2. The 2 Billion Dollar Man: Lessons from 30 Years of Law | Darryl Isaacs, Isaacs & Isaacs

Darryl Isaacs:

The harder you work, the luckier you become.

Maria Monroy:

You have to start with being grateful for where you are.

Darryl Isaacs:

Gratitude is the greatest thing we can get, do, teach, pass on.

Maria Monroy:

There’s enough to go around for everybody.

Darryl Isaacs:

When we decide we don’t want to learn anymore that’s the day, we should quit practice.

Maria Monroy:

Because success lies in the balance of life and law, we’re here to help you Ttip the Scales. I’m Maria Monroy, co-founder and president of LawRank, a leading SEO agency for ambitious law firms. We get personal about what it really takes to run a law firm, from marketing to manifestation.

Maria Monroy:

Darryl Isaacs, also known as The Hammer, he has recovered over $2 billion for his clients, and he still gives out his personal cell phone number. I have witnessed this. That’s how dedicated and passionate he is.

Maria Monroy:

Today, we came together to discuss raising children who value hard work and share gratitude, the power of positive thinking, how masterminds will level up your business, and the Legal Mastermind Summit.

Maria Monroy:

That’s all coming up, but let’s start at the beginning. Darryl’s legal career was anything but traditional.

Darryl Isaacs:

I flunked the bar twice. I was one of the lower end, 101 at 121 in my class. So, coming out, I knew I had to do it on my own. No one was going to hire me. During law school, I clerked for a famous criminal attorney and I sat through 22 jury trials during law school. He taught me to be a trial lawyer.

Darryl Isaacs:

But I also always loved marketing and management, so I told him I want to try something. During law school, when I worked for him, my three years, I got him 300 car wreck cases. I did marketing. I worked him, cut my teeth. And so, when I came out… I mean, he did it all for me to work for him, but I didn’t want to do criminal law, so I started with my father. From day one, I just did personal injury, but I’ve always incorporated marketing.

Darryl Isaacs:

I built it that way, and I ended up going on TV at some point. The firm, we started, our 30-year anniversary is coming up, and we’ve done over $2 billion. It’s great because I’ve got phenomenal team, but we also litigate track cases and we do the masses. So, I just had a little different upbringing.

Darryl Isaacs:

I think the reason people in the last four or five years, I’ve been more on the national scene is I had a really bad accident. From that accident in 2015, I decided I was going to help as many lawyers as possible because life’s a gift and it’s short. Once I started helping other lawyers, that’s where everybody started coming to us. From that, we have four mastermind groups made up of about 60 law firms all over the country. We show them, and we share, and they teach me and I teach them. That’s how it started getting on the national scene.

Maria Monroy:

Awesome. We’ll get more into that, but I want to know, were you afraid? I mean, failing the bar twice, not doing great in law school, were you worried? Did you have fears?

Darryl Isaacs:

No. If anything, I didn’t know I’d ever pass the bar after you flunk it twice. I just made my mission in life, I was going to spend the rest of my life passing the bar. I mean, that was my next goal. In all fairness, I only flunked the bar each time I won multi-state question, so I was very close. But no, I wasn’t afraid to start my own practice.

Darryl Isaacs:

Look, during law school, I can always get cases. I still get cases to this day and I use, same things I’m doing 30 years ago. Well, actually it was 31 because 31 and 32, but I wasn’t afraid. I love helping people, I love clients, I love putting myself out there. The hard part, I think, is giving the level of customer service that I demand and I expect. Having other people work for me and share my vision, that’s the hard part. Getting cases is easy, going out of my own. I’ve always been an entrepreneur, so that wouldn’t worry about that.

Maria Monroy:

But a lot of people would have been really afraid and would have given up. Where did you develop that confidence? That grit?

Darryl Isaacs:

From failing. I mean, look, okay, forget the bar. I didn’t get in law school. I had to take the LSAT three times. I took that three times, I took the bar three times. My whole life, I’ve been an overachiever. I’m average intelligence at best. But at the end of the day-

Maria Monroy:

You say that.

Darryl Isaacs:

… I’m not afraid to fail.

Maria Monroy:

No, I’ve heard you say that before and I don’t believe you. I think you’re very, very humble. I gather that from the very first time we spoke, you probably don’t even remember when this was, but within three minutes, I was like, “I know who this person is. He’s super well known.” You were handing out your business card to everybody and it has your cell phone number on it. I remember thinking, “Wow. What is he doing? I don’t hand out my cell phone number.”

Maria Monroy:

You’re very humble, but I do think that that was, in my opinion, either you were born with that personality or it was fostered as a child, that idea of you failed, but that’s okay.

Darryl Isaacs:

I mean, yeah. Oh, I’d agree. Because, look, I have kids. Everybody that’s a parent, we cuddle. My parents, they loved me but they didn’t cuddle. I mean, my dad said… He was in the military, he was a medic in Korea. He grew up without a father. His father died at four, so he basically grew without a father. He loved us all. He worked seven days a week, but he said, I’ll never forget this early on because I started working when I was five and six, he said, “I provide necessities. You want luxuries, you go to work.” He worked.

Darryl Isaacs:

He did me a wonderful, wonderful thing. He didn’t save me. Every time I’d fail, he’d be there to pick me up, he’d encourage me. Even getting in law school, I was crushed. I didn’t get into the first year. I applied, I think, three schools and all rejected me. I was like, “Oh, my god.”

Darryl Isaacs:

You got to understand, I have three older brothers, two attorneys. My dad was my hero’s attorney and I had an uncle who at one time was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson. He was the top maritime judge so anything that came in and out of the country went to his court. I felt like, gosh, I got to be like them, and I didn’t even know if I’d get in the game.

