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The J. Sterling Hughes Show
All about the practice of Family Law - insights, interviews, news, developments, real life case studies. My mission is to Empower Family Law Attorneys.
I share how we have grown our family law firm, SterlingLawyers.com, from zero to 25+ lawyers and $15m a year in revenue since 2014.
The purpose is to document what's working and not working so you can re-contextualize for your practice and shorten your success curve.
We are so open about what we are doing because we want to help other lawyers build a beautiful law firm, even if you "compete" with us.
So, follow me and subscribe to "The J. Sterling Hughes Show" Podcast.
My YouTube channel is @JSterlingHughes
Go to www.JSterlingHughes.com for a ton of family law practice resources and info.
Episodes
111 episodes
Tom's Trek: Emotional Resilience Through a Tough Month - #111
We all have months that kick us in the teeth. It hurts. It sucks. Tom had one of those months in November -- his third month in practice. This show is about what happened and is a picture of mental toughnes...
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Episode 111
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26:35
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The Managing Attorney's Role in a Family Law Firm - #110
The second most important role in a family law firm is the managing attorney.In the vast majority of family law firms, the founder/owner sits in two seats: (1) the president and (2) the managing attorney. The preside...
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Episode 110
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29:24
Casting a Compelling Vision to Your Family Law Team - #109
This show highlights a talk I gave to our entire legal team at a recent event. I announced a new service blending Artificial Intelligence into tools for clients. I also shared two other long-term strategic initiatives that we are w...
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Episode 109
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32:31
Staying Focused On One Marketing Tactic at a Time - #108
There are limitless marketing tactics available to a family law firm. It can be overwhelming. One of Sterling Lawyers' most successful marketing strategies has been to focus on one tactic at a time.In this show, I art...
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Episode 108
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16:41
Recurring Money Wasters that Family Pummel Lawyers - #107
Are you throwing money down the drain in your family law practice? On this show, I reveal five of my most egregious money wasters.These nasty culprits get many other family lawyers too. Maybe you?Here they...
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Episode 107
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15:36
Should You Try to Persuade the Attorney to Stay? - #106
Unexpected attorney resignations can feel like a gut punch.But, should you try to get them to stay?In this show, I explore:1 - Getting to the truth behind the departure2 - Assessing the impact and deciding if it's worth ...
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Episode 106
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14:22
Tom’s Trek: Forming Ideal Client & Tightening Marketing Radius - #105
We've been following Attorney Tom Hartin as he has launched his family law firm.This is a behind the curtain peek at the nitty-gritty world of family law firm start-up.This month we discussed:Tom’s revenue highs and l...
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34:55
Scaled Offers at Sterling (Entry to High-End Service) with Mary Sankey - #104
Is your law firm losing clients who can’t afford full-time representation? This show offers creative ideas to get incremental clients that you may otherwise not get.I sit down with Mary Sankey, our Sales Manager, to explore how Sterling ...
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Episode 104
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13:43
Scaled Offers to Turbo-Charge Client Hires w/ Tony Karls - #103
Are you missing out on potential clients? Most family lawyers give potential clients one offer: hourly representation. There is a better way to serve clients than with just one offer. Having multiple offe...
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Episode 103
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14:38
What Law Firm Numbers Should I Track First? - #102
Numbers will make or break your law firm. Tracking the wrong ones is like getting bad directions to a desired location.Failing to track a number is an admission of not managing it.It's critical to get the number tra...
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Episode 102
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18:11
When to Move From Working IN to ON Your Law Firm - #101
Ready to push your family law firm to new heights?In this episode, I discuss the crucial shift from working in your practice to working on it—a challenging but THE essential step for growth.I cover:Key indicators tha...
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Episode 101
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19:05
Tom’s Trek: September 2024 Review - #100
We are following Attorney Tom Hartin as he launches his family law firm.Month #2 is officially closed. How did Tom do?Check out the podcast to get the authentic details. Spoiler alert: it wasn't a hug...
