Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
EP644: Lauren Lester - How To Build A Legal Practice That Works For You & Your Clients
0 Playsin 13 hours
“Clients aren’t buying hourly time; they’re buying peace of mind.”
The legal industry is notorious for its traditionalist approach, but today's guest, Lauren Lester, is flipping the script and building a more sustainable, client-focused model for solo legal practitioners. Lauren, a practicing attorney and coach, shares her journey from being overwhelmed and stuck in outdated systems to creating a revolutionary flat-fee, value-based practice. She highlights how technology, automation, and authenticity can create a thriving business for attorneys while improving accessibility for clients. If you’re a lawyer ready to reinvent your practice or someone curious about breaking molds, this episode is gold.
Lauren’s mission is clear: empower solos to run profitable, balanced practices that serve their clients effectively and with integrity. With relatable stories of transformation, actionable insights, and a dose of humor, Lauren’s blueprint offers hope.
Lauren Lester is a Colorado-based attorney and entrepreneur who redefines legal practice by blending technology, automation, and value-driven principles. She is the founder of **A Different Practice**, where she coaches solo attorneys on how to streamline their businesses while fostering client satisfaction. She also runs a successful law firm, **My Life Lawyer**, dedicated to making legal services accessible and stress-free.
Learn more and connect:
- A Different Practice: https://adifferentpractice.com
- Schedule a discovery call: https://adifferentpractice.com/call
- My Life Lawyer: https://mylifelawyer.com
Expert Action Steps:
- Focus on Value**: Start with the client’s problem and design your services around solving it.
- Leverage Technology**: Automate routine tasks to free up time for high-value work.
- Stay Authentic**: Trust your instincts and bet on yourself, even if others doubt your approach.
Visit https://www.eCircleAcademy.com and book a success call with Nicky to take your practice to the next level.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Yeah, it's really demoralizing. You know, when you feel like you're getting better at your job, but you're earning less or you're working a lot more doing the same thing on kind of that hamster wheel, um it really doesn't make you feel good. It makes you wonder, you know, why did I start this business? Maybe I should just go work for someone else. I'm an entrepreneur at heart. I just happen to be an attorney.
00:00:23
Speaker
But when I opened up my doors, I faced a really stark reality, which was, I don't know how to run a business. They didn't teach me that in law school. They taught me how to be a lawyer.
00:00:36
Speaker
Welcome to the Thought Leader Revolution with Nikki Ballou. Join the revolution. There's never been a better time in history to speak your truth, find your freedom, and make your fortune. Each week, we interview the world's top thought leaders and learn the secrets of how they built a six to seven figure practice. This episode has been brought to you by eCircleAcademy.com, the proven system to add six to seven figures a year to your thought leader practice.
00:01:03
Speaker
Welcome to another exciting episode of the podcast, The Thought Leader Revolution. I'm your host, Nicky Baloo. And buddy, we have an exciting guest lined up for you today.
Meet Lauren Lester
00:01:12
Speaker
Today's guest has a beautiful heart driven story of how She came to be a true thought leader, nay, a heart leader, when it comes to a serving people with the law. I am speaking, of course, of none other than the one, the only, the legendary Lauren Lester. Welcome to the show, Lauren. Thank you so much, Nikki. I love that introduction. I might have to start using that. The legendary. It goes with the LL theme.
00:01:46
Speaker
It sure does. L to the power of three, the legendary Lauren Lester. All right. So Lauren, tell us your backstory. How'd you get to be the great Lauren Lester?
Challenges in Legal Education
00:01:57
Speaker
So I am an attorney, and like most attorneys, the day that I passed the bar exam was a huge moment of triumph for me, not only because I passed this one of the most difficult exams in the world, but because I was on the precipice of my dream, which was always to run my own business. I am an entrepreneur at heart. I just happen to be an attorney.
00:02:19
Speaker
But when I opened up my doors, I faced a really stark reality, which was, I don't know how to run a business. They didn't teach me that in law school. They taught me
Rethinking Legal Practices
00:02:27
Speaker
how to be a lawyer. So I started to look around at what other attorneys were doing. How were they practicing? There was no handbook on this. And I got a lot of the same answers, right? High hourly rates, litigate everything, keep costs really vague.
