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Stop solving law firm problems by throwing more people at them.I see it constantly. Firm gets busy, partners panic, they...
05/22/2026

Stop solving law firm problems by throwing more people at them.

I see it constantly. Firm gets busy, partners panic, they hire. Six months later they're busier, more stressed, AND have higher overhead.

Here's the truth from my latest Law Firm Geek newsletter: You don't scale chaos. You organize it.

Before you post that next job listing, ask yourself three questions:

1. Is the process actually defined?
Can your team map the workflow? If everyone does it differently, a new hire just adds another variation to the mess.

2. Is your technology being fully used?
Most firms use maybe 20% of their software capabilities. I've seen firms hire paralegals to do what automation could handle in seconds.

3. Is accountability clear?
Without defined roles, every new person creates more overlap, more meetings, more confusion.

Last month, a firm called me wanting to hire two more associates. We spent an afternoon mapping their workflows instead. Found out their senior associate was spending 15 hours a week on tasks a legal assistant could handle. Fixed that first. Saved them $200K in salaries they didn't need.

The smarter approach: Optimize, then expand.

A smaller team with clear processes will outperform a larger team running on instinct. Every time.

When's the last time you audited your workflows before posting a job? What did you discover?

It's Friday, so let's be honest about law firm operations.You know your firm needs help when:• The "filing system" is wh...
05/15/2026

It's Friday, so let's be honest about law firm operations.

You know your firm needs help when:

• The "filing system" is whoever remembers where they put it
• Your billing process involves prayer and Excel sheets from 2015
• "We've always done it this way" is your mission statement
• The printer has been "temporarily broken" for 3 years
• Partners think PDF stands for "Please Do it Faster"

My personal favorite: A firm told me they track time "very carefully" — on Post-it notes. That they regularly lose.

What's the most creative "system" you've seen at a law firm? Wrong answers only. 😂

Happy Friday, legal operations warriors. We've earned this weekend.

Saturday morning on the tennis courts with my daughter. She asked me why I keep score so carefully in tennis but tell la...
05/08/2026

Saturday morning on the tennis courts with my daughter.

She asked me why I keep score so carefully in tennis but tell law firms to "stop keeping score of everything."

I told her tennis has clear rules. Law firms make them up as they go. 😅

She beat me 6-0. Again.

There's something beautiful about a sport where the lines are literally painted on the ground. No gray areas. No "it depends." Ball is in or out.

Maybe that's why I love helping law firms find clarity in their operations. We all need clear boundaries somewhere in our lives.

What's your Saturday stress relief? Tennis? Golf? Pretending your inbox doesn't exist?

Enjoy your weekend, everyone. See you back in the law firm trenches Monday.

I get asked a lot about the biggest misconception attorneys have about their firm's financial health.My answer is always...
05/01/2026

I get asked a lot about the biggest misconception attorneys have about their firm's financial health.

My answer is always the profitability piece. Period.

Most attorneys are brilliant at practicing law but are consistently confused about where all the money goes.

They want to know their numbers, but they don't 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 know their numbers.

They see a big revenue figure and think the business is thriving. But they often have no idea what their actual profit margin is.

It’s like billing thousands of hours without knowing if you're actually making money on them. You're running the business blind.

I need to tell you something.I collect Pokémon cards.Not casually. Not "oh I have a few from when I was a kid." I mean b...
05/01/2026

I need to tell you something.

I collect Pokémon cards.

Not casually. Not "oh I have a few from when I was a kid." I mean binders. Sleeves. The whole thing. I check prices. I know what a PSA 10 means. I have opinions about which sets are undervalued.

𝗜'𝗺 𝗮 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺.

I don't talk about it much. It doesn't exactly come up in strategy meetings. "Hey John, what's your take on collections velocity?" "Great question — also, did you see the new Charizard reprint?"

Steve and I even have Pokémon-inspired business cards. Yes, really. He's a Dachshund Pokémon with "Snuggle Impact." I'm not making this up.

But here's the thing: everyone has something like this. Some weird hobby. Some guilty pleasure. Some corner of their life that has nothing to do with their job title.

And honestly? It's the thing that keeps me sane.

So this is me, coming out of the closet. The Pokémon closet.

𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀?

If you're a fellow closet collector — cards, comics, sneakers, whatever — I see you. You're not alone.

Happy Friday.

— John

Most firm owners check their financials once a month.Some wait until the quarterly review.By then, the problem already h...
04/29/2026

Most firm owners check their financials once a month.

Some wait until the quarterly review.

By then, the problem already happened.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿.

You're looking at where you were. Not where you're going.

I've sat with firm owners who were surprised by cash flow issues that had been building for weeks. The signs were there. They just weren't looking.

A daily snapshot changes everything.

Not a complicated dashboard with 47 metrics. Just the basics:
• Bank balance today
• Expected collections this month
• Expected expenses this month
• WIP and AR in the pipeline

That's it. Five minutes. Every morning.

𝗜𝘁 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

You see the gap before it becomes a crisis. You make the call before it becomes a scramble. You adjust before payroll becomes a prayer.

The firms that build wealth aren't the ones with the best accountants. They're the ones with the clearest view of what's actually happening — today.

