Passion Meets Prosperity: Eric Gang's Path to a Thriving Veteran's Law Practice (Ep. 106) |

Imagine aligning your work with a deep sense of purpose. That’s exactly what Eric Gang, a veterans disability attorney, has done, and the results speak volumes. In a recent episode of The Lawyer Millionaire Podcast, Eric shared his inspiring journey from nearly quitting law to running a thriving practice that focuses on helping veterans. Here’s a closer look at his story, along with actionable insights for law firm owners looking to maximize their success.

Finding Purpose in Law

Eric’s journey began in the late 90s, practicing in various fields like civil litigation and transactional law. Unfulfilled, he considered leaving the legal profession. However, everything changed when he started taking veterans’ cases. The gratitude from clients and the profound difference his work made in their lives rekindled his passion for law.

The Challenges of Running a Law Firm

As Eric explains, owning a law firm poses significant challenges. It’s not just about being a skilled lawyer; it’s also about being an effective business owner. Eric emphasizes the importance of managing growth effectively. Rapid expansion without the necessary leadership and managerial skills can lead to chaos. His advice to other law firm owners is to invest in personal development and surround themselves with great people.

The Importance of Financial Planning

Working with Darren Wurz from Wurz Financial Services has been a game-changer for Eric. He highlights the benefit of automating investment and savings strategies and maintaining a clear separation between business and personal finances. Eric’s approach ensures that personal financial growth parallels business success.

Lessons for Law Firm Owners

Connect Work with Purpose: Just like Eric found meaning in helping veterans, law firm owners can achieve a rewarding career by aligning their services with values they deeply care about.
Invest in Leadership Development: Grow your leadership and managerial skills to handle increased business and keep operations smooth. Consider consulting with experts like financial advisors or business consultants.
Automate Financial Processes: Implement automated financial systems to free up mental energy and focus on strategic growth. Engaging with financial planners who understand the unique needs of law firm owners can make a significant difference.
Foster a Dedicated Team: Build a dedicated team that shares your passion and mission. This not only enhances the practice but also contributes to a positive working environment.

Conclusion

Eric Gang’s journey reminds us of the power of aligning professional work with personal values. By focusing on a niche that truly resonates with him, Eric not only revitalized his career but also made a considerable impact on the lives of countless veterans. Law firm owners can draw valuable lessons from his story to cultivate thriving practices that are both financially and personally fulfilling.

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About our guest:

As founding partner at Gang & Associates, Eric Gang’s service-focused approach and strategic vision have produced the nation’s premier firm for veterans’ disability law, serving veterans and their families across the country. Having practiced law for over 25 years, Eric has litigated more than 1,000 appeals at the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, winning some of the largest VA awards on record. He attributes his long-standing reputation as an aggressive and tenacious veterans’ advocate to his being raised in a large and competitive family, instilling a balance of diligence, dedication, compassion, and respect.

Eric is renowned for his calculated representation of veterans with complex VA claims and appeals involving PTSD, traumatic brain injury, and other psychiatric illnesses. His high-level advocacy results from a deep understanding of the interrelationship between psychological and physical illness in veterans. With a noted wealth of medical acumen, Eric’s ability to apply the interrelationship between body systems in the legal setting has allowed him to develop strategic pathways to victory in cases that VA has repeatedly denied for decades. Simply put, Eric’s team wins cases others deem impossible.

Outside of law, Eric is an avid adventurer and explorer. He is married and has four children.

Transcript:

Darren Wurz [00:00:00]:
When your work aligns with your sense of purpose, magic happens. Welcome to the Lawyer Millionaire podcast. I’m your host, Darren Wurz. Today I have the great privilege of speaking with one of our current clients, accomplished veterans disability attorney and law firm owner Eric Gang. Eric almost gave up on the law, but he found a practice area where he found great satisfaction, and he’s here to tell us all about it.

Intro [00:00:30]:
We are on a mission to help lawyers and law firm owners maximize wealth and achieve financial independence. Welcome to the Lawyer Millionaire with Darren Wurz from Wurtz Financial Services.

