About 25 years ago, Stevin Groth left his position as an Assistant Prosecutor to launch his own practice in a cramped office. He maxed out credit cards to buy a Yellow Pages ad and answered every phone call himself. Through sheer grit and credit card debt, he built what would become one of Toledo’s most respected law firms. Yet, for years, Stevin ran his practice “like a fraternity house” with no systems, no structure, and no standard operating procedures. He faced devastating setbacks from attorneys who took advantage of the chaos. Despite all this, Stevin kept building. After discovering Crisp Coach’s operational frameworks, Stevin finally gained the tools to transform his practice from chaotic to systematic.
The firm’s increase in personal injury revenue since 2022
Increase in personal injury leads between 2022 and 2025
The team’s combined legal experience
Firm NameGroth & Associates
Practice Area Criminal Defense Personal Injury
LocationToledo, OH
How Crisp Helped Crisp Coach Crisp Social Stack Crisp Streaming Stack Crisp Focus Retreats Client Experience Optimization Onsite Training
Get StartedAbout 25 years ago, Stevin left his position as an Assistant Prosecutor in Lucas County, Toledo, Ohio. He’d worked with talented prosecutors and judges, gaining invaluable courtroom experience. But he wanted something they couldn’t offer: the freedom to build something meaningful on his own terms.
The decision to go solo wasn’t about ego. Instead, he wanted to create a firm that reflected his values, particularly his deep commitment to serving his community in Northwest Ohio.
Stevin’s firm grew from humble beginnings. His first office was a cramped, $200-per-month space in the back of a glass-and-mirror building. He maxed out his credit cards to buy full-page Yellow Pages ads, answered every phone call himself, and took cases that other lawyers would have turned away.
“I sometimes wonder what I was thinking,” Stevin admits, looking back. “Who would ever hire a lawyer in this dumpy little office? But through sheer grit and debt, I just kept putting one foot in front of the other.”
Today, Groth & Associates is a dual-practice firm serving Northwest Ohio, now focused on criminal defense and personal injury, with an emphasis on personal injury. The firm boasts more than 500 five-star Google reviews and a reputation for both legal excellence and genuine care for the people they serve.
But the journey from that tiny office to a thriving firm wasn’t a straight line. For years, Stevin’s passion for serving his community was hampered by the very business he’d built to enable it.
Since fully committing to Crisp Coach and implementing systematic operational frameworks, Groth & Associates has achieved transformation across business operations and community impact:
Built Systems That Create Freedom to Focus on Impact. The firm implemented standard operating procedures, documented processes, and accountability structures that freed Stevin from constant firefighting. He now confidently handles issues that used to create anxiety. Challenges that previously required his personal attention now run without his oversight with clear processes.
Established Monthly Team Engagement Events Supporting Toledo. Every month, the entire Groth & Associates team participates in hands-on community service focused on supporting local nonprofits, charities, or community members. This structured approach ensures giving back isn’t something they do occasionally when convenient but part of who they are as a firm.
For example, they created the “Survivors Speak: Moving Forward Through Hardship Scholarship,” which is an annual scholarship for students who have experienced significant hardships. This award recognizes that adversity often builds the resilience and character that make exceptional leaders and community members.
Developed Resilience That Survived Major Staff Turnover. When multiple attorneys left the firm simultaneously, creating immense pressure, Stevin handled the crisis with grace. His team saw steady leadership working through the problem rather than panic. That resilience came from years of hearing at Crisp how other successful firm owners faced similar challenges and emerged stronger.
Transformed from Reactive Chaos to Proactive Leadership. Stevin is still one of the busiest attorneys in his practice, but the nature of his work has changed. Instead of constantly being buried in busywork, he’s created systems that generate predictable, positive outcomes.
For example, since 2022, Groth has increased its staff, improved standard operating procedures, and defined KPIs. Thanks to these changes, they’re able to close personal injury cases 222% faster. That’s a 68.9% reduction in just three years.
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Even before the firm partnered with Crisp, Groth & Associates was successful by any external measure. Cases flowed in. The firm’s reputation was solid. The team was talented.
But internally, Stevin knew something was deeply wrong.
“I ran my firm like a fraternity house,” he admits. “We couldn’t even spell SOP if you spotted me the S and the O.”
There were no systems, no structure, and no standard operating procedures. Every day was survival mode. Every problem demanded Stevin’s personal attention because no one else had the context or framework to handle it. Being the busiest attorney in his own practice with no support meant he had no bandwidth for the strategic thinking that would actually grow the firm or expand its impact.
The lack of structure created vulnerabilities beyond the operational chaos. Stevin faced devastating setbacks from attorneys who worked for him and took advantage of the loose environment. Some team members siphoned funds. Attorneys simply stopped opening their mail, leaving stacks of correspondence to pile up while client matters languished.
“I tend to trust people,” Stevin explains. “We’re all busy professionals. You’d like to think the best. But there were times you just wonder, ‘Is it all worth it? Would I be better off just doing this by myself?'”
But through it all, Stevin kept showing up. He kept building. He believed that with the right tools and structure, his team could do extraordinary things. He knew the foundation was solid, but he needed a blueprint to scale operations properly.
More than that, Stevin wanted Groth & Associates to be more than just another law firm collecting fees and winning cases. He wanted his practice to give back to the Toledo community that had given him so much. But without the business infrastructure to support that vision, his impact remained limited to individual acts of kindness rather than systematic, scalable community engagement.
“I knew we could be so much better,” Stevin reflects. “I knew I could be better. But I didn’t have the courage or the structure to make it happen.”
Stevin attended the very first Game Changers Summit and has been to every single one since, including the EVOLVE Virtual Summit in 2021. Early on, he wasn’t sure the program was for him. He had decent deal flow and came from a marketing background. But he respected Michael Mogill‘s story, which resonated with his own journey as the son of an immigrant parent who started a firm with nothing.
