Personal Injury Mastermind w/ Chris Dreyer
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Get more cases. Grow Revenue. Build a Personal Injury law firm that wins in any market.‘PIM’ gives you the systems, frameworks, and decision models top law firms use to grow with intent. If you run a personal injury practice and want scale, without chaos, start here.
Host Chris Dreyer talks with the attorneys, operators, and founders who have already built what most firms are chasing. They walk through how they acquire cases at volume, master legal marketing, strengthen intake, control case costs, adopt AI, hire effectively, expand into new markets, and operate like disciplined businesses built for durability.
Guests include leaders behind some of the most effective PI firms in America: James Helm, Ross Cellino, Amanda Demanda, Mike Morse, Joe Fried, Jennifer Gore, and Nick Rowley. And innovators reshaping client acquisition and legal operations.
Outperform the competition. Start here. Subscribe to Personal Injury Mastermind (PIM)
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378 Episodes
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David Craig is the co-founder and managing partner of Craig, Kelley & Faultless, one of the nation’s leading trucking law firms. With over 25 years of experience, David has become a nationally recognized authority in truck accident litigation. He is one of fewer than 80 Board-Certified Truck Accident Attorneys in the country, a distinction that sets his firm apart in a crowded field. Beyond the courtroom, David is a bestselling author of multiple books, including Semitruck Wreck and The Biggest Mistakes Clients Make When Hiring a Lawyer. His works educate consumers on how to choose the right lawyer — and why the wrong choice can cost millions.
In this episode, David shares the 3 Pillars of Proof that helped him dominate one of the toughest niches in law and get 80% of his cases directly from consumers.
Listen to the full episode with David Craig on Personal Injury Mastermind, powered by Rankings.io, below:
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David Craig: Craig, Kelley & Faultless
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Josh Schmerling is the managing partner at Zerkin Schmerling Law, and the co-founder of LawPro.ai—an AI-powered platform that streamlines medical records, demand letters, and case summaries for personal injury law firms nationwide.
In today’s PIMoment, Josh shares his journey from frustration to innovation—and how his path can help you unlock your own firm’s potential. From marketing strategies to AI solutions, he reveals how to spot bottlenecks, invest in the right tools, and think bigger about the future of your practice.
Listen to the full episode with Josh Schmerling on Personal Injury Mastermind, powered by Rankings.io, below:
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Apple Podcasts
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Josh Schmerling: Zerkin and Schmerling Law
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Private equity is reshaping auto PI, driving case costs up and crowding every channel with firms spending millions each month. Jon Walner has lived through TV’s rise, a full rebrand from his father’s household-name firm, and now a market where acquiring a case costs more than ever. In this episode, he breaks down what he’s seeing today — the PE squeeze, the real math behind auto, rebuilding intake to stay fast and calm, and why adding comp, probate, and matrimonial can create steadier cash flow when PI margins tighten.
You’ll learn:
How private equity is changing auto PI economics, and why it’s costing more to get these cases even as volume looks strong.
Rebranding from a household-name TV firm to Walner Law: new name, number, colors, 100+ billboards, and the real risk of starting over.
Building a low-stress intake floor that protects focus, speeds up sign-ups, and turns more calls into contracts.
Expanding into comp, probate, and matrimonial to monetize existing demand and stabilize cash flow.
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The legal tech boom isn’t coming. It’s here. And while most PI firms are still comparing case management systems, venture capitalists like Zach Posner are quietly backing the tools and “Law Firm 2.0” models that will define the next decade of plaintiff practice. In this episode, Zach – Co-Founder and Managing Partner of The LegalTech Fund, the first venture capital fund focused exclusively on legal technology – breaks down where the smartest money is flowing in legal tech, how AI and automation are being productized for PI, and what separates firms that compound their advantages from those that get buried under complexity.
You’ll learn:
Why “Law Firm 2.0” firms will quietly outgrow traditional PI models
How referral marketplaces, automated call centers using LLMs, and tools that scan your files or mail are already changing intake, QA, and case operations in PI
Simple questions to pressure-test whether a new tool fits your workflows or will stall your team
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When Matt Aulsbrook moved to Fort Worth, he was riding the bus to DWI classes and sleeping on a blow-up mattress. No license. No law degree. No safety net. Today, his firm is one of the most active trial teams in Tarrant County, with an eight-figure practice built on profit discipline, not vanity metrics. In this episode, Matt breaks down how he bootstrapped growth, survived the lean years, and uses a simple KPI stack to keep his PI shop healthy in a brutal market.
