338. Grow Faster by Spending Less: Inside the Most Efficient PI Firm w/ Michael McCready

Summary

Personal Injury Mastermind Episode 338: Grow Faster by Spending Less – Inside the Most Efficient PI Firm with Michael McCready

Released on July 17, 2025

In Episode 338 of Personal Injury Mastermind (PIM), host Chris Dreyer delves deep into the strategies that have propelled Michael McCready’s personal injury (PI) firm to remarkable efficiency and growth. This episode provides invaluable insights into scaling a PI firm without exorbitant ad budgets, leveraging technology, and fostering robust B2B relationships. Below is a comprehensive summary capturing the key discussions, insights, and conclusions from the conversation.

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1. Introduction to Michael McCready’s Success

Chris Dreyer opens the episode by highlighting Michael McCready’s impressive achievements:

Chris Dreyer (02:41): "Michael, you built what many would consider the go-to PI firm for referrals in the Midwest. You've scaled six plus locations, 100 plus staff. You doubled your caseload in the last 18 months."

Michael McCready shares his approach to adapting to industry shifts:

Michael McCready (02:41): "I've noticed over the last couple years that there's been a seismic shift in where personal injury lawyers get their cases from... I focused all my energy on building relationships with law firms around the country because that's the way of the world."

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2. Transition to a B2B Model

Michael discusses the transition from traditional mass market advertising to a B2B (business-to-business) model, emphasizing cost-efficiency and sustained growth.

• Cost Efficiency: Unlike traditional advertisers who spend heavily upfront with delayed returns, McCready invests in back-end referral fees, significantly reducing marketing expenses.

  Michael McCready (04:37): "My marketing budget is about 7 and a half to 8% of my revenue compared to, you know, 25 to 35% for heavy advertisers."

• Sustainable Growth: This model ensures consistent case acquisition without the high initial costs associated with mass advertising.

  Michael McCready (04:37): "I spend on the referral fee, which is on the back end. It costs money to originate cases one way or another."

3. Leveraging Technology and AI

A significant portion of the discussion centers around integrating technology, particularly AI and large language models (LLMs), to enhance firm operations and client service.

• AI Customization: McCready emphasizes the importance of customizing AI tools like ChatGPT to align with the firm’s specific needs, enhancing efficiency and consistency.

  Michael McCready (08:01): "If you're not already using AI to some extent, you're already far behind... Everything that and all the feedback that you give it, it is getting better and better to give you the response that you want."

• Process Automation: By automating client touchpoints and utilizing systems like Smart Advocate, the firm maintains high levels of communication and service without overburdening staff.

  Michael McCready (20:43): "Every phase, every stage, every status of our client experience has certain touch points that are all triggered automatically."

• Custom GPT Applications: McCready shares how his firm uses custom GPTs to handle tasks such as summarizing depositions and drafting closing arguments tailored to his style.

  Michael McCready (10:24): "Here's an example... create a closing argument based on the style of these three transcripts. And what comes out is unbelievable. It is my voice."

4. Enhancing Client Communication through Automation

McCready outlines his firm’s proactive communication strategy, which significantly reduces inbound calls and enhances client satisfaction.

• Automated Updates: Clients receive timely, automated updates via text messages about their case status, reducing the need for manual follow-ups.

  Michael McCready (20:43): "If you have in our system that the client is a Medicare recipient, a text automatically goes out, and if the text doesn't come back, then another one goes out."

• Focus on Critical Interactions: Automation handles routine communications, allowing staff to focus on more meaningful interactions that require a personal touch.

  Michael McCready (20:43): "We can send a text out. I don't need a case manager to call a client... those conversations which need to be had over the phone."

5. Optimizing Referral Partnerships

A standout segment of the episode discusses how McCready has optimized his referral partnerships to ensure transparency and efficiency.

• Clear Expectations: He established a one-page expectation document for referral partners, detailing timely client contact and case handling procedures.

  Michael McCready (26:40): "If I refer a case out to you, I expect you to contact that client within 24 hours... I require a copy of your malpractice insurance because I don't want to be on the hook if you screw up."

