John Fisher is the owner and founder of John H. Fisher, P.C., where he limits his practice to catastrophic injury law for injury victims in New York State. John has been cited as a legal expert on numerous occasions by TRIAL magazine of the American Association for Justice and the New York Law Journal, and he speaks frequently for the New York State Bar Association, The National Trial Lawyers, PILMMA, Great Legal Marketing, and county and regional bar associations concerning law practice management, internet marketing for lawyers, referral-based marketing and trial skills.
Today we share his presentation on Powerhouse Law Firm Book at MaxLawCon 2019.
Watch the presentation here.
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Transcript: “Powerhouse Law Firm Book” w/ John Fisher
Speaker 1
Run your law firm the right way. This is the maximum lawyer podcast, podcast, your hosts, Jim hacking and Tyson metrics. Let’s partner up and maximize your firm. Welcome to the show.
Becca Eberhart
In today’s episode, we’re throwing it back to a presentation from Max law con 2019. John Fisher is the owner and founder of John H. Fisher PC, where he practices catastrophic injury law for victims in New York State. Today we share his presentation, the powerhouse law firm book, let’s get to it.
Speaker 3
Well, everybody, most of the folks here heard John Fisher’s name mentioned yesterday, John has been a leader in legal marketing for a long time. He limits his practice to catastrophic injury law firm for injury victims in new in New York State. Although I know he prac he takes a goat bar and goes practices in many other states as well. Over the last 20 years, John’s practice has been limited to catastrophic injury. John is the owner and founder of John H. Fisher PC, John has been cited as a legal expert on numerous occasions by trial magazine, and the American Association for Justice and the new New York Law Journal. John runs a mastermind group that some folks here including me have taken advantage of just like Jim and Tyson, John teaches everybody else when he’s gone out and learned himself. And we all have a lot of gratitude for that John’s put together a special program for us today. Without further ado, John Fisher and company.
William Umansky
This is the case of John Fisher against the citizens of maximum lawyer representing himself in this lawsuit is John Fisher. You could sit down and representing in the better half the citizens of maximum lawyer Lisa Fisher. She doesn’t want me to tell you, but she’s also a judge. So she’s on good behavior today. Right. Okay. All right. So the issue in this trial is whether a book is the best marketing tool for a lawyer. At the conclusion of the trial, you’ll be asked to deliberate to an to unanimous verdict wherein you’ll answer this question yes or no? You know what the question is? Okay, got it. So we’re going to handle objections during trial throughout the course of the trial. There may be objections by the attorneys representing the parties. I will make ruling on the objections, my rulings on the objection should not be construed as favoring either side to the lawsuit. Do you guys understand that? Yes, Your Honor. I definitely don’t favor you, John, though. So it’s not going to work out well, for you today. I cannot take I cannot take a position favoring a half just forget, I can’t take a position favoring either side to this lawsuit. Fisher has a real uphill battle in this trial. And he’s foolishly chosen to represent himself an idiot, right? So so here’s the burden of proof for you guys. And I’m going to be real slow. Since you didn’t stand for me right away. In this lawsuit. Mr. Fisher, Burt bears the burden of proof. That means Mr. Fisher must prove that the book is the best marketing tool for a lawyer without even the slightest doubt. Will Mr. Fisher be able to sustain this burden of proof? I’m supposed to say I highly doubt it. But I mean, I don’t know he could he may pull it out, I’m sorry, Judge, but he might be able to pull it out. So we’re going to begin with the opening statements of the lawyers. Now, as you know, opening statements are not evidence. Please listen closely. If you choose not to listen to Mr. Fisher, I don’t really care. But again, when his lovely partner comes up, make sure you pay careful attention. So with that being said, I now turn the floor floor over to the plaintiff, John Fisher,
John Fisher
