← Personal Injury Mastermind w/ Chris Dreyer
Personal Injury Mastermind w/ Chris Dreyer
308. Local Events to Million-Dollar Cases: How She Built a PI Practice Without Ads
00:21:24
She reveals how authentic community engagement built her thriving practice, and why staying true to your purpose creates sustainable growth.
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Transcript21 lines
- [00:03]
A
When a multi million dollar case landed in Laura's lap just months after opening her firm, she could have coasted. Instead, she built a thriving practice by deepening the same community relationships that brought her that first big case. I'm Chris Dreyer, founder and CEO of Rankings IO SEO agency of choice for PI firms. In this episode of Personal Injury Mastermind, Laura reveals how grassroots marketing can scale alongside your firm and why staying true to what energizes you, whether that's community engagement skills, traditional advertising, or a mix of both, leads to sustainable growth.
- [00:35]
B
I had to start thinking, what is my passion? Like, what do I love doing what makes me happy? Because I am litigating. That's what I wanted, right? And now I'm helping injury victims. That's what I always wanted. Distilling it to what makes me happy made me build a business that is profitable because there's really no burnout for me. I'm doing what I love. And so if you. I think there are so many ways of, you know, to. To make money. So many. And you have to find people that truly are doing this because it's a calling, and when it is, that leads to sustainability.
- [01:13]
A
That makes me think. It's a book that I read a long time ago. It was the Victor Frankl book. The Man's Search for Meaning goes really deep on that, that purpose component. And your experience is a little bit different on the. On the early success side too. So, you know, you landed a multimillion dollar case just months after opening. That's uncommon most of the time. So walk me through that. What was the case? How did you land it? Tell me about that experience.
- [01:40]
B
I actually got that, the call for that case in the middle of my bachelorette party. And I remember, yeah, it was, it was. It wasn't a party, it was a trip. But I basically cultivated that from. From months and even years before, you know, the trust in the community for people to know that I was competent to handle their case or that they could trust me. And then it led to that call. I didn't wake up. And then all of a sudden, I had this multimillion dollar case. Really? It was a woman who was in the hospital, had been hit by a driver, and that's all I knew. And then it ended up evolving to what it became.
- [02:18]
A
You know, a lot of attorneys, I think if they would get that early, you know, big check, they would go blow it. Maybe they get the car. The. That changed the lifestyle. You decided. No, like, hey, I'm. I'm gonna build something you built an eight figure firm instead. So, you know, from receiving that, you know, what mo, how did you think about like what you were going to do from an investment, like what you were going to do with this money and then how did you build the firm from that?
- [02:47]
B
Yeah, well, it first, I think confirmed what I kind of knew in my heart. Like I felt I was ready for such a case. And you know, once we got that resolution, I'm like this, you know, there's no reason to doubt myself any longer. Like I can do this, but do I want to do it alone? The intentional choice of I'm going to be a two or more attorney law firm rather than a solo practitioner is what led me to, you know, to start putting together a plan. I think there are just so many factors, like some people don't grow up with, with wealth or, or whatnot. And once they have it, they want it and they want to, you know, all the flashy things. I didn't grow up that way. But I've never, that's never been my, you know, my motivation or what I'm seeking or my ultimate goal. No criticism, you know, to whoever that, you know, has that as a goal. It just wasn't mine. Mine was, I want more of these cases. I want to make life changing impact on families and to get those, you know, I could handle that case. Maybe I could handle, you know, two, three of those massive cases. But if I really wanted to make a difference, it would take a whole team, I guess.
- [04:00]
A
Expanding upon that, you know, did you have individuals you knew that you wanted to bring into the firm? Did you go out and get a recruiter? How did you surround yourself with this very skilled team that, that's kind of transformed the, the firm.
- [04:15]
B
Today I meet with, with law firm owners and business owners all the time and that's one thing that we have in common. We're always trying to figure out the right formula to get that dream team in place. And you know, to get the dream team that I, I now am certain we have. It took a lot of failure. It took a lot of trial and error. It took a lot of figuring out, like, what is the perfect interview that I need to be asking? What? How can I really figure out who wants to be here, who belongs here, who has the same drive and passion that I do. And you know, right now it's going to boil down to, like I said, a lot of trial and error. Because a lot of people, they don't know what they really want until they're actually doing. Then they realize this is not what I want. We work really hard, but we love it so much that, you know, like, they say it doesn't really feel like work, so if that's. If it aligns, then it's a match. But, yeah, I mean, the first person I hired was contractor, like, college student that I trained. I'm like, this is not rocket science. Like, I can train someone to help me send these letters because, you know, as many. As many entrepreneurs that you've had, you know, on your show have read the email, and I don't know if you're familiar with that book, but, you know, basically I was starting to learn I have to delegate. I have to, you know, I can't have the one trial lawyer myself go to the post office or print these letters, even though I was doing it there for a long time. But then, you know, I started to get those team members. And then with success came the ability to give better compensation packages and find, you know, people that are even more, you know, even more experienced, even more talented. And now here we are.