• Real-Time Visibility: Introducing a referral attorney portal allows partners to access real-time case statuses, fostering trust and enabling better forecasting.

  Michael McCready (26:40): "We have a referring attorney portal that the referring attorneys can go on anytime and see the exact status of their case."

• Data-Driven Insights: Providing detailed projections and referral fees helps partners align their marketing investments with expected returns.

  Michael McCready (26:40): "Some of my referral partners use this because they can then forecast what their revenue is going to be."

6. Specialization in Premises Liability

McCready elaborates on his firm’s expertise in premises liability, sharing a strategic approach to handling and litigating these cases.

• Creative Demand Letters: Utilizing multimedia elements such as videos and 3D imaging in demand letters to make a compelling case to adjusters.

  Michael McCready (30:04): "Our demand letters have always been extraordinarily creative... we send out MRIs for 3D imaging, which are included in our demand letters."

• Thorough Investigation: Detailed investigation and strategic interaction with insurance adjusters to shift their perspective from denial to litigation readiness.

  Michael McCready (30:04): "We explain to your adjuster why this case was such a loser. Why not hit you for half a million dollars."

• Client Preparation: Ensuring clients are well-prepared for depositions, even turning around seemingly lost cases through diligent follow-up.

  Michael McCready (33:05): "So that's how we've built our firm and been able to, to scale and handle a lot of cases."

7. Importance of Effective Intake Processes

The episode touches on the significance of having a skilled intake team to filter and nurture leads, ensuring that every potential case is managed effectively.

Michael McCready (35:50): "Even if it's not a case, just be very, very cordial and give them information... Never underestimate the power of spending a few minutes talking to someone."

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Key Takeaways

1. Shift from Mass Advertising to B2B Models: Investing in referral partnerships and back-end referral fees can lead to significant cost savings and sustainable growth.

2. Embrace Technology and AI: Customizing AI tools enhances operational efficiency, client communication, and overall firm performance.

3. Automate Routine Communications: Proactive, automated client updates reduce manual workload and improve client satisfaction.

4. Foster Transparent Referral Partnerships: Clear expectations and real-time case visibility strengthen referral relationships and boost trust.

5. Specialize and Innovate in Practice Areas: Creative approaches in premises liability cases can differentiate a firm and improve litigation success rates.

6. Optimize Intake Processes: Effective intake ensures that all leads are appropriately managed, nurturing potential future cases.

Notable Quotes

• Michael McCready (04:37): "My marketing budget is about 7 and a half to 8% of my revenue compared to, you know, 25 to 35% for heavy advertisers."

• Michael McCready (08:01): "If you're not already using AI to some extent, you're already far behind."

• Michael McCready (26:40): "Some of my referral partners use this because they can then forecast what their revenue is going to be."

• Michael McCready (30:04): "Our demand letters have always been extraordinarily creative... we send out MRIs for 3D imaging, which are included in our demand letters."

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Conclusion

Episode 338 of Personal Injury Mastermind offers a masterclass in building an efficient and profitable personal injury firm. Michael McCready’s insights into transitioning to a B2B model, leveraging AI, automating client communications, and fostering transparent referral partnerships provide actionable strategies for personal injury attorneys aiming to scale their practices sustainably. By focusing on efficiency, technology, and strong professional relationships, McCready’s approach serves as a blueprint for transforming PI firms into market leaders without reliance on hefty advertising budgets.

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For more insights and strategies from top personal injury law firm leaders, subscribe to Personal Injury Mastermind and stay ahead in the competitive legal landscape.

Transcript

[Chris Dreyer]

As the owner of a digital marketing agency, I see personal injury firms making strategic decisions without the right data every day. Look, I've worked with firms of every size and analyze what really works. Our team at Rankings will map out your entire competitive landscape, identify where cases are falling through the cracks, and show you exactly what moves will drive growth. Want to understand where your market opportunities really are without spending a dime? Visit rankings IO consultation today hey there future VIP I'm Kinsey, your on site concierge for PEMCON. The Personal Injury mastermind conference October 5th through the 8th when you go VIP at PEMCON, you're getting the full experience, luxury accommodations included at the 5 star.

