Life Beyond the Briefs

30:19

How to Build a Reputation Without Owning the Firm |...

Life Beyond the Briefs ·

2026/05/19

Most lawyers think the only path to influence is starting their own firm. Own the business. Put your name on the door. Build the brand yourself. But what if that’s not true? In this episode, Brian sits down with Will McCreight for a conversation about reputation, visibility, and building a meaningful career inside someone else’s organization. They talk about the career advantages most professionals overlook, why relationships still matter more than people think, and how consistently showing u...

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32:13

What Happens When Your Legal Niche Gets Wiped Out? |...

Life Beyond the Briefs ·

2026/05/12

Most lawyers assume their niche is safe. Until one day… it isn’t. A law changes. A rule shifts. And suddenly, the work you’ve spent years mastering starts to disappear. That’s exactly what happened to Alexander. He had a dream job. He was in the top tier of earners at one of the largest personal injury firms in the country, building his career around PIP litigation. Then Florida tort reform hit. And just like that, the pipeline dried up. This episode is about what comes next when that happens...

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42:03

The $20M Case No One Wanted | Sharif Gray and Gray...

Life Beyond the Briefs ·

2026/05/05

Most lawyers would have said no to this case. No clear damages. Messy facts. A client with a complicated history. Three firms already had. Sharif Gray and Gray Broughton said yes anyway. And that decision turned into a $20 million verdict. But this episode isn’t really about the verdict. It’s about the way they think. We get into what it looks like to build a firm that doesn’t chase the easy, high-volume cases. A firm that is willing to take risks, invest time, and bet on cases that don’t fit...

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64:30

If Throwing Money Isn’t the Answer, What Actually...

Life Beyond the Briefs ·

2026/04/28

So if throwing more money at marketing usually backfires… what actually works? That’s where this part of the conversation goes. Part 1 was about thinking differently. About stepping back and realizing that most lawyers aren’t struggling because they picked the wrong tactic… they’re struggling because they don’t have a clear way to evaluate what’s working in the first place. Now we get into the messy part. Gyi Tsakalakis and Conrad Saam start breaking down how marketing actually plays out in t...

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61:50

Why Throwing More Money at Marketing Usually...

Life Beyond the Briefs ·

2026/04/21

Most lawyers think their marketing problem is tactics. Wrong platform. Wrong agency. Wrong strategy. But what if the real problem is how you’re thinking about marketing in the first place? This episode is a little different. We’re taking you inside a live session from the Great Legal Marketing Summit, where Gyi Tsakalakis and Conrad Saam basically did what they do best… challenge everything lawyers think they know about growth. It starts with origin stories. How they got into legal marketing....

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45:21

Stop Hiring Based on Vibes | Jay Henderson

Life Beyond the Briefs ·

2026/04/14

Most law firm owners approach hiring like they’re trying to put out a fire with a garden hose. You’re busy, the cases are piling up, and suddenly you realize you needed help months ago. So, you do what most of us do when we're desperate: you hire based on a "good vibe" and a resume that looks decent enough. The problem is that most lawyers aren't actually good at hiring because they do it so rarely. It’s an expensive skill to learn by trial and error. In this session from the GLM Summit, Jay ...

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44:25

The Future of Law Isn’t Less Human… It’s More | Dr....

Life Beyond the Briefs ·

2026/04/07

Everyone is talking about AI like it’s either the greatest thing ever… or the thing that’s going to replace lawyers entirely. And honestly, both sides are missing the point. In this episode from the GLM Summit, Dr. Cain Elliott breaks down what’s actually happening right now. Not the hype. Not the fear. What’s real, what’s changing, and what it means for how you run your firm. There’s a moment early on where he shows the difference between older AI models and what exists today. It’s not a sma...

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53:26

How Lawyers Win Search In The Age Of ChatGPT | Jason...

Life Beyond the Briefs ·

2026/03/31

If you’ve been hearing that SEO is dead, this episode is going to mess with your assumptions. Because here’s the truth. The firms winning right now are not abandoning SEO. They’re doubling down on it. They’re just playing a very different game. In this talk from the GLM Summit, Jason Hennessey pulls back the curtain on what’s actually working today. Not theory. Not guesses. Real strategies that are driving real cases. Including the kind of strategy that led one firm to invest over $100,000 a ...

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37:02

100 People Every Quarter: The Relentless Networking...

Life Beyond the Briefs ·

2026/03/24

Most lawyers try to grow their firm the same way. More ads. Better SEO. More hustle. Elise Buie went a completely different direction. Years ago, after her life was turned upside down and she had to rebuild from scratch in a new city, Elise didn’t have a big network, a fancy marketing plan, or a pipeline of clients waiting for her. What she did have was a decision. She was going to meet 100 people every single quarter. No matter what. That simple commitment turned into something much bigger. ...

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35:28

Burned Out and Underpaid? The Red Flags That Tell...

Life Beyond the Briefs ·

2026/03/17

When lawyers think about going solo, the first reaction is usually fear. What if I can’t find clients? What if I mess up the business side? What if leaving the firm is the worst decision I ever make? But what if the bigger risk is staying? In this episode, Brian sits down with family law attorney and solo practice coach Wendy Meadows to talk about the moment many lawyers quietly reach. The moment when you realize you are working harder than ever, bringing in real value to the firm, and someho...

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45:35

The Simple Marketing Tool Most Law Firms Ignore |...

Life Beyond the Briefs ·

2026/03/10

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 ...

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36:52

Second Rule of Marketing: Build a Moat Before...

Life Beyond the Briefs ·

2026/03/03

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...

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43:19

First Rule of Marketing: Do The Opposite of Your...

Life Beyond the Briefs ·

2026/02/24

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...

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30:25

Words Tell. Stories Sell: How Lawyers Build a...

Life Beyond the Briefs ·

2026/02/17

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...

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45:13

How to Build a Firm That Can Handle a $100M Case |...

Life Beyond the Briefs ·

2026/02/10

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 ...

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45:21

How to Hire Great People and Keep Them | Jay Henderson

Life Beyond the Briefs ·

2026/02/03

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...

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40:51

The 4-Day Test: Can Your Business Run Without You? |...

Life Beyond the Briefs ·

2026/01/27

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...

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47:45

How to Turn Your Expertise Into New Clients with a...

Life Beyond the Briefs ·

2026/01/20

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...

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31:11

Leaving the DA’s Office and Betting on Herself | Nana...

Life Beyond the Briefs ·

2026/01/13

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...

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46:06

Mastering Law Firm Money: How to Create Predictable...

Life Beyond the Briefs ·

2026/01/06

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...

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