Darryl Isaacs:

So, I don’t know. I just learn. It’s good to fail because then it makes you work harder and then you get good. I’ve gotten good at a lot of things. But I’m telling you, I deal with so many people that are so intelligent. I’m like, gosh, you read it once, I got to read it a hundred times, but I’ll read it a hundred times, kind of my thing.

Maria Monroy:

You have a growth mindset.

Darryl Isaacs:

Yes.

Maria Monroy:

I don’t know if you’ve… There’s a book called Mindset. I forget the author’s last name, but I think her first name’s Carol, and she talks about that. I started reading it and I was like, “Oh, I don’t need to read this. I have a growth mindset.” But I have a child that does not, so I read the book. Because what I realized with my son is that, because so much comes easy to him because he’s very intelligent, whenever something’s hard, he gives up. I think grit is more important than intelligence. In my opinion.

Darryl Isaacs:

I agree with that, and your son’s going to be fun. Look, and I’m not, gosh knows I need help in the parenting, but I’ve learned the hardest thing about what we do is if you’re successful, and I know you’re successful too so your kids automatically, they’ve got a role model, but they’ve also got a measuring stick. What if they don’t become as successful as mom or dad? And it’s okay. We all want our kids to be better than us, smarter, and yada, yada. But if we take the position we want them to be happy, it’s okay whatever they do. It’s okay if they don’t make a lot of money.

Darryl Isaacs:

I got three kids and they’re all different. I keep telling them all, “Never be like me. Be the best version you can be and you’ll be great.”

Maria Monroy:

No, absolutely. I guess, and I don’t know if you ever feel this way, but I feel like I’m raising privileged children.

Darryl Isaacs:

Oh my gosh, you hit this. Yes, yes, we all are raising privileged kids.

Maria Monroy:

And I was not. I mean, I’m an immigrant, I didn’t grow up with money. They’re having such a different childhood than mine.

Maria Monroy:

The other day we went to get ice cream and my middle child, I have three kids as well, got a larger cone by accident than my oldest. My oldest couldn’t enjoy his ice cream because he thought life was so unfair that the middle kid had a larger cone, and he says to me, “I’m just so unlucky.” My husband and I looked at each other like you’ve got to be freaking kidding me.

Maria Monroy:

I made him clean the next day. I was like, “You’ve never had to clean your life. You’re going to work with the housekeeper and you’re just going to clean all day.” He was so upset. I was like, “I don’t ever want those words to come out of your mouth.” I get that that’s his reality, but… Oh.

Darryl Isaacs:

I can relate to that in so many ways because it’s a great learning experience, and I’ve had some situation with my kids. But listening to you, my first thought is, if your oldest son gets the concept that instead of being unhappy what he didn’t get, he’s grateful that his brother got something that’s really awesome, that’s the key to life.

Darryl Isaacs:

For me, I’ve made my… Gratitude is the greatest thing we can get, do, teach, pass on. Trust me, I got three kids. I got one child, a daughter, who plays soccer in college. She’s the shortest goalie in America, five-two. D1. The other two kids think I just adore her. What I love about her is she’s not afraid to fail. She will run through a wall. You can tell her if this is what you want, this is what you got to do. She does it. I love that attitude.

Darryl Isaacs:

I got another son that if something doesn’t go away, he gives up. All I’m trying to teach them, because I’m going to be gone one day and they can spend all my money and all that, but you’ve got to work hard in life. The harder you work, the luckier you become. That’s the biggest thing.

Darryl Isaacs:

I’ve done it with my law firm. There are so many times where we made a mistake and we got to go, and then everybody’s got to stay for hours and we got to fix it. Guess what? We’re going to do it because that’s what we do.

Darryl Isaacs:

But yeah, everybody in America were privileged if you compare us to some third-world countries.

Maria Monroy:

I’m in Mexico. I don’t know if you know this. We just moved to Mexico City.

Darryl Isaacs:

Oh no, I didn’t know you’re in Mexico. Wow.

Maria Monroy:

Yeah. I literally brought them to a third-world country so they can have a little bit of adversity in their lives. I mean, I joke. That’s not really why we moved here. I’ve gone on Instagram and have said this recently, “We are so lucky to be Americans.”

Darryl Isaacs:

Oh.

Maria Monroy:

We are so lucky.

Darryl Isaacs:

Think about it, unless you’re American-Indian, everybody came over at some point. I mean, my ancestors did. My great-grandfather was a tailor. He was poor, he died poor but he made sacrifices so I, today, have my life, and that’s what I keep telling my kids.

Darryl Isaacs:

The reason I think we’re all privileged, think about this, when you have kids and you want to do stuff for you, they benefit, but you do things to benefit you. Like if you want to go on vacation, you’re not doing it for them, you’re doing it for you, so they come along. Part of it is not their fault because we’ve conditioned them to be privileged, but we can also condition them to work hard.

Maria Monroy:

Absolutely, and that’s what I’m trying to… I mean, they see it. My husband and I both work a ton and we love to work. I hope that that at least has an impact.

Maria Monroy:

My middle child is also a goalie. I mean, he’s only eight but he’s so passionate about it. All he wants to do all day is have us kick balls at him. We’re in the perfect country for it, but he’s the one that has so much grit. Life doesn’t come as easy to him so he has… We believe he’s dyslexic, he has speech issues, but he just doesn’t give up. He has such a much more positive outlook on life, I would argue.

Maria Monroy:

It’s always the nature versus nurture. How much can I impact this personality? I’m trying. I’m definitely trying, but we’ll see.

