The Law Firm Owner Podcast

#254: How the Sausage Gets Made: A Healthy Firm Requires You to Dig Back in From Time to Time

23 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There's a notion in law firm owner communities that owners ought to stay above the fray, and that they don't need to know how the sausage gets made wi...

#253: Make the Invisible Work Visible: An Audit of Your Calendar

16 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Your time is your most precious asset, and the reality is, your calendar probably doesn't accurately reflect how you're spending it. When you own a la...

#252: Want to Give Out Impromptu Bonuses? Do This Before Shelling Out Cash

09 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rewarding your team with an unexpected bonus when the firm is thriving feels good, not just for them but for you too. However, shelling out cash witho...

#251: Peak Performance Under Pressure: Strategies for Success When It Counts

02 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Periods of high pressure are inevitable as a law firm owner. It is crucial to support yourself to get through these times with as much ease, flow, and...

#250: True Humility: Taking Credit Where It's Due with Tara Gronhovd

26 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Are you prone to brushing off your contributions or wins in the name of humility? What are the dangers of not taking credit where it's due as a leader...

#249: Leading Productive Meetings: How to Influence Behavior and Increase Engagement

19 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How often do your meetings feel like a drag? A few key things must be in place if you want to avoid unfocused, distracted, and unproductive meetings, ...

#248: When You Feel Blindsided: How to Take Better Action

12 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What do you do when something that feels like an emergency happens in your firm? Whether it's a key member of your team resigning, receiving a terribl...

#247: When Chasing High Growth Rates Becomes Counterproductive

05 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

While you might believe shooting for high growth rates year after year will help you find the success you're seeking as a business owner, Melissa is h...

#246: PSA: Stop Complaining About Your Team

27 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As a law firm owner, it's easy to fall into the trap of complaining in times of frustration, but expending energy wallowing in problems can have direc...

#245: Putting Band-Aids on Problems vs Root Cause Analysis

20 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Do you take time to investigate the problems that crop up in your law firm? To dig under the surface-level symptoms? Or do you do what's necessary to ...

#244: Mastering Your Time: Prioritizing Your Ideal Week as a Law Firm Owner

13 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When owners find Melissa, they're often struggling to find enough time for the things that are most important to them. Close relationships, health and...

#243: Course Correction: How to Stay Focused, Consistent, and Achieve Your Goals

06 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Any time you set out to achieve a goal, it requires deliberate focus. Unfortunately, it is human nature to get distracted, which is where frequent, re...

#242: Monday Map/Friday Wrap: Is Perfectionism Holding You Back?

30 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The practice of honoring your calendar, which Melissa teaches in her Monday Map/Friday Wrap process, is what will make you a better business owner, la...

#241: The Root Cause of Your Team Problems

23 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If, like many of Melissa's clients, you've been tolerating or living with team issues in your firm for a while, the hard truth is that these perceived...

#240: Monday Map/Friday Wrap: How to Let Your Calendar Be Your Boss with Claudia Revermann

16 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Planning is your key to freedom as a law firm owner. It's what allows you to take the reins in your practice and line yourself up with the growth you ...

#239: Delegation: Free Your Time, Build Trust, and Cultivate a Thriving Firm with Jeff Lewis

09 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As a law firm owner, you can't and shouldn't be personally handling every task that needs attending to in your firm. You want to focus your time on br...

#238: Annual Calendaring: Optimizing What Matters Most to You

02 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As a law firm owner, it's easy to get mired in day-to-day legal work, unforeseen obstacles, and your smaller to-dos. However, if you're ready to final...

#237: Melissa's Wish for You in the New Year

26 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Here we are, closing out 2023! For many law firm owners, this time of year can trigger a self-critical voice. It's easy to lose sight of exactly how f...

#236: Your Winning Strategy: A Source of Success and Limitation

19 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Melissa is exploring the topic of your "winning strategy," coined by Tracy Goss in her book The Last Word on Power. Your winning strategy i...

#235: 2023 in Review: Reflect and Get Clear

12 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As we near the end of the year, it's time to start thinking about what's most important to you and your firm in the year ahead. Melissa is here this w...