Darren Wurz [00:00:43]:
All right, Eric, we’re so excited that you’re here to join us today to talk about your law practice and all the great things that you’re doing. Before we jump into that, I want to get a sense of your passion. You know, you’ve spent a career fighting for veterans. If you had five minutes alone with the head of the va, what would you tell them?

Eric Gang [00:01:04]:
I think what I would say is build an organization and an agency that’s actually responsive to the people you’re purporting to serve, as well as their advocates that are working on on behalf of veterans. I think there’s nothing more frustrating than dealing with a large federal bureaucracy. I think most of the systems that we put into place and the frustrations we experience really come from the unwieldy nature of such a large federal bureaucracy. So to the extent that they can make it responsive and nimble, like maybe a private sector company, I think everybody would be happier and we’d probably be able to get more done. There would be less. Less time and effort wasted on trying to fix mistakes that nobody can track down. For example, I have a client that was. They sent him a paper check, and he never got it for a lot of money, several hundred thousand dollars.

Eric Gang [00:01:58]:
Just to get them to try to trace the check to see what happened to it takes months. And so, you know, just the lack of responsiveness. If they had the ability to just make an agency that you could actually pick up the phone and call somebody and get somebody on the phone that could actually do something to help you, boy, that would make a huge difference, huge difference in the lives of the veterans and those that work for veterans like myself. But hence it, you know, it’s just. It’s a huge bureaucracy. I think it’s the second largest after the Department of Defense. So it’s very big, and it’s a very, very cumbersome organization. And.

Eric Gang [00:02:36]:
And that’s the source of a lot of frustration.

Darren Wurz [00:02:39]:
That makes sense. It’s been around for a long time. And so, you know, the technology and things have changed so much over the last even five years. There’s a lot that could be implemented probably to make all that better.

Eric Gang [00:02:53]:
Yes, I’m sure they could do a lot, but it’s big. And so we see new secretaries of the VA come into power with every changing presidential administration. And I’m often asked, what’s going to change? You know, whenever there’s a new president, we always get asked that question. And the answer is really not much, because the head of the organization has the ability to really hire and fire only a handful of people. The rest are civil servants with some civil servant protection. And the agency has a life of its own, a culture of its own that sort of moves forward without really being directed too much by anybody. It’s sort of a cultural behemoth that does its own thing. And it’s very difficult for a couple people at the top to come in for a very short period of time, say four years, and radically change anything.

Eric Gang [00:03:47]:
You know, we did see some changes with the change of the law back in 2000. It was 2018, I’m sorry, 2017. The law was passed. It took effect. Effect in February 2019. It was a huge overhaul of the system, but the agency remained the same. It just. The laws that they’re required to implement have changed a little bit.

Eric Gang [00:04:09]:
So. But that’s what I would probably.

Darren Wurz [00:04:11]:
Okay, so that’s a great thing to know because there’s a lot of shakeup happening right now in government, but you don’t expect to see very much of a change in terms of the va. Yeah, I don’t.

Eric Gang [00:04:25]:
I think the culture of VA is very hard to change. And I don’t think any president and his appointed secretary can go in there and make huge, drastic changes within such a short period of time. It’s not unrealistic. And I mean, they can, they can, what they can do is they can focus on, you know, initiatives and things like that. I think I read that the new VA secretary is going to focus on some healthcare initiatives and expanding healthcare. I mean, those are things that, that an administration can do to try to put more emphasis on certain areas where they see the need. But to be able to engage in a wholesale overhaul and change the culture of such a large organization in a four year time period is just not realistic.

Darren Wurz [00:05:12]:
Right, right. Well, Eric, you’ve built a thriving law firm that’s focused on veterans disability. What was it that inspired you to focus on this niche in particular?

Eric Gang [00:05:23]:
Sure, yeah. It Is, it is a very rewarding area of practice. And I’ll, I’ll share with you. You know, I, I started this practice in the late 90s. And you know, in those days I, I did lots of different things. Civil litigation, some criminal litigation, you know, some transactional work, you know, just about a wide range of types of practice. And I didn’t particularly enjoy it. And I had a law partner at the time that didn’t work out.