[Michael McCready]

Phoenician Resort, $250 in resort credit for the spa, golf course or wherever your.

[Chris Dreyer]

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[Michael McCready]

And exclusive access to the biggest names in personal injury.

[Chris Dreyer]

Grab your VIP tickets while you still [e-mail] that's P I M C O.

[Michael McCready]

N. O R G See you this fall in ScotTSD. Traditional mass market advertisers pay a lot of money up front to originate cases with the expectation that they sign up cases and 12 to 24 months later they get a return on their investment. The difference with what I do is.

[Chris Dreyer]

Here'S the thing. Incremental improvements and utilization are what really tip the scale towards increased case value and profit. Most firms chase growth through more leads, but that's not where the real profit lives. I'm Chris Dreyer and I've helped hundreds of PIs firms rise to the top. But this approach flipped even my thinking. Michael McCready scaled six offices, doubled his caseload, and became the go to firm for referrals without a massive ad budget.

[Michael McCready]

Most of my clients have never hired a lawyer before and they're used to customer service that they get from Amazon, Domino's Pizza or Starbucks. And then they come to a law firm and lawyers don't return phone calls.

[Chris Dreyer]

Michael's B2B model thrives because the little tweaks have massive impact. From 200 plus automated touch points to custom GPTs, this is what modern PI operations actually look like. You're listening to Personal Injury Mastermind, powered by Rankings IO Michael, you built what many would consider the go to PI firm for referrals in the Midwest. You've scaled six plus locations, 100 plus staff. You doubled your caseload in the last 18 months. Let's kick it off. Share some of the wins. What's going on with the firm?

[Michael McCready]

I've noticed over the last couple years that there's been a seismic shift in where personal injury lawyers get their cases from. And where we historically have been successful in getting cases is not going to work anymore. And so I focused all my energy on building relationships with law firms around the country because that's the way of the world. It's consolidation and a lot of money coming in at large marketers and they need somebody to do the legal cases. And so that's kind of what I focused on. And so far, you know, my strategy has proved wise.

[Chris Dreyer]

Consolidation. The cost to acquire a case has increased. Do you think that the trial lawyer component is just, it's so rare. Right. There's so many of these pre lit firms and advertisers. Do you think that, that you saw the writing on the wall and that's kind of where you shifted to this more B2B model? Like how did you think about this?

[Michael McCready]

I think that's a great, that's a great description is I am much more business to business and, and my clients are other personal injury law firms. Now listen, I mean we still get our cases, you know, from. We've been in business for 25 years and we do some marketing ourselves. But I'll be honest, I can't keep up with the amount of money that's being spent in the legal field, especially being in large DMAs like Chicago and Indianapolis and St. Louis and now Minneapolis. You know, you're talking millions of dollars of ad spend to brand yourself and there's no guarantee that that's going to stick. So, you know, I made the conscious decision to invest my time and resources in cultivating relationship other law firms.

[Chris Dreyer]

What are some of the key principles behind this style of running a B2B firm? How is it different than a traditional firm, so to speak?

[Michael McCready]

Yeah, sure. So, you know, traditional mass market advertisers pay a lot of money upfront to originate cases and build their brand with the expectation that they sign up cases and 12 to 24 months later they get a return on their investment. But it does, it requires a large expenditure upfront. And I don't care if it's mass marketing or even digital. You know, you're paying for those cases now and you won't get a return for 12 to 24 months when the cases settle. The difference with what I do is, you know, I'm still spending money, but my spend is on the referral fee, which is on the back end. It costs money to originate cases one way or another. No cases are free. You got to spend money. And with me, people are Amazed. You know, my marketing budget is about 7 and a half to 8% of my revenue compared to, you know, 25 to 35% for, you know, you know, heavy advertisers. So I still spend the money, but I spend it on the back end of referral fees.

