Episode 169: Creating a Blueprint to Launch Your Solo Law Practice

Stephen Seckler (00:05.103)
Welcome back everybody. Just a reminder that if you are listening to Council to Council on one of the audio podcast platforms like Spotify or Apple podcast, you can also find us now on YouTube. If you're watching on YouTube, it's nice to have you here. Today we're here to talk about Strategy Academy and the business of helping lawyers build sustainable entrepreneurial practices. Strategy Academy is the platform created by my guest, Antonio Berry.

a legal marketing and business development strategist. After nearly two decades advising national, international, and boutique law firms, Antonia is now...

Antonia has now launched a new productized offering. It is a self-paced program called Building Your Own Practice Blueprint and it is designed for lawyers who want to start or grow a solo practice with clarity, structure and confidence. Many lawyers dream of building something of their own, but they often feel overwhelmed, unsure where to start or unsure how to think like a business owner. In this episode, we're talking to someone who has guided countless attorneys through that transition

and is now packaging that expertise into a program that meets lawyers exactly where they are. We'll discuss the evolution of Strategy Academy, why Antonia is pivoting to a scalable model, the challenges lawyers face launching new practices, and the personal philosophy behind her work. Welcome to Counsel to Counsel, Antonia.

Anthonia Berry (01:39.896)
Thank you so much for having me.

Stephen Seckler (01:42.735)
Let's start with the big picture. What is Strategy Academy and who does it serve?

Anthonia Berry (01:47.854)
Absolutely. So Strategy Academy is a legal marketing and business development agency. We serve attorneys by helping them to generate new revenue streams or to expand and increase an existing revenue stream that they have that's already generating revenue for their law practice.

Stephen Seckler (02:13.069)
Okay, for listeners who don't know you, can you tell us something about your professional background and the path that brought you into legal business development work?

Anthonia Berry (02:22.51)
Sure, so my business development and legal marketing career began just shy of 20 years ago. And it was kind of one that started by accident. I had just returned from college and on a scholarship that was granted to me by a local bank. And the requirement for that scholarship that I had to honor was to work for this local bank for one year.

At the end of the one year, I knew for sure that I did not want to be in banking and that I wanted to get into something that was a little bit more creative but had sort of a business side of things to it. I searched and searched and didn't know what that would be but then got invited to attend an interview by one of my friends who was working at a law practice in their marketing department.

She invited me to interview for a marketing assistant role at that firm. I went to the interview and got hired the day that I was interviewed. Of course, I had doubts about working with attorneys because I had never worked with attorneys before and I wasn't really sure what to expect. But because I disliked working in banks so much, I decided that it was worth the shot. So started this law practice and worked my way up the career and corporate ladder really,

really enjoyed working with attorneys and even tried to exit the industry thinking that perhaps maybe I would try something new on two separate occasions but got sucked back in. So somehow, someway destiny has taught me that being in legal marketing and business development is where I should be and where I belong.

So I've since accepted that fate and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoy working with attorneys the way that they think and to help them figure out new and creative ways to develop their business and most importantly to increase revenue and even to create revenue streams that perhaps were never there to start with.

Stephen Seckler (04:23.041)
Okay, likes working with lawyers. Got it. Okay. I love working with lawyers too. And I also am one but okay, so let's fast forward to 2026. You've created this whole new program. I've taken a look at it. It's really well done. Called building building your own practice blueprint. Yeah. You've launched my god, my tongue twisted today. Sorry. Just a second.

Stephen Seckler (04:55.993)
Let's fast forward to 2026. You've built this great program called Building Your Own Practice Blueprint. Why don't you tell us what the program is and who it's designed for.

Anthonia Berry (05:08.462)
Absolutely. So the blueprint that has been created is for the attorney who wants to leave big law and move into starting their own law practice. Perhaps they are thinking about it, they've considered it in the past, but they don't know where to start. I can say from experience that this is a very intimidating and sometimes daunting process that attorneys go through when they are considering leaving

what is a structured environment to go into the unknown.

