The Relay

What does it take to build an AI-powered law firm—and is developing your own technology really the answer?

Morgan & Morgan has committed at least $1 billion to AI and technology over the next decade. But behind that investment is a much bigger conversation about how law firms operate, adopt technology, and prepare for the future.

In this episode of The Relay, Gabriel Stiritz sits down with Morgan & Morgan Chief Transformation Officer Yath Ithayakumar and Foundation AI co-founder and CEO Vivek Rao to explore the strategy behind MX2, Morgan & Morgan's proprietary AI platform, and what other plaintiff law firms can learn from its approach.

Together, they examine the realities of building versus buying legal technology, why AI adoption depends on more than sophisticated software, and how operational expertise, institutional knowledge, and change management are shaping the next generation of law firms.

The conversation also explores why plaintiff firms may have an advantage over insurance carriers in adopting new technology—and what the emergence of AI agents could mean for legal operations.

In this episode:

Whether you're running a growing personal injury practice or leading a national firm, this conversation offers a practical look at what it takes to turn AI investment into meaningful operational change.

Did the referral model fail one of the most successful referral firms in the country?

Top Dog Law built a national brand by doing something unusual: mastering consumer acquisition, then partnering with law firms across the country to handle much of the legal work.

Now, Top Dog is making a major pivot.

In this episode of The Relay, Gabriel Stiritz sits down with Top Dog Law founder and CEO James Helm to unpack why the firm is aggressively hiring trial lawyers, acquiring firms, opening offices, and bringing more litigation in-house—while continuing to operate a massive co-counsel business.

James shares the three reasons behind the shift: greater control over the client experience, capturing the potential efficiency gains from AI, and building long-term value through repeat and referral clients. He also gets candid about acquiring Keller Swan, recruiting outside the legal industry, building technology internally, and the operational realities of scaling a national plaintiff firm.

JamesHelm.txt

In this episode:

In this episode of The Relay, Gabriel Stiritz sits down with Melissa Graham, former COO of Richard Harris Law Firm and now VP of Industry at Supio, to discuss what AI means for the future of law firm operations.

After spending her career inside law firms—from the copy room to case management to the COO seat—Melissa made the leap into legal AI because she believes the industry is approaching a fundamental shift in how firms operate.

Together, Gabriel and Melissa explore why adding technology to an existing process isn't enough, how AI can move people toward higher-value work, and why experienced law firm operators are increasingly becoming critical to the companies building legal technology.

What if the future of legal client acquisition starts before someone even knows they need a lawyer?

In this episode of The Relay, Gabriel Stiritz sits down with Carson Brienza, who leads legal operations at Kinetic Apps, to explore PayMe—a consumer advocacy app designed to help everyday Americans identify when they may be owed money, eligible for benefits, or have a legal claim.

Instead of beginning with a case type and waiting for consumers to diagnose their own legal problem, PayMe starts with the consumer: What happened? What problem are you trying to solve? And where can we help?

Carson and Gabriel explore what that model could mean for plaintiff firms as consumer expectations shift toward digital-first experiences and technology changes the traditional legal acquisition funnel.

In this episode:

If you're a law firm owner thinking about client acquisition, intake, AI, or how consumers will find legal help five years from now, this conversation offers an early look at a very different model.

What makes a legal brand valuable—and why do some survive while others disappear?

In this episode of The Relay, Gabriel Stiritz sits down with Dave Thomas, who leads growth and business development for Law Tigers, to explore how a motorcycle-focused legal brand built 25 years ago became a national platform in one of the most competitive areas of plaintiff law.

Law Tigers took a different approach from the traditional attorney-name-and-billboard model. Instead, it built around a specific community, developing trust with motorcycle riders through grassroots events, partnerships, and a brand designed around their identity and lifestyle.

Gabriel and Dave unpack what that strategy can teach today's law firm owners as client acquisition costs rise, firms reach the limits of their home markets, and private equity and MSOs put an increasing premium on scalable brands.

In this episode:

Why niche brands can create durable competitive advantages

How Law Tigers built trust inside the motorcycle community

What it takes to launch a brand in a new market

Why buying leads and building brand equity create very different long-term value

What happens when increased ad spend stops producing meaningful market-share growth

How a second brand can help established firms expand

Why brand equity may become increasingly valuable as plaintiff law consolidates

If you're a law firm owner thinking about growth, market expansion, or the long-term value of your firm, this conversation offers a different way to think about what you're actually building.

In this episode of The Relay, Gabriel Stiritz sits down with Dan Morgan, Managing Partner at Morgan & Morgan, for a wide-ranging conversation about competition, referrals, marketing, and the strategies behind the firm's continued growth.

