Transitioning From a Defense Firm to an Injury Firm 

Join the Guild to grab our Case Roadmap.

Watch the YouTube version of this episode HERE
Are you an attorney who is looking to transition to person injury (PI) law? In this episode of the Maximum Lawyer, host Tyson addresses a listener's question about transitioning from a defense firm to a personal injury (PI) practice. 

The transition to a PI practice involves a change in mindset from defense to client focused. For those hoping to make this transition, it is important to focus all your efforts on the case and client and to do everything in your power to win but not get consumed by the truthfulness of a client. A strategy to get to this point is understanding how a case affects a person at every level. Think about how the case affects one’s mental health, their professional life and family dynamics.

Transitioning from one practice area to another will not happen without intentional networking with those in the PI field. Starting in a new field like PI will mean a slow gradual climb in cases. Through networking, some other lawyers might send you cases they either don't want or can’t handle. Personal injury cases will include medical terminology that you will need to become familiar with. Get to know what conservative care is and the importance of MRI’s. This will allow you to not only become a better PI attorney but build trust with your client.

Take a listen to learn more!

Episode Highlights:

• 03:57 The importance of shifting from a defense mindset to a client-focused approach 
• 7:53 The need to gain trial experience to enhance case values and effectiveness
• 8:51 The importance of networking with personal injury attorneys 
• 12:37 Understanding defense strategies to better navigate personal injury cases

• Ask us a question about starting your own law firm here!

Resources:

• Join the Guild Membership
• Subscribe to the Maximum Lawyer YouTube Channel
• Follow us on Instagram
• Join the Facebook Group
• Follow the Facebook Page
• Follow us on LinkedIn

Transcripts: Transitioning From a Defense Firm to an Injury Firm 

Speaker 1 00:00:02 This is maximum lawyer with your host Tyson Metrics.

Tyson Mutrux 00:00:10 Welcome back to another episode of the Maximum Lawyer podcast. My name is Tyson Matrix. I've got a really good episode for you today. Today I'm going to be answering a listeners question, and it's going to be a good one. And it's about transitioning from a defense firm to an injury firm. So it's going to be a lot of fun and a lot of good tips. I think in this episode that you're really going to want to listen in for. Before I get to that, though, I do want to ask everyone that if you have something you want me to cover, and these are some of my favorite things to do, is whenever someone asked me a question. Because my guess is that if one person has it, it's, you know, the old adage, if one person has the question, probably a lot of people have the question. So if you have something, even if you think it's basic, shoot it in, let me know.

Tyson Mutrux 00:00:58 Just text me at 31450192603145019260. If instead it's a little easier for you, that's pretty darn easy. But if you want to just go to maximum lawyer.com/ask, that's another way you can do it. You can actually upload your voice to that. And or you could send me a text question either way. But I'm happy to answer those questions. It's it's a lot of fun to do it. So here we go. I am going to by the way, I'm going to do my best to protect this person's their their identity because they don't want their current employer to know about it. They made that that very clear to us. They had fired the question over to us. I'm not going to tell you if it's a man or a woman. I might even throw you off and say, it's a man. And I may say she or may say he, you know, I'll throw you off a little bit, but the whole idea is, I don't want to get this person fired. I want to try to answer the question so that they can eventually transition into personal injury.

Tyson Mutrux 00:01:57 I'm not going to mention their name. Nothing. So here we go. Let's see. Happy Sunday. My name is blank and I'm reaching out because I'm a lawyer at a defense side firm and discovered your podcast. It's fantastic. Thank you very much. Appreciate that. In a few episodes you said listeners could submit questions. Yes, I did, so I'm a blank law school. This was the year. I just don't want to I don't want to give any clues. I mean, I'm even a little uncomfortable when it comes to mention the defense side. However, it's one of those things where I think that's important to the story here. So that's why I'm bringing it up. But so I'm a blank year law school grad, and my ultimate goal is to become a personal injury lawyer with my own firm one day. For the next 2 or 3 years, I plan to pay down loans, save and build skills. My next my Mac slash dream goal is to earn 500,000 to 1 million plus dollars one day.