[Chris Dreyer]

Yeah, and I think that's, that's something really interesting. I remember Michael Masterson's book, Ready, Fire, Aim. It talked about this disproportionate front end spend, which is what you see on the advertisers, but you have a disproportionate on the back end of being able to litigate and pay for the expert witnesses and take a case all the way to the mats, so to speak. Talk to me about that, about working up the case and being the firm that the advertisers want to refer cases to, because you do get the values.

[Michael McCready]

I mean, listen, it's a lot to do with process. You know, over the years we've developed amazing processes. One of our firm values is technology and we have leveraged technology for a long time. You know, we use smart advocate. I've built it out like very few firms in the entire country now, you know, for the last two years, we've been all in on AI, you know, for a contingency fee practice. You know, anything that we can do to create efficiencies and allow us to expend our man hours, so to speak. The, the time that people have to put into a case, you know, the less time we have to put into a case now, not minimizing what we do, but the less amount of time we have to spend on the case increases our profit and increases our ability to, to handle more cases. So all of these things that I've put into my firm over the last 25 years, at the end of the day, are all for the benefit of the client. Right. All these things end up getting our clients better results. And that's the be all and end all of why we do what we do.

[Chris Dreyer]

Let's dive right into. You opened the door for me on the ChatGPT and the LLM side, and I was fortunate to spend some time with you in Tahoe recently and you gave an amazing presentation on how you're utilizing ChatGPT. And you know, I always see it, you know, on my end, the agency side, the marketing side, some of that intel. But talk to me about some of the things that you're doing to customize AI and utilize it at the firm and I'll kind of open the door to you. And then we can dig into some of these, maybe even some of the custom GPTs that you've created.

[Michael McCready]

If you're not already using AI to some extent, you're already far behind. Okay. Firms like my own have got a jump on everyone. So the stuff that we're doing today is stuff I need to talk about, what we were doing a year and a half ago for most people, right. And I'm not trying to simplify it, but I'm trying to encourage people to actually do this is to get a paid version of chat GPT. It's $20 a month. Okay. You need to learn how to lock down the data privacy so everything stays contained in your system and then just start experimenting with it. You know, go down these rabbit holes. It's, it's a conversation back and forth between an LLM, a large language model which AI is built on, and yourself. And the more that you experiment with it, you're going to find more new and greater uses for it. You know, the stuff that we're doing now is pretty advanced and it would be hard to, you know, explain to, to a lot of your listeners now. A year from now, what I'm doing, everybody's going to understand. But today, right in, in June 2025, it's quite the leap forward.

[Chris Dreyer]

Yeah, well, you know, I kind of, I kind of do want to have that, that technical conversation as much as we can. And then some of the audience will follow, as you know, because I'm curious myself, you know, you inspired me, I gotta tell you. I had used chatgpt a ton. I'd done the personalizations on my profile, but I'd never built a GPT. And the thing that I'm struggling with is it won't follow my instruction no matter what I tell it on, hey, follow these specifically, it still will give me the summarized versions and what I've been doing because I haven't been able to figure it out. And I've even asked ChatGPT why it doesn't follow the instructions is I'll take the instructions and I'll go throw it in Claude. And for some reason, Claude will follow it, but, but ChatGPT won't. So, you know, let's talk about the GPT specifically. Like when you're thinking about creating your own GPT, how do you approach that? Like, what are, what are, what goes into making it?

[Michael McCready]