Darryl Isaacs:

Well, you’re not alone. Your issues are shared by many including me.

Maria Monroy:

Now, you said you made a lot of mistakes and sometimes you guys had to stay late.

Darryl Isaacs:

Oh, yeah.

Maria Monroy:

What’s the biggest mistake that you’ve made while running a law firm?

Darryl Isaacs:

I took on 90 buses for a million five and COVID hit a month later. For four months my 90 buses sat in a… I don’t know where they sat. They weren’t being moved.

Darryl Isaacs:

This is why my mastermind groups prosper. Last week I brought three more on. I don’t say this arrogantly. I try to say this humbly, I’ve told over 40 firms know. I bring on firms if they’re a fit and they can teach us and then we can teach them. But this is why we prosper versus… You know, all these marketing companies, I’m not going to say their names because you probably know them, but they’re not lawyers. They get all these law firms together, but they’re not in the trenches. That’s like the summit I got coming up, everyone that’s going to speak is an attorney but one person, and he works for an attorney and he does the numbers that’s why he’s speaking.

Darryl Isaacs:

But we all are law firms. We get together and I say, “Look, everybody, I did this. I made a mistake. Don’t do it. I spent a million five in the investment and I didn’t get it back, but I want to share my mistakes and failures so someone else doesn’t do it.”

Darryl Isaacs:

No one could have predicted COVID, but I could have done things, looking back, that I would tell everybody to do over, like I would’ve layered it in. Instead of doing 90 at once, I could have staggered it and done 10 a month over and had a new contract each month. But I chose not to do it because I got lazy, and my laziness caused me a million five.

Darryl Isaacs:

So, when I get together in groups and we start talking… Like my presentation, I might talk about that. Everybody gets it and then everybody doesn’t make the same mistake. That’s the power of these groups. For me, everything I do, I want to make my firm better. And so, to make my firm better, I share experiences with other firms. They’ll tell me what they did wrong, and then I’ll go back and we’ll discuss it. “Well, X firm said don’t do this,” and then we’ll analyze it.

Darryl Isaacs:

But first and foremost, I want to help others. Because Zig Ziglar, when I flunked the bar twice and I thought I’d spend the rest of my life passing the bar, and at that time it went from three times to unlimited. I think now it’s three times, so I was very fortunate. But, you can get anything in this world if you help others get what they want, and that’s what I do. I always try to… I say this all the time, no one cares what you think of yourself; everyone cares what you think of others.

Darryl Isaacs:

I just think, if your goal is to help people, money will come. But I want to help people, and I get paid back tenfold.

Maria Monroy:

I agree. I think you and I have similar philosophies regarding life. I really am a firm believer that if you want to change something in your life, you have to start with being grateful for where you are even if that’s not where you want to be. Just having gratitude.

Maria Monroy:

You said something without saying it, you had a lot of intent. You were going to spend the rest of your life trying to pass the bar. That intent, that “I’m not going to give up no matter what”, this is all I see. It’s such a focused vision that I think is crucial in accomplishing anything. Of course, you were going to pass. I mean, with that attitude, you were going to make it happen no matter what.

Darryl Isaacs:

Well, thank you. I do.

Maria Monroy:

Oh, I think it’s super cool. I think it’s fascinating when someone is successful at any business. I find it so fascinating.

Maria Monroy:

Let’s talk a little bit about your masterminds. I don’t know if you’ve heard the quote by Napoleon Hill, “No two minds ever come together without, thereby, creating a third, invisible, intangible force which may be likened to a third mind.”

Darryl Isaacs:

Wow.

Maria Monroy:

Have you heard it before?

Darryl Isaacs:

I have not. That’s pretty cool.

Maria Monroy:

Have you read Think and Grow Rich?

Darryl Isaacs:

I haven’t. Everybody ask me that, and I probably need to. I’ve read two books that changed my life, but for me I’ve never wanted to be rich. That wasn’t my goal. I don’t get up every day and say, wow, I want to make X amount. I wake up and say I want to help as many people as possible. Now, if I make money along the way, great, because I want to stay in business, but I never focus on money.

Maria Monroy:

So, it’s not about making money, and that’s the one thing that irks me about the book. It’s really… You would love it. I’m going to send it to you.

Darryl Isaacs:

I’m going to… Yeah, send it to me, I will read it.

Maria Monroy:

I will send it to you.

Darryl Isaacs:

Think and Grow Rich. I’m going to write that down.

Maria Monroy:

Napoleon Hill. I love self-growth. I’ve been reading it my whole adult life before I was cool. When I read Napoleon Hill a few years ago, I felt betrayed by every other book I’ve ever read because they’re all a spinoff of that book. So, what are those two books?

Darryl Isaacs:

The One-Minute Manager, which, if you read it, it’s going to change your life, because I can’t do five things without multitasking. And then The Power of Positive Thinking. That book has got me through.

Maria Monroy:

I love it too.

Darryl Isaacs:

Every time I fail at something, I read it. Even my kids. I’m going to tell you a third thing, I don’t read but I watch at least twice a week, it’s a Navy Admiral seal that gave a commencement speech for Texas University. I don’t know when, but it’s like 10 things that changed the world. It’s 17 minutes long. It’s on YouTube. My son first told me about it.

Darryl Isaacs:

My son played high school football, and he was… Everybody in our family is short. I mean, I’m five-six. My son was five-seven, 175, playing linebacker. All the linebackers were like six-four, 240. His team was rank number one in the country at one point. They won two state titles in his four years. He played some. He didn’t play a lot because he wasn’t as big. I said, “How do you deal with Trinity Football?” He goes, “You got to go watch it,” and I started watching it.

