In this episode of the Successful Barrister, Diana and Marc discuss one of Marc’s biggest pet peeve: new years resolutions. Most people do not stick to their new years resolutions – they tend to be lofty and ill-defined, and few people hold themselves accountable to them. Because of this, this episode focuses on setting realistic goals – helping you avoid “shiny object” thinking, create milestones to track your progress, and get your team on board. 

For detailed show notes, navigate using the time stamps below:

[1:40] Happy new year! Today’s episode is about Marc’s pet peeve: new years resolutions. He believes that waiting for the start of a new year to improve yourself is pointless. What really matters is executing on your plan for the year.

[2:36] Marc Whitehead & Associates looks at the results from the previous year to set new goals starting in November. Then, the firm goes through all aspects of its activities to set small goals to reach throughout the new year. 

[6:55] The firm started using EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) a little over a year ago. EOS has helped the team understand and take accountability for this year’s goals, and will help them continue to do so moving into 2025. 

[9:07] Diana and Marc share their best practices for goal setting. To begin, Marc explains his fear of coming up with the wrong “rocks,” or long-term goals. He has people come into goal-setting meetings with ideas to avoid getting attached to “shiny object” ideas.

[15:19] Marc always looks about two components when setting goals: profitability and growth. As his goals filter into other departments, factors like complexity and capacity become more relevant. Diana is a key player in making sure the firm has the capability to accomplish Marc’s goals. 

[20:25] Another component of good goal setting is making sure everyone in your organization is on board. If your goals only matter to upper leadership, they will not be accomplished by your team. 

[26:36] Marc’s 2025 professional goal is to get back to being more of a one-on-one marketer. He used to go to more lunches and networking events, but he has not gotten back to it since the pandemic. His SMART version of this goal is to go to at least two lunches each month. 

[29:27] Diana’s professional goal is to attend the EOS Integrator Masterclass. She believes it will help her be the best integrator she can be for the firm. 

[31:15] Marc’s personal goal is to build his relationships. He wants to spend more time and have more conversations with his wife. He also wants to spend more time with his friends and building new friendships.  

[34:35] Diana wants to work on her flexibility by stretching five times a week. She learned recently that flexibility is important to your bone health and mobility as you age.  

Visit the Successful Barrister website: https://www.successfulbarrister.com/ 

Visit the Marc Whitehead & Associates website: https://disabilitydenials.com/ 

Email Marc Whitehead: [email protected] 

In this episode of the Successful Barrister, Diana and Marc are reviewing their top takeaways and presentations from the Atticus Summit they recently attended. Focusing on mental and physical health, the summit included a variety of keynote speakers and experts with tips on how to build a better life outside of your practice. Marc also discusses his work with Atticus and offers a free call to discuss the benefits to listeners who are interested in becoming members.

For detailed show notes, navigate using the time stamps below:

[1:40] In today’s episode, Marc and Diana will discuss the Atticus Summit they recently attended. The summit involves presentations and speeches from keynote speakers, lawyers, and other experts. This year’s theme was “Great Practice, Great Life.”

[4:47] According to Mark powers, you need to establish a “health reserve” for when you will need it. Everyone will start to experience health challenges in older age, but those who are healthier to begin with will be more likely to survive them. 

[7:52] Diana’s first highlight is Colleen Goldenfarb’s presentation, “Why Does Work Get the Best of You, and Your Loved Ones Get the Rest of You?” One aspect that resonated with Diana was the idea that time does not equal presence. 

[13:05] Marc’s first highlight is Glen Finch. Glen has been an Atticus advisor for over 20 years, but he is also a Colonel in the army. He spoke about the ability to manage your thoughts and feelings and how emotional intelligence can improve your work. 

[19:05] Victor Medina’s presentation, “The Perpetual Law Firm” also stood out to Diana. Only lawyers can own law firms, so selling your law firm can be difficult. He discussed how to maintain your law firm as an asset without having to work there. 

[22:34] Another highlight for Marc was Jennifer Felton’s presentation on building her practice and taking control of her health. She said that greatness lies at the intersection of passion, skill, and monetization. 

[27:14] Diana’s final highlight is Max Lugavere’s talk on unlocking your brain’s potential. He gave actionable tips about improving your brain function and preventing dementia.

[31:09] Marc’s last highlight is Robert Rose’s presentation on harnessing the power of your brand’s voice – in other words, making money off of your brand. The process involves building your audience and then finding ways to monetize that audience. 

[39:44] Marc is a spokesperson for Atticus and credits them for the success of his practice. You can go to https://atticusonline.com to learn more about Atticus’s programs and offerings. There are lots of free opportunities to explore Atticus’s benefits, and you can also email Marc to set up a call with him on Atticus’s benefits. 

