June of 1996, and I was a newly barred and sworn-in California Attorney. No one would hire me (well, my brother, but that doesn’t count). It was three days after I was sworn in, and I was back at the Starbucks where I had studied for the bar exam to grab a Triple Latte. The barista took my order and said, “are you an attorney yet” to which I proudly replied, “yes, sworn in 3 days ago”! She said, “Awesome. My cousin just got a DUI. Can you help him?”. Not quite knowing where the confidence came from, I quickly replied, “Yes, have him call me tomorrow.” As I walked through the parking lot, I started to sweat, flop, sweat. Did I just agree to talk to a potential new client (PNC)?
Fortunately, I have a big brother who had been an attorney for ten years and In solo practice for six. My big brother spent four long years at a few big Law Firms and had a lot of friends who practiced in different areas of law. I was sitting in my car in the Starbucks parking lot, wiping the sweat from my face and calling my big brother. “I think I just set a client meeting for a DUI. What the fuck do I do?” He said, “Call Fritsche. I’m busy.” Fritsche was my brother’s friend who had been doing criminal defense for 25 years and had a solo practice concentrating on criminal defense. When I called Fritsche, he said he would split the fee with me and walk me through the process, go to court with me and the client and “show me the ropes.” That is how I started the Law Offices of Marc D. Wasserman. I then traced it back to the coffee shop where I spent four months studying for the California State Bar Exam. The baristas cousin became the client.
I had a solo Law Practice, stumbled into my first client, and then had to find my next client and then enough clients to sustain a business and career. I was drinking shots of Vodka at a TGI Fridays, and a guy was complaining about his wife and looked at me and said, “aren’t you that guy who was studying to be a lawyer at the Starbucks across the street?” I said, “sure is, you’re Doug, tall Americano 1 equal” I have a weird knack for remembering shit. He asked if I could help with his divorce. Once again, I said, “Yes, call me tomorrow,” and I gave him my business card. I immediately called a friend of mine who worked for a Family Law Firm and spoke with the senior partner, and he agreed to split the fee and “show me the ropes.”
I saw a pattern. The pattern includes people and places. Meeting people in places will increase the chance of getting a client. I was going to cover any area of law (by reaching into the network I was building from law school friends to my brother and his friends to attorneys I would meet In court).
Over the next several years, I would build my Law Practice by making alliances with experienced attorneys, split the fees and learn several different areas of practice. Eventually, I narrowed my practice down to criminal defense and family law, and after five years, I didn’t need help and didn’t need to split fees. What I did retain were great relationships with the attorneys who practiced in the areas I didn’t, and was a constant flow of business for them (and nice referral fees for me).
Fast forward to February of 2021, and I infiltrated CLUBHOUSE, having no idea what I was about to uncover. That was a network of good, honest and ethical attorneys across the globe. In 2 short months, I have taken our referral network to the next level and have been able to help people in dire straights and, in real-time, find attorneys they need.
While I used to hang out in bars, clubs, diners, libraries, swap meets, wherever people congregated in order to pass out cards and meet future clients and attorneys to network with. Now, the bars, clubs, etc. are on CLUBHOUSE, and I don’t have to leave MY HOUSE.
I must share one example. A few weeks ago, I received a message on our Instagram account from a grandmother in Wisconsin. She said her daughter was abusing her grand-daughter in California ( I was sent videos and pictures documenting horrible abuse). I opened a Clubhouse room and started pinging in attorneys. Within 5 minutes, I had five referrals. I was then able to refer the grandmother to an organization that helps remove abused children from situations just like this one. The immediate action taken by myself and several like-minded attorneys led to saving the life of an abused 6-year-old girl.
I feel blessed that we are able to help connect people who need attorneys all across the globe. Follow the Pot Brothers at Law on all of our social media platforms.
Very truly yours,
MARC
Marc D Wasserman, Esq.
Law Offices of Marc D. Wasserman, Inc.
POT BROTHERS AT LAW
12362 Beach Blvd., Suite 15
Stanton, CA 90680
855 WASSLAW
714 799 5504 fax
[email protected] email
http://www.potbrothersatlaw. com
FOLLOW US on IG: @pot_brothers_at_law & @potbrothersatlaw
TWITTER: @thewasslaw
SNAPCHAT: Big Brother is WASSLAWDOG
Little Brother is POTBROTHERATLAW
Marc D. Wasserman, Esq. Law Offices of Marc D. Wasserman, Inc.
12362 Beach Blvd., Suite 15 Stanton, CA 90680
714 934 8383
714 799 5504 fax [email protected] email
