Morgan & Morgan Moved Into His Market. Here's What Bart Siniard Did About It

Welcome to episode 64 of The Earley Show, hosted by personal injury attorney Christopher Earley! For this conversation, Chris is joined by Bart Siniard, co-founder of Siniard Law in Huntsville, Alabama.

Check out the episode below. You can also enjoy it on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

In elementary school, Bart wrote down three goals: go to Alabama law school, become a personal injury lawyer like his dad, and someday start his own firm. In 2022, he and his father, Tommy Siniard, did exactly that — and 39 days after opening, Bart found himself running the brand-new firm on his own. He and Chris dig into modernizing a legacy practice across a generational gap, the two numbers he checks every month (signed cases and what they're actually worth), why he posts firm-wide KPI scoreboards, self-implementing EOS, and how a hometown firm holds its ground when Morgan & Morgan moves into the market. Bart also gets candid about the cost of the grind and why he's learning to slow down to grow.

About our guest:

Bart Siniard is a personal injury trial attorney and co-founder of Siniard Law, LLC in Huntsville, Alabama, which he opened in July 2022 with his father, Tommy Siniard. A Huntsville native, Bart earned his undergraduate and law degrees at the University of Alabama and spent nearly nine years trying cases at his father's previous firm before the two launched their own. Siniard Law handles car wrecks, medical malpractice and other serious injury cases across North Alabama, litigates heavily, and has grown from six people to more than a dozen in four years.

Connect with Seth:

Visit the Siniard Law website

Topics covered

• Growing up inside his father's PI firm — and the elementary-school goal that came true
• Tommy Siniard: the lawyer on the back of the phone book and the region's first advertising PI lawyer
• Leaving an established nine-lawyer firm to start a father-son practice
• His wife's push: "You'll never be truly happy unless you're running the ship"
• "Your handshake has to be good for something" — reputation with clients, adjusters and defense counsel
• Growing from 6 to 13 and a half people: an associate, a lateral litigator, paralegals and a receptionist
• Modernizing a legacy firm: going paperless, switching case management, adding Lead Docket and dedicated intake
• Day 39: running a brand-new firm alone while his dad recovered
• The books and podcasts that changed his career
• The two numbers he tracks every month: new cases signed and case valuation
• Firm-wide KPI scoreboards shared monthly, and the internal competition they create
• Self-implementing EOS at the firm's first annual meeting
• True signups, attrition and cost per case
• Splitting time between trial work and running the business
• Competing when Morgan & Morgan comes to town: community marketing, referrals and being Huntsville's injury lawyers
• What he'd do differently: health, family and not being driven by fear
• Turning off the switch at home
• Slow down to grow, buying back your time and gradual shedding

People and resources mentioned

• Siniard Law — siniardlaw.com
• Tommy Siniard — Bart's father and law partner
• Birmingham School of Law — weekend JD program
• John Fischer — The Power of a System; The Law Firm of Your Dreams; his mastermind, where Bart and Chris connected
• Gino Wickman — Traction and EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System)
• Mike Morse — Fireproof and the "jumbotron"
• John Morgan / Morgan & Morgan — You Can't Teach Hungry
• Dan Martell — Buy Back Your Time
• Gyi Tsakalakis and Conrad Saam — Lunch Hour Legal Marketing podcast
• Maximum Lawyer — podcast
• Chad Dudley and Mickey Love — on true signups and attrition
• Lead Docket — intake and lead management
• practicetipoftheweek.com — Chris Earley's free weekly email list for lawyers

Learn more about Chris' practice, the Earley Law Group, here!

Check out Chris' book "Scaling The Wall" here!

The Earley Show is a part of the Answering Legal Podcast Network.

Interested in learning more about Answering Legal? Book an appointment to speak with us here!

You can also give us a call at 631-866-0801.

Episode Transcript:

Announcer (00:00)

The Earley Show is brought to you by our friends at Answering Legal. For more than a decade, attorneys have trusted Answering Legal's 24/7 virtual receptionist service to keep their phones covered and their clients cared for. Now, they're raising the bar with an AI powered intake chatbot, live translation services in over 180 languages, and 76 seamless tech integrations. Answering Legal's goal: make running a law practice simpler while helping you capture every new client opportunity. And don't worry, the receptionist team is still the best in the business at turning first-time callers into loyal clients. Find out what's possible by visiting answeringlegal.com. You'll find a link to the site in the description of this episode. Now, let's get to the show.

Chris Earley (00:52)

Hello and welcome to another episode of The Earley Show sponsored by our friends over at Answering Legal. I'm your host Chris Earley and as you know on this show we always bring you the very best and brightest in the legal industry. Today we have a real treat. My friend Bart Siniard in Alabama I believe Huntsville, Alabama. Roll Tide.

Bart Siniard (01:09)

Roll Tide.