#234: Case Management Workflow and Delegation with Randa Prendergast

05 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Randa Prendergast, a.k.a. The Attorney Whisperer, is back this week to discuss one of the most crucial elements to the continued growth of your law fi...

#233: Billing Procedures: Good Practices for Healthy Cash Flow with Randa Prendergast

28 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Billing is an aspect of running your law firm that is directly related to cash flow and the growth you experience, but it tends to be a huge pain poin...

#232: Open Tabs in Your Brain: Take Stock, Consolidate, and Reduce

21 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If your brain were a web browser, how many tabs would you have open right now? As a business owner, it tends to be a lot, and with the holidays fast a...

#231: Flat Fees: The Secret to a More Fulfilling Life and Practice with Brita Long

14 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If you're working hourly, making plenty of money, love your work, and are well-respected within your firm, the notion of using flat fees might sound l...

#230: Making Delegation Easy: Buy Back Your Time with Bibi Goldstein

07 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Do you worry about handing off tasks to the appropriate people as a law firm owner? Could you be wasting precious billable hours by not delegating eff...

#229: Legal Reinforcements: Why Military Spouses Make Great Law Firm Employees with Lindsay Kennedy

31 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Lindsay Kennedy is the founder and president of Legal Reinforcements: a company dedicated to connecting law firms with military talent. Due to the nat...

#228: The Power of High Confront: Taking Action and Disrupting Inertia Defaults

24 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to effortlessly handle difficult conversations while others shy away from confrontation? As Melissa shares...

#227: Connecting with Your Team: Strategies for Play and Work

17 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

However big or small your team is, and whether they're virtual or in person, what does your firm's team dynamic currently look like? The truth is, it'...

#226: From Hustle to Ease: How to Navigate the Discomfort of Freedom

10 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As a lawyer, working hard, constantly increasing your workload, and operating from a hustle mentality has most likely served you extremely well. It's ...

#225: Solving Intake Process Challenges with Wouter IJgosse of DecisionVault

03 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There are lots of different tools out there for automating the intake process, but have you found one that works end-to-end seamlessly? This week, Mel...

#224: The Discipline of Staying Focused

26 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If you want to take your firm from successful to a perfectly well-oiled machined that is in alignment with your core values and creates fulfillment an...

#223: 8 Strategies for Intentionality When You're in a Funk

19 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is for those days when you're frustrated and the whole world seems stacked against you. Even if these types of days are rare, it can thro...

#222: The Learning Curve of Being a Better Leader: A Conversation with Tara Gronhovd and Pamela Nelson (Part 2)

12 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Melissa joins Tara Gronhovd and Pamela Nelson on the Grounding and Growing Leadership Podcast again this week to dive into the work of intentionality ...

#221: Intentionality and Implementation: A Conversation with Tara Gronhovd and Pamela Nelson (Part 1)

05 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week, you're hearing a conversation Melissa had with Tara Gronhovd and Pamela Nelson on the Grounding and Growing Leadership Podcast. They discus...

#220: Entrepreneurship Challenges: Navigating the Storm to Reach Calm

29 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There are going to be times, no matter where you are on the spectrum of entrepreneurship or timeline of your company, where you are going to be requir...

#219: A Customized Accounting Approach for Law Firms with Jessica Gonifas, CPA

22 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There tends to be a lack of confidence around the finance side of running a law firm, and many lawyers often find themselves floundering when it comes...

#218: Monday Map/Friday Wrap: The Playbook (Part 3)

15 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Friday Wrap is the most critical component of The Playbook for your growth and development as a law firm owner. It's what offers you the opportunity t...

#217: Monday Map/Friday Wrap: The Playbook (Part 2)

08 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Playbook is set up to help you stay intentional so you don't fall into the trap of wishful thinking about how you spend your time. On this episode...

#216: Monday Map/Friday Wrap: The Playbook (Part 1)

01 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There are four preparation steps involved in the Monday Map process that will tee you up to have a more seamless experience. These activities were bor...