However, there's this deep desire inside to practice law in their terms, to get off what I call the hamster wheel, the billable hamster wheel, and to be able to own their relationships with their clients and serve them how they feel that they should be served. That freedom comes, of course, yes, you have responsibility of owning your practice, but that comes from launching your own law practice and developing your practice the way that you want it to be structured, the way that you want it to serve clients and the way that you want it

to operate. I will even go as far to say that you are able to even operate it from wherever you want to operate it from. So it gives that flexibility for attorneys to get from thinking about it to the actual turning key day. So if the attorney is in this space of trying to decide, you know, what do I do? And then even if they got to decision of deciding, I do want to open a law practice, they then sit and think,

Okay, what is required of me? Like what am I supposed to do like to meet the guidelines that are set by? The local state bar for the state that they're in how do they structure and set up the business? What are the other pieces of the puzzle that need to come together in order for them to get from like I said the thought to actually turning the key on their law practice The other thing is is that a lot of attorneys? Delay because they don't want to make mistakes completely understand

Anthonia Berry (07:14.112)
and that's another reason why this program was created is because if You are a practicing attorney. It does not mean that you've run a business before Actually, it probably means just that that you have not run a business before you don't know how to get started So this takes out all of the error the errors the trials the mistakes and everything that people I have seen, you know one after the other make and really given a crystal-clear path that

the attorney can start today and just continue on at their own pace to opening their own practice. So it kind of makes it foolproof for a lack of better words because you're not having to figure things out on your own. You're not having to try to see if something works. The program has a step-by-step process involved that allows the attorney to read the material, use the workbook as an actual implementation

roadmap where they're implementing the things that they're learning in the program and giving it their own flair, their own special touch on how they want it to look, how they want it to serve their clients, where they want it to be, all the bells and whistles that go along with creating that law practice. This system, this step-by-step guide allows them to, follow the process, but be able to put their personal touches on what they want their own law practice.

Stephen Seckler (08:45.379)
You started your own business. Did you have anything like this when you were starting out on your own?

Anthonia Berry (08:51.04)
Nope, it was all trial and error. And that is perhaps one of the passions that drove me to do this for attorneys. And also, I certainly do believe that attorneys that are starting their own law practices are special because they want to serve clients on their terms. They don't want to just continue billing all the time.

Stephen Seckler (08:57.605)
You

Anthonia Berry (09:18.804)
I also was in-house and I didn't get to serve clients the way that I wanted to serve clients. So I know what that feeling is. I know what it is to want to do something in the way that you know is right. But there's so many...

pulls and pushes and all that other stuff involved with how the big firms want you to serve your clients, whether they are external or external, that you feel like you're not really serving the client in an efficient and effective and impactful way. So in me running my own business and seeing that and experiencing that, that was also something that I brought to this program in helping attorneys to not only

have a practice, but to start a business in a way that is of them, of really what they bring to the client, what they bring to the table. And again, moving all the mistakes and trial and errors away from the startup of it. So yes, I wish that did exist. Fortunately, it didn't. So I can now pour that learning experience into this program for attorneys who are also in the same space of starting their own businesses.

Stephen Seckler (10:32.451)
How long would it take somebody to go through the program?

Anthonia Berry (10:36.206)
If you want to fast forward it and just go on through it, I mean you can finish it as fast as you want or as slow as you want. I've had one attorney go through this program in a week and that was of course a fast forward opportunity that she took to go through the program which is very aggressive, yes. However, if that is what your desire is then go for it and then I have others that have taken six

weeks so it's entirely up to the individual to determine how fast or slow they want to go.

Stephen Seckler (11:14.72)
Antonio can you I think you have alerts. I just heard a ding Can you turn off your your email?

Anthonia Berry (11:24.969)
yeah. Do you want to ask the question again?

Stephen Seckler (11:29.181)
yeah, maybe I should. Okay. let's see. I'm trying to, cause it's not one of the questions I had written down here. What, what was the question I asked you? yeah. Yeah. Okay. Let's do that again.

Anthonia Berry (11:31.2)
If you want to, yeah I can.

Anthonia Berry (11:41.836)
You asked how fast can somebody go through? Yeah. Okay.

