The Agile Attorney Podcast

Brendan Kenny and Neven Selimovic from Hellmuth & Johnson share their transformative approach to legal writing. Brendan leads a team that uses Agile principles and AI to enhance quality and efficiency. Neven elaborates on visual tools like Kanban for better workflow management. They discuss the importance of strategy meetings and early planning to minimize rework, as well as how AI serves as a creative partner in drafting. Their successful model has turned into a subscription service, helping other firms streamline their legal processes.

Join Strawberry Nevill, a former attorney turned legal marketing consultant, as she shares insights on how effective communication can transform client engagement. Discover why ethical communication is crucial for building lasting relationships and managing client expectations throughout legal matters. Strawberry emphasizes the importance of clear, empathetic writing that nurtures trust and reduces last-minute crises. Learn how ongoing communication enhances client alignment and explore innovative strategies like phased flat fees that keep clients informed and engaged.

Discover how the power of human creativity can outshine AI in law practices. Delve into W. Edwards Deming's insights on the importance of engaging your team for continuous improvement. Learn the value of making work visible with tools like Kanban and fostering psychological safety to encourage feedback. Prioritize human insight and develop long-term capabilities over quick tech solutions. Find out how to create cooperative working agreements that align teams and invest time in enhancing processes before turning to AI.

Laura Patton, a California estate planning attorney and founder of ScholarShield, shares her journey of creating affordable legal solutions after a personal emergency with her son. She discusses the transformative power of document automation through tools like Docassemble, which streamlines the creation of estate documents. Laura emphasizes how to maintain human connections in a digital world and educates users through interactive online interviews. Her innovative approach aims to expand access to legal services while keeping costs low and preserving client relationships.

Building a new law practice requires confronting the reality of what actually works, not just what should work in theory. The natural tendency for lawyers starting something new is to perfect every system and procedure before launching, but this perfectionist approach often becomes the very thing that prevents real progress. This week, I'm breaking down why the essential skill for new legal business owners isn't doing the legal work, it's getting the work. Drawing from a recent consultation with an attorney who wanted to dial in all their systems before ramping up their practice, I explain why this cart-before-the-horse approach misses what really matters. Get full show notes, transcript, and more information here: agileattorney.com/92Take your law practice from overwhelmed to optimized with Greenline LegalFollow along on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johnegrantMentioned in this episode:LIVE WORKSHOP: Better Client Relationships, Fewer InterruptionsThis 90-minute interactive workshop will teach you proven strategies for creating more peaceful, productive client relationships... for the rest of your legal career! When? Friday, December 12 – Live via Zoom Only 12 Seats Available Reserve your spot here: https://the-agile-attorney.captivate.fm/ccwSign Up For the Dec 12 Workshop HereTake Your Law Practice from Overwhelmed to Optimized GreenLine helps you see the progress of every matter, shows what each person should focus on, spots delays, helps you decide where to use your team members, and even predicts when you can deliver results to your clients. Learn more or sign up for the beta here: https://the-agile-attorney.captivate.fm/greenlinelegalLearn more about GreenLine Legal here

When someone on your team drops the ball or a client misses a deadline, it's tempting to write them off as disorganized or unmotivated. This snap judgment feels natural - after all, if they cared enough, they'd follow through, right?  In today's episode, I'm unpacking the fundamental attribution error - a cognitive bias that makes us blame people's character instead of examining the broken systems they're working within. I'll show you how well-designed workflows can transform your team's performance and why investing in better systems beats endless hiring cycles every time. Get full show notes, transcript, and more information here: agileattorney.com/91Take your law practice from overwhelmed to optimized with Greenline LegalFollow along on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johnegrantMentioned in this episode:LIVE WORKSHOP: Better Client Relationships, Fewer InterruptionsThis 90-minute interactive workshop will teach you proven strategies for creating more peaceful, productive client relationships... for the rest of your legal career! When? Friday, December 12 – Live via Zoom Only 12 Seats Available Reserve your spot here: https://the-agile-attorney.captivate.fm/ccwSign Up For the Dec 12 Workshop HereTake Your Law Practice from Overwhelmed to Optimized GreenLine helps you see the progress of every matter, shows what each person should focus on, spots delays, helps you decide where to use your team members, and even predicts when you can deliver results to your clients. Learn more or sign up for the beta here: https://the-agile-attorney.captivate.fm/greenlinelegalLearn more about GreenLine Legal here