may it please Your Honor, ladies and gentlemen, have maximum lawyer come back with me in time. I’m entering my home in Albany, New York. And it’s been a busy hot summer day. As I walked through that door, I’m excited to start sharing my day. And I see my wife. I say, this is the stuff that I’ve done today. It was busy. I had all this stuff on my mind. And my wife turns and looks at me with a really stoic, serious look on her face. She doesn’t say a word. And as I keep going on finally, at some moment, I realize there’s something wrong. And I said to my wife, what is it? And she tells me you need to call your mother. So pick up the phone. And I give my mother a call. And all I hear is the strongest person I’ve known in my life emotionally bawling in tears. They found a mass and I’m not going to see my grandchildren born. For the first moment in my life. I saw my mother lose it. I took the phone that day. I put it down There was nothing I could do. This is the person who I love more than anything in the world. And that day, we had one of these old beat up plaid couches. In our living room. One of these things has been around for about 100 years. And it’s tattered and frayed at the edges, something that maybe 10 People have owned. But I wasn’t going to sleep that night. I knew that. So I opened the door. And I walked the streets of Albany walk with me. We’re walking through the streets of Albany, New York. And I’m stressed beyond belief. And all I can think of is my mother is going to die of cancer. And that night, I looked for a friendly soul, I look for somebody to share a warm smile with me. Somebody would give me a glance, some consolation. I even knocked on the door of the church. But no one was opening. And that night, was the most difficult night of my life. As I struggled to go back, my wife was in bed, she was sleeping, I go back to our apartment in Albany. And as I get back to the room, I know I’m not going to sleep. And I sit down on that old beat up couch, right here, leaning against the wall, this couch that had been there for years. And I sat down, not knowing what I was going to do that night. I looked up at the wall at about 230 in the morning. And it occurred to me just a thought to get up and just randomly pick up a book. That book was by Dale Carnegie. And the book was called How to start living and stop worrying. And I randomly opened the book, as I sat there on the couch. And these are the words that I first read, Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, where there is hatred, let me sow love, where there is injury, pardon, where there is despair, hope, where there is darkness and where and where there is sadness, joy. Grant, they I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console for it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it isn’t dying, that we are born to eternal life. As soon as I read the words of the prayer of St. Francis, all of the stress and anxiety that was filling, my body just melted away. And it went right through my feet and my legs and left my body. Two days later, we had a meeting with the surgeon to talk about my mother’s prognosis. And at the end of this trial, I’m going to share with you the impact that the power of a book had on my life and can have on yours. At this point, I’d like you to consider one thing that the market is flooded with lawyer books, mini guides, little tiny books that are handed out these books are worthless. What I’m going to challenge you to do is to write the authoritative book that will live for ages, a book that you will have for your career, that will get you speaking engagements that will get your book into law schools throughout the country. And that will make you a known entity in every state of this country. Thank you, your honor.
Speaker 6
Your honor, ladies and gentlemen, the jury. May it please the Court Your Honor, Your good. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. The evidence will show that writing a legal book is not the best marketing tool for every lawyer. In fact, you heard counsel for plaintiff say that there’s already so many of these little books floating around the market. Everyone’s a self professed expert. And your time is valuable. Your time is money in this industry, right? So the evidence is going to show that it could take up to three years to write one of these books. So that’s three years worth of your time, which is also money. In addition, it can cost you I don’t know between 30 to $50,000 to make one of these books, to have it published in print, edited, copy, edited all that good stuff. And the return on that investment. Maybe about $4,000 a year in royalties. So ladies and gentlemen, the jury I am confident that Mr. Fisher will be unable to convince you that this is in fact the best marketing tool for lawyers.
William Umansky
Mr. Fisher, you can call your first witness. You are terrific. Lisa.
Speaker 5
Your Honor. At this time the plaintiff, John H. Fisher calls to the stand Mitch Jackson Esquire. Miss Mr. Jackson, you are the author of the book, The Ultimate Guide to social media. Is that correct? Yes. Why did you write this book?