Tyson Mutrux 00:02:49 Just helping people. Big goal I know. I'll be honest with you. I think you could dream bigger, so just that you might be setting some artificial limits on yourself. That so I think you could dream bigger on that. That being said, let's keep moving on. Besides listening to your great podcast, very nice. I appreciate the kudos. Do you have advice for someone who wants to transition to Pi? I don't care how basic the advice is, I just want to get my hands mind on everything I can to be prepared. All right, lots of things there. And by being at a defense firm, I'm just going to assume that you have basic pie knowledge. So I'm just going to go with that. If you don't, you need to go and get that. The very first thing though, this is I, this is I'm very adamant about this. If you can't get past this, you should not be a pie lawyer. This is really important. You need to get your head wrapped around the idea of building a case and doing everything you can to win that case for that client, as opposed to the defense mindset of doing everything you can to destroy a case.

Tyson Mutrux 00:03:57 It is. I've seen this with several attorneys where they have a really, really hard time getting past that. I don't know why. I think it's it's one of those things where some of these defense attorneys, I call them just true believers. And you probably know what I'm talking about, the ones that they're skeptical about, every single case. And there's a lot and understandably, I get why defense firms are like this. Their defense attorneys are like this where you are you're very skeptical because you probably see some really wild things, and you see how, you know, some people are liars. And then when you see that, you see a couple of times you think that everyone's a liar, you have to you have to rip that out of your brain, and you have to instead say, you know what? I'm going to what? How do I make this case? How do I build this case? How do I show that my client is telling the truth? It is a different mindset. And we we've had attorneys come work for us that it just didn't work out because they couldn't get past that.

Tyson Mutrux 00:04:52 It is. I'll tell you, say it's kind of crazy because you will talk to them and they will tell you how bad our cases. And even though I'm looking at it, I'm thinking that's a that's a half $1 million case. What are you talking about? So get past that the best you can. There's some ways of doing that. So I'm not going to just tell you, hey you got to do that. But a really simple one. And this is going to take some reading. It's a fairly thick book, but it's a it's an easy read really. You need to consume everything by Nick Rowley and Nick Rowley is great. But running with the Bulls, if you start with that book, I think that's a good it's going to help you in your as a defense attorney over the next few years anyways. But really understanding how a case affects a human, that is a it's a very, very impactful book that we have all of our new lawyers read. So even if you've been doing this for a long time, we have you read it anyways because it is such a good book and it it really takes it down to how has this whole thing affected my client at every single level, right? How has it affected the religion? How has it affected the relationships with their.

Tyson Mutrux 00:05:57 With their husband? And how has it affected their relationships with, you know, their kids and what hobbies have they missed out? Like all you look at, all areas of their life, 360 degrees around their life, it's really, really helpful. So I definitely recommend that when it comes to just some other basic tips about gaining knowledge about personal injury. There's you know, there's reptile by by David Ball. And I understand that there's a whole you know to do about that these days when it comes to reptile and all that. But there is reptile. What it does do is it does a good job of, of kind of teaching how to build a case. I think some of the things that they do in reptiles, not as an organization, not really a thing I don't think anymore. But it does teach you how to build a case, which is good. There's some some kooky things they do, which I wouldn't, I wouldn't recommend, but it does allow you to teach you some things to, to build a case.

Tyson Mutrux 00:06:45 So that's really, really good. Trial lawyers University, another great organization. You can go and you can watch a clips online. They've got conferences and all that. It's a really good resource. I would start with those. Okay. Make it really, really simple. Another one like if you're going to do smaller car crashes, which is, you know, sometimes the bread and butter for many firms read reptile in the mist. It gives you some techniques in dealing with some of the smaller cases that you may not have all the money to to spend when it comes to experts, because it's a smaller case and it may not warrant it. It's a really good book too, so that's a really good one. The next thing is, is that this is probably obvious to you, but I'm just going to mention it. You said you don't care how basic it is. Develop as many trial skills as you can right now, so get it into as many trials as you can. Be ready to try cases whenever you do.

