Announcer: 0:00

You're about to tap into the digital marketing strategies that separate thriving law firms from the ones struggling to keep up. Join James Campbell as we break down the roadblocks holding your practice back and reveal the insider tactics attorneys are using to scale past seven figures. From cutting-edge digital marketing tips to exclusive interviews with industry leaders, we're giving you the playbook to attract higher quality clients, dominate your market and build a firm that runs like a growth machine. Your next breakthrough starts now. This is the Marketing Lawcast.

James Campbell: 0:32

On today's episode of the Marketing Lawcast, I'm joined by Cedric Collins, founder and CEO of Legacy One Law Firm. Cedric is a powerhouse attorney who blends estate planning, entertainment law and intellectual property into a truly client-centered legal experience. And what makes Cedric unique isn't just the diversity of his practice, it's the heart and strategy behind it. From protecting family legacies to advocating for creatives in the entertainment world, cedric has built a firm that meets clients where they are, with clear communication, flat fees and a strong belief in clarity over complexity. In this episode, we're going to dive into how he built his practice, the challenges he faced along the way and the role that IMS has played in helping take his brand to the next level in this diverse and interesting area of estate planning and entertainment law.

James Campbell: 1:22

Cedric, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me, james. So, cedric, as we get started, can you sort of tell us the story behind LegacyOne, like really, what inspired you to start your own firm and the unique approach that you have to your practice? How did that all play out? Give us the history a little bit.

Sedric Collins: 1:40

Well, I actually come from the higher education world, james. In fact, my very first job as an attorney, I was in-house legal counsel for a small university here in Southern California and unfortunately, after about 50 years or so of that particular institution being in business, they had to close their doors. And I was a young attorney at the time, only six months into this position, where we had to start doing vast layoffs and I saw the writing on the wall for me as I was going to have to also transition and find another career opportunity. So I was kind of at a crossroads. I didn't know whether I was going to do corporate America, get a job at a law firm, or hang my own shingle.

Sedric Collins: 2:22

But around that time there were several prominent entertainers that had passed away and they're all over the news and some of them they're very iconic, and not to mention the names here, but there are household names in the entertainment industry. They passed away and did not have their affairs in order, and that was really puzzling to me because I grew up listening to these particular artists, their music, their music was played in my household, my family gatherings, and they had the wealth and the prestige. And but why did they not have an estate plan, and so that actually motivated me to do, motivated me to do research, and I learned that over 60 percent of Americans in general don't even have a basic will in place, and so that's the very first thing that that kind of piqued my interest, as you will, to the world of estate planning and seeing how I can serve the community in this manner.

James Campbell: 3:10

Yeah, I love that your firm has a blend of estate planning and entertainment law and also this intellectual property, and you mentioned sort of the entertainers or celebrities that passed away without these wills. So how, how did those, that combination, sort of come together for you?

Sedric Collins: 3:28

Well, I come from a music background. I was a music major in college. At one point in time, before my legal career, I wanted to be a music producer. So I grew up playing instruments and that was a passion of mine, and that was a passion of mine.

Sedric Collins: 3:43

However, you know, at the time that I graduated from undergrad, it was in the heart of the recession, circa 2008, 2009. And I was calling around looking for internships and they were just laying folks off, you know left and right, but so that that was the kind of the first thing that kind of piqued me. Hey, I need to look at something a little bit different right than the traditional entertainment industry path. I studied under a couple of entertainment law professors and I was really intrigued by the business of music and how it all worked the contracts, the litigation, the copyright infringement cases, and so that was kind of my first introduction to the world of kind of business and legal affairs, if you will, and that's what actually kind of started my journey on pursuing a career in law.

Sedric Collins: 4:32

The state of the music business at that point in time 2000, 2008, 2009, I'm not sure you remember there was a lot of piracy issues happening in the midst of a recession right, the bailouts and everything that were happening. It was just a bad time to enter the entertainment industry, or the music business in particular, at that point in time, and so I made a hard pivot to start looking at entertainment from a legal standpoint. So 80% of my practice though I want to be clear, james is trust and estates and probate. You know the other 20% there's some intellectual property and some entertainment, but the bulk of what I do is centered around protecting and preserving family legacy.

James Campbell: 5:18

Yeah, and I think that's where the sort of the heart and soul of the firm resides is in helping families protect what they've worked for. And the entertainment side is sort of like where some of the soul resides right, it's like where the interest and the fun stuff resides. But those folks also need help with their estate planning Absolutely. I understand that the heart of it is understanding that so many people go without and make big mistakes and leave big gaps in their families, and that's where your heart really is is in serving families at that capacity Absolutely. So you've done a few things that are different than what I would call the traditional law firm. I think where a lot of law firms fall short is when it comes to the engagement process, what the relationship is like once a client comes on board. Too many estate planning firms are just solely transactional. What makes the legacy one you talk about the legacy one difference in a lot of your marketing? What's that look like in practice?