So first you have to come up with what you want your customer custom GPT to do. Okay, let's do something fairly simple as you want to create a Custom GPT that will summarize depositions. Okay, Very simple. You. You upload a deposition and you want a summary. Well, in the configuration of that custom GPT, that's where you give it the guidance that you want it to apply to every single chat. And you can go into another GPT and say, hey, I'm creating a custom GPT. What would you recommend for the configuration? And I forget how many characters it is, but they'll give you a recommendation. Then you go back and edit that to what you want. So, for example, you know, every lawyer in my firm has got a different style, the way they like their depositions, right? Some people like it very detailed, some people like it page or line number. So you put those customizations into the configuration and say, anytime Michael requests a deposition somewhere, this is the format that we want you to use. You know, any. Anytime that Jess asks for a deposition, this is the way that he likes it. And oftentimes we will upload deposition summaries that we have done ourselves manually over the years. And that gives them. Gives the GPT, you know, a framework of how to respond. Here's another one, is we use it extensively for trial practice. And I know that I did this when I was talking with you and some of the other lawyers is I'm a big fan of Mark Lanier. Okay? And I'll say, give me a closing argument, the style of Mark Lanier, and I'll put the facts in and. And out it comes. You know, I'm not Mark Lanier. I can't give this closing argument. Only he can do that. Right. I learned at a young age you have to find your own voice. And so instead of doing it in the style of Mark Lanier, do a closing argument. And here I'm going to upload three of my transcripts from closing arguments. Use that as your reference point, and create a closing argument based on the style of these three transcripts. And I'm going to tell you, Chris, what comes out is unbelievable. It is my voice. It is so much. It's even my cadence sentence structure that I use. I could give that closing argument immediately because I trained the custom GPT on what reference I wanted it to. What I wanted it to reference up.

[Chris Dreyer]

I've heard you say that. You know, it isn't replacing authenticity, it's replacing mediocrity. So maybe you could expand upon that.

[Michael McCready]

Yeah, yeah, I. I read a really interesting article. I'm going to pivot a little bit from the law, but AI is fantastic at analyzing huge amounts of data. And summarizing and synthesizing. Right? So I think a lot of people know already you can type something in and ask it to be reworded. So in our case management system, a client, one of our case managers might write in, this client is a real piece of work. And boy, I've got a mind to tell him this, this, this and this, and this is what I need to tell him. And then hit a button and it rewords it in a very professional manner. Right? So, so that's very common. But getting back to this is, think about historians, okay? And, and the people who have written history over the years. You can now analyze literally, you know, the entire human history and have it synthesized and then have it retold based on whatever you want. So you could do the history of XYZ as told from the perspective of the victor or from their perspective of the loser. So I, I think that it's going to absolutely revolutionize history and the way that history is presented. But, but once again, that, that is largely subjective. No, with the law, a lot of what we do is very objective. It doesn't need that kind of conclusion. We, we as lawyers are arguing to be persuasive, but always based on fact and emotion as well. But, but less room for that interpretation.

[Chris Dreyer]

When I'm using ChatGPT, I'm always thinking about like some of the business books. Like, you know, for example, you mentioned history, like, like Titan, right? Rockefeller's book. Like, has someone already uploaded Titan? I'm sure they have, right? Like, and so who's feeding maybe some of these classic books that, that were around before, you know, the Internet was more, more prevalent. Like, is there someone just feeding these books into chat GPT?

[Michael McCready]

Yeah, you know, it's not always the books themselves, okay. There are, there are a lot of books that have been written about. Okay. So for example, when I started two years ago, I got a digital copy of the Reptile Theory. And the Reptile Theory is a plaintiff's personal injury trial practice theory book and a lot of lawyers swear by it and it's very effective. So I got the digital copy because otherwise it's copyright infringement and I uploaded it. But then what I. Because to use as a reference. So I would use all the theories in this book that I had uploaded to, to frame my responses. But what I found out over the last two years is ChatGPT already knows the Reptile Theory, okay, Because it's all over the Internet and you don't need to buy the book. So you can ask, are you familiar with the reptile theory. Yes, I am. And here are all the tenants. And then, well, please use that in refere to the next query that I'm going to ask. Likewise, you know, give me the top 10 books on cross examination. Okay. And I know all 10 of those. You know, I grew up reading them. Now use these 10 books as your reference point to create a cross examination for me based on the follow up facts. So a lot of that information is already out there now. You know, there are lawsuits of course about how they have trained these LLM models and whether it is indeed copyright infringement. I don't come down on either side, but a lot of this information is already out there without the necessity of even buying the book. So Titan, you know, I can guarantee you that almost everything in that book is floating around and could synthesize based on a query.

