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Most law firms grow 3 to 5% a year. This one grew 100% in 2024. In this episode, Sasha Berson sits down with A.J. Bruning, co-founder of The Bruning Law Firm, who started his firm in 2016 with four people and has since built it into a nearly 100-employee operation closing in on $50 million. A.J. breaks down why his first big decision was getting himself out of practicing law entirely, how one unusual hire gave them a *huge* edge in Google Ads (you have to hear this), and how he cut average case time from 18 to 10 months. They also dig into the private equity wave now hitting the legal industry. Is your firm on PE's radar? It might be! Tune in now.

📰 About A.J. Bruning:
A.J. Bruning is the co-founder of The Bruning Law Firm, the personal injury practice he launched in St. Louis in 2016 alongside his father and brother, starting with just one paralegal and a handful of cases. A former prosecuting attorney who tried 30 jury trials in four years, A.J. shifted out of the courtroom to focus on the firm's marketing, technology, and operations. Under his leadership, the firm adopted the Entrepreneurial Operating System, built its own case management system on Salesforce, and has landed on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies. Today he's focused on turning the firm's data into what he calls a "layer of intelligence" powered by AI.

👉 Sasha and A.J. explore:
— How A.J. stepped away from practicing law to do *this* — and how it set them on track to hit $50M.
— How adopting the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) made every department rigorously consistent
— Why buying leads across the entire state of Missouri (not just St. Louis) led to cheaper cases in less competitive markets
— How A.J. made an unusual hire to run Google Ads, and why it became one of their smartest recruits
— Why A.J. is building a "layer of intelligence" powered by AI on top of his firm's data

👉 Main Takeaways from the Episode:
— Audit your case data by stage. A.J. cut average case age from 18 months to 10 just by tracking it consistently.
— Map your BHAG backward. Write down where you want to be in five years, then work backward to today's systems, headcount, and marketing spend.
— Build a "layer of intelligence" on your data this quarter. Clean, organize, and centralize your data before layering AI on top of it.

📞 Connect with A.J. Bruning:
• Website: https://www.bruninglegal.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajbruning/

📞Connect with Sasha Berson:
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grow-law/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grow_law/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@growlaw
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/growlaw
• Email: info@growlaw.co
• Phone: (954) 620-5521

#LawyerWebsite #LawyerSEO #LawFirmMarketing

If you enjoyed today’s show, please leave a review and subscribe so you never miss an episode. For more information and links to all of the resources mentioned in today’s episode, visit https://growlaw.co/