00:02:43
Speaker
And I thought, well, that just doesn't sound right. There was something that didn't sit well with me when attorneys would tell me, well, that's just how you practice law. And one day I realized that here I was with a doctorate degree, have a huge earning potential financially sound, made all the right decisions in life.
Innovative Practice Models
00:03:01
Speaker
And if I had a legal problem and I built a practice that way, I wasn't going to be able to be my own client. I thought if I can be my own client,
00:03:10
Speaker
How is my neighbor going to be a client or everybody else who has made those smart financial decisions but are now locked out of the legal space? I said, you know what, I'm going to be different. And I went out to build a different kind of practice. I got a lot of eye rolls, as you can imagine, from traditional attorneys, a lot of mumbled comments under their breaths. But that really just fueled my determination that there was a different way that I could practice.
00:03:36
Speaker
a lot of trial and tribulation. I stumbled a lot. I fell on my face a bit. I threw everything against the wall in the beginning, right? Because there was no manual for this. But eventually I found my way and found an approach and systems that really work. And so today I have a practice that really focuses on accessibility for the client, but it doesn't ah diminish the quality, the profitability or my well being. And so now I'm taking that information that I've learned and sharing it with other solos, so that they can skip past all the trials and tribulations, click hit go collect the $200 and build a practice for them um that
00:04:13
Speaker
of their
Scaling and Accessibility
00:04:14
Speaker
dreams. Ultimately, the legal accessibility problem that we have, I think, is going to be solved one solo practice at a time who really takes this new model approach. Wow. There's a lot that you just shared, and I want to unpack some of it. um You know, back in June of 2018, there was a ah man who came to us and joined our thought leader program. His name is Karl Kramer.
00:04:43
Speaker
And he wasn't an attorney, but he was really passionate about helping solo practitioner attorneys here in Greater Toronto area in Canada scale their practices. And Carl really was good at helping them double, triple, quadruple their business. And in that same ah journey that he took to help his clients, you know, because we're the ones who helped him narrow his focus. Initially he was going to help anybody with any business problem and that wasn't going to work. Right.
00:05:12
Speaker
He started working with attorneys and he very quickly was able to help get a whole bunch of them to like seven figure, low seven figures of of income, which was wonderful, right? And he grew his own coaching practice from like 70,000 a year to 600,000 a year, $50,000 a month. And i I was always fascinated by, you know, how a non-lawyer did this. And now I'm speaking to someone who's actually and a lawyer, an attorney.
00:05:39
Speaker
Who's done this? Tell me a little bit about the business model that you chose to create and why you chose to create it. I think that's a good place to start.
Lauren's Flat Fee Model
00:05:49
Speaker
My business model is really based on the foundation of providing value to the legal consumer. So I provide everything on a flat fee basis. I don't sell my time like most traditional attorneys do because I don't think that's what legal consumers are ultimately buying. They're buying peace of mind or a risk aversion or making sure that their kids are protected in whatever space the attorney might be in. So I really start from the foundation of value and make a practice that's client centered so they know the cost upfront.
00:06:19
Speaker
they know what they're going to get in terms of the delivery of services. And then on the back end, to really increase the profit margins, I have made a system that's really automated and systematized. So I'm a true solo. I don't have any staff, but I really lean on technology to be able to deliver services even better.
00:06:39
Speaker
oftentimes when I'm not even at my desk. So I have automation set up where our client signs up, they pay and they immediately get an email from me saying, hey, welcome, here's the first step in the process, click this link. I'm not involved in that at all. So I can really help clients get that white glove service without having to spend the time doing the same thing over and over again. So really those two value and automations is really that sweet spot.
00:07:05
Speaker
Okay, that sounds pretty good. I really like what you said that clients aren't buying hourly time, they're buying peace of mind. Could you expand on that for me a little bit?
Value and Client Peace of Mind
00:07:19
Speaker
Yeah, I think when someone has a legal issue, they're often in some sort of storm. They're stressed out. This is something that they know is really important most of the time, but they have no clue how would to solve it. And so they're really looking for a guide to help them get from point A to point B where this problem has been solved. They've avoided the risk. And I think that lawyers oftentimes miss that Realization they missed the boat entirely. They just say great. I'm gonna get you to point a to point B I'm gonna bill you for my time But I'm not gonna tell you how long it's gonna take and that just adds to the stress that the consumer is facing You know say they're I've got hit with a lawsuit or they have a trademark. They've worked their whole lives Creating and now somebody is infringing on it. The last thing they need is like great now I have this other unknown that the person who's trying to help me is can't even tell me how long it's going to take. Aren't they the supposed to be the experts? So really focusing on what is the client really buying from us in terms of what is their problem and what's the solution that we are giving them to solve it and what they're ultimately getting has nothing to do with the time that we spend.