Mitch Jackson
You know, I wrote the book because it’s a little bit more, let’s just say dependable than a PowerPoint. It’s a book that it’s something that someone can hold in their hands and read, they can review on Audible. They can read on their tablet or laptop on Kindle is something that I can share tips and approaches and techniques to help lawyers and other professionals build their practice. That’s why I wrote the book, how have you used the book to grow your practice? Well, first of all, I’m, I think it’s really important to give. And so through the pages of a book, it allowed me to give on a consistent basis 24/7, to friends of mine, and to people I don’t know from around the world. And so through the giving, let’s just say mindset, I’ve been able to use that book to build my expertise to build my perceived professional capacity and capabilities when it comes to social media marketing, and to build our brand and expand our brand from local to global.
Speaker 5
How have you used the book to expand your glint your brand from local to global?
Mitch Jackson
Well, I mean, what we’ve been doing is, we’ve been sharing the book, both online and offline, making it available to anyone that’s interested in taking their offline brand online and doing it right. And counsel, what we did is we went out and tapped into some of the top experts from around the country, frankly, from around the world, to share what works on YouTube, on Instagram, on Facebook, on all the different social media platforms, so that so that the reader of the book, can take proven approaches to build their practice and to hopefully build their bottom bottom line and have your profits.
Speaker 5
How have you used the book to grow your influence with speaking engagements?
Mitch Jackson
You know, it’s interesting, having a book, for whatever reason, gives you perceived expertise, and it’s the best business card, I can think of that it allows you to get on stages and in front of audiences, that probably wouldn’t be available, had you not written the book in the first place. So for me, it’s allowed me to get on some huge stages, which I wanted to show you guys yesterday, but that just didn’t work out. And I don’t think that would have happened, had it not been for laying a foundation as a professional, getting good results for your clients. Let’s not forget about that. Trying to do the ethical thing when it comes to going to work every single day. But then adding and complementing those efforts with a book has taken things to the next level.
Speaker 5
You’ve spoken at Tony Robbins business business mastery, how did the book help you get that speaking engagement,
Mitch Jackson
so it helped me get the speaking engagement because of my mutual friend David Meerman. Scott, who does speak at Tony Robbins, David wrote the foreword to my book. And once we decided to write a book, we reached out, David offered to do the foreword, but I also reached out to a lot of other friends of mine, and each of the contributing authors 40s 4546. Other authors, authors who have conferences like this, have then invited me to come to their conferences and stand in front of four to 500 people I’ve never met before, share a tip share of proach, but basically have the opportunity for them to know like and trust me. And when they need a lawyer in California, most of the time, we’re the law firm that they call,
Speaker 5
how has the book helped you get new cases and referrals?
Mitch Jackson
Let’s see where am I on the list here. Now,
Speaker 5
let’s go. Let’s move on. Talk about the the difficulties that people hear our jury has in their mind about how can I write a book? Doesn’t it take a long time? How do I find a book publisher?
Mitch Jackson
Thanks, Judge. So here’s the deal. I’ve actually tried to write a couple of books on my own. And because of the fact that Lisa and I are active trial lawyers, that’s what I do for a living, I could never finish the book myself. So it did take some time. If I wanted to complete my own book, so one of the things I did John, is I reached out to friends of mine and had them contribute expert chapters. So I had other people helped me co write the book. So for me as a busy professional, that was a great opportunity to put a book together in about six months worth of time. It did not take me years to write my book because I had other people helping me and it also allowed me by approaching the writing of a book that way to connect with people who I knew but didn’t know that well and and build better friendships with each of these authors. Do I now consider good friends of mine. We self published our book, for example, there’s more than one way to get your book out on the market. And so what Lisa and I did is we self published our book, we went through Amazon, it was a pretty simple process. So those were some of the steps that we took,
Speaker 5
can you share with the ladies and gentlemen of the jury, what’s the approximate cost of writing the ultimate social guide, the guide for social media.