Eric Gang [00:06:00]:
We ended up splitting and I became very disillusioned with the practice of law and I was ready to just change careers because the, you know, the rewards of practicing law, I didn’t, they weren’t really, they weren’t really being realized at that time. And I wanted something else that I felt would be more rewarding. And little by little though, I started getting these cases for veterans and we started winning these cases. And the satisfaction of winning these cases, the gratitude that our clients expressed to us, completely changed my outlook on the practice of law. And it caused me to not only stay in the practice, but to thrive in the practice of law in this particular field. And it’s very difficult to practice law on any given day, no matter what your field of expertise is. But if you don’t enjoy the work, it makes it even more difficult. And so the rewards that I achieved in this area of practice really spoke to the reasons why I became an attorney in the first place.

Eric Gang [00:07:17]:
You want to make a difference in people’s lives to be able to affect outcomes that changed everything for them. And so we have clients, many of them, just some representative samplings would be the client that served in Vietnam, gets back from Vietnam in the early 70s. Within eight or nine months, he’s in the psychiatric ward of the mental hospital. Struggled to find work and started filing VA claims in the early 1980s, and then didn’t get his claim granted until he hired us well into the 2000s. You know, 25, 30 years later, and then you change their life, you know, you thousand dollars in their pocket, you give them a tax free monthly pension or compensation check that comes in every month. And it’s a game changer for them. And those are the kind of stories that really motivate us and inspire us and inspire my staff and my attorneys. So we’re looking to make transformational impact on people’s lives.

Eric Gang [00:08:19]:
So, you know, we don’t take any case, somebody comes in, is fully employed, doing well. They just want an extra 10% for some pain in their knee. We don’t really have the resources to do that because we have to spend our time working for the people that have been living on park benches for 20 years, living on the streets, eating out of garbage cans, who have nothing, and they get out of the service, and they feel like the government treated them with indifference. And we put our efforts into really changing their lives, getting them, you know, big back paychecks and taking them from being homeless to putting them into their own home or something like that. And, you know, we spend our time on only the most difficult cases, the people that are the most severe who need our help the most. So really, it was. It was really what inspired me was the rewards of it. And I think that’s what inspires my staff as well.

Eric Gang [00:09:16]:
You know, they. I have staff that have been with me for 15 years because they believe in the mission, you know, in terms of what we’re doing. And especially to people that have been involved in other practice areas, especially consumer practice areas like matrimonial or personal injury or bankruptcy or whatever it might be. Consumer bankruptcy. Sometimes, you know, you say to yourself, you know, the guy that got a settlement check for his torn meniscus on his knee, as soon as he gets that check, you know, his knee is better and he leaves, and he never thanks you, and that’s it. Or a colleague of mine who tried a rape case to verdict, got an acquittal, the guy got up and walked out of the courtroom, never said thank you. You know, so it’s that kind of thing that often people face in consumer areas of practice that make them wonder, why am I doing this? You know, and think about the. You know, the.

Eric Gang [00:10:18]:
The cases where, like, matrimonial cases, nobody’s happy, okay? Except the lawyers. I mean, seriously, no clients are ever happy in a divorce case. And the more people are fighting, the more dollar signs lawyers see. And, you know, maybe that’s great, but at the end of the day, you want to see a happy client. Seeing a happy client makes this practice rewarding. You know, taking money but knowing that your client hates you. You know, I guess people can live with that. It wasn’t my thing.

Eric Gang [00:10:54]:
You know, I wanted to. I wanted to have clients that appreciated what we did, and that’s what this practice does to us. It motivates us, it inspires us, and we make a difference in people’s lives.

Darren Wurz [00:11:06]:
That’s awesome that you’re able to find that balance. It sounds like you struggle with that for a long time, but you found the purpose. And. And that is so powerful when you can align your personal life and your personal values with what you’re doing.

