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At Life Beyond the Briefs we help lawyers like you become less busy, make more money, and spend more time doing what they want instead of what they have to. Brian brings you guests from all walks of life are living a life of their own design and are ready to share actionable tips for how you can begin to live your own dream life.
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Most lawyers talk about leaving. Nana Knight actually did it. In this episode, Nana walks through what it really looked like to leave the DA’s office, hang a shingle, and build a criminal defense firm from scratch. No big safety net. No waiting around for the “perfect time.” Just a clear bet on herself. We talk about how her background as a prosecutor and JAG officer shaped the way she runs her firm, why confidence matters more than people admit, and what she focused on in the first year to g...
This episode of Life Beyond the Briefs is a breakout session from the GLM Summit with Leah Miller, founder of Firmly Profits and fractional CFO for law firm owners. Leah started as a paralegal, worked her way up to firm administrator and CFO at a PI firm, and now helps firms around the country actually understand their numbers and build real profit on purpose. If you have ever opened a profit and loss statement, stared at it, and quietly closed it again, this one is for you. Leah walks throug...
The rush to “do more” is loud, but the quiet work of designing a year you actually want to live is louder. We break the high achiever cycle—always chasing 2x—by starting with gratitude, then building a plan that respects seasons of life, family, and the reality of running a law practice without becoming its prisoner. First, we look back. Pull up your photos and calendar to build a 2025 highlight reel and remind yourself how much good you already lived. From that steadier place, we map the co...
This episode of Life Beyond the Briefs is a breakout session from the GLM Summit featuring Michelle Pippin (founder of Women Who Wow / WoWX) and Johnine Clark, a Maryland family law and estate planning attorney who has built a busy, referral driven practice by getting very clear on who she serves and how she wants to work. This is not a “do all the things” marketing talk. It is two women being straight with you about what actually brings in good cases and a sane schedule. Michelle shares how ...
What if the biggest threat to your law firm is not your competition, but the noise you let into your life and calendar? In this live Q&A from the GLM Summit 2025, Brian and Ben reflect on what it really means to pursue growth and “the good life” as a lawyer. This is not a tactics-only conversation. It is about how you think, what you allow into your head, and how you design a practice that serves your life instead of swallowing it. You will hear Brian and Ben talk about conferences, commu...
If you’re planning for 2026 without knowing your numbers, you’re not planning, you’re guessing. In this solo episode, Brian breaks down the 4 numbers every law firm owner must know before heading into annual planning: Average case value (including your zeros and how to handle those big outliers)Cost to acquire a new client (and why messy QuickBooks are silently killing your clarity)Total owner compensation (the real “am I winning?” number, not just revenue)Wanted lead to client conversion rat...
Dreading your next tax bill… but too busy running your firm to do anything about it? In this special Breakout session live from the Great Legal Marketing (GLM) Summit, Adam and Jackie Williams of Pennywise Tax Strategies walk us through 7 smart tax moves every law firm owner should make before December 31st if you want to keep more and pay less. You’ll hear how firm owners are legally: Using the tax code to put more cash back in their pocketStructuring their firm (and life) so they’re not tip...
When your intake gets sharper, everything else gets easier. In this episode, Brian sits down with Alabama injury lawyer Hunter Garnett to unpack how he builds teams that own outcomes, trains intake to convert without sounding scripted, and uses pods and clear scoreboards to drive profit. We get into hiring your next lawyer at the right time, ramping super-green assistants fast, onboarding experienced staff without chaos, and writing SOPs that people actually follow. Then we talk spend that ma...
Most lawyers think growth starts with paid leads, slick branding, or a pricey SEO retainer. We take a different path. This episode walks through a lean $500 marketing stack designed for brand new attorneys and fresh law firms that want to become findable, credible, and convertible—fast. You’ll hear the exact steps to build proof of life online, create an offer that beats “free consultation,” and follow up like a pro without handing your client experience to an AI bot. We start with the essen...
Step into a packed breakout room at LexSummit 2025. The coffee is still warm, the questions come fast, and trial lawyer Mike Rafi is as candid as they come. This session is about social that serves a purpose. Not chasing viral hits, but speaking clearly to the people who might need you, and to the colleagues who might send you your next great case. We start with the simple idea that wins on every platform: be useful. Mike walks through how he chooses a lane, why daily posting is easier than i...