Quarterly reports tell you what happened.

Daily visibility tells you what's coming.

One is a history lesson. The other is a steering wheel.

Which one are you using to run your firm?

— John

My phone buzzed in the middle of my daughter's softball game.I looked down. It was a family friend.I already knew.My gra...
04/28/2026

My phone buzzed in the middle of my daughter's softball game.

I looked down. It was a family friend.

I already knew.

My grandfather passed away on Saturday. And somehow, life decided that news would find me in the bleachers, watching my daughter round the bases.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽.

The cheering kept going. The innings kept turning. My daughter had no idea. I clapped when I was supposed to clap. I smiled when she looked over.

But inside, everything had shifted.

Here's what I keep thinking about:

You don't get to schedule the moments that change you. They don't wait for a convenient time. They arrive in the middle of innings, in the car on the way to a meeting, during a random Tuesday lunch.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀.

Not because every moment is precious in some greeting-card way. But because you never know which moment is about to become a before and after.

I'm grateful I was there. Watching her play. Not in an airport. Not buried in email. Not distracted by something that felt urgent but wasn't.

If you're running hard right now — building, grinding, chasing — I get it. I'm right there with you.

But be where you are. Fully. Because the calls that matter most don't check your calendar first.

Rest easy, Grandpa.

— John

I was asked a great question last week: When orchestrating the business side of a law firm, what’s the one 'instrument' ...
04/24/2026

I was asked a great question last week: When orchestrating the business side of a law firm, what’s the one 'instrument' that, if out of tune, can derail the entire operation?

My answer is simple.

Lack of a clear owner's dashboard.

It should be a daily snapshot that translates into a monthly prediction.

It must include:
Your bank account balance as of today.
Your anticipated collections for the month.
Your anticipated expenses for the month.

It also shows your WIP and AR. That’s your pipeline. It tells you what's coming up.

This isn't just about tracking numbers. It gives you a predictor of where you're going to start next month. It allows you to be at ease, knowing you'll have money to operate going into the next month.

Are you running your firm with a clear dashboard, or are you just guessing what next month will look like?

I was asked a great question last week: When orchestrating the business side of a law firm, what’s the one 'instrument' ...
04/17/2026

I was asked a great question last week: When orchestrating the business side of a law firm, what’s the one 'instrument' that, if out of tune, can derail the entire operation?

My answer is simple.

Lack of a clear owner's dashboard. Period.

It should be a daily snapshot that translates into a monthly prediction.

It must include:
Your bank account balance as of today.
Your anticipated collections for the month.
Your anticipated expenses for the month.

It also shows your WIP and AR. That’s your pipeline. It tells you what's coming up.

This isn't just about tracking numbers. It gives you a predictor of where you're going to start next month. It allows you to be at ease, knowing you'll have money to operate going into the next month.

Are you running your firm with a clear dashboard, or are you just guessing what next month will look like?

5-minute fix that just saved a firm $3,000/month.A small firm called me last month. They were paying for 14 different so...
04/10/2026

5-minute fix that just saved a firm $3,000/month.

A small firm called me last month. They were paying for 14 different software subscriptions. Fourteen!

Half the team didn't even know these tools existed.

We spent 5 minutes doing a simple audit:
• Listed every subscription
• Asked who actually uses each one
• Checked the last login dates
• Identified overlapping features

The results were embarrassing.

They had three different e-signature platforms. Two project management tools that nobody touched. A "premium" legal research subscription that duplicated their bar association's free access.

Total waste: $3,000+ per month. That's $36,000 a year going nowhere.

The fix took literally 5 minutes to identify. Another 10 minutes to cancel the redundant subscriptions. Done.

This isn't unique. Most small firms are bleeding money on zombie subscriptions - tools they bought, forgot about, and keep paying for on autopilot.

Here's your homework: Pull up your credit card statements. List every recurring charge. Ask yourself: "When did we last use this?"

You might be shocked at what you find.

What's the most ridiculous subscription you've discovered your firm was still paying for?

"I'm working 70 hours a week and I think I'm going broke."That's how the call started. A partner at a 5-attorney firm. H...
04/03/2026

"I'm working 70 hours a week and I think I'm going broke."

That's how the call started. A partner at a 5-attorney firm. He was at his breaking point.

We pulled his numbers. He was right.

The firm had $2M in revenue. Sounds great, right? But after expenses, they were barely breaking even. Some months they were actually losing money.

Here's what we discovered:
• Their top client consumed 40% of their time but generated only 15% of revenue
• One practice area was subsidizing two others that were hemorrhaging cash
• They were writing off nearly $400K annually in "courtesy discounts"
• Each attorney needed to bill 2,400 hours just to cover overhead

The partner nearly cried when he saw the real numbers. He'd been running on gut instinct for years.

We made three changes:
1. Fired the unprofitable client (scary but necessary)
2. Raised rates by 20% for the profitable practice area
3. Stopped the automatic courtesy discounts

Six months later, same revenue. But now they're keeping $300K more of it.

The lesson? You can't manage what you don't measure. Most attorneys are brilliant legal minds running businesses they don't understand.

When was the last time you looked at your real numbers? Not just bank balance. Real profitability by client, by matter, by attorney.

Is it time?

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