Mitch Jackson
So you know, you can spend 20 3040 $50,000 very easily. And in creating and publishing a book, the way we went about it, probably just a couple of $1,000. It’s the best couple of $1,000 that we’ve ever spent, bar none, with creating a short and long term brand, long term marketing project for our law firm. And because we didn’t write a book just for lawyers, we wrote a book that would accommodate other professionals, CPAs, doctors, business owners, entrepreneurs, I think it’s really opened up a whole new audience, to Lisa and I have people that just didn’t know us before the book came out, John, so it was not inexpensive endeavor by our on our part.
Speaker 5
And, Mr. Jackson, what complementary products have you had in relation to your book?
Mitch Jackson
So one of the things we’ve always done is I’ve got a mastermind. And so the mastermind, obviously, members of the mastermind, what we talked about each and every week, that content is in the book. And what I’ve tried to do is bring in authors who wrote chapters in the book, I’ve brought them into our mastermind on Tuesdays as guest and our members get to ask them questions, get to pick their brains get to get to crowdsource unique problems that they have with these experts and with other people in our mastermind. So the book is one of several different assets of our law firm of the mastermind that everyone can tap into, and one complements the other.
Speaker 5
So in addition to that, you also have an audio book of your book, correct?
Mitch Jackson
Absolutely. Some people love to read, some people like to listen, some people like to digest their content on their laptops and, or their tablets and phones. And so what we’ve done is we went ahead, and we had a professional, actually record, the audio version of our book, lot of people said, Mitch, why didn’t didn’t you record your own audio version, I didn’t have time. So I farmed it out. And we had a professional to do that. So if you’d like to read, if you’d like to listen, if you’d like to digest content on your phones, you can do that, too. We try to always create an exemplary client experience, whether it’s practicing law, sharing social media knowledge, or the content of our books. And I think adding the book to that equation has been a critically important element towards the success that Lisa and I are experiencing.
Speaker 5
Would you encourage other lawyers to write a book for their practice?
Unknown Speaker
Yes, it Mr. Jackson, isn’t it true
Mitch Jackson
that it can take years to write a book? In some cases? That is true?
Speaker 6
And isn’t it true that it can cost up to $40,000?
Mitch Jackson
I would think that for some authors, it could cost $40,000. But that’s not always the case.
Speaker 6
And isn’t it true that you don’t make a lot of money in royalties
Mitch Jackson
on this book? royalties? What are royalties?
Speaker 6
Well, you make a profit, right from selling a book, do you profit from selling your book, the revenues from selling that book?
Mitch Jackson
So it’s my understanding that oftentimes the revenues are about $4,000 per year for authors. But what we’ve noticed is that’s not the case with Lisa and I, and the revenues we’ve generated in our law firm, have substantially are substantially more than that.
Speaker 6
And would it take a long time, yours, perhaps to write one of these books?
Mitch Jackson
I think if you’re a slow writer, it could take many, many years. But like I said, we pounded ours out in about six months with the help of 46 other experts.
Speaker 6
And why don’t you agree that a book isn’t a good investment for a lawyer?
Mitch Jackson
No. May I explain? Sure. A book is an investment in your future. It’s an investment and other people it’s the Opportunity Council, to share your years of wisdom, your years of knowledge with other people. It’s the opportunity to pass your knowledge along to the next generation. It’s your opportunity to write a book so that youths can benefit from your knowledge.
Speaker 4
Excuse me, what is your it’s the youth some youths are youths.
Mitch Jackson
Excuse me, Your Honor. Okay, you
Unknown Speaker
I have no further questions, your honor.
William Umansky
You can you can sit down, the witness is not excused. You have an opportunity to now to ask you a question because your wife Open the door. So I’m going to let you that you aren’t thinking about juggling get one question. You’re allowed to ask him whatever question you want. He has to answer, honestly. Okay, I’m good with that.
