The Business Side Of Law: Michael Elkins Of MLE Law On 5 Things You Need To Create Or Lead A Successful Law Firm

An Interview With Eric Pines

Technology Rules: Nowadays, you can run an entire law firm from a phone and a laptop. If you can’t, then you’re doing it wrong.

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 Michael Elkins.

Michael Elkins, Esq. is a nationally quoted labor and employment attorney and the founder of MLE Law, a full-service labor and employment, business and sports law firm in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Elkins has been featured by national media outlets such as CNN, Forbes, Newsweek, The New York Daily News, Bloomberg, Yahoo, Yahoo Life, Yahoo Finance, The Miami Herald and more, discussing issues ranging from Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining negotiations to employer COVID-19 vaccination mandates. Elkins is a national resource on labor and employment matters and provided extensive commentary during the COVID-19 pandemic. He is a 20+ year litigation attorney representing businesses, municipalities and individuals in labor and employment matters as well as providing outside General Counsel services. Elkins founded MLE Law to modernize the business of law by, among other things, rejecting the use of traditional brick and mortar office space and providing alternative fee structures wherein clients are not charged for phoning, emailing or texting about their matters. Elkins is also the host of the “Quarter Four” podcast, which explores the intersection between sports, business and lifestyle.

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.

For the first 16 years of my career, I was just like every other lawyer. I subscribed every traditional notion about what lawyers are, how they should behave and how they should (or should not) sell themselves. I had a “nice” practice and a “nice” job. It sounds so boring just saying it. With the advent of social media, I realized that there was a better and a lot more fun way to have a career as a lawyer. It never made any sense to me that lawyers were in the shadows. Why? So, I started slow, a few posts here and there on Facebook and Instagram. At that same time, the podcast world was just starting. I dove in headfirst and started a business and sports podcast. In no time at all, social media and podcasting were my “go-to” as a way to build my personal brand. My employer at the time was not a fan. Despite me being an equity partner of the firm, they were scared of what I was doing so they started “monitoring” my online content and requiring approval before I posted. That never made any sense to me. They trusted me to run multi-million-dollar cases with no supervision, but if there was to be an Instagram post it had to go through six different people for review. I knew it was time to embrace the 21st century and do things differently. Hence, in January 2019, MLE Law was born!

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?

Ironically, despite my desire to market and build a brand on my own terms, my biggest mentors were my former law partners. They may market more old school, but they are straight up killer lawyers and they taught me everything they know. I am the lawyer I am today because of them. You can have the greatest Instagram, LinkedIn or TikTok but you better be able to back it up in the courtroom. I can and do, and that’s because of the lawyers who took me under their wing 20 years ago. They’re the finest litigators I know.

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 opened my law firm in 2019. I had a nice base of clients, but they were all businesses. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. I was nervous of course. However, I immediately leaned into it. While most firms were scrambling to handle remote work, I was already on that path from years earlier. Instead of scrambling, I immediately took to social media to host live discussions about all of the various employment law issues that were happening on a minute-to-minute basis. I also told all of my clients that I would do their COVID-19 work for free — I didn’t just say “we’re in this together” I showed it. So, while the pandemic was a struggle at the beginning, leaning into it, being aggressive, thinking outside the box and really having empathy for my clients and their struggles helped me thrive and overcome.

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

“The secret of all victory lies in the organization of the non-obvious.” This is relevant every day. We’re all great with what’s obvious. Real success comes from peeling back the onion and getting to what’s not in front of us. I keep that in mind every day in just about everything I do for my business.

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

I love what I do, it’s that simple. Every day is triage. I am consistently working on complex problems with great people in an area of law that is fun and exciting, and I get to do it with my dogs next to me most of the day — what could be better?

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

I wish I could share what I am working on, but in order for it to be interesting I’d have to share confidential information. Let’s just say it’s never a dull moment in the world of employment law.

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?