Chris Earley (01:11)

See I took a gamble. I wasn't sure if you're Auburn or Alabama. So I guess I guess right you did. So, I want to share something super quick. Bart texted me uh couple things. We text back and forth. He texted me once. He said, "Keep the out of the blue." He said, "Keep the podcast rolling." At another point, he text me out of the blue, "Keep going with the podcast." I share that because I think it's important for two reasons. It's important to hear those things when you're putting content out for people to recognize it feels really good. It's also important for people, you know, you the listener to reach out to people and they're making content, you like it, tell them that, let them know that. I think that's really important. So, I appreciate you, Bart. Appreciate our friendship, relationship. I've gotten to know you over the years. I want to have you on because you're doing big things down in Alabama.

Bart Siniard (01:57)

Yeah. So, I appreciate it and have a lot of respect for everything you do, Chris. I mean, the hustle and grind you put into it is just amazing and an inspiration.

Chris Earley (02:05)

Two way street. It's a It's a two-way street, my brother. So tell me about, you know, we like to start at the beginning. Tell me about growing up. Did you grow up in Alabama, brothers and sisters? You know, walk us through how you started and how you ended up in this crazy industry.

Bart Siniard (02:18)

I've lived my entire life in the state of Alabama, really in only two cities. Huntsville, where I am now. That's also where I grew up, and then seven years down in Tuscaloosa for college and then law school there. Never had any inkling I would leave the state of Alabama. And that's been true. Uh I grew up the son of a personal injury lawyer and still am and we continue to work together today. My father started his career in 1980 but started his own law firm in 1991 when I was a kid. Uh I was about 5 years old and I grew up in that firm. Um he started as a solo guy and grew it and grew it you know till about 10 years ago it at that time it was the largest personal injury firm in all of North Alabama. you know, between Birmingham and Nashville, that was the largest personal injury firm. And uh growing up, I thought it was so cool. You know, he in my mind uh he was a badass and he is a badass. But like I knew from a young age that's what I wanted to do. In fact, in my graduation from elementary school, we had to write a little blurb about what we want to be doing. uh you know I think it was 15 years or 20 years from now and I wrote I want to go to Alabama law school which I did. I want to be a personal injury lawyer like my dad which I did and then I wrote at the bottom and someday I want to start my own firm which we did about four years ago now. I grew up in the law firm uh from age five to present and I've lived it and breathed it and I love it. Um I've got two half brothers and three step brothers. My dad's had a few marriages along the way. Um but really close with them, particularly my half brothers. Um, one of them has actually decided to go to law school even though he's uh 33 now.

Chris Earley (04:36)

That's awesome.

Bart Siniard (04:37)

He He's had a career in another industry. And when we branched out and started our own father-son firm, he was like, "Man, I want to be a part of this." And

Chris Earley (04:46)

Nice.

Bart Siniard (04:47)

So, he's still working full-time, but going to uh Birmingham School of Law, which which offers a weekend program for, you know, people who want to get a law degree, but still have to work to pay the bills. He's got two young kids. Really admire what he's doing right now. Uh he's a grinder and, you know, when he passes the bar, which is still a couple of years away, he's going to join us as well. Um, but our family has, you know, always been about personal injury law. You know, my dad back in the 90s before Google and all that stuff, uh, he was the lawyer on the back of the phone book. He started one of the first, at least the first in the Southeast area, call-in live TV show. Um, it was called All Line back then. He started that in the mid 90s. Um he was he was really the first advertising personal injury lawyer in our region. Um and always knew the importance of that. He wasn't scared to be the marketing lawyer when 99% of the industry was and he really dominated the North Alabama region for a long time until a lot of these other you know marketing heavy firms came along in the last you know 15 20 years whatever it's been now. So, our last name, you know, we like to think we have a lot of brand recognition built up from, you know, 30, 40 years of him being out there pushing our name in the community. Um, so that's kind of the story of of how I got to where I am now. graduated from law school and went into the firm my father started um and worked there as essentially my dad's associate along with another associate um for close to nine years just learning how to try cases, take depositions, all that good stuff. And then in 2022 um you know there were nine total lawyers at that firm you know 20some support staff pretty decent size firm um and in 2022 there were some disagreements amongst the the partners about things and I can't really get into that but my dad and I had always talked about should we go start our own father-son shop. And you know, I remember my dad coming to me and he goes, "If we're ever going to do this, now's the time." Cuz he was he was in his late 60s. I guess he was about 67 at the time, certainly in the fourth quarter of his career. he was slowing down, working less, but I think he really did it for me, you know, um, which is the biggest gift uh, he's he's ever given me because, you know, who would have known what would have happened if we didn't leave and I stayed there?

Chris Earley (08:07)

Yeah.