Visit the Successful Barrister website: https://www.successfulbarrister.com/ 

Visit the Marc Whitehead & Associates website: https://disabilitydenials.com/ 

Email Marc Whitehead: [email protected] 

Are you managing your time effectively? In this episode of the Successful Barrister Podcast, Marc and Diana give listeners their guide to managing your time (or focus) more effectively. Time management sets the best firms apart, and mastering it can help your firm run efficiently. Learn how to delegate your tasks, schedule time to think, and minimize your distractions.

For detailed show notes, navigate using the time stamps below:

[1:11] In this episode, Diana and Marc are discussing time management (or “focus management,” as Marc prefers to call it). Focus management is all about managing how you think. 

[4:26] The ability to focus on the right things sets the best apart. What are you supposed to think about as the leader of organization? Thinking correctly means thinking about strategy and the future of your firm.

[8:22] The first tenet of time management in Time Management for Attorneys is prioritization. You have to prioritize the “highest and best use” of your time.

[11:27] The next step is delegating tasks so that you can spend your time where it matters. Ask yourself what you are doing that you should not be doing.

[12:41] One often overlooked piece is marketing – you have to spend time on marketing if you want to attract cases. You also have to spend time on management. In a well-run organization, these should be the key focuses of the head of the organization.

[14:22] Think about your goals – from daily goals to five-year goals. Write down your plans to track and execute on them. 

[18:22] The next tenet is “blocking and tackling.” This is essentially thinking time. Blocking off time to think will allow you the space to think through your goals instead of getting stuck on the day-to-day minutia of your firm.

[23:51] There are two parts to delegation: delegating the task itself and delegating the authority to execute and finalize the task. If you need to review all materials before they go out, you are creating more work for yourself.

[28:03] The final tenet is managing your interruptions. Marc closes his door when he needs to focus, and tells people to meet him at other times when he is busy. 

[33:38] Email can be a big distraction because it can parachute into your day at any point. Marc manages his email through Outlook and organizes his emails into folders. He created a rule that court emails go into one folder, outside attorney emails go into a second folder, and staff emails go into another folder.

[40:13] Marc also has a “for further study” where he puts emails that he wants to go back to – usually emails from vendors making offers. His system helps him prioritize emails and frees up his time.

Visit the Successful Barrister website: https://www.successfulbarrister.com/ 

Visit the Marc Whitehead & Associates website: https://disabilitydenials.com/ 

Email Marc Whitehead: [email protected] 

Marc’s Marketing Plan, A Free Marketing Plan for 2025, Giving the Gift of Marketing

Happy Holidays! In the spirit of the season, Marc has a gift for you in today’s mini-episode: a free copy of his marketing plan. He has presented his plan to lawyers across the country.

For detailed show notes, navigate using the time stamps below:

[2:12] Are lawyers too focused on being profitable? Marc believes this is the wrong framing. Lawyers have an ethical duty to be wildly profitable – to help the most people and give them the best service. 

[4:15] Marc gives an outline of the marketing strategies covered in his plan – from intakes to referrals. 

[5:25] To get a copy of the marketing plan, email Marc at [email protected]

Visit the Successful Barrister website: https://www.successfulbarrister.com/ 

Visit the Marc Whitehead & Associates website: https://disabilitydenials.com/ 

Email Marc Whitehead: [email protected] 

Marc has a second gift for you! As he has discussed on the podcast, Marc is a coach for Atticus and helps lawyers build successful practices (not prisons). Normally, these courses cost money, but Marc is giving you a freebie in the spirit of the season.

For detailed show notes, navigate using the time stamps below:

[0:50] This episode is about Marc’s coaching work. For well over a decade, Marc has coached lawyers through Atticus. 

[2:17] This week, Marc is offering a free one-on-one conversation about building a practice, not a prison. 

[3:21] If you’re interested in setting up a conversation, email [email protected].

Visit the Successful Barrister website: https://www.successfulbarrister.com/ 

Visit the Marc Whitehead & Associates website: https://disabilitydenials.com/ 

Email Marc Whitehead: [email protected] 

Want to double your revenue? In this episode, Diana and Marc give you the tools to get there. These tools, the eight levers of profitability from the Atticus Double Your Revenue Workshop, are the key ways that your firm can increase its profit and grow. The levers cover all aspects of your firm, from how your build your caseloads to marketing and implementation. 

For detailed show notes, navigate using the time stamps below

[2:30] Today, Diana and Marc will be discussing the eight levers of profit. The concept comes from an Atticus workshop called “Double Your Revenue” that helps firms create plans to double their revenue in the next three years. 

