S03E112 Strategic Tax Planning Tips with Emil Abedian

Numbers don’t build a law firm, owners do. This conversation with Emil, a CPA who serves only solo and small firms, shows how to replace once-a-year tax prep with a clear, repeatable system for growth. We pull back the curtain on what separates firms that double from those that stall: clean monthly books, a true owner mindset, and a proactive tax plan that turns the code into cash flow.

We start with the biggest blind spot in small practices: running the firm from the bank balance. Emil explains how accurate bookkeeping and quarterly reviews transform guesses into decisions, hiring with confidence, allocating marketing as an investment, and measuring trends before they become problems. A real-world story of two partners who built for scale on day one reveals the power of intent: design the business you want, then staff, track, and finance it like a CEO.

From there, we get tactical. Emil lays out the “PRO” framework, Plan, Roadmap, Opportunities, and shows how missed planning windows can cost hundreds of thousands. We dig into the Pass‑Through Entity (PTE) election for high‑tax states, why deadlines matter, and how a simple deposit can unlock a federal deduction. Then we go deeper on bonus depreciation, cost segregation, and the self‑rental election that allows commercial real estate losses to offset law firm income without real estate professional status. Whether you’re hiring your first associate or eyeing a building purchase, you’ll hear the timing, math, and checkpoints to make confident moves.

Reach Emil here: 
Counsel to Counsel on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3KB42ie 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilabedian/ 
https://www.facebook.com/people/Counsel-CPAs/61559571126044/ 

Law Firm Marketing Fix

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Leadership In Law Podcast with host, Marilyn Jenkins
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S03E111 Why Clean Books Are a Growth Tool with Victoria Blanc

We sit down with Victoria, a law-firm-focused bookkeeper and trust accounting specialist, to unpack how clean books transform guesswork into growth. From eliminating compliance risk to using ROI to drive hiring and marketing, this conversation turns financial fog into a step-by-step roadmap you can act on today.

We start with the biggest hidden cost: misclassifying client trust funds as revenue. Victoria explains how that single error inflates income, spikes tax bills, and misleads owners about what they can afford. She walks through trust accounting fundamentals, client-level ledgers, invoicing before transfers, and true monthly three-way reconciliations, so you stay audit-ready and confident. Then we connect the dots between numbers and decisions: which ad campaigns earn their keep, when to hire a VA or associate, and how to price work to include overhead and recover case costs.

Victoria also shares a jaw-dropping fraud catch, daily account reviews flagged repeated $1,000 withdrawals via an ITM tied to an EIN, stopped before losses exploded. That story underscores why timely, detailed reporting beats end-of-month surprises. For new and growing firms, we outline simple systems to capture every expense, track KPIs by role and location, and turn monthly reports into clear actions. You’ll learn how to pay yourself a steady salary, smooth tax obligations, and decide whether a second location is a growth lever or a cash drain.

Reach Victoria here: 
www.mga-tx.co 
https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1DzsoUJq3v/ 

Law Firm Marketing Fix

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Leadership In Law Podcast with host, Marilyn Jenkins
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S03E110 Building a Succesful Estate Planning Firm with Anna Pelligra

We sit down with Anna, a trusts and estates attorney who launched her own firm after processing thousands of estate plans during COVID, to unpack a growth playbook build on education, community, and fearless outreach. Her story shows how to convert hands-on experience into a practice that actually scales, without sacrificing empathy or client care.

Anna explains how early exposure to planning, administration, and litigation gave her the confidence to go solo in 2024. From there, she flips the typical marketing script. Instead of chasing every digital trend, she doubled down on local print ads in a beach town where older residents still read the paper, and it worked. She pairs that with small group networking and hosts laid-back, high-value events at a brewery that spark real referrals between advisors, accountants, and attorneys. The goal isn’t to collect business cards; it’s to create a trusted web that benefits everyone in the room.

We also dig into into the operations side: managing a solo workload, documenting standard operating procedures, and choosing the first role to hire (start with an admin who frees your time). Anna talks about writing goals, tracking “champagne moments,” and relying on a business coaching board to provide perspective you can’t get alone. And because estate planning is education-heavy, she uses seminars and clear website resources to teach fundamentals like wills, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives, building trust before the engagement even starts.