Darryl Isaacs:

This video can get you through anything in life because-

Maria Monroy:

I’m going to watch it.

Darryl Isaacs:

… it’s amazing, and I’d love to hear feedback. But the book, The Power of Positive Thinking, you’re really… It’s like happiness is not defined by your aptitude, but your attitude. It’s like, if you wake up and say I’m going to be happy or I’m going to be sad, you’re just going to bring whatever you don’t want. So, if you condition yourself, and I do this every day, if you…

Darryl Isaacs:

Look, I’m going to use my summit as example. I was telling people, “I’m going to have this. I’m going to have 500 plus.” Everybody thought I was nuts. I’ve never done this before. I do my mastermind groups, but I’ve never had 500 attorneys. I said, “Oh, I can do it.” Even Haley who was with me, she’s like, “Yeah, you can do it.”

Darryl Isaacs:

I’m doing this to help people, to show people and to share some of the ideas that I’ve learned in my groups. But everything I do, I want to help people. If you have that mindset, then everybody helps me.

Maria Monroy:

Now, the mastermind. How does the lawyer know it’s a good time to join a mastermind?

Darryl Isaacs:

The mastermind, if people don’t know what that concept, think of focus groups. If you’re an attorney and you want to try big case, you want to find out all your goods and bads, you get a focus group. A mastermind is a focus group. You come together, you throw ideas in a room; “Hey, I’m thinking of doing this. What do you think?” or, “Hey, I just did this and it made me $10 million.” You want to be exposed to those people.

Darryl Isaacs:

Anybody can form their own mastermind groups. You can go get three or four law firms. The time to join, though, is whenever you’re open to learning. Because there’s a lot of attorneys out there. I say this, law school is the only place where people’s ego is higher than their IQ. If you have an ego, a mastermind is not for you because if you come in…

Darryl Isaacs:

I’m serious, though. I’ve kicked out probably over 10 law firms because they come in and they think they’re God’s gift to the world. Well then, they’re not going to be open to learning or they’re not going to be open to sharing.

Maria Monroy:

Yeah, I was just going to say that. That’s the other thing.

Darryl Isaacs:

You know, I’m going to mention Jen Gore. I’m mentoring Jen. I got her in two of my groups, but Jen loves… The other day, Jen was out to dinner with me. She’s like, “You should see, Darryl, the way he goes in and talks to these law firms in his mastermind groups. I mean, he doesn’t take any shit and he’s saying this and that.” I’m like, “No, no. I’m not going in to be authoritative, I’m going in to say we’re here to work, we’re here to get better. If you want to come and get drunk every night, go do that on your own time.”

Darryl Isaacs:

I mean, I did a breakout group for Brian Panish, it’s a trial thing, and he had two of his attorneys in there. Dan kept coming by because he knows I’m like this, “You got to give them a break.” Well, I tell everybody, “I’m going four hours. If you want a break, go to the bathroom at will, but I’m going to talk.” I’m here to work, and then when I’m done, I’m leaving.

Darryl Isaacs:

So, you want to get questions, you want to get information. Mastermind group is the same thing. We get together for two-and-a-half days. We start about 8:30, and I’m in there. If you’re not here at 9:00, I’m kicking you out. We go until 5:00. We’ll take 30 minutes for lunch. If you want to go to the bathroom, you go do it, we’re going.

Darryl Isaacs:

Because it’s an opportunity for me to pick 40 people’s brains and for them to pick mine. You asked me when is a good time? Anytime you’re open to learning, sharing, and you want to grow your firm is the perfect time.

Maria Monroy:

You’re not worried about inadvertently helping your competition?

Darryl Isaacs:

I am helping my competition. There’s nothing I can do about it. I give everybody DMA protection, but it doesn’t matter now because Google has… Okay, what do we have? Fifty states in America. There’s no borders anymore. Because you can be in Kentucky and I can run a national ad and people in Santa Monica or California can see my ad. There’s no borders.

Darryl Isaacs:

Every day I see firms in my group coming through. I’m in Florida. That’s not my market right now, but fair and fair. Then in my group, I just saw their ad. But I also saw Anidjar and Levine. They’re not my group. I see so many John Morgan’s. Not my group but I’m seeing his ads. A lot of firms in my groups.

Darryl Isaacs:

We talk about this every time; “Hey, guys, we can’t infringe on everybody, but it’s…” Now, with the Arizona ruling, my understanding, there are six mega law firms are going to start an Arizona firm and they’re going to start competing all over the country. It’s hard not to teach them, but at least I don’t get actual competitors. I let in someone from Indiana because I love her, Debbie. She’s amazing. First her generation to go to college, first her generation to go to law school. She was homeless six months. I gave a talk somewhere and she saw it nationally. She called my office and said, “I want him to help me.” They gave her my cell number, because I will give everybody my cell number.

Maria Monroy:

Yes, you do.

Darryl Isaacs:

I said, “You know what, I’m going to invite you in. I’m going to help you even though you’re a competitor,” because I love her story. Everybody’s got a story.

Darryl Isaacs:

I’ve got some firms that are upset with me. They were like, “Hey, I’m trying to mediate a Texas and a California firm because they’re infringing on each other, but they’re both phenomenal and I want them both in my group, so I’m coming to them.” I feel like the godfather. Can’t we get along? Isn’t it okay if they get a little peace? What’s the big deal?

Maria Monroy:

I know you were on Chris Dreyer’s podcast recently. We’re really good friends and we are-

Darryl Isaacs:

Oh, he’s a nice man.

