The Law Firm Owner Podcast

What do you do when something that feels like an emergency happens in your firm? Whether it’s a key member of your team resigning, receiving a terrible review, or anything else that catches you off guard, Melissa is offering you a guide this week for what to do when you feel blindsided.

In this episode, you’ll learn how handling emotionally charged situations differs from other challenges in your firm, questions to ask yourself to produce the most productive outcomes, and how to embody business-owner maturity in even the toughest situations. 

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/248

While you might believe shooting for high growth rates year after year will help you find the success you’re seeking as a business owner, Melissa is here this week to show you why a constant commitment to growth might actually be creating problems in your business that are hard to recover from. 

Tune in to hear the four byproducts that come from chasing high growth rates year after year, and how they can become untenable for you, your team, your clients, and your overall business. You’ll learn how to play the long game instead, and Melissa’s tips for handling a high-growth year with grace and intention.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/247

As a law firm owner, it's easy to fall into the trap of complaining in times of frustration, but expending energy wallowing in problems can have direct, long-lasting negative impacts on your firm. If you’re focused on complaining, you aren’t focused on effective problem-solving. 

Tune in this week as Melissa outlines exactly how complaining is negatively impacting your firm's culture, morale, and productivity, and a couple of exercises to snap yourself out of the negativity cycle the next time you catch yourself in it.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/246

Do you take time to investigate the problems that crop up in your law firm? To dig under the surface-level symptoms? Or do you do what's necessary to keep moving forward and stick a pin in them for a later date?

Unlike surface-level problem-solving, root cause analysis aims to uncover the root cause of a problem and prevent it from recurring, and it’s the secret to saving you, your team, and your clients a ton of heartache and pain. Listen in this week to hear why root cause analysis is the most responsible way of dealing with problems in your firm, and Melissa’s favorite tool for uncovering the deeper reasons something isn’t working. 

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/245

When owners find Melissa, they're often struggling to find enough time for the things that are most important to them. Close relationships, health and wellbeing, the growth of the firm — it's a lot to juggle. How can you begin to use Monday Map/Friday Wrap if you don’t know how to prioritize what’s most important? 

In this episode, Melissa exposes a common pain point for law firm owners who want to take control of their time. She shares how to create Zones in your calendar to dedicate to your priorities, how to uncover what your top priorities are, and how she helps the firm owners inside Mastery do this progressively better each week.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/244

Any time you set out to achieve a goal, it requires deliberate focus. Unfortunately, it is human nature to get distracted, which is where frequent, regular course correction comes in. If you want to make real progress, you need to course correct often, and Melissa is sharing the best ways to do it this week.

Listen in to learn how to course correct so effectively that each time you fall off track (and you will), the time it takes to regain focus becomes even faster and smoother. Melissa shares why having a regular cadence to your course corrections matters, two tools to make them more effective, and why getting more specific about what you want to accomplish makes course correcting along the way easier.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/243

The practice of honoring your calendar, which Melissa teaches in her Monday Map/Friday Wrap process, is what will make you a better business owner, lawyer, and leader. It's all about showing up for what truly matters, but you’re not alone if a sense of perfectionism and overwhelm are keeping you from making progress.

This week, you’ll hear an excerpt from one of Melissa's recent Mastery Group client calls that led to some big breakthroughs. It’ll change the game if you currently feel like you’re not performing at your best. Tune in to hear why intentionality is the secret to making progress in ways that will blow your mind, and the only things you should be spending your time and energy on.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/242

If, like many of Melissa’s clients, you’ve been tolerating or living with team issues in your firm for a while, the hard truth is that these perceived problems may not be a team problem. They might actually be a you problem.

On this episode, you’ll learn the opportunities you have as an owner, leader, and CEO to shift the culture within your firm towards greatness. Listen in to discover why you don’t need a blueprint for perfection in navigating team issues, and how just a little bit of initiative and curiosity can make all the difference.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/241

Planning is your key to freedom as a law firm owner. It's what allows you to take the reins in your practice and line yourself up with the growth you say you want. So why aren't most owners doing it? 

This week, you’re hearing from the founder of Revermann Law, Claudia Revermann, who was introduced to Melissa's Monday Map/Friday Wrap framework in 2020. She committed to the work for three years, and she’s here to share how it transformed her business. You’ll hear the importance of being honest about your time, some of the mistakes Claudia has made with the process, and how Claudia and Melissa have worked together to create ease, flow, and progress.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/240

As a law firm owner, you can’t and shouldn’t be personally handling every task that needs attending to in your firm. You want to focus your time on bringing in new clients and doing the work you truly love, but where do you start?

This week, Melissa is joined by Southern California appellate and anti-SLAPP lawyer, Jeff Lewis of Jeff Lewis Law. They just did a strategic planning session together where they planned for the year ahead, and as one of her clients who has mastered the art of delegation, Melissa invited Jeff on to discuss exactly how he’s created an abundance of time and mental freedom for himself as a law firm owner.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/239

As a law firm owner, it's easy to get mired in day-to-day legal work, unforeseen obstacles, and your smaller to-dos. However, if you’re ready to finally stay on course with your big-picture goals, the practice of annual calendaring is non-negotiable.

