The Business Side Of Law: Allen Tittle Of Tittle & Perlmuter On 5 Things You Need To Create Or Lead A Successful Law Firm

An Interview With Eric Pines

Cases. You must be able to get cases. You can be the best lawyer in the world, but if you don’t have cases, no one will know and no one will care.

Law school primarily prepares lawyers for the practice of law. But leading or starting a law firm requires so much more than that. It requires the entrepreneurial skills that any CEO would need to run a business; How to manage personnel, how to hire and fire, how to generate leads, how to advertise, how to manage finances, etc. On the business side of law, what does an attorney need to know to create a successful and thriving law practice? To address these questions, we are talking to successful law firm principals who can share stories and insights from their experience about the “5 Things You Need To Create Or Lead A Successful Law Firm”.

As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Allen Tittle.

Attorney Allen Tittle, co-owner and founder of Tittle & Perlmuter, practices in the area of personal injury with a focus on medical malpractice and nursing home neglect throughout the state of Ohio. He serves in many leadership roles and has quickly risen through the ranks to be recognized as one of Ohio’s leading personal injury lawyers by several organizations. Allen is a family man, dedicated Cleveland sports fan, and supportive member of his community.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you ended up where you are? Specifically we’d love to hear the story of how you began to lead your practice.

I started my law firm because I wanted to provide clients with better service than what I could give them at previous firms. I wanted a law firm where clients actually came first and I could really dig into every case and turn over every stone to make sure the truth was revealed and justice was served. Having the freedom to take on cases I truly believe in allows me to go all out for medical malpractice cases, devote my full attention, and hire the right expert witnesses to fully prosecute the case. When it comes to life in general, I’ve always wanted to create my own path where both success and failure were 100% on me because the legacy I leave behind is very important to me.

I’m a huge fan of mentorship throughout one’s career. None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Who has been your biggest mentor? What was the most valuable lesson you learned from them?

When it came to being a lawyer and running a business, I didn’t really have a formal mentor. I looked up to national leaders and invested significant time, money, and effort to attend different trial colleges and business events. Very early on I hired a business coach because law school teaches you how to take the bar examination, but it doesn’t teach you how to practice law or run a business. From the very beginning, I tried to educate myself as much as I could through resources and paid professionals. To this day, I’m still a lifelong learner. The most valuable lesson I learned through business coaching is that you cannot be the person who saves everyone. You must empower your employees to make their own decisions and mistakes. When I first started, anytime one of my team members had a problem, I would just give them the answer. I quickly learned that’s one of the worst things you can do and as a leader, you must create an environment where everything does not fall or rely on you.

In life, two of my greatest mentors were my Ma and Pa, my great-great aunt and uncle who basically took me in when I was 2 weeks old. They taught me the importance of being a great person and how to have a heart. Life is so much more than just our possessions, it’s truly about the positive impact you can make.

From completing your degree to opening a practice and becoming a business owner, your path was most likely challenging. Can you share a story about one of your greatest struggles? Can you share what you did to overcome it?

I started the firm at my dining room table. Since then, I’ve grown from a third-floor office at a shared office space, to finally a legitimate office, to now owning a building. Every step along the way has had its own struggles, but the hardest challenge has been having patience with the process. Nothing happens overnight, no matter how much we wish it did. The overall journey has been my biggest struggle, trusting the process step by step. Of course, there were times very early on when I would worry about how I was going to pay myself, but almost all new business owners experience that. When I started the firm, I was $120,000 in law school debt, I had recently bought a house, and my wife was pregnant with our first child. Even though it probably wasn’t the best time to start a business, I didn’t let that stop me. I knew it was better to gamble on myself than someone else.

On a regular basis, I struggle with the day-to-day battle where I’m just tired and I have trouble with mindset of “there’s got to be an easier way”. However, perseverance is important and I don’t think I’ve ever waivered from my overall belief that ultimately, I would be successful. I believe that the only thing that works is work, so you must be willing to put in the hours to be successful.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story about how that was relevant in your own life?

“Work works”. In life there are no guarantees, but if you put in the hours and work, I believe you’re going to be able to find success. You must make your own luck and take extreme ownership over every area of your life. Whenever I’ve struggled with the process or day-to-day battles, I’ve fallen back to this.

This is not easy work. What is your primary motivation and drive behind the work that you do?

