343. Integrating Technology into a Solo Criminal Defense Practice with Erin Gerstenzang

My guest on this episode is my good friend Jordan Ostroff. Jordan is an attorney down in Orlando, Florida. He is also the owner and creator of a legal marketing company called LegalEase. Today, I asked him on the show to specifically talk about a topic that I see come up over and over again on all the social media channels and in all the blogs that I pay attention to: the role and use of artificial intelligence in the legal marketplace, and how something called ChatGPT is taking off and is being touted as a game changer. I have to admit that I have for a number of different reasons, kind of stuck my head in the sand with respect to AI in the legal space, so I wanted to get somebody to school beyond the subject and there's nobody better than Jordan and so hopefully you'll be as enamored with the information as I was.In this episode, Neil and Jordan discuss:ChatGPT and AI in the legal marketplace. Doing things differently in your marketing. What ChatGPT can do and how it is learning as it is used. Delegating the 80% to AI.  Key Takeaways:If you’re truly standing out and doing things differently, AI is going to allow you to do marketing easier, more consistently, and cheaper than ever before. Writing is where we are seeing AI make more inroads. While an AI is not a person and won’t see things in the same way a person would, taking into account current events and in-the-moment changes, it can often point out things that seemed too simple or were overlooked by people. AI will allow you to create content more quickly, allowing you to have a baseline that can then be tweaked to your writing style, content, and ideas in a more timely fashion.  "The more that you're spending time honing your craft, the less you're wasting time on random BS that fills up our week, instead replacing that with automation and delegation. It's going to be awesome to see how much more time people have to be better at their actual jobs, to move the ball forward, and to provide a better experience." —  Jordan OstroffGet in touch with Jordan Ostroff:Website: https://www.jordanlawfl.com/ LegalEase: https://www.legaleasemarketing.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordan.ostroff/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-ostroff/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawyerwithalife/ Listen to the first episode with Jordan here!: https://thelawentrepreneur.com/episodes/274-finding-your-place-in-the-marketplace-with-jordan-ostroff/ ChatGPT: https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt/ Thank you to our sponsors!Ruby Receptionist - Virtual receptionist & live call services that will help you grow your office (and save money), one call at a time - to learn more, go to http://ruby.com/ or call 844.311.7829...

Today, my guest is Miriam Airington-Fisher. And Miriam is a law firm owner in the Richmond, Virginia area, who quite humbling to me, has been a longtime listener of The Law Entrepreneur and credits the program for helping her shape her practice as she was starting out as a solo practitioner in the criminal defense world, while trying to raise initially one and now three children at the same time. We talk about that journey, how convoluted and complex that journey can be for working moms, and how, through that discovery, she came to author a book called Mom's a Lawyer: Start a Firm and Take Control of Your Life, which then also gave rise to a course called Law Firm Launch. You're going to hear that whole span of development and growth from Miriam and it's just quite literally fascinating to me. I hope you enjoy it!In this episode, Neil and Miriam discuss:Balancing parenthood and running a law firm.&nbsp;Building a firm to fit your lifestyle, regardless of practice area.&nbsp;Increasing your fees and providing excellent customer service.&nbsp;Strategic hires to grow your firm.&nbsp;Key Takeaways:You aren’t going to know everything you need to know when you first build your practice and begin running it as a business.&nbsp;You do not need to build your firm like everyone else’s. You can create systems and designate roles in a way that works for you and your team.&nbsp;You can set reasonable boundaries and expectations while still being a diligent attorney.&nbsp;The number one reason women (up to ⅓)&nbsp; leave a legal career at the height of their career is because of family and home pressures.&nbsp;&nbsp;"I want to have a successful practice that serves as many people as we can. I want to have an office culture that is healthy, and that supports our team members excelling professionally, but also having a work-life balance." —&nbsp; Miriam Airington-Fisher&nbsp;Episode Reference:&nbsp;Find out more about Get Staffed Up and how they can help your firm here: https://getstaffedup.com/tle&nbsp;Scribe Media: https://scribemedia.com/&nbsp;Get in touch with Miriam Airington-Fisher:Website: https://www.momsalawyer.com/ &amp; https://www.airingtonlaw.com/Email: [email protected]&nbsp;Book: https://www.momsalawyer.com/book&nbsp;Show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/accessory-to-justice/id1601832073&nbsp;YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSqJEivnENlXzVkDiQBoHCg&nbsp;LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miriam-airington-fisher-409b27127/&nbsp;Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/airingtonlaw/ &amp; <a href="https://www.instagram.com/moms_a_lawyer/" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

Today, my guest is Shanice Miller. Shanice is the owner of The Taskly Group, and they set up your business systems, so you don't have to.&nbsp; It's a really interesting model, because we hear attorneys say all the time that they need to systematize, but don't have the time to do that. Well, her company is tasked with doing just that. They come in, interview you, and go through the workflow. They then find out what needs improvement, they design how to do that, and then they implement the systems for you, including the training and the procedures and what have you. Taskly Group will help you set up your systems and, and provide training to your staff. And I think it's a really interesting model for those people who are busy tending to the legal needs of their practice and don't quite have the bandwidth to be able to do the necessary systemizations. I am really thrilled to have Shanice on the program, and I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did.&nbsp;In this episode, Neil and Shanice discuss:Systems development and implementation.&nbsp;The three departments of every business.&nbsp;Building a system unique to your law firm.&nbsp;Growing to the next level.&nbsp;&nbsp;Key Takeaways:You need to define what is causing problems before you can figure out how to design a system to fix those problems.&nbsp;Communication is one of the biggest complaints from many law firm clients. Building a system for regular communication will allow the client to feel cared for.&nbsp;There are a lot of different tools that do similar things - pick one that will work for you. The systems can be built into and around that system.&nbsp;There are only a certain number of clients you can serve without having systems in place.&nbsp;&nbsp;"Systems are the key to success in business. It is the key to helping you produce a sustainable business with less stress, fewer errors, and happier clients." —&nbsp; Shanice Miller&nbsp;Get in touch with Shanice Miller:Website: https://tasklygroup.com/&nbsp;Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100081770791413&nbsp;LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanicemiller/&nbsp;Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tasklygroup_/&nbsp;Get Shanice’s FREE 3 Steps to Automating and Scaling here: https://tasklygroup.com/neil&nbsp;&nbsp;Thank you to our sponsors!Ruby Receptionist - Virtual receptionist &amp; live call services that will help you grow your office (and save money), one call at a time - to learn more, go to http://ruby.com/ or call 844.311.7829The Net Profit CFO - Ryan Kimler works with attorneys who want to enjoy higher net profits without working longer or harder. With just 9 Simple Numbers, Ryan will help you drive more profit to your bottom line-and he won't confuse you with all the details! Connect with Ryan at www.netprofitcfo.com.Get in touch with Neil:Website: <a href="https://thelawentrepreneur.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

Today, my guest is Dan Russell. Dan is a marketing expert who owns his own marketing firm and did a lot of workshops to help convey strategies and principles regarding marketing. What I really liked about his approach is that it’s based on neuroscience; he did the hard work of diving into the science behind why things work from a marketing perspective, and then took those findings, scientific findings, and created the principles and approaches to marketing that capitalized on those findings. So you're going to hear him talk about that. He's reduced that all down into a new book, Snake Oil, which walks you through the history and the current affairs of the marketing world and provides a lot of lessons that will help you break some of the notions that we have regarding marketing and how that can cause us to either reacting appropriately or not react. It's really an interesting conversation, to help us approach marketing from a new perspective. So I'm very happy to share with you this conversation with Dan Russell.&nbsp;In this episode, Neil and Dan discuss:Why you should know the neuroscience of marketing.&nbsp;Overcoming the distrust of marketers and the distrust of attorneys.&nbsp;Deciding what to test in your marketing.&nbsp;Finding your big ideas in the stories that you tell.&nbsp;&nbsp;Key Takeaways:If you know how to communicate the right message to the right people, you don’t need to do any fancy tactics.&nbsp;Marketing is both an art and a science.&nbsp;Your big idea is the nucleus of your marketing atom. All things should circle around that item and drive back to that big idea.