Stephen Seckler (11:49.775)
How long does it typically take someone to go through a program like this?

Anthonia Berry (11:54.316)
Because the program is self-paced, attorneys can go as fast, as slow as they want to in this program. I've had one attorney come into the program and blast through it in a week. And then I've had others that have done a module a week, which takes them eight weeks in total if they do it that way. And then I've had others that have taken three weeks, two weeks. It just kind of depends on what the attorney wants to do and how aggressive they want to be at starting their practice.

Stephen Seckler (12:25.677)
You told me when we were talking just before we started recording that originally you would design this with a community in mind, a component where people could interact with each other and you got some feedback that that was not something people wanted. So can you say a little quick something about that?

Anthonia Berry (12:42.606)
Sure. So the community that was attached to this program when I initially launched it in the beta phase allowed the individuals that were participating in the program to connect with each other. They could see who else was in the program.

However, after surveying that group of individuals who were the beta testers, beta participants, we have found that the preferred way for the community to exist is independently on its own outside of the program. And what that means is when an individual signs up for the program, they will have confidential login details and nobody can see that they're in the program. They will...

login, they will self-paste, they will go through the program at their own pace. However, there is an element outside of this program that exists that is called the community of the blueprint. And that community allows for interaction with other individuals who've already gone through the program, who are or actively in the program if they so choose to be a part of the community. So in removing that, the community that exists there, they can share

ideas with each other, they can voice their pain points, they can perhaps get advice, they can even support each other in that community. And that is a community that I monitor each and every day and just answer any questions that people have, perhaps if there's something that they're stuck on, I jump in and provide support to help them to move along.

or if perhaps I see that there's a sticky point within the program that people can't get past, that then indicates that perhaps I need to advance that further and add another video or add further explanation so that way the program continues to evolve and grow and become better and better as more and more participants run through the program.

Stephen Seckler (14:42.895)
So lawyers want to maintain anonymity until they pull the plug on their old employment. And obviously lawyers are very concerned with confidentiality and in those situations, of course they should be. What are some of the other things that lawyers struggle with in starting their own practice? Or what do they not understand about starting their own practice?

Anthonia Berry (15:09.452)
The first thing is the mindset because you're needing to move away from just being a practicing attorney to being a practicing attorney that owns a business. And that mindset shift is typically the most difficult piece for attorneys to get past and get, get.

to other side of, and that's because they're not business owners at that time. They're thinking about being a business owner. However, once they get past that hurdle and they get into the space of understanding that they're now business owners once they launch that law practice, the possibilities are endless after that because now they realize that they have autonomy over their practice. They have control over how they serve their clients. And now they can morph that law practice into

they want it to be. can grow it to be a big practice or they can keep it as a one-man show. It's completely up to them. So I would say that's probably the number one thing that attorneys struggle with when starting their law practices. The second thing is the IOTA accounts are always very, very intimidating for attorneys and is usually another reason why people delay and rightfully so because the consequences that go along with not getting that set up correctly

or not knowing how to can cause some issues for you with your local state bar. Within the program, I have carved out an entire module that talks just about the IOTA accounts that need to be set up because I want to ensure that the attorneys that go through this program set up those accounts the correct way for their state, that they follow the guidelines, and also they're always in compliance with reporting and

reconciling those accounts as they go on and run their practice and serve clients. So I would say that those are perhaps the two big ones that often you know show up as hurdles as issues that attorneys run into but can get past you know with the right guidance and with the right support to help them work through those two areas.

Stephen Seckler (17:28.567)
I also can get pretty complicated and a lot of us went to law school because we didn't want to be in business or we didn't want to deal with business issues. The typical lawyer has an accountant on the outside and I assume you would recommend that lawyers hire an accountant. But what, what group of outside support

What are the people outside of your program that you think lawyers should be thinking about bringing in? Coaches, consultants, accountants, in addition to going through your program?

