Case 29 and Lessons in Building a Law Firm That Lasts

Case 29. I’ll never forget it.

It was the 29th case I signed up after starting my law firm 11 years ago.

The client came to me because her lawyer had completely abandoned her. When I looked into it, it turned out that lawyer had seriously dropped the ball, and we ended up pursuing a legal malpractice claim against them.

Fast forward six years: that same client was catastrophically injured in a collision. She called us again, and this time, we got her over $11 million.

When Clients Come Back, You’re Doing Something Right

Something that just happened recently reminded me of Case 29: I got a call from a former client who was in a serious motorcycle wreck. She hired us several years ago after she terminated the lawyer who was handling her car wreck case because he did nothing and was nonresponsive.

We got her the full policy limits in that case. Now, she’s back with us.

The lesson from both of these cases? Do great work. Treat people right. Show up when others don’t.

That’s how you build a firm that lasts. That’s how you earn trust.

Focus on Trust, Not Tricks

You don’t need shady lead-gen services or million-dollar ad budgets to build a great personal injury law firm.

You can grow your practice genuinely and sustainably by:

• Building relationships. Connect with lawyers in and outside your practice area. Overflow work, cross-referrals, and collaboration happen when people know and trust you.
• Showing up in your community. Meet people. Be present. Word-of-mouth still matters, especially when you’ve earned it.
• Doing great work. Your results are your resume. Clients will send you their friends, family, and even cases you don’t handle.
• Making smart referrals. Have go-to lawyers in workers’ compensation, probate, family law, criminal, business litigation, etc. As you get clients, you’ll get more and more calls for cases you don’t handle. This allows you to refer cases out. When you send good cases to other lawyers, they’ll send good cases back.
• Being visible. Post about your wins. Talk about your values. Engage on social media with people who already know you, and the people watching will start to notice too.
• Using SEO and digital marketing as fuel, not the engine. When you’ve got the flywheel turning, great marketing just helps it spin faster. The cases you generate online will lead to more client referrals and more people you can refer out to other lawyers, who will in turn refer you more business.

This is how you build a law firm for the long haul. No shortcuts. No gimmicks. Just real work, real relationships, and real results.

What do you think? Join the conversation with me on LinkedIn.