Bart Siniard (08:07)

Um, I was a quote unquote junior partner, but I was, you know, I was a true employee. I didn't have any stake in the firm. He worried about well what if I pass away? Who are you going to be, you know, stuck here? I don't know if these guys will treat you right. And and I have a great relationship with all the lawyers at at our old firm. Um close friends with them. Um but they're not family and you know, my dad was like, "If we're going to do it, let's do it now." And it was scary as hell. I almost I struggled with the decision for about a month and finally I really went to my wife for advice and she really convinced me that I needed to go do it. I'd never truly be happy unless I was running the ship. I had interest in marketing. I had interest in systems and management, how we could improve things at the old firm, but I wasn't the shot caller. Um, you know, I had maybe some input, but I wasn't in charge. And, uh, she said, "Even if you fail, you're never going to be truly happy with your career unless you go start your own thing." And, uh, I'll never I'll never forget that night. I drove up to my dad's house and I was like, "Let's do the damn thing." Um, and the next, you know, drafted up, you know, we got an LLC filed and started our business plan and marketing strategy and our uh we had three paralegals and a legal assistant who were on our team at the old firm. We told them, you know, a few days later, we were like, "Are y'all with us?" And they all said, "Hell yeah, we're with y'all." And we opened July 1, 2022. Um, and have been rolling ever since.

Chris Earley (10:16)

Just let it roll, right? Roll tide, roll law, right? Just let roll.

Bart Siniard (10:22)

We roll.

Chris Earley (10:23)

Yes. That's the only way to do it. So, I love the story about your wife because like some wives, some husbands out there will be like, "No, no, no, no, no." Like, "Let's just let's be safe. Let's get collect the paycheck." But your wife, similar to my wife, is like, "Go get it. Like, go do your thing. Like, you got that itch." And it's so cool when you have someone supporting you. That's really cool. I'm curious.

Bart Siniard (10:42)

Sometimes your spouse knows you better than you know yourself.

Chris Earley (10:45)

Oh, my wife. Yeah. Freaking razor sharp. I'm freaking, you know, I don't have the stuff that she knows. So I she's my she's my my uh my help my advisor really legit. Let me ask you I'm curious. So it sounds like PI is in the blood like you're you're a true believer of your dad like you guys are in all in on this and I think that's really cool but he started you know modestly right and then he grew and you witnessed that the successes the lows that he had to experience that you and I experienced as law firm owners right. What do you think is the biggest lesson he taught you after all those, you know, the years of doing his own thing and now with you? Like what's one thing, a big thing you think you took from him among many, I'm sure, both.

Bart Siniard (11:29)

Yeah. The biggest thing I've take taken from him is he's old school and I try to carry that forward, but he said in in whatever you do in life and especially in law, your handshake has to be good for something. um with your client, even with insurance adjusters and insurance defense lawyers, anybody you deal with, your reputation is sacrosanct.

Chris Earley (11:56)

Yes.

Bart Siniard (11:56)

Especially when you're starting your career, it is very easy to get a bad reputation.

Chris Earley (12:02)

Oh, yeah.

Bart Siniard (12:03)

If your handshake doesn't mean something. Uh if you're sneaky, if you backstab, if you waffle, if you lie. I've tried to carry that forward in every way possible. Um, you know, I could backstab an insurance defense lawyer, maybe win that case, maybe get my client some more money. Maybe it's technically in my client's best interest. I don't know. But I don't do it. Um, and I'm pretty transparent in how we litigate. I I tell them this is what we're going to do. This is how we're going to do it. And um I think I hope everybody in the insurance defense business in Alabama that I deal with would would say that that I'm credible and I do what I say I'm going to do cuz that's how my dad did it. Um

Chris Earley (12:54)

Yeah,

Bart Siniard (12:55)

he he wasn't underhanded. He didn't hide the ball. Said, "This is what we're going to do. This is how we're going to do it." And then he did it.

Chris Earley (13:03)

Yeah. Right. Easier that way.

Bart Siniard (13:05)

Yeah. I would say that's the biggest thing I've learned from him that intersects life and law is do what you say you're gonna do because if you don't it's going to hurt you for the rest of your career and your life

Chris Earley (13:22)

and your clients, right? You're compromising then you're able to you're you're not an effective advocate. So I I love that. What's the size of the firm today?

Bart Siniard (13:28)

So when we opened, like I mentioned, we had a total of six is just my father and I and three paralegals and a legal assistant. Our legal assistant kind of doubled as our receptionist. Uh now we are up to uh we started at six, we're now up to 13 and a half, 13 full-time and one part-time. Um, we've added two lawyers um, since we opened. One, Harrison Lane, who um, is actually my step cousin. Uh, he was graduating a law school about the same time we opened, passed the bar, and we brought him on just three or four months into the firm's existence in the fall of 2022. Um, and you know, had to train him from the ground up. You know, nobody coming out of law school knows how to do this. Um, and he's doing a great job now. He's, uh, he's been here what, three and a half or maybe more than that, uh, years. Um, he's got a case load of about 100 cases. Um, and doing a good job. in in 2020, late 2024, we had a great problem. We were just getting too many cases um and realized we needed more help. So, um we hired another legal assistant to focus solely on medical records and billing. another lawyer, a lateral hire, uh, Barnes Hayward, um, who had seven or eight years of experience in personal injury doing litigation, has some big verdicts. Um, a couple of years ago, he got a verdict for 1.4 million. Um, like a true litigator, but still young. He's a little bit younger than me. um and he was in a firm um where you know I think he had good relationships with everybody but maybe didn't have the uh the opportunity for growth both professionally and financially and we we offered him what I think we would both say is a pretty good deal to come over because at the time I had about 200 cases and I was drowning

Chris Earley (15:50)

It's a lot

Bart Siniard (15:50)

cuz we litigate a lot and I I was truly drowning Um, and I immediately got a hundred of those files over to him and he didn't need any training and he went and he's, you know, I think he would agree, you know, he's compensated fairly. He's a great lawyer. We then hired another litigation paralegal away from a another personal injury firm here in town who has has a few years of experience. She's really fit in. Um and and so we just kept going. Um we you know we got a full-time receptionist too so our legal assistant wouldn't have to double duty things. So we've more than doubled in size since we opened four years ago which has its headaches but that's where we're at now.