&nbsp;You need to have a good message around which your campaigns are built around. You first need to get the attention before you can convert the sale.&nbsp;&nbsp;"Don't worry about the sales, because most people here probably have more of a lead generation problem than a sales problem. Just talking about leads, focus on the bare minimum number of steps that need to happen to generate a lead, then measure the conversions at each step along that process." —&nbsp; Dan Russell&nbsp;Get in touch with Dan Russell:Website: https://heydanrussell.com/&nbsp;Book: https://heydanrussell.com/book/&nbsp;Twitter: https://twitter.com/heydanrussell&nbsp;Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heydanrussell&nbsp;Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heydanrussell/&nbsp;LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heydanrussell/&nbsp;&nbsp;Thank you to our sponsors!Ruby Receptionist - Virtual receptionist &amp; live call services that will help you grow your office (and save money), one call at a time - to learn more, go to http://ruby.com/ or call 844.311.7829The Net Profit CFO - Ryan Kimler works with attorneys who want to enjoy higher net profits without working longer or harder. With just 9 Simple Numbers, Ryan will help you drive more profit to your bottom line-and he won't confuse you with all the details! Connect with Ryan at <a href="http://www.netprofitcfo.com" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

Today, my guest is James Grant. James is the co-founder of Georgia Trial Attorneys, a pretty sizable law practice just outside of Atlanta that focuses on personal injury, but their firm is exclusively devoted to litigating personal injury cases. And so their referral partners, are other law firms that are doing the pre-litigation work, who aren't able, for whatever reason, to resolve the case and have to put the matter into suit. That's what James’ firm does and they're very successful at it. We talk about that evolution, how he went from a practicing attorney as a prosecutor, and now how he and his partner have formed this very successful partnership in trial practice.&nbsp;&nbsp;In this episode, Neil and James discuss:The evolution from a prosecutor to a litigation personal injury attorney.&nbsp;Helping other lawyers make more money with less stress.&nbsp;The virtualization of law firms.&nbsp;Utilizing technology for a litigation law firm with a virtual team.&nbsp;&nbsp;Key Takeaways:The skill set you need to run a pre-litigation personal injury practice is not the same, nor is the level of resources needed, if that case ends up going to trial.&nbsp;Everyone needs a unique value proposition.&nbsp;Clients don’t care about your physical location - they just want to have you be accessible and communicative.&nbsp;You can’t run a business on gut and feeling. You need to run a business on data and metrics. Your law firm is a business.&nbsp;&nbsp;"The number one thing that we found is you have to be a specialist. The thing that I've always seen, whether it's in entrepreneurship or in school, and pretty much in any station in life, if you dabble in a little bit of everything, you're an expert in nothing." —&nbsp; James GrantGet in touch with James Grant:Website: https://www.gtakg.com/&nbsp;YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc6YLXt4TEKCgZluDLkzwOQ&nbsp;Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/georgiatrialattorneys&nbsp;LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-grant-accidentattorneyjg/&nbsp;Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/accidentattorneyjg/&nbsp;&nbsp;Thank you to our sponsors!Ruby Receptionist - Virtual receptionist &amp; live call services that will help you grow your office (and save money), one call at a time - to learn more, go to http://ruby.com/ or call 844.311.7829The Net Profit CFO - Ryan Kimler works with attorneys who want to enjoy higher net profits without working longer or harder. With just 9 Simple Numbers, Ryan will help you drive more profit to your bottom line-and he won't confuse you with all the details! Connect with Ryan at www.netprofitcfo.com.Get in touch with Neil:Website: https://thelawentrepreneur.com/Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/lawentrepreneur" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

Today, my guest is Shane McClelland. Shane is a personal injury attorney in Katy, Texas, and Shane recently transitioned to a solo practice. He was in a partnership with some other attorneys before that, and before that big law. We talk about where he is as a solo practitioner and what he's learned along the way. Some of those are lessons that all of us could benefit from, especially in this highly-competitive area of personal industry in a highly-competitive region of the country. It's one of the places in the country that is rife with very experienced, and excellent personal injury attorneys, and the competition is stiff, so there's a lot to be learned from somebody who's competing in that market as a solo practitioner.&nbsp;In this episode, Neil and Shane discuss:Lessons learned as a personal injury attorney.&nbsp;Running a solo law practice in the hyper-competitive market in Houston, TX.Utilizing tech to run your firm.Niching down and becoming known for what you do.&nbsp;&nbsp;Key Takeaways:It’s called an attorney-client relationship for a reason. Be creative with staying in touch with former clients, build relationships while you’re working with them, and stay top of mind with those clients.&nbsp;When you niche down, it doesn’t just have to be by area of law, it can also be geographical and it can have a huge, positive impact on your firm.&nbsp;The law is always changing, focusing in on one thing will allow you to become an expert in that area.&nbsp;Use tech that allows you to run your practice in the most efficient way for you, as well as in the best way for your clients to build that strong relationship is more likely to lead to referrals.&nbsp;&nbsp;"I think what I would do differently is I would pick one thing, and then focus primarily on that one thing. The longer that I'm out on my own, and the more established we get, the more we're narrowing in and focusing in on just the personal injury stuff." —&nbsp; Shane McClelland&nbsp;Get in touch with Shane McClelland:Website: https://www.hmtrial.com/&nbsp;Email: [email protected]&nbsp;Phone: 713-987-7107Twitter: https://twitter.com/hmtrial&nbsp;Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hmtrials&nbsp;LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hmtrialshanemcclelland/&nbsp;LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/losm/&nbsp;Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hmtrial&nbsp;&nbsp;Thank you to our sponsors!Ruby Receptionist - Virtual receptionist &amp; live call services that will help you grow your office (and save money), one call at a time - to learn more, go to http://ruby.com/ or call 844.311.7829The Net Profit CFO - Ryan Kimler works with attorneys who want to enjoy higher net profits without working longer or harder. With just 9 Simple Numbers, Ryan will help you drive more profit to your bottom line-and he won't confuse you with all the details! Connect with Ryan at <a...

Today my guest is Joe Musso, a lawyer who has practiced for 25 years in nursing home abuse law. Now, we don't often times talk about the substantive aspects of the legal profession on this podcast. But I have to say, I honestly believe that Joe is the first person in 347 episodes that I know of that practices exclusively nursing home abuse. We dive a little bit into what makes it different and challenging, as well as rewarding. Joe has also been mentoring attorneys, literally all of his legal profession, and has now launched his own coaching program. There are a couple of really interesting aspects of his approach to coaching that I think are really refreshing and really sets him apart from other coaches&nbsp;In this episode, Neil and Joe discuss:Joe’s legal career in nursing home abuse law and his coaching practice.The need for more lawyers in nursing home abuse law.&nbsp;The technology needed to run a national law firm.&nbsp;Growing and developing lawyers.&nbsp;&nbsp;Key Takeaways:Nursing Home Abuse Law has fewer lawyers than most other areas and all of the lawyers have more cases than they can handle.&nbsp;Understanding the ins and outs of nursing home law is important, you don’t want your case turning from medical malpractice to a legal malpractice case.&nbsp;Have a client portal through your software that will allow your client to keep up to date on their cases - it will help you and your client.&nbsp;A lot of people are put into leadership positions but were never taught how to lead.&nbsp;&nbsp;"[Learning coaching as a skill] is such a great investment for a lawyer, especially if you own a law firm. And even if it's just the basics of coaching, on some level, that's what you're doing with your staff and your clients." —&nbsp; Joe Musso&nbsp;Get in touch with Joe Musso:Website: https://mussolawfirm.com/&nbsp;Website: https://mussocoaching.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mussolawfirm/&nbsp;LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-musso-7519a22/&nbsp;&nbsp;Thank you to our sponsors!Ruby Receptionist - Virtual receptionist &amp; live call services that will help you grow your office (and save money), one call at a time - to learn more, go to http://ruby.com/ or call 844.311.7829The Net Profit CFO - Ryan Kimler works with attorneys who want to enjoy higher net profits without working longer or harder. With just 9 Simple Numbers, Ryan will help you drive more profit to your bottom line-and he won't confuse you with all the details! Connect with Ryan at www.netprofitcfo.com.Get in touch with Neil:Website: https://thelawentrepreneur.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/lawentrepreneurFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelawentrepreneur/?ref=hlLinkedIn: <a...

Today, my guest is Maddy Osman. She is the founder and creator of The Blogsmith, which is a company that, as the name might imply, focuses on creating data-driven content typically for businesses in the B2B world. She's also done work for some larger-scale personal injury attorneys and has written a book called Writing for Humans and Robots, The New Rules of Content Style, and I think we, as attorneys, gravitate towards content marketing, because it’s something that we understand. What the book does is give you a lot more resources, and a lot more understanding of exactly how to do that writing. From there, you may find yourself in a position where you might want to use a company service, such as The Blogsmith. It's a really interesting conversation, you can tell that she's spent a lot of time in the trenches, understanding how Google works, and how content marketing works, so I think it's something that we could all benefit from.&nbsp;In this episode, Neil and Maddy discuss:Maddy’s journey into writing content for different industries and professionals.&nbsp;Positioning content properly.&nbsp;The purpose of keyword research and factoring in graphics.&nbsp;Creating a writing style guide for yourself or others writing on your behalf.&nbsp;&nbsp;Key Takeaways:It’s more than just writing a blog post. It’s about what you write and how you write it.&nbsp;Working with a professional, experienced content writer, such as The Blogsmith, can help to free up your time and energy as you are running your law firm.&nbsp;You want your reader to have an enjoyable reading experience. Pages of blanket text that look like a novel are not likely to be desirable to the reader.&nbsp;Graphics in your articles do not need to be custom branded or even a photo.&nbsp;&nbsp;"Before you really start any piece of content, you have to consider the goal of why you're creating that content. And if you don't have one, then you probably shouldn't start on that piece yet." —&nbsp; Maddy OsmanGet in touch with Maddy Osman:Website: https://www.theblogsmith.com/&nbsp;Book: https://www.writingforhumansandrobots.com/&nbsp;Twitter: https://twitter.com/maddyosman&nbsp;Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBlogsmith/&nbsp;LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madelineosman/&nbsp;Thank you to our sponsors!Ruby Receptionist - Virtual receptionist &amp; live call services that will help you grow your office (and save money), one call at a time - to learn more, go to http://ruby.com/ or call 844.311.7829The Net Profit CFO - Ryan Kimler works with attorneys who want to enjoy higher net profits without working longer or harder. With just 9 Simple Numbers, Ryan will help you drive more profit to your bottom line-and he won't confuse you with all the details! Connect with Ryan at www.netprofitcfo.com.Get in touch with Neil:Website: <a href="https://thelawentrepreneur.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer"

Today my guest is Jaclyn Foster. She is the owner and head of something Del.Trust Legal Recruiting and Staffing. They provide a complete staffing solution ranging from virtual paralegal support to actual recruiting for full-time legal positions at your firm. I talk to Jaclyn about how she arrived at this approach to staffing for law firms and why she focused on law firms as opposed to other businesses. Our conversation is insightful and, hopefully, there's a solution there that you might find useful to meet the challenges that you have in your solo or small firm practice.In this episode, Neil and Jaclyn discuss:How Jaclyn started Del.Trust, her legal recruiting and staffing firm.&nbsp;Launching her firm at the start of the pandemic as firms go more virtual.Assessing your business processes critically.&nbsp;Getting to the root of why you are hiring who you are hiring and for what role.&nbsp;&nbsp;Key Takeaways:One of the biggest challenges a lot of law firms face is staffing, especially when they are growing or have a larger-than-normal caseload.&nbsp;The processes you have in your law firm will dictate what assistance you can get from your staff and outside help.