MLE Law is a full-service labor and employment/business law firm in Fort Lauderdale, FL. I am a litigation attorney who represents businesses, municipalities and individuals in labor and employment matters as well as providing outside General Counsel services (daily corporate advice, preparation and review of corporate documents, creation of corporate entities, merger and acquisition representation). MLE Law provides a transparent, modern and price-predictable legal experience.

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?

I would say being fearless, humility and willingness to take risks. In short, be a humble bad ass. From the beginning, I always tried to play to my strengths rather than focus on my weaknesses and trying to “fix” them. For example, I am good at digital branding and connecting with people through my social media platforms, but traditional networking events are not my strength. So, I go all out on my social media and make engaging and meeting people through those platforms a priority.

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?

Yes and no. I didn’t attend a top-tier law school, but this just meant that I had to take a different path to achieve my success. I am aware that those who attended tier 1 schools had more opportunities after graduation, so I think it does matter to some extent. While in law school, I knew I had to really excel if I wanted to be able to knock on the doors that were already open for top tier law school graduates.

However, where I went to law school has had no bearing on my ability to practice effectively. Law school has almost nothing to do with the actual practice of law. Litigation is a learned skill over time and the attorney who went to the “better” law school isn’t necessarily the best practitioner.

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

I don’t separate them; I think that’s where most lawyers get it wrong. Being a lawyer is my business, so I view the “roles” as inextricably intertwined and I treat them as such. Just like I calendar court deadlines, I calendar my business tasks as well. I dedicate equal effort and time to all facets, no one thing is more important than the other. Obviously, the Instagram post that needs to go up is not the same as the motion that needs filing, but they’re both important, just in different ways.

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

Stop thinking like a lawyer and start thinking like a normal person. That sounds like a joke but it’s 100% true. As lawyers, we’re bred to be fearful of risk. That works for the practice of law. It’s not so great if you want to run a dynamic business. I think most law firms are cookie-cutter versions of each other. If you want to stand out and be dynamic, you have to take risks.

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?

Again, I view all of the above as interconnected. Working IN my practice is the same as growing my practice. By way of example, if I am working on a particular problem for a client, that issue may turn into a new LinkedIn post alerting people to a particular issue or a solution to a general problem. I don’t see a “shift” per se.

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

• Manage personnel: Be direct, but let people do their job their way.
• Hire and fire: The traditional interview is useless, bring people in for working interviews, i.e. put them to work and see if it’s a fit. Fire with empathy.
• Generate leads: Use social media!
• Advertise: Build a brand, that’s not the same as advertising, people respond to brands.
• Manage finances: Cash is king.

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. Technology Rules: Nowadays, you can run an entire law firm from a phone and a laptop. If you can’t, then you’re doing it wrong.

2. Keep it Simple: This isn’t rocket science. It’s a service-based business, treat it as such.

3. Build A Brand… Don’t “Advertise”: Brand building and advertising are not the same. Build a brand by telling your story to the world. Talk about your thoughts on issues, provide some online tips, post pictures of your kids or dogs… show people you’re human and also a lawyer. Oh, and hire a good PR firm to get you exposure.

4. Ignore the Noise: Old school lawyers aren’t huge fans of the technology revolution. They’ll tell you why you have to “tread carefully.” Tread carefully with your cases, not your Instagram account. Say what you think and put yourself out there.

5. Clients Are Still King: I will bleed for my clients, and they know that. I don’t subscribe to this whole “work-life balance” thing (it’s okay for those that do, it’s just not for me). My clients know that I am there 24/7, that’s what works for me.

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. :-)

My movement would be for animals. If I could, I’d ensure that no animal was ever mistreated ever again. That includes the big game needlessly hunted for sport all the way to dogs, cats and the like in shelters all over the world hoping for a good home. Adopt don’t shop!

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Our website is www.mlelawfirm.com

Instagram: @melkins1; @mle_law

Twitter: @melkins31175

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mlelaw

Facebook: facebook.com/michael.elkins.16

TikTok: @melkins1

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.