Sedric Collins: 6:23

Well, that looks like James is basically developing the relationship with the business owner, the family, the individual. That's sitting before me. What I do is I want to take a hands on customized approach. I want to know what your values are. I want to know your why. Right, this is because estate planning is so much beyond documents. It's almost as if documents are just a byproduct, right, but we want to meet our clients, you know, at the point of their need. We want to help our clients protect and preserve what matters most to them, and so that's customized. There's no one size fits all cookie cutter, if you will approach to family legacy planning. You know families have different dynamics. There's blended families, there's estranged members of families, there's families that have children or adults with special needs. There's different types of businesses, different types of assets that we can fund that trust with. So it takes kind of a hands-on customized approach to kind of tailor fit, if you will, an estate planning experience for a family.

James Campbell: 7:31

Yeah, I love the expression that each family has in-laws and out-laws, and so we have to protect for and from when we do estate planning. One of the things I thought was interesting and, I think, a differentiator between your firm and others is that you've eliminated the billable hour and you've prioritized accessibility within your practice. Why was that an important decision and how has that sort of shaped the relationship you have with your clients?

Sedric Collins: 7:59

Well, one of the things that I always heard, james, is that, look, we never know how much these lawyers are going to cost.

Sedric Collins: 8:06

And one of the things that I, when I interviewed several people before opening my firms that was one of the top three reasons why many folks avoid working with lawyers and law firms is the mystery around cost. Here in Southern California it can very easily be four or five cent hundred bucks an hour to hire a reputable firm to put together a family legacy plan for you, and so that's intimidating for a lot of people. Most people just want to know well, how much is this going to cost? Right, we don't want a mystery. We don't want to get an invoice in the month and figure out we're only halfway through with the planning and the bill's already too expensive. So for me, it helps instill the confidence of the average everyday working person that they can afford the services working person, that they can afford the services and so taking away that billable hour knowing what it's going to cost upfront is such a relief for so many of the people that we serve in the community.

James Campbell: 9:03

Yeah, I love it. It's taking the client's future and planning really into account into the day, not just the future planning for death or incapacity. But how do we plan for today and account for your budget and make you be able to understand what you're going to have to allocate to accomplish your big goals or avoid the consequences of bad planning or non-planning? So I love that. It's a heart for clients On a little bit of a pivot here. You've also authored a book and help me make sure I have the title right. It's called Prudent Planning for Family Legacy. And, first of all, why did you write it and what do you hope readers, especially potential clients, will find the most valuable in its pages?

Sedric Collins: 9:47

Well, thanks for that plug. I actually have the book right here Prudent Planning for Family Legacy the Truth Behind Willed Trust in the States here, prudent Planning for Family Legacy the Truth Behind Willed Trust in the States. And part of my mission and I don't know if it's because I come out of the higher education space, where you know I worked in that space about, you know, in the education field is I have a passion to kind of demystify the entire estate planning process and because when folks hear about estate planning, like what is estate planning? And so what I wanted to do is I wanted to make something that was easy to read, something that a fifth grader could sit down and comprehend.

Sedric Collins: 10:22

It's a short read, as you can see, but the book is not very thick. It's something about 150 pages or less. A flight from LA to Atlanta or LA to New York York can have this book completed. There's no legalese or any type of legal language. We just wanted to kind of reveal some of the pitfalls, the common issues that we see on a day-to-day basis while serving members of the community who have yet to put a plan in place or those who have begun the planning process but made several errors and mistakes, many of which they try to do it on their own.

James Campbell: 11:04

Yeah, I love that. It takes some work to put that together. And then, knowing your market you know being in Southern California and knowing what some of the complexities are in California and how to navigate those if you're a resident of Southern California. So very important that folks grab that book and get themselves acquainted with what the big issues are. And, like you said, to demystify, what we may have heard from a neighbor or seen online doesn't always apply in your state or even in your circumstance. So I'm so happy that you put that together. So if you haven't grabbed the book, go grab the book. Kind of making another pivot here. You know it's not easy to grow a law firm or to manage a successful law firm. Cedric, if you could kind of highlight for us what are some of the biggest challenges that you've seen growing a firm, especially in estate planning like this, what are some of the challenges that you've seen and how you overcome those?

Sedric Collins: 12:02

Well, I think the kind of the secret I don't want to say the secret but the thing that's the most elusive with being a small, even small business owner with any line of business is the marketing Right. How do you attract clients, how do you stay, remain top of mind, and so for me, the biggest challenge is finding the right marketing mix. What, how much to allocate for budget, and there's no just like for estate planning. There's no one size fits all cookie cutter experience. There's no one size fits all cookie cutter experience for your marketing strategy how to attract and retain clients. So I think that's been probably the thing that I've had to grow the most over the last several years is how to get the right mix of marketing to keep the flow of clients and leads coming in on a month-to-month basis.