Dan explains why he doesn't view other plaintiff firms as the real competition, how Morgan & Morgan built referrals into one of its highest-margin business lines, and why the firm continues to experiment aggressively with NIL, influencers, sports partnerships, and hyperlocal marketing.

He also shares the thinking behind deciding which cases to keep—and which to refer out—and why maximizing attorney capacity can sometimes be more valuable than maximizing the fee on a single case.

In this episode:

Whether you're running a regional practice or building a national firm, this conversation offers a rare look inside how one of the industry's largest operators thinks about growth, competition, and where to place the next bet.

Every law firm turns away cases. Most never think about them again.

In this solo episode, Gabriel Stiritz explores why those declined cases may represent one of the biggest untapped revenue opportunities in the plaintiff bar. He breaks down the math behind referral revenue, introduces the concept of "law firm exhaust," and shares a framework for estimating what that opportunity could be worth inside your own firm.

Stay tuned for the next episode, where Gabriel sits down with a leader from one of the country's largest plaintiff law firms to continue the conversation.

What happens when the traditional law firm model stops working?

In this episode of The Relay, Gabriel Stiritz sits down with attorney, entrepreneur, and YouTube creator Josh Sanford to reflect on the rise and fall of a high-volume wage-and-hour practice—and how those lessons led both of them to rethink the future of legal services.

From building one of the country's largest wage-and-hour practices to launching successful legal media brands and pioneering new models for client acquisition, Josh shares how technology, social media, and national marketing are reshaping the business of law.

Together, they explore why local law firms are increasingly competing on a national stage, how influencer marketing is changing client acquisition, and why the firms willing to embrace new channels today will have a significant advantage tomorrow.

In this episode:

Why a successful wage-and-hour practice ultimately hit a ceiling

The lessons learned from scaling—and shutting down—a legal business

How YouTube became a client acquisition engine

Why influencer marketing is changing legal advertising

The rise of national legal brands and referral networks

What law firm owners should know about the future of client acquisition

Why now is the time to start building your audience

Whether you're investing in traditional advertising, experimenting with social media, or planning the next stage of your firm's growth, this episode offers a candid look at where legal marketing is heading—and how to stay ahead of it.

AI is everywhere—but very few law firm owners have actually rebuilt their business around it.

In this episode of The Relay, Gabriel Stiritz sits down with Jacob Malherbe, founder of Mass Tort Ad Agency and one of the earliest pioneers of Facebook advertising for plaintiff law firms, to explore what happens when AI moves beyond experimentation and becomes part of your daily operations.

After reducing his agency from 20 employees to just five through AI-powered workflows, Jacob shares how he's built custom AI agents to monitor advertising performance, automate repetitive work, generate creative assets, and uncover entirely new ways for law firms to find clients.

More importantly, he explains why AI isn't replacing lawyers—it's removing the repetitive work that keeps them from doing their best work.

In this episode:

How Jacob rebuilt his agency using AI-powered workflows

Why AI should augment judgment—not replace it

The difference between AI chatbots and AI agents

How custom AI tools are changing legal marketing

Practical ways law firm owners can begin using AI today

Why every firm should start by solving one repetitive problem

How AI can help firms grow while serving more clients

Whether you're just beginning to explore AI or looking for practical ways to improve your firm's operations, this episode offers a real-world look at what AI implementation actually looks like inside a successful business.

What happens when a trial lawyer gets so frustrated with a broken legal process that he decides to rebuild it from scratch?

In this episode of The Relay, Gabriel Stiritz sits down with Eric Voogt, founder of Proof and former trial lawyer, to discuss how technology is reshaping legal services, why operational efficiency matters more than ever, and what the future of law firms may look like in an era of AI, automation, and private equity investment.

After spending more than two decades practicing law, Eric experienced firsthand the inefficiencies of service of process—the critical but often overlooked step of ensuring defendants receive legal notice. That experience led him to build Proof, now one of the largest service-of-process networks in the country.

But this conversation goes far beyond process serving.

Together, Gabriel and Eric explore how technology is expanding access to legal services, why many law firms are still resisting change, and what it will take for the profession to serve more clients in the years ahead.

In this episode:

Why Eric left legal practice to build Proof

How technology is transforming legal operations

Where AI helps law firms—and where humans remain essential

The rise of legal tech, MSOs, and private equity-backed firms

Why operational efficiency is becoming a competitive advantage

The challenge of serving the 80% of legal demand that currently goes unmet

What modern law firm leaders should be doing to prepare for the future

Whether you're a solo practitioner, managing partner, or legal industry operator, this episode offers a practical look at how technology, scale, and innovation are changing the business of law.