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
Ep. 199 – Behind the Scenes at the GLM Summit: Mastermind Panel + Canadian PI Marketing Wins
In this special episode, we’re taking you behind the scenes at the Great Legal Marketing Summit for a candid mastermind panel discussion—and a bonus deep dive into what PI marketing looks like from north of the border.
Ben Glass is joined by a GLM member from Canada who’s practicing personal injury law inside a large firm—where every lawyer has their own marketing budget and must figure out how to attract great cases in a crowded market.
They explore:
- Why print newsletters still work—even during Canadian postal strikes
- How to build personal authority inside a big firm
- What separates good marketing from bad (hint: it’s not the budget)
- One low-effort, high-trust marketing move you can copy this week
- Plus: how the GLM newsletter system made it across the border—and is working!
You’ll also hear real talk from GLM mastermind members about what they’re testing, what’s working, and why sometimes… the simplest things (like mail!) outperform all the digital noise.
🎧 Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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.
Welcome to the Renegade Lawyer Podcast, the show that challenges the way lawyers and professionals think about life, business, and success. Hosted by Ben Glass, attorney, entrepreneur, coach, and father of nine, this show is about more than just practicing law. For over 40 years, Ben has built a law firm that stands for something bigger. He's helped thousands of lawyers create practices that make good money, do meaningful work, and still make it home for dinner. Each week, Ben brings you real conversations with guests who are challenging the status quo. Lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs, thinkers, and builders. These are people creating bold careers and meaningful lives without burning out or selling out. If you're ready to stop playing small and start thinking like a renegade, you're in the right place.
SPEAKER_03:Let's dive in. Hey everyone, this is Ben Glass, and welcome back to the Renegade Lawyer Podcast. Today's episode is a really cool one. It's a conversation with one of our Canadian GLM members who's doing something a little different. She's practicing inside a big firm, but she's built her own marketing system, including newsletters and some creative ways of staying top of mind, even in the middle of a Canadian postal strike. All right, let's listen to this. The competition in the space of advertising is probably less overall in Canada. Um you correct me if if I'm wrong on that, but I'm curious how you are going about inside a big firm of getting the marketing out the door that you need to support your practice area.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So we do all individually market. So years ago we used to market as a a firm, and we've moved away from that from various different reasons. Um and so each lawyer is uh given a budget. So if you're an associate, you have a certain budget. If you're a non-equity partner, a certain budget. And then obviously if you're an equity partner, then you have whatever budget you want within your silo. Um and so that has been interesting, I guess, because you're always comparing what other people are doing within the your own firm. Marketing is just as difficult for PI in Canada as it is in the US. It's basically the same game. A lot of other uh departments at the firm, they don't market at all in terms of um aside from just referrals. So that's one difference. And I will definitely say since joining GLM, what I thought was the strangest thing that seems so normal to everybody inside the bubble is a print newsletter. And uh jumped on that bandwagon, and it has surprisingly been very good aside from the mail strikes that we've been experiencing.
SPEAKER_03:Which is what you've told us about the mail strikes.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. So um all postal service in Canada has gone on strike twice this year, so there is no no snail mail.
SPEAKER_03:Um Carol, over the years, um what do you think has been your sort of most effective way of attracting clients as you went through these different practice areas?
SPEAKER_00:Well, when I was in a different practice area, the book was definitely definitely very helpful. Um it really uh puts you as an authority in their minds. But something I've started doing recently is um looking at people's insurance policies. When people call up, whether they're going to turn into a client or not a client. Um I'm a big believer in making sure that you understand what kind of auto insurance you have before you find out the hard way that you don't have, for example, a good underinsured um policy. So that's been helpful in just adding people to the list, um making sure that uh whether they become clients or not, that I look at their policy.
SPEAKER_03:So again, you know, a lot of what we teach to do is not rocket science. But I you know, I have spoken in for the Virginia trial lawyers and done marketing at some of their marketing events where the big firms are there and I tell them like about the newsletter thing, and they're like, that sounds crazy. Well, it is crazy and it'll never work for you, of course. Um but you know, again, if you if you followed uh our team around and what we do, we send out a lot of letters to referral sources, and we send out a lot of newsletters and we engage in the community of the gyms and stuff that we go to and the soccer teams and st and stuff like that. And again, if people if you can get people to know you for some reason, other than you are a lawyer, but that you're a trusted individual, trusted and interesting individual, then you just you talk about ROI and and getting better cases in the door. I mean, it's all there in the fundamentals. Um, you know, if you were at the summit this past October, so if you missed it, and we've put together complete summit notes for you at GLM SummitNotes.com. These aren't summaries, like they're the exact strategies, quotes, frameworks, and action steps that the smartest firm owners in the room took home. And now we're taking all of that momentum straight into the 2026 GLM boot camps. Bootcamp is where you stop consuming ideas and start implementing. So grab the summit notes at GLM Summitnotes.com, then secure your seat at bootcamp at GLMbootcamp.com. Let's make 2026 the year your law firm stops being a job and starts becoming the life you actually want to live.
SPEAKER_02:That's it for today's episode of the Renegade Lawyer Podcast, where we're rewriting the rules of what it means to build a great law practice and a great life. If something sparked a new idea or gave you clarity, pass it on. Subscribe, leave a review, and share this with someone who's ready to think bigger. Want more tools, strategies, and stories from the trenches? Visit GreatLegalMarketing.com or connect with Ben Glass and the team on LinkedIn. Keep building boldly. We'll see you next time.