Anthonia Berry (18:07.106)
Yep, well the coach is number one.

because the coach helps with mindset to start and you're going to need that to start and you're going to also need that to keep going. I myself have a coach because I believe in having somebody to hold you accountable and also to help you to see, you know, what's in those blind spots that perhaps you might not be seeing or recognizing. So a coach is number one and there are recommendations in this program of coaches that I recommend attorneys to

make contact with to establish a relationship with. Other service providers are an accountant because you want to have somebody who is reconciling your bank accounts, managing them correctly, and also figuring out who is that most responsible person that has a good track record, has worked with other attorneys, that can file your taxes for you.

in the way that's required, right? Separating what happens in that operating account from the trust account and reporting to the IRS correctly. You just don't want to have IRS issues at all, just as much as you don't want to have issues with your local state bar. So those are the two, you know, first building blocks that you need to put in place in order for you to feel confident in running the business and knowing that everything is being taken care of.

Now if you decide that you're gonna hire staff, I also recommend that you speak to someone who understands human resources. There are resources in the program that also lends to that as well. By giving recommendations on people that you can contact that will help you to hire another attorney or another staff member the correct way.

Anthonia Berry (19:56.94)
And then most importantly, outside of the items that I mentioned previously is to have an attorney who actually understands the contracts that you're going to be signing with your clients, the agreements, all of those.

bits and pieces of information need to be reviewed by somebody who has experience in those areas and really understands what to look for in order for your practice to be protected and also looking at what you as an individual need to protect yourself from. having that perhaps outside GC, business attorney, corporate attorney, that's going to review those contracts, ensuring that you are one, in compliance for the state that you're in, two, that you're

exposing yourself legally and that whatever's you know agreed to in those documents makes sense from start to finish instead of running to perhaps chat GPT and asking chat GPT to put together a contract for you that doesn't consider all the ins and outs as they relate to your business and the clients that you're serving

Stephen Seckler (21:02.885)
When I'm coaching lawyers who are thinking about doing this, I often suggest to them that they should think long and hard about controlling their expenses when they're setting up shop. That has to, of course, be balanced against making sure that you do things right in the first place. Can you say a little something about getting that balance right?

Anthonia Berry (21:23.66)
Yes, so in knowing what is required to get it right is a part of the program as well. There is an exercise in the program that does a line by line of what the costs are and that are involved with starting the business and also maintaining the business.

they're going to be cost involved with practice management software. And like I mentioned before, for an accountant, for a coach, and for all these things. Yes, they are cost. However,

For the most part, I like to tell attorneys that the items that I've just listed and that you're going to find in this program are not to be seen as expenses, but instead look at them as investments into your business. Because without them and without getting it right by hiring the right people, you could be in a much bigger place of a loss than you perhaps might have imagined before getting into things. So doing a line by line.

of understanding what your costs are going to be to start up and doing a line by line of what it's going to cost for you to stay in business is something that you should do before you even get started. And that's why it's in the program because you need to understand what these expenses really look like. And it also helps you to understand how much revenue do you need to turn in order for you to maintain the business, to keep the business going and running.

But at the same time, having the necessary service providers, software, all the other things that you need to run the business in place. And then from there as a business person.

Anthonia Berry (23:02.85)
thinking about what the reality is of this. Can you realistically generate the revenue that's required for you to maintain the business, keep all the necessary service providers in place, the advisors, the coaches, whatever it is that you've decided to make up your line item list. Is it?

realistic for you to generate that revenue. This can also then push you to then consider things as, know, what should my hourly rate be? What should that look like? Because maybe perhaps you're thinking that, you know, the hourly rate that you should be charging, maybe it might turn out that it's too low and you need to increase it because you won't be able to sustain and maintain the business unless you do that.

So in looking at all the figures, can't look at anything in a vacuum. Instead, you need to lay everything out. You need to make.

good comparisons and being realistic in, you know, what is required for you to sustain what you have, but also not being too, I guess, not don't be reckless in what you sign up for and just signing up for things just because, but instead make sure it's a true business need and understanding the value for those items that you're incorporating into your business that essentially is showing up as a line item costs that will be applied to the bottom line.

and what would make the bottom line be what it is at the end of each month.