Mitch Jackson
He doesn’t have to do anything. I’m answering the question,
Speaker 5
Mr. Jackson, for the ladies and gentlemen of this jury, who are skeptical and wondering, why would they put their hard earned money and their time in writing a book? What is your answer?
Mitch Jackson
I would suggest that other than honing your craft and being good at what you do it is by far, one of the most important successful marketing and branding assets that we’ve ever put together and shared with the rest of the world. So that’s my answer.
Unknown Speaker
No further questions at this time.
William Umansky
Great answer. Do you have any more witnesses?
Unknown Speaker
No, your honor the plaintiff for us. Okay, thank
William Umansky
you. Do you have any witnesses to call?
Speaker 6
Yes, Your Honor. The defense calls Seth Jackson. I mean, Seth price. Sorry, Mr. Price, would you please tell the ladies and gentlemen of the jury where you work?
Unknown Speaker
The law firm of price? Benowitz.
Unknown Speaker
Okay. And are you a partner of that law firm?
Speaker 8
I am. And how big is that law firm? Approximately? 37. Lawyers.
Speaker 6
Okay, and how many states? How many states? Do you practice in three? And how did you
Speaker 8
build that law firm? Digital Marketing, and SEO?
Speaker 6
And can you explain how you were able to build a successful law firm with does just SEO and digital advertising.
Speaker 8
We took the content we created. And instead of putting it in the book, we put it online where people are googling, so you don’t have a book? Do you know it out?
Speaker 6
Okay. And you still built a highly successful law firm without a book. Yes, ma’am. And do you think every lawyer should
Speaker 8
write a book? Absolutely not. And why not? Because it’s, there’s a lot of uses for your time and money. And while some people may have something to say that’s truly unique, most of us don’t, and that for the average person who’s been arrested or injured, they’re not going to a bookstore to buy a book, but they’re Googling to find the person that can help them solve their problem.
Unknown Speaker
Thank you. I have no further questions, Your Honor. terrific questions.
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William Umansky
Mr. Fisher, I hope to God you destroy him, please. Because if you don’t, I’m just gonna start stalling as as
Speaker 5
Mr. Price, I think that we can agree on a few simple basic principles, one of which is that May I approach? Your Honor? Yeah, sure. These many guides, there are maybe 100 pages softcover, they’re junk, aren’t they? Absolutely. And one piece of junk after the next, the team handbook success story, what it would be like to be a boss,
Unknown Speaker
you’re not objecting to this,
Speaker 5
these books. When the ladies and gentlemen of the jury spend their good money and time creating this book? That’s not a good use of their time. Would you agree? I don’t believe so. And there are many people who can do other things better than writing a book. We can agree upon that. Absolutely. And for those who are inclined to video marketing, or social media, that could be an excellent use of their time much better spent than writing a book, correct? Absolutely. But you would agree with me that there are other lawyers who love to write. Would you agree? Yes. And for a person who likes to write and writes quality content on blogs, and social media, that quality content can be repurposed into a highly educational valuable book. Would you agree with that? It can be done and the book asker Gary Vee is would you agree is nothing more than repurpose blogs that became a New York Times best seller when you agree? Yes, they were. So for many people, the ladies and gentlemen of this jury, it’s simply a matter of repurposing the content that you already have, and putting it into a book. When you agree, Mr. Price. You could do that. And so the years and years that we’re talking about of spending, writing a book can actually be boiled down to in a matter of months. Just like Mr. G Jackson, would you agree? Yes. And then when you take those years and years of boiling that knowledge and content that you already have into a book, you’ve got a masterpiece and a flag that you can plant in the ground that will be in the ground for the rest of your career. Once you agree, Mr. Price.
Unknown Speaker
There you have you have Mr. Price,
Speaker 5
Your Honor, may I ask that the witness be instructed to answer the question?
Unknown Speaker
Go ahead answer the question.
Unknown Speaker
The book can be a useful tool.
