Scaling Smart: Ross Pitcoff’s Law Firm Growth Journey

In the latest episode of The Lawyer Millionaire Podcast, host Darren Wurz sits down with distinguished lawyer and law firm owner Ross Pitcoff to delve into the keys to financial success and strategic growth in the legal sector. As law firms navigate the complexities of an ever-changing business landscape, Ross provides invaluable insights on how to build a resilient and prosperous legal practice.

Top 5 Takeaways for Listeners:

1. Client Identification and Service Excellence: Techniques for defining and understanding the needs of your ideal clients to enhance service delivery.

2. Effective Trust and Practice Management: Key practices in trust account management and the use of efficient systems to streamline operations.

3. Leveraging Digital Marketing:Strategies for using LinkedIn and other social media platforms to increase firm visibility and attract desirable clients.

4. Strengthening Financial Health: Essential tips on managing firm finances, including bookkeeping, billing, and accounts receivable.

5. Strategic Planning and Expansion: Insights into staffing and budgeting that support thoughtful growth and the capacity to handle more substantial and complex cases.

Defining Your Client Avatar:

Ross Pitcoff emphasizes the significance of understanding your target clientele through defining client avatars. By identifying the specific traits and needs of your ideal clients, law firms can tailor their services and marketing strategies to attract and retain these key individuals. This targeted approach not only enhances client satisfaction but also drives business efficiency and growth.

Building Financial Resilience:

Managing the financial health of a law firm is paramount. Ross advises on crucial elements such as the use of engagement letters, effective trust management, and the implementation of robust practice management systems. He also highlights the importance of diligent bookkeeping and managing accounts receivable to maintain steady cash flow and financial stability.

Hiring and Planning:

To accommodate growth, Ross shares his strategy for hiring the right people and the importance of budgeting and strategic planning. Expansion isn’t just about increasing numbers, but about enriching your firm’s capabilities and enhancing service delivery.

Leveraging Technology and Social Media:

From his own experience, Ross discusses how leveraging platforms like LinkedIn and digital marketing strategies significantly contributed to his firm’s visibility and client acquisition. For modern law firms, an online presence and engaging potential clients through social media is non-negotiable.

Future Goals and Aspirations:

Ross visualizes an aggressive growth plan for his law firm, aiming to tackle larger cases and expand his team. He stresses the importance of building a capable team to handle the demands of more significant litigation involving extensive document review and client communications.

Client-Centric Approach:

Ultimately, the driving force behind Ross’s ambitions and strategies is his dedication to achieving satisfactory outcomes for his clients. His goal is to ensure that every client feels valued and effectively represented, which in turn brings personal and professional fulfillment.

Connect and Engage:

For individuals looking to learn more about Ross Pitcoff’s methodologies or to seek his legal expertise, visiting the Pitcoff Law Group’s official site or connecting via professional networks is highly encouraged.

Join Our Community:

Listeners are invited to subscribe to The Lawyer Millionaire Podcast for ongoing insights into financial planning, business strategies, and success stories from leaders in the legal community.

Let The Lawyer Millionaire be your guide in navigating the complex waters of law firm ownership and financial management. Enhance your practice, empower your financial decisions, and enjoy a dose of professional wisdom with each episode.

Optimize Your Law Practice Today:

For additional resources and personalized advice, don’t forget to visit our website and join our newsletter, where we offer exclusive content and expert guidance tailored to law firm owners and legal entrepreneurs.

This episode not only enlightens but also inspires law firm owners to aim higher and achieve greater. Ross Pitcoff’s journey and advice underline the essence of perseverance, strategic planning, and client-focused service in building a successful law practice. Dive deeper into these topics and refine your strategies with The Lawyer Millionaire Podcast.

Resources:

Connect with Ross Pitcoff:

Linkedin: Ross Pitcoff
Facebook: Pitcoff Law Group
Website: Pitcoff Law Group

About our guest:

Ross Pitcoff is the Managing Partner & Founder of Pitcoff Law Group, PC (formally known as: Ross Pitcoff Law), a New York City business law firm with a principal office located on Park Avenue.

Mr. Pitcoff is a highly skilled commercial & business litigator, specializing in cases involving business divorce, partnership disputes, contractual breaches, fraud, and alternative dispute resolution. Known for his fierce oral advocacy skills and unique ability to simplify factually complex legal scenarios, Mr. Pitcoff is a powerful advocate for his clients both inside and outside the courtroom.