Most organizations default to command-and-control when creating policies - one person decides what needs to happen, writes it down, and expects everyone else to follow along. The problem is that this approach creates policies that exist on paper but fail in practice, because the people doing the actual work never bought into them in the first place. In today’s episode, I'm joined by Agile Educator and Organizational Coach Tim Lennon to discuss why the traditional approach to making policies explicit often backfires, especially in American workplaces. Through Tim's evolution from teaching the Kanban method to developing what he calls "Adaptive Kanban," we uncover why negotiating working agreements with your team creates far better results than top-down mandates. Get full show notes, transcript, and more information here: agileattorney.com/90Take your law practice from overwhelmed to optimized with Greenline LegalFollow along on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johnegrantMentioned in this episode:LIVE WORKSHOP: Better Client Relationships, Fewer InterruptionsThis 90-minute interactive workshop will teach you proven strategies for creating more peaceful, productive client relationships... for the rest of your legal career! When? Friday, December 12 – Live via Zoom Only 12 Seats Available Reserve your spot here: https://the-agile-attorney.captivate.fm/ccwSign Up For the Dec 12 Workshop HereTake Your Law Practice from Overwhelmed to Optimized GreenLine helps you see the progress of every matter, shows what each person should focus on, spots delays, helps you decide where to use your team members, and even predicts when you can deliver results to your clients. Learn more or sign up for the beta here: https://the-agile-attorney.captivate.fm/greenlinelegalLearn more about GreenLine Legal here

Discover the Four Ds of productivity: do it, delegate it, defer it, or drop it. Learn why only two of these options truly relieve bottlenecks in legal practices. Explore the hidden dangers of delegation, and how it can lead to unexpected quality assurance issues. Dive into the challenges of deferring tasks as simply passing the buck to your future self. Uncover the emotional difficulty of dropping commitments, but see how it can enhance focus and productivity in your law practice.

Managing a law firm’s workflow can be tricky, especially when you’re juggling a long list of active matters and chasing unresponsive clients. In this episode, I’ll share how one firm, after years of using Kanban, finally broke through the delivery bottleneck with a simple but powerful shift in their approach. You'll hear the key changes they made that allowed them to close 40 matters in one month, even in what’s usually their slowest season. Tune in to discover how simplifying your systems, setting clear client expectations, and focusing on the work that matters most can unlock new levels of productivity and capacity for your practice.Get full show notes, transcript, and more information here: agileattorney.com/88Get the 5-day Agile Attorney Boot Camp here: agileattorney.com/resourcesJoin me on Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/agileattorney.comFollow me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/johnegrant/Mentioned in this episode:Take Your Law Practice from Overwhelmed to Optimized GreenLine helps you see the progress of every matter, shows what each person should focus on, spots delays, helps you decide where to use your team members, and even predicts when you can deliver results to your clients. Learn more or sign up for the beta here: https://the-agile-attorney.captivate.fm/greenlinelegalLearn more about GreenLine Legal hereLIVE WORKSHOP: Better Client Relationships, Fewer InterruptionsThis 90-minute interactive workshop will teach you proven strategies for creating more peaceful, productive client relationships... for the rest of your legal career! When? Friday, December 12 – Live via Zoom Only 12 Seats Available Reserve your spot here: https://the-agile-attorney.captivate.fm/ccwSign Up For the Dec 12 Workshop Here

When you introduce new processes in your law firm, you're asking your team to rethink how they get things done, and that’s a bigger challenge than most realize. In this episode, I explore why the usual approach to change management often misses the mark in law firms. I also discuss why involving your team from the start is critical to getting real buy-in. This approach might take a little longer upfront, but it pays off when it comes to actually implementing the changes you need. Get full show notes, transcript, and more information here: https://www.agileattorney.com/87Mentioned in this episode:LIVE WORKSHOP: Better Client Relationships, Fewer InterruptionsThis 90-minute interactive workshop will teach you proven strategies for creating more peaceful, productive client relationships... for the rest of your legal career! When? Friday, December 12 – Live via Zoom Only 12 Seats Available Reserve your spot here: https://the-agile-attorney.captivate.fm/ccwSign Up For the Dec 12 Workshop HereTake Your Law Practice from Overwhelmed to Optimized GreenLine helps you see the progress of every matter, shows what each person should focus on, spots delays, helps you decide where to use your team members, and even predicts when you can deliver results to your clients. Learn more or sign up for the beta here: https://the-agile-attorney.captivate.fm/greenlinelegalLearn more about GreenLine Legal here