How can you use your calendar to tee yourself up for success in 2024? Join Melissa this week as she shows you why annual calendaring is your secret to having a more ease-filled 2024, examples of what you might consider putting on your calendar, and her top tips for creating a calendar that works for your life and business.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/238 

Here we are, closing out 2023! For many law firm owners, this time of year can trigger a self-critical voice. It’s easy to lose sight of exactly how far you've come, but even if this year hasn’t been as fruitful as you’d hoped, there’s a lot to be proud of. In this episode, Melissa is showing you why.

Join Melissa this week as she reminds you of important truths that often get lost in self-criticism and the pressures of life, and why letting yourself be with these truths is key as you take stock of everything you’ve accomplished in 2023. 

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/237

This week, Melissa is exploring the topic of your "winning strategy," coined by Tracy Goss in her book The Last Word on Power. Your winning strategy is your lifelong unconscious formula for achieving success, and it has worked well for you so far. But if left unquestioned, your current winning strategy will actually start to impede your future success.

Listen in today to discover why your winning strategy won’t cut it forever if you want to achieve extraordinary results. You’ll learn how to uncover your winning strategy, why it is both a source of success and limitation, and why you must scrap it if you want to reach new heights.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/236

As we near the end of the year, it's time to start thinking about what’s most important to you and your firm in the year ahead. Melissa is here this week to share a workshop she facilitates every year for her Mastery Group members called Reflect and Get Clear. It’s a crowd favorite and you’re getting a taste of it today!

If you want to be guided through a process for reflecting and evaluating 2023 so you can home in on what matters most in 2024, you’re in the right place. Melissa is showing you helpful frameworks for understanding the last 12 months in your business, big-picture questions to guide your thinking about the year ahead, and tools for planning your most optimized 2024.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/235

Randa Prendergast, a.k.a. The Attorney Whisperer, is back this week to discuss one of the most crucial elements to the continued growth of your law firm: delegation and effective workflows. Everyone wants great systems, but actually setting them up well is another story. This is the unsexy stuff that makes your business hum, and it's Randa's specialty.

Tune in this week to hear Randa’s top tips for beginning to implement a case management workflow that supports you, your team, and your clients. You’ll learn why addressing your firm’s case workflows matters, what to consider when shopping for a software that fits your needs, and how to set yourself up with partners who can help you get the results you’re looking for.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/234

Billing is an aspect of running your law firm that is directly related to cash flow and the growth you experience, but it tends to be a huge pain point for many owners. Randa Prendergast, a.k.a. The Attorney Whisperer at Mrs. June Legal, is a billing and cash flow expert, and she’s here to offer her expertise on building a reliable billing procedure that keeps your team and clients on the same page.

Join Melissa and Randa as they dive into general good practices to consider for billing, the keys to organized and effective billing, and what you could be sacrificing if you don't get your billing practices under control right now.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/233

If your brain were a web browser, how many tabs would you have open right now? As a business owner, it tends to be a lot, and with the holidays fast approaching, more tabs will be opening soon! If you want to reduce your sense of overwhelm and chaos, and if you've been wondering how to run a healthy firm that’s productive and efficient during the holidays, it’s time for you to start closing some of those tabs.

Join Melissa on this episode as she helps you take stock of the open tabs in your brain so you can consolidate, reduce, and maybe even close some of them for good. You’ll learn an exercise that will help you examine the open loops in your brain, recognize how to close them with intention, and learn why giving yourself the gift of completion does wonders for your psyche.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/232

If you’re working hourly, making plenty of money, love your work, and are well-respected within your firm, the notion of using flat fees might sound like it’s not a great fit. Everything might look perfect on paper externally, but Melissa’s guest this week is illuminating a different way of running your firm that could be a potentially beneficial next step.

Brita Long is the Amazon bestselling author and creator of The Happier Attorney. She’s on a mission to teach fellow attorneys how to harness the power of flat fees and achieve financial stability without sacrificing their precious time and energy. Join Melissa and Brita to discover how to use flat fees properly to charge for your legal services, the benefits of using flat fees, and how to identify whether you should start embracing flat fees in your practice.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/231

Do you worry about handing off tasks to the appropriate people as a law firm owner? Could you be wasting precious billable hours by not delegating effectively? Bibi Goldstein is the founder of Buying Time, a virtual support company that supports busy professionals, from solo entrepreneurs to multi-mullion-dollar companies. Bibi is on the show this week to highlight the multitude of ways they have become an indispensable partner to law firms across the globe.

Listen in this week to hear Melissa’s experience of hiring Buying Time, and the types of services Buying Time handles for law firms. Bibi is sharing the core philosophies that make Buying Time a totally unique virtual support company, and how they help law firm owners find a sense of calm doing what they love, instead of paralyzed by the things they don’t.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/230

Lindsay Kennedy is the founder and president of Legal Reinforcements: a company dedicated to connecting law firms with military talent. Due to the nature of being a military spouse, Lindsay is a huge advocate for changes in the legal profession to allow for more non-traditional options. She helps law firms meet their staffing needs by hiring military talent as remote legal assistants, paralegals, and attorneys, and she’s here today to highlight what’s truly feasible for both military spouses who desire work and law firms looking to hire a great team member.

Tune in this week to hear why Legal Reinforcements has become the top legal recruiter for military talent, and how the people Lindsay places are uniquely suited for any law firm. Lindsay and Melissa are discussing what it takes to connect the right people with the right role, and how she ensures successful matches every time.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/229