Having been admitted to practice in the Southern and Eastern districts of New York, Mr. Pitcoff demonstrates his versatile legal skills and ability to effectively navigate complex legal landscapes. He obtained his law degree from the prestigious Fordham University School of Law in 2010, further enhancing his deep knowledge and understanding of the law.

As the Managing Partner of Pitcoff Law Group, Mr. Pitcoff has spearheaded the Firm’s recent tremendous growth, earning the Firm the prestigious “Law Firm 500” award in 2023 while officially ranking as the 11th fastest-growing small law firm in the country. This notable achievement is a testament to Mr. Pitcoff’s exceptional leadership, commitment to excellence, and passion for delivering exceptional legal services to his clients.

In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Pitcoff is a highly sought-after speaker, sharing his insights and expertise on topics related to commercial business practices and alternative dispute resolution. His ability to provide strategic guidance and navigate complex legal challenges has earned him the trust and respect of his clients and peers alike.

Mr. Pitcoff’s areas of expertise extend beyond litigation. He and the Firm also act as trusted General Counsel to business owners, providing strategic guidance to businesses in matters such as entity structuring, operating and shareholder agreements, contractual negotiation and review, internal investigations, and overseeing acquisitions via asset sales or stock purchases. His comprehensive approach ensures his clients receive exemplary legal support and guidance tailored to their specific needs.

Transcript:

Darren Wurz [00:00:50]:
Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Lawyer Millionaire. Have you ever wondered how some law firms succeed in turning complex multimillion dollar partner disputes into harmonious resolutions? And how do you attract those multimillion dollar clients in the first place? My name is Darren Wurz. I’m your host on this journey to financial success. And today we have a perfect guest who can shed some light on these crucial questions. We’re talking with Ross Pitcoff, a seasoned business law expert who’s not just a litigator, but also a strategizer in helping small and mid sized business owners achieve success. He’s a graduate of Fordham University School of Law. He also launched his law firm in 2018, and he’s been serving New York businesses ever since.

Darren Wurz [00:01:46]:
Ross understands the challenges and opportunities that come with starting and running a successful law practice, his approach to resolving disputes through mediation, his experience in assisting businesses with finances, all of that makes him uniquely suited to share some insights with us today. Ross, welcome to the show.

Ross Pitcoff [00:02:08]:
Thank you for having me, Darren. I greatly appreciate it.

Darren Wurz [00:02:10]:
Yes, I am excited that you’re here. This is so cool, because just another way, another example of how you meet people through social media. Ross liked a bunch of my podcast posts, so I did a little research on him, and I was like, hey, let’s have this guy on the show and talk about all his experience and stuff that he’s learned. So great to have you here. So let’s kind of start with that and tell us about your journey, how you got started in the field of law and what led you to open your practice. Pitcoff Law Group.

Ross Pitcoff [00:02:49]:
Sure. And once again, it’s great to be here with you. The journey for me was pretty straightforward. When I was younger, I knew I wanted to go to law school. Back then. I think for me, I was passionate about the constitution. I was always passionate about justice. And I didn’t like reading stories about people getting taken advantage of.

Ross Pitcoff [00:03:09]:
But what I did love to read about were stories where you had attorneys that were able to defend people through a legal system that could protect rights. And through that, I got into constitutional law. I was very impassioned by it, and that encouraged me to want to proceed via career in the legal field. Of course, once you start going to law school and you start to actually practice law in a law firm, you realize that the ideals that maybe you had aren’t necessarily incorporated into the day to day life of an attorney. So I went to an insurance defense firm. That’s actually how I started when I came out in 2011. Practiced there for a few years. Always was really interested in the evolution of New York and in the late 19th century.

Ross Pitcoff [00:03:56]:
So that whole gilded age era, when you had the tycoons, and then you had the labor unions gathering together and laws were being implemented to protect the workers, it was just a really interesting time because America was really becoming a behemoth with respect to financial wealth, but the disparity levels were becoming further and further apart. So I think that whole era, Teddy Roosevelt trust busting, it’s fascinating to me, and because of that, I attempted to evolve over to business. So I practiced with a couple of boutique commercial business litigation law firms. In 2018, I decided that for me, the most rewarding aspect of the law was getting to work with clients directly, kind of focusing in on pain points, seeing what their problems were, and then coming up with the creative plan and solution to achieve an end. So I opened my practice because I wanted to be able to do the parts of the business that were most meaningful to me. It’s not that sitting behind a desk all day billing was without any value. Of course it’s necessary. It’s part of the reality of being an attorney.

Ross Pitcoff [00:04:55]:
But I wanted to be able to proceed with the practice on the terms that were mine, and that was to really focus on helping the customer, the client, and to really get the results that they would want or that would be most practical for them.

Darren Wurz [00:05:09]:
Very cool. So you launched out on your own. What was that experience like starting your practice? Were there any things that surprised you in that process?

Ross Pitcoff [00:05:23]:
I think to say surprise is an understatement Darren. It’s really something I went out. I left my law firm. I had a few clients that wanted to continue to work with me and sort of hung up a shingle, as they would say. The challenge wasn’t actually practicing the law itself, but the challenges were actually everything else that was involved with running and operating a business. So I used to send out bills when we first started by opening a word document and typing out my time and then saving a document as a PDF. There was no practice management system. There was no sales system in place.

Ross Pitcoff [00:06:01]:
We didn’t have a pipeline of new business coming in. We had no marketing to advertise to the world about what we were all about. There was no voice out there trying to show who we are. And then we had no management direction, no financial wherewithal to really know how to plan for the future. No budget, no business plan. So I think that it was certainly a big shock and surprise. I still wouldn’t have done it any different way, because at the beginning, it was really all about, you’re my client and you’re my client, and I’m going to do everything I possibly can to help you. I’m going to do everything from ABCDE all the way to z.

Ross Pitcoff [00:06:38]:
But over time, I knew that I wanted to evolve into helping more and more people. The first couple of years, they were rocky. In 2018, I had my car possessed. In November, I was just out of funds, out of resources, and I’d hit a drought. At the end of 2018, I had some clients come with me. But when those cases resolved, which was pretty quick, so where am I going to get more business. And so I went through that process, and that’s really when I found social media and digital marketing. I was certainly doing the networking, and I was getting small cases here and there. But I then began to leverage all digital channels to start to do outreach, get on phone calls.

Ross Pitcoff [00:07:16]:
LinkedIn sales navigator began running some PPC ads. And little by little, we started growing. And as we sit here today, we’re eleven strong. So it’s been a. It’s been a big shift.

Darren Wurz [00:07:28]:
What a great story. I bet at the time you said getting your car possessed, that was not fun. But now, looking back, you’re probably like that. That’s pretty funny that I had that. I went through that experience. I mean, I look back on my life and I’m like, wow, was that me? But you learn through that stuff, and all of us, we have to go through that. And you go through that struggle, you go through that, you learn stuff from it, and it teaches you, it motivates you to become better. And it sounds like you have really gotten some systems down and you know what you’re doing at this point.

Darren Wurz [00:08:07]:
You put those different systems in place. I had to chuckle on the inside about the word document and the PDF. Now I’m curious, how did you learn these things? Did you, were, you just did a lot of research on your own, read books. How did you, you had this pivotal moment where you’re like, okay, we have to bring in new clients. How did you get good at it? Basically, what happened?

Ross Pitcoff [00:08:33]:
Sure. Well, it’s a great question and very loaded. For better, for worse. You know, I think early on it was a lot of reading, a lot of reading of books, books after book after book, all about marketing. Just thinking of one ready, fire, aim. Using the Colin Powell rule of 70%, you got to take action. If you know 70%, get out there. The hero’s journey.

Ross Pitcoff [00:08:55]:
Kind of learning about how you can attract different clients. And then, of course, just by dealing with people in general, having more and more conversations and dialogues, both with attorneys to get a sense of how they operated with their clientele, with their business, but also then with clients, with real people sitting down with them. And one thing I really picked up on early on that was very helpful was to recognize that people coming to you with their legal issue, to them it’s very personal. And especially we do a lot of business, divorces, partnership disputes, that’s really our primary area and all other types of commercial oriented work. But this impacts people’s lives very significantly. And when you really listen beyond just the words that are being said, you find those pain points. You understand that the business may be struggling, but theres greater concerns, such as if the business has to close down, then my familys going to suffer, my familys going to struggle, I wont be able to pay for my kids tuition. And that was always very poignant for me.

Ross Pitcoff [00:09:53]:
And I managed over time to develop a way where I could take a bunch of stuff that was kind of, you know, thrown out towards me, kind of reapply it through a funnel, discussing them through legal elements, and then regurgitating it back to the client in a way where it was simplified, but there was a legal framework around it, and then there was a plan put into place to achieve an end. So a lot of reading, certainly took some courses on digital marketing. I remember there was one book, social media made me rich by Doctor Matthew Loop, which was really at the time, very inspirational for me. And then I moved on to reading Ryan Holiday, and the obstacle is the way and a lot of mindset training, psycho cybernetics. The list is endless. I can look around me right now, I see Dan Sullivan books, I see Tony Robbins. So really a mix. And as for the business growth, I did look into joining different accelerators and learning from entrepreneurial oriented business owners, be it attorneys or not understanding how they grew their businesses.

Ross Pitcoff [00:10:57]:
Because one thing that I think a lot of lawyers lack, frankly, is business acumen. An attorney can be great. You can be a great oral advocate. You can litigate before court. And if you’re looking to just do it on your own, maybe that’s enough. But if you’re looking to be able to serve more and more people and finding a team to build with, just like you talk about George Washington and his first cabinet and how excellent they were, right. And the mind surrounding them, that’s a completely different animal. And that’s what I wanted to be able to do to serve more people.

Ross Pitcoff [00:11:28]:
So that was a mix of, again, it’s reading courses, but also then joining different groups and masterminds and learning from those that had done it before me.

Darren Wurz [00:11:38]:
Yeah, I love it.

Ross Pitcoff [00:11:39]:
I’m still learning.

Darren Wurz [00:11:40]:
Yes, all the time. Never stop learning. Here are some of the books you mentioned, and I’ve read some of those books as well. This is why I love working with law firm owners, because I love that entrepreneurial spirit, I love that growth mindedness in that business acumen. Some of us think that certain people are just born with it or we don’t appreciate enough. I didn’t appreciate it enough when I first started my business. And you realize there really is a whole new different skill set here, that it can be learned, but it is something new that you have to develop and get better at. And we’re always getting better at as we go on.

Darren Wurz [00:12:23]:
My next question, you mentioned social media, so let’s talk about that a little bit. You’re on a lot of platforms. How has that been helping you in your business? And what tactics or strategies in social media have you found to be effective?

Ross Pitcoff [00:12:38]:
Sure. Well, it’s another big question. A lot of attorneys I know, especially, I think there’s been a big evolution over the last four or five years, certainly, post COVID, more and more attorneys have really entered into the digital realm. But when I started, there was really a dearth of lawyers who were out there making content, who were out there talking about legal issues and doing so with intention. And the first platform that I initially said, I’m going to pick one platform and I’m really going to focus in on it. And just do my best to create a network to try and offer advice to people, or at least chime in on conversations that were relevant and see where that led. For me, it was LinkedIn. It just made the most sense because LinkedIn, of course, is comprised of business owners and other people involved on the business end.

Ross Pitcoff [00:13:26]:
And we really went all in. We use Sal’s navigator to connect with CEO’s of companies of various sizes. And I just began chatting people up, trying to have dialogues and conversations. Not so much to say if you ever need a lawyer, here I am, which potentially is restricted by various bar rules. But the idea was really just to become aware that brand awareness. And over time, as your connections and followers grew, more and more people were seeing our posts. Therefore we get more and more reactions. Then occasionally you start logging into LinkedIn and you have a little message.

Ross Pitcoff [00:14:03]:
Hey, Ross, I was reading your post about this particular issue in a partnership dispute. We had a post at one point about attaching assets, attaching bank accounts. And so it was a complex partnership dispute. One of the business owners had allegedly taken about $2.5 million out of the operating account of the business and just diverted it away. And so filing a lawsuit is one thing, but you need some sort of emergency relief, usually to ensure that that bank account is frozen and to try to stop funds from leaving the account. So we filed a temporary for temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction be in order to show cause. And I won’t get too much into the legalese, but somebody read a post about that and they said, you know, I’m not having that issue, but I’m having an issue with a partner in my business. And I noticed some similarities.

Ross Pitcoff [00:14:53]:
Can we set up a call? And that call wound up turning into a very long and very significant litigation for that business owner. And when I say long, it was only long because of the realities of the core process and how things can take time. But that all came from LinkedIn, so that’s where it started. Now we run the gamut. We do LSA, we do PPC, all on Google. We certainly utilize Instagram and Facebook. I’m being told we should be more on TikTok. So that’s something that we’re looking into more, and we’re going to be creating a lot more video content because we haven’t done as much as we really should be.