James Campbell: 12:58

Yeah, it's marketing your firm and working on growth is never a set it and forget it thing. Right, we always hope for that. We're always looking for that silver bullet, but at the end of the day, when we look at a track record, all of the best fruits come from strategic work that we put in. So it's important that you always maintain that mindset of working at and looking at your marketing, your budget, your numbers, your stats, your data. So for those attorneys looking to grow their firm, having access to that data is exceedingly important. Cedric, as someone who sort of built bridges in the legal and creative world, have you ever faced skepticism or pushback from prospects where maybe they think it sounds too good to be true or they just push back on the ideas? How do you navigate that? How do you help people understand or get past maybe, their skepticism of attorneys in general? Right, like, how do you, how do you facilitate that relationship to build the trust and get past the skepticism that prospects might have?

Sedric Collins: 14:07

Great question.

Sedric Collins: 14:07

I think it starts with how to develop, develop that trust with the very first phone call, with that very first 20, 25-minute discovery call, I'm immediately trying to dig for purpose, figure out what their why is I give and being very clear as to what our process is, opening up the floor for questions because some clients don't feel heard right. So if your client does not feel heard on that initial consultation, they're not going to move to the next step in the process. And my process is a little bit unique. It starts off with I don't want to say unique, I'm sure there's other firms out there that are doing this but it starts off with that 25, 30 minute discovery call and then there is a longer meeting right that you have to get them to buy into, and that's the meeting where they're ultimately going to become the client. So some firms, hey, perhaps they're rolling in, getting their fee on the very initial call.

Sedric Collins: 15:02

But my process is a couple of steps and I think that first kind of discovery call, if you will, the types of questions that I'm asking, establishing myself as the authority, the types of questions that I'm asking, establishing myself as the authority, getting to trust the process or buy into the process that I have.

Sedric Collins: 15:19

I think that's kind of the building blocks of having that, that foundational trust. Now, where I think I earn that trust is when we have that longer meeting where it's a Zoom meeting. The first meeting is not Zoom, it's via phone so they can't even see my face. But once we have that longer meeting where I'm kind of digging for purpose a little deeper, getting to know them, I kind of ask them easy kind of softball questions, if you will, that kind of get them talking about themselves and this showing that I generally care about the outcome, what happens to them and what happens to the people that they love when something happens. If you can show that you care in this process, that's going to really help establish that trust which is going to be essential for them trusting you to move forward and retain your services.

James Campbell: 16:09

Yeah, I think that is if our listeners could have one takeaway from that, because there's a, because there's a lot of value in what Cedric just said. But he leverages that discovery call to discover things about their prospect, like it's literally information gathering and it's not just name, rank and serial number. He's looking for the real reasons why they're coming to him in the first place and he's doing all of that before he lays out all the information so that when he does lay out the information, there's context for the prospect. They feel heard, they feel like someone's actually advocating for them on their side. So, cedric, just as a recap there, that's a very good point.

James Campbell: 16:59

A lot of our listeners are attorneys that are looking to grow their estate planning practice or get into estate planning and they run up against some of the issues about having a modern law firm. And I know that you've, like you said before, you're constantly working on developing your practice. So running a law, a modern law firm, requires both, like legal acumen and business savvy. What mindset shifts have been the most important for you in establishing the success and building the success that you have in your practice?

Sedric Collins: 17:35

Well, I'll start with the very first one that you helped me with, james a number of years ago, and I was not charging what I should have been charging for services. Right, I believe I was leased $2,000 or $3,000 under the market value when I came to IMS. But one of the first things and one of the reasons why I was grateful about the piece of information that you gave me is you gave me this information before I became an IMS client. So before I became, a couple of months before we had our our initial discovery call, he said hey, you're not charging enough. Flat out, you know to do what you want to do, you're just not charging enough and you have to have the competence to ask for more. And so that was the first major mind shift. Mindset shift was appropriately pricing the services of our firm in a manner that's commensurate with the market here in Southern California, and that's one of the first mindset shifts that I had. It's like value my services enough to charge premium pricing.

James Campbell: 18:40

Yeah, I'll tell you what that can make or break a practice. Because a lot of times people, especially if they're in transition or they're trying to learn estate planning or carve this new niche out they'll develop what's called imposter syndrome and they feel like they have to discount their prices or they feel like they have to be lower than everybody else to before they can. They have to gain a bunch of clients before they can raise their prices. And it's just not true. It's based on the value that you bring to the client. Okay, and if you, in your case, care about people, you spend the time with them, you get to the heart of the matter with them, you're not just churn and burn documents out for people, but you're actually creating these family legacy plans. That's worth a lot more. Okay To the prospect.