Chris Earley (16:43)

What a growth. I'm curious um you know I had tens and tens of guests. I think you're the first one where you know it's a it's a legacy firm right you're you know you're young stepping in what are I'm just curious you know obviously between your dad age you know generational you know uh gap there but h are there are there challenges are there any things that are tricky with that as you try to sort of modernize the firm and your dad obviously is older and you know he's coming from a different what's it like sort of working with your dad and as you're going this thing what's that what's

Bart Siniard (17:17)

There's there's pros and cons to working with family, you know, particularly with a generational gap. Um, he's been so successful throughout his life, he's always like, if it's not broke, don't fix it. And I'm like, well, you may just not know what's broken yet. So, one of the first things, you know, when we made the decision to leave, he said, you're in charge. He's like, I'm just on the back of the boat. Yeah, got a trolling line out. I'm here for help, but you're running the show. You come to me for advice. I'll give input and we we still make all big decisions jointly. Um, but you know, the day-to-day stuff, strategy, marketing, whatever, he's like, "This is yours, man." Um, and uh, but you know, the generational gap is I I first one of the first things I decided to do was go completely paperless. Uh, it was creating redundant work for our staff, both creating electronic files and paper files. That really upset my dad.

Chris Earley (18:23)

Oh, sure. Totally hear you.

Bart Siniard (18:25)

He can barely work a computer. Um,

Chris Earley (18:28)

It's hard.

Bart Siniard (18:29)

So, there was that. There was, you know, I wanted to change case management software, which we did. Um, you know, I wanted Lead Docket. Um, one of the things we did most recently, our most recent hire was a dedicated intake person. The first three years of our firm, we didn't really have that. Um,

Chris Earley (18:52)

Important hire.

Bart Siniard (18:53)

So, sometimes there struggles because he thinks he knows best and he does on stuff, but it's like, you know, there's ways we can improve that we can get better. We've had some disagreements about things, but like um I yeah, the proof's in the pudding. We're every every chart you look at on our stats is going upwards. Um I'm not saying that that's due to you know, my decision making, but we're we're going in the right direction. Still providing I I think quality service to people. and he's he's kind of just kind of loosening the reins and said, "Man, just keep going. I'm here for advice."

Chris Earley (19:37)

I think it's really cool that he's sort of taken a backseat and realizing, you know, he's older, you're younger, and it must be hard for him going paperless and all this stuff, but he's he's acquiescing and realizing it's best for the firm. And that's pretty cool, you know, to have that humility about it.

Bart Siniard (19:50)

Yeah. I mean, at our old firm and when we started here, we were very old school, like a potential new client call was transferred to an attorney, you know, and we only met with new potential new clients in person, you know, we didn't have any ability to track leads uh or sign cases or, you know, any of that stuff. So, and and one of the things, you know, we don't we haven't shared this publicly, but exactly 39 days after we open, my my father had a pretty massive heart attack.

Chris Earley (20:27)

Oh.

Bart Siniard (20:28)

Um, and tell you, that's that's a weird feeling when you just started a firm and your business partner and your dad is laying in the ICU and you don't know if he's going to live. And so,

Chris Earley (20:41)

That's heavy, man.

Bart Siniard (20:43)

In my mind before that happened it was like I got my dad you know he he's done this before he started his own firm he's grown his own firm and then suddenly um I was not only you know my dad was out for fairly extended period but I had to I had to truly do it on my own at least through the the rest of that year 3 to four months and that's when I really got into learning about this. That's how I found you, Chris.

Chris Earley (21:15)

Yeah.

Bart Siniard (21:15)

I got real active on LinkedIn. Um I think that's how I first learned about you. Um and started meeting other leaders in the personal injury sphere, whether it was other law firm owners or um you know, somebody who you know does legal marketing only or vendors or whatever it may be. I started reading books, you know, I what the books that really changed my career are John Fischer's books and I know you've read his stuff and know John how The Power of a System, The Law Firm of Your Dreams and then I started I got into Gino Wickman stuff with Traction uh Mike Morse's Fireproof I started listening to podcasts Maximum Lawyer I got into the Lunch Hour Legal Marketing podcast with Gyi and Conrad as I know you know. And dude, I just for like three or four months I was just geeking out and being a law firm owner nerd about how do I do this and how do I make this work?

