Show Notes:

Most owners wait until they’re ready to leave, and by then it’s too late. “I would start thinking about it at least five years out, you know, maybe longer, because it takes a lot of time to put these different pieces in place.”

There’s a reason you keep dragging out the conversation you know you need to have. “The discomfort you face or having a hard conversation should not outweigh the impact of what that could make for all of these people who rely on you.”

Picking a successor doesn’t have to mean blindsiding the people in the running. “Clarity is kindness. You can be transparent with both of them and say, here’s what I’m looking for.”

There’s a simple test for what your firm is actually worth. “The value of your law firm is inversely proportional to its dependency on you, meaning that the more you are necessary for the day to day, the less valuable your firm is.”

A decade in, the grind should be loosening its grip, not tightening it. “If over time it doesn’t get easier, you’re probably doing it wrong.”

Michael used to admire the 100-hour week. Now he asks a different question. “If somebody tells me, hey, I work 20 hours a week, and last year we did $50 million in revenue at the firm, like, that’s a fist bump.”