The Business Side Of Law: David Muchow Of Muchowlaw On 5 Things You Need To Create Or Lead A Successful Law Firm

An Interview With Eric Pines

You need to figure out what your company’s essential goals and activities are and stay focused on them while ignoring the other things that will throw you off course. That’s Minimum Smart Management (MSM) — using the least amount of effort to get the job done right. One way to do this is to periodically put your action items into a quadrant chart of urgent and important items, along with the dollar value or other impact of each. Step back and see what you really should be doing — namely those items that are both urgent and important.

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 David Muchow.

Author David Muchow is managing partner, Muchowlaw, Arlington, VA, and a thirty-year business expert, serial entrepreneur, corporate lawyer, and inventor who has advised hundreds of businesses. He teaches Law, Business, and Entrepreneurship at the Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. David has helped turn ideas into publicly traded companies and was vice president of a one-billion-dollar publicly traded company.

Earlier, he served on Capitol Hill, with the NSC, OMB, and as a prosecutor and special assistant to the head of the criminal division, U.S. DOJ, where he received the Attorney General’s Special Achievement Award. He was general counsel and director or international affairs for the American Gas Association, and a founder and CEO of SkyBuilt Power that built the world’s first rapidly deployable, solar/wind power stations for the CIA and military.

He is a frequent speaker, consultant, and has been author/co-editor of publications including, Energy Law and Transactions (7 vols., Lexis Nexis), Regulation of the Gas Industry (5 vols., Lexis Nexis), and The 7 Secret Keys to Startup Success (Skyhorse/Simon & Schuster). Georgetown University (BSFS) Cornell Law, and Georgetown University Law Center (JD). David and his wife Marilee live in Arlington, VA and enjoy spending time with their children and grandchildren. You can reach me at dmuchow@muchowlaw.com.

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.

Man plans and God laughs! My career is more like a ping pong ball than a straight line. As a teenager in Florida, I remember being in a church meeting that was getting to be pretty tense. You could feel the temperature rising. One of the senior, white haired members, an attorney, stood up and within less than a minute had lowered the temperature and gotten folks laughing. That made a big impression on me and while I liked science, math wasn’t my strong suit, so I decided to become a lawyer.

I got to work for my congressman in Washington, DC while going to Georgetown University and then to law school. One day, while selling Fuller Brushes door-to-door I got to know the secretary to President Johnson’s chief of staff and got a job in the Budget Bureau. When President Nixon became president I served with the National Security Councill, then became a prosecutor in the Department of Justice and an assistant to the head of the Criminal Division.

I practiced law and was a lobbyist and foreign agent with Senator Smathers’ (D. FL) law firm and one day a friend asked me to meet with the president of the American Gas Association who was having his hair cut. I sat with him in the barbershop and after a few minutes he offered me a job as General Counsel. I was there for 28 years. When I retired, I because increasingly interested in entrepreneurship and founded a company with some friends that created the first rapidly deployable solar power stations for the CIA and military. I exited that; and now spend time with a wide variety of clients from energy and tech to military contracts, and as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University teaching Law, Business, and Entrepreneurship, and just finished a book, “The 7 Secret Keys to Startup Success,” designed to provide the most practical legal and business information for startups and growing companies.

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?

I’m grateful to have had many mentors, but spent the most time with Bud Lawrence, the president of the American Gas Association. Bud was a US Marine and a fearless, tireless leader, who did as much as anyone to help pass the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978, the federal legislation that helped end the made-in-Washington, DC natural gas shortage by providing for gas deregulation.

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 was a founder and president of a startup, SkyBuilt Power. We had to solve hundreds of technical problems in order to develop the worlds’ first containerized, rapidly deployable, solar and wind power station that could run for years with little maintenance and no fuel. It could then power off-grid facilities like the Army’s forward operating bases in the Iraq War. For every 25 convoys hauling fuel, one US soldier was dying from improvised explosive devices (IEDs), so reducing fuel convoys was critical. We began building a wooden model in a vacant bowling alley, raised several hundred thousand dollars and finally created a prototype that worked. I took pictures of it. A few days later, the fire department called, and I saw it burn to ashes. We had to start all over. But all our investors stayed with us, and we rebuilt it. Then the CIA’s venture capital firm, In-Q-Tel, funded us, and we were off and running!

