Tag: Retirement for Lawyers

Scaling Your Law Firm Nationally with Eddie Dabdoub (Ep. 72)

Scaling Your Law Firm Nationally with Eddie Dabdoub (Ep. 72)

For law firm owners aspiring to elevate their practice from local prominence to national dominance, our latest episode of The Lawyer Millionaire Podcast offers a treasure trove of strategic insights. We sat down with Eddie Dabdoub, the visionary founder of Dabdoub Law Firm, to uncover the secrets behind scaling your practice on a national level.

Eddie’s journey from a small firm lawyer to a national player in disability insurance law is rich with insights, strategies, and actionable advice that will inspire and guide your path to expansion.

Eddie discusses:

  • How to establish a niche within the overcrowded legal market to stand out against large firms with extensive marketing resources.
  • The importance of bringing marketing and IT infrastructure in-house for better control and efficiency in a larger operation.
  • Creating a strategic growth plan with clear benchmarks for five-year, one-year, and quarterly goals to guide your expansion journey.
  • How to build a talented team, implement incentive programs, and transition from micro-management to trusting your processes and people.
  • Understanding the tangible assets of your firm, such as cash flow and processes, and how they contribute to the overall value and potential sale of your firm.

 


Resources:

 

Connect with Edward Dabdoub:

 

 

About our guest:

EDWARD DABDOUB

Founding Attorney

Dabdoub Law Firm is led by nationally-known disability lawyer Edward Dabdoub.

Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, he is one of five attorneys in his immediate family. Since becoming a lawyer, he has focused his law practice on representing people who are entitled to disability benefits from insurance companies.

Why Disability Law?

Eddie’s passion for helping people with disability insurance claims started when he was in law school.

As a law student, Eddie helped a man suffering from chronic pain get back his long term disability benefits after his insurance company wrongly terminated payments, even though he was still disabled. After handling that case, he decided to dedicate his legal career to holding disability insurance companies accountable, and he built the Dabdoub Law Firm for that purpose.

About His Practice

Eddie represents clients at all stages of disability insurance claims. He has extensive knowledge of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) since many of his clients’ long term disability cases are governed by the federal statute.

With such a focus on disability insurance, Dabdoub Law Firm has successfully taken on the toughest opponents and have won major disability lawsuits. Big disability lawsuit wins include:

– Ashmore v. NFL Disability Plan, in which the firm represented a former NFL player who was denied benefits.

– Bradshaw v. Reliance Standard Insurance, where Eddie successfully argued to a federal court of appeal that pregnancy is not a preexisting condition that caused a stroke.

– Kaviani v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co.in which Eddie successfully showed that Dr. Kaviani’s evidence of disability far outweighed Reliance Standard’s evidence for no disability.

– Kaviani Win in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, after Eddie won the lawsuit for a dentist with disabling cervicalgia, Reliance appealed the case. The firm won the appeal and Reliance was ordered to pay our client long-term disability benefits.

– Millis v. Ameritas, where Eddie fought against Ameritas and their specialty own-occupation disability insurance policies for his client who was a liver transplant surgeon in Illinois.

– Gimeno Win in the United States Court of Appealsafter our client lost in district court, Eddie took the case up on appeal to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The appellate court upheld our client’s right to equitable relief under ERISA.

Eddie has experience litigating disability cases in federal and state courts against all major disability insurance companies, including:

  • Aetna
  • UNUM
  • Hartford
  • CIGNA / LINA
  • Mass Mutual
  • Liberty Life
  • Met Life
  • Lincoln Financial
  • Prudential

Hear Eddie argue convincingly to a panel of federal judges that his client’s disability due to a stroke is not a preexisting condition caused by her pregnancy.

Speaker, Lecturer & Author

Attorney Dabdoub has participated as a guest speaker at law conferences both on local and national stages, discussing disability insurance benefits and ERISA for legal organizations such as the American Association for Justice and the Florida Association for Justice.

He has also authored articles on disability insurance and advises other lawyers on disability insurance and ERISA matters.

Education & Background

Eddie graduated with cum laude honors from the University of Miami School of Law. While at law school, he was the recipient of the Ambassador Sue Cobb Scholarship.

Before attending law school, he graduated at the top of his class from Florida International University, earning a Masters in Business Administration, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Miami.

Awards

  • Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® in Insurance Law, 2022
  • Florida Trend’s Legal Elite, 2021
  • Selected to Super Lawyers list, 2019 – 2023
  • Clients’ Choice Award – Avvo, 2015 – 2021
  • Selected to Rising Stars list, 2014 – 2017
  • “Top Attorney” – Avvo
How to Do Succession Planning in Large Law Firms (Ep. 59)

How to Do Succession Planning in Large Law Firms (Ep. 59)

Are you a law firm owner pondering the future of your practice? Succession planning might be the key to securing the longevity and happiness of both you and your firm. In the latest episode of “The Lawyer Millionaire Podcast,” hosts Darren Wurz and David Ernst unravel the complexities of succession planning, offering you the wisdom and strategies needed to seamlessly transition leadership within your firm

David underscores the importance of transparent communication and the necessity of setting specific dates and goals for planning. He shares his personal journey, detailing the proactive measures he took to ensure a smooth transition for his successors, and provides invaluable advice on how to make succession planning a gratifying endeavor.

David discusses:

  • The significance of picking a specific date to start succession planning.
  • How to set clear goals for the succession planning process.
  • How transparent and open communication can eliminate the common pitfalls in succession planning.
  • Why senior lawyers should be compensated for planning and transferring their duties to successors.
  • The satisfaction that succession planning brings not only to senior lawyers but also to the rising stars within the firm.
  • How robust financial planning can empower your retirement and succession strategies to provide peace of mind.

 


Resources:

 

Connect with David Ernst:

About our guest:

David Ernst retired from law practice last fall after 37 years as a litigation attorney focusing on food safety. Dave worked at two firms over the course of his career, joining Davis Wright in 2011. Throughout his career, Dave served in many firm leadership and management roles.

This included office managing attorney, firm president (175 lawyer firm), the compensation committees of two firms, and the firmwide succession planning partner at Davis Wright. Dave has a particular interest and expertise in succession planning for lawyers and law firms.

He has worked with many lawyers over the years to develop thoughtful succession plans which ensure the continuation of client relationships and the development of younger lawyers.

What It Looks Like to Help Attorneys to Achieve Financial Independence (Ep.2)

What It Looks Like to Help Attorneys to Achieve Financial Independence (Ep.2)

When you hear the words client experience, what do you think of? 

In this episode, we spend more time getting to know the host, Darren Wurz, MSFP, CFP®. He discusses what client experience means to him and his team at Wurz Financial Services, and shares the process he uses to help his clients plan for retirement. 

Darren discusses:

  • What it is like to be a client at Wurz Financial Services
  • Common questions clients have when it comes to retirement planning
  • The three step process to creating a financial plan
  • The importance of investing in powerful software for financial planning
  • How a client’s account is managed in his office
  • And more

Resources:

Connect with Wurz Financial Services:

Meet Your Host, Darren Wurz, MSFP, CFP® (Ep.1)

Meet Your Host, Darren Wurz, MSFP, CFP® (Ep.1)

The highly anticipated podcast, named after the book “The Lawyer Millionaire”, has officially launched! 

In this inaugural episode, get to know your host, Darren Wurz, MSFP, CFP®. He highlights what led to the start of his business and what made him so passionate about creating successful financial plans for professionals working in law firms. Along with some insight into what’s to come on his show.

 Darren discusses:

  • How Wurz Financial Services was created – this includes following in his dad’s footsteps of being a financial advisor in the family business
  • How the majority of his clients turned out to be attorneys and how that reshaped his business entirely
  • The importance of investing time into understanding your clients’ needs and not treating every client with the same advice
  • How “The Lawyer Millionaire” is an extension of his business
  • And more

Resources:

Connect with Darren Wurz and Wurz Financial Services: