← Personal Injury Mastermind w/ Chris Dreyer
Personal Injury Mastermind w/ Chris Dreyer
407. The 12-Month Pivot: Creating the "Superhero Lawyer" Brand w/ Manny Ibay
00:15:15
Why it’s never too late to command attention, outshine the competition, and fall back in love with your firm.
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- [00:02]
Chris Dreyer
Learn legal marketing and intake from the masters of personal injury. PIMCON 2026 October 4th through 7th at Scottsdale, Arizona. Get your tickets today pimcon.org that's P I M C O N dot O R G.
- [00:19]
Manny
Not everybody wants to be out on a billboard and on Sunset Boulevard, but that's something I always wanted to do.
- [00:25]
Chris Dreyer
After 28 years and a successful practice mani ebay could have kept coasting comfortable in Beverly Hills. Steady caseload, no press.
- [00:32]
Manny
I didn't think that personal injury lawyers could be stars.
- [00:36]
Interviewer
Then everything changed.
- [00:38]
Manny
But then after seeing Mike Morris and Amanda Demanda, I'm going, hey, I could do that.
- [00:43]
Chris Dreyer
In just one year, he's rolled out the superhero lawyer brand. He's on billboards, bus traps, he's writing books and launching a podcast. Showing up on social and making friends with the same lawyers he once thought as the untouchable stars. This is personal injury mastermind. I'm Chris Dreyer. Today's episode is proof that sometimes all you need is the right spark. Manny found his, and it reignited, ignited his whole career. This is a candid conversation about how to fall back in love with your practice and execute on a bigger vision than yourself.
- [01:11]
Interviewer
Let's go, man. You've had a big year. Bus wraps, billboards, the brand rollout. Let's start out with the wins. What's lighting you up right now?
- [01:19]
Manny
Well, I mean, I'm very excited about the superhero lawyer brand. It's just the beginning. They've only been up for six months. I mean, the conference we went to was September. Right. And that's where the whole thing, the genus of it all, I mean, I went to that conference kind of because, you know, I've been a lawyer for 28 years, and yeah, I'm doing okay. I'm doing fine. I could have just stayed in, in my Beverly Hills bubble and taking it easy instead of, you know, go in and Maybe listen to SEOs and sitting in a hotel lobby. But then somebody said, hey, you know what? You probably need to do this. You need to do more stuff relating to the law because, you know, just kind of coasting. So I went to your seminar and. And it was nothing what I expected. I thought, I'll get a few hacks and maybe a few tricks of, you know, what I can do to my website or something like that. But really what I felt from your conference was the excitement and the star power. I mean, I didn't think that personal injury lawyers could be stars. But then after seeing Mike Morris and Amanda Demanda, that's really the highlight for me because I'm going to, hey, I could do that. I think I'm a little cuter than Mike Morse. I think I can be up there and my personality is just as good and Amanda's great. So I thought, okay, you know, I gotta start thinking along those lines. And, yeah, I went through the conference on the plane ride back on the way, probably somewhere over Arizona. I thought, okay, I gotta at least start with a billboard. So I'm thinking about the billboard lawyers in LA and the two that stand out, of course, Karl, Jacob and Sweet James. So I thought, hmm, maybe I can kind of ride on how popular they are and, you know, create a billboard that is funny and kind of pokes fun at them. So I created this billboard called Call Manny instead. He's sweeter. And I had it all designed. It was all laid out. I had a really good looking picture of me up there. And I already had the billboard company the perfect spot. I submitted it, paid the money. Two days before it's supposed to go up. They said, hey, you know what? You got to take that line out about he's sweeter because he's like our biggest client. We don't want to take a chance. So, of course I'm very discouraged because I said, there's no way I can do that billboard without that. That's the kicker, right? So I just kind of went back and was sitting around for a couple days and I was kind of depressed because I'm like, I don't know what I'm going to do now. I thought it was. That was it. And I just started thinking, and I got this review. I saw a review just randomly on Google. And it was one of my clients. I mean, obviously she wanted to say something nice. So she said, man, he got me a great settlement. He's my superhero lawyer. And I thought, hmm, that sounds interesting. I don't think anybody else is using that term. So I looked it up, I checked superhero lawyer dot com. I didn't see anything. So I reserved that domain. And then Halloween, I went out as my costume, kind of dressed up in a black suit, you know, and tie and a cape, a Superman cape. And it's like, people are like, hey, that's cool. So then I started playing with AI and I think it's funny, I started on it the day after the election because I was kind of like, I'm not watching the news, so I'm just going to focus on this. I spent the entire day learning how to do AI then creating some Kind of rough draft for what you see behind and laid it out and came up with, you know what I came up with? And boom, I got a guy who really put the finishing touches on it. And I can honestly say that I probably have the most entertainingly memorable billboard in America for lawyers. That is. And thanks. That's your term, by the way, that I'm copying. It's from your personal injury book. Thank you so much. I just thought I'd plug that in there because I see it. I read your book.