Eric Gang [00:11:24]:
Yes. Yeah, that’s really what it is. Because sometimes, and I know many lawyers that feel this way, some of them hate the practice of law. They hate it, you know, and they dream about getting out. You know, when I was in law school, I clerked at a law firm. Every day. One of the partners always bought a lottery ticket. You know, he kept saying, if I win this, I’m getting out of this profession.

Eric Gang [00:11:44]:
You know, So, I mean, some, again, some people love it. No matter what they do, they love it. They love being in the arena. Some people hate it. And I think some, to some extent people go into, be into the legal profession not really knowing whether or not their personality strengths are really in, align with what personality strengths are needed to be really good at the law. You know, and for me, this field has really aligned well with my values and my passions. It’s made it very rewarding.

Darren Wurz [00:12:17]:
Yeah, well, it’s hard to know at 22 when you’re going into law school where your strengths are really going to line up. But I just want to pause here because I have felt the same way about the, the financial advisory world. Right. I got into financial planning because I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. Right. And you know, I was very young and enthusiastic and, and excited about that prospect. As I, I took my classes and I got my master’s degree and all that stuff. Then the realities of trying to run a business hit in, you know, hit you and, and, and, and what bothered me so much about the industry, I really started to hate it because it’s just a constant asset grab.

Darren Wurz [00:13:13]:
It’s just going out there trying to get people to send their accounts over to you and then trying to keep them happy. And it’s like this just wasn’t fulfilling. So actually it was you who really inspired us. You’re one of my first clients on this new program that we created where it’s just a flat monthly fee and we’re here for whatever you need. And that just, that’s just so much more rewarding because it aligns what we’re doing with, with what we really want to do.

Eric Gang [00:13:46]:
Yeah. And it does put you in, in more of a position as a business advisor and counselor and partner in what we’re trying to do. And that’s a, just a, it’s just a different feeling as a client in that situation where, and then the resources too, that you, you provide, you know, like the 90 thing, for instance, which I’m working on getting set up, but all these different Things that you curate, make available. It’s, it’s really, it’s been a good, very good experience.

Darren Wurz [00:14:23]:
Well, thanks so much, Eric. Let’s talk a little bit more about your practice. Running a firm, it’s one thing to be a lawyer, it’s another thing to run a business. Right. What are some of the biggest financial or operational challenges that you faced as you started to kind of grow and build out your team?

Eric Gang [00:14:44]:
Yeah, well, that’s right. Running a law firm and owning a law firm has huge challenges. And you can be a good technician, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to be good at running an operation. And learning how to run a business is a learning experience. And, you know, I’ve made so many mistakes over the years, still making mistakes, but little by little we get better and we don’t make some of the same mistakes again, we learn. And I think if I have to go back and look at this in totality over the last 27 years, I think you can’t really grow your, the number, the amount of business you’re doing unless you also, at the same time, have the managerial and leadership capability to be able to manage the growth. Okay. I think that’s probably been one of the biggest challenges, is that you’re aggressive, you’re gung ho about growing your practice, and you go out there and you try to take on, you know, all these clients and you try to feed them into the system, and then you need to hire a bunch of people.

Eric Gang [00:16:02]:
You hire quickly and you make bad decisions on hiring, and then you have disarray and chaos. And I think that the, I like to keep in mind that saying, it says you can only grow to the level of your incompetence, meaning you’re going to hit a ceiling, you know, with respect to your growth that corresponds with the ceiling in your own personal development as a leader, as a manager, as an owner, as a visionary, whatever it might be. And so what we’ve been doing in the firm is spending some time to slow down a little bit, maybe take some, take some steps back, and then reinvest that effort into building our capacity as leaders, as managers, and reinvesting in our systems. And I think the times that we’ve had most, the most chaos have been when we’ve been flooded with too much growth without really being prepared for it. And lawyers, frankly, think they can do everything there is. There is, in certain sectors of our profession, there is a degree of hubris, but there is a lot we don’t know that we are not trained based on our professional backgrounds. And I think that we often make the mistake that we know what we’re doing. And the more I associate with people that really know the finance world and the business world, the more I learned from them.