You’ll learn:
The real ROI timelines behind digital, radio, and TV (and how to know if your spend is actually working)
The simple KPI mix that reveals whether your firm is healthy, overstaffed, or running too thin
What high-performing intake teams focus on to consistently convert wanted leads
Ways firms are using AI and mass-tort diversification to stay resilient in unpredictable markets
If you like what you hear, hit subscribe. We do this every week.
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AI can’t recommend what it can’t see – or trust. Today’s large language models lean hard on third-party proof: legal directories, reviews, awards, and case results that signal who’s actually “the best” in your market.
In this webinar replay, Rankings.io experts Shawn Denney and Logan Mosby unpack the AI feedback loop for law firms: how Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers, Justia, Yelp, and structured case results feed LLMs the data they use to decide which firms get cited, clicked, and ultimately chosen.
Learn:
Why legal directories now act as AI “authority amplifiers” for your firm
How to use Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers, and Best Law Firms strategically (without wasting budget)
The right way to fully optimize Justia, Yelp, and other high-value profiles for AI and humans
How to structure, publish, and scale case result pages so AI can surface your biggest wins
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When most lawyers see a case with messy facts, impossible notice deadlines, or municipal negligence—they pass. Devin Janosov doesn’t. And that reputation alone now drives over 90% of his new clients. Janosov, of Papcsy Janosov Roche Trial Lawyers shares the overlooked details that turn “unwinnable” files into viable cases… and why other attorneys call him before anyone else.
You’ll learn:
How notice requirements quietly kill good cases
Why being willing to take a case “all the way to the end” attracts referrals
The intake structure his firm uses when every file is complex
How focus groups and discovery help him see what the defense will miss
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1When a client feels in the dark, your team pays for it. Missed updates turn into surprise calls, disrupted workflows, and demands that lack the real story of treatment. Hona Co-Founder & CEO Manny Griffiths breaks down why client uncertainty is an invisible cost center, and how structured updates, pain journaling, and consistent communication can protect your team’s time and strengthen damages.
You’ll learn:
How weekly pain journals turn missed moments into real settlement value
Where case management systems fall short on client-facing communication
How firms are using Hona to unify phone numbers and simplify intake
The hidden cost of inconsistent communication across the client journey
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Some lawyers wait for the perfect case. Nick Rowley never did. With more than $2 billion in verdicts and settlements, he walks through what it really takes to show up in the courtroom over and over. From trying 10 to 15 cases a year for more than a decade to treating every trial as “life or death.” Rowley explains how he turns fear into fuel, pressure-tests his cases with focus groups and data, and builds generational justice.
You’ll learn:
Why Rowley says to try any case anywhere; and how taking hard, small cases built the foundation of his trial prep mindset
What younger lawyers should know about courtroom access, and why real trial opportunities are more available than they think
How Rowley builds a purpose-driven trial team focused on justice, quality advocacy, and a shared “why” behind every verdict
If you like what you hear, hit subscribe. We do this every week.
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Operational lag is the silent profit killer. Every idle demand bleeds momentum, margin, and client trust. Saam Mashhad, Co-Founder & Chief of Product & Legal Operations at EvenUp, breaks down how AI-driven workflows turn stalled files into speed, accuracy, and higher outcomes. From knowledge-graph extraction to litigation continuity, learn how to run your firm like a business that closes cases faster and settles smarter.
You’ll learn:
Why faster operations directly raise your firm’s lead value and competitiveness
How data shows delays, treatment gaps, and idle demands compound firm-wide
How pre-lit and litigation teams can share context without redoing the work
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Verdicts aren’t the finish line, they’re leverage for future cases. Jon Davidi of Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP explains how elite trial lawyers turn results into reputation and trust into a pipeline of major cases. From asking for $50 million without losing the jury to using data to shape the right number, Jon breaks down how confidence, preparation, and community fuel lasting success in the courtroom and beyond.
You’ll learn:
Building the confidence to ask for big numbers, and having the data to back it up
How trust and results turn relationships into referrals
Why verdicts build reputation faster than any ad spend
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Your ad dollars are working — your intake isn’t. Most clients fall through the cracks before your team ever calls them back. Daniel Steinberg built Lawbrokr to fix that, replacing generic contact forms with guided, personalized funnels that educate, prequalify, and convert. The result: higher trust, better data, and more signed clients from the same traffic.
You’ll learn:
Why static forms lose 97% of potential clients
How small design cues from consumer apps can boost intake engagement
Gamified, mobile-style flows that feel human, not bureaucratic
Automation that follows up before your staff even picks up the phone
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Before SEO. Before TV. Even before yellowpage ads — there was Ross Cellino. In this live episode from PIMCon 2025, the “Godfather of Legal Marketing” unpacks how he built one of the most recognizable law brands in history. From his pioneering marketing strategies to jingle-driven dominance, Cellino shares the decisions, instincts, and creative risks that reshaped how lawyers advertise, and how to build a legacy that lasts longer than any campaign.
