Ideas in the Wild: How Mike Morse is Helping Lawyers Learn to Run Their Law Firm Like a Business
Skilled lawyers who open their own firms can quickly find their dream career turning into a nightmare. When the firm doesn’t grow as fast as they expected, the money doesn’t come like they’d hoped despite working long hours, and their less-capable peers are passing them by, it can be demoralizing and deeply frustrating. Mike Morse has been there.
The change he made that transformed both his personal life and his professional future was running his law firm like a business. Now, along with John Nachazel, Mike has written the book he wishes he had twenty years ago. In Fireproof, the duo lay out a roadmap of business principles to help lawyers sort out what’s missing from their firm. By running their firm like a business, lawyers will attract more clients, make more money, and enjoy newfound freedom.
I recently caught up with Mike to learn about his book-writing journey, his favorite idea that he shares with readers, and how that idea transformed his life and his law firm.
What happened that made you decide to write the book? What was the exact moment when you realized these ideas needed to get out there?
Over the past decade, I’ve periodically had a recurring thought about writing a book. I kept saying to myself variations of “you can’t make this stuff up” and “I wish somebody had told me this sooner.” I knew I should write a book, share my story, and pass on what I learned, but I kept putting it off. Then, one day, I went on a fateful drive with a close friend.
Out of nowhere, she said, “Michael, you should write a book.” At first, I protested, but after some convincing, I agreed she was right. Why wouldn’t I share my story? I’d had more than one crazy thing happen to me and I’d certainly learned some lessons that were worth paying forward.
Without much more thought, I embarked on the journey to write the book that I wished someone had written for me. It’s intended to motivate and teach attorneys to run their firms like the businesses that they are. Yes, be great attorneys, help those seeking justice, but also be smart in your approach to running the business of your law firm. This book is a collection of lessons that are proven in the real world. I hope they serve as a roadmap for others on their journeys.
What’s your favorite specific, actionable idea in the book?
If I were only able to give you one takeaway from my book, it would be to get a Jumbotron. Imagine a football coach who needs to put 11 players on the field and call a play. Now assume the coach doesn’t know the down and distance, time left in the game, how many timeouts remain, or even the score! The coach will be stressed, perhaps even paralyzed from acting.
It would be crazy to coach a game without knowing the numbers, and yet, there are far too many law firms who are coaching their firms without a jumbotron. They don’t know if they should try to run out the clock or throw a Hail Mary! Quite simply, you must know your numbers.
When I didn’t know my numbers, I was forced into a constant state of reaction and I felt anxious and overwhelmed. Now, my firm is 10x larger and I feel relaxed, confident, and I have more time. Without numbers I was guessing at the answers, before I even understood the problem.
Now, I use the numbers in my Jumbotron to understand precisely what is happening in real time and why, and that makes the path forward clear and obvious. There’s so much to glean from the book, but having a Jumbotron is the first step to understanding which problems must be solved first. Once they are understood, you can take bold, confident action and drive your firm forward.
What’s a story of how you’ve applied this lesson in your own life? What has this lesson done for you?
Once I discovered the value of knowing my numbers in my work life, I realized I needed to apply those same techniques to my personal life. I needed a personal Jumbotron. I needed to understand exactly what I had and what I didn’t have. I needed to determine how much I wanted in low risk, highly liquid assets and how much I wanted to place in higher risk, long term, less liquid investments. I needed to balance my personal investment portfolio between stocks, bonds, and real estate, and know the tax implications of different investment vehicles.
Before I knew my numbers, I simply knew I didn’t have enough. I knew I wouldn’t have enough if I spent my time counting my money. Instead, I knew I had to get busy working. Once I made the choice to generate the numbers, I realized just how much money my approach was costing me.
Now, I am much more deliberate in my personal financial planning and my money is working much smarter for me. And importantly, I have clearly defined exactly what I am trying to accomplish. I have decided what my goals are and why and I track my progress towards those goals with purpose. Just as in my work life, in my personal life, what gets measured gets done. I have been able to accomplish my financial goals faster and achieve my dreams.
