Nick Schnyder spent his first years as a lawyer fighting to try a single jury trial and getting told no every time. So he quit.

His wife had just left her job when their son was born. He started with zero clients out of a spare bedroom, but cold emaied every lawyer in a ten mile radius asking them to send him their worst cases.

But that was 10 years ago. Now he runs his Atlanta litigation firm with 11 lawyers and 60 employees.

In this episode of The Fireproof Podcast, we covered:

→ Starting a firm with zero clients and no advertising budget

→ Building a marketing mix of billboards, digital, and Hispanic radio

→ The $22 million verdict and the client who turned down a million

→ Handing trials off to his team without losing his mind

→ Why the most successful trial lawyers are the ones most willing to teach

Thanks to Nick for making the trip out to Austin to join us on The Fireproof Podcast at the Fireproof Conference!

Chapters

00:00 Intro

02:17 Quitting a safe path to start the firm from nothing

04:20 The first trial loss that earned him a client for life

06:08 Growing to 60 employees and expanding into new states

07:43 Building a marketing mix that actually works

09:30 Giving back to the community and the $22 million verdict

11:01 What coaching through Fireproof actually changed

12:37 Finding the sweet spot and letting go of the reins

14:34 Learning from the best trial lawyers in the room

18:45 Family, purpose, and being built for this

Connect with Nick

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-schnyder-b29b77215/

https://www.instagram.com/schnyderthefighter/

https://www.facebook.com/Schnyderlaw/

~~~

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Mike Morse built a personal injury firm from nothing into an operation with 300 people. For a long time he thought he was the only one who could talk to clients, close deals, and hold the operation together.

But he was wrong. And it nearly wore him out realizing it.

After a hire through a newspaper ad, came the slow and painful process of handing off the parts of the business he thought only he could run.

What we covered:

→ Why "nobody can do it better than me" is usually ego, not truth

→ The lunch conversation that led to his first real delegation

→ How to tell if you hired the wrong person

→ Building a training academy instead of throwing new hires into the deep end

→ Keeping culture alive once a firm hits 300 people

Every leader has a list of things they're convinced nobody else can do. Most of that list is just ego - the list that is truly yours is usually shorter than you think.

Chapters

0:00 Intro: delegation and core values

0:28 Why lawyers say they can't delegate

2:09 The list of things nobody could do better than him

2:49 The lunch that changed how he hired

4:26 Delegating himself out of a job

9:23 Delegate and elevate, working at capacity

13:39 What to do when you have the wrong people

18:33 Why firms wait too long to hire and train

22:19 Core values that never changed in 19 years

28:21 Keeping culture alive at 300 people

Connect with Mike

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeljmorse

https://www.instagram.com/855mikewins/?hl=en

~~~

This episode is powered by Fireproof Performance

Ready to fireproof your firm?

https://www.fireproofperformance.com/

Prefer to listen?

https://open.spotify.com/show/7IaooNnVVvvQ483fPz7qAd?si=f9fce90599014a4d

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fireproof-podcast/id1895057184

Connect with us!

https://www.youtube.com/@FireproofPerformance

https://www.linkedin.com/company/fireproof-performance/

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Phil Pendergrass has been practicing personal injury law for over a decade... Last year, he merged his firm with two of his closest colleagues and built something new from the ground up.

But it hasn’t been an easy transition: Two firms with different cultures, both with different ways of doing things. Plus a leadership team that wasn't fully aligned.

Eight weeks into Fireproof, they've redefined their core values, restructured their org chart, and let go of employees who didn't fit. The meetings they weren't having before, they're having now. Every week. With every department. And Phil says it's already smoother.

We covered a ton:

→ How merging two firms forced them to redefine their culture from scratch

→ Why "selflessness" became a core value and what it actually means inside the firm

→ The litigation strategy his partner uses to make defense attorneys so uncomfortable they sometimes overpay

→ What accountability looks like when you're 62 people spread across four offices

→ Why they want a trial date on every case they file, even though they'll probably settle on the courthouse steps

Phil, I appreciate you being on and sharing the wins and lessons; your firm’s doing serious work and I love to hear the progress!

Chapters

0:00 - Intro

1:00 - About Turnbull Moak Pendergrass: offices, team, and what they handle

2:27 - Big verdicts: $15M trucking case and $17.9M product case

2:54 - Phil's first experience with coaching and why they joined Fireproof

4:30 - Weekly meetings, accountability, and getting everyone on the same page

6:53 - Partner buy-in and early wins from the coaching process

7:20 - Setting core values and letting go of people who didn't fit

8:32 - Selflessness as a core value and what it means for their clients

9:31 - Building the org chart and rolling it out to the firm

10:27 - The five-year vision: more offices, deeper bench, West Coast expansion

11:59 - Visionary vs. integrator: figuring out the roles inside the new firm

13:26 - Trial strategy: speed, pressure, and making defense attorneys uncomfortable

15:46 - Delegation, trust, and investing in the team's growth

Connect with Phil

https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-pendergrass-66931242/

~~~

This episode is powered by Fireproof Performance

Ready to fireproof your firm?

https://www.fireproofperformance.com/

Prefer to listen?

https://open.spotify.com/show/7IaooNnVVvvQ483fPz7qAd?si=f9fce90599014a4d

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fireproof-podcast/id1895057184

Connect with us!

https://www.youtube.com/@FireproofPerformance

https://www.linkedin.com/company/fireproof-performance/

https://www.facebook.com/fireproofperformance

https://www.instagram.com/fireproofperformance/