Eric Gang [00:17:36]:
And I realized I didn’t know this stuff. You know, when I started out, you know, I think years ago, back in the 90s, when I started this, there was a book the ABA published. It was very popular. It was by a guy named Jay Thunberg called Houghton’s how to Start and Build a Law Practice.

Darren Wurz [00:17:51]:
I have a copy of it.

Eric Gang [00:17:53]:
Yeah, I remember him.

Darren Wurz [00:17:55]:
It’s huge. It’s a huge book.

Eric Gang [00:17:57]:
Yeah, I mean, very, very old advice. I don’t know if it’s been. I don’t even. He’s probably not even alive anymore. But I remember he said, start your practice while you’re young and not used to having any money. You know, get started while you’re still used to a student lifestyle. So I sort of. I sort of took that advice and did that.

Eric Gang [00:18:18]:
But that meant the student lifestyle lasted for 10 years after law school. But it was, but the challenge of it, it was, it was a fun experience in hindsight. So I think that’s the main thing, is that everybody thinks that they’re not making the money that they want to be making or their firm isn’t as big as it should be, all because they don’t have the direct pipeline to all the good paying clients. But the reality is, if you did have that and you were flooded with all the work you wanted, if you don’t have that ability to lead and manage, then it’s probably not going to be successful. It’s going to fall apart. A lot of lawyers make the mistake in thinking I’m not where I want to be simply because I don’t have all the good cases or the good clients. If I could just get all the good clients, then I’m fine. And I’ve learned through experience that you need to really take time to focus on developing your ability to lead an organization.

Eric Gang [00:19:15]:
And what it takes to lead an organization of 10 is different than what it takes to lead an organization of 50. You know, so that’s, that’s what I would say. As I look back over the last 27 years, the other big thing is, I think, to compensate for the lack of formal training in the business world, what made a difference for me is consulting with good law firm consultants and practitioners. You know, like bringing on the MBA finance guy to be my cfo, My fractionate Fractional CFO has been huge. A couple other consultants that I’ve been with, for one of the one guy been with, boy, probably 15 years. Yeah. Took me from just me and just basically me and nobody else to where we are now, you know, 30 employees, whatever. I don’t know how many people we have now, but helped us grow substantially, you know, from, you know, a one person show to, you know, a fairly significant revenue generating operation.

Darren Wurz [00:20:23]:
Yeah, yeah, I’ve noticed that the law firm owners who, I noticed, they’re very successful, they tend to surround themselves with a team of great people. And there is definitely something to that. You know, you write, you go to the level of your incompetence. I love that quote. And leadership is, you know, everyone, I think a lot of us, not just lawyers, we think we can do everything. And then we really start to find out where our weaknesses lie and where we have to do some growing and some learning. But the coolest thing is these are all skills that you can learn. These are all steps that you can take.

Eric Gang [00:21:04]:
Yeah, yeah, that’s for sure. You know, and I, and I remember for a while I did some of that stakeholder centered coaching, that Marshall Goldsmith style coaching. So the consultant came in and interviewed the people in my leadership team about all my faults. They came up with a list of 14, and then we would take three at a time and then they would check in with my people to see if I was making improvement and so forth. But it can be a humbling experience when you realize how deficient you often are. So. But it’s worthy of going through that process.

Darren Wurz [00:21:41]:
Yeah, yeah, definitely. You know, and you’re stepping into a completely different role being a leader. I mean, that, that really is a different skill set. And then it’s. It can be a really humbling experience when lawyers come in and they end up being really good at different areas and maybe even better, you know, I don’t know if you’ve experienced that. I’ve experienced that with some people that I’ve brought on. They’re rock stars. And I’m like, wow, you guys are just, you guys are.

Darren Wurz [00:22:11]:
Operate at a level that I, I never did.

Eric Gang [00:22:14]:
Yeah, that is true. That is so true. You know, but that’s what we want to do. We want to bring in the best people. And that’s what we’ve been trying to do here is hire the best people we can and put together a good team, build a good culture, deliver an excellent service. That’s really what we want to do.