Ross Pitcoff [00:15:30]:
But I think this is the digital age, and you’re seeing that especially as the younger ages and the millennials. I want to say we’re the young age millennials, but I guess we’re not the youngest, but, you know, as we age, more and more of the people within our age group, and younger people as well, are very comfortable with the Internet and calling people based on trust they established through repetition of viewers?

Darren Wurz [00:15:51]:
Yeah, absolutely. I finally gave into TikTok and got on TikTok last year, and, you know, actually, I’ve got a lot of engagement on there. It’s been very interesting and a lot of engagement from lawyers, you know, so that’s pretty cool. So you’re getting on LinkedIn, you’re messaging and posting. And I love that idea, by the way. Like, posting about cases that you’re dealing with in an anonymous way, you know, but stuff that you’ve worked on, and then other people see that and they’re like, oh, you know, I could use your help, too. That’s a really great idea. So was that the thing for you? And in terms of when you were kind of trying to attract clients as you’re getting your business going, because you have some pretty, you know, I would say sophisticated clients, these are, these are business owners at high levels.

Darren Wurz [00:16:53]:
It takes a high level of trust to work with them. They’re not just going to pick up the phone and calls anybody. And especially being a young attorney who is, you have your firm that has just opened in 2018, and you’re trying to get it going. What was effective for you in trying to establish that brand presence so that you could attract those really ideal clients for yourself?

Ross Pitcoff [00:17:23]:
I think it was really creating the right voice. You know, the first layer of being able to service clients that we wanted to, which, to your point, they weren’t. They are sophisticated clients, is being able to show that we can do the sophisticated work. If we’re simply a group of charlatans that can’t really do what we say we can do, then we haven’t really achieved much for the people that we service. But I had some great victories. I was able early on, I went up, we dealt with big law. We won some, got some great outcomes on multiple cases. I remember dealing with a handful of Harvard attorneys and really getting a real successful outcome.

Ross Pitcoff [00:18:04]:
And I was younger at the time, and the partner at the firm was a lot older and kind of chalked it up to, well, the judge just liked you, but we certainly leveraged what we were able to achieve, but it was also the way that we marketed and to do that, people talk about client avatars, and I knew about avatars for ages, and I’d say, yeah, I kind of know my avatar, but I had a sit down with a marketer once, and they really grilled me on, what is your target client? What is your ideal client look like? What do they read? How do they spend their time? What do they do with their free time? What are their biggest fears? What are their biggest obstacles in life? What are their passions? What’s their purpose? And you say, how the heck can I know that? But then once you take the time to do the uncomfortable stuff and start writing all this stuff out, and you start going through, and you start going through, and you write, and you write, and you write, and suddenly you’ve developed this creature. And for me, what I think is pretty cool about what we do, frankly, and I think it helps the passion that we have. It’s that just like my clients, I’m a business owner.

Darren Wurz [00:19:06]:
Yeah.

Ross Pitcoff [00:19:07]:
So it’s not like I’m an attorney that’s dealing with people for personal injury and saying, well, I can help you get something. And maybe some attorneys have been injured themselves, but they don’t go through that on a daily basis. I experience the struggles of what my clients experience on a day to day basis. I may not have some of the wild, wacky scenarios that come to us, but I know what it’s like to run a business. I know about the hardships and the challenges, and I know about the bravery that it really takes to wake up every single day. Just like, you know, we visited Key West Hemingway’s house not too long ago. My family and I was really motivated, but impacted by. We went into his office, which was above his garage.

Ross Pitcoff [00:19:46]:
It’s still set up. His typewriter is there. It’s really cool. And the tour guide said every single morning there was a rule. Seven days a week, he would write 700 words per day, no matter what. Even when he was famous and well known. And he had his struggles, we all know, but every single day, he showed up. And so I got a little portrait to take home, and I have on my vision board 700 words per day.

Ross Pitcoff [00:20:12]:
And I think that’s the type of grit a lot of these business owners that I deal with have themselves. And I try and do that for us and for our business and trying always to better myself and to become the best version of myself. I think taking the ability to say, I know what you’re going through, because we go through it, combined with, we also have the tools and the strategies and the abilities to get results. And this is how we do it. To be able to merge that together, I think creates a certain level of synergy with clients of ours, with potential referrals from other attorneys who say, I think you’d be a good fit for one of our clients, and that’s how we’ve really grown the business.