Stephen Seckler (24:34.009)
I think one of the big challenges for lawyers who use the word investment is that we as lawyers don't necessarily think with an investment mindset. We do think in terms of expenses. We're trained to think about what can go wrong.

One of the things that can go wrong in starting a business is being undercapitalized. And even if you started billing on the first day that you walked out the door and open your own law practice, you're not going to collect that for at least 30 days, probably. And you may not start billing right away. How much money do you think a lawyer should have in the bank? How many months makes sense to have in the bank before you contemplate launching your own practice?

Anthonia Berry (25:15.702)
I would like to recommend six months minimum because you just do not know what things are going to look like. You do not know how the market is going to respond. You don't know what unexpected expenses could come up, especially if you're winging it. If you're not doing this with like a program that like what we're talking about today and you're kind of just winging it, that makes this even

more possible, right? That this individual will walk into the unknown and run into lots of issues because they're doing lots of trial and error. So I like to say that six months is a good cushion and a good starting point because by the time you hit that 90 day mark, you kind of have some idea of where this ship is going, right? Like where is it turning? Am I getting traction or not getting traction?

And then you use the next 30 days to calibrate. If it's not calibrating, you need to at that point, say for the next 60 days, am I going to continue with this or am I going to go back in house? Like I need to make some hard decisions on what needs to happen or do I need to switch gears on how I'm going to generate this revenue? Right. So I would say on a six month, in a six month period that gives you enough time to

Do your first 90 days, get to the next 90, sorry, 30 days after that. Think about where you are, make some shifts. And then again, at the end of that 30 days, decide, can I stay here and sustain this? Am I getting clients or not getting clients? And if I'm not getting clients, do I want to continue trying to, or do I want to go back into being in-house? So that's why I think six months is probably a good...

period for which an attorney should have funds in the bank to keep things going in the law practice and also to maintain themselves, right? Because they still need to survive. They still need to maintain their lifestyle and their living expenses as well.

Stephen Seckler (27:33.113)
You mentioned a couple of things to me about your own philosophy in life. Let's see. You mentioned a couple of things to me about your own philosophy, embracing life in chapters, committing 150%, seeking help. Can you say a little something about that?

Anthonia Berry (27:52.268)
Yes, so one of the things that I can say has led to my success as a business owner is seeking help from individuals who I know no more than I do about things that perhaps are in line with what I do for my business and for a living and people who

or in my network who know things about things that I don't know about and can give me advice. I truly believe that you can't be an expert in everything and that you should seek advice and help from those individuals who are known experts and have advanced in their particular area of business, whatever that may be.

could be a financial advisor, could be a tax expert, it could be an accountant, it could be a coach. I truly believe that no man is an island and the minute you realize that is when you start to reach out to your network and understanding that you can't do everything on your own, you can't figure out everything on your own, you don't know everything.

and you should be building a large network to be able to connect to individuals to help you, to show you perhaps the next step that you should take and vice versa. You're also able to provide that to them. So I'm a firm, firm believer in reaching out for help, connecting, admitting that I don't know everything and seeking expert advice.

from individuals who are experts in their respective areas.

Stephen Seckler (29:40.909)
I think that's another area that's pretty hard for lawyers. Lawyers don't like to admit that they don't know something and sometimes reaching out for help. Even if it's just asking a senior partner to explain something feels like weakness. I would echo exactly what you're saying. And I know that it's hard for lawyers to do this.

but I know that lawyers that do do it are often very happy when they've worked with somebody like yourself or myself. And I'm sure they'll get a tremendous amount of benefit from going through your program if they're serious about starting a practice. So you mentioned No Man is an Island. You've actually lived on several islands. The Cayman Islands, Long Island in New York, and you've also lived and now live in the Southeast.

So how have living in those different places shaped your worldview and your approach to helping lawyers build new chapters in their careers?

Anthonia Berry (30:43.446)
I want to say that the culture in each of the places that I have lived have given me perspective on life. It's given me perspective in my career, in the way that attorneys serve clients, the different clients, the different cultures, all the different things that impact what I call the boiling pot.