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Episode 100
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15:09
Solving the Real Client Problems to Stand Out! (Legal Start-up 3 of 3) - #99
Oftentimes, lawyers and clients disagree on the most important problem to solve in family law.Lawyers can assume it's one problem. Meanwhile, the client is focused on a totally different problem to solve. What’s the s...
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Episode 99
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19:38
Easy Interviews to Fine-Tune Your Legal Service (Legal Start-up 2 of 3) with Tony Karls - #98
Client interviews can revolutionize your law firm.That's what happened at our firm, Sterling Lawyers. In the second part of our 3-part series, I sit down with my partner and co-founder, Tony Karls, to reveal how early client...
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Episode 98
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13:58
Selecting the Law Practice Type that Fits You (Legal Start-up 1 of 3) with Tony Karls - #97
Ready to build a law practice that aligns with your strengths and passions? Tony Karls, my co-founder at Sterling Lawyers, is back to discuss how to identify the best type of law for your practice. This conversation ki...
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Episode 97
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22:28
Is Your Law Firm Culture Toxic? - #96
Ever promoted someone only to watch your firm's culture crumble? In this raw episode, I share one of my biggest leadership blunders and its far-reaching consequences. I take you behind the scenes of our law firm'...
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Episode 96
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11:09
Getting Law Firm Associates to Have an Owner's Mentality - #95
Are you struggling to get your associates to think like owners and future leaders of your law firm? In this show, I share what we have done to achieve modest success in our law firm in order to develop the next generation of ...
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Episode 95
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8:45
How to Tell Your Law Firm Associate to Dress More Professionally - #94
Dressing like a pro is not optional if you want to be viewed as one. Sometimes associates struggle in this area. How do you support them with how they present themselves?Here’s what I covered:- The importance of ma...
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Episode 94
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11:08
Attorney Levels at Sterling Lawyers with Holly Mullin - #93
Holly Mullin and I have an insightful conversation about the lawyer career development process from Associate to Managing Partner. She goes into detail with real-life examples and stories from consultations, settlement conferences,...
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Episode 93
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22:21
Tom’s Trek: A Bumpy, Bruising, Successful First Month - #92
Attorney Tom Hartin's first month is in the books.How'd he do?It was definitely a "learning experience"! 🥴In this episode we cover:- Tom's first client- A (needlessly) difficult opposing counsel- Preparing fo...
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Episode 92
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27:38
Appropriate Law Firm Owner Profit Expectations with Ryan Kimler - #91
In this fun interview with Ryan Kimler I learned a ton about how to benchmark our law firm profit. This is the kind of information that all B2C law firm leaders need to pay attention to. I haven't at times, and it has cost m...
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Episode 91
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41:16
Building a Legal Culture with Celebration and Recognition - #90
Creating a positive team culture is essential to build a long term law firm. In this episode, Sterling's Managing Partner, Holly Mullin is back to share how she has built a dynamic and vibrant environment for her teamHere’s...
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Episode 90
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24:45
Tom’s Trek: Fixed Fee Attorney Metrics - #89
We are back following Attorney Tom Hartin as he launches Hartin Family Law. At the time of this recording, we are only a few weeks into the life of his new start up.We discussed:1 - Overcoming geographic targeting issues and f...
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Episode 89
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35:02
Tom's Trek: Allocating Work in a Family Law Firm - #88
We are following Attorney Tom Hartin as he forms and launches his Family Law Firm. We recorded this show just after Tom launched and had a wide ranging discussion on managing a family law firm. Highlights include:1 - ...
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Episode 88
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23:20
$10k Lessons with Lee: Intake Teams & Moving to Fixed Fees (Pt 3 of 3) - #87
My partner and I paid $10k (gulp!) for a day of Lee Rosen's time back in 2015. His advice turned around our law firm and the course of my career.His sage counsel turned out to be worth millions to Sterling Lawyers.In this ...
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Episode 87
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10:37