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The Renegade Lawyer Podcast
I am more convinced than ever that nothing that traditional bar organizations are doing is going to move the needle on the sad stats on lawyer happiness ...
The root cause of all lawyers' problems is financial stress. Financial stress holds you back from getting the right people on the bus, running the right systems, and being able to only do work for clients you want to work with. Financial stress keeps you in the office on nights and weekends, often doing work you hate for people you don't like, and doing that work alone.
(Yes, you have permission to do only work you like doing and doing it with people you like working with.)
The money stress is not because the lawyers are bad lawyers or bad people. In fact, most lawyers are good at the lawyering part and they are good people.
The money stress is caused by the general lack of both business skills and an entrepreneurial mindset.
Thus, good lawyers who are good people get caught up and slowed down in bringing their gifts to the world. Their families, teams, clients, and communities are not well-served because you can't serve others at your top level when you are constantly worrying about money.
We can blame the law schools and the elites of the profession who are running bar organizations, but to blame anyone else for your own woes is a loser's game. It is, in itself, a restrictive, narrow, mindset that will keep you from ever seeing, let alone experiencing, a better future.
Lawyers need to be in rooms with other entrepreneurs. They need to hang with people who won't tell you that your dreams are too big or that "they" or "the system "won't allow you to achieve them. They need to be in rooms where people will be in their ear telling them that their dreams are too small.
Get in better rooms. That would be the first step.
Second step, ignore every piece of advice any general organized bar is giving about how to make your firm or your life better.
The Renegade Lawyer Podcast
Renegade Lawyer Marketing (Audio Book) – Chapter 2: Two Mistakes Lawyers Keep Making
This is Chapter 2 of the free audio edition of Renegade Lawyer Marketing (Second Edition)—only on the Renegade Lawyer Podcast.
In this episode, Ben Glass reads and expands on one of the most popular chapters from the book, tackling two persistent mistakes that keep lawyers stuck, stressed, and invisible:
- Being boring.
If all your marketing screams “just another lawyer,” you’ll be forgotten—fast. Ben explains how to tell better stories, show up as a full human being, and become magnetic in your market (without dancing on TikTok). - Keeping bad clients.
Law school never taught you how to fire a client—but sometimes, it’s the most respectful thing you can do for your team. Ben shares when and how to do it with grace—and why fear-based decision-making has no place in your practice.
You’ll also hear:
- How to use your personal story to become unforgettable
- The difference between grace and tolerating abuse
- Ben’s in-office tactic to train staff using real-time phone calls
- And why clients don’t deserve to take down your culture
📘 Want the book + bonuses? Visit RenegadeLawyerMarketing.com
🎟️ Join us this October at GLMSummit.com
Ben Glass is a nationally recognized personal injury and long-term disability insurance attorney in Fairfax, VA. Since 2005, Ben Glass and Great Legal Marketing have been helping solo and small firm lawyers make more money, get more clients and still get home in time for dinner. We call this TheGLMTribe.com
What Makes The GLM Tribe Special?
In short, we are the only organization within the "business builder for lawyers" space that is led by two practicing lawyers.
One thing we're sure you've noticed is that despite the variety of options within our space, no one else is mixing
the actual practice of law with business building in the way that we are.
There are no other organizations who understand the highs and lows of running a small law firm and are engaged in talking to real clients. That is what sets GLM apart from every other organization, and it is why we have had loyal members that have been with us for two-decades.
This is Ben Glass and we're back with the next chapter in the audio version of Renegade Lawyer Marketing. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go back to about May 14 and find the introduction to this free audio book. Chapter two two mistakes that lawyers make. Book Chapter two two mistakes that lawyers make. To attract the right clients in the right number.
Speaker 1:It's important to not repeat your past mistakes, mistake number one being boring. Ask your next client who had surgery more than three years ago who their surgeon was and they probably can't tell you why. That person was only a surgeon to them and once the problem was solved, there was no reason to remember the surgeon's name. That once the problem was solved, there was no reason to remember the surgeon's name. That's bad news for the surgeon, especially if he or she relies on referrals from patients for a new business. You limit your opportunities when you present yourself to the outside world as a lawyer and a lawyer only. Remember people are scared of lawyers. We underestimate the amount of anxiety that is produced in a consumer who is reaching out, often for the first time, to find one of us. I remember meeting a fellow CrossFit athlete, a family practice doctor, when she heard that I was a personal injury attorney, her first reaction was mild repulsion. She refers cases to me because now she knows me as the CrossFit dad to nine who also referees soccer games.
Speaker 1:Our profession is way too buttoned up and one-dimensional. We take ourselves far too seriously and thus we keep boring people. Being boring is a big mistake. Stop being boring. Fortunately, this mistake is an easy solution. And no, you don't have to dance on TikTok, although people like my friend Mark Breyer, the husband and wife legal team out in Arizona, do a really good job of their TikTok channel. Mark was a speaker for us at the Great Legal Marketing Summit. You can find his video on the internet. All you have to do is start talking to people about something other than your law practice. Share a part of yourself that isn't tied to your profession. All of us have outside interests and passions. Making those interests known sets you apart from others, which also happens to be the best marketing strategy around. You have to make yourself memorable. I am more than my practice, and you are more than your practice In my world.
