Understanding Your Finances to Help Your Firm Thrive with Leah Miller

07/03/23 • 28 min

This week on Maximum Mom, your host Elise Buie is joined by Leah Miller.

Leah was a litigation paralegal for 13 years, 10 of those years she was a Florida Registered Paralegal. Leah has her MBA from Florida Gulf Coast University in Estero, Florida.

Until just recently Leah was the firm administrator and CFO for a personal injury law firm in SW Florida. She has started her own business LNM Financial Services to broaden her reach and use her knowledge to help other law firms understand their financials.

Leah’s ultimate goal is to educate law firm owners on how they can make financial choices to grow their firms in the future. Using tools like budgets, KPIs and cash flow projections, firm owners can make financial choices that work for them.

02:10 Meet Leah and her story of becoming an entrepreneur
06:20 How working for herself has allowed Leah to be more present for her children
11:56 The importance of understanding finances for law firm owners and the services provided to help them manage their finances effectively
21:17 Regularly reviewing expenses and ensuring that they are necessary and utilized efficiently
22:19 Cutting expenses without compromising efficiency

Connect with Leah:

🎧Listen to the podcast here.
🎧Subscribe to our channel so you never miss an interview, presentation or training here!
🎧 Sign up for the Maximum Mom newsletter here.

Resources:

Join the Guild Membership
Subscribe to the Maximum Lawyer Youtube Channel
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This week on Maximum Mom, your host Elise Buie is joined by Leah Miller.

Leah was a litigation paralegal for 13 years, 10 of those years she was a Florida Registered Paralegal. Leah has her MBA from Florida Gulf Coast University in Estero, Florida.

Connect with Leah:

🎧Listen to the podcast here.
🎧Subscribe to our channel so you never miss an interview, presentation or training here!
🎧 Sign up for the Maximum Mom newsletter here.

Resources:

Join the Guild Membership
Subscribe to the Maximum Lawyer Youtube Channel
Follow us on Instagram
Join the Facebook Group
Follow the Facebook Page
Follow us on LinkedIn

Previous Episode

The Power of Resilience with Christine Diorio

This week on Maximum Mom, your host Elise Buie is joined by Christine Diorio. Christine is a survivor! After losing her brother to a drug overdose when she was 23, she married her first husband less than a year later. They were both alcoholics, and yet somehow she managed to go to law school and have 2 kids while they were there.

After she started work as prosecutor, Christine and her husband went through a very nasty divorce which culminated in her own (and very public!) arrest for DUI and she was forced to resign. Fast forward 13 years later - Christine is sober, in her second marriage with a beautiful blended family, and despite spending the first 5 years after her divorce in and out of court with her ex-husband, today he is also sober and they have a solid and friendly co-parenting relationship.

After Christine’s DUI, she became a public defender. As she worked on her own sobriety - advocating for other addicts in jail was deeply fulfilling but also left her burnt out, so when she became pregnant with her youngest daughter, she went on maternity leave and took a much needed break from the law.

When Christine’s daughter entered kindergarten, she knew it was time to return to work but she still wanted the flexibility to be home with her 3 kids. So, the Law Office of Christine Diorio was born smack dab in the middle of the pandemic! I practice primarily family law (mostly divorce) and some criminal defense (mostly DUI's). She truly feels called to help others through the things she has had to overcome, to hopefully inspire them and provide some light and hope.

Christine’s tagline is "where justice has a heart" because she believes the justice system needs more compassion. She just celebrated 2 years since opening her firms doors in Tampa, Florida. She has 3 staff members and they are totally virtual. They are growing by leaps and bounds and Chirstine believes it is because of the compassion she brings along with the focus to help her clients stay out of court wherever possible.

She believes nothing about the divorce process should become so nasty, that you are unable to be co-parents when it is over, and too many attorneys contribute to this dynamic! By being open with her clients about her own journey, Christine is able to meet them where they are.

02:14 Christine’s story of resilience and grit, sharing her personal and professional journey. Including her struggles with substance abuse, divorce, and career changes.

11:31 Starting a virtual law firm

16:41 Importance of peace in divorce, for the sake of the children and one's own well-being

21:48 Collaborative law and the challenges of its high cost

27:36 Hiring and empowering a team and the importance of prioritizing family

36:18 Resilience in challenges of law practice and overcoming them

49:14 Parental alienation and family law system

54:05 Substance abuse in law school

Connect with Christine:

📹 Watch the interview here.

Resources:

Join the Guild Membership
Subscribe to the Maximum Lawyer Youtube Channel
Follow us on Instagram
Join the Facebook Group
Follow the Facebook Page
Follow us on LinkedIn

Next Episode

Empowering Women Through Education with Flora Garcia-Sepulveda

This week on Maximum Mom, your host Elise Buie is joined by Flora Garcia-Sepulveda.

Flora Garcia-Sepulveda, a founding partner of Woodman & Garcia-Sepulveda and a Certified Family Law Specialist, is an experienced trial lawyer who practices family law exclusively, focusing on diverse financial issues including business valuation, property division and child and spousal support. Flora is fluent in Spanish. Flora also represents clients in difficult custody disputes and move-away cases.

Before she opened her practice, she worked at Bay Area Legal Aid a non-profit Agency representing victims of domestic violence in their restraining orders, divorce and immigration matters. Flora began to practice family law exclusively in 2005, and has focused in this area of law since that time. Flora previous work at the San Mateo Court and her domestic violence litigation background results in the smooth management of her family law cases as they progress to trial. Her attention to detail and knowledge of the intricacies of family law procedure enable her to strategically plan her cases and prepare for settlement or trial in a way that ensures that clients are receiving the best and most comprehensive representation available.

Since 2012 Flora expanded her practice to include probate matters such as wills, trusts, guardianships, conservatorships and step-parent adoptions.

05:34 The importance of education in building resilience

07:53 Teaching her daughters to be self-sufficient

11:00 Discussion on the need to educate people about the long-term ramifications of staying at home

19:08 The value of teaching children self-sufficiency and the importance of not doing everything for them

30:58 The need to let go of bitterness and victim mentality

34:14 The importance of educating and empowering women

37:30 The benefits of remote work and flexibility, particularly for working mothers, and how it can lead to increased productivity and work-life balance

Connect with Flora Garcia-Sepulveda:

Resources: