Billie Tarascio is one busy woman. A family law attorney from Phoenix, she is not only the founder of Modern Law, one of the fastest growing, culture-driven, value-centric family law firms in the country, and the winner of the Reisman Award for Legal Innovation, awarded at last week’s Clio Cloud Conference, but she also is the founder of Access Legal, a cloud-based legal tech company that provides documents, tutorials and assistance for Arizona residents who opt to self-represent in family court. And as if that isn’t enough to keep her busy, she just launched Modern Law Practice, a new venture with CuroLegal’s Chad Burton to train lawyers to implement systems and processes within their firm so they can grow their business and scale. And last, but not least, Billie is also a mother of four, and has written two books: “Decode Your Divorce” and “Tiger Tactics: Power Strategies for Winning Law Firms” coming out later this year.
At Billie’s standing room only session at the Clio Cloud conference, she spoke about the framework that has helped her create and scale a law office based on their unique vision, values & culture.
This rubric informs everything in the firm from client communications to hiring to adoption of technology. Modern Law runs like a business. Not only do they track sales leads, leads scheduled, conversions, client spend, and monthly revenue, but everyone in the firm has access to this information and is rewarded for meeting and exceeding goals. But it’s not your typical business. Here’s the twist, at Modern Law, they offer unlimited paid time off, mobile work environment and close early on Fridays for yoga practice.
We caught up with Billie to learn more about her unique approach to running her firm and what makes it innovative.
ETL: What was the motivator for Modern Law? How did you come upon the idea of creating a firm that was so different from more conventional models?
BT: I’ve always been interested in business. Once I graduated law school and started practicing, I quickly realized that I enjoyed the business aspects of running my firm more than the actual lawyering. I became frustrated with how inefficient the entire process was – from intake, throughout the representation through closing the file and I knew I could come up with a better system.
On a personal level, as a mother of four children who lived through my parents’ divorce when I was a kid, I have first hand experience with many of the issues my clients are going through and recognized that that fostering that human connection was critical to building and maintaining a successful practice.
ETL: How does that play out in real life?
BT: My firm is a collaborative effort. Everyone has a stake in and is rewarded for our success. Numbers don’t lie. You can have unlimited, paid time off policies when goals are clear and there are metrics in place based on real data. We talk about money, what’s coming in, what’s going out. Our firm culture impacts how everyone is compensated.
It also has an impact on hiring. Not only understanding when to hire, but who to hire. Getting the right people has been one of the most challenging and rewarding areas. When I hire, I’m looking for candidates that are authentic, responsive and can connect on a human level. They also need to be data driven and accountable.
Everyone at the firm has to embody our core values. Divorce is scary and part of our mission is to have our clients come out on the other side healthier, happier and empowered. When people’s lives are in upheaval, we need to be sensitive to their personal situation. This can be accomplished by offering clear pricing models, payment plans and options for having them save money by filling out some or all of their own paperwork. It also can be as simple as noting whether they prefer email, phone calls or in-person consultations.
ETL: You’ve had so much success with your law firm – Modern Law. Why are you launching Modern Law Practice?
BT: I love business and know how to scale a law firm, but most small firm lawyers don’t have the training or even know where to begin. It’s about time for a plug-and-play system for law offices. Through a lot of trial and error, we’ve come up with standard operating procedures for everything from lead conversion, the intake process, managing caseflow, financial models, to hiring, and managing employees. We provide dashboards to show key performance indicators to measure sales, operations, and revenue. I’m really excited to work with law firms to help them make the leap from practice to business.
ETL: What’s the gospel according to Billie?
I say yes to opportunities. Figure out who you are, understand your strengths and weaknesses. Invest in a tribe. Be brave.
Deb Tesser is Director of Special Projects at Above the Law, and the point person for Evolve the Law, ATL’s Legal Innovation Center. Follow Deb on Twitter (@Deb_Tesser).
