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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 law firm marketing feels like a treadmill. Post more. Track more. Spend more. Hope the numbers behave. David Vicknair is playing a different game. He’s in one of the most competitive PI markets in the country, he’s three years into TV, and he still keeps coming back to the same “boring” foundation that most firms skip. Build your list. Stay in touch. Be memorable. Not with more noise, but with consistency. In this episode, David tells the real story behind what’s working for his firm in ...
If Part 1 made you want to rethink your marketing, Part 2 is where Dan Kennedy gets dangerously practical. This episode picks up live from the Great Legal Marketing Summit (October 2025) with Dan going deeper on the stuff most lawyers ignore because it feels “old school” or “too much work.” Direct mail. Personal follow-up. Real client engagement that does not look like every other firm’s same five ads and the same three landing pages. The kind of marketing that makes you the obvious choice be...
Most lawyers market by looking around, copying what everyone else is doing, and hoping they can outspend the next firm. Dan Kennedy thinks that is the fastest way to become invisible. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation from the Great Legal Marketing Summit (October 2025), where Ben Glass and Dan Kennedy dig into the core idea that built Ben’s firm in the first place: don’t do what everyone else does. Ben opens with the story of being a good lawyer who had no clue how to run a bus...
Most lawyers think “brand” means a logo, a slogan, or some clever line about fighting for justice. Kia Arian has a different take. In this GLM Summit talk, she starts with a story about being jealous of a squirrel and ends by showing you why your best marketing is not a gimmick. It is the part of you that has been there the whole time. Your story. Kia breaks down why legal marketing keeps sounding the same, why reviews are not a brand, and why “experienced and compassionate” is basicall...
Most lawyers say they want to “scale.” Ryan McKeen has actually done it. The real kind. The kind where you build a firm that can take the punch of an eight year case, fund experts and animations, and still keep the lights on. The kind where a $100 million verdict is not a lottery ticket. It is the result of building the machine behind the scenes. In this conversation, Ryan tells the story of chasing an eight figure goal when he did not even have a case worth six figures. He talks about ...
Hiring is one of those things most law firm owners do just often enough to get burned. You are growing, the phones are ringing, the cases are coming in, and suddenly you are thinking, “We need help. Like yesterday.” And that is usually the exact moment you start making decisions based on vibes, a decent resume, and one solid interview. Brian says it best. Most of us are not great at hiring because we do it so rarely. This episode is basically a reset button for the way lawyers hire. Jay...
If you have ever tried to take a long weekend and caught yourself “just checking Slack” from the hotel lobby… this one will feel personal. In this episode, Brian sits down with Conrad Saam (Mockingbird Marketing) for a simple gut-check: The 4-Day Test. Can your business run without you? And if the honest answer is “not really,” Conrad doesn’t shame you. He just lays out what changed inside his own company so he could step away for a few days and not come back to chaos. Spoiler: it was not mor...
Recorded live at the GLM Summit, this episode of Life Beyond the Briefs brings together Michael Delon and Jonathan Hawkins to answer a simple question with big upside: how do you turn the expertise you already have into a book that actually brings in clients? Michael walks through how busy professionals can create a book without locking themselves in a room to write for months, and how that book becomes a trust-building tool you can use in referrals, intake, and follow up. Jonathan shares the...
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...
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