I sort of relish the role of being the David vs Goliath. I could never be the guy that represents the billion-dollar corporation that wants to smash the little guy. Instead, to me, there’s something special about when the deck is stacked against you and your back is against the wall, you can fight with the law and still win. That’s every case I handle. Winning those battles is what drives me.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

We have a lot of exciting things going on at our firm right now. Most importantly, trial. Because of Covid, all our cases that need tried are back-to-back, so we’re ramping up to be ready for the courtroom. These trials are exciting because they involve hospital systems that didn’t have safety as a priority and had faulty procedures or systems that their employees were regulated to follow. If we’re successful, we can get real change in the hospital system and better care to these communities. Our firm also believes in giving back to the community. We have a medical malpractice scholarship open through November to help students get to the next level in their career. I’m also excited about expansion. We continue to grow and add team members that are the right pieces to do something special.

Fantastic. Let’s now shift to discussing the business of law. Can you tell us a bit about the nature of your practice and what you focus on?

I focus on legacy. It’s important to me to leave the world a better place then I found it. Legacy means a great deal to both me and my family, especially my kids. I want them to look back one day and say that their Dad did really important things and made the world a better place one case at a time.

You are a successful attorney. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? What unique qualities do you have that others may not? Can you please share a story or example for each?

The three character traits that have been most instrumental to my success are being hardworking, competitive, and always striving for continuous growth and improvement.

I would say my most unique quality comes down to my drive. To be successful with what I do, you have to be willing to do the things that no one else is willing to do. That means working on holidays and taking the extra step to look for evidence in a case when someone else might not. Most people aren’t willing to make sacrifices and go the extra mile, so it takes a lot of drive and discipline to set yourself apart.

In the beginning, I can remember the first Christmas I started my law firm. I was at a family members house with my computer while everyone was celebrating Christmas and I worked on responding to emails and doing what I needed to move the needle forward. I knew no one else was working on Christmas, so that was my day to get ahead. I wouldn’t necessarily advise it, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

A couple years ago I was diagnosed with a rare form of thyroid cancer called tall cell variance that required thyroid removal and a complete neck resection. I remember only being out of the recovery room for 15 minutes and asking my wife for my iPad and started working.

Weekends are always tough for me. Every weekend I go into the office, but not before my kids turn to me and ask if I have to go in again. They want me to play with them. Of course, I want to and in a perfect world I would. But I have to look them in the eyes and tell them I’m sorry and that I can’t today. It’s the worst feeling in the world, but hopefully one day they will look back and see commitment modeled in my example. I want to show my family that when you make a commitment, you stick to it. That means if I make a commitment to be with my family, that commitment is solid. For example, every Saturday morning I coach my son’s flag football team and then I go into the office.

Do you think where you went to school has any bearing on your success? How important is it for a lawyer to go to a top-tier school?

No, I don’t think where you go to school has any influence on your success. I went to school in the area where I wanted to practice law — Cleveland. I go up against people in trial who have gone to all the top tier schools and beat them all the time. It has no bearing whatsoever. Whether you go to Harvard, Yale, or Cleveland Marshall, everyone gets the same license. You’ll also have a lot more debt if you place too much importance on the prestige of the school you attend.

Managing being a law practitioner and a business owner is a constant balancing act. How do you manage both roles?

It’s not easy and I don’t think I’ve mastered it yet. The truth is that when I’m really focused on being a lawyer, the business takes a hit and when I’m really focused on the business, the lawyer side takes a hit. So, what I’m trying to do is put the right people around me so I can jump from one side to another and the hits aren’t obvious. But finding balance is a constant battle and struggle.

Can you help articulate the entrepreneurial skills a lawyer needs to run and lead a successful law firm?

At the end of the day, you could be the greatest lawyer in the world, but if you don’t’ have any clients, it won’t matter. Step one is having the drive to get clients. Step two is being able to network while being a real human being. People don’t like lawyers. I don’t even like lawyers. You get clients by forgetting everything you learned in law school and being a relatable human being.

As a business owner you spend most of your time working IN your practice, seeing clients. When and how do you shift to working ON your practice? (Marketing, upgrading systems, growing your practice, etc.) How much time do you spend on the business elements?

In a perfect world, you have clear distinctions of time blocked off to work on the business. In a perfect world, I do firm Fridays where every Friday is 100% devoted to just working on the business. But sometimes life and cases get in the way. You have to get the right people in place that will give you the ability to get back to that. Right now, I’m still in the process of getting there. But if you don’t block out the time, then it’s not going to happen. And working on the practice is just as important as being in it.

