Share this post
Transcription
Hey what’s going on guys, Fareed Mahdi here from massive appeal and I have my special guest here this one’s out of it this once I think if you want to introduce yourself. Yes Usman Sadiq and I’ve been practicing as a family lawyer for about five years now I’ve known freeze for about how long have been like 20 years 30 lay hold of mine I’m 33 we met one another what 13 14 so yeah you started doing family law five years ago with the law school what made you get into family loves that know you got you started with you did your articling and personal injury right yeah did my articling personal injury and was well actually I my first first year law school I had an opportunity to work with a real estate lawyer in my summer and I hated it the worst experience ever in terms of being exposed to an area law boring on mundane and like you know just same routine wasn’t that specific no I think adding generally just the that area law itself was extremely boring but it was fantastic in terms of the learning experience of how to of how to run a business and how not to run a business and what to do what not to do so you know the small little sole practitioner startup and as it made amazing experience in that sense I really got to see how somebody who’s starting out the kind of stress they go through what they have to do on a daily basis right so it was an amazing learning experience and I thank him the individual who let me have that opportunity because I learned a lot from him in that respect as well and then in my second and third year law school I wanted to do I wanted to make money essentially that was the goal and I said you know what why don’t I try personal injury and my second year summer I was exposed to and in my training period which is the articling period which is kind of the equivalent of residency for doctors for about 10 months I did that and then I realized I didn’t enjoy personal injury they are you just kind of like what made you get it what made you apply there for your article was it that’s all you place you got in or was it like the only applied well my second year they had this in my second year law school in the fall semester or your second year they had this process called on-campus interviews where are you going and you basically get to interview with you know multiple firms and different practice areas right those corporate firms and dental practice firms and I landed about seven or eight interviews and I didn’t get any call back in those tripping out wait a minute my second years now instead of grades I think and I get I got top ten percentile whatever so I I thought I was a badass you know I knew everything this is easy breezy walk into the interview and I’m done right then reality hit me in the face as wait a minute it’s not just about the grades right so I went to panic mode and then I think if I’m like November in my first semester of second year to like January like almost like three months I was just like sending a massive emails like like I price should have invested in like an automatic email sender or something but what do you call those things yeah you know you sound like multiple milchem or something high-pressure investor but I was just like I’m pretty much like technology handed apps I literally like you know manually sent out like 300 emails I think like random firms like everybody right and luckily I guess I landed on one firm in Markham was in personal injury yeah and got a call in January or something and called me in February and then they said okay what for your second year summer which runs from like May June July August right I did personal injury there basically so once I started doing personal injury I saw the amount of my these lawyers were making out the holy crap this is money right that time again you know I’m like this is easy breezy walk in you know and get trained in this area and start my own business so then in my articling so this is after third year yeah you have a training period for ten a smaller firm yeah the smaller firm is if I had like two yeah the two lawyers 100 clean student and like two clerks I think but they were doing good right that like all these files and you know basically working there I was like you know what why don’t I give a shot at the bigger firm right so then what I did was in my third year well in a second year summer sorry when I’m working at the small firm you’ll be you make application you send out applications to like for the training period requirement right so I sent out a few applications and I’m really just targeted personal injury farms the big ones right I can you know the basic equipment of person you know you could say right and I landed an interview with a very well known firm up up and bury and got called in got the interview landed the articling position so now I’m like you know I’m like on top of the world thinking okay this is it I’m set right yeah so then I started articling in July or August ten months ten months so I bought the bar first I could I feed my third year I wrote the bar and then I started in like getting August okay right after my third year of law school so I’m done law school now and then what I do is for 10 months I articled up and marry and the slowly slowly over the course of a few months I started realizing that maybe I made a mistake well not necessarily just well there’s a few things and I think is no one no one’s we do anything shady it’s more just like the nature of the practice where you come across certain clients or individuals and that’s as a lawyer myself in terms of generally speaking like you deal with different characters all time right so it’s not like you’re involved in being shady it’s just like the characters you meet they may be shady yeah and you can’t like you know you’re Joel your rules not to investigate and find out what the real truth is it’s more like okay you come to me tell me your story and within the ethical bounds I have to present your case right so anyways that was pretty part of it but a big part of it was it was just really boring to be I think I was day in day out reading medical reports and then I get to a point where whenever I was driving I’m like I’m making an accident or something right on top of that just my business perspective I realized that this was not an easy industry like it was very competitive number one and also from like the practice of law itself I realized I had a lot more training to do it wasn’t like you know once I’m done training I can open up my own like firm right away and they have ten lawyers working for me and everything smooth right so that’s come more like a reality hit right I think a lot of articling students do go through that right do you