BE THAT LAWYER

In this episode, Steve Fretzin, Erik Olson, Jocelyn Brumbaugh, Jared Correia, and Gyi Tsakalakis discuss: Social media and your law firm. Doing research on LinkedIn for potential connections.  Taking accountability for what you publish on social media.  Directing people back to your website for the full content and owning your content on your website.    Key Takeaways: Be on the social platforms t...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin, Erik Olson, Jocelyn Brumbaugh, Jared Correia, and Gyi Tsakalakis discuss: The first step lawyers and law firms need to do before marketing themselves.   Positioning yourself as uniquely qualified to help your client.   Perspective client avatars and referral partners.   Pros and cons of specializing and finding your niche.     Key Takeaways: Look at what you are alr...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Elizabeth Tresp discuss: How Elizabeth started her law firm (and manages her other businesses as well).  The secret of work-life balance.  Managing workload capacity and workload ability when hiring.  Understanding your core competencies and trying new things.    Key Takeaways: The work-life balance will change throughout your career and will look different for e...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Jeff Kimmel discuss: Understanding the business and the finances of the firm.  Referrals, delegation, and trust in your team.  Communicating clearly and confidently to your client about transitions in teams. Scaling down to scale up.    Key Takeaways: Everyone has their own way of managing - find the way that works for you and the firm and do that. It can be fun...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Joe Tamburino discuss: Why lawyers struggle to build a book of business and a law practice.  Honing your skills and learning from others.  Communication, expectations, and building a great team.  Building media relationships.    Key Takeaways: You have to have confidence in yourself, no matter what venture you go into in life.  Having a record of success will giv...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Emily Witt discuss: How Emily’s Be That Lawyer tipping point started by rock climbing.  Top reasons lawyers are looking to move firms.  Advice for lawyers searching for a move.  One thing lawyers wish they knew.    Key Takeaways: Many lawyers feel they are in the dark in regards to their career progression.  During the pandemic, we saw that many lawyers do enjoy...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Jim Coogan discuss: How Jim’s childhood interest in medicine lead to his career in personal injury law.  Listen to what the questions really are.  Engaging your audience when you speak.  How AI is changing legal practice with communication clarity and efficiency.    Key Takeaways: In law school, there’s a mentality that you want to speak like a lawyer. Once you’r...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Justin Neagle discuss: Living a life of continuous improvement.  Scaling and improving through processes.  Documenting and delegating appropriately.  Missing processes in people, sales, organization, and technology.  Key Takeaways: When you’re going through an identity shift, keep pushing forward. It will be strange at first, but things will settle when you push...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Audrey Rubin discuss: Why law firms need to operate more like a business.  How to know what your clients really want.  3 Tips for outstanding client services.  Asking for connections and introductions.    Key Takeaways: There is a lot more to getting clients than just being a really good attorney.  Clients care about things like responsiveness, having a point of...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Adam Kosloff discuss: Setting goals and creating habits. Building a process to create your content consistently. Repurposing your content creatively. Evaluating the platforms for content and content creation based on your audience.   Key Takeaways: Having unresolved tasks on your to-do list will continue to nag at your brain and keep you discontented. Not all con...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin, Charlie Uniman, Colin Levy, and Maya Markovich discuss: Best questions to ask a legal tech vendor.  Choosing the right tech choice, not just the impulsive decision.  Looking for bottlenecks in your firm’s day-to-day productions and bringing your team into the changes.  Pros and cons of working with early stage legal tech startup firms.  Budgeting for legal tech.   ...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin, Charlie Uniman, Colin Levy, and Maya Markovich discuss: The disconnect between legal tech and lawyers.  Great online resources to stay ahead of legal tech.  The AI impact on the legal tech industry.  Best legal tech products for startups.    Key Takeaways: To get over the hurdle of choosing tech and having people change the way they do business, make a good business...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Hugo Gomez discuss: Niche down on what you know.  Finding your angle to stand out from the others in your field.  Working with outside partners to truly grow and scale your business.  Why lawyers should be marketing to the Spanish-speaking communities around them.    Key Takeaways: You cannot please everyone - if you niche into a very specific area, you will be a...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Brian Glass discuss: Focusing on the client experience. Partnering with family in your law firm. Highest and best use of lawyers’ time for law firm success. The power of coopetition and accountability.   Key Takeaways: What gets in the way of lawyer business success is thinking the lawyer needs to be in the middle of everything in their practice. Identify and wri...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Jonathan Hawkins discuss: Having a destination in mind for your career and business.  Shared vision for building a multi-attorney law firm.  Having a written agreement in a partnership.  The right way to build a partnership in a law firm.    Key Takeaways: When building a partnership, you want to have different skill sets for the best opportunities for success. ...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Ariana Tadler discuss: How your business card can play into your personal and professional brand.  Top challenges for lawyers today.  The pros and cons of multiple methods of communication.  The 3 C’s of professionalism.    Key Takeaways: Have a business card with a QR code. It helps to communicate and connect with more people and keeps you memorable.  Time manag...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Alan Crone discuss: Gaining focus and clarity in what you find the most important.  Transitioning clients to other lawyers in your firm, not just seeking you as the brand.  Putting great systems in place within your firm.  Delegating for success, not for frustration.    Key Takeaways: As long as you work hard, and work smart, you can do whatever you put your mind...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Kevin Daisey discuss: Crafting your product around your client, not the other way around. Getting unstuck from making the same mistakes.  How a podcast can help your marketing, no matter what field you’re in.  The secret about podcasting for lawyers.    Key Takeaways: Everything comes back to strategy. Results and growth over time always start with strategy.  You...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Julie Migliacci discuss: How COVID shifted the landscape for speakers.  Mistakes people make with virtual events.  Content flow even beyond the event.  Livestreaming your events to your social pages.    Key Takeaways: The #1 reason people attend a speaking event is to network.  Not every event should be in person. Not every event should be virtual. Not every even...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Andrew Biren discuss: Learning how to focus and disconnect as needed. Putting your energy into the right things. Borrowing good ideas from others that fit within your firm. Key tips on relationship building.   Key Takeaways: It is hard to connect if you are only talking about yourself. Let the other person have space in the conversation. Understand your selling p...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Brett Trembly discuss: Scheduling time off, not dropping agreements with yourself.  The need to delegate to grow your firm.  Tracking ALL of your time (not just the billable time).  Getting over the mental minutia and the fear of hiring.    Key Takeaways: You are losing money every time you do a $10 job that you can pay someone else for when you charge way more t...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Heidi Brown discuss: Overcoming stress, fear, and anxiety.  Introversion, shyness, and social anxiety…and how they are not the same.  Learning to speak for what you need for processing and energy replenishment.  Flourishing in your character strengths.    Key Takeaways: Introverts process internally, extroverts process externally. Neither is better, neither is mo...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Jodie Zerega discuss: Why many lawyers are unhappy with their current situations.  How longevity can assist in your job search.  The importance of having a book of business (and how it plays with the business of running a law firm).  Continue learning, find your niche, become the expert.    Key Takeaways: While longevity at a firm is not as important as it used t...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Joan Butler discuss: Looking at what is working and focusing on that.  Why so many people are unsatisfied with their life.  The Power Life Script.  The paradigm shifts in our lives.    Key Takeaways: The more we focus on the things that are broken and are not working, the more things will continue to be dysfunctional.  People need to take time to listen to what t...

In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Marcia Wasserman discuss: Challenges law firms are facing today that they’ve never had to before.  Managing generational differences to the benefit of both parties.  Where to start when everything seems to be going sideways.  The benefit of a peer advisory group.    Key Takeaways: Managing expectations for both the law firm managers and the younger lawyers is key...