You’ll learn:
Why niching down built a billion-dollar PI brand
How Cellino & Barnes outspent and outbranded every competitor
The strategy behind billboards, jingles, and unforgettable phone numbers
How brand recognition keeps cases coming when referrals don’t
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AI won’t recommend what it can’t read. Schema, speed, and site structure are the signals that teach search engines (and LLMs) who you are.
In this webinar replay, Rankings.io’s technical SEO specialists Nikolai Hernandez and Eric Thedy show how clean subfolders, purposeful internal links, Core Web Vitals, and precise schema markup create an AI-friendly footprint that gets crawled, understood, and surfaced.
Learn:
How to build clear site structure with subfolders, hierarchy, and strong internal links
Improve visibility by fixing what matters most in your Core Web Vitals
Simplify schema by knowing where to place it, what to mark up, and how to link profiles
Why you should confirm results with heatmaps and analytics to spot and fix crawl or UX issues
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Big verdicts grab headlines—but they don’t build billion-dollar brands. Digger Earles reveals how discipline, data, and brand strategy power Laborde Earles’ growth across Louisiana. From leveraging NIL partnerships for instant credibility to intake systems that close 95% of wanted leads, every move connects trial results to market dominance.
You’ll learn:
How to turn courtroom wins into peer referrals (and long-term B2B leverage)
Using name, image, and likeness to create instant B2C credibility
Intake that performs: openers/closers, on-call lawyer assists, and scheduled client touchpoints that reduce inbound noise
The settlement-committee system that pushes past “good enough” offers
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Every firm loses good cases, they just don’t know it. David Haskins, president of SPEED AI, reveals where those hidden “lead leaks” start and how to fix them before opportunity slips away. From bias at the intake desk to systems that never catch mistakes, David explains what the best firms are doing to convert more of the leads they already have.
You’ll learn:
The unseen reasons firms lose qualified leads before they hit the CRM
The “one call close” mindset that stops giving clients homework
Why call auditing and AI tools are changing intake accountability
How recognizing your best calls can motivate—and multiply—wins
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Michael Burg lays out how a personal injury law firm built on specialization, selectivity, and courtroom readiness expanded to multiple states and crossed $2B in results without sacrificing quality or purpose. You’ll learn:
The case selection rules that protect brand, margins, and outcomes
Why trial readiness wins better settlements—and how to signal it to defense
Why experience and focus groups beat verdict reporters for valuing cases
Hiring for trial mindset and keeping top talent through shared success
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Small details often decide how much a client truly recovers. Ramin Montakab shows how five simple shifts—brand, channels, audits, team, and compounding value—can add thousands to every case. From intake built on empathy to home visits that uncover overlooked damages, he highlights the overlooked strategies that change case outcomes.
You’ll learn:
The intake habits that raise conversions through empathy
How referrals, SEO, reviews, and social feed each other
Home visits and medical protocols that surface damages others miss
Why thinking in compounding value changes your bottom line
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Mass torts don’t have to mean new hires, new overhead, or taking on risk alone. Cason Carter, CEO of Broughton Partners, pulls back the curtain on how firms are entering mass torts without ballooning overhead. From co-counsel structures to vendor oversight and budget discipline, he highlights the hidden pitfalls that trip up most firms — and the strategies that keep cases, and dollars, from slipping away.
You’ll learn:
How co-counsel structures work (and why the litigating firm matters as much as the tort)
The vendor-vetting basics: references, oversight, ethics checks
How to control affiliate risk and keep messaging inside ethical lines
How to spread your budget across early, mid, and late-stage torts without going all-in on one case type
What realistic timelines look like for mass tort payouts
If you like what you hear, hit subscribe. We do this every week.
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Building a PI firm that lasts takes more than verdicts — it takes vision. Michele Mirman, founder of Mirman, Markovits & Landau, P.C., has led her firm to over $1B in recoveries while staying at the cutting edge of marketing, tech, and trial strategy. She shares the overlooked moves that kept her firm at the top: from marketing plays most lawyers ignore to the way she structures her team for staying power.
You’ll learn:
The marketing shifts that made her firm a household name
How “unwanted” cases turned into a lasting advantage
Why tech is reshaping trial prep behind the scenes
What keeps top talent loyal for decades
The one piece of advice she gives to attorneys going out on their own
If you like what you hear, hit subscribe. We do this every week.
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