think let’s say you worked like a huge family maybe I don’t know maybe and I think we I think at that time really what it was was the adjustment factor right that you’re you’re just graduating from law school and now you have sort of this like theoretical or academic understanding of everything works and then there’s reality right and as the months group now the firm was fantastic I learned a lot I learned a lot about and now I look back and I realized what I learned but in that state I thought I wasn’t learning anything right you think this is all pointless right and that’s the interesting thing about life itself like as you’re going through certain motions through our life you think you know what there’s a pointless but it all kind of connects at the end of the day right so I learned now look back I learned how important it was to have systems in place for a business how important it was to have a good schedule like the guys I was working with for example the two partners there you guys were in their 60s and they’re like up at 6:00 a.m. in the morning working out in the office hustling bustling and then going back working out in the evenings I think even they said but just like that focus that drive that’s what I saw in them right and I realized you know what it doesn’t matter how smart you are necessary it’s more about the systems you have and how much focus and determination and drive you have right and then it all kind of fits in together how to talk to people how to deal with people on the business aspect itself right how to manage employees how to manage yourself manage your relationships with even like you know opposing counsel or in this case we were dealing with like you know insurance companies and stuff like that right so anyways then what happens is I think on top of that I got married so that was kind of weird well y’all ready yeah it was kind of a curveball right like I thought it’d be very easy to do with yeah I really wait a minute oppression of like I got married before yeah or maybe got married like after I finish my article yeah right so then wedding happened like that Senator eken article again you could make it 9:00 to 5:00 right but then you’re not really gonna learn much it’s a because a lot of the learning happens like before you start or after hours that you kind of have to really work with what you like this learning curve right so with ain’t learning curves you’re not gonna be able to learn it in 9 to 5 it requires you to think about it after hours and on the weekends you kind of do some homework and stuff right and it got to a point where it was almost 9:00 to 5:00 near the end but maybe I was because I’m getting a little lazier at the end as well kind of like you know disillusion from personal injury I wasn’t really concerned about being a person who you associate so when I finished that what happened I took a few months off it’s got married did you know pretty much like in the last few months I was looking at what I got to find something else but I had no idea what was gonna be as I should pre confused and this is what I think where were freed steps in and you know free that gives me an idea hey why don’t you start your own firm and I thought he was crazy looking at America you’re nuts right so I think took 3 4 months off so I started the firm December 2013 at 2013 I believe 2012 I think is 23 yeah December 2013 I start the firm and that time again I didn’t know what the hell are doing really confused yeah and it was more kind of like you know do-or-die situation I was like you know what let’s figure it out no I backtrack a few months I did get an offer for a personal injury associate at another firm that no no some it was actually where is somewhere else in like Mark um I think we’re right on the border like 200 mark oh okay whatever try it out that’s what happened at the same time like you know what I gots offer that means I am able to get a job at least yeah so let’s try this business thing right why not so December I start the firm but it wasn’t it was you know my brother also my younger brother Salman he said you know what I’ll help you out help you with the business aspect in terms of you know managing it well he was helping in terms of like setting up everything with me right like just kind of like finding the office and setting up the office that kind of thing right and then when we start in like end of December early January that’s when you know you a made the website for us so freed had actually you know I think you started making an october on november i don’t know a few months before so yes i think when that happens then in january was like the first official launch and the first week went by when it was okay it was pre interesting cuz like whenever get a phone call I would like jump up and like run to my brother and say hey we got a phone call right I think I website had like 24/7 open and available right so I was like feeling calls like 11:00 at night and every time the phone would ring you know it was it was pretty insane I just didn’t expect you to call me although you know whatever I was very skeptical yeah that’s that’s the other thing and that doesn’t mean I’ve learned as well over the years or you can’t be skeptical you can’t be disheartened about anything you kind of have to just go with the flow and as long as you remain focused like what’s the worst that can happen right and it’s kind of like I think one of our other friends a Ron and he talked about that he said this once to me he said it’s kind of a heat-seeking missile right yeah you have a target and then you make adjustments accordingly so that eventually you’re on target so the first target was open the firm right well the target was to have a firm open and running right but first step in that was open an office building website and then make the next adjustment was learn how to give a consultation the next adjustment was learn how to close the client next adjustment was learn how to do the law all right router on the files the adjustments every step right step by step by step and then I think after like three months it got to a point where you know the phones are ringing off the hook we’re getting clients in and I realized that he he realized that he couldn’t really handle a full-time job and work at the firm so he was working full-time that time anything is working for he was working from like 9:00 to 5:00 a young shepherd and then he would I think I think you bus it actually he didn’t car that time so he uh said I think maybe he was my dad’s car he’d bring two different Finch wear office was and then from there is like sixth like nine so I’m there for like nine deny amazing and he’s also working at at night the heat and then it got