Maria Monroy:

He’s… Oh, my God. He’s awesome. See, he even gets a shout out on my podcast. I’ve been on his podcast and I’ll have him come on too. He’s awesome, and people are like, “I think it’s so weird.” I have a lot of friends that are competitors. People say to me, “I think it’s weird that you’re friends with your competitors.” I’m like, “Why?” There’s enough to go around for everybody. We are all successful, and having that mentality only hurts you.

Darryl Isaacs:

Right. Right. I agree. That’s why I have four groups because I have so many firms that want to be in, but they can’t. So, each group, like California’s got four different firms in each group, one in each group. The deal is whatever is in the group, stays in the group. I don’t share with other groups.

Darryl Isaacs:

The competition thing, it’s always a challenge, and I just said, “If you want to do it, you can’t be in it.” They understand.

Maria Monroy:

No, and it makes sense. I get it. You want to be able to share openly and… I get it. Now, back to the mastermind thing, what do you think are the biggest benefits? If you could say this as this is the reason to join, what would you say?

Darryl Isaacs:

Well, I could talk all day. Let me give you maybe my top four or five. One, we share our mistakes so we learn. Two, we share our victories, so we learn. There is the networking. Another one is the relationships. Each group has built some fabulous bonds. It’s networking relationship.

Darryl Isaacs:

But I think the most important reason to join is the mentoring. I mean, Jen, you can ask her. She tells everybody. I mean, she’s probably got me 10 firms because she’s like, “Darryl’s amazing.” I don’t do it for her to say that. I just love helping people, and I’m helping Jen. But, say, Gordon has helped me. I mean, there are so many people.

Darryl Isaacs:

Jim Avery, he’s my hero. Jim, last night… He reaches out all time, and every time he does I’m like, “God, Jim. You forgot more than I’ll ever know.” He’s like, “No, Darryl, you got the gift. You’ll do this and that.” We all help each other.

Darryl Isaacs:

The biggest thing, though, is the relationships. Last night, Jim had a problem so he sent it out. Literally, six firms, including myself, we all sent how we would deal with it. I thought, if you knew who the firms were, you’d be blown away. I’m blown away. I mean, these are some of the top in the industry.

Darryl Isaacs:

I just love it because… I always look at the time response in an email. I hate email. I’d rather you text because I’d get too many spam emails. But literally within five minutes, three firms gave him an answer. I mean, who does that? That’s the power of the mastermind.

Maria Monroy:

That’s amazing. Now you’ve taken that and you’ve gone a step further. You’re throwing a conference. I mean, that’s just nuts. What has the process been like?

Darryl Isaacs:

It’s been hell.

Maria Monroy:

Yeah. That’s [inaudible 00:27:43].

Darryl Isaacs:

I’ve had about four regular team members that that’s all they do. I had no idea it’s this much work, but Haley, who’s amazing, she should get more credit. Everybody in my groups love her, everybody tries to hire. Haley is the ultimate professional. She’s another behind the scenes. She didn’t want the credit. We’re rolling out a bunch of videos and I’m going to make her talk a little bit because she’s taught me so much. It’s been a full-time job for her seven days a week.

Darryl Isaacs:

There’s so much that goes on. I mean, you got to have AV equipment. All the people that are sponsoring, they got to have the right boost. But at the end of the day, we’re going to help a lot of attorneys that need help. I mean, there’re some that don’t need help, and I’ve seen my competitors. I mean, I can see whose name’s coming through. There’s one advertiser that he’s not sponsoring, he’s not part of it. This guy spends 50 million a year on advertising and he was one of the first ones to buy a ticket. I don’t know if that’s a compliment or I need to look over my shoulder while my competitors are coming. But you know what, I’m going to put it on.

Maria Monroy:

Yeah, I think that’s a compliment.

Darryl Isaacs:

So, I guess it’s a compliment. But I’m going to get up there and I’m going to teach and talk, and I don’t care who’s in there. I never mind.

Maria Monroy:

What can people expect from your conference?

Darryl Isaacs:

They’re going to hear the Jim Adler’s, the Gordon, the Mike Morris. They’re going to hear people say this is how they did it, okay? Now, you don’t have to copy them. You can take them, implement them, change them, but it’s the thing. We’re not going to get up there and hold secrets because at the end of the day, if we go back to what you and I talked about in the beginning, you got to work hard.

Darryl Isaacs:

There’s no magic pill to lose weight. I’ve lost 67 pounds since January. I worked my ass of. I watched Joe Fried. He’s done a Peloton I think 900 days in a row. There’s no magic formula, but what we’re going to do is show you some techniques that if you apply, you can learn.

Maria Monroy:

It’s actionable stuff.

Darryl Isaacs:

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, like me, I’m going to show you what I did to get my two billion… Not worth two billion. I’ve done two billion for a client, I want to make that clear. I’m going to show you here’s what I’ve done to do that, and that’s what each attorney… Ben Crump’s going to talk. I mean, Ben’s got to be the hottest attorney in America right now, but Ben’s going to tell you a little bit how he’s built a national brand. How cool would it be if everybody could get the exposure he’s giving? I’m not saying you’re going to come and be the Ben Crump, but it’s cool to go and listen to other people that have been there, and that’s what we want to do.

Darryl Isaacs:

Second thing that I think, if you come to my summit, we got some great sponsors but we’re all going to network. If I’m talking to you, I’m going to introduce you to everybody I’m talking to. I want everybody to meet everybody, like I met you. I met you through some people, and now I feel like you and I are friends. You asked me to come in your podcast. I would do anything you need for me because I know you want to help, you want to teach. I feel like I can reach out to you and say, “Maria, I got somebody that they need SDL help. Will you talk to him?” That’s the whole power of the networking. But you’re not going to be able to go anywhere in the country and get this for two-and-a-half days and let me go out on a limb.