Darren Wurz [00:20:49]:
Fantastic. Yeah. One of the biggest struggles that law firm owners face, and maybe you’ve experienced some of this yourself, is the ups and downs in income, the fluctuations that happen. Not every law practice is the same in that regard, and some certainly have more fluctuations than others. But I’m curious, with your experience in business and finance, what insights do you have for other law firm owners on building financial resilience? Can you share some key strategies that maybe lawyers should think about or focus on?

Ross Pitcoff [00:21:28]:
Well, I think it really depends where you are in your business. Number one is always work to get a retainer upfront. If you’re an hourly biller, that’s very important. And when I was a solo, we were very fortunate. Bills were just generally paid. But as you grow, things can become more challenging. So certainly early on, make sure that you’re protecting yourself with proper engagement letters and that you’re ensuring that you have enough of a credit with the clients to do the work. As you grow, it becomes important to have a practice management system that allows you to track what’s in trust, setting up a proper, making sure you’ve got your, of course, escrow accounts or Elta accounts set up, and then using a practice management system to keep track.

Ross Pitcoff [00:22:13]:
And as you get bigger and bigger, you’re going to need a bookkeeper, you’re going to need quickbooks or some sort of ability to track where monies are going. So we have a very comprehensive system now, we use clio for practice management, which will allocate funds whether they’re in trust, whether they’re in operating, it’ll send out bills. We have our bookkeepers that use quickbooks that view those funds and then put them into a profit and loss statement. And we have an AR department. Accounts receivable is very important. Not because it’s not that certain clients, they’re not bad people. It’s just a matter of, as a law firm, as you grow, you’re sending out more and more invoices, and you want to make sure that people are up to speed. And as the attorney, unless you’re able to stay up 24 hours a day, you just can’t do everything in the firm.

Ross Pitcoff [00:22:58]:
So you need the right people and the right seats to ensure that you continue to have the funds flowing and coming in. But if you set things up or you have trust replenishment requirements in your engagement letters. If you have an AR department that’s able to stay on top of the clients to ensure that they’re paying timely, oftentimes, by the way, clients just say, oh, you know what, I’ve been busy. They have their own lives, they have things going on, a phone call comes in and they wind up making a payment. But things like that, I think are essential to ensuring there’s cash flow because I will tell you, and getting a lot of credit too, but I will tell you I’ve been on the opposite side. And one part of growth that I think depending on how aggressive a firm wants to grow is you’re going to have to lean into being uncomfortable because hiring is expensive, you have to front a cost. You have to plan to put about 20% on top of what you’re paying your employees for, tax and payroll, etcetera, and you’re not necessarily going to see the benefits one day later. There’s training, there’s getting custom, you know, customs and practices of the firm.

Ross Pitcoff [00:23:54]:
So those things being able to budget, they’re all very important for law firms growth.

Darren Wurz [00:24:00]:
Yes, yes. Thank you for mentioning all of those things. I applaud all of that. Not doing all of that yourself. Very critical to have people do that administrative stuff for you so you can free up your time on the revenue generating items, working with clients and billing. So another question I have is, in terms of your plans for the future, you’re obviously very entrepreneurial and you have big ideas. I’m curious what your growth plan looks like. What are you really excited about and what are you trying to accomplish in the year 2024?

Ross Pitcoff [00:24:44]:
It’s a great question, and you’re right, we do have a plan. We recently were ranked number eleven on the law firm five hundred’s fastest growing law firms in the country.

Darren Wurz [00:24:55]:
Wow.

Ross Pitcoff [00:24:56]:
Yeah. It’s for small law firms. And so that’s been really exciting for this next year. We do have what people would say is an aggressive growth plan. So we certainly have financial figures in mind. But as for staff, we want to be adding multiple additional attorneys. And our big goal now is to really be able to be in a position where we can sort of move up the ladder in terms of the size of cases we’re taking on. We can handle matters generally that are in the seven figures.

Ross Pitcoff [00:25:26]:
And we certainly do deal with big law on the other side of some of our matters, but we really want to dive into larger and larger cases that require a team. And I think one thing you run into when you’re dealing with larger companies with solidified C suites and 50, 70, 100 employees. Sometimes these litigations get larger and larger because there’s document review, there’s discovery, extensive discovery emails of all the employees and communications and documentation and vendor agreements. And suddenly you’ve got a really, really large case that frankly a solo can’t handle or, or small firm is not necessarily equipped to handle. And we’ve managed ways with outsourcing, but we do now view ourselves as being in a position to start to take on some of those matters and we want to do that more and more into 2024 and beyond.

Darren Wurz [00:26:14]:
Very cool. I love it. You mentioned earlier, Dan Sullivan, as one of your authors that you’ve read, I’m curious if you’ve read the book ten x is easier than two x. I’m reading that right now. Have you heard that one?

Ross Pitcoff [00:26:29]:
I’ve not only heard of it, I recently finished it. I’m looking at it right now. It’s sitting on my shelf. Great read. Really great read.

Darren Wurz [00:26:36]:
Yes. Yes indeed. Very cool. So I’m glad to be able to share that experience with you now, behind all of this, one last question I have for you is what is your lawyer millionaire mission? And what I mean by that is what motivates you. That could be a personal vision or business vision, but what is it that inspires you to want to grow your practice and achieve the goals that you have for yourself?

Ross Pitcoff [00:27:05]:
It’s a great question. It’s going to sound, it might sound a little trite or silly, but several years ago, I was out with an owner of a prior firm that I had. I was an associate at. And it was one of those nights, you know, the partner takes you out and puts whiskey down and you’re having a steak and he’s talking all about these things. And I have to say I agreed with his ethos and mentality when it came to why we do what we do. And he says, you know, we just do it for the thank you. You do it for the thank you. And, well, what does that really mean? It’s sort of, it’s that moment at the end of a matter where you’re able to achieve something, where you get that email to say, I just want to tell you how much I appreciate what you just did for me.

Ross Pitcoff [00:27:52]:
Or you get that phone call or even somebody’s crying or you’re getting hugged by somebody because it’s such an emotional rollercoaster, whether you’re going into court or you’re dealing with a deposition, or you’re just waiting and waiting and waiting for that outcome or to see if the case is going to resolve or what’s going to happen. And you get that result, you get that judgment. And the more people that you can do that for, the better off we can be as a business. And we know that we’re helping people in our community. So might be, again, a bit of a trike cliche there, but it’s the thank you’s, and it’s the more thank you’s that we can get. The better off we’ll be, the more we’ll be giving to our community and the better we’ll do as a business and we’ll see it grow.

Darren Wurz [00:28:33]:
Yeah. Well, it sounds like you really enjoy what you’re doing and, and you love working with your clients and seeing things, good things happen for them. Ross, you know, we’ve had a great time here. It’s been great picking your brain a little bit and hearing your story. I love it. I wish you great success as you continue to build and grow. And I can’t wait to see where things go for you. In closing, would you please share with our audience how they can reach you or where they should go to learn more about you and the work that you do?

Ross Pitcoff [00:29:07]:
Sure. And I appreciate it. And again, I’m very grateful that you took the time to have me here. Anybody can visit us@pitcofflawgroup.com. That’s p i t c o f f. You can email. We all use our first names. Ross@pitcofflawgroup.com is my email address.

Ross Pitcoff [00:29:25]:
We have phone number 646 386 0990. And you can also call up just about anybody at the firm. Caesar’s our client relationship manager, Melissa’s our operations manager. We’ve got a slew of attorneys, so we’re always a phone call away.

Darren Wurz [00:30:47]:
Great stuff. And there you have it, folks. Yet another episode of the Lawyer millionaire here with Ross Pitkoff. And hopefully you’re inspired and you’ve gained some great insights that are going to help you take your own law practice to the next level. We sure do encourage you to subscribe and leave a review for our show. Your feedback not only helps us grow, but also allows us to reach more individuals who, like you, are seeking financial advice and more business insights. Now, if you’re keen to take your financial planning journey a step further, it’s time to visit our website, thelawyermillionaire.com. There you’ll find a wealth of information, resources and insights on financial planning for law firm owners.

Darren Wurz [00:30:29]:
Once again, huge thank you to Ross for sharing his insights. Thank you for tuning in. Until we meet again on the next episode of the Lawyer Millionaire. I’m Darren Wurz wishing you continued growth, success and a prosperous financial future.