#215: Monday Map/Friday Wrap: Honoring Your Plan

25 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When you consistently honor your plan, momentum builds and you make steady progress towards your goals. On the other hand, when you fail to honor your...

#214: Monday Map/Friday Wrap: Planning Your Time

18 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Monday Map/Friday Wrap process is one of the most fruitful pieces of work Melissa does with her members and clients. It's what gets them dialed in...

#213: Your Definition of Productivity & Using Monday Map/Friday Wrap

11 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Are you clear on what you are going to get accomplished this quarter? If you don't, this episode is a must-listen. And if you do, but find yourself st...

#212: The Engagement Scale: Identifying the Next Right Step

04 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How do you rate yourself when it comes to the results you're trying to create? You might rate how well you did something or the level of success you m...

#211: Calculating Your Revenue: Average Value Per Case & Average Collection Per Case

27 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Average revenue per case is an equation that's used often in Mastery Group. It's a fulcrum number that is vital in strategic planning because it allow...

#210: Answer Meetings: A Container for Finding Solutions

20 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As an owner, you've probably felt as if you're the only one catching problems in your company. You might approach your team and ask them what went wro...

#209: Leadership Work That Matters: Building Trust & Emotional Maturity with Tara Gronhovd and Pamela Nelson

13 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If you value your company and those under your leadership, cultivating trust and emotional maturity are non-negotiable.   Melissa is back this week w...

#208: The Vital Role of Trust in Your Business with Tara Gronhovd

06 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Trust is foundational for any team to be effective, and if you lack trust, you'll waste a lot of time and energy with miscommunication, conflict, and ...

#207: How to Address Your Firm's Bottlenecks with Ben Hudson and John Grant

30 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Hear Melissa's conversation with Mastery Group member Ben Hudson of Hudson Law and John Grant of Agile Attorney Consulting. Ben shares what it's like ...

#206: Understanding Advanced Client Costs with Claudia Revermann

23 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Did you know that you might be unwittingly skewing the true numbers in your business? Whether it's client costs, case costs, court filing fees, or oth...

#205: Deconstructing Rocks: An Example Break Down with Jim Hart

16 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jim Hart is a trademark lawyer and founder of The Hart Law Firm where he works exclusively with online business owners, coaches, freelancers, and othe...

#204: Up-level the Client Experience with John Grant

09 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Melissa is sitting down with founder of Agile Attorney Consulting, John Grant. John has a proven record as a legal innovator who helps legal teams opt...

#203: Getting Support When Times Are Good with Gordon VanderLeek

02 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If you're a longtime listener of the show, you'll understand the importance of rest and the bigger-picture impact prioritizing rest can have on your b...

#202: Consistency: Overcoming Obstacles (Part 4)

25 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

To close out this series, Melissa is sharing more common obstacles that you might face as you work towards the things you care about so you can overco...

#201: Consistency: Progress, Not Perfection (Part 3)

18 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When you're working towards a goal, consistency matters. However, something many people get tripped up on is the idea of perfect consistency and execu...

#200: Consistency: Building Stability Before Growth (Part 2)

11 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If you find yourself trying to reach three rungs ahead of yourself on the ladder of building your business instead of taking everything step by step t...

#199: Consistency: Laying the Groundwork (Part 1)

04 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Melissa is kicking off a brand new series on the topic of consistency. Whether you're working on the growth of your business, or you want to begin mak...

#198: How to Get Comprehensive with Your Planning

28 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Melissa walks you through Mastery Group's strategic planning retreat framework. Melissa's training for facilitating business planning meeti...

#197: Why Progress is Worth Measuring

21 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Elizabeth King said, "Process saves us from the poverty of our intentions." Getting sidelined, busy, or otherwise forgetting about the things you said...

#196: What Gets in Our Way as Leaders with Tara Gronhovd

14 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Team dynamics and leadership expert Tara Gronhovd is back to dig into even more aspects of leadership and the challenges you might be facing. Melissa ...

#195: Are Your Flat-Fees Healthy for Your Business?