Darryl Isaacs:

There are some fabulous other places, and I’ve been to them. There are still going to be other marketing conventions. I’m not saying we’re the best, I’m just saying we’re going to present something that’s unique because you’re going to actually talk to people who have been in the trenches. It’s almost like going to a war and you talk to the people that have been there and came back, “Well, tell me what to do so I can avoid the mistake that maybe you made.” That’s what I’m really proud of.

Maria Monroy:

That’s so exciting. Congrats. We would love to throw a conference one day, but that just seems much work. I’ve talked to Dan Ambers about it and he’s like, “Dude, it’s so much work.”

Darryl Isaacs:

Yeah.

Maria Monroy:

I remember, after his first Trial Lawyers University, I was like, “I’m so proud of you. This is amazing.” He is someone that surprised me.

Darryl Isaacs:

Oh, I’m not surprised. I didn’t know Dan before. Who introduced us? Oh, Paul with ExSocial. Paul said, “Dan, you need to meet Darryl.” Dan calls me. I can tell on the phone, Dan is very driven. He’s a salesman and he networks. Dan said, “Hey, we’re going to try this and that.” So, I went and met Dan at the Miami… Is it Miami? I think it was National Trial Lawyers or something, NTL. And then Dan… Well, the one in January of last year. I said, “Well, I’m leaving to go to my home in Florida. We got all these mastermind groups coming in a few days.” Dan calls me and says, “Can I come?” I’m like, “Well, why would you want to come?” He’s like, “Well, I’m a lawyer. I want to see what you do.”

Darryl Isaacs:

So, he came. Introduced him to everybody and then we just did our show. I almost forgot Dan was there. The next morning, he shows up again. I’m like, “What are you doing here?” He said, “I love it. It’s great.” He taught everybody. He talks real fast, that’s what I love. Ever since then, he said, “Let’s do stuff together.” Dan got me involved doing these breakout groups. Dan’s the one that I thought, “God, if you can do it, I can do it.” It’s just great that you get with all these people and then you learn.

Maria Monroy:

I’ll put this in the show notes, but tell us how can people join one of your groups or attend your conference?

Darryl Isaacs:

First and foremost, I give everybody my cell. My cell number is 502-817-1000. Call or text, I’m going to talk to you. If you want to attend the conference, you can go to www.braintrustlegalgroup.com and you can sign up. We’ll put a discount code for $300. Well, use low rank. They can get a $300 off, but it’s from September 28th through the 30th. And then, if you’re interested in joining a group, you can reach out. My email is Darryl, D-A-R-R-Y-L, @wewin.com. You can email me and we’ll be glad to talk and see if you’re a fit or if you think we’re a fit.

Darryl Isaacs:

But, yeah, thank you. Thank you so much for letting us promote, and thank you for having us.

Maria Monroy:

No, thank you for the discount code, and I hope you don’t get spammed. You’re just a brave-

Darryl Isaacs:

Oh, that’s all right.

Maria Monroy:

You’re brave soul.

Darryl Isaacs:

No, you know what… It’s so funny, but I tell everybody this, I’ve got more million-dollar cases from my cellphone, but lawyers don’t want to give their cell phone out. I’m like, “Why?” They go, “Well, they’ll call me all the time.”

Darryl Isaacs:

You know, I used to get my clients early on… I’ve handled over 2000 cases before I ever got an attorney to help me. I gave everybody my cell phone. I always tell people if I’m not there, leave a message. A lot of times I’m helping others, but I’ve never had any client abuse it. If anything, most of them are scared to call you because they think, oh, you’re too busy and this and that. But I think giving your cell phone is the number one tool to market. I don’t know. It’s worked for me.

Darryl Isaacs:

Even Mike Morris, a good friend of mine, he doesn’t… “I don’t give my cell phone out.” Well then, let people think it’s your cellphone. Someone can answer or monitor it. But I just think I don’t want to do business with anybody that doesn’t give me their cell phone because it’s harder to get ahold of. So, I think it’s a great marketing tool and I don’t think attorneys take advantage of it.

Maria Monroy:

You mentioned networking, and I feel like it keeps coming up. You’re a great networker. I mean, I knew that from, again, two minutes of meeting you. What advice do you have for lawyers? Because not everybody is as comfortable networking.

Darryl Isaacs:

Well… Okay, it’s so funny you say that because, I won’t say who, but two of the attorneys on my attorney panel list were going to speak. Out of the blue, they called and said, “I’m nervous. I’m scared to speak in front of many people.” I’m like, “What do you mean? You’re an attorney, you go to law school. You’re supposed to speak.” I just presume because I can do it, everybody can do it. I don’t mean that arrogantly. What I mean is, not everybody’s comfortable putting themselves out there, and I understand that now.

Darryl Isaacs:

But if you are an attorney and you want to get better, make your practice better, hire great talent. I mean, how did you get to law school? How did you get a spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend or whatever? How did you get in college? How did you make a sport team? You got to network. You got to market. You got to tell everybody why they want you, why they need you. If I’m trying to go out and court somebody, this is what I need from you or this is what I need you to do for me. We’re always selling ourself. And so, I think network is so amazing.

Darryl Isaacs:

Let’s say you’re a trial attorney and you want to get better. What would I do to network? Well, I’d go hang out with the Ben Cloud’s, the Brian Panish’s, Rex Paris. I’ve done that. That’s what they got to do.

Maria Monroy:

But I think that can be so intimidating for some people.