Darren Wurz [00:22:37]:
Yeah, absolutely. Well, Eric, you know, we’ve worked together a little bit on your, your business and your financial strategy. What would you say has been the biggest benefit of that process?

Eric Gang [00:22:49]:
Oh, working, yeah. So basically I would say the automation of the investment and savings strategy and the mindset shift of really keeping the business and personal finances separate and not being afraid to just automatically keep pulling that draw out of the business operating account each month and putting into your investments. Because as an owner, historically, for many years, I was a little hesitant to pull money out of the operating account because, you know, we’ll have a short month. And so as a consequence, you know, you’re just kind of, if it stays in the business, you end up spending it on the business and you do that to the detriment of your, of your personal financial, you know, aggrandizement, so to speak. So I think, you know, that shift in mindset and the men, the actual mechanisms that you’re able to set up to automate these processes, that, that’s been huge. And then I know that you guys are going to do stuff and put things in the places it needs to go for that’s, that’s, you know, best practices and you’re going to be keeping an eye on our goals and you’re just keeping track of where we’re headed and based on a plan, of course, we developed together and then, you know, keeping track of that because, you know, it’s hard for people that are running a law firm to keep tabs on everything. So by bringing on your firm, I then have professionals that I touch base with every month. You guys, we have a call every month and we check on things and I get the updates from, you know, the vendors that you have set us up with to give us a monitoring capabilities, tell us a portfolio, up or down, whatever it might be.

Eric Gang [00:24:42]:
And that process has taken some of the guesswork out of it. It’s basically allowed me to put the financial stuff on autopilot, knowing that good people are managing it. And, and then the, you know, the tax planning, the, the stuff that we do to make sure we have all the documents in place we need for the estate plan, for different things that we’re doing. So it’s comprehensive. You know, I, I suspect that a good number of lawyers in my own office don’t even have estate plans written up. You know, they’re lawyers, for crying out loud. You know, so no, it’s that, it’s the, it’s the automation, the autopilot nature of the program that frees you up to really just focus on other Things. And then the helping us develop that.

Eric Gang [00:25:36]:
That comfort level of just taking your. Your draws and, you know, you. You know, for us, sometimes if. If you have a short month, we have a line of credit, a revolving line of credit, we’ll use it. Then we try to pay that back on a revolving basis. You know, in the past, I probably wouldn’t have used it and just hoard all the money in the operating account and then not be putting anything away on the personal side, you know?

Darren Wurz [00:26:04]:
Yeah.

Eric Gang [00:26:05]:
So your system, we changed all that.

Darren Wurz [00:26:08]:
Yeah. You know, it’s funny, because to me, these seem like table stakes. There’s so many things that we have done we can do, but this is a common theme. Like, I’ve heard this not just from you, but from other clients we’ve worked with, is just getting the cash flow system squared away. It really is. I mean, it’s more than just keeping your cash organized. It’s freeing up mental space because it’s not something you have to think about and worry about. It’s just.

Darren Wurz [00:26:41]:
It’s on autopilot. Right. And we don’t have to concentrate on it. We don’t have to focus our mental energy and waste our time worrying about it.

Eric Gang [00:26:49]:
Yeah. Yeah. Like, you know, sometimes I’ll say, hey, you know, I got it. Something happened. We had a storm and some ice backed up and got a roof leak. So I said, hey, you know, I got to move some money back. You know, I know I. Sometimes I do that fairly frequently, but I.

Eric Gang [00:27:07]:
I still want the. The habit of the money just going out automatically.

Darren Wurz [00:27:12]:
Yep. And that’s what it’s there for, you know, I mean, when you build up your emergency fund, it’s. It’s there for that purpose. The beautiful thing about that is then you don’t have to draw money out of the firm unexpectedly to deal with those things or put it on a credit card or, you know, all of that. All of that mess. Yeah. There’s a reason that, like, I don’t know if you’ve read Greg Crabtree’s simple numbers, but that’s number one. Owner’s compensation.