Speaker 5
A book can be the most useful marketing tool that a lawyer like Jay Ruane Tiger tactics, Ryan McKean, Billy terasse, CEO and the law men have written in their career, and that is an invaluable asset that they will always have. Wouldn’t you agree with that?
Speaker 8
I would not agree that it’s invaluable, but it is a valuable asset.
Speaker 5
And would you agree for lawyers like Jay Ruane and Ryan McKean and Billy rasio, that a book is the most valuable asset that they will have in their entire career? Would you agree with that? No, I wouldn’t. I have no further use for this witness.
William Umansky
Look, can I ask him? Just one question? Okay. So Google controls the digital space that you’re on? Correct? Correct. And you built your whole career on this digital space? Right? Correct. Which is easier burning 6 million books are just taking down the internet and you’re gone. Like all your contents, wiped out a hack from China. Which book will survive legacy and which digital company will go under? If China decides to hack us, China, you’re listening. Is Trump out there? He’s taking him out now too. And
Speaker 8
you’re asking whether the book is going to outlast the digital content? That’s
Unknown Speaker
a great question.
Speaker 8
The digital content over the published book can be burned.
William Umansky
Mr. Fisher did a terrific job. Please sit down. Thank you, Jana. Is the witness excused? And deputy take him out here, please. Let’s defense have a second witness.
Speaker 6
Yes, I do. Your Honor. The defense calls John H. Fisher.
Speaker 5
Your Honor, do I have to do this. I’m an attorney.
Unknown Speaker
I are hostile witness.
William Umansky
You’re hostile. And I hope to God that Lisa puts her passion because I know she’s frustrated that the books haven’t made money yet. So she doesn’t ask the right questions. I’ll go there. Go get them.
Speaker 6
So Mr. Fisher, isn’t it true that you spent $40,000? Making this book and not in did not tell your wife like?
Unknown Speaker
Oh, that’s awesome.
Unknown Speaker
Judge do I have to answer the questions?
Speaker 6
Isn’t it true, Mr. Fisher, that you never told your wife it costs you $40,000 To make the book a power system? It costs
Unknown Speaker
much it costs more than that.
Unknown Speaker
Ask him about the marketing company.
Speaker 6
It isn’t a true that you only made $4,000 Last year in royalties from the sale of this book.
Speaker 5
That is true, I make about $4,000 a year in royalties.
Speaker 6
And is it true that you spent countless hours every morning every evening and on weekends for a couple of years writing this book,
Unknown Speaker
and there’s nothing I enjoy more?
Speaker 6
Perhaps spending time with your family, Mr. Fisher, close second. And even with all that time, away from your family and all that money taken from your children’s college funds, and making only $4,000 a year in royalties, you still think that this was a good decision?
Speaker 5
There’s there’s more to it than than that may explain please. No, I’d
Speaker 6
like you to answer the question. Judge, will you please direct the witness to answer your hassle with and say yes or no question?
William Umansky
Please repeat the question because I didn’t hear it.
Speaker 6
Isn’t it true that with all that time away from your family, all that money you’ve spent that could have been spent to your children’s college education, that you only made $4,000 A year from that book?
William Umansky
Hold it. I didn’t say answer. That’s a guilt laden question, one that my spouse would use. I’m feeling resentful towards you right now. However, go ahead and answer the question.
Unknown Speaker
You want the answer?
Speaker 6
Yes. I want the truth. Mr. Fisher,
Speaker 5
you want the truth. I’ll give you the truth that every lawyer should write a book because it’s the best asset that they will ever have in their careers. That is the truth.
Unknown Speaker
I have no further questions for this witness.
William Umansky
Okay, are we guys down? Are we are we done? I think we have the right to do closings. Yeah. But we’re done with the questions right?