- [06:02]
A
I think every entrepreneur goes through this moment. Like, I remember the first time I picked up the ETH and I was starting to read a couple chapters. The manager, the maker, the, you know, the owner. And I, like, couldn't put it down. I like, went through the. And then I was like, went to my president. I was like, now you gotta read this. And it's like, oh, we need to delegate. We need to create processes. And it's interesting how things transform and you get to cast your knowledge to these other individuals for scale. You've been a PI attorney for over 15 years now. You had a personal experience that really pushed you into this path. I was just wondering if you could share that story.
- [06:36]
B
Very early on, when I was three years old, I was attacked by a German shepherd. I suffered disfiguring injuries and had to get several medical procedures and counseling. And being wronged by someone and wanting to make it right has basically led me to. To become an injury attorney.
- [07:00]
A
You've had that empathy and can share from the, you know, the. The injured victim's side because you've been there, you know, so I guess when you went to law school, it was. You knew exactly like, hey, I'm going to be an injury attorney. I'm not going to do, you know, real estate law or criminal defense. What was that kind of the. It was just a clear path for you after this experience.
- [07:22]
B
It actually wasn't. I have had now time to look back and think. It's interesting That I ended up doing this because when I was little, I just wanted to be a lawyer. I just felt like I wanted a voice for others would, you know, defend them, kind of get justice for them, tell their story. And that's all I knew. I grew up in Mexico, and I ended up deciding to go to law school. I knew I wanted to be, you know, be a litigator or be in the courtroom. So I went to Baylor Law School, and they have this really excellent litigation program that prepares you to be in the courtroom. When I graduated, I got a job that was going to have me do a lot of depositions and a lot of courtroom appearances. And that was, you know, just a dream come true. And it was as an insurance defense lawyer, the people on the other side were injury victims. And my job was to prove they didn't have the damages they were saying they had. It gave me an immense amount of court exposure and trial exposure. But eventually I did have that moment of this is just not. Doesn't line up with my version of justice. I did have one kind of wake up moment of posing a widow. And, you know, my supervising attorney and my adjuster had very clear guidelines of I had to prove that she had moved on with her life and that, you know, she wasn't seeing a counselor, et cetera, and she had moved past it. And that was not the truth. The truth is she was a grieving widow who was suffering daily, who thought about her husband from the second she woke up to the second she went to bed. I decided that I belong next to someone like her. And that's when I decided to be a plaintiff's lawyer.
- [09:08]
A
Let's face it, being a great lawyer isn't enough to succeed, you need to generate consistent leads. Personal injury is the most saturated niche, competition is fierce, and differentiation is everything. When the deck is stacked against you, you need a comprehensive resource to beat the competition. My latest book, Personal Injury Lawyer Marketing, is your roadmap to consistent leads and exponential growth. It is a masterclass on marketing for personal injury firms. It's packed with actionable strategies on where to invest your marketing dollars for maximum impact. No more guesswork, no more wasted ad spend, just clear, proven methods to transform your firm from good to goat. Grab your copy of Personal Injury Lawyer Marketing on Amazon. Link is in the show notes. Thank you for sharing that. I kind of want to transition because you said it like, hey, I landed this big case being a part of the community, right? So I wanted to lean into that because a lot of times PI attorneys are trying to get awareness through TV or through radio or billboards. And an exceptional way to do that is through being a part of the community, but also trying to generate business for the firm. Like. Like, how do you think about community?
- [10:17]
B
It has changed through the years for me. Initially, some of the groups that I ended up becoming involved with were Mexican women in Austin. And I'm like, hey, you know, we have. We have this in common. There were some get togethers, and I would just go because I truly was seeking, you know, people would have recommendations of, like, my husband's a plumber, or, you know, he does framing for construction. And they had all these recommendations. And, you know, just culturally, we. We had so much in common. And initially that. That's one of the groups that I line with. And it turned out that some of my cases came from there. Now, you know, I was. At the time I was married. I didn't have any kids. I'm now married with two kids. And I am now more aware that becoming involved with those groups leads to you being able to sit down with people and tell them your story and telling your story. If it's, you know, this. This is such a deep topic for me. So, so deep that I wrote a chapter in a book about it. But basically, what I feel like, there's, you know, they're saying that, oh, you should be. Do authentic marketing. And there's actually, like, what is authentic marketing to me is telling your story and telling my story of being an injury victim, of being someone who came as an immigrant and, you know, did the best I could to get the best life I could possibly get and make the most of what my. My parents had given me was, you know, something that led to people trusting me with their cases, with their stories. And so now there are other groups that I am able to support in different ways, like either by speaking engagements or sponsors or. Or what have you, but that I find the same opportunity. Like, I truly enjoy it because we. We have things in common. For example, it's. Some are lawyer groups, some are nonprofit organizations, or there's a group called Mamas in Austin that's basically attorney moms. And, you know, I'm a mom, I'm an attorney, so it's easy, it's authentic, and it's genuine because it's true.
