What is your competitive edge?
Most of the time, the relationship with your attorney is a break-and-fix model. You call the attorney when there is a fire, or you have an attorney look at a document for you. There’s not a real relationship with the client. We like to have a deeper relationship with our clients, which is why we started our Outside General Counsel Program in the first place. We can attend their board meetings, for example, and really be their legal advisor and act as counsel as they grow.
Can you tell me about some of the challenges you faced in growing your business?
I think early on, it was tough to hire people even though I knew we needed help. I was worried about having enough workload to keep people busy and pay them. It turned out to not really be an issue, but a problem I invented in my own head. Either way, that was a challenge for me and I think for other entrepreneurs. How much can you hire and how soon? What can you pay? Can you find good help? Then if you can, it’s dedicating the time to build a team and training them to continue to build your company culture.
Another challenge for me was that I started the law firm at just 30 years old. So I had to get clients and my staff to realize that even though I was rather young at the time, I had the chops to do the business and corporate work that the employers needed.
What are some of the goals you have for the firm?
We want to be a regional law firm serving clients across the state and do a lot more in the franchise world. We have a goal called 1,000/1,000. We want to have 1,000 businesses as part of our general counsel program and handle 1,000 litigation matters over a 10-year stretch. That’s kind of our “big-hairy-audacious goal” that we set a few years ago.
We also want to continue to be a great place to work. Right now, we have a hybrid work model which has been a great morale booster for our team. We also hire team members based on expertise and what they bring to the team, not just people who can commute. A continuous goal of ours is trying to provide a great lifestyle for our attorneys and staff.
Do you have a proudest moment so far?
I think my proudest moment was making the Inc 5000 list. That was a goal of ours that we achieved.
It’s not only about reaching a revenue goal. It’s reaching it within a short amount of time. That was a big moment for us.
What does it mean to be selected as a GrowFL Florida Companies to Watch Honoree?
It’s just really nice to be recognized for our hard work in the community. There are a lot of honors and recognitions that are based upon who you know what you apply for, or what you get other people to vote for. Then there are objective awards, like this one, that is more meaningful to us.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank?
He’s a past Honoree as well, but I’d like to thank Cesar Quintero from The Profit Recipe. He has been very instrumental in helping us develop and further hone our company culture and helping us grow.