Darryl Isaacs:

Here’s the way I look at it. I look at, everybody puts their clothes on the same way we do. Maybe they don’t pull their pants up as higher, maybe they pull it higher, but you won’t know unless you ask early on, early on.

Darryl Isaacs:

Joseph Jamail, he’s dead. He had the $10 billion verdict Texaco. Guy was a legend. I literally reached out to him. God, I don’t know what it’s been. He sent me his closing argument. I just called and said, “I’m a fan. Will you do it?” Yada, yada, and he did it. I didn’t think he would even take my call. I’ve been doing that. I did that to Philip Corboy. He’s gone too. He was amazing here in Chicago.

Darryl Isaacs:

I guess my point is… Big people like Deborah. She reached out to me and I said, “Yes, I’ll help you.” You got to get out of your comfort zone and you got to pick up the phone and call or you got to walk up. I’ve had more lawyers come up to me and say I want to meet you. I think it took guts for them to do it, so I want to spend time making them feel special.

Darryl Isaacs:

If you want to go work for someone and you’re not in the limelight and you don’t want to talk to anybody, I get that, but I think the better approach would be take a chance, introduce yourself, ask for help.

Darryl Isaacs:

My number one secret for meeting people, I always say something positive about whoever I’m with. I always build people up. I had a great story I’m going to tell you and it breaks my heart. The internet is so cruel. Social media is the curse of the 21st century, if you think about it. You got kids, I got kids. How many times do our kids go on and see people are having a party or people are spending the night at a girl’s house and they weren’t invited, and they post pictures? I think that’s horrible. But at the same time, that’s the world we live in, so we have to either adapt, accept or do something about it.

Darryl Isaacs:

I fought on getting Facebook. I went on Facebook six months ago. I hated it. I don’t want to be a part of it. But I realized in my market the under 30 crowd doesn’t watch TV, and so we got to go on social media. So now, I got on Tik-Tok. I got 30,000 followers and everybody said… I don’t like Tik-Tok but I do it because I’m trying to prove all my law firms you can do it.

Darryl Isaacs:

So, yesterday, I’m on Facebook and there’s a lady… I won’t tell you how I know her because I want to protect her identity, but she’s gone through cancer and she’s lost her hair. I know she has struggled, and so I always try to shout encouraging things. Well, yesterday she showed a picture of before and after. I know why she’s doing it, because there are some cruel people out there. She showed what cancer has done to her. I’m, right away, it just got to me. I was like inside crying. I sent her a picture and I said, “You’re beautiful with or without hair. We’re praying for you. You have a lot of positive. You have a lot of people behind you.” But it breaks my heart.

Darryl Isaacs:

There’s people out there that they’re going to see a bald woman and think, “Oh, she’s not attractive.” She’s just as beautiful as anyone else. She didn’t pick cancer. She didn’t pick to lose her hair, but I thought it took so much guts to show her picture without hair. I thought, I wanted the whole world to see she is a beautiful person. You don’t need to have hair to be beautiful. It breaks my heart that the internet is so cruel. I wish everybody would be kind to one another.

Darryl Isaacs:

Look, we don’t have to agree. We don’t have to even like each other, but you can help build people up, and that’s what I do. I don’t do anything magic. Everybody says I got this personality.

Darryl Isaacs:

My grandmother lived to be 103 and the one thing she taught me before she died, she made me swear in her, well, on her deathbed, I saw her two times before she died, she made me promise that I’ll always be kind and treat everybody with respect. And so, every time I do it, I think of my grandmother, and that’s what I do.

Maria Monroy:

You’re very good at it.

Darryl Isaacs:

Well, thank you. I don’t think [inaudible 00:40:07] I do magic, but thank you.

Maria Monroy:

No, you are. I think it’s… Look, we all know the hurt people, hurt people. Now they get people to hide behind the computer, and it’s very sad. I’m not there with my kids yet. They don’t have… They’re little, but I’m definitely worried about it because I didn’t grow up with social media. I just missed it. I’m like, God, I wonder what that would have done to me as a young teen, as a young girl, as a young female to grow up with it.

Darryl Isaacs:

I can tell you, I didn’t grow up with social media either. I didn’t have my first cell phone until I was 27. We had a pager when I was a lawyer. I had to pull over and get a phone booth to drive up. I mean, my kids didn’t know what a phone booth was. I took them to London one time. They had a phone booth and I would show them. I used to live in those things because you have to make a call.

Darryl Isaacs:

But I’m glad I didn’t grow up with social media because when I flunked the bar the second time… There was 131 people, there were two of us that flunked twice, and George, he quit. I’m like, “Don’t quit,” but he did. I was hearing all the butt-end of jokes like I was dumb, I was this and that. It wasn’t on social media back then because there wasn’t, but I felt humiliated. I didn’t go around any of them. Then later on, when I became successful, I’ve had eight different people in my class that would apply for jobs but there was two in particular that would say all these bad things. When they came out, they got through because someone else was… As soon as I saw them, I’m like, “Oh, no way. You’re not working for me because, forget you treated me like shit, you’re going to treat my clients like shit.”

Darryl Isaacs:

Bottom line is, social media, it can be good and bad. We’re stuck with it. It’s hard because you want to protect your kids but, I hate to say it, you got to let them experience it because if you shelter them forever, then they’re not going to know how to deal with life. But I’m thankful every day I didn’t grow up with that social media.

Maria Monroy:

I agree. I think our generation, my generation, your generation, we all feel that way, but it’s so sad that it’s still… I’m addicted to it. I’ll be the first one to tell you that I’m on social media all day. It’s awful, but I check in constantly. I tried to make it more positive by creating a Maria LawRank Instagram account and just engaging with people in the industry. I say I’m working, but it’s still social media, right?