- [12:31]
A
Yeah, I'd imagine too, it doesn't feel like work. You know, it's who you are and your. Your authenticity when you enjoy what that Monday rolls around. The people that don't are complaining about Monday, but I'm like, if it's a long weekend, I'm, like, ready to get back in the office. You're part of multiple attorney associations. How are you leveraging those networks for case. For cases? Talked about community and how you're being a part of the community and how you go about that. But what's your thoughts on the attorney associations?
- [12:58]
B
I initially became involved because you would get, like, continuing legal education, credit and whatnot. And very quickly, I discover the value is just so much more than that. I mean, you. You get to share your, you know, your victories, your failures. You get, you know, inside information from people who have been in front of a judge that you maybe haven't been or someone who has discovered, you know, certain strategy. And so that is, you know, that's, of course, invaluable. But the other. I think the other component, at the very beginning of my practice as a plaintiff's lawyer, someone criticized that, you know, oh, you know, you don't want to spend too much time with plaintiff's lawyers because, like, they're your competition. So just go. Go visit with other. Other type of professionals because obviously, like, what. What are you doing there? Like, they're trying to get business, the same business you're trying to get. And the reality is that when I started the law firm the very first year, a lot of my cases came from other plaintiffs lawyers who, you know, big law firms who were too busy to handle certain cases, and those cases were peanuts to them, and they. They were my livelihood. And so I. I was. I was very intentional about making those connections early on, making sure those law firms knew that if they sent a case my way, the clients were going to be so happy. They were going to thank them for sending them my way and that they were going to get a referral check. Of course, that's an added value that I think some people miss by thinking or focusing on, you know, on the aspect of, like, these are your competitors. Why are you there?
- [14:38]
A
Yeah, I think. I think there's there's so much here because I've heard that statement, too. You know, in my experience with a lot of these PI Firms, I ask them, like, hey, what's your biggest struggle most of the time? Or a lot of the time, I hear, well, we just need more litigators. Like, we need great lawyers, like, as opposed to. I think it'd be very common, like, oh, I need more leads. Leads. Maybe it's not necessarily more leads. It's maybe I need someone skilled to work them up to get the value that they're worth. I Kind of wanted to talk about just your impact and leadership, you know, Austin's Austin Women magazine named you a change maker. Beyond the recognition, what are you actually trying to change in this industry?
- [15:21]
B
My law firm has a special focus in helping underrepresented and disadvantaged communities. But we have that special focus and we have, you know, we serve the Spanish speaking community. We're able to. Anyone who calls, you know, it's not. We have one person who translates for all the other lawyers. We have lawyers who are Spanish speaking. They're legal, legal assistants. So our system is set up to, to help those communities. My, the immediate change I want to implement is that many times those communities get taken advantage of because they receive paperwork that's not in their native language. And So I. For 20 attorneys or legal professionals. And so the clients are calling and they're not getting calls back. And so, you know, just having an equal level playing field and, and, you know, giving all the resources back to those people so they can face, you know, whoever, insurance companies, the government, whoever did them wrong, and that they will get the same attention as, you know, anyone else.
- [16:19]
A
What small change has had the biggest positive impact on your firm? And then where can people go to connect with you and learn more?
- [16:28]
B
So I would say something that anyone can implement today is at the beginning of the day, thinking, you know, what makes me happy. I'm going to be very intentional about identifying today. What is exciting to me, what makes me happy, what makes me giddy, what, what do I really want to, you know, what am I looking forward to that's happening today, what meeting, what gathering, what research project? And at the end of the day, revisit the question with your answer and you're going to start to narrow down little by little what it is that, you know that really makes you happy. And once you do that, it just, I think, ultimately leads to you being able to exploit that, the opportunity.
- [17:14]
A
Whether you're just starting your firm or looking to scale, Laura's journey shows that staying true to what energizes you, in her case, deep community involvement can drive sustainable growth. From turning that first big case into a thriving practice, to building a team aligned with your values. Success comes from knowing your why and letting it guide your path forward. For more strategies on authentic firm growth, visit Rankings IO or grab a copy of my book, Personal Injury Lawyer Marketing from Good to Goat. Thanks for listening to Personal Injury Mastermind. I'm Chris Dreyer, founder and CEO of Rankings IO.