What separates a firm that scales from one that stalls?
That’s the question I posed to Perry Schneider, a seasoned lawyer who is part of one of the largest personal injury firms in Michigan, the Mike Morse Law Firm , and a senior business coach at Fireproof Performance.
In our conversation on the Trial Lawyer View by Synergy podcast, Perry gave us a candid look into the real levers that fuel law firm growth. And it’s not what you might expect.
Here are a few of the most impactful takeaways from our discussion, things you can apply today if you’re ready to scale with intention:
🔢 1. Know Your Numbers or Risk Everything
One of the biggest insights? Growth doesn’t start with more marketing. It starts with metrics. Most personal injury lawyers don’t go into the profession thinking about KPIs, forecasting, or operational dashboards. But Perry made it clear: firms that treat their case inventory like a business asset are the ones that avoid bottlenecks, staffing crises, and missed growth opportunities.
“You’ve got to know your numbers to steer the firm,” he said. “Otherwise, you’re flying blind.”
📞 2. Intake Isn’t Just a Department, It’s a Strategy
The Morse firm radically rethought its intake process, especially during the pandemic. They created a “claims verification” buffer team to vet new cases more thoroughly before passing them to operations. The result? Fewer cases bogging down seasoned case managers, more time for client engagement, and better-quality files moving through the system. This is a case study in what operational innovation really looks like in a PI firm.
💡 3. Scaling Isn’t Just Hiring Faster, It’s Hiring Smarter
One of Perry’s most counterintuitive lessons: don’t rush to hire. Slow down and hire people who fit your core values—and train them your way. Retention, culture, and client results all hinge on building a team that actually works well together—and knows your systems.
“I’d rather take someone with the right traits and build them from the ground up than take someone ‘experienced’ and inherit their bad habits,” Perry shared.
📊 4. You Can’t Grow What You Don’t Measure
Every person in the firm should have a number. This was a powerful reminder that law firms aren’t immune to performance management. Whether it’s tracking how many cases an intake rep converts or how many demands a paralegal sends, firms that grow sustainably tie actions to outcomes. It’s not micromanagement. It’s leadership.
🧭 5. Vision Is the Start, Not the End
At Fireproof, Perry helps firms define a 10-year vision and work backward. But what makes it effective is not just the vision, it’s building systems, people, and KPIs that support it.
And perhaps most importantly: helping founders let go. Many law firm owners are still “the bottleneck,” caught in every decision. Perry’s challenge? Help them spend more time in their sweet spot—and less time doing work that others could own.
🎯 Why This Matters to the Peak Practice Community
If you’re serious about growing your PI practice, Perry’s episode is a must-listen.
And that’s what we’re building at Peak Practice, a space where growth-minded trial lawyers can learn what it really takes to scale, optimize, and lead high-impact firms.
Whether it’s outsourcing lien resolution to free up your internal team or finally implementing the dashboard you have been putting off, the lesson is the same:
Stop thinking like a lawyer who owns a practice.
Start thinking like a CEO building a company.
That’s what Peak Practice is all about—learning from leaders like Perry who’ve done the hard work of transformation and are generous enough to share the real story behind the results.
🔗 Ready to Think Differently About Your Practice?
If you’re a trial lawyer who’s hungry to scale and grow your firm, this episode is for you.
🎧 Listen to the full conversation on Trial Lawyer View here: https://triallawyerview.com/podcast/perry-schneider/
📩 Subscribe to the Peak Practice newsletter for more content like this
🗣️ Join the conversation in our growing LinkedIn community
🔗 Want more insights like this?
If you’re a personal injury lawyer ready to scale, streamline, and step into your role as CEO, let’s talk. Join the Peak Practice Community, and learn how Synergy can help you eliminate settlement bottlenecks, resolve complex liens, and maximize recoveries. Learn more here: https://partnerwithsynergy.com/peak-practice/
If you want to grow and scale your law firm more effectively, consider partnering with Synergy for lien resolution. Learn more at: https://partnerwithsynergy.com/liens/