[Chris Dreyer]

It's so incredible. I thought before we moved on, just if you wanted just some rando prompts that you like to run that are fun. You know, one of my favorite is I think you might have told me this. Actually, I think you might have gave me, giving me this, I hope I'm not stealing it from you. Is, you know, based upon all my previous prompts. Where are my blind spots? Yes, yes, that one was pretty tough to read.

[Michael McCready]

Yes. And truthfully, I don't know where I saw that either. But everything, everything is out there. You know, the simple thing is I like to ask, you've given me a lot of information. What question didn't I ask that I should have? Okay. Or based on the following response, you know, please give me a response that a defense attorney would say if my opening statement is based on the reptile theory. Okay, based on this opening statement, how would a defense attorney counter that? And it does, it goes back and forth. It's like ping pong. And, and that's the whole idea is to really engage with this tool through this chat feature. Because everything that and all the feedback that you give it, it is, it is getting better and better to give you the response that you want. Think about the Google algorithm. I mean it's so good now, but it didn't, I mean it took 15 years to get there and all. And that is a type of AI, right, that algorithm has improved. So with all the learning that Google has had on people's search results, by what they're asking, what search results come up, how long they're spending on those pages, if they're going back, this is right up your alley, right? You know, it's, it's learning and it's all trying to get best response possible. And ChatGPT is and all of the LLMs that's what they're trying to do is to give you best answer to the question that you have asked.

[Chris Dreyer]

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[Michael McCready]

Of course one of our touchstones is client service. Right? We are a customer service business now. Our services are legal services. But most of my clients have never hired a lawyer before and they're used to customer service that they get from Amazon, Domino's Pizza or or Starbucks. And then they come to a law firm and lawyers don't return phone calls. What do you mean? Right? I mean they don't understand that historically lawyers have been very poor at customer service. And so you know, we looked at every aspect from the time from our marketing all the way to the time well past the time our of disbursement. I mean we're marketing to our clients after the fact. So we looked at the entire lifespan, the entire client life cycle and tried to figure out where the touch points were, how we could provide superior customer service. And one of the things that people feel customer service entails is communication. And communication takes time. So how can we create automations that clients can feel like they are informed about their case, they can feel like their lawyer is working on their case without people manually picking up the phone. And so, you know, every phase, every stage, every status of our client experience has certain touch points that are all triggered automatically. Here's how we started with this. You settle a case, you tell the client, check's going to be there in 30 days. One week later, is my check there? Is my check there? And when you settle enough cases, that's a lot of phone calls, a lot of inbound phone calls. So what we did is as soon as there's a trigger, as soon as the release goes to the insurance company, a text goes out and says, hey, we sent the release. It can be up to 30 days. And then one week later, hey, it's been a week. And then we text that client every three days a different text. Hey, your check didn't come in today, or the mail just came and it wasn't there. It's been two weeks. It's not overdue. We called the adjuster and left a voicemail. It's been three weeks. It's still not overdue. Or it will call you. Guess what? Our inbound calls went down dramatically because we are proactively communicating with the client. So take that concept and then apply it everywhere in the case. I don't want my case managers calling the client. We're still waiting for medical records. No, we can send a text out. I don't need a case manager to call a client, say, hey, can you send us a copy of your Medicare card? That's a waste of a phone call. So if we have in our system that the client is a Medicare recipient, a text automatically goes out, and if the text doesn't come back, then another one goes out. So all of these things that don't need human interaction and human involvement, and frankly, when it's done automatically, it's done the right way at the right time, every time. Okay. No room for someone to make a mistake. No room for someone to be on a vacation. No, it's done. It's done. So what. What that idea, that concept has allowed me to be able to do is have my team focus on those conversations which need to be had over the phone. For example, you missed your physical therapy appointment today. Oh, you know, I was busy, but. Well, you know, physical therapy is a very important part of your case, and if you continue to miss medical treatment, it can impact the value of your case. Oh, I didn't know that. Well, yeah. So please make every effort to follow the doctor's instructions. That is a phone Call. I don't want it as a text, you know, I don't want it as a video. I want that case manager to have that phone, that conversation. When we get an offer from on a case, the lawyer talks to the client. I don't want a text, oh, I got an offer of 25,000. No, you call the client, explain all that. So that's kind of how we've built our firm and been able to, to scale and handle a lot of cases. And this might be another topic but you know, we get feedback from our clients. We do, you know, net promoter score. I know we're doing well because our clients are telling us, right? So we, we test the pulse of our clients at several times over the course of the case and, and if someone says the communication is inadequate, well then we bump it up. We do a little bit more tlc. But communication is a two way street. So we're communicating from the law firm to the client but we want the client to communicate with us as well. And that's how I've been able to build a firm.