Ever drafted the “I’m out” email and saved it as “send after bonus”? In this episode, Jonathan Hawkins returns to talk about the messy middle of law firm life: when to leave, how to leave without stepping on landmines, and how to know if “partner” is a leap or a leash. We get into the kitchen-table talk at home, what you can and can’t say to clients before you give notice, and the quiet costs of equity that no one puts in the brochure. We also dig into the parts owners whisper about: slowing ...
Picture a new client on day 17. They signed last week. Their neck still hurts. Their inbox is quiet. The silence makes the story in their head louder. Did the firm forget me? That moment is where this episode lives. From the first call through the first 30 days and beyond, Brian Glass sits with Gyi Tsakalakis and Abogado Jared Jaskot to map a simple system for better client communication and steadier client engagement. They show how to set client expectations on day one, why a real voice ever...
What happens when one of the original voices in solo law practice meets the cutting edge of AI? At 8AM’s Kaleidoscope event, Brian sat down with Carolyn Elefant - legendary founder of MyShingle, author of Solo by Choice, and environmental justice attorney fighting Big Energy with bold strategy and even bolder tech. In this conversation, Carolyn shares how she: Turned a dot-com-era blog into a pipeline for high-value clientsUses AI to decode 200-page rulings in minutes (and train new lawyers f...
You’ve hired the bookkeeper. You’ve got the tax pro. You’re making money. So… why does it still feel like you're flying blind and low-key drowning? In this episode, Brian sits down with Kelley Brubaker, a Fractional CFO who’s been called the Numbers Whisperer for law firms, and not in a “look at this pretty P&L” kind of way. She helps firm owners ditch the chaos, decode the metrics that actually matter, and stop scaling their misery. They get into: Why your P&L is lying to you (and wh...
What’s the real return on all that time lawyers are spending posting on LinkedIn, Instagram, or YouTube? In this special episode pulled from a recent GLM Tribe call, Ben Glass and Brian Glass have an honest conversation about what’s working, what’s not, and why social media might not be the magic bullet many lawyers are hoping for. They share how they think about visibility, what role social media plays in their own firms, and what most lawyers get wrong about it. You’ll also hear how they ba...
He left Big Law after 90 days to chase juries. Now Sharif Gray, Richmond trial lawyer and co-host of the RVA Trial Lawyers podcast, breaks down how authenticity (not interrogation) wins over jurors and drives real results in the courtroom. We get into the hard stuff: valuing cases beyond medical specials and policy limits, the “speed-trial” mindset of cutting what doesn’t serve the story, and why parachuting in close to trial can actually sharpen your case. Sharif also shares a tough crime-vi...
Forget boring branding and forget trying to please everyone, this episode is about standing out, building trust, and boldly owning your space. This week, Brian sits down with Lee Rudin, founder of RUDIN LAW and the brain behind the unforgettable “Get Rude” brand. If you’ve ever wondered how to create a law firm identity that clients actually remember and wear on a t-shirt, this is your playbook. Lee shares: Why polite branding gets you forgotten (and what to do instead)How niche swag and gras...
What if the fastest way to grow your firm was not another ad, but a joke? n this episode of Life Beyond the Briefs, Brian sits down with Jimmy Lai, an immigration lawyer with a fast-growing, empathy-first practice, to ask a simple question: Could humor make you more hireable? From Taiwan to Oklahoma City, Jimmy’s story shows how culture, personality, and daily LinkedIn posts can turn strangers into clients and advocates. You will learn: How to use humor and empathy to lower client anxiety a...
What if the thing capping your firm’s growth is you? Seth Price scaled from 2 to 40 lawyers by making the move most founders avoid. He let go, then replaced himself with systems, A players, and data that compound. In this episode, Brian and his friend Seth get specific about what actually works, not theory. You’ll learn: why speed to lead wins cases before your coffee coolsthe first two hires that free your week and raise the barthe core systems that run without youwhat to automate and what...
Sick of pouring budget into ads that attract the wrong cases? In this episode, Delisi Friday breaks down a referral-first growth plan built on two pillars: better intake and the CORE method—Create Once, Recycle Everywhere. We get into the exact intake language that protects trust (“Who can we thank for the referral?”), the follow-up rhythm that keeps you top-of-mind, and how to turn one recording into weeks of credibility-building content without burning out your team. You’ll learn: The intak...
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