How to run your law firm from india (with your 4 month-old)

PowerPoint Presentation

How to run your law firmfromIndia(with your 4-month-old)September 8, 2016Greg McLawsenManaging Attorney

People dont want to be millionaires they want to experience what they believe only millions can buy. Tim Ferris

At a 15,300, Zero Point is literally the end of the road for Western travelers Just a stones through away from the Indo-Chinese border this was as far as we could go2

Travel in this part of India means a slow journey by jeepThrough steep valleys inhabited by Tibetan/Nepalese herders3

Across bridges strewn with pray flags4

Questionable bridges

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And into the high country of the Himalaya 6

Roads in this rugged landscape are in constant need of repairAnd are maintained by the Boarder Roads Organization Whose adorable acronym is what you would expect7

Bro!

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This trip to India was my fourth, this time to the Northeastern Pradesh of Sikkim bordering China, Nepal and Bhutan But the biggest change was our young travel companion 9

Traveling with a 4-month-old in India is not just easyIts 100 times more funIf Id been Jon Bonjovi we would have received less attentionNobody cares about Bonjovi in Sikkim10

How I became a nomad

Today I want to share the personal story about how I came build a practice that allows me to work from Asia two months out of the year, and to steer the ship from anywhere in the world with an internet connection Ill share four a few travel hacks around the way about eating in India11

Homebuilding

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www.soundimigration.com

Ill start with the personal story behind what became Sound ImmigrationAfter law school I worked briefly as a ghost writer for a legal treatise, then took a judicial clerkship in Washington StateIn case you think Im Mr. Fancy pants, this was a humble clerkship at a state trial courtAnd so my wife and I began a pretty standard trudge along the path to middle class professional-dom We bought a house in the good part of town and started renovating Over the course of a year we took a kitchen from this disaster zone

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The problem with this, less time for

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To thisMeanwhile I had opened my own immigration law practice Much like the endless house projects I poured endless time in to launching and sustaining the firm At home I was the demolition guy, plumber and carpenterAt work I was the marketing department, sales, C-suite oh, and I had to practice lawAny small practice attorney knows what Im talking about hereEvery hour of every day was spent building the house or putting out fires at the firm13

this!

And there was no time for this!(This is the Coleman/Demming route up Mt. Baker an awesome climb)Most of all, I felt like I wasnt in control of my own time, and really of my own life14

How will we spend our lives?

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At the time I was transitioning to this new professional life I had a sad and life-changing eventMy father was one of the most brilliant computer programmers of his generation He worked on the first Windows platform and later build an application to transcribe musical notation In February 2010 he took his own life

Its so easy to get bogged down in the minutia Whether its a home or work, we lose track of the big pictureWe choose a job. We start a law firm. When we do this were deciding how we will spend this life of ours. 15

What are the beautiful moments in your life? For me, they tend to look like thisSkimming long the backwaters of some far-off placeIn a dirty train compartment, on a hard seat maybe with a cup of chai, with my son on my lapNot because were going anywhere in particular Just to be there. Moving though this new space. With the delicious smell of spice, and wood fires, and rice paddies pouring in the open widow.

My wife and I sold our houseWe sold or gave away most of our belongings And we moved in with my motherWe both agree it was the single best decision we ever made16

Americas web-based immigration law firm

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My wife and I decided that it was important to have the flexibility to travel two months out of the yearTo make that a reality, I needed a business that could be operated with total control from anywhere.What came out of this is the firm we call Sound Immigration We are Americas web-based immigration law firmOur job is to help families build new lives in the United StatesIll talk later about some of things we do, but to give an idea:We are fully paperless and cloud-basedOur attorneys and support staff are all decentralized. Were one of the first immigration firms at least in our state to get it right with legal process outsourcing Our scaleable support team in Bangalore, India allows us to deliver work product literally overnight

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We help families build new lives in America

Ive spoken about my love for travelBut like everyone else in this room, my primary passion is to be of service to othersAny one of us could quit the practice of law tomorrow and have a much easier lifeBut we do this work because is fucking importantAt Sound Immigration we unite families and literally change they lives foreverWe are a compass for our clients during a transformative moment of their livesWell, more than a moment takes a while18

Lets now get back on the road at talk about what it looks like to run your firm from India19

Travel hack #1:

eat street food (obviously)

Travel hack: eat the street foodBites are a fraction of a dollarOften safer than kitchens in higher-end restaurants that you cant seeTurn-over is (should be) very high20

Get in my belly!

Collaboration

The day begins

www.trello.compage 24


Learn more: https://www.soundimmigration.com/agile/page 25


Duct tape for the cloud

Go Clio!

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Travel hack #2:

dont wait for the invitation

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Communication

www.callruby.com... or walk down the hall

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Never touch mail again

Travel hack #3:

DIY restaurant menu

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Production work

Head east, my friends! outsourcing = speedpage 34


build your life, not just your firm

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Thanks

@[email protected]

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