Recently, I have been digging through this site to revamp it and get ready for the next chapter so to speak. I was going to delete all of the blog posts and just start over then spotted a couple that caused some deep reflection.
In hindsight, it’s been a wild ride that included too many deaths (mom in ’08, good step brother from my mom’s side in ’09 and dad in ’13).
It also included a lot of time away because, frankly, shit gets real when family members pass. None of us can predict how we’ll respond until the actual events happen. That’s probably the biggest reflection because I would have predicted a different approach than the one I actually took. Not that anything was done right or wrong… just different.
The post that hit home the most is one you won’t remember. It was the one just before my mom passed away in 2008. It’s hard to believe it’s already been 15 years, and it was wild to relive that period because I could go right back into the feelings and emotions as though they were yesterday.
Here’s a link to that post if you care to read it: My Recent Hiatus: a serious explanation. That’s a raw post with very little filter, which was unlike me up until that point.
Sadly, it’s taken about ten years since my father passed (February 2013) to get back into the saddle and feel like facing the business world again. That’s the reason behind the revamping of the website and taking on some new offerings like CRM software and a clearer focus on who makes for a good client and vice versa.
Family Lawsuits SUCK… DUH!
I won’t bore you with the intricate details, but I ended up having to file a lawsuit against my step-brother (father’s side) I ultimately won in arbitration.
Getting the money he took (read: stole) is still ongoing, and his narcissistic stubborness and greed leads him to do just about anything to prevent me from seeing the money. He refuses to accept responsibility for what he did even though 6 (or is it 7?) judges have all confirmed the arbitration ruling after his numerous unsuccessful appeals. He’d rather see the money he owes go to attorneys. Such is life.
I won’t have the legacy burden of having gotten caught stealing from the family for years because of poor math, awful handling of money and believing the world is out to get me at every turn. I have never viewed the world through that lens. He always has.
I have a tough time comprehending how someone could be so callous and bitter toward someone who never prevented him from doing anything he wanted to do in life… including all the stealing.
It’s obvious he must’ve thought: A) he’d never get caught B) I wasn’t smart enough to catch him C) I’d never do anything if I did catch him and D) if he prevented me from seeing the books long enough (read: never), the statute of limitations would expire (which he tried and failed during arbitration).
The bottom line is he’s always resented me since before I was born. I got that sense from early childhood. Lesson #1: always trust your gut (and your mother). Lesson #2: family will f*ck you especially if that family member feels they weren’t treated as well as you were.
That’s not my bag to carry though.
Family obviously isn’t “everything” to me anymore. My truest loved ones have passed. I’m now stuck with a black hearted step-brother who has convinced himself he’s on par with Donald Trump.
Why Work With Attorneys?
Anyway, that case led me down the path of wanting to work with attorneys more.
Why, you ask? I’m a sick puppy, what can I say? Ha!
Through the estate portion of things (the case before the lawsuit) when I was settling my father’s estate (because the step-brother mentioned above neglected his Executor duties for two full years), I got to work with a longtime classmate who unfortunately passed away shortly after the case finally got closed.
His name was Russell Lloyd. Russell was sharp as a tac and good with digging without making it seem like an interrogation. He was also a genuinely good guy, great husband to Vicki and father to Laine. His death impacted me on a deeper level because we were the same age and attended the same elementary, middle and high schools. Russell wasn’t just “another attorney.” He was a lifelong friend who passed way before his time.
The Guide that Led to a Shift in Focus
Anyway, as we were working the estate case, Russell noticed a print-out I had from an Australian business coach named Taki Moore and asked to take a look at it.
In the printout, Taki outlines a quick intake system that enables you to conduct a 10-minute call to detmine mutual fit with a potential client with highly predictable results. Taki calls it a “Triage Call.”
Russell had asked me to help him with some marketing stuff before the case ended.
He initially wanted to focus on SEO because I was getting great results within Google for real estate agents at that time, yet he realized as he read through the short guide that intake would be a more impactful thing to focus on. So we set out to improve his intake using Taki’s approach as the framework.
We fine tuned the questioning and started to train his new assistant. During that time, Russell’s health took a turn for the worse, and the unfortunate happened.
So in his honor to some degree, I have taken up the challenge to help other attorneys improve their intake and ultimately their practices.
How Attorneys Can Benefit
One of the best ways I can help attorneys is through coaching and providing the tools necessary to build a more efficient legal practice. That’s where the intake training and software come in.
If you’re an attorney looking to improve your intake and build a more consistent, predictable and growth oriented legal practice, schedule a quick 10-minute Discovery Call.