Speaker 1:People know me far beyond Ben Glass Law. Sure, lots of people know I'm a good lawyer with a couple of thriving businesses and a kick-ass team of professionals who helped drive the engine of Ben Glass Law and great legal marketing. But just as many know me as the father of nine kids, four adopted from China, or the guy who does CrossFit, or the guy who spends a lot of time in the soccer field refereeing games, find me on TikTok and you'll see the video journey of my surprising triple bypass surgery in March of 2024. And my path back via the slickest recovery ever. You should go and look at that. It's pretty cool. Actually, I decided before surgery, after I was diagnosed, before I had surgery, that I was going to have the fastest recovery ever for a 67-year-old CrossFit athlete and soccer referee.
Speaker 1:I am more than my practice. I'm not one-dimensional human being. I am not afraid of letting people find out about these other parts of my life. Note that I said find out. You can be boorish if you brag about yourself. That's almost worse than being boring. You have to find a way to tell your non-lawyer stories in a way that inspires. This is not easy and here's a renegade pro tip Every person has a unique story. You can't steal mine, I can't steal yours. Showing the full picture of who you are makes you more memorable, more relatable and more accessible. Your fingerprint is unlike anyone else's in the world, so be memorable.
Speaker 1:Mistake number two keeping bad clients. This is something they didn't teach you in law school. It's another thing they didn't teach you in law school, actually, but keeping bad clients is disrespectful to your team. It's a major source of stress for everyone. I have zero tolerance for clients who act disrespectfully or cause undue stress to me or my team. I defend my team, and you should too. Yes, you need clients, but you don't need those clients. If I'm talking to a bad client on the phone, I try to keep my door open so that my team can hear how I'm handling the situation, which is usually by saying, hey, I'm giving you a chance here, but let me tell you what you're not going to do. You're not going to keep making unreasonable demands or cause stress and aggravation to me or my team. If you can't accept that, then I'll gladly help you find another lawyer. If it comes down to a choice between a crappy client and a solid member of my team, I promise you this the staff will always, always win out.
Speaker 1:It's difficult to turn a client away or send a client packing. After all, they did come to you because of some perceived need, and since you've always been trained to believe that you have no choice in the matter, it doesn't feel right, does it, to fire a client. Well, it's wrong not to do it if that client is causing you frustration, stress or discord among the team members. One small caveat about happy clients. It's important to always keep in mind that while some are assholes, difficult clients are sometimes difficult because of the stress of whatever it is that caused them to seek you out in the first place. There is a place for grace. We start with seeking to understand, but when clients cross a line from reacting to fear to being outright jerks to you or your staff, it's time to take action, fire them. Bad clients don't deserve you. Another side note Many years ago I took on a client a real jerk, it turned out who had been referred to me by another client.
Speaker 1:I wanted to get rid of him, but the plain and simple truth was that, as a young lawyer, I was worried about disappointing the referral source. I made the mistake of keeping on a bad client out of fear of disappointing the referral source. There was and is no rule that says I had to do that. Making fear-based decisions is always a mistake. Here's a renegade pro tip Train your team to free up your time. Whenever I have a client call for that matter, any call an opposing lawyer or judge I put that call on speakerphone and invite team members to join me in my office to watch how Ben does things as training on doing it themselves.
Speaker 1:One team member usually the paralegal responsible for the particular case is appointed to edit the AI-generated notes. She used to take notes, but now, with Zoom notes and all these pieces of software, creating notes is really really easy. Those notes will be cleaned up and emailed to the client within hours. This has two big benefits. Number one I don't take any notes during the call. I sit, listen and create strategy or solve problems. Number two, the client doesn't take notes during the call. Either. All my clients are injured or have a disability, so they're thrilled that they don't have to take any detailed notes.
Speaker 1:I stole this idea from the medical field. When I first noticed that the doctor wasn't taking any notes but his scribe was, I thought, wow, I can move that one to legal. This tactic has a big client service bonus attached to the real reason we do it. My team will better understand how I think and handle client questions by being in that room with me rather than spending hours and hours of me teaching them the hows and whys in meetings. One more bonus In the old days, I would have to end a call, review my notes and start doing whatever I promised I would do during the call itself, with the team in the room listening.
Speaker 1:We have a brief two-minute recap. Once the client hangs up. I can tell the team what needs to be done next and why, and over time that conversation can turn me from teaching what needs to happen next to me, telling them what they're going to do next and me confirming their plan. And that's how you grow a great team. All right, next chapter, chapter three, we're going to talk about philosophy and how to have a well-thought-out philosophy of life. Until next time,