When Crisp introduced the coaching program, everything changed.
“This is what I needed big time,” Stevin explains. “I was 62 years old. I was doing pretty good as a lawyer. I could have kept paying off my bills, enjoying a few vacations. But I wanted to see how good I could be.”
Stevin’s partnership with Crisp Coach provided the operational frameworks and accountability that transformed Groth & Associates from a disorganized practice into a meticulously run firm capable of scaling community impact.
Building the Operational Backbone the Firm Desperately Needed.
The first step wasn’t about marketing or growth tactics; it was about creating the foundation that would support everything else.
Through Crisp Coach, Stevin gained access to frameworks and tools for standardizing operations, documenting processes, and creating accountability structures. These weren’t theoretical concepts but practical, implementable systems that addressed the specific challenges his firm faced.
Stevin learned how to document his best practices so they could be replicated. The Crisp team helped him create accountability without micromanagement and ultimately helped his firm function even when he wasn’t involved in every decision.
The numbers speak for themselves: Since 2022, Groth’s personal injury case revenue increased by 202%. In 2025, they saw a 120.4% spike in personal injury leads compared to 2022 while maintaining client satisfaction (and a 4.9 Google Review rating).
Developing the Courage to Lead with Purpose.
Systems alone don’t transform a firm. Firms require leaders dedicated to implementing these systems, enforcing them, and modeling them. For Stevin, Crisp Coach provided more than just operational frameworks. The program also provided discipline and accountability to become the leader his firm needed.
“If I had to pick one word, it’s discipline,” Stevin says. “It inspired me to do the things I didn’t have the guts or courage or structure to do.”
Working with Crisp’s coaches challenged Stevin to reach for more. They didn’t offer cheerleading or empty encouragement, but instead gave him the kind of honest, direct coaching that helps successful people become exceptional. It gave Stevin permission to stop accepting “good enough” and start building something stronger. He says, “They have made me a better person.”
Learning from a Community of Builders Who Understand the Journey.
One of the most valuable aspects of Stevin’s Crisp journey has been connecting with other law firm owners who understand his challenges firsthand. His presence at every Game Changers Summit created something he hadn’t expected: a community.
“Now, when I come to the Summits, I feel like it’s my community. These are my people, my friends,” Stevin shares. “I’m always inspired. I love the speeches, the camaraderie, the experience. You just know you’re in for an awesome event.”
The lessons Stevin learned at the Game Changers Summits became fuel for his own resilience. When multiple attorneys left his firm simultaneously, creating immense pressure, Stevin didn’t panic. But that resilience didn’t come from Stevin’s personality alone. It came from years of hearing how other successful firm owners had faced similar challenges and emerged stronger.
“I heard these stories over and over again. Successful people either lost everything or had nothing, and they just made that decision that this was not going to be the end. I knew we weren’t going to shut it all down. We were going to fight.”
Creating Space for Strategic Community Engagement.
With systems in place, capable coaches providing accountability, and a community reinforcing his vision, Stevin finally had something he’d never had before: the mental and emotional bandwidth to think strategically about his firm and its role in the community.
With his business fundamentals finally solid, he could explore questions that had been buried under operational crisis: How could Groth & Associates give back in meaningful, systematic ways? How could the firm’s success translate into community benefit?
The answer came in the form of a simple but powerful commitment: monthly team engagement events where the staff comes together to support their community.
“Whether we’re helping organize a food drive, walking in a charity 5k, or supporting a local school initiative, our goal is the same: make a meaningful difference in people’s lives,” Stevin explains.
In 2025, they partnered with approximately 50 local charities and the firm’s initiatives have directly impacted more than 140,000 people and over 5,000 animals.
For Stevin and his team, community involvement isn’t a marketing tactic or an occasional gesture. It’s woven into the fabric of who they are as a firm. The firm’s approach to community engagement is both structured and heartfelt. Every month, the entire Groth & Associates team participates in a team engagement event focused on supporting a local nonprofit, charity, or community member. These hands-on initiatives reflect the firm’s values and directly address the needs of Toledo neighbors.
For example, in June 2025, the firm recognized World Elder Abuse Awareness Day by spending the entire month collecting donations for Heatherdowns Rehabilitation Center. The team identified the facility’s specific needs, rallied together, and cleared the facility’s entire wish list, providing everything from craft supplies to bingo prizes to boom boxes and speakers so residents could enjoy their favorite audiobooks and music.
Then, in July 2025, coinciding with National Give Something Away Day, the team spent the month collecting donations for Family House, a local nonprofit providing emergency shelter and supportive services to families experiencing homelessness in Toledo.
Their efforts have paid off in many ways. In addition to helping many members of the community, Groth & Associates was also recognized with Crisp’s Excellence in Community Impact award at the 2025 Game Changers Summit.
And the firm will keep working hard to compound their impact.
“There’s always room to do more,” Stevin reflects. “But what matters most is that giving back isn’t something we do occasionally when it’s convenient. It’s part of who we are, every single month, as a team.”
Visit Downtown Toledo today and you’ll find Groth & Associates operating with a confidence and competence that would have seemed impossible to Stevin 25 years ago when he was maxing out credit cards in that cramped back office.
“I’m very proud of our team,” Stevin says simply. “When I see our social media presence, when I see our reviews, and I see what we’ve built, it was all worth it.”
At 62, when many attorneys are thinking about slowing down, Stevin is planning to practice for another 25 years.
“We’ll see what happens when I hit 90. Maybe I’ll consider retiring then,” he jokes.
If your law firm faces similar challenges, let’s talk. We’ll help you take the first step towards transformational growth.
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