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

“We must either find a way or make one.” Hannibal. When inventing and building something that hasn’t been done before when you solve one problem, often you simply uncover more. You need to have faith that at some point the trend will reverse and the number of problems will diminish. As the saying goes, “faith is the bird that sings when the dawn ins still dark.” Belief in yourself and your team played a huge part in our success.

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

I like to try to find solutions to big problems, like creating new energy systems, that can help lower energy costs and increase energy security and resiliency.

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

The price of energy is high for everyone, and especially for retired folks on a fixed income. I’m working with colleagues on an off-grid, solar heating system that can provide heat from the sun without using typical solar panels. The goal is to provide a system that will pay for itself in a couple of years and provide free heat for many years after that.

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?

My clients range from startups to major corporations. I particularly enjoy helping new startups and new business to avoid business-killing mistakes — I call this “Startup SuicideTM,” — so startups can survive and thrive. Eight out of ten new business fail but surprisingly too little attention has been paid to why. Think of the tremendous economic loss to United States. We could have had thousands more Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, but thousands of companies have been lost. So in, “The 7 Secret Keys to Startup Success,” I’ve identified the causes of these failures and proposed a Federal moonshot — an action plan, to allow entrepreneurs to go from an idea to commercialization in months, not years.

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?

Thanks to my parents, I grew up understanding that I had to work hard to succeed, and should be ethical, and try to help others. I often fail in each of these areas, but they definitely influenced my career.

In terms of unique qualities, I find I sometimes can take information or lessons from one area of activity and put it together with another to create something new. For example, business books are generally pretty boring, and I’ve been guilty of writing some of those. So, when I wrote The “7 Secret Keys to Startup success,” — a entrepreneurial/business/legal book, I wrapped those parts around an adventure story that illustrated each chapter, such as management, fundraising, and finance, to illustrate the principles discuss in a fun way.

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?

I suspect most people like where they went to school but going to Georgetown University definitely changed my life. I particularly valued the Jesuit values of service to others combined with the political and international environment of being in Washington, DC. Some statistics show that if you want to practice with big law, going to a top-tier school helps. But more important is whether the professors and other aspects of the environment in that law school help you develop, identify your interests, and provide you with the necessary skills to be successful…

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

As a lawyer who works with startup companies, I find the legal and business parts overlap so much that it isn’t a problem. There are exceptions, of course, such as if there are potential conflicts of interest.

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

1. Be flexible and able to pivot on a dime when conditions change.
2. Listen, listen, listen to others and be humble. You may be good in some things, but you still can be really inadequate in other necessary skills…
3. The most powerful words are “I need help.” Don’t be afraid to ask for help because no one has all the answers.
4. Use “Methics” — management ethics. Being ethnical is not only the right thing to do it’s also good business and essential to keeping viable business and personal relationships.

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?

This is a great question — I don’t spend enough time growing my practice — part of that is that I have a number of long-term clients that I enjoy working with — but probably should spend more time being smarter about how I practice.

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

• Manage Personnel.

You manage a company but lead people. That’s a big difference. You lead form the top down and should learn to practice “Management ZenTM” to keep your life balance and achieve business goals when facing inevitable failures from time to time, and not let those get you down, so that you can stay focused.

• Hire and Fire Employees.

Understand the rules about what you can say and not say in job interviews, and always create a solid paper trail of the reasons for terminating employees. Also have a detailed employee manual in place, follow the procedures in it; and provide periodic performance reviews in writing to document performance.

• Generate Leads.

Most of my new clients come from personal referrals with some via social media. But I’ve found social media referrals to be less likely to work because their needs might not be that well screened to match my areas of practice.

• Advertise.

Word of mouth, of course is the best method of advertising. I don’t place print or other ads, but I do use third party firms such as AVVO and others; but would like to see those firms do a better job of screening clients…

• Manage Finances.

Keeping track of funds in and out is not the most fun part of law practice but of course it is essential that accurate trust account and other records be carefully maintained. My practice is transactional so matters usually come and go in a couple of months which makes tracking finances easier, so this is not a major issue for my practice.

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. The First is Management Zen. What is that?

As a manager you’re always dealing with some kind of chaos and drinking from a firehose — clients with an urgent need, deadlines, financial, and personnel issues. Somehow in all of this you need to handle the chaos while meeting your objectives. Your company is a reflection of you, and your employees and clients are watching. So, you need to manage yourself first before you can manage your company. Self-management is difficult. It’s a marathon not a sprint, but it’s essential.

This is where Management Zen comes in. I’ve noticed that the most successful CEOs are able to keep their perspective and life balance even while business chaos tries to overtake them. Management Zen is a state of mind that allows you to stay above the chaos — a way to keep your inner sense of calm, accept that things can go wrong from time to time — all of which helps you to stay focused and execute your business goals.

Once I was with the CEO of a company that did a lot of urgent work for the CIA. Everything was both important and urgent — lives were at stake. I asked the CEO how it was going, and he paused and smiled for a second, and then wiped his hand over the top of his head and said — I’m doing my best, but ultimately, there’s only so much I can do — I just let the rest wash on by and don’t stress over it! That’s a taste of what Management Zen involves.

But you also need some other key tools.

2. Managing with Minimum Smart Management (MSM)TM.

You need to figure out what your company’s essential goals and activities are and stay focused on them while ignoring the other things that will throw you off course. That’s Minimum Smart Management (MSM) — using the least amount of effort to get the job done right. One way to do this is to periodically put your action items into a quadrant chart of urgent and important items, along with the dollar value or other impact of each. Step back and see what you really should be doing — namely those items that are both urgent and important.

When I was with a high-tech company, we painted a 20’ long office wall with whiteboard paint. In one area was our goals, another, key activities, and plenty of room to brainstorm and see and connect the relationships among ideas, and which activities had to be done first so others could follow. Those are some examples of Minimum Smart Management.

3. Be Humble and Understand Your Strengths and Weaknesses.

Often senior management is really good at one or two things. But that can lead them to believe that they don’t need much help in any other areas of business. But you need to be humble, continually seek advice as to how to do things better and make up for your lack of knowledge in areas where you’ve had less experience. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, take courses to increase your skill set, use an expert consultant, and get regular feedback from your staff and others on how you can do better.

I was at a retirement party for the general counsel of a major utility company. In his remarks he said that one of the reasons he had been successful was because he kept asking other questions and asking for help even when he thought he knew the answer. He said he got a lot smarter faster that way!

4. Total Situational Awareness (TSA)TM.

Number 4 is Total Situational Awareness. While staying focused on your key goals and activities you also need to avoid dropping balls around you. That’s Total Situational Awareness or TSA. There’s a human tendency to focus on things you like to do and know how to do well. That can lead to problems, for example, when you ignore what seems to be a minor personal problem that suddenly explodes. So, you need to use tools that will help you be aware of what’s happening now and will happen in the future while still focusing on your current objectives. I’ve found that spending one-on-one time with some board members, for example, can give you valuable feedback on your performance and less obvious but critical risks that need to be addressed…

5. Use MethicsTM — Management Ethics.

Finally, always be ethical — use “Methics,” management ethics. Being ethical is not only the right thing to do, but it’s best for business in the long run. Your team wants to be proud of where they work, and your clients want to work with someone they trust. It’s awkward sometimes to tell a client that they can’t do something they want to do. So, I tell my clients up front, “I promise to tell you what you need to hear not what you may want to hear. And I’m only going to play it straight.” If they don’t want that, then I tell them they’d be happier working with someone else.

So, if you use these tools and many others on my website, davidmuchowauthor.com you can increase your odds of business success. Feel free to contact me anytime.

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 should create a National Eco-System to Support Startups (NESS). Often, entrepreneurs are lone inventors. Some have little business experience and are afraid of having their ideas stolen. Most startups run out of time and money in a year or two, and the inventions fail to cross the “Startup Grand Canyon” — the huge chasm between an idea and a financially viable business and end up in the “Valley of Death,” the place where companies die by running out of money before they cash flow positive.

Eight out of ten new business fail, but surprisingly too little attention has been paid to why that is. Think of the tremendous economic loss to our country. We could have had thousands more Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, but those potential businesses have been lost. So, in “The 7 Secret Keys to Startup Success,” I’ve identified the causes of these failures and proposed a Federal moonshot — an action plan to allow entrepreneurs to go from an idea to commercialization in months, not years. I have a detailed private sector- government plan to accomplish that.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

You will find information on my practice and “The 7 Secret Keys to Startup Success,” at muchowlaw.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.