Unknown Speaker
Yes, I have no Further witnesses. Okay,
William Umansky
thank you. I’m gonna give a very, very brief closing instructions, judges upset but I’m gonna let her go first. Anyway, this completes our trial now the attorneys for the parties will give their closing arguments, the closing arguments of the attorneys are not evidence, but the arguments made by each side in favor of their position as jurors. And again, I have to repeat this slowly because you didn’t rise immediately. You are free to accept the statements of Mr. Fisher or Miss Fisher or disregard them. You guys understand that? You don’t have to choose one side or the other. So don’t get swayed by one side and then goes get swayed by the other you guys have free will? Does everyone understand that? Raise your hand. All right. Who goes first? Again,
Speaker 6
defense. Thank you. Thank you, Your Honor. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the defense as promised in its opening has proved to you that the plaintiff has failed to meet its burden, and proving that writing a book is the best marketing tool for lawyers. In fact, if anything, the defense has proven why it’s not a good tool. It takes loads of time and loads of money, with very little return on your investment. time away from your family.
Speaker 4
Did you hear that dude? Like she’s trying to send a message I object?
Speaker 6
Okay. And what Mr. Fisher has failed to disclose to everyone is He’s an avid writer. In fact, Mr. Fisher started writing when he was seven years old. So only people with true passion for rejection.
Unknown Speaker
That’s outside the evidence, Your Honor.
William Umansky
Sustained? Yeah, sustained.
Unknown Speaker
I have nothing further. No, no, I’ll
Unknown Speaker
keep going. You’re doing
Unknown Speaker
I rest? I’m done.
William Umansky
Thank you. Um, I want to be liked. And it’s really hard for me to sustain that. Can I overrule it? Now? Forget it. Sustain anyway,
Unknown Speaker
may I proceed? Your Honor,
Unknown Speaker
shortly. Go ahead. Keep it quick. We got 15 minutes,
Speaker 5
I want to take you back to a small courtroom in rural upstate New York. And I’m seated at the council, and we’re waiting for the jury to return their verdict. And as I sit there next to client, Eugene, and his wife is paralyzed and brain damage, Marie. And they asked me if, if I think they’re going to win their case. And I say no, you’re not. But it’s a heavy burden to bear. And about 20 minutes later, we hear that knock that every plaintiff’s lawyer hates to hear. The jury has got their verdict. And the jury slowly walks in to the courtroom sits down in the jury deliberation box. And the jury for person announces a verdict for the defense. I’m devastated. I talked to the clients, put my arm around them. And we walk out the courtroom. As we walked out the courtroom that day, Marie Karina starts bawling. She’s crying. And I consoled her, I put my arm around her. And I said, Marie, it’s okay. It’s going to be alright. And she says, I’m not crying for me. I’m crying for you. Later that month, we had a financial meeting in my office. And I tried to put a positive spin on everything, all the money that we had lost the cases we had lost in a young startup law firm just trying to get its feet on the ground. And as I sat across from our bookkeeper who I trust more than anybody else, I said to her, where do you think we’ll be in 12 months, she looked at me with a cold look on her face and said, I think you’re going to be in bankruptcy. Now, that was 2013. And that is when I actually published my first book, The Power of a system. I had spent two and a half years writing all the policies and systems that I had in a book. And I didn’t know what I was doing by launched it and market it like crazy. Slowly but surely, people from all over the place started asking for it. And it went into three law schools, Boston, New Orleans and Mississippi. And then from there, it led to speaking engagements, where major Trial Lawyer organizations began calling me and say, I’ve read your book. We got to have you come to our National Summit. Slowly but surely all these speaking engagements added up. And then people started buying this book everywhere. But the secret sauce. I didn’t pitch a damn thing. In the secret sauce to great book like Tiger tactics. They didn’t pitch anything to you. They simply gave you all their best advice, their knowledge and put it out there. and let you be the judge. And today, you will be the judge. The book that came next took four years to write. And I put my heart and soul in this. And it cost even more money. I didn’t tell my wife. But what I did was I took the best stuff that I had in this book really not that I knew. But incredible people like Jim hacking guide DeMartino J, McCain, J. Ruane Annika God, loose ski, Chris nicolaysen, Brian Mittman, these people who have amazing ideas who I never had been exposed to, I packaged it up and put it in here. And this book is my gift to all of you. So there is information you can text to get the book and go that. But before I finish, I have one thing to say about the mini guide. The defense today is not going to win this trial. No, because I’m going to do it for them. Those mini guides that we’ve seen, they can all go to a friggin grave.
William Umansky
You didn’t follow the script, and you didn’t say the word fucking. So how, how are we going to have you removed when you don’t even use the real word. So you do that again. And then we started all over again, pick the ship back up
Speaker 6
in his defense business were in front of his wife, He’s a gentleman,
Unknown Speaker
I don’t care he’s gonna have that I’m not throwing them
Speaker 5
out, Your Honor. At this point, they were thrown
William Umansky
his ass out if he says it throws us out. Anyway, I’m done with him. Hey. So the trial has been completed shortly you’ll begin your deliberations, which means right now I’m going to give you about a minute to talk to each other. And the question you must answer is, is a book the best marketing tool for lawyer yes or no? And this is how we’re going to do it. Because it’s kind of it’s been a long presentation. If you agree that a book is the best marketing tool, please slide over this way. And I swear you need to be honest. And if you think it’s shit that way, 30 seconds, go ahead. All right. 30 seconds is up deliberations over everyone, please make your way to one side or the other. So raise your hand if your books a good idea. Just want to make sure everyone’s on the right side. Okay, raise your idea if you agree with Lisa, that her husband spent way too much money. All right. I actually think the books slightly one. So John, you want.
Speaker 5
Your Honor, if I may, if I may, you can we only have 30 seconds, I’ll take 30 seconds. For some of you stay where you are, please, for some of you, this is the beginning of a journey. For the rest of you, it is not for those in this corner of the room. This is your journey, I have a new book called the Law Firm of your dreams. It was just printed on Tuesday. If you give me your business card, everyone who commits very specific commitment that you will author a book within the next 12 months. And when you return to the Met next Max law conference in June of 2020, your book will be published, if you will commit to that, I will give you one of the very first copies of the law firm of your dreams in the next week or two because it’s not immediately available. I’ve had copies here. But if you’re willing to commit to that, all I need on your business card is to put the date June 2020, and the title of your new book, who’s willing to take this journey.
Speaker 6
Now, if you don’t want to know, in defense of my husband’s in some of the defense attorney, as a judge, I have to say John has sent his book and this might be a good idea for others to judges to other judges, and it’s on the bookshelf in my chambers and other judges have done it. And as much as I was angry at him, there is true value. I want to ask any one of you if you’ve ever thrown a book away, I know I can’t throw a book away. It’s like a mortal sin. And that book will stay alive longer than probably John will. And as long as it’s there on a coffee table. It’s a reminder for people if they need a lawyer, that oh, there’s John, here’s his book, he’s the person to go to. So I do even though as I cringe when I hear the dollar, I do know that there’s a hidden value in that in terms of referrals and people thinking of you and always being on the mind. Like you said, it’s easy to throw away business card. But no one’s throwing away a hard card covered book. They just aren’t. Thank you.
Speaker 5
And when I began, I told you about that story about my mother who had been diagnosed with the cancer. We came back and the doctors removed the tumor. And at that day, the impact that that book had on me was that instead of being concerned and anxious whether my mother would live, all of the anxiety and stress was drained out of my body, and I became a source of consolation and love for my siblings, my three sisters and my father and mother and We got the great news that day that she was going to live in everything would be okay. That is the power of a book. And that is the journey that I encourage and challenge each one of you to take with me next year this time, but we’ll see what you’ve done. Thank you.
Speaker 1
Thanks for listening to the maximum lawyer babcox podcast stay in contact with your host and to access more content. Go to maximum lawyer.com. Have a great week and catch you next time.
