Lawyerpreneur

 Episode 8 of Lawyerpreneur is about not only my transition from publishing my books through a traditional publisher to indie publishing. but also about opening up my publishing imprint, Scarlet Oak Press to publish the works of other lawyers, giving them the same opportunities I have to explore their entrepreneurialism and creativity through an author business. 

In Episode 7 of Lawyerpreneur, David Kempston and I talk about his two books, That's Why They Call It Practicing Law and Lessons Learned on the Run; the importance of having a restorative place to recharge; how writing a book about lawyering led to opportunities he hadn't expected; and more.

David Kempston has been running and practicing law for most of his life. Now his written books about both of those pursuits. While we discuss both of those things in this interview, perhaps the most important thing we talk about is what of person goes running when it's -29 Fahrenheit with howling wind when a polar vortex hits Minnesota.

 Today's episode of Lawyerpreneur is an excerpt from Level Up Your Law Practice, which was originally scheduled for release today, before I released it early to give people mindset tips that would help them cope with the COVID-19 pandemic that has affected all of our workflows and stress levels. 

Billionaire lawyer and real estate mogul Charlie Munger realized one day that he was his most important client. So he decided to sell himself an hour each day. Early each morning, he set aside time to work on construction projects and real estate deals, before working for his clients. Munger advises, "Everybody should do this, be the client, and then work for other people, too, and sell yourself an hour a day." 

This episode is about not only selling yourself some time but also not sacrificing your creativity to your law practice.

In Episode 5 of Lawyerpreneur, I talk with Frank Ramos about his using LinkedIn, mentoring other lawyers, and how being a Latino lawyer has affected his law practice.  Frank has mastered the art of maximizing the benefits of using LinkedIn as a platform to connect with people and raise his profile for the purpose of helping other lawyers along their journey. I think of Frank as a Seth Goden-like figure for lawyers because of his commitment to daily posting in the form of a microblog. Some of his posts are inspirational while others are really grounded in the realities of law practice. But every day they are intended to edify and strengthen his readers. 

In Episode 4 of Lawyerpreneur, Mike Whelan and I talk about the personal experiences that resulted in his systems thinking and the culprit that affects so many lawyers, which he names The Churn. We also discuss Whelan's transition from small-town law practice to consultant, author, and entrepreneur in the legal support sector.

Most people who have big ideas either do not have the practice experience or the business acumen to actually implement them. Mike Whelan is not among them. In Lawyer Forward, Whelan explains his ideas about changing up the law practice paradigm by lawyers implementing systems to more effectively manage their law practices. We discuss those and other ideas in this interview.

 In today's episode, we talk with Ross Guberman, founder of Legal Writing Pro and creator of BriefCatch, about his career in the legal support sector. Ross built his consulting business from the ground up and was eventually able to leave his law practice and job as a law professor to work for himself full time. Having survived the recession a decade ago, Ross shares insights on persevering and persisting through difficult times.

In today's episode of Lawyerpreneur, we talk with Los Angeles attorney Steven Chung about his niche law practice that focuses on helping businesses and individuals with their taxes and on providing solutions to people with large student loan debt. Chung has also been writing about his practice areas for Lawyerist and Above the Law since 2014; we discuss what effect this has had on his practice. Chung often gives ideas for staying on top your top-of-mind marketing efforts during a time of social isolation.

Lawyerpreneur Podcast host, Jeremy Richter, introduces the ideas that having an entrepreneurial spirit helps us fill our creative wells and excel in our work, because being a lawyer doesn't have to mean doing business as usual. 

There are four alternate paths that allow lawyers to engage their entrepreneurial spirits and distinguish themselves from others:

1. The lawyer who creates an entrepreneurial practice; 
2. The lawyer who engages in practice-adjacent entrepreneurialism;
3. The lawyer who creates a side hustle as an additional income stream; and
4. The lawyer-entrepreneur whose entrepreneurialism is a pathway out of law practice.