Chris Earley (22:32)

I love it. I love it.

Bart Siniard (22:33)

Yeah.

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Chris Earley (22:34)

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Chris Earley (23:15)

You know, I just want to go back a couple minutes. You mentioned you you you're trending upwards. Are there certain numbers that you pay special attention to that give you the confidence you're trending upwards?

Bart Siniard (23:25)

Yeah, new cases signed. I really focus on that. I look at that at least every month. You talk about like big picture numbers, not like

Chris Earley (23:38)

What do you really care what you what you pay special attention to? What really you focus on?

Bart Siniard (23:42)

Yeah. I mean really the two biggest things I focus on on a monthly basis is new cases signed and the valuation of those cases. So, one of the hardest things to do, and you know this, is projecting future cash flow.

Chris Earley (23:59)

It's tricky.

Bart Siniard (24:00)

It's really tricky. Um I'm one of those guys, you probably are, that lays awake sometimes at night, you know? We're doing good now, but like, you know, will this continue? You know, so I'm always looking at those numbers. Are people still calling us? Are they still hiring us? And it's not just that. It's not the number of leads or the number of signed cases, but it's like what's the quality of these cases,

Chris Earley (24:29)

Right?

Bart Siniard (24:29)

Because I could sign up, you know, 30 car cases where somebody's got a sore neck. Um, but if I'm signing up 30 cases and 10 of those people have, you know, truly traumatic injuries, fractures, surgeries, corporate defendant, is their coverage. I'm assessing that monthly. And we we we keep track of case evaluations both at intake, you know, what is this case worth. Obviously, case valuations can change over time. They have a million-dollar case, but then you find out there's only a hundred grand in coverage. Well, you know, you got to adjust things. But that that's what I'm looking at to make sure our success uh continues on a big picture scale. I'm I'm a I'm a true data nerd. uh after reading particularly Mike Morse's book Fireproof his his concept of the jumbotron I just loved. So I'm keeping track of all kinds of metric numbers which I think is so critical for a personal injury firm because there's really no way to know if things are heading south unless you're keeping an eye on it with hard numbers. Trusting your gut isn't good enough. Usually your gut's right

Chris Earley (25:47)

and data doesn't lie. It won't you can't be tricked. I mean it's like these are the numbers.

Bart Siniard (25:53)

And I focus on KPIs for each different uh you know job position, paralegals, legal assistants, lawyers. Um and and I'm kind of wildly transparent to uh we share those numbers with everybody in the firm.

Chris Earley (26:11)

Monthly. How often you do that?

Bart Siniard (26:12)

Monthly.

Chris Earley (26:13)

Okay. That's important. Scoreboard.

Bart Siniard (26:16)

I didn't Yeah, it's basically a scoreboard and I don't know if it's a great idea to do it or not, but it's uncomfortable for some people if they, you know, maybe are on the bottom of that list for a KPI, but like I think it helps motivate people to know where they stand and it creates this internal competition, so to speak, as man, I'm not pulling my weight. Maybe maybe I need to step up.

Chris Earley (26:45)

Well, yeah.

Bart Siniard (26:46)

And it's not just like a yearly thing. It's it's monthly.

Chris Earley (26:50)

So, I like that stepping on the scale. I think that's, you know, healthy for an organization and it does promote competition. And then honestly, you know, a lot of listeners, I would encourage that if if people don't like the competition, you know, they can't help your firm. You want you want people who love competition, who love to be challenged and love to know where they stand, right? Like where do I stand in Bart's firm? I think it's super important. Are you running on EOS? Did you mention to me once or No.

Bart Siniard (27:15)

So kind of um we did our first annual meeting uh this January of 2026. I haven't hired an outside Implementer, but we spent a whole day in annual meeting and almost all of that was basically trying to self-implement EOS. And I, you know, we haven't done it perfectly, but um, you know, Wickman's ideas I just love. They for whatever reason just when I first read that book, I was like, "This is genius." Trying to hire more, trying to delegate more, trying to figure out exactly what my zone of genius is or whatever you want to call it. Um, that's why we've kind of one of the reasons why we've gone on this hiring spree is, you know, the marketing's working. We're getting new cases, but that that can become a problem if you don't surround yourself with a team and give them the tools and the systems they need, you know, to effectively handle the case load.

Chris Earley (28:19)

It's all about people. You know what you're going to bring, your dad, what he's going to bring, it's all about people, right? Helping you, you know, on your, you know, your your mission, your dream to keep building this thing, um, that you're doing obviously to a high level. One thing I just want to hearken back to for the listeners, you know, with signups that's important, but what are your true signups because we have attrition and I'm starting to get very sensitive. I've been tracking that for quite some time is like and then I can know my true cost per case. Really gotten sensitive. You know, Chad Dudley, Mickey Love really preached that and I finally understand that. So just, you know, I encourage you audience make sure you know like you signed up 30 cases is good. How many are going to result in money for the firm? It's not 30 cases. I can almost guarantee you. Unless your intake is so so picky that you're just picking winners. I doubt that. I I I I just want to, you know, highlight that.