[6:25] Diana’s biggest takeaway from “Double Your Revenue” was that being a great lawyer was not the goal. In fact, being a great lawyer can be a trap. If your identity is around being a great lawyer, you may feel like you have to do everything and become a bottleneck.

[8:38] The first lever is increasing your case value, or the amount you make per case. Marc Whitehead & Associates has caps on the fees they can charge because of government regulations. Increasing case value at the firm is about only taking high-value cases. 

[12:05] Next, think about your pricing strategies. You can increase your hourly rate or consider bundle billing to promote efficiency.

[14:33] People also tend to think they are stuck at a one-third contingency fee, but there is no rule saying you cannot take 35% or 40%. 

[16:15] The third lever is strategic delegation. Think about all of the things you do and determine whether or not you have to be doing them. You will find that many tasks can be delegated, freeing up time and increasing your efficiency. 

[19:46] Particularly with new firms, new tasks arise with growth that you may not realize are being completed by your top employees. Try to match the value of the tasks performed to the cost of your employee. The fourth lever is to develop an all-star team, and this is necessary to delegate effectively. 

[22:08] Two years ago, Marc began having monthly lunches with his middle managers. He works with them on strategies like the Eisenhower Matrix to help them lead more effectively. 

[26:20] The fifth lever is about technology. Technology can help you do more with less by creating scalable processes that make your firm more efficient. Marc Whitehead & Associates is a paperless firm.

[29:53] Marc Whitehead & Associates uses Case Status as a client portal. It is an app that clients can use to track their cases. It allowed their case managers to take on larger case loads.

[36:31] The next lever, Focus Management Efficiencies, is about focusing on the most important tasks and deferring the tasks that don’t move the needle. The best use of Marc’s time, for example, is working on marketing and mentorship. 

[39:02] Focus Management is all about scheduling time to think. Taking time to think strategically about where you want to go and how you can get there is extremely important.

[41:32] Your firm won’t be able to generate any profit if you aren’t attracting good clients. The next lever, marketing, is crucial to this piece. Building a good referral network is crucial to this step.

[45:29] The final lever is implementation. You can have a ton of great ideas, but those ideas aren’t worth anything if they are not properly executed. 

Visit the Successful Barrister website: https://www.successfulbarrister.com/ 

Visit the Marc Whitehead & Associates website: https://disabilitydenials.com/ 

Email Marc Whitehead: [email protected] 

Attend a Double Your Revenue Seminar: https://atticusadvantage.com/what-we-do/in-person-workshops/ 

In this episode, Marc Whitehead and Diana Berry discuss my many firms are afraid to hire all-star attorneys and how those firms can face their fears. Firms have three main concerns about all-star attorneys: they are costly, they might leave after resources are wasted on training them, and they may leave and take staff and clients with them. Marc and Diana provide potential solutions to all three of these concerns. You cannot be the only top lawyer at your firm; as Marc puts it, you can’t scale yourself. 

For detailed show notes, navigate using the time stamps below

[1:23] Today’s episode is about the fear that many firms have of hiring all-star attorneys. Many firm owners are powerhouses in their own right, and sharing the spotlight can be scary.

[2:59] You can’t scale yourself. If you are the only all-star attorney at your firm, the size of your firm will stagnate.

[4:53] There are three legitimate reasons that firms may be hesitant to hire top attorneys. First, they are more expensive to hire. Second, firms are concerned that attorneys will take valuable resources to train and then leave the firm. Finally, firms worry that top attorneys will leave and take top clients with them.

[7:25] An all star attorney is an attorney who you are confident can successfully work and generate revenue without you. 

[10:12] Business owners worry about the cost of all-star attorneys. Marc believes that all-star attorneys should be able to generate three times the amount that they cost. 

[14:26] You can address the concern about your top lawyers leaving by creating conditions where they want to stay. Treat your attorneys fairly and create a culture that they want to be a part of. 

[20:09] To address the fear that firms have of their best attorneys leaving and taking their clients, Marc Whitehead & Associates has employees sign a fee split for clients that originate from the firm.

[26:59] Marc Whitehead & Associates has a non-equity partnership track for attorneys who have been a part of the team for seven years or more. This provides further motivation and incentive for top performers to stay with the firm. 

Visit the Successful Barrister website: https://www.successfulbarrister.com/ 

Visit the Marc Whitehead & Associates website: https://disabilitydenials.com/ 

Email Marc Whitehead: [email protected] 

In this episode, Marc Whitehead and Diana Berry discuss the seven habits of highly effective lawyers. Based on the book by Stephen Covey, these habits are tailored to setting your firm up for success. Habits are important because they build on each other, so establishing a good habit early on can help you be successful over time. 