Reach Anna here:
https://www.acp-law.com
https://www.instagram.com/acp_law/?hl=en
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-c-pelligra-esq-1b55858a/

Law Firm Marketing Fix

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Join our private community, Law Firm Growth Guild, Your Shortcut to Marketing Mastery and More Clients at
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Leadership In Law Podcast with host, Marilyn Jenkins
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BONUS: The 2026 Local SEO Playbook for Law Firms Deep Dive Review

Warning: Is your law firm invisible in AI-driven search?

Right now, potential clients in your city ar asking legal questions online. Will Google’s AI show them your firm, or your competitors?

The 2026 Local SEO Playbook for Law Firms is your blueprint for dominating visibility in the new era of search. This no-fluff, action-focused guide reveals step-by-step strategies to help you capture high-value cases like competitors fall behind. 

Inside you’ll discover:

• The Visibility Vault (2026 Edition): 7 proven moves to dominate both Local Pack and AI Summaries
• Review Revolution 2.0: Turn deetailed client feedback into ranking and AI visibility power
• AEO: The 4-part answer framework AI trusts to feature in summaries
• GEO: The system for reinforcing your firm’s authority across AI and search engines
• Google Business Profile mastery for 2026
• Content marketing redesigned for AI-first visibility
• New: The 10-Step AI SEO Checklist for Law Firms 

Author Marilyn Jenkins has helped countless firms generate 708 figure revenues through proven, measurable marketing systems. Her clients achieve returns upwards of 14x using the exact strategies shared in this book. If you’re tired of losing cases to firms that out-rank and out-answer you, this is your competitive edge. You can learn more at https://lawmarketingzone.com/ 

Book Link: https://amzn.to/4qXOA0e 

Law Firm Marketing Fix

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Join our private community, Law Firm Growth Guild, Your Shortcut to Marketing Mastery and More Clients at
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Leadership In Law Podcast with host, Marilyn Jenkins
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S0E109 The AND Concept For a Fuller Life with Gary Mitchell

What if the choice between a thriving law firm and a fulfilling life is a false one? We sit down with Gary Mitchell, a veteran coach to law firm owners, to unpack a practical path to growth without burnout, what he calls the and mindset. Instead of forcing every owner into the same mold, Gary shows how to build leadership and management around the strengths you actually want to use, whether that’s being in the courtroom or steering the business from the helm.

Across the conversation, we map out the moves that matter: hire the right people first, then put them in the right seats; elevate an officer manager or admin lead who can make 90% of the decisions you would; and install light, smart systems that eliminate rework and slow handoffs. Gary walks through his accelarator framework, independent 360 feedback, a crisp SWOT, and a tailored roadmap that prioritizes the biggest bottlenecks. The goal isn’t overnight transformation; it’s a series of small, compouding improvements that free your time and raise your margins. 

You’ll hear real examples: a tax lawyer who built a multi-seven-figure practice while working in-office two days a week, and a Vancouver firm scaling faster once the owner let go of tasks he never wanted. We walk coachability, trust, and why coaching is really about buying time and shortening the learning curve. If you’re a growth-minded owner with three to twenty lawyers, these strategies meet you where you are and help you move faster with less stress. 

Reach Gary here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyemitchell/ 
https://www.instagram.com/ontrac_coach/ 
https://www.facebook.com/ontraccoach# 
https://ontraccoach.com/ 
https://www.youtube.com/@ontraccoach4514

Law Firm Marketing Fix

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Download Your Free Checklist -> https://fix.lawmarketingzone.com/

Join our private community, Law Firm Growth Guild, Your Shortcut to Marketing Mastery and More Clients at
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Ready to level up your law firm marketing? Book a FREE Discovery Call with Marilyn Here: https://lawmarketingzone.com/bookacall

Leadership In Law Podcast with host, Marilyn Jenkins
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S0E108 The Importance of Asset Protection with Garrett & Ted Sutton

We sit down with Garrett & Ted Sutton, the father-son legal team behind Corporate Direct, to unpack the real-world playbook for asset protection, what actually works, what gets people into trouble, and and how to build a structure that holds up under pressure. From first entity to multi-state operations, they share the simple, high-leverage steps most founders overlook and the paperwork that stop a veil-piercing cold.