James Campbell: 19:29

And that, the attorney, if you're listening to this and you know you're undercharging, this is a mental shift that has to be broken. It's between the ears, right? It's a thing that we have to overcome mentally in order to do that. And then, once you do, when you get that first client that says, oh, easily they pay that $5,000 check or whatever it is, it's like, oh, why wasn't I doing this years ago, right, so that's a great mindset shift. Talking a little bit about marketing and how maybe we've helped some of that, what sort of led you to partner with IMS, like what were you hoping to achieve when you got started with us?

Sedric Collins: 20:06

Well, obviously I wanted to crack some of the revenue goals that have been evading me seemingly evading me, you know, for several years.

Sedric Collins: 20:18

I think your resources right. I love the idea that I have a database of articles that I can help empower my market and my clientele and my viewership with. So I'm very big into educating and empowering the community is one of my number one, my number one priorities, you know, in terms of because I believe that once the community sees you as a resource and can trust the information that you're putting out there, that's only going to lead to more repeat and referral business and it's going to create you as that kind of that authority. And I think I feel that IMS had that database or has that database of articles that are helpful to kind of put out in your monthly newsletter to use for social media content. And I think that was the number one piece is knowing that I have access to all this information that I can put out there in the community that's accurate and that's well written, that can help generate business for my firm.

James Campbell: 21:24

I love that, cedric, and I really appreciate that because we do work hard on keeping that contextual alignment where we're positioning the attorney as the authority and as the problem solver so that what we put out there can be trusted, but it's also leading people to help them understand the real consequences of planning or not planning. Cedric, if you could sort of fill me in, what's sort of on the horizon for you, what's sort of next for Legacy One, any big goals or projects that you have on the horizon?

Sedric Collins: 21:54

Absolutely so. The goal here, James, is to continue to grow and continue to impact the community throughout California. Right now we have a pretty good-sized footprint that we're laying out in Southern California, but we desire to move to Northern California and open up a location there. We have several clients that are in the Bay Area. We've gained those clients through word of mouth, from clients who either have extended family members or friends there that referred our firm. But we'd like to get a stronger presence in the Bay Area. So we have maybe a Legacy One South and Legacy One North.

Sedric Collins: 22:41

So open it up a couple more locations. Because even though in the kind of the virtual world that we live in, the world of Zoom and all these radio platforms, if you will, despite having all this access to technology, people still have a tendency to do business with those who are in their geographic location and space Right. So when there's a Google search, they come up. When they put a map on Google, a professional on Google, what's going to come up, like the map pack, if you will, the top 10 businesses in an area. But that's all geographically driven Right, and so we want to get an office in that area to where we can start becoming more visible to potential clients and families and business owners in the northern part of the state.

James Campbell: 23:18

I love that. When you have a heart for clients and you put forth the effort to create systems and processes to fulfill that mission, then the logical next step is to expand right.

Sedric Collins: 23:29

Absolutely.

James Campbell: 23:30

And provide that service to families where they can get that level of care as well. And Cedric, as we wrap up here, where can listeners learn more about you and your firm and connect with you online? Can you share those with us?

Sedric Collins: 23:44

Absolutely. First of all, you can find us on the web at wwwlegacy1lawcom. That's three words legacy, the number one O-N-E spelled out lawcom. You can also follow us on Instagram. Our handle is at Legacy One Law. You can also find us on Facebook. We have an Instagram page, a Facebook page. If you want to connect professionally, you can follow me on LinkedIn. You can look at Cedric Collins, our Legacy One law firm, and I'll be happy to make a connection with anyone here that wants to kind of expand their professional network as well.

James Campbell: 24:16

Yeah, I advise any of the professional advisors. If you're an insurance agent, financial advisor in Southern California, especially if you have any entertainment law clients or clients where you feel like they could be better served by an estate planning attorney that really has a heart, you should definitely reach out to Cedric and take advantage of his processes, his pricing structure for your clients and being able to have clarity and no mystification around how to handle those estates. So, Cedric, thank you so much for joining us today and for contributing to the Marketing Lawcast and to those listeners looking to grow their practice. Hopefully we've taken away some great gems from Cedric and his success and we look forward to seeing you next time. Thanks a lot, Cedric.

Sedric Collins: 25:01

Thank you so much, James. Thank you for having me.

James Campbell: 25:03

My pleasure.

Announcer: 25:04

That's a wrap on this edition of the Marketing Lawcast. Thanks, my pleasure. That's a wrap on this edition of the marketing law cast. Thanks for joining us head over to imsrockscom. If you're ready to skyrocket your firm's marketing, don't hesitate to book a free strategy call with our team right on our website. Here's to your success.