[Chris Dreyer]

So many attorneys think about, I need more leads to grow my practice. But it's like the incremental improvements in maybe the leads, maybe your sales intake, but then also the utilization, right? You get more profitability because your attorneys, your staff are, they can handle more bandwidth because you've got the text automations. And then the other thing that comes to mind is, and I hear this all the time is hey, I referred a case to this firm and then that firm has to go check up on it. Like what's the status of it all the time. And the receiving firm doesn't keep the referral firm and they don't communicate with them and it's, it's cumbersome. So you know, talk to me about that. We had a brief conversation about that. So talk to me about communicating with your referral partners.

[Michael McCready]

Things, two things. Years and years ago I used to refer out some cases, especially bigger cases. The client would be, you know, better served by having a, you know, a more experienced attorney. So I would refer them out, medical malpractice, things like that. And I got really frustrated. I would refer out a case and the referring attorney wouldn't call the client for two weeks. So I came up with just a one page. These are my expectations when I refer a case out to you and I'm going to go over them very simply. One is if I refer a case out to you, I expect you to contact that client within 24 hours. If you can't contact that client. Let me know, okay? I don't want anybody to fall through the cracks. If I refer you a case for litigation, it's because I wasn't able to settle it, okay? It doesn't mean that it goes to you and all of a sudden the insurance company shaking in their boots and pays more money. If I refer you a case for litigation, I expect you to file it within 30 days, not wait to the statute of limitations. I require a copy of your malpractice insurance because I don't want to be on the hook if you screw up. This is now your client. I do not want this client calling me for updates. You have complete discretion. You're a good attorney. I'm referring to the case. You deal with the client, and then you send me a referral check and a settlement sheet. Is that too much to ask? You would be surprised. Okay, so when I came up with that list and worked with partners, all of a sudden it dawned on me, you know, I need to be doing the same thing, you know, when people were referring clients to me. So we took it many steps further is we have a referring attorney portal that the referring attorneys can go on anytime and see the exact status of their case. We send out quarterly updates by email about the status of their case. Some of our larger partners, you know, the ones that do the mass market advertising, we have a direct connection between our case management systems in real time, and they can check in real time exactly what's going on. I'm very data driven. And so we have, you know, our projected, what we expect the minimum settlement value to be and the time frame, what the referral fee is. And some of my referral partners use this because they can then forecast what their revenue is going to be, and they can forecast based on how much more money they want to put in the market. So all of this data feeds into each other. And when I work with these firms that are very data driven, it's a breath of fresh air when they see what I'm able to provide them. And then word gets out. And that's how the referral business has flourished.

[Chris Dreyer]

I would love that transparency, the communication. If I was the one sending you a case and being able to see just all the visibility. I also want to just talk a little bit about just your reputation. You're known as being one of the top premises liability firms. A lot of the firms we work with, they don't take those cases. There's challenges to them. And talk to me specifically just a little bit about that area of the law and some of your expertise there.

[Michael McCready]