to part where it wasn’t sustainable realize you know what we think you got quit your job there so for him it was a big leap of faith as well because at that time he was also married and it’s like quit your job right quit your job and come work with me and there’s no like you know there’s no security net in the sense that yeah yeah that’s true that’s actually a very important point you’re right absolutely right he didn’t he it was a calculated risk it wasn’t like this gamble it wasn’t like a gamble basically goes I’m like whatever relieved a chance but sorry it was a calculated risk and but still like it wasn’t like he was making it wasn’t like he was making every year was making as Peters for right so he comes on a marketing April and then from there we had we have one office and a cubicle and then what happens is by like June July time we realized okay you know what maybe it’s not as impossible as we thought and we realized you know what it’s just about being you know distinct focus for day-in day-out so Monday to Sunday basically it says we were living there right consistency is key right kind of working out you know if you go to the gym and you go once a week good luck you’re not gonna see any benefits baby who if you go to gym like four or five times a week and you go for twelve months you’ll be a beast right and it’s only like half an hour or that means that it’s sitting and working right I think it was really just making sure we had focused time like people think you got to work like 24 hours to run a business but it’s not the hours it’s quality of hours to write so that was a big kind of wake-up call to me as well realizing that it’s about being efficient through my day and there’s really learning and then building on what I’ve learned and applying that and then moving on to the next school right of learning so learning every day learning every week every month every year but I guess to answer your question why gun to family law a fluke I think like I think we started we were also the immigration but the website we created was family law we saw market for it I think even again you had suggested to us a hey why don’t you try out simple divorces take on some easy cases and who knows you might make like you know a few cases and you learn from that right and that’s the advice you’re giving me actually that that’s how you learn I was in panic mode I think back in like October no what I wanted to do and then nothing after four or five months of realizing that okay there seems to be something here family I started enjoying it as well and I really started enjoying the kind of like the just be involved in everything learning the business side the consultation the legal side dealing with clients dealing with other people you know it started to become enjoyable right and that was the big big kind of wake up call it that it was a reality it was a new reality check basically for me that you know what it’s not so bad and you don’t have to necessarily know what you want to do in life to be good at something to start to like this whole thing of like pursue your passions I think is BS to be honest with you I don’t believe in it because I think what matters more is to become really good at something and once you become really good at something you will enjoy it because a lot of times we don’t get joy or we don’t find satisfaction in things because we don’t know how to do them or the to stressful or you know this too difficult for example right but if you become or if you become good at something and then you can make money off of it then you will start to enjoy it obviously yeah you definitely find enjoyable right like it’s just like so easy now right like it’s like you know what I’m making money off this people are happy my clients are happy and I’m making money off this then it’s just kind of day in day out you realize you know what I enjoy being good and that’s kind of a human I think need human beings we need to want to feel valuable and good at something right so it’s I don’t myself as a lot in the last few years – right so yeah fine he loves I guess you could say it’s kind of like accident along to it but definitely do I now going forward you think you’re just gonna focus on family law or tablets whether you’re the law I thought about it a lot but I think where we are right now and looking back at the five years you know one thing I’ve learned also is that’s once you got something good don’t be looking at other areas too quick or other opportunities when you have something really good in your hand already because you’re better off staying focused on one area and dabbling in it this is actually a combination in lawyers as well there are some more general practice and there are reasons for that right some have – but a necessity you can’t blame them right they got to put through the table right yeah so you know I know some people all this guy does everything you know that’s fine like if he’s doing it because he has to put food on the table but once you’ve passed that and you have the ability to have security in your life I’m talking about basic mean you know like you got your you rent covered your your car covered and your food in the table then it’s better to focus in one ear and become a specialist in it because you will make just so much more gains and again it’s that time where you don’t have time on your side to be dabbling in everything right so I tried it I tried even like up until like a few months ago even I try to experiment actually I wanted to take on a criminal matter yeah I’m so bizarre because I know anything about it and I somehow got a client like a pro bono case yeah and I’m calling my buddy in Windsor Holland I’m calling him and he’s busy training me on how to do everything but it was just so much anxiety associated with the top that even the guy I knew I knew I was doing the client who was dealing with he knew what’s the community in the community someone knew me so whatever a little pro bono most funny was like you know I had I realized right there in there again a reminder check right there look this is why you don’t dabble right there have been good going that time that I invested in learning something new I could have spent those 20 hours on my own business right and just learning something different right or it might feel but you know learn something new in my own field right so it also just you know I think today need we live in there’s the need to be a specialist now and in every area right so the back buddy is different right back in the days you have to be a general practitioner because that’s how the nature of the game was yeah like you wouldn’t necessarily be able to acquire clientele at a volume by just doing one specialty