- [04:57]
Chris Dreyer
I'll take it.
- [04:58]
Manny
So it started like that.
- [05:00]
Interviewer
That's incredible. First, I gotta applaud you. A lot of people go to conferences and they don't execute, right. They have these ideas, and I think ideas are diamond a dozen. You probably had a friend that said, hey, they had the Facebook idea or whatever, but it's the people that execute. So I'm seeing the superhero brand behind you. I've seen it on social media. And so you went and executed. Let me ask you back to like the. The billboard stuff, because some people don't want to share these. And if you're open to it, I'll let you punt the question. We can even edit this out. It's like you're talking about, like, hey, it may not get the investment back in the first year. Like, what are we talking for per billboard? Like, what does an investment cost for billboards? Yeah.
- [05:35]
Manny
Okay, well, I mean, let's take the design cost and putting it together, that might just be like 2,000 to hire somebody if they're going to do it. But as far as the per month, I mean, there's two sizes that I'm using. There's the large size, the typical size, and then there's like a medium. The large one is 14 by 48. The one that I'm paying for on the 10 freeway and overland, that's 52, 50amonth. So. And you usually have to sign up for 12. 12 months. And then there's another one that's above this place called the vegan joint, which is 12 by 24, and that one is 3100ish. And then the buses, which I think are actually the best deal for the bang for your buck from the coolness standpoint, dude, because you see them all over town. Those are only like a thousand each per month. So if I had to do more, I probably would do buses. Just for me, literally, the bus drives past my office and I can see it from the window, which is so funny.
- [06:38]
Chris Dreyer
Even up is a specialized proactive AI built For personal injury law firms, personal injury is in their DNA. Visit evenuplaw.com to learn more.
- [06:55]
Interviewer
I guess another question on the billboards is, you know, you could have taken the remnant approach and probably went the cheaper route. They probably even painted the picture of the know more impressions for the remnant. What was your thought process going behind the selection of hey, I want these? Static. I live here. I know this. Like, I want these versus maybe the remnant for, you know, I'm putting air quotes around more impressions, but maybe less cost.
- [07:20]
Manny
Part of this whole billboard thing is it's fun to see that it's kind of an ego thing. I mean, I've purposely made them right around my office and my house. So it's nice to hear your neighbors talk about it. It's nice to hear the guys at the gym. It's like, oh, there's the superhero lawyer. I mean, I have a billboard on Sunset Boulevard, which is a good 15 minutes from my place, and I'm sure it's great over there. But the fact that I don't see it every day or I don't feel the vibe from people, I mean, there's some value to that because there just is. I mean, you just have this different kind of energy when you're walking around and like, everybody has seen you. So I think that's part of it.
- [08:00]
Interviewer
You know, first of all, I appreciate that, the candor and the transparency. I don't think many people would say that, but there's something to it. And like, look, me being vulnerable and transparent. Part of the reason why I opened a legal marketing company was because I wanted to tell my friends and family that I was helping attorneys grow their practice. Right? And not just any business. So I was the same way. I think if people are being honest, there's the status and the ego and things that come involvement. I think that's okay. The other thing I got to just ask, you know, with the superhero brand, I mean, it's probably natural for you to continue to lean into that. Have you thought about doing a comic book? Maybe you settle a case with a parent and then they have a child, and then you're like, here's the comic book. Have you thought about maybe leaning more into the direction of the superhero side?
