On Future-Proofing Law Firms: The Rise of Private Equity and MSOs in Legal & Investing in Tech to Build Referral Networks (Glen Lerner)

Plaintiffs attorney Glen Lerner joins the podcast to discuss the business mechanics of running a national law firm and the growing influence of private equity in the legal sector. Glen also discusses his early career trajectory, the partnership dynamics that helped build his national brand, and the transition from viewing a law practice as a traditional law firm to operating it as a scalable business.

The conversation covers the structural use of Management Service Organizations (MSOs) to facilitate non-lawyer investment and operational support, specifically detailing Lerner's recent strategic equity transaction with Atticor. Lerner also analyzes the economics of the personal injury market, noting the significant increase in case acquisition costs. Finally, the episode explores the Lexamica legal referral platform and Lerner's predictions on how artificial intelligence and artificial intelligence will contract the plaintiff's claims market over the next decade.

Things We Talk About in this Episode

• Glen Lerner's background: Duke athletics, religious studies, and his early legal career.
• Partnership dynamics and managing a national personal injury brand
• The operational differences between a traditional law practice and a high-volume legal business
• The historical influx of private equity into mass torts versus single-event cases.
• Structuring private equity investments in law firms using Management Service Organizations (MSOs).
• Law firm economics, cash flow, and the rising costs of case acquisition.
• An overview of Lexamica, a software platform designed to manage and track legal referrals.
• Market predictions: The impact of artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles on the future of plaintiff's law.

Episode Credits

Editing and Production: Grant Blackstock

Theme Music: Home Base (Instrumental Version) by TA2MI