area so you would have to do everything right but now it’s it’s a lot different right do you have any advice for people that are thinking of going to law school think I’m getting into law that or maybe again yeah it’s very difficult for me to tell anybody to go or not to go because I think it’s a very personal decision but there are some basically principles right that I think apply across the board or whatever you’re doing the number one don’t expect that whatever you decide upon before applying or even in law school then I say that’s going to get you like that’s what you’re going to end up being for example before I went to law school under your criminal lawyer right I was taking criminology and undergrad and not really you know because I was in that field I said you know what I’ll do a criminal lawyer right and it turned out that now I’m a famiiy lawyer right like completely opposite I guess the end of the spectrum yeah well in some respects they’re kind of intertwined but criminal laws idli is very different in its own respect right yeah but one thing I’d give it I said anybody said whatever you’re gonna do it’s fine just don’t be hung up on the fact that you have to find that perfect area of law or the perfect kind of like area of study or business whatever it is we just become really good at what you do meaning develop the skill set right the principles because those principles can be applied in any area right I give you become if you want to be a criminal lawyer and you test it out for a year and you hate it well at least the skills you’ve learned of how to communicate effectively how to advocate for your client effective at a research effectively you can then switch gears and test out a different area right well let’s say you hate law like you know law sucks I hate it which I’ve heard people say that right and that’s fine but then maybe use those skills that you’ve learned in law school of critical thinking and you know just how to approach a problem break it down and then attack it you know you can use it in any and there are people do that lawyers who now no longer practicing but they’re working in you know government jobs and policy development for example some become consultants for example or they go completely different they become teachers even write academic area for example so I don’t think it matters if you know what you want to do again like I said earlier no one really knows I think I think that’s something that’s developed over time like when I was a kid I want to be a police officer I won’t find one to be an astronaut right so I don’t think before you wrap things up people that are in law people that are already lawyers or just in the legal field generally what should they do in terms of all-night marketing or digital marketing to like they get more clients get their name out there or girls definitely I think in the day innate we live in understanding how to do marketing works understanding how advertising works understanding how to you know communicate yourself to the outside world of why they should contact you is very important now because everybody the stage is googling something they’re on their mobile and if you cannot be in that market you have a very difficult time you know exposing yourself to clients right different type of clients right and that’s one of the benefits of online marketing that you can really just kind of you know get out there in a way right and then equally important I would say is that once you do have a website if you do have digit marking all right what a marketer you have once you’re doing it stick to it for not one month two month three months you’re you always want to make sure that you’ve exhausted all avenues before you you know give up on a particular area right and in some respects some areas are a no-brainer right like you know if you have choice between digital marketing meaning like website development SEO and your adwords versus the radio like you’d probably want to test out online first because cheaper yeah I’d rather than investing like you know in like CB 24 ads right from day one and then you know you realize wait a minute this is probably not as it because all the marketing is very effective right in terms of not necessarily effective but measurable right sorry measurable yes yeah exactly how many people came versus its target or race target target mommy instead of just targeting everyone your targeting specifically the people that are looking higher free but the other thing was uh si was yeah and then once you get the clientele from you online mark make sure you don’t ruin your reputation don’t get caught up in like I got ideas he’ll increase my budget from day one and now I got to get more clients and build your systems build your marketing plan properly and then establish a proper credible reputable reputation online as well right so yeah you may be able to get 10,000 clients but now you’re getting like you know 900 bad reviews everyone’s right that’s not smart either so take a step by step but overall you know the fundamentals are the same right make sure you connect with those people who are experts whether it’s in digital marketing or whether it’s in any area right like you want to always reach out to the experts you can’t do everything yourself right it’s impossible and that’s another lesson I’ve learned that everybody has their own contribution to you your success so you always need to remind other people right that’s you know now I’m going to like this axis it’s kind of clawful philosophy area ok like philosophy or like no but it’s true I think the world as a way of giving back as well right so always recognize that those who you know has me to offer you know you always take advantage of that you always try to give back as well right because I’ve been that in business as well it’s a huge thing right like you know we have clients for example we’re going to difficult time do we always try to help them give them fetus gowns you know that kind of stuff even right and I had mood aesthetic overall then you get good reviews clients respect you right and even your business relationship is your business dealings all that stuff matters right so it’s not just putting a website up and boom I’m good to go that that’s what I’m saying there’s steps adjustments you make day-by-day learning lessons and learning from them moving on right and then making sure you don’t forget the lessons right so but overall yeah fantastic experience five years counting all right guys I’ll put a link in the description to his website it’s simpledivorce.ca but if you guys have any questions for him or me directly put them in the description and we’ll try to get those answer for the next video. Thank you