We explore the most expensive setup mistakes, the danger of mixing personal and business funds, and why relying on a CPA for legal formation can backfire. You’ll learn when to add a management company, how to handle investors without tripping securities laws, and why a professional registered agent can save you from a silent default judgment. For real estate owners, we outline a clean architecture: take title in the property’s state LLC and use a Wyoming holding LLC for stronger charging order protection.

Creators and digital asset investors aren’t left out. The Suttons explain how influencers and online businesses can formalize operations with an LLC and proper records, and how crypto holders can protect coins by forming an LLC, opening a business account with a compliant exchange, and notarizing a transfer from personal to company custody. We also clarify a common myth: living trusts route assets to heirs, but they do not protect assets from claims. Plus, an update on the Corporate Transparency Act, state-level changes, and why Texas now rivals Delaware and Nevada for strong LLC laws.

Education ties it all together. Garrett’s bestselling books and their new YouTube channels, Tenero for financial literacy and the Corporate Direct channel for business law, aim to replace noise with practical guidance. If you’re ready to tighten your structure, reduce audit risk, and grow with confidence, this conversation gives you next steps and the language to ask smarter questions.

Reach Garrett & Ted here:
https://corporatedirect.com/ 
https://youtube.com/@TeneroOfficial/  

Law Firm Marketing Fix

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Join our private community, Law Firm Growth Guild, Your Shortcut to Marketing Mastery and More Clients at
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Ready to level up your law firm marketing? Book a FREE Discovery Call with Marilyn Here: https://lawmarketingzone.com/bookacall

Leadership In Law Podcast with host, Marilyn Jenkins
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S0E107 HR is More Than Hiring & Firing with Kelly Murphy

What if the biggest profit leaks in your firm aren’t in pricing or pipeline, but in people? We sit down with HR consultant Kelly Murphy, who brings 18+ years of experience, including at a multi-state law firm, to unpack how systems., connection, and smart leadership turn culture into a measurable competitive edge.

Kelly explains why “appreciation” isn’t enough and how real connection, leaders noticing changes, asking early questions, and responding with clarity, prevents burnout before it becomes rework, errors, or exits. She shares practical red flags to watch for across billable and non-billable hours, how HR partners with supervising attorneys to rebalance loads, and why associates often break under the invisible weight of non-billable tasks. Then we go deep on the eye-opening math: one mid-level associate’s burnout-led departure cost a firm close to $1M once you tally client communications, backlog rewrites, and a lengthy replacement search. Seeing turnover like the loss of a key client changes priorities fast.

From there, we map out a succession planning approach firms actually follow: start with one role, one client, one quarter. Document, cross-train, and keep the plan alive with regular check-ins rather than chasing a perfect binder that gathers dust. Kelly also outlines leadership training that meets today’s needs, coaching soft skills, feedback habits, workload triage, and smarter use of AI, so partners gain leverage without overwhelming teams. Her throughline is simple and potent: HR is profit infrastructure. If you have staff, you need structure—compliant policies, clear performance systems, and early-warning signals that let you intervene before a resignation email hits your inbox.

Reach Kelly here:
https://leaninhr.com/ 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kmurphy12/ 

Law Firm Marketing Fix

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Download Your Free Checklist -> https://fix.lawmarketingzone.com/

Join our private community, Law Firm Growth Guild, Your Shortcut to Marketing Mastery and More Clients at
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Leadership In Law Podcast with host, Marilyn Jenkins
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S0E106 Human-First AI Marketing with Mike Montague

Most AI marketing falls flat because it forgets the human on the other side. We sit down with Mike Montague, agency leader, author, and voice for human-first AI, to unpack a practical playbook that helps law firms reach the right clients at the right moment without resorting to spammy tactics or generic copy.

Mike traces his path from tech and radio to sales and AI-driven marketing, then shows how to flip the script on volume-based outreach. Instead of blasting the internet, we talk about spotting predictive signals, leadership changes, public incidents, address updates, hiring spikes, industry searches, that reveal when a prospect is truly ready to hire a counsel. From family law to corporate and cybersecurity, this approach focuses your time where timing and content make the difference. We also dig into the “concentrated orange juice” rule for prompts, where strong inputs and clear POVs expand into useful drafts, while vague direction only produces watery results.

You’ll hear exactly how to operationalize this mindset with tools and workflows. Custom GPTs and projects preserve brand voice and learn from your edits; Gamma spins outlines into polished decks and LinkedIn carousels; Decript lets you edit video by editing text and surgically fix flubbed words; podcast co-host AI reduces busywork so you can ship more consistently; Elementor and AI images speed up web builds without sacrificing quality. We pull these threads together into a three-part plan: clarify your positioning, deeply profile your ideal clients, then design channel and content plays that deliver personal, timely messages and measure success by conversations booked.

Reach Mike here:
https://avenue9.com/ 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikedmontague/ 

Law Firm Marketing Fix

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Leadership In Law Podcast with host, Marilyn Jenkins
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S0E105 How Credit Card Lawsuits Really Work with Efstathios Georgiou

A knock at the door, a stack of papers, and suddenly your heart is racing. Getting sued over a credit card debt feels terrifying, and for many people it triggers panic rather than a plan. We sat down with attorney Efstathios Georgiou, who spent years on the bank side before defending consumers, to pack what really happens when a creditor files suit and how to respond before a default judgment steamrolls your finances.

We walk through the lawsuit timeline step by step: service of process, the 20–30 day window to answer, and the cascade that follows if you do nothing. Efstathios explains how judgments enable wage garnishments and bank account freezes, including joint accounts via turnover motions, and why a motion to vacate can reverse the damage when service was improper or life truly got in the way. We dig into the practical differences between debt consolidation, debt settlement, and courtroom defense, when each makes sense, how forgiven balances can trigger taxes, and why a credit score often starts to rebound within months and typically recovers within two years.

You’ll also learn how to request debt validation to pause aggressive collection, spot documentation gaps that reduce claimed balances, and use the statute of limitations to your advantage. We discuss judgment‑proof income like unemployment and disability, and the strong federal protections that shield active‑duty service members from enforcement. Beyond the legal mechanics, we address the emotional toll, shame, stress, and family pressure, and the power of clear education, careful fee review, and reading the fine print before signing any relief program. If you’ve ever wondered what banks don’t tell you, how debt buyers operate, or whether “settled for less than full balance” ruins your future, this conversation offers grounded answers and next steps.

Reach Efstathios here:
www.georgioulawpllc.com 

Law Firm Marketing Fix

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Leadership In Law Podcast with host, Marilyn Jenkins
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S0E104 Using AI Voice for Better Customer Service & Profits with Adam Rossen

Missed calls cost more than ad spend ever will. That’s the hard truth we unpack with criminal defense leader Adam Rossen, who rebuilt his intake around voice AI to capture late-night inquiries, route cliens instantly, and deliver a consistent, empathetic first impression every time. Instead of treating intake like admin, he treats it like sales, backed by a clear strategy to become an AI-native firm across the entire client journey.

We walk through the real decisions behind the shift: leaving answering services, testing 20 vendors, and choosing a partner that could handle legal nuance, multilingual conversations, and deep integrations. Adam explains why AWS for telephony and Salesforce for CRM give him the flexibility to scale, how transcripts and QA keep AI on brand, and why clients care more about fast, accurate help than whether the voice is human. For firms on flat fees, the operational gains are even sharper: faster qualification, fewer handoffs, and reliable follow-ups that turn leads into signed cases.

The conversation goes beyond intake. Adam outlines a phased rollout that starts with overflow and after-hours, moves into website chat and video avatars, and expands to outbound sequences that revive old contacts. He calls it the GAS program, give a shit, because it’s about proactive care: checking in on past clients, reactivation at scale, done with warmth and purpose.

If you’ve wondered whether AI can serve real people without losing empathy, you’ll hear how tone training, multilingual switching, and constant iteration create a better client experience than most humans can sustain at 2 a.m.

Reach Adam here:
https://www.rossenlawfirm.com/
https://criminaldefenseinternships.com/

Law Firm Marketing Fix

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Download Your Free Checklist -> https://fix.lawmarketingzone.com/

Join our private community, Law Firm Growth Guild, Your Shortcut to Marketing Mastery and More Clients at
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Ready to level up your law firm marketing? Book a FREE Discovery Call with Marilyn Here: https://lawmarketingzone.com/bookacall

Leadership In Law Podcast with host, Marilyn Jenkins
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