Bart Siniard (29:08)

No, it's true. I mean, that's true. And, you know, I I we we handle medical malpractice cases and a lot of those end up not being cases. So, you know, I try to factor that in. It's like, you know, we got 37 new clients last month. Well, seven of those are medical malpractice cases. None of those seven may qualify. We may check them all, but we review them. We have a consulting expert review them. So, yeah. I mean, like you said, it's it's not just number of cases signed. It's like what are the legitimate cases, what are the values? I I just think it's something critical you have to track.

Chris Earley (29:50)

Yeah.

Bart Siniard (29:51)

Because we've had dips in the past, you know,

Chris Earley (29:53)

100%.

Bart Siniard (29:53)

uh January, February this year, we we dipped down. It was like, what are we doing wrong? Um and if you have access to the data, you can act quick.

Chris Earley (30:05)

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Proactive. Let me ask you. So, I I I look at PI law, there's like a there's like a a spectrum when it comes to law firm owners. Some are like, you know, I'm a trial lawyer. Some are I'm strictly business owner. And many are somewhat somewhat in the middle, right? Because it's hard to do both at a high level as I, you know, get more and more into this, you know, the studying PI and just living it. Where do you stand? Are you 50/50, more business owner, more trial lawyer? Like how would you what would you call yourself in that respect?

Bart Siniard (30:40)

So, you know, I say I'm close to 50/50, unfortunately. Um, and that's why I have to work as much as I do. The problem is with me is that I love both of them. I always joke, I always tell you if I can try one case every month, I'd be so happy. Um, but there's just no way for me to do that. And realistically, I really only try one or two cases every year. We we litigate a lot, but, you know, I'm not trying to go to trial in every case I litigate. Um, I just know that's not realistic. But I do think litigating is is necessary to get full value in in most cases. But, you know, I spend probably a third of my time on the business. Um, I'd like to give it more than that. It might be 40%. You know,

Chris Earley (31:39)

Yeah, it's so hard. every day is full, right?

Bart Siniard (31:42)

But I'm I'm handling over a hundred clients cases as we sit here and running the business. Um, and about half of those cases are in litigation and some of them are complicated with a lot of depositions, expert witnesses. Um, you know, I've got 10 medical malpractice cases. Those are super complex. I got one that's going to go to definitely going to go to trial later this year. um settles a lot. My my goal is to be less of the the litigator and more of the business guy, but I don't think I'll ever give it up because I love it. Um litigating is like a chess game, you know, and I'm always chasing the adrenaline rush. And you get that doing the business stuff, too, because there's ups and downs. But man, there's nothing like the adrenaline rush when you get up to give an opening argument in a big important case. And I I love that. So

Chris Earley (32:43)

Yeah, that's a that that's a that's a nice place to be. Let me ask you this. Um is I assume Morgan is in your territory, too?

Bart Siniard (32:54)

Yeah. Yeah. Morgan & Morgan more recently came to us. uh they had broken into Alabama first I think in the Birmingham area which is the largest metro area in Alabama and they didn't come up to Huntsville where I'm at which is the second large largest metro area in Alabama. It's about close to half million people uh in our city's metro area. We thought they wouldn't come maybe because North Alabama has a more conservative history of jury verdicts. Uh Birmingham has a much better track record of big verdicts. So we were hoping they would stay down there. Um but they came here um in 2025. Maybe maybe it was 2024, but they're here. They they got all the billboards and um running a ton of TV here. But yeah, I got a lot of respect for John Morgan. I know he's been a guest on your podcast twice. I've read it read his book, You Can't Teach Hungry. I mean, I used to scoff at the billboard guys, you know, and oh, y'all aren't real lawyers. But now that I'm a law firm owner, I'm like, you got a book? Oh, hell yeah. I'm reading it. Um because I I have a lot of respect for those guys who you know like particularly John Morgan. I mean he was a trial lawyer um for years and grinded and to build to build his empire but they're here and we've got we've got our own strategy to deal with that. Um you know I think most people say Morgan & Morgan when they come to town will suck out as much as 20% of the market share. they gobble that up and move on. Um, so we're really trying to position ourselves with our branding and in our techniques or methodology, so to speak, of how we market ourselves uh to to offer that alternative. Um, we want to be the premier Huntsville firm. Um, that's that's our brand. It's Huntsville's injury lawyers. We are out in the community. We go to job fairs. We support local charities and not just stroke checks. We go to their events with a tent and a table and meet the people. We do a lot of community marketing. Um just getting our logo and our name and our face out there in the community because all of our almost all of our really good cases come from referrals. Um so we really focus on that. We can't compete with their marketing budget. We're not going to try to. We're just I call it guerrilla marketing.