00:08:27
Speaker
making sure that that trademark gets protected so that business can continue to grow or that the lawsuit that somebody is facing, maybe if it's frivolous or it's not really substantiated or being able to advocate against that and get that off their plate because that's the last thing that they need to deal with.
Licensable Methodology
00:08:47
Speaker
You know, that's powerful, that's succinct, and I think there's a huge need across ah the Western world for this type of legal practice. And I think you're in a position where A, you can teach other people to do this, but I think you can turn this into a licensable methodology and put it out there. I'm putting my thought leader hat there because there's so many people that need this. This is a huge, huge issue.
00:09:12
Speaker
So, okay, so you develop this amazing ah new model of doing business in the legal space. and Then you saw there's a whole lot of other solo lawyers who also aren't happy with the current legal system. They also see that it puts them in a bit of an adversarial situation with their own clients, which is nuts if you think about it. You don't want to be in an adversarial situation with your client. You want to be on the same side. So talk to me about that journey, what you're doing there, and maybe give me some examples of how this has helped.
Implementing Value-Based Pricing
00:09:49
Speaker
Yeah. So we have a coaching program to help solos um who are earning not enough and working too much, build a practice that they love and that really supports their wellbeing. And so just thinking about, you know, being on an adversarial side with our clients, a lot of solos struggle with pricing because they agree the billable hour sucks.
00:10:10
Speaker
They don't want to have that tension with their client, but they aren't sure. Well, how do I price my services? So I recently worked with a man named Kurt. He came to me. He's an older attorney. So I was a little bit like, man, I bet he's in the trenches. He's been practicing the way he's been practicing for multiple decades.
00:10:28
Speaker
You know, is he going to just come to me and just listen to what I have to say and go, nah, that's never going to work. But he was really open to it because he had a lot of expertise, but the better he got at his job, the less time it took him. So he actually was losing money. So we worked together to develop a value-based pricing ah menu for his services. He was in estate planning.
00:10:50
Speaker
And he and I, after working together for a few months, really focusing on the value and the problem that he was solving in the first three months that we had worked together and implemented this new pricing model, it was the best three months of revenue he had ever had in his practice. So just a small change and kind of coming to the practice of law with a slightly different lens. had already shifted his revenue and then made him so much more engaged with his clients and really gave him a practice that he felt like he could continue to grow. So even if you're an older attorney, you're saying you can teach an old dog new tricks. That's what you said. Yes, I didn't think it was possible.
00:11:32
Speaker
but you can, okay, I like it, that's really good. Okay, tell me more, give me another story of maybe like a different side of the equation or a different ah problem that an attorney was facing.
Automation in Legal Practices
00:11:43
Speaker
Yeah, so talking about like the actual implementation of services and the operational side. So most lawyers, they know how to be lawyers, they went to law school for that, but then they get this entrepreneurship hat that they have to wear. They like the freedom of owning their own business, but then they find that they're constantly in the business.
00:12:01
Speaker
They're doing the same tasks over and over again. They're reinventing the wheel every time. Just talk to somebody ah yesterday who has over a hundred new voicemails because he just doesn't have the time to respond to them. So you're now you're leaving money on the table. So really looking at the systems and the automation of a practice, working with another attorney named Michael.
00:12:23
Speaker
who is just the quintessential attorney. He is the ultimate salesperson. He gets along with everybody. He has these intangible skills that a lot of us would kill for as business owners because he can bring people in the door. But he was getting all of these leads and couldn't service them because he was just chugging along, trying to actually get the work done. So he and I worked together and mapped out the entire system of his firm, identified where he could put in technology to just automate tasks.
00:12:52
Speaker
and also where he could bring in a staff person where it really made financial sense to have them take off some of that manual administrative work he was doing so that he could be out there meeting with clients, going to networking events, really showcasing his personality because folks are immediately attracted to him, which is only going to raise his revenue because he's going to get more clients and actually be able to service them really well.
00:13:18
Speaker
So tell me a little bit about what the cost of having leads and not being able to service them was like for Michael and other people like him. What happens to an attorney who is faced with that?
00:13:31
Speaker
Yeah, you really get in kind of a stagnant position. You hit a plateau. And you know depending on the average value per case, you know in Michael's case, it was somewhere between three and $7,000, that kind of $5,000 sweet spot. So every lead that said, hey, I heard from you from my friend Joe, I want to get signed up. And he wasn't able to reach back out to them. That's $5,000 that just floated out the door that he could have easily sold just by being able to respond.
00:14:00
Speaker
So depending on the practice area, the person I talked to with, you know, but hundreds of voicemails, they're in a civil litigation practice. I mean, that's hundreds of thousands of dollars potentially of revenue that you're not getting because you're just not able to do those basic ah business functions because you're overwhelmed. So what happens to an attorney who doesn't get to that revenue? What kind of, um,
00:14:24
Speaker
emotional impact does that have on an
Mental Health in Law
00:14:27
Speaker
attorney's headspace? I think you're uniquely positioned to be able to speak to that. Yeah, it's really demoralizing. it You know, when you feel like you're getting better at your job, but you're earning less, or you're working a lot more doing the same thing on kind of that hamster wheel, um it really doesn't make you feel good. It makes you wonder, you know, why did I start this business? Maybe I should just go work for someone else. um And after a while, it really can take its toll. I've seen so many colleagues leave the profession entirely. um We have had a lot of smart people who have just left.
00:14:57
Speaker
I recently a couple years ago had a friend who was my mentor in the beginning she's someone I reached out to she poured so much into me when I was first getting started and I always saw her as wow she's got this practice she's had it for a decade she has all these clients she's doing such great work she kills it in court and I met up with her one day and she said I'm closing the practice.
00:15:20
Speaker
And it was out of nowhere. I was really shocked. But when I talked to her about it, it was just she felt overwhelmed. She wasn't making enough money. She was working herself to the bone. um But she was billing by the hour and the better she got the less money that she made. So it really we lost a really good one. And it really affected her mental health just because she didn't have these systems in place.
00:15:42
Speaker
So not to get morbid here, but what is the suicide rate in the legal profession compared to other professions because of this sort of thing? Yeah, our well-being is ah terrible. So we have a much higher suicide rate than average. We have a much higher substance abuse rate than the average population. um Even but going back to law school, we're even seeing studies now that law students are drinking more, ah you know, getting into drugs because of the pressures in law school. And that's not even being out in the profession. So we do have a real mental health crisis in the legal profession in general. And I think part of it is just because of this mechanism that we've built up over several decades.
00:16:25
Speaker
ah this sort of structure that the profession works in is just not working anymore. It doesn't work for clients. They're not getting served. you Here in Colorado, 70% of divorce cases are filed without an attorney. I mean, that's a huge market of saying, I can't afford this. I'm going to have to do it on my own. And then you look at the attorneys are you know stressed out, burnt out, abusing substances to just make it by. So it's not working anymore.
00:16:55
Speaker
Yeah. If there's an attorney that's listening to this and this is you, that you have a solo practice and you are working crazy hours and you're not making as much money as you should be and you're and it's stressing you out. It's demoralizing because you don't seem to get ahead and and and maybe you're doubting yourself. Maybe you're even thinking of giving up on your dream.
00:17:21
Speaker
of getting into the law. And I know a lot of people get into the legal profession because it's a calling.
Video Marketing Success
00:17:29
Speaker
It's ah it's an opportunity to use the majesty of the law to help people. um You're going to want to call Lauren. You're going to want to get on her calendar. Yeah. So Lauren, give us one final story of someone you've worked with who who went through hell and how what you did helped them get out of hell.
00:17:50
Speaker
Yeah, I love your point about a lot of us get into this profession because we want to help people. I think most attorneys I talk to, no matter where they are in their careers, that's always our driving force. So I had my great friend from law school. She and I went through the trenches together and she started her own practice as well, but she kind of hit that plateau.
00:18:10
Speaker
So in terms of I'm just not getting more clients, I don't know what else to do. And so she and I worked together and I really pushed her in terms of her marketing to start creating video content um and start putting it out there and helping folks in her community just learn the basics. She is in the um Guardian ad litem space, so kind of custody dependency and neglect spaces.
00:18:33
Speaker
And just put information out there because folks this is really scary if you know CPS is involved in your life. ah You know, what does that look like? What are your rights as a parent? She hated me for the first three weeks because I was making her do this thing. She not what didn't want anything to do with. She thought this was a terrible idea. I just said trust the process. And so she stuck with it. just She did that for a few months.
00:18:57
Speaker
And within that time period was able to increase her leads coming in three-fold. So she was getting three times as many people calling looking for her services just by leaning into this marketing strategy that we developed together. So really being able to hone into each individual lawyer's ah specific challenges and then find a solution that's going to work for them, that's going to increase their revenue, that's going to let them work less and still have that impact that they got into the profession to have.
00:19:27
Speaker
That's brilliant.
Lauren's Coaching Services
00:19:28
Speaker
So Lauren, if someone is interested in finding out more about your coaching academy or if they're in Colorado and they need a lawyer, what's the best way for them to get ahold of you? Yeah, so all my coaching information is at a differentpractice.com. You can also go to a differentpractice.com slash call to schedule a free discovery call with me. And if you are in Colorado looking for help protecting your financial piece, my legal website for my law firm is mylifelawyer dot.com.
00:19:57
Speaker
A differentpractice dot com ah yeah from practice dot.com forward slash call. And then what was the last one? Mylifelawyer.com. That is my law firm website.
00:20:09
Speaker
mylifelawyer.com. We're going to make sure we put all that in the show notes. So, Lauren, um we like to end off each show by asking you, as my guest the expert, what are your top three, what I call, expert action steps. These are your three best pieces of advice to help my listener take their business, their life to the next level in bullet point form. What say you?
00:20:31
Speaker
I would say always focus on value and the problem that you solve first and foremost. I think that's where every business should start. ah Don't be afraid to look outside of your profession for ideas. So if you're in the legal profession, if you sell t-shirts,
00:20:47
Speaker
be open to any and all inspiration. And then third, you know, be yourself and be authentic. Even if the folks around you or your colleagues maybe don't do something the way you think it's good to be done or you want to take a chance, you know, bet on yourself.
Advice for Entrepreneurs
00:21:03
Speaker
For me, it's paid off. i' I'm in a very traditional profession and it works for me to say, you know what, I think I can do this better and really trusting myself in that process.
00:21:13
Speaker
You know, bet on yourself is excellent advice. I think everybody in business needs to do this more because too many people um just, they lose faith. And one of the key things you need to do when you're losing faith in yourself is find somebody in your corner who's going to see you for who you really are, for the greatness that you have. So, listener, the legendary Lauren Lester, L to the power of three is the real deal. If ah you're in Colorado and you need legal help, go to mylifelawyer.com. If you're an attorney, solo practitioner, attorney who's looking for a way
00:21:56
Speaker
to fall in love with what you do again, and to have peace of mind while making more money, go to a differentpractice dot.com forward slash call to book a call with Lauren. Super important that you do that. And if you got some value from this episode,
00:22:16
Speaker
And you have a friend who's maybe an attorney or a friend who lives in Colorado, share this episode with them, okay? Because Lauren's been dropping gold, gold here for you. And the gold that she's giving you is gonna help you take your life and your business to the next level. Lauren, thank you so much for coming on the show. It was a real pleasure, a total honor to have you here with us today. Thank you, Nikki. It's always wonderful to chat with you.
00:22:44
Speaker
Absolutely. And that wraps up another exciting episode of the podcast, The Thought Leader Revolution. To find out more about today's guest, the legendary Lauren Lester. Go to the show notes at thethoughtleaderrevolution.com or wherever you happen to listen to this episode, be it iTunes, Spotify, Audible, Google Play, YouTube, Rumble, or what have you. And remember,
00:23:06
Speaker
Help us out by leaving us a like, leaving us a rating, leaving us a review. The algorithm likes it when there's more likes, ratings, and reviews. And if you're getting value from this, it's one way you can help us move the action to where other people who need it will be able to see it and benefit from it. Until next time, goodbye.
00:23:33
Speaker
This episode has been brought to you by eCircleAcademy.com, the proven system to add six to seven figures a year to your thought leader practice.