814. Helping Business Owners "Shatterproof " Their Businesses

Scott Reib

“We have this really proactive relationship where we can help them avoid what I call the potholes of business practice and show other lawyers how they can move away from the billable hour, create the clientele that likes them and that they’re really providing value to, and give them much more of their time back so that they can spend it with the people they love doing other things that they love. Let’s find a better way to practice that gives you more time and freedom to find what it is that really lights you up in your spare time.”

Scott Reib is known as America’s Legal Coach. He’s the official Zig Ziglar Small Business Lawyer, a Ziglar Legacy Certified Trainer, and he has over 20 years of experience as an attorney. For the last two decades, Scott has been helping business owners, entrepreneurs, coaches, and service providers “shatterproof” their businesses and succeed in the professional world. Scott is a firm believer that seeking legal advice doesn’t have to be intimidating or expensive if we treat lawyers like primary care doctors instead of ER doctors. Through his subscription-based Access Plan legal service, Scott is making great strides in shifting that perspective.

The Most Impactful Turning Point?

After 6 months with AT&T in sales, I discovered that I could be what they called an independent authorized agent, which was pretty much the same as having my own business—the first step in my entrepreneurial journey just a year out of college. I would sell AT&T’s products but also products from other quality companies like Canon copiers. The business was growing at a good clip and I liked the work. My success caught the attention of AT&T management and they took me out of that position and put me in a minimum wage position. It was their legal right and it made financial sense from their perspective. I was disappointed at the time, but that situation was the direct catalyst for me taking the LSAT and to get accepted to the University of Oklahoma Law School. My career has taken off since that important turning point.

The Most Powerful Lessons Learned?

Like each one of us, I have learned many lessons along my life’s journey.
Here are a few:

1. My dad worked in sales selling huge installations of office equipment. He worked long hours, did very well and his work ethic had a profound effect on every aspect of my life.

2. My sophomore year in high school I had a language arts teacher who challenged me individually to be more. Plus, she taught me the importance of always communicating clearly.

3. I learned the power of the old adage that we learn more from our failures than our successes during my first job with Mass Mutual selling insurance. However diligently I worked, and I worked very hard, I could not get into the flow of the sales cycle. It was the first time in my life I had to quit something I started but it was the right decision.

4. I finished my first semester of law school with suboptimal grades even though I had put in countless hours studying. I sought the counsel of a law school advisor who explained a system of study that shaved 15 hours off my work week. Working smarter not harder was the takeaway.