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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
Ep. 242 – Be Known for More Than What You Do
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Your reputation should go beyond your job title. Ben Glass shares how a relationship with a doctor across the hall became something much bigger than legal referrals—and why being known for what you stand for can create opportunities to lead, serve, and impact people in unexpected ways.
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.
The Doctor Who Refers Life Help
SPEAKER_00Here's more from the renegade lawyer Ben Glass. So in our office in Fairfax, uh there's an there's actually two OBGYN offices on our floor. There's one directly across the hall from us. Um and every so often uh the doctor uh grabs somebody, I can just kind of picture this, out of the examining room and marches them across the hall to talk to Susie at our front desk. Uh this woman, this patient of mine needs to talk to Ben. And it's not about a claim, they're not injured. It's not about an insurance problem. It turns out it's because these uh young ladies are freaking out about something about life. And they're there, I learn later in talking to the various patients who the doctor drags over to see me. Um, they're there because they want some sort of medication for anxiety. And and the doctor, who's an entrepreneur dressed up like a doctor, so she's kind of like me, she's like, No, no, no, you need to talk to Mr. Glass. So they she drags them over and we set up an appointment.
Reputation Beyond Being A Lawyer
SPEAKER_00And the way so just first, just think about that just for a moment. Think about that relationship I have with the OBGYN, where she knows me beyond the fact that I'm a lawyer. She she knows that I stand for something and that I can help people in multiple ways and can lead people. That's a lot of what I'm going to be talking about this weekend to you, because I think there's huge, huge opportunity for all of us who run firms and who are leaders in our communities to have a real impact.
The Lunch Deal For An Hour
SPEAKER_00So um he sends over this young lady, and the deal in our office is the deal with me is if you ever want to come and have an hour with me, I get it. You get that, and I'll give it to you. And if you're an adult, you got a business, um, you want to start a business, whatever, you're bringing lunch in, and my and Susie says, Here's the three subways, here's what he likes, and you bring it in. And it's kind of funny because I get pitched, like I'll get pitched by these wealth planners really far away, and Susie goes, Well, here's the deal. And so I've had two of those meetings virtual where they send lunch to my office, they pitch me for an hour, we have a great conversation, I always learn something, and then we're gone.
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