Life Beyond the Briefs

How to Build a Firm That Can Handle a $100M Case | Ryan McKeen

Most lawyers say they want to “scale.”Ryan McKeen has actually done it. The real kind. The kind where you build a firm that can take the punch of an eight year case, fund experts and animations, and still keep the lights on. The kind where a $100 million verdict is not a lottery ticket. It is the result of building the machine behind the scenes. In this conversation, Ryan tells the story of chasing an eight figure goal when he did not even have a case worth six figures. He talks about what had to change to make that goal even possible, from the team, to the systems, to the way he approached learning trial work. Then he shares the part nobody tells you. Even after the verdict, the case is not “done.” He is still waiting on the appellate ruling, and the clock is ticking at about $9,000 a day in interest. But the episode is not just a victory lap. It is a behind the scenes look at what it takes to build a firm that can handle big work without falling apart. We talk about why you cannot skip the reps, why “gut feel” is a terrible hiring plan, and why investing in your team is the highest leverage move most law firm owners refuse to make. Then it gets spicy. Ryan breaks down what private equity is doing in legal, why the middle is going to get squeezed, and what smaller firms need to do to stay strong and stay different. Think local pizza place versus Domino’s, but with your clients and your career on the line. If you want a clearer path to building a firm that can handle real cases, and still leave room for a real life, this one will hit.Connect with RyanBest Era: bestera.comLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ryanmckeen ____________________________________Brian Glass is a nationally recognized personal injury lawyer in Fairfax, Virginia. He is passionate about living a life of his own design and looking for answers to solutions outside of the legal field. This podcast is his effort to share that passion with others.Want to connect with Brian?Follow Brian on Instagram: @thebrianglassConnect on LinkedIn

How to Hire Great People and Keep Them | Jay Henderson

Hiring is one of those things most law firm owners do just often enough to get burned.You are growing, the phones are ringing, the cases are coming in, and suddenly you are thinking, “We need help. Like yesterday.” And that is usually the exact moment you start making decisions based on vibes, a decent resume, and one solid interview. Brian says it best. Most of us are not great at hiring because we do it so rarely. This episode is basically a reset button for the way lawyers hire.Jay Henderson walks you through a simple lens that makes everything clearer: your firm is made of people, tasks, and systems. You can build great systems all day long, but the people are the ones doing the work. So if the people part is off, everything gets harder than it needs to be. From there, Jay gets practical. He breaks down how to create a “superstar profile” for each role so you know what good actually looks like before you post the job. Then he shows you how to write a job ad that attracts the right candidate instead of everyone with a pulse. He talks score sheets, structured interviews, and how to stop defaulting into selling the job because you ran out of questions. He also gives a gut check on gut checks. Pay attention when your instincts are warning you something is off, but do not let intuition be the whole strategy. Tools, testing, and a consistent process help you go in with your eyes open and avoid the bad hire tax. If you are building a firm you actually want to show up to on Mondays, this is the episode that helps you stop hiring problems from becoming your whole personality.Connect with Jay:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jaysrealtalentCompany: www.RealTalentHiring.comEmail: Jay@RealTalentHiring.com ____________________________________Brian Glass is a nationally recognized personal injury lawyer in Fairfax, Virginia. He is passionate about living a life of his own design and looking for answers to solutions outside of the legal field. This podcast is his effort to share that passion with others.Want to connect with Brian?Follow Brian on Instagram: @thebrianglassConnect on LinkedIn

The 4-Day Test: Can Your Business Run Without You? | Conrad Saam

If you have ever tried to take a long weekend and caught yourself “just checking Slack” from the hotel lobby… this one will feel personal.In this episode, Brian sits down with Conrad Saam (Mockingbird Marketing) for a simple gut-check: The 4-Day Test. Can your business run without you? And if the honest answer is “not really,” Conrad doesn’t shame you. He just lays out what changed inside his own company so he could step away for a few days and not come back to chaos. Spoiler: it was not more hustle. It was better structure, real ownership, and getting comfortable with 80% done their way instead of 100% done your way. You will also get a refreshingly grounded take on legal marketing right now. Conrad talks about why AI is still speculative, why most firms should not chase every new thing, and how he decides what is worth testing versus what is just shiny-object drama. And yes, they go there on directories too. The conversation gets practical fast: what actually matters today, what Google “tells you” if you pay attention, and why citations and profiles can matter more than you think in an AI-shaped search world. If you want a firm that supports your life instead of consuming it, hit play. Then ask yourself one question: would you pass the 4-day test?Connect with Conrad: Mockingbird Marketing: https://mockingbirdmarketing.com/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conradsaam/ ____________________________________Brian Glass is a nationally recognized personal injury lawyer in Fairfax, Virginia. He is passionate about living a life of his own design and looking for answers to solutions outside of the legal field. This podcast is his effort to share that passion with others.Want to connect with Brian?Follow Brian on Instagram: @thebrianglassConnect on LinkedIn

How to Turn Your Expertise Into New Clients with a Book (Live at GLM) | Michael Delon & Jonathan Hawkins

Recorded live at the GLM Summit, this episode of Life Beyond the Briefs brings together Michael Delon and Jonathan Hawkins to answer a simple question with big upside: how do you turn the expertise you already have into a book that actually brings in clients?Michael walks through how busy professionals can create a book without locking themselves in a room to write for months, and how that book becomes a trust-building tool you can use in referrals, intake, and follow up. Jonathan shares the lawyer’s side of the story: what it is really like to go through the process, what changed in his practice once the book was in hand, and how he uses it with real clients instead of letting it collect dust on a shelf.You’ll hear them dig into:How to position your book so it speaks to the right clientsSimple ways to get your ideas out of your head and into a usable manuscriptPractical scripts and use cases for giving your book to prospects and referral partnersCommon myths that keep law firm owners from ever getting startedAudience Q&A on niches like PI, bankruptcy, and tax resolutionIf “write a book” has been on your someday list, this live GLM session will show you how to finally move it into the “this year” column and make it work for your firm. ____________________________________Brian Glass is a nationally recognized personal injury lawyer in Fairfax, Virginia. He is passionate about living a life of his own design and looking for answers to solutions outside of the legal field. This podcast is his effort to share that passion with others.Want to connect with Brian?Follow Brian on Instagram: @thebrianglassConnect on LinkedIn

Leaving the DA’s Office and Betting on Herself | Nana Knight

Most lawyers talk about leaving. Nana Knight actually did it.In this episode, Nana walks through what it really looked like to leave the DA’s office, hang a shingle, and build a criminal defense firm from scratch. No big safety net. No waiting around for the “perfect time.” Just a clear bet on herself.We talk about how her background as a prosecutor and JAG officer shaped the way she runs her firm, why confidence matters more than people admit, and what she focused on in the first year to get real traction fast. You’ll also hear how she built authority early with YouTube, referral relationships, and a book—while still doing the work and serving clients at a high level.If you’re a lawyer thinking about going out on your own (or already did and feel a little stuck), this is one of those episodes that makes things feel possible again.No hype. No buzzwords. Just a real conversation about building a practice you actually want to run.Connect with NanaWebsite: https://www.knightjustice.com YouTube: Search Nana Knight Criminal Defense LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nana-knight-19a9a2293Want a copy of Nana’s book The Knight Advantage? Visit her website and reach out through the contact page to request a copy. ____________________________________Brian Glass is a nationally recognized personal injury lawyer in Fairfax, Virginia. He is passionate about living a life of his own design and looking for answers to solutions outside of the legal field. This podcast is his effort to share that passion with others.Want to connect with Brian?Follow Brian on Instagram: @thebrianglassConnect on LinkedIn