Can you share some specific, non intuitive insights from our personal experience about how a leader of a law firm should:

• Manage personnel: Empower them. You’re not a babysitter and it’s a waste of your time to micromanage. Give them the tools they need to succeed, include them in on the why and how, show gratitude and appreciation, and create a culture of accountability.
• Hire and fire: Fire fast and hire slow. We try to hire slow, and I’ve spent a lot of time putting together a hiring funnel that’s a multi-step process before anyone gets hired at our firm. It’s important to take the time to make sure you find the right person that’s a right fit.
• Generate leads: Most lawyers are type A which means it’s easy to chase the new big shiny business opportunities. What matters most is what moves the needle. For our firm, that’s old-fashioned networking. Most of my business still comes from attorney referrals and that will never change.
• Advertise: Work on branding. What brand do you want to be giving off? It will determine how you advertise. Our bread and butter is big catastrophic cases, so we work to make our brand match that. Know what you want your brand to be, show people you’re a normal human, document what you do on a day-to-day basis, and use social media marketing to share both your struggles and successes.
• Manage finances: We have to self-fund every case. Medical malpractice cases cost around $150,000–200,000 on average just to take to trial. Imagine investing that much money in just one case. It’s like professional gambling. Because of that, we have to be pretty conservative and strategic with finances. You never want to be in a position where you’re waiting on that next check to make payroll. Save up enough money so that you at least have 6 months of overhead. And get fluid with lines of credit when you don’t need them so that way you’re ready if you ever need them to fall back on.

Ok, thank you. Here is the main question of our interview about the business side of law. What are your 5 Things An Attorney Needs To Know In Order To Create A Successful And Thriving Law Practice.

1 — Be present. Be in the trenches with your firm.

2 — Drive. You have to be willing to do the things that no one else is willing to do.

3 — Cases. You must be able to get cases. You can be the best lawyer in the world, but if you don’t have cases, no one will know and no one will care.

4 — Have systems in place that allow the law firm to run without you.

5- Empower your employees to do the best they can without micromanaging them.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

We need to get more lawyers, especially plaintiff lawyers, trying cases. Jurors are the conscience of the community. For every case that’s tried, that’s the community deciding how they want things to go on, how the hospital system should act in this situation, or how a product manufacturer should make products. Jurors get a say. I would inspire younger trial lawyers to have the confidence and knowledge to know how to try cases. Once upon a time, all lawyers were trying cases, but it’s not like that anymore. We need to get back to that in order to make a real difference.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

You can check us out on social media, YouTube, and visit our website www.tittlelawfirm.com

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!

About the Interviewer: Eric L. Pines is a nationally recognized federal employment lawyer, mediator, and attorney business coach. He represents federal employees and acts as in-house counsel for over fifty thousand federal employees through his work as a federal employee labor union representative. A formal federal employee himself, Mr. Pines began his federal employment law career as in-house counsel for AFGE Local 1923 which is in Social Security Administration’s headquarters and is the largest federal union local in the world. He presently serves as AFGE 1923’s Chief Counsel as well as in-house counsel for all FEMA bargaining unit employees and numerous Department of Defense and Veteran Affairs unions.

While he and his firm specialize in representing federal employees from all federal agencies and in reference to virtually all federal employee matters, his firm has placed special attention on representing Veteran Affairs doctors and nurses hired under the authority of Title. He and his firm have a particular passion in representing disabled federal employees with their requests for medical and religious reasonable accommodations when those accommodations are warranted under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (ADA). He also represents them with their requests for Federal Employee Disability Retirement (OPM) when an accommodation would not be possible.

Mr. Pines has also served as a mediator for numerous federal agencies including serving a year as the Library of Congress’ in-house EEO Mediator. He has also served as an expert witness in federal court for federal employee matters. He has also worked as an EEO technical writer drafting hundreds of Final Agency Decisions for the federal sector.

Mr. Pines’ firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has offices in Baltimore, Maryland and Atlanta, Georgia. His first passion is his wife and five children. He plays classical and rock guitar and enjoys playing ice hockey, running, and biking. Please visit his websites at www.pinesfederal.com and www.toughinjurylawyers.com. He can also be reached at eric@pinesfederal.com.