Darryl Isaacs:

Right. Right.

Maria Monroy:

But I remember, I begged my parents for a pager and they would not get it. I never had a pager and I’m bumped to this day that I didn’t get to experience having a pager.

Maria Monroy:

Now, let’s say you had to start a law firm from scratch today in 2022. What would you do?

Darryl Isaacs:

First thing I would do, I would get the world’s greatest phone number. The second thing I would do, as I get the greatest domain, I would set up and be a tech law firm. Because we are adapting, we’re training for… I feel like I’m always behind. With technology, I haven’t utilized it because I’m the Fred Flintstone.

Darryl Isaacs:

My greatest asset is talking. I pick up the phone and call people. I’m not an email. I don’t like text. I’ll do it. I think I’d love branding and marketing and selling, but I would also be a tech law firm, and that I wasn’t a tech law firm.

Maria Monroy:

I think … is doing that, right? He runs a fully remote…

Darryl Isaacs:

He’s amazing. He’s friend of mine and we help each other. I’m going to speak in his event, and he’s going to speak at mine. The other day, I had my team and he spent an hour… He has blown us away because we’re not doing the things… Like I say, I get cases the old-fashioned way. He’s getting in the new way. His is the future, and that’s why people need to be more like him and less like me.

Maria Monroy:

Yeah. I’m speaking at his event as well. I spoke last year and it was a great event. I’m super, super excited.

Darryl Isaacs:

Oh, well good. Good.

Maria Monroy:

Now, tell me, what do you wish you had learned in law school?

Darryl Isaacs:

There’s nothing they can teach you. I was very blessed because I worked for an attorney. I learned more from this attorney and doing cases. It’s not that… Law school, you go in; you read a case; you use the IRAC method, issue, rule, analysis, conclusion; and then you regurgitate it.

If law school was smart, they would do it more like med school, they’d make you intern a year or two. There are so many attorneys that come out and they don’t know what they’re doing. You got to go work.

Darryl Isaacs:

Maria Monroy:

I know, and that’s the whole point, like what do you wish was… Okay, let’s say one of your kids says, “I’m going to law school, dad.” What do you wish changed and that they learn that?

Darryl Isaacs:

I just wish they would learn to argue and track cases instead of just working on theory. All the top students get the accolades, all the ones that are in the top research. I mean, I just look at all the ones that I know that are doing really well. They became good trial lawyers, they became good business people.

Darryl Isaacs:

I think law school should also teach more entrepreneurship because, like I say, people go to law school and they’re just not prepared to run a law firm or they’re not prepared to run a business. If they can get a job at a big law defense firm, great. I’ve seen so many partners apply to work at our firm that we’re making six figures and their names on the door. I’m like, “Why are you applying?” Because they’re miserable. They do one area of law.

Darryl Isaacs:

I just think law schools should make everybody be better prepared for the real world. But I don’t think it’s going to happen because you got a lot of law teachers. They couldn’t make it as a lawyer so they go teach. I mean, being honest.

Maria Monroy:

What’s the saying? If you can’t do, teach or something like that?

Darryl Isaacs:

Well, I used to hear the A students are the, who would like to be the professors and the B students. I was the C student. I graduated with two three.

Darryl Isaacs:

I had one teacher that was, he was my torts teacher. I was the only student he invited when he retired. I mean, not for law, but he practiced for a hundred years. He was very Ronald Eads. I think he’s passed. I was his most memorable student because during class I always thought, how do we make money? I didn’t care what the rule of law was, I wanted to know how can we take this and… Because it was torts. I knew I was going to practice torts. I just think they need to do a better job of preparing you to go out and run a practice.

Darryl Isaacs:

It’s funny, I’ve been helping more trial lawyers lately. Even last week when I did a breakout group, there were two or three attorneys [inaudible 00:47:11] going a $60 million verdict. They stayed after class, after our four-hour lecture, and they’re like, “I need help,” I need this and that. I’m thinking, “You just got a $60 million verdict. What do you need from me?” I’m thinking, if I had a… I mean, we just had a $10 million verdict in November and we’re proud. I thought, man, people in Russia should know your names. I just think, you get a big verdict, you just tell the world. I don’t know.

Maria Monroy:

But those are the best people. It’s what you and I talk about, it’s that willingness to learn and to feel like I’m never done learning.

Maria Monroy:

I have a client at a conference. Someone said, “Oh, I don’t go to the session because there’s nothing that can be learned.” This is a trial lawyer that’s very successful. He turns and he goes, “I always learn something.” I thought, “Oh, I love that.” That is the mindset.

Darryl Isaacs:

Well, I can tell you this, Brian Panish, who I think… I think Brian Panish is probably arguably the best single event attorney in the world. He’s had two different billion-dollar verdicts. Amazing. I was talking with him and he’s telling me he learns every day. I just thought it is so refreshing because I tell everybody I can learn from law students. I talk to law students. I have breakfast with them at Brian’s thing and I always started talking, and I learned something I didn’t know. When we decide we don’t want to learn anymore through the day, we should quit practice. I truly believe that.

Maria Monroy:

Law firms are adapting and changing, but some tried and true methods like great websites and memorable phone numbers can help keep you ahead of the competition. As Darryl shared with us today, the core values that drive your firm forward will lead you into success.

Maria Monroy:

If this conversation moved you, please share it with someone you want to see succeed, and subscribe so you never miss an episode. Catch us next week on Tip the Scales with me, Maria Monroy, President and Co-Founder of LawRank. Hear how the best in the business broke out of limiting beliefs, overcame adversity, and built a thriving purpose-driven business in the process.