- [08:44]
Manny
You know, that's interesting because we were thinking about doing some kind of comic book style coffee table book, just as a handout when people came in here. I mean, now the current book that I have, which you should be getting in the next few days, it has a picture of the billboard in the back of the book. So it's nice to hand out. And yes, it isn't on the topic of anything legal, but, you know, people will be like, hey, you know, my lawyer who just settled my case, he's also an author. Anything like that adds to you and differentiates you from everybody else. That's a plus. I mean, also, there's so much to talk about. You know, we don't have to be talking about the legal stuff all the time.
- [09:21]
Interviewer
Yeah. And I think also the legal a lot of times has this negative connotation. But on the flip side, you tell people you're an author, it's like, oh,
- [09:30]
Manny
well, I mean, I gotta tell you, being a lawyer, the superhero lawyer on billboards and then having three books out, I got so much to talk about sitting at the bar. And I'm just like, the most attractive person there. I mean, that's the way. It's just what I've been working toward. So I feel good that I finally got to put it out there and express it such that I have a lot to say about everything. And it's interesting to people.
- [09:52]
Interviewer
It is interesting because it's so different. And by the nature of being different, you automatically stand out. Right. It's like everybody else is doing this. It's a two or one lawyer on the billboard. Most of the time it's blue because the PI, that's the color in the space. And then it's like most of them just say, you know, injury question mark or accident attorneys. And it's like, oh, wait, it kind of catches your eye. And even the, you know, the kids, even in the car may say, hey, look at this, and bring the attention to the driver, too.
- [10:21]
Manny
But I would say if I had to think of one thing that I got from your seminar, which you really can't put in terms of dollars. And it's not that I came up with the brand or the books. The feeling that I have now as far as how I feel about work, like, I'm very excited about it. I could never say before your seminar that, hey, I mean, I just love this whole being a lawyer thing. Like, yes, I have an easy setup. I have my own office. I like the people that are working here. Everything's great. But I never had that kind of Steve Jobs freakishly interested in every detail of the product or creating it. But I have that now. I mean, it's funny because there's this picture. One of my favorite pictures is of Steve Jobs holding his Macintosh, and they've got a really nice one at the Hotel Bel Air Bar. And as soon as I got my billboard up, I framed it. And I was sitting in a similar position with the frame thing on my lap thinking, hey, I created this. I know it's nothing. It's not like the Macintosh. But I felt that creation. And now, of course, with the book. So it's that excitement about what you're doing which was missing from my life. I mean, one of my friends who's a dj, I always thought, wow, that person is so excited all the time about, like, one working talking about it. So I thought, nah, you know what? I'm missing that. But, hey, I'm a lawyer, so maybe I'm never going to have that. But it turned out I just needed that spark. And then now I'm super excited about it. I mean, you don't want to sit next to me at a bar and have to listen to me talk about all this stuff. It's. It gets a little out of hand, especially with, like, three gin martinis.
- [12:05]
Interviewer
One final question for our audience that is listening that has more questions related to what we talked about or wants to be the next superhero Atlanta. How can they get in touch with you?
- [12:14]
Manny
Well, they can call me directly on my cell phone at 310-903-0077. And I give that out because, you know, Mike Alder, he's super busy and famous, but he lets people text them, and it's been a great contact. So I think that anybody wants to text me with any kind of questions, they can do that as well.
- [12:34]
Interviewer
Amazing. Manny, thanks for coming on the show.
- [12:36]
Manny
Well, thank you. It's been great. I'm going to see you in Arizona.
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Interviewer
Let's do it.
- [12:42]
Chris Dreyer
Manny's story shows what can happen when you stop coasting and go all in after nearly three decades of practice. One spark at Pimcon set him off, and now he's on billboards, writing books and building a brand that stands out in LA's most competitive market. Catch me Chris Dreyer in Arizona, along with some of the best in the industry. Get your ticket today@pimcon.org that's P I M C O N.org I'm Chris Dreyer. Thanks for listening to Personal Injury Mastermind.
- [13:08]
Interviewer
We'll catch you next time.