Chris Earley (35:40)

You know, I love that. I'm gonna tell you why I love that. So, I asked you that question because I I wanted to kind of ask you, how are you standing out? And what you said was really smart. You said we have a strategy. And I think that's important. You didn't say, "Oh, man. Morgan's here like we're in trouble." No, you're like, "Okay, so we have a we have an approach." You're being academic about it. Well, there's 20% that may get sucked up, but there's still 80%. And we're kind of hometown lawyers, so we're leaning into that premiere. So, I love that. I love that mindset. I hope everyone's writing notes when Bart was saying that because that's smart. It's like we got a plan and I embrace competition. I and I I would recommend John Morgan just wrote another book he just released called Life is Luck. I just read that it's really good. It just drops. But when he comes into town, not everybody wants John, but it raises awareness of people's rights and so there is an effect. I don't have any kind of data but I understand there's an effect of awareness. Awareness increases. Right. So yeah, we can all have we can all do very well. Plenty of work. What do you know? Because obviously you're going through it, right? Like me, like all of us, you're just you're grinding and you're growing. You're looking at data. What do you wish you knew back when you started? Even though your dad, you know, has helped you so much. What do you wish you kind of knew when you put your flag in the ground back then that you know now that you could maybe share with the audience to help someone out there maybe could benefit?

Bart Siniard (36:58)

This industry really um it'll take a toll on you if you let it. And one of the things I regret of the last four years is maybe spending too much of my time and energy in the law firm. I was driven by fear really,

Chris Earley (37:21)

Okay,

Bart Siniard (37:21)

at the beginning and I was I was so scared of failure,

Chris Earley (37:25)

Okay,

Bart Siniard (37:25)

and I poured all of myself into this firm. Looking back, I don't think I needed to do all that I did to be where we're at today. I mean, if I had if I had just maybe focused on myself and my family a little bit more, you know, maybe I wouldn't be on blood pressure medication today, you know, which I am. Um, as I get older, I'm starting to see the bigger picture. I mean, work is a big part of your life. Um, but you can't let it, you know, impact you physically and emotionally. Maybe the way I've let it. So that that's my big focus right now is trying to get healthier and to work less. Um I only work like 50 or 60 hours um a week now. It was a lot worse in 2022, 2023, 2024 trying to delegate, trying to hire good people so I don't have to stress about all the things I really somebody else can stress about it, you know. Um, and you know, I saw you at John Fischer's mastermind last year.

Chris Earley (38:40)

Yeah, man.

Bart Siniard (38:41)

And one of the things you said to me, which kind of was a part of that epiphany, he was like, you were like, "Man, you're young. You got time."

Chris Earley (38:51)

Totally.

Bart Siniard (38:52)

You know, you don't have to figure this all out. Um, and I came away from that thinking, why am I in such a rush to do all these things and do everything perfectly when it may be negatively impacting, you know, my life at home or my physical health. Um, so that's that's probably what I would do over.

Chris Earley (39:20)

I love the vulnerability, the honesty. You know, most, you know, most will say, "Well, I wish I looked at that KPI earlier. I wish I did that LSA count." And you're like, "Sh*t, man. You know what?" Like, and that's the most important thing is like your health, your family, and that's number one.

Bart Siniard (39:34)

My new KPI is what is my blood pressure at 5?

Chris Earley (39:37)

Okay. Well, that's a hell yeah. I mean, I think a lot of us can relate to that part actually, you know, because everyone on this is is hustling, man, and getting after it. And everyone is nod nodding their head when you talk about you know there's a price right we got we can't get it twisted like gotta the the family will suffer right if we if we don't and a lot of times my wife is like you know let's not talk about business right now let's just talk because I can remember about this all night long we're talking sitting on the couch like do and my wife's a lawyer so in my mind like oh she's going to be interested in this uh she's usually not

Bart Siniard (40:15)

No, we're like a rare breed I was talking talking about this with someone recently. We're like a rare breed of of animal here. Just like all deep in a PI scaling. It's it's a we're we're we're not normal to be doing this. I'll tell you that. We're not I mean, you know, it's what we think about when we lay our head down at bed.

Chris Earley (40:34)

It's what I think about when the alarm clock goes off.

Bart Siniard (40:37)

Same. Same. It's so hard to turn off that switch. Uh, that's something I think you got to consciously remind yourself of is turn off your switch. Um, you know, I got I got a 8-year-old and a four-year-old. You know, be there with them. Don't be looking at your phone. I'm terrible about that, man. I'm always

Chris Earley (40:58)

It's hard.

Bart Siniard (40:59)

I'm always on my phone. Um, you know, last year my 8-year-old, she was seven at the time. She's like, "You're always looking at your phone, Daddy." I was like, "I'm that dad." I didn't think I was. I didn't even realize it. Um, but I was. And so I'm trying to focus on myself and my family more so than I have the last four years while really trying to build this firm.

Chris Earley (41:22)

How old are you?

Bart Siniard (41:24)

I turned 40 in July.

Chris Earley (41:27)

I'm turning turning 50 in October. So you're you're doing so good. You got so much time, like I said, in New York City with you. So much time. But I I relate to what you're saying. Like I'm nodding my head in agreement because like we're so about you. I'm very impatient. Like I want it two weeks ago, right? I I I want it and I'm super impatient. You know, I had a guy on, he's running a big firm in Atlanta. He was on last week or two weeks ago. Um and he said, you got to slow down to grow. And I thought that was really fascinating. Slow down. And I was like, I got to slow down. That's how you sort of recalibrate. You think clearly. And this guy's running, you know, 150 team member, you know, PI law. Um but yeah, just wanted to share that. I I appreciate your not only sharing the business up, but just being vulnerable, sharing the personal, you know, the peek behind the curtain because I think we can all relate to that. Most of us have families. I know you you like to learn, you geek out and stuff. Is there one book, you know, business book, non-business book, a novel that just kind of hit you and kind of stuck with you?

Bart Siniard (42:28)

Golly, I got to look at my bookshelf over here. I would say probably other than the ones I've already mentioned Buy Back Your Time.

Chris Earley (42:39)

Dan Martell, I think.

Bart Siniard (42:41)

Yes. Um, like like I was just talking about earlier, you know, how do you how do you both do what you want to do for your law firm and your staff, grow the brand and grow the business, but also not sacrifice um the other things in life that are just as important, if not more important. And that uh that book, Buy Back Your Time, it was like the idea of equating what is your time really worth um and trying to quantify that and are you doing a task every day that somebody who makes, you know, $20 an hour could do and that way you can spend is your time worth more than $20? Well, I would say hell yes. So that I don't think that's just a law book or a law firm book. That's a book that applies to any stage of life or you know any professional or high earner. It's like man you got to get some of this stuff off your plate.

Chris Earley (43:49)

Yeah.

Bart Siniard (43:49)

Cost you a little money but and it's worth it because you can invest your time in other areas of your life or your practice.

Chris Earley (43:56)

That's a really good book. I encourage anyone who's read it reread it. When I read that I hired an executive assistant because that book to me is about leverage. this my executive assistant is a freaking rockstar. Checks my email, sets our my calendar. Um, she helped set you and me up with this podcast today, you know, because I want to talk to you. I don't want to spend time setting it up, you know, stuff like and you know what I mean? And so that's been effective. So, you know, not an expensive hire, but like from a from a leverage standpoint, massive, right? You know, we can we get stuck in our email or calendar. Like I feel like the more we can shed that, the better. And I I personally I believe in like gradual shedding. You know, one guy talked recently, he said every Friday he looks to identify one thing he can stop doing.

Bart Siniard (44:38)

Yeah.

Chris Earley (44:39)

One thing. And that's like a onion. You slowly unravel. You're slowly, you know, peeling it away. You get to the core of like what you're really lights you up, right? But

Bart Siniard (44:48)

Yeah,

Chris Earley (44:49)

but yeah, but you you have you have time on your side, man. You're doing so good, man. You really

Bart Siniard (44:54)

I'm trying to do exactly that. Slow down in a efficient way. Um,

Chris Earley (44:59)

It's hard. Super hard.

Bart Siniard (45:01)

And it's tough to try to turn the knob back down to go from 100% to 80%.

Chris Earley (45:06)

I know. You're preaching the choir here, man.

Bart Siniard (45:09)

Yeah. I think I think everybody listening to that can can get that. You know, it's like we're all have the Anybody listening to this podcast probably has an entrepreneurial spirit and uh

Chris Earley (45:20)

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Bart Siniard (45:22)

Trying to contain that is is tough. So,

Chris Earley (45:26)

It's so hard. I appreciate you. appreciate um your friendship, you coming on the show. How can people get in touch with you? They want to refer you to just chat with you.

Bart Siniard (45:35)

Yeah, man. I really appreciate you having me on, Chris.

Chris Earley (45:38)

Of course. Yeah. How can people get in touch?

Bart Siniard (45:41)

With me? So, you know, uh Siniard Law is our website. It's a weird name. It's French, but it's s-i-n-i-a-r-d. Um and just just look me up. I'm on there. Um, you know, I I'll be at conferences, too. I know you're a a conference circuit rider as well.

Chris Earley (46:03)

Yeah.

Bart Siniard (46:04)

But, you know, if you ever see a guy with a receding hairline and a beard and uh

Chris Earley (46:11)

Red Bull,

Bart Siniard (46:12)

Red Bull in my hand with that talking about blood pressure, but um

Chris Earley (46:18)

I love Red Bull, by the way. So, I get

Bart Siniard (46:21)

sponsored by Red Bull. Um, but um, man, you know, reach out. I love talking with other personal injury lawyers or any law firm owners. Uh, just bouncing ideas off each other. And I'll give up my cell, too. Uh, might as well cuz chat with anybody who's in this same situation in life. Uh, area code 256-527-2534.

Chris Earley (46:48)

Well, appreciate you coming on. I hope to see you soon at an event. Keep doing your thing. Tell dad I said hi. Hopefully I can get to meet him at some point.

Bart Siniard (46:56)

Yeah, we'll bring him on someday. That'll be

Chris Earley (46:58)

I love it, dude. Thanks, Bart. All right, that's it for this episode of The Earley Show. Be sure to check out more episodes of our show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and the Answering Legal YouTube channel.