&nbsp;Having one person who wears all hats is truly the biggest profit killer. You don’t need your highly-skilled, senior paralegal doing entry-level admin work.If you know you need help but can’t put a number of hours or tasks on it, slow down and figure out exactly what it is that you need as that will help you understand the associated costs.&nbsp;"Processes give you the answer to a lot of the business questions you have." —&nbsp; Jaclyn Foster&nbsp;Get in touch with Jaclyn Foster:Schedule a discovery call with Jaclyn here: https://del-trust.com/tle&nbsp;&nbsp;Website: https://www.del-trust.com/&nbsp;LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaclyn-foster-60b457196/&nbsp;Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/del.trust/&nbsp;Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deltrustsolutions&nbsp;&nbsp;Thank you to our sponsors!Ruby Receptionist - Virtual receptionist &amp; live call services that will help you grow your office (and save money), one call at a time - to learn more, go to http://ruby.com/ or call 844.311.7829The Net Profit CFO - Ryan Kimler works with attorneys who want to enjoy higher net profits without working longer or harder. With just 9 Simple Numbers, Ryan will help you drive more profit to your bottom line-and he won't confuse you with all the details! Connect with Ryan at www.netprofitcfo.com.Get in touch with Neil:Website: https://thelawentrepreneur.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/lawentrepreneurFacebook: <a...

It is with great pleasure that I have Davina Frederick in the program today. She is the host of the fabulously popular podcast called The Wealthy Woman Lawyer, and the title describes exactly what the podcast is all about. She is an attorney herself and is a coach to many solo and small firm practitioners who are looking to grow their practice. So she's a perfect fit for the law entrepreneur. We have a great conversation today, and I think you’ll enjoy it too.&nbsp;&nbsp;In this episode, Neil and Davina discuss:Pioneering having a virtual law firm before it was commonplace.The trend in the legal industry to products, not just services.&nbsp;Merging marketing, coaching, and legal to build a successful law firm.&nbsp;Building your client based through attraction, not hunting.&nbsp;&nbsp;Key Takeaways:Listen to your clients. They know what they need and want out of their law firm service.&nbsp;Technology has advanced to allow you to work from anywhere at any time. This gives a lot of flexibility and freedom to all lawyers, particularly women.&nbsp;You need to understand who your client is and where they hang out (not just physically, but also where they are on social media and what they are reading).&nbsp;If you need better systems, you need to understand what, exactly, you are looking for with those systems.&nbsp;&nbsp;"A system is a certain, systematic way of doing is a certain way of doing things in a repeatable fashion and with consistent, repeatable results. You can plug in different people, and they should be able to accomplish the same thing in the same way. It's a process, we can apply people to systems and we can apply automation to systems or we can apply both of them." —&nbsp; Davina Frederick&nbsp;Get in touch with Davina Frederick:Website: https://www.wealthywomanlawyer.com/&nbsp;Books and Other Resources: https://www.wealthywomanlawyer.com/products/&nbsp;Show: https://www.wealthywomanlawyer.com/podcasts/&nbsp;Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davinabfrederick/&nbsp;Twitter: https://twitter.com/dbfrederick1&nbsp;Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wealthywomanlawyer/&nbsp;&nbsp;Thank you to our sponsors!Ruby Receptionist - Virtual receptionist &amp; live call services that will help you grow your office (and save money), one call at a time - to learn more, go to http://ruby.com/ or call 844.311.7829The Net Profit CFO - Ryan Kimler works with attorneys who want to enjoy higher net profits without working longer or harder. With just 9 Simple Numbers, Ryan will help you drive more profit to your bottom line-and he won't confuse you with all the details! Connect with Ryan at www.netprofitcfo.com.Get in touch with Neil:Website: <a href="https://thelawentrepreneur.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer"...