A Stressed Out Family Law Practitioner Becomes a Family Man Practicing Law

From the time Levi Alexander entered Law School at Michigan State University, he knew he wanted to work with families. So much so, that he chose the school because of its Chance at Childhood Clinic, where law students would be paired with a social worker to learn how to help families in all kinds of demanding and distressing situations.

“I originally went to law school to be a family law attorney. Everyone told me I’d get burned out with it. I was determined that was not going to happen to me. 

And then it did.”

Just three years after graduating, and with his own practice under his belt, Levi found himself and his fledgling practice in dire straits.

“Family law was my passion, but it was extremely stressful. And my wife told me you’re bringing work home all the time. Even if you’re not actively working, you’re constantly worried about your clients and it’s affecting our family.”

Worst of all, Levi knew that both his practice, and the strain it was putting on his personal and home life was unsustainable. There didn’t seem to be a way that Levi could continue doing the work he loved, with the clientele that he loved, without making some major changes.

That was back in 2016. Some 6 years later – in 2022, to hear Levi talk you’d never know he was the same person who found himself completely overwhelmed emotionally and professionally just a few years before. Today, Levi has a thriving practice, earning nearly $50,000 a month working with clients he often refers to with great care and humility.

The turning point back in 2016, came from reading a book. One that would lay out a new vision for what a family lawyer could be, and start Levi down a path to changing his life around.

Levi Finds NLBM  

At one of the low points of his early law career, Levi remembers coming across a Facebook ad for a book called Wear Clean Underwear. That book, written by NLBM’s Founder and CEO Ali Katz, blew Levi away.

“There were things in there that I had not considered before. And I was like, ‘I need to be a Personal Family Lawyer.’

Levi attended one of the early NLBM bootcamps in 2016. At the time, he was practicing some Estate planning, but he admits it wasn’t the kind of work that was really inspiring.

“I was focused on family law. A little of wills. Unfortunately, I was doing it the old school way, where you just fill in the templated documents.”

After attending the NLBM bootcamp, and seeing the potential in the NLBM way of practicing law, Levi became a full member in 2017. It was also around this time that Levi decided to pivot his practice from Family Law to Estate Planning, beginning to work more and more of it into his practice.

But he admits it didn’t happen overnight. He continued to have to do Family Law up until 2019, though by that time, he had brought on a staff to help him handle the workload. In 2019, he was able to step away from doing Family Law and completely focus his efforts on estate planning. Something that brought with it a lot of joy.

“[When doing family law] I wasn’t able to spend as much time with my son like I wanted. I constantly worried about work. Clients were always having emergency situations, emotions were high. Dealing with a lot of child abuse situations and domestic violence situations.”

Like many, Levi’s life and practice didn’t have the freedom he longed for or the meaning and purpose he had once dreamed of. A change was in order.

The NLBM Way of Practicing Law  

Levi’s practice Legal Journeys is in the town of Madison, Alabama – just down the road from Huntsville. He says when he originally started the practice, he assumed most of his clients would come from Huntsville, but almost all of them ended up coming from Madison; his own community.

He began with NLBM’s Solo Practitioner model, taking on a few clients at a time, and growing his business. Before long, he was ready to move on to the next model – Staffed Practice. Moving from working alone to having a team revolutionized Levi’s practice, workload, and business in general.

“That has been extremely beneficial – having help and not having to do everything on my own.” 

Slowly but surely, Levi’s practice moved into the 8-10 client \ per month range. Charging an average of $5,100 per client, Levi’s current monthly income is around $45-50k. A number he says is more than double what his practice was making the year previous. Even more shocking, last year Levi’s practice had matched the previous year’s income before the end of August. His plans for 2022 and beyond?

“We recently put systems in place that we believe will allow us to get to 12-15 clients per month. Assuming that goes well, we’ll be looking at at least $750k for 2022.”

The increased revenue, business model, and many other parts of Levi’s service can be traced back to the training he continues to receive through the NLBM program. A program that helped him grow his business by providing direction on things like communication, client engagement, best hiring practices, and creating a financial plan to keep his practice thriving.

“One of the things I’ve really loved about the New Law Business Model is the support we’re given. Classes on communication skills, how to run your business better. They give you a roadmap, called a Money Map, so you can see where you can and need to grow your business. That’s something that’s been very meaningful to me.”

A Family Man Practicing the Law

While Levi’s goal is to continue to grow his business financially and add more clients, he often talks about how his true focus is on being present for his family above all else.

“I could see that the NLBM program was being successful when I could scale back on the Family Law and focus on Estate Planning. But I love the relationships I have with my clients. They become more than just clients, we go to baseball games together, I host client appreciation nights. Building those relationships has been amazing and my clients have made comments that they’ve never had an attorney care about them as a person or as a human and that makes me absolutely feel great about my choice in participating in this program and participating in this way.”

Levi and his practice are widely involved in the Madison community, not just through their work but also in other community efforts. They sponsor local events, volunteering at non-profits, and even aided the hurricane relief efforts during the 2020 hurricane season.

While Levi has plans to continue growing his practice into the 7 Figure NLBM model, he says he’s waiting till his son has graduated from high school. For now, he wants to spend as much time as possible with his family, and helping in his community. The enjoyment he gets from his work indicates a measure of true success for him.

“New law Business Model has absolutely changed my life. I’m able to focus more on family, I’m able to enjoy coming to work each day, I’m able to not worry about finances. I’m able to just enjoy life and enjoy my practice and it’s absolutely something that I wish I’d done earlier but I’m so thankful that I did.”

The nature of his experience and the experiences of his clients is evident even in the naming of Levi’s practice Legal Journeys.

“We came up with Legal Journeys just thinking about the ones that everyone goes through in life. Each person is on their own journey.”

As for Levi’s journey, it’s far from finished. But he’s found an anchor as he continues to pursue his larger life goals, like being there for his community, practice, and family.

“In 2016 I was so stressed out and dealing with so many situations. And I found New Law Business Model, had one foot in and one foot out, was taking a long time doing the training. I eventually dove in with both feet, joined the membership, and it’s completely changed my life. We’ve gone to a staffed practice, serving 8-10 clients per month, we’re on track to serve 12-15 per month. The income has increased, everything has been great with this program. When I surrender the way she [Ali] says to do it, everything just takes off. This has just been a fabulous adventure.”

Ready to begin your own adventure with New Law Business Model? We’d love to hear from you. Learn more here.