For detailed show notes, navigate using the time stamps below

[2:30] Today’s episode is about choices and how they can lead to good habits. The idea of the episode comes from a Successful Barrister Newsletter article called The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Lawyers. 

[4:03] Why are habits so important? Habits are something that you can build on. Over the long run, habits lead to momentum and push you forward. 

[7:44] The seven habits are be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win-win, seek to understand then be understood, synergize, and sharpen the saw. 

[8:43] Initially Marc struggled to be proactive. Over time, Marc learned what to cut and what to focus on to maximize his time.

[13:24] The second habit is to begin with the end in mind. For lawyers, this means beginning with your jury charge. Even better, envision the future of your firm and plan for it. 

[18:43] Putting first things first is all about focus and focus management. This involves allocating people to best use their abilities. It is about determining what you should and should not be doing.

[25:17] Thinking win-win is all about recognizing mutual benefits and creating situations where both parties can win. Unnecessary win-lose situations may benefit you in the short term, but they can damage long term relationships. 

[29:39] The fifth habit is to seek to understand before seeking to be understood. For Marc, this is about meeting people where they are at. This means that sometimes Marc deals with different people differently.

[35:12] Marc has reinterpreted synergy to refer to building an effective team. This could include people you have hired full-time, fractional hires, and outside vendors. 

[40:00] The final habit is sharpening the saw. This has to do with improving your teams through training and development. It can also have health implications because being at your best can help you perform at your best.

Visit the Successful Barrister website: https://www.successfulbarrister.com/ 

Visit the Marc Whitehead & Associates website: https://disabilitydenials.com/ 

Email Marc Whitehead: [email protected] 

In this episode, Marc Whitehead and Diana Berry discuss the book Necessary Endings: The Employees, Businesses, and Relationships That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Move Forward is a book by Dr. Henry Cloud. Necessary Endings, or “breakups” as Marc calls them, are extremely important to running a successful firm. They allow you to free up resources to spend on better opportunities. Necessary endings can encompass vendors, staff, clients, and services. Learn which necessary endings you may be missing on this episode of the Successful Barrister Podcast. 

[1:11] The topic of this episode is breakups, also known as necessary endings. Necessary Endings: The Employees, Businesses, and Relationships That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Move Forward is a book by Dr. Henry Cloud on things that you should stop doing. The book is ultimately about the allocation of resources – where to invest, and where not to.

[4:09] It is difficult for people to say no. For example, denying cases from referral sources can be difficult, but learning how to do so is a necessary part of being successful.

[6:25] Sunk-costs make these decisions particularly difficult, but they are ultimately irrelevant. If a project is failing, you need to learn how to let it go.

[8:41] What are examples of necessary endings? In Diana’s first year, the firm “broke up” with their IT provider. The provider was a financial burden to the firm, and they were replaced with a much more effective provider.

[11:17] Vendors often try to hook you with a low rate and price you up over time, which can be understandable to an extent but often gets out of hand. Other times, vendors start to prioritize a market that you are not a part of and they become a burden.

[14:49] Necessary Endings are difficult. However, if you do not learn how to end things, you are missing better opportunities.

[16:59] Sometimes, things work well initially but become irrelevant over time. Marc Whitehead & Associates had initial success from LSAs, but over time they became less effective and more expensive. 

[19:04] Another type of Necessary Ending is with practice areas. Some practice areas are interesting but do not pay well enough to justify working on them. Marc had to stop working in criminal law and personal injury law to grow his disability law firm. 

[23:20] Letting people go can be particularly difficult. Marc refers to this as “emotional cost” because the emotions around letting people go make removing people who are not pulling their weight painful.

[27:52] Difficult relationships are like a hurricane. If a Necessary Ending between two people is being avoided, the “fan” can be more damaging to the people around them than to the people involved in the “eye.”

[32:57] Marc Whitehead & Associates is normalizing necessary endings in its culture. Marc looks at the plan for each year and makes a list of aspects that are not working such as marketing channels, tools, and processes. These aspects then become necessary endings.

Buy Necessary Endings: The Employees, Businesses, and Relationships That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Move Forward by Dr. Henry Cloud: https://www.amazon.com/Necessary-Endings-Henry-Cloud/dp/0061777129

Listen to Necessary Endings: https://www.audible.com/pd/Necessary-Endings-Audiobook/B004J0YIQ4 

Visit the Successful Barrister website: https://www.successfulbarrister.com/ 

Visit the Marc Whitehead & Associates website: https://disabilitydenials.com/ 

Email Marc Whitehead: [email protected]