Tyson Mutrux 00:07:33 Become a lawyer. That's important because as you know, it's going to affect your case values. So you're going to make sure that you are willing to try a case and that the defense attorneys know that really, really important networking in the P.I. space. Now, I hope that you are one of those defense attorneys that gets along really, really well with the injury side. And you're not some, you know, pompous prick that some defense attorneys are in, that we have them on our side to the P.I. side. We have them on the other side as well in any practice area. That's just that's just how it works. But you are going to really going to want to network, network, network. Many of your best cases are going to come from the the Pi other Pi attorneys. So they're going to get conflicted out or they're going to, you know, if especially if you're just, you know, starting your own firm like I refer you cases, you know, I would send you some of the cases that I don't really want, we don't have time for.

Tyson Mutrux 00:08:27 They're still a good case. It's just a matter of it's the values a little bit lower. So you're going to want to befriend as many Pi attorneys as you possibly can. And just networking and networking can be kind of a dirty word. But you're going to want to build relationships, okay. Build relationships with as many injury firms as you can with as many injury attorneys. And you're going to want to, you know, sprinkle it throughout all the practice areas. Get to know many doctors. That's also pretty important to. The next part is, and you may already have some of this but understand the medical. So really dig in and understand what conservative care is and the importance of MRIs and how to read an MRI and how some doctors, what they can do is they can try to show that there was, you know, no herniation, when in reality they were like three slices off in the MRI and they're just trying to mislead you. So there's things like that where you're going to want to really understand the medical.

Tyson Mutrux 00:09:18 So you can't be misled. It is a mistake. And I don't want to get too into the weeds. And when it comes to actually handling cases, but you don't necessarily want to go to battle with a doctor, but you you're going to want to make sure you understand the basics so that when you need to, when you need to call them out and show that they're trying to mislead the jury, you can do so because otherwise they're going to they're going to run circles around you. So you really need to know that part of it. You're going to want to make sure that you are, you know, building your business acumen. Make sure you understand about the basics. Read prophet first by Mike MacLeod. It's motorbike Mike. I can't remember how he say his last name, but I think it's Michael Watts. E-myth is another one by Michael Gerber. The you know, understanding marketing. Marketing is another really, really good one that you want to, you know, study how other successful offerings.

Tyson Mutrux 00:10:08 And luckily you're listening to the podcast. So that's really, really good. Understand you know, SEO, Google ads, social media. You're going to want to since you're saving up money, that's great. You're going to be able to hire marketing experts. Fantastic. But you're going to also want to understand the basics too. So you're not being being taken advantage of. Get some advice, get one, get a good accountant, get some advice on people and accountants in your area that that you could use as your accountant. Get some advice from your financial planner. If you don't have a financial planner, get in touch with with a financial planner. Also really, really important. So that's good. This this next one is the next tip is pretty is going to be maybe tough on you, but I don't know. You're going to want to try to get some some basic experience handling pie cases. That is so some I know some defense attorneys, they're allowed to take an occasional car crash. If you can do something like a small case, just to get the basics as to how the case works, that can be really, really important.

Tyson Mutrux 00:11:04 So do that if you can. My other advice is, is that it might make sense for you to go work for an injury firm for the next few years. That way you are. You're getting paid to learn. That would be pretty nice. Although I do know that generally it seems that defense firms are paying associates more than injury firms. But the upside is, is that if you I mean, you could bring in cases and make substantially more as an associate spy. But the salary, the base salary is tends to be more at defense firms. But the upside is definitely more when it comes to the pie side. So I would I would say consider doing that. Working for a pie firm for the next 2 to 3 years, if that's if you're going to want to be saving money anyways. I would definitely experience. Try to do that as much as you can. Something else that you might not be thinking about because you might be thinking about, you know, pi side completely, but master your side of the of the fence, master the defense side right now.