07 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Melissa hears from many clients who say, "I switched to flat-fee packages because I got sick of tracking time." If the notion of tracking time for a c...

#194: How to Plan Effectively in Times of Adversity

28 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If you find yourself flying by the seat of your pants and trying to stay afloat in your business, the truth is, no matter how much you plan, you canno...

#193: When You're at a Crossroads with a Team Member with Tara Gronhovd

21 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Are you at a crossroads with a particular team member? Is exhaustion and frustration at a tipping point when it comes to navigating your team? Do you ...

#192: Mastery Group: Everything You Need to Know

14 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Do you know what Mastery Group is and how it works? Well, in this episode, Melissa is giving you all the details on what it's like inside Mastery Grou...

#191: Unleashing Your Potential: A Conversation with Mastery Group Member Soulmaz Taghavi

07 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What potential are you sitting on that you need a little help to bring to the surface? Melissa's guest this week started her own practice during the h...

#190: Doubling Your Revenue & Freedom: A Conversation with Mastery Group Member Christine Diorio

31 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Family law, estate planning, and criminal defense lawyer Christine Diorio opened the doors to her law firm in the midst of the pandemic in 2020. Since...

#189: Automation, Delegation and Growth: A Conversation with Mastery Group Member Bobby Botnick

24 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How big can you grow a firm on your own? Melissa's guest this week spent almost a decade not hiring or automating, and as a result, not expanding. How...

#188: The True Work of Leadership with Tara Gronhovd

17 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Melissa has witnessed the real uphill climb it can be for law firm owners to learn how to lead a team. In her own business, leading people has been mo...

#187: The Value of the 80/20 Principle in Your Law Firm with Ernie Svenson (Part 2)

10 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tune in this week for the second half of Melissa's conversation with Automation Wizard Ernie Svenson.   Ernie is discussing the seven KPIs we should ...

#186: The Value of the 80/20 Principle in Your Law Firm with Ernie Svenson (Part 1)

03 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As a law firm owner, your have limited resources that need to be managed wisely. If you want to optimize your business to be more bulletproof and more...

#185: Melissa Shares End of Year Reflections

27 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Did you grab everything 2022 had to offer you? What did you learn? And what feels more true for you than ever before? These are the end-of-year reflec...

#184: A Process for Employee Performance Improvement

20 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If you have a problem you're facing in your firm, you need to apply a process to create the outcome you want. Instead of addressing issues in a one-of...

#183: Why Your Employees Aren't Stepping Up to the Plate with Molly McGrath

13 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Leadership is one of the biggest learning curves we have to navigate as entrepreneurs and law firm owners. If you're baffled or frustrated by your emp...

#182: Why You Aren't Making Big Decisions

06 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Is there an area of your business where you're afraid of making decisions about what you really want because you can't work out exactly how you'll get...

#181: Calendaring Your Holidays for Rest and Rejuvenation

29 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Holiday season is here, which means you finally get to come up for air, take a breath, and rest. Whether you want to spend time with your loved on...

#180: Fly Further Faster When You Drop Judgment

22 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If you're like most law firm owners, you're probably very hard on yourself. It's easy to focus on the obstacles in front of you, or the frustrations t...

#179: Podcasting to Play the Long Game with Danny Ozment

15 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Building relational capital is vital for getting business through the door, but, like most lawyers, you likely want to do the things you love and exce...

#178: Tech Competency for Law Firms with Mitchell Zoll

08 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Whether you identify as a solo firm, like Melissa's guest today, or have a large team working with you in your business, you likely want to reduce as ...

#177: The Reality of Being Held Accountable with Jake Kimball

01 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

No matter how successful your business is, settings goals and making a deliberate, well thought out plan to get there is vital. Melissa's guest this w...

#176: Meet Our Monday Map Power Hour Facilitator: Aimee Gromowsky

25 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Discover why Monday Map/Friday Wrap is the tool you need to finally start working on what you've been putting off. After joining Mastery Group in Sept...