Yeah, we've really niched down into this, and here's our playbook. We will send out a letter of representation, just very generic. Our clients slipped and fell at your store and sustained damages. And we get a form letter back. We deny liability, of course. Just take that and throw it in the trash. I mean, we get the information from it, but we pay no heed to that. Then usually about 30 days, we'll say, hey, our client is still going through physical therapy and it'll. We denied this claim. Oh, yeah, we know. And then our client has just been referred for an mri, which was positive and is now going for an orthopedic consult. Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Now the. Now we got the adjuster's attention because they just willy nilly, you know, denied this claim without even knowing what our theory of liability was. And now this may turn into a claim. And now this adjuster is going to have to justify, you know, if there does tend to be. If there is a claim, why they denied it immediately. And now we've got the adjuster's attention. Oh, we would like to take a recorded statement. Sorry, we don't allow recorded statements. You know, and, but then. Then when the client is done treating, then we put together our whole theory of. We've had our theory of liability, but we present that another one of our firm values is creativity. And our demand letters have always been extraordinarily creative. I mean, we've been embedding video and, and hyperlinks. We send out MRIs for 3D imaging, which are included in our demand letters. And then, of course, you know, our theory of liability. No adjuster is going to pay you money if you just say, oh, slipped and fell on something in the store. I mean, we're very detailed and we know what, you know, what kind of facts are going to get us past summary judgment when we litigate these files. And, you know, and at the end of the day, you know, defense counsel may say, oh, you know, you got a real loser on your case here. Glad you think so. And, you know, you may be right. You may win 7 out of 10 times, but you explain to your adjuster why this case was such a loser. Why not hit you for half a million dollars? All I need to do is win three out of 10 times and I've made my money. So it starts with the investigation and the way that we handle the adjuster. Getting them to change their reserves from a denial of liability to, whoa, we Would put some money on this to a mindset on how we litigate the cases. Obviously, we prepare our clients very thoroughly. We would win all of our cases if we testified. But we've got these things called clients that sometimes get in the way. We do what we can, and we've been very, very successful.

[Chris Dreyer]

Yeah. And I was wondering if you could just briefly tell the story about the Chinese food restaurant. Yeah, that's a lovely one.

[Michael McCready]

Yeah. So I had a client, slipped and fell at a Chinese buffet, ended up having knee surgery. She was an older woman. And the deposition went on for about three hours. At the end, she's like, you know what? I don't know what I fell on. I just know I fell. And I said, ah, wanted to strangle her. And I had picked her up from her house and drove her to the deposition. I had to drive her home, thinking to myself, you just ruined your case. And she's like, how'd I do? I said, well, we got some problems to overcome. So I. I went home, not a happy person. So I took the deposition of several of the employees at the Chinese buffet, and they had. They spoke just Chinese, whatever dialect it was, and there was an interpreter, but the defense attorney hadn't spoken to them. So I'm deposing these witnesses, and they're like, oh, yes, we remember your client. Oh, yes, she fell and said, where did she fall? Well, you know, she fell here. And why did she fall? Well, there was a spill there, but we cleaned it up. So you're saying that where you cleaned the spill up was the exact location where my client fell? Yes. And all of a sudden, I had a case again, so. But those are the vagaries of taking a case to court. Just never know. It could be up one day and down the next and vice versa.

[Chris Dreyer]

Michael, this has been a lot of fun. I love your approach to be in the B2B law firm and how you handle working with your referral partners. If one of our audience members have a case that they want to submit to you or get in touch with you, how can they connect with you?

[Michael McCready]

Well, we do SEO as well, so I hope that if you search up McCready Law, it's going to show up better. But, yeah, I mean, my URL is mccreadylaw.com. we've got an intake team that talks to everyone that's. We could have a whole nother conversation about the importance of intake because, you know, a lot of our people call us. You know, they're not cases that we can handle. When I did intake. My lawyers are terrible at it. Oh, you're in a car accident. Okay, well, when can you come in? Well, no, I don't care about your broken laptop. When can you. You know, I need people who've got compassion and empathy, who can listen and say, oh, I'm so sorry about that, and we can take care of that. And. And even if it's not a case, just be, you know, very, very cordial and give them information. Because every lead that comes in, although we may decline it, is a potential case in the future, and we're always remarketing to those people, whether it's newsletters or blasts or things like that. Never underestimate the power of spending a few minutes talking to someone, even if you're declining the case, because those people have come back time and time again. Well, thanks for having me, Chris.

[Chris Dreyer]

Good to see you like what you heard. Hit subscribe and get more of the no fluff, no BS conversations with the top minds in personal injury. I'm Chris Dreier. This is is pim. Catch you next time.