Austin Kurtz and Brian Riley founded KRLG Injury Lawyers in Arizona in early 2024, after roughly a decade each inside larger plaintiff and defense-side shops. Two years in, they run a team across Arizona and Colombia. They have grown very rapidly and effectively by focusing on the right business principles.
On a recent episode of the Trial Lawyer View by Synergy podcast, they walked me through the operating decisions behind the growth. Here is what stands out for any firm leader thinking about the next stage.
Small cases fund the firm
Most personal injury firm owners build around one assumption. Land the big cases and the numbers take care of themselves. Eighty percent of revenue from twenty percent of files.
KRLG runs where the opposite holds true today. Add up every one of their largest cases and largest fees since launch. The total sits under three percent of firm revenue. The rest arrives in the mail. Policy limit settlements, most days of the week.
Riley expects the 80/20 split to show up eventually, as the larger files mature through litigation. Right now the picture looks different, and he is direct about why.
“our systems, especially on the smaller to mid-size cases, are so refined and so tight.”
Your operating model decides which cases make money for you. A file worth $25,000 loses money at one firm and turns a reliable profit at another. Same file. Different process.
Kurtz saw both sides. Before the two of them joined forces, he passed on files Riley took happily. Riley taught him how to run them at a profit, and Kurtz says so on the record.
Three things worth checking in your own firm this quarter:
• Cost to work a case, broken out by case type, not a firm-wide average.
• Days from signup to demand, then demand to first offer.
Speed is an obligation to the client
Riley treats case velocity as a duty owed to the injured person, not an internal efficiency metric.
“as soon as that accident happens, that’s when in my opinion they deserve that money.”
A hundred thousand dollar offer today is worth more to a client in pain than the same offer a year from now. Bills are stacking up in the meantime. The insurer’s incentive is to delay and delay, so the pressure has to come from your side.
Look at your cycle time reports again with the client in mind rather than the balance sheet. The number means something different.
AI is not writing your demand letters yet
Kurtz is blunt about the gap between what gets claimed on stage and what happens inside firms.
“we’re not going to lie and say, yeah, AI writes all our demand letters from scratch.”
His answer is a stack, not a single product:
• Filevine templates generate the first draft.
• Bilingual paralegals in Colombia review and finish the work.
• Supio and records review tools built into Filevine support negotiation with objective evidence pulled from the file.
• Riley watches AI intake closely, where one system opens claims, orders the police report, and contacts multiple providers at the same time.
Nearshore hiring is the bridge. AI improves every month and still falls short of the pitch, so Kurtz staffed the gap with people while the tools mature. He puts his Colombia team up against any paralegal in Arizona.
Riley applies two filters before signing anything:
• Does the tool fit the existing tech stack and standard operating procedures? If not, one of the two has to change, or the deal dies.
• How is it billed? He prefers a la carte pricing. He does not want a medical records review charged against a $25,000 file settling for policy limits.
Your case management system is a product you maintain
Kurtz edits Filevine himself. Daily in the early days, roughly monthly now. He expects to make an edit from a partner trip to Cabo.
“we see something, we fix it.”
Most owners never open the back end. He treats configuration as owner-level work because reporting, dashboards, and firm speed all trace back to it. One percent improvements compound when the person making them understands the caseload.
Professional courtesy as a referral channel
Riley keeps litigation caseloads per attorney small on purpose. Smaller caseloads make responsiveness possible. Disclosure statements on time. Discovery responses on time. Demands and mediation statements with real reasoning behind them. No hostile email.
The payoff surprised him. Defense attorneys refer cases to the firm. Riley has represented three or four defense lawyers on their own injury claims this year.
Defense counsel sending you their friends and family is a credibility signal no advertising budget buys.
Client access, designed on purpose
Every attorney hands the client a Calendly link at the start of the case. Clients book time whenever they want.
“Don’t tell me you can’t get a hold of me. You have a link that’s evergreen.”
The firm works in pods. An attorney, a paralegal, and a legal assistant reach the client within 24 to 48 hours of signup. Once a case resolves, it moves to a team focused on finalizing liens.
They also pulled access back where it hurt them. Personal cell numbers came off the business cards after one too many 1 a.m. text messages. Structured access held up better than open access.
Culture your team sees
A Vesta board sits outside Riley’s office. Every settlement entered into the system sets it rattling. The whole office looks up. A newer attorney’s six figure result gets attention. So does a $5,000 resolution from a senior lawyer, with some teasing attached.
Small mechanism, real effect. Wins become visible without a meeting on the calendar.
The founders are the bottleneck
Asked what has to go right next, Kurtz answered in one word: scaling.
“you’ve got to scale Brian and I.”
Steps already taken include two senior trial lawyers hired inside a three month window to mentor younger attorneys, a different approach to marketing spend, and operational managers added by department.
Riley wants role separation to go further. Pre-lit lawyers on pre-lit. Litigators on litigation. Trial lawyers on trial. Both founders currently work cases, market the firm, run the business, and try to sharpen their trial skills at the same time. Letting go of one of those is the hard decision ahead of them.
Their view on where the industry goes
Kurtz rejects the idea the traditional law firm is finished.
“I think tech is making lawyers better. And I think it’s allowing a greater access to justice.”
Large firms turn slowly. Smaller operations change direction in a day. His bet is on more of the second kind, and on more injured people finding representation as a result.
Riley’s version is simpler. Stay flexible, keep building skill, and worry about the disruption when it arrives rather than before.
The takeaway for your firm
Your profit model is a design choice. Kurtz and Riley chose systems tight enough to make ordinary cases profitable, technology they configure themselves, staffing to fill the gap AI has not closed, and a reputation with opposing counsel worth referrals.
None of it required a headline verdict.
🎧 Listen to the full podcast conversation on Trial Lawyer View here: https://partnerwithsynergy.com/podcast/austin-kurtz-brian-riley/
🔗 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/
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