In the end though, I will say that more than anything, living in multiple locations and observing the way that people do business, the way that attorneys practice law has led me to believe that we're more alike than we actually really understand as humans, as people, no matter where we are in the world. However, we do have differences, but differences are okay. It's okay to be different. It's okay for

to be different from one person to the other, from one country to the other, even from one island to the next. So in living in all these different places that I've lived, and being able to experience culture, people, law firms,

different clients, different responses, different approaches. Just for me has helped me to be more rounded. Definitely I can understand and see things from different perspectives. And it helps me to in the heat of any moment, take a step back because just because something is different or just because you don't agree with something or someone doesn't mean that you cannot one, understand

where they're coming from or perhaps their precision and secondly it does not mean that respect is not required. If those two things exist no matter where you're coming from, no matter where you've lived or no matter what you're doing, typically things can still move forward if understanding and respect exist.

Anthonia Berry (32:50.422)
So in living in all these different places that I have lived in observing culture, observing people, I've come to the place of having those two very strong pillars ingrained in the way that I see things, the way that I address things, the way that I think about things, and even in the way that I approach my business and how I serve the clients that I serve across the United States.

Stephen Seckler (33:18.533)
Okay.

We're getting near the end here, Antonia. What we're getting near the end, Antonia, what is the single best piece of advice you'd give a lawyer who feels stuck, unhappy or intimidated at the idea of entrepreneurship?

Anthonia Berry (33:37.998)
The single piece of advice that I will give is to not do the test and trial of starting your law practice. Take advice from experts. Take advice from people who have walked through the journey before, who have seen it from multiple angles, and not to dismiss or discount the ability to get

good sound advice from experts that are within their network. And I think in short, it goes back to that thought of no man is an island. And as long as they're keeping that in mind and realizing that asking for help is not a weakness, that they will see success not only in their business, but generally in their practice of law.

Stephen Seckler (34:31.875)
I will add that a very low commitment, low expense way of getting started if you're just thinking about this is to talk to former colleagues, law school classmates who have done this and get their perspective first.

Stephen Seckler (34:51.375)
final question that I ask all my guests. What is one podcast, streaming series or book that you'd recommend for enjoyment?

Anthonia Berry (35:01.548)
My one and number one favorite book is 10X is Easier Than 2X by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy. It's actually a book that I recommend attorneys who are planning to start their law practice pick up a copy and read that book because the perspectives that are provided in that book will go a very long way as they're developing their business and

considering what growth looks like and how to go about growing their law practice.

Stephen Seckler (35:36.097)
Okay, Antonio, this has been a great conversation and you've really put together a terrific program. If anyone wants to learn more about it or if they have follow up questions for you, how can they reach you?

Anthonia Berry (35:49.454)
So one good place to go is to our website, is StrategyAcademy.us. On that website, you can find all the information about the program, all the information about our agency, and also contact information there. However, if you wanted to find us on other platforms, we are also on LinkedIn. If you search Strategy Academy US, we will pop up.

Perhaps if you wanted to search me individually, you can look for me, it's Antonia Berry, and I will pop up there. And for an email address, Antonia at StrategyAcademy.us is a good email address to reach me directly on.

Stephen Seckler (36:27.937)
Okay, thanks.

We just talked over each other. Thanks. We did it. We did it again.

Anthonia Berry (36:36.578)
You're welcome. Thank you so much. We did it again. All right, you say thanks and I'm going to say thank you for having me here. about that? And then you can carry on.

Stephen Seckler (36:43.627)
Okay. Okay. Thanks.

Anthonia Berry (36:47.566)
Thank you too. Thank you so much for having me here.

Stephen Seckler (36:51.405)
If you'd like to continue the conversation, I welcome your inquiries and invite you set up a time to speak with me about your own career or marketing concerns. I've been coaching lawyers for over 25 years and I'm happy to do a free 30-minute consultation. You could sign up on my website at secler.com. That's secler.com. On my website, you can also find links to more episodes of Council to Council and get access to many free career marketing and leadership resources. In the meantime, thanks for listening.