Tyson Mutrux 00:11:58 Understand all the tactics that you're using and why you're using. And then think about how, as a Pi attorney, you can get around those. That is one that you might not be thinking about as much. Hopefully you are, but you might not be. But you're going to. Something you don't understand quite yet is because you are on the defense side. You don't understand as much how the insurance companies work. That is always kind of surprising to me how? Because they're sometimes gatekeepers on the defense side where, you know, the partner wants to talk to that insurance company, they're the ones that kind of want to do all the hand-holding because of, you know, you know, it's essentially their client that you don't get as you don't understand as much about the inner workings of insurance as much so try to understand as much about the insurance game, how that works, why it makes sense for them to not pay. You know why? Why? It makes sense for them to delay a case before they pay.

Tyson Mutrux 00:12:49 Because they're making money on the every day that they don't pay a settlement, they're making more money on that money. So there's there's a lot of things that you're going to want to make sure you understand when it comes to the mechanics, you know, how the sausage is made when it comes to insurance. That's another one. Negotiation skills we'd Never split the difference by Chris Voss It's a really, really good one. I've I've noticed that some defense attorneys have been trying those lately. I do kind of find it funny. I've been I laugh at it a little bit because some of them are not very good at it, but that's another one that you're going to want to make sure you hone your negotiation skills quite a bit. Mindset. We talked a little bit about mindset about change, but generally the artificial like I'm kind of talking more about the artificial limits that you might be setting on yourself when it comes to like the 500,000 a million you. And I'm not saying you are necessarily, but you might be setting some caps on yourself that you may or may not be warranted.

Tyson Mutrux 00:13:40 You might be thinking that you can only get to 500,000 or 1 million. Maybe you get to 5 million or 10 million. So just do some inner inner searching to find out if that is, if you're maybe are putting some artificial caps on yourself that that shouldn't be there. With that, also make sure you're setting clear goals for yourself. So if you if you say, hey, I don't like the fact that you're saying 2 to 3 years, I would say in three years or in two years, give yourself an exact date that you're going to do this, whether you're working on the Pi side at the time or you're working in a defensive firm. But on this date, I'm going to resign from my job and I'm going to launch my Pi firm. And that way you can work backwards, give yourself some benchmarks, and figure out all the things you need to do between now and then. Get a basic. I've got a couple more tips for you, for you, but start learning. Make sure you learn the basics of technology, especially when it comes to AI and automation.

Tyson Mutrux 00:14:34 You can learn about, you know, some of that on the podcast where I know where I'm going to be, you know, personally focusing a lot on that over the next couple of years doesn't mean all the episodes are going to be about that, but we are going to focus that because it's a really important thing. We talked about it in the guild just on Saturday about the how industries are changing. I looked at a McKinsey article about it and there's going to be some massive disruption. So but just get a basic understanding of that because that's pretty important. And then I guess, you know, the last thing I'll talk about is building your personal brand. So social media make sure that so make sure you start to kind of focus on your outward appearance to people. How do you want people to view you? That's important. So when it comes to your social media, when it comes to how you're dealing with people, start to build your brand, build your legs of your brand. So kind of figure out, okay, what are the four different things? And I'm just it could be four, it could be five, could be three.

Tyson Mutrux 00:15:27 But you know, 3 to 5 things that make up your brand. So do that. That's that's important too. Is that that way you can start to kind of hone in on your messaging when it comes to your your marketing down the line. That is I think that's that is enough. I went a little bit longer than I normally do on this one, so hopefully this was was helpful for you. I appreciate you submit it to. If you have more, feel free to shoot some more our way and I'll I'll make sure I'll keep you anonymous. Anyone else? If you want me to not mention name, that's fine, but otherwise I plan to mention your name, so make sure you do say that. I'm glad that this person told me not to say their name, because I was actually going to record the same day that I got it, and I just. And luckily I didn't, because the next day I got the message about not given giving their name. So. But that's all I have for you.

Tyson Mutrux 00:16:12 Really appreciate you listening. Again. If you want to text me anything (314) 501-9260. That's all I have for you this week. Till next week. Remember that consistent action is the blueprint that turns your goals into reality. Take care.