Guard, has a black belt in martial arts, is a master scuba diver, and served for 12 years as a Senior Pastor for three multi-staffed churches in Florida.

From their perspectives as experienced Practice Advisors, Steve and Glenn explore different and unique ways to continue marketing a law practice when clients tighten their budgets in the face of increasing necessary expenses.

In this episode, you will hear:

• Why Glenn is passionate about creating resilient practices while facing inflation.
• Why competing with increasing wages is a zero-sum game.
• How satisfaction helps retain employees.
• What "sharpening the client mix" means and why it's a key strategy.
• The difference between marketing and advertising and how time in marketing building relationships can overcome money spent in advertising.
• Why protecting your well-being is vital to being able to help others.

Subscribe & Review Never miss an episode. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. ⭐Like what you hear? A quick review helps more people find the show.⭐

If there's a topic you would like us to cover on an upcoming episode, please email us at [email protected].

Supporting Resources:

• Law Firm Coaching Programs
• Glenn Finch

Curious about growing your own practice without burning out? Contact Atticus to see whether our law firm coaching can help you strengthen attorney success, refine your law firm business strategy, and build a practice that actually supports your life. This podcast for lawyers is part of our broader legal podcast library, offering practical insights on how to grow a law firm through stronger law firm leadership, law firm pricing and management, smarter marketing, intentional hiring, efficient operations, healthy law firm culture, and sustainable profitability, all while addressing law firm burnout and the realities of modern practice.

You can also sign up for our newsletter to get practical insights on how to grow a law firm: from law firm leadership and management to marketing, hiring, operations, culture, and profitability, so you can build a Great Practice and a Great Life.

Denise Gamez is the Director of Member Services at Atticus. She started with our company as a salesperson. However, she showed such tremendous talent and understanding of our customers' challenges that she began doing the Practice Growth Diagnostic which is the first step of the client journey inside of Atticus. She also started speaking on behalf of Atticus at various engagements.

I'm bringing Denise onto the podcast today to talk about our Double Your Revenue™ Workshop and why so many attorneys find it so scary. If you're unfamiliar, the Double Your Revenue™ Workshop is a one-day workshop designed to help lawyers do just that: double their firm's revenue.

Throughout our conversation, Denise and I discuss the various reasons why attorneys say they're afraid of taking part in this workshop. We're explaining what scares them and stops them cold as they go through this day of reframing their mindset and up-leveling their firm.

In this episode, you will hear:

• Why doubling your revenue itself can feel scary.
• Why changing your mindset is scary.
• Why attorneys get stuck.
• The importance of knowing your why.
• Why this workshop will work for any type of firm.
• How hiring more team members can increase your revenue.
• How the workshop will teach you how to start taking more time off.

Subscribe & Review Never miss an episode. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. ⭐Like what you hear? A quick review helps more people find the show.⭐

If there's a topic you would like us to cover on an upcoming episode, please email us at [email protected].

Supporting Resources:

• Law Firm Coaching Programs
• Denise Cullen

Curious about growing your own practice without burning out? Contact Atticus to see whether our law firm coaching can help you strengthen attorney success, refine your law firm business strategy, and build a practice that actually supports your life. This podcast for lawyers is part of our broader legal podcast library, offering practical insights on how to grow a law firm through stronger law firm leadership, law firm pricing and management, smarter marketing, intentional hiring, efficient operations, healthy law firm culture, and sustainable profitability, all while addressing law firm burnout and the realities of modern practice.

You can also sign up for our newsletter to get practical insights on how to grow a law firm: from law firm leadership and management to marketing, hiring, operations, culture, and profitability, so you can build a Great Practice and a Great Life.

Carla Johnson is an author, speaker, innovative thinker, and engaging personality. She recently spoke at our summit and did an amazing job. Today, she is joining us to talk about innovation.

The truth is, many of us lawyers have trouble with innovation. There are a variety of challenges and traps that come with innovating in the legal field. Additionally, whether someone is a lawyer or not, innovation doesn't come naturally as adults.

On top of all of this, there's also the question of why it matters. You might wonder if innovation brings any benefit to attorneys. Should you care about it at all?

In this episode, Carla is going to cover all of this and more. She's going to teach us how to consistently come up with great ideas that have an actual impact on our business and work. Join us for a great conversation.

In this episode, you will hear:

• How Carla got into innovation.
• Why innovation needs to be taught and practiced.
• Innovation and efficiency don't coexist.
• How to think about innovation like a business tool.
• Why simplicity rules the day.
• How to become more innovative.

Subscribe & Review Never miss an episode. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. ⭐Like what you hear? A quick review helps more people find the show.⭐

If there's a topic you would like us to cover on an upcoming episode, please email us at [email protected].

Supporting Resources:

https://www.carlajohnson.co/

https://www.carlajohnson.co/rethinkbook/

https://www.carlajohnson.co/experiences-the-7th-era-of-marketing/

Curious about growing your own practice without burning out? Contact Atticus to see whether our law firm coaching can help you strengthen attorney success, refine your law firm business strategy, and build a practice that actually supports your life. This podcast for lawyers is part of our broader legal podcast library, offering practical insights on how to grow a law firm through stronger law firm leadership, law firm pricing and management, smarter marketing, intentional hiring, efficient operations, healthy law firm culture, and sustainable profitability, all while addressing law firm burnout and the realities of modern practice.

You can also sign up for our newsletter to get practical insights on how to grow a law firm: from law firm leadership and management to marketing, hiring, operations, culture, and profitability, so you can build a Great Practice and a Great Life.

You've got to slow down to speed up.

That's what I like to tell my fellow attorneys. Most of the time, we're so rushed and so time-pressed that we don't have the opportunity to stop and think about things. In other words, we jump to conclusions. What we should do instead is slow down, examine how certain things occur in our practices, absorb those things, and ask good questions about them.

Because I'm so passionate about this, I wanted to bring Dan Markovitz onto the podcast today. His book, The Conclusion Trap, puts a hard stop on jumping to conclusions. Dan has done a tremendous job of simplifying something called lean thinking for all people.

In this episode, we'll talk more about Dan's work, including his book. We'll also discuss the conclusion trap in great detail and Dan will teach us how to prevent ourselves from falling into it as we're building a great practice and a great life.

In this episode, you will hear:

• Dan's background.
• What he means when he talks about waste.
• His inspiration for The Conclusion Trap.
• How we should be doing discovery processes as lawyers.
• What to do when an issue pops up in your firm.
• Why the answer to a problem is never that you don't have enough of something.
• Generality vs. specificity.
• The five why's.
• How Dan applied these practices with a real-life client.

Subscribe & Review Never miss an episode. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. ⭐Like what you hear? A quick review helps more people find the show.⭐

If there's a topic you would like us to cover on an upcoming episode, please email us at [email protected].

Supporting Resources:

Markovitz Consulting

The Conclusion Trap

Curious about growing your own practice without burning out? Contact Atticus to see whether our law firm coaching can help you strengthen attorney success, refine your law firm business strategy, and build a practice that actually supports your life. This podcast for lawyers is part of our broader legal podcast library, offering practical insights on how to grow a law firm through stronger law firm leadership, law firm pricing and management, smarter marketing, intentional hiring, efficient operations, healthy law firm culture, and sustainable profitability, all while addressing law firm burnout and the realities of modern practice.

You can also sign up for our newsletter to get practical insights on how to grow a law firm: from law firm leadership and management to marketing, hiring, operations, culture, and profitability, so you can build a Great Practice and a Great Life.