Darren Wurz [00:27:41]:
That’s like the one thing you got to get that down first, and then the other things fall in line. It’s really powerful.

Eric Gang [00:27:49]:
Yeah. You know, I remember the evolution of that process over the last almost 30 years now. It got, I think, in the beginning, I try to remember in the early years, I was an S corp, and then when I broke up with the law partner, I became an llc. And at the point of just taking it, just taking A draw. And did that for many, many years and only took what I needed, you know, and, you know, that. That didn’t work so well. Then we moved back to a subchapter S corporation and then getting to the point of just taking a regular W2 paycheck every other week like everybody else. That.

Eric Gang [00:28:28]:
That was huge, you know, and again, it doesn’t. You don’t do that right away. You know, you’re in the beginning. You’re too nervous to do that, you know, and so, you know, I look back, it’s an evolutionary process, you know, you get from just the W2 paycheck and then. And then automated draws of the same amount twice a month that go out and then the tax escrow, the stuff we do. So those things have been processes that take some psychological comfort because as an owner, you’re nervous. You know, you’re trying to hoard your operating capital and things like that. It gets easier, I think, the longer you’re in practice and the longer you’ve been through various cycles and you realize I, you know, we’ll manage in the beginning, when you’re young, in the practice, you’re nervous.

Eric Gang [00:29:12]:
You don’t know.

Darren Wurz [00:29:17]:
I get that. I’ve been there, so I totally understand it. Yeah. Well, Eric, we’re coming down to the end of our time. It’s been fantastic talking with you about your journey and your focus on working with veterans. I want to ask you one last question here. You’re a client. You’re part of our book club.

Darren Wurz [00:29:38]:
We’re currently reading the Psychology of Money. So I want to ask you what one or two of your takeaways from that book. Now, if you’re behind in the reading, don’t worry, I can ask you a different question.

Eric Gang [00:29:49]:
A really good book. Okay. I mean, there’s been so many things here. I guess the. He talks about. He talks about the tail. Was it called the tail effect? What? The tail events. Yes, tail events.

Eric Gang [00:30:09]:
And he talks about. Oh, he used the example of investors, had they been investing when. Since they were teenagers, like. Like Warren Buffett, you know, and he keeps emphasizing that just those small things and the power of compounding over time. And then I think that’s been really big, I think, thinking about that. And it’s kind of scary because I got a lot of ground to catch up on. But yeah, no, that. That it’s been a really good book.

Eric Gang [00:30:47]:
And then he talks about the venture capital is that the venture capitalists know that a good chunk of their investments are not going to be worthy of Anything not going to turn into anything, but they make up for it for the couple that really hit big, you know.

Darren Wurz [00:31:01]:
Yeah.

Eric Gang [00:31:02]:
But the point is they have to keep investing and being consistent about it.

Darren Wurz [00:31:07]:
Yep.

Eric Gang [00:31:07]:
And so that was the takeaways that I’ve gotten so far was that, you know, the early investing, just being consistent with it. And then by analogy to the venture capital world, you know, just keep making those investments. You’re gonna, you can expect to have, you know, ones that bomb. But if you run it, it’s like the numbers game. If you run, run it consistently enough over time, you’re gonna have some big winners.

Darren Wurz [00:31:29]:
Right. That’s why we diversify. Warren Buffett, same thing. I mean, he, I think Housel mentions that in the book, how Warren Buffett talked. He’s like, if you only knew the number of losers that we’ve invested in. Right. It’s a few of the home runs that really. Those are the tail events.

Darren Wurz [00:31:49]:
You know, it’s the few home runs that really, really amplify things. Even in the broader market, it’s only a handful of companies that really drive the returns year to year. Which is why stock picking is such a dangerous game. It’s better to spread the bets.

Eric Gang [00:32:08]:
Yes. Yeah, that was so true. And he talked about what the just the algorithmic jump in Warren Buffett’s net worth towards the very tail end of his since in his 60s and beyond, you know, and just the power of how that works. It was very interesting.