#175: LIVE from Clio Con: Top Delegation Tips from Successful Attendees

18 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Delegation is a vital skill you need as a law firm owner. Learning to delegate effectively is what will give you the freedom to pay attention to the t...

#174: Know Your Firm's Production Models + the Associated Costs and Margins

11 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If you're in a place where you have multiple people in your firm contributing to generating revenue, this episode is vital for your planning and proje...

#173: Reaching Your Revenue Goals: Planning and Projections

04 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If you have an overarching revenue goal for your law firm, you need data. But you can't just look at last year's numbers and decide to add 20% to the ...

#172: Delegation + Leveling Up Your Normal

27 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What's an area in your life or business that you feel a need to create a new normal for? As nice as it would be, cultivating a new standard for how yo...

#171: Work that Creates Velocity

20 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What's the difference between the people who are in a high results cycle, achieving the results they want, and the people on the other side of the coi...

#170: The Final Step: Drive Success with Reminders, Rest, and Rewards in Practice (Part 3)

13 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As all business owners do, we get sucked into always being on and available for people, we don't stop thinking about work, and our brains are constant...

#169: Stay on Track: Drive Success with Reminders, Rest, and Rewards (Part 2)

06 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

People think it's the big swings at something that will knock it out of the park. That's true every once in a while, but what typically contributes to...

#168: Overview: Drive Success with Reminders, Rest, and Rewards (Part 1)

30 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As you may have heard, Melissa introduced a concept called The Wee Things in a special episode where she was joined by her husband. Of course, we all ...

#167: Lessons Learned from June Strategic Planning Retreats (Part 3)

23 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to the third and final installment of our Strategic Planning Retreats Lessons Learned series. This is the mini-series where Melissa extracts t...

#166: Lessons Learned from June Strategic Planning Retreats (Part 2)

16 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Strategic planning is all about sitting down and creating space to evaluate your business. As a law firm owner, there are important milestones on your...

#165: Lessons Learned from June Strategic Planning Retreats (Part 1)

09 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Quarterly strategic planning with accountability and coaching in between is at the core of what we offer every single client, and this week, you get a...

#164: The Vision Deck: The Cheat Sheet for Your Quarter

02 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A new quarter is on the horizon, which signals a great time for making headway on the things you need to think through as you grow. The truth is you'r...

#163: 75 Hard: The Wins, The Fails, and Everything in Between with Chris Nicolaysen

26 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Melissa's guest on the show this week is no stranger to the podcast. Chris Nicolaysen is a private client and co-founder of Springs Law Group; a firm ...

#162: The Power of Setting Expectations with Bill Farias

19 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Setting expectations is the secret to a streamlined experience where everybody- your clients and your team- is positioned to win. Melissa's guest this...

#161: Strategies for Getting Your Brain Onboard with Your Goals

12 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to the first episode of The Law Firm Owner Podcast! Melissa is giving you strategies to deal with your brain when it inevitably serves up skep...

Welcome to The Law Firm Owner Podcast: Start Here!

08 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to The Law Firm Owner Podcast, a show for owners who are ready to get clearer on their vision, really know their numbers, and leverage their m...

#160: Why We Call It a Quarterly Planning Retreat (and Why You Should Treat It That Way)

05 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What comes to mind when you think of the word "retreat?" You might think fancy spas and curating the perfect vibe for relaxing, and while this is true...

#159: Finding Evidence That Your Future Self's Thoughts Are Already True

28 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It's the turn of the quarter, which means Melissa is digging in with her clients, reviewing the quarter they've just had, while also planning for the ...

#158: Pay Attention to the Words You Say

21 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Did you know that what comes out of your mouth is one of the best indicators of what's really going on in your brain? If you're a regular listener her...

#157: Finishing as Strong as You Started

14 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Over here at Velocity Work, we spend a lot of time talking about dropping in, getting focused, and exploring ways to set ourselves up to win. But have...

#156: A Different Path Forward as a Law Firm Owner with Jeanette Mora

07 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

So often, we have this black-and-white view of what's possible for us in terms of our careers. We think we have to either go and work for someone else...