Darren Wurz [00:32:30]:
Yeah. These are things like, we know we’ve heard them before, but what I love about Morgan’s book is he just has a different way of making us look at these things. Like compounding, for instance. I mean, we all know it’s powerful, it’s exponential, but the way he explains it just is really eye opening. Great.

Eric Gang [00:32:50]:
Yeah. Yeah, it’s. And he tells the tale of those two stock traders in the. In 29 and you know, and the guys that were committing suicide and the guy that made it and made it, he bet. Right. But then ended up losing it all again. And I think he ended up committing suicide later, a couple years later.

Darren Wurz [00:33:09]:
Yes. Yeah.

Eric Gang [00:33:10]:
So, yeah, it’s crazy. It’s. Yeah, I, I guess I take away from it a very methodical, consistent, conservative strategy over time is going to be the way to go versus trying to bet and make it big all in one shot.

Darren Wurz [00:33:31]:
Yeah. And really the same thing goes with business. Going back to what you were saying about just taking a pause and building capacity. The growth can bring chaos sometimes. That’s so true. In The Exit Planning Institute, they emphasize growth comes later. You know, you start with managing risk, strategy, efficiency, then you’re ready to grow. I’ve often asked people this, like, if you had a hundred new clients tomorrow, would you be ready? Like, you know, we all want more clients, but yes.

Darren Wurz [00:34:03]:
You know, that slow, methodical approach to growth, really, and over time.

Eric Gang [00:34:10]:
Right.

Darren Wurz [00:34:10]:
Everyone’s like, I want to grow, grow, grow. But if you just grow 10% a year, you will be huge, you know, in 15 years. So it doesn’t have to be those big leaps necessarily, just consistency over time.

Eric Gang [00:34:26]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s what I’m seeing, too.

Darren Wurz [00:34:30]:
Cool. Cool. Well, Eric, this has been really great. Thank you so much for joining us today. Any last words that you want to pass on to our listeners?

Eric Gang [00:34:40]:
Yeah, I would say if. If you’re in the. In the legal profession and you’re struggling with being able to actually make it turn into something that’s building real wealth for you, then I really strongly recommend Darren’s services because he really not only helps you with the mindset shift, but actually putting these things on autopilot and just making it happen. And just the resources that he brings to bear. I mean, even the referrals to different other consultants here and there, like Christine, for example, just that the. The depth of your network has been. Has been a real bonus.

Darren Wurz [00:35:23]:
Well, thank you so much, Eric. That really means a lot. I didn’t expect you to say all that, but I really do appreciate it very much.

Eric Gang [00:35:30]:
No problem.

Darren Wurz [00:35:32]:
Yeah. Well, thanks for joining us.

Eric Gang [00:35:33]:
No problem.

Darren Wurz [00:35:34]:
A big thank you to Eric for coming on the show and sharing his journey with us. If you want to learn more about Eric and where to find him, check the show notes for the links. Here’s my challenge for you today. Start thinking big like a business owner and find that magical place where your sense of purpose meets your work. Your why, if you will. It’s been a true pleasure to work with Eric and be a part of his growth trajectory, helping him get clear on his financial goals so that he could really pour fuel on the fire of his firm and just explode his growth. And that could be you, too. We’d love to work with you as well.

Darren Wurz [00:36:12]:
Jump on a call with me and I’ll share with you the exact financial framework that we use with Eric and all of our clients. Oh, and by the way, listeners to this podcast get $250 off their first month as members. So go down to the show notes, click the link, and grab a spot with me, and I’ll tell you all about all the cool stuff that we do. Well, that’s a wrap for this episode of the Lawyer Millionaire podcast. I’m your host, Darren Wurz. Wishing you great success. See you next time.

Outro [00:36:45]:
Thank you for listening to the Lawyer Millionaire. Click the Follow button below to be notified when new episodes become available. This content has been made available for informational and and educational purposes only. This content is not intended to represent investing or tax advice. Always seek the advice of a qualified investment or tax advisor with any questions you may have regarding your own financial circumstances.

Passion Meets Prosperity: Eric Gang’s Path to a Thriving Veteran’s Law Practice (Ep. 106)