Military Mindset, Law Firm Success with Brennan Heuser

What does a US Army Psychological Operations veteran know about running a million-dollar law firm? Absolutely everything.

In this powerful clip from the Judicial Dollars and Cents podcast, host John Scott sits down with Brennan Heuser, a personal injury attorney and former special ops soldier, to discuss the powerful leadership principles he brought from the battlefield to the boardroom.

Brennan shares how the military's focus on mission accomplishment, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and moving beyond just "checking the box" has become the driving force behind the Heuser Law Firm's success. If you're a law firm leader tired of "playing ping-pong" with cases and ready to build a team that's focused on accomplishing the mission, you can't miss this.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Judaism brought you by Andrew's virtual CF services team from public states. And in each episode, we'll spend play on the financial side of the legal world, turning law firm numbers into impact-driven stories. From taxes and profitability to practice growth and leadership, we sit down with law firm innovators who are shaping the future of the profession. Let's dive in right here on Judicial Dollars and Cents. Hey, welcome back to Judicial Dollars and Cents. This is the podcast where we dive into the business side of running a law firm. I'm John Scott with Anders Virtual CFO Services for Law Firms, and each week we sit down with industry experts who help law firm leaders think differently about growth, profitability, and performance. I'm excited today to be joined by Brennan Hoyser, an attorney and co-founder of the Hoyser Law Firm based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. They also have an office in Pueblo, Colorado. Brennan is the lead attorney of legal practice committed to providing strategic, client-focused representation with an emphasis on advocacy, clarity, and impactful outcomes. At the core of Brennan's approach is clear communication, thoughtful preparation, and the belief that effective legal counsel empowers clients to make informed decisions that protect both their immediate interest and long-term well-being. Brennan, welcome to the show. Glad to have you.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

Thanks, John. Really happy to be here. Um, I have one correction on that intro. I did not co-found. Um it was my father, uh my uh Barclay Hoyser. Uh, he has since passed, and and my uncle, uh Gordon. And uh I'm just fortunate enough to uh be able to carry on uh the legacy of this firm into the next era.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

That's great. And so this really is kind of a family firm.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

It is. We've been around since uh 1996.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Hey, I think we're gonna get to that you hat here, which I I love by the way. I think that you have a unique origin story, and I'd love to hear that.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Yeah, so um I never wanted to be a lawyer. Uh I don't know why people do to this day. Um uh it's just it's a brutal profession. I I find it rewarding now, but um uh what when young kids say they want to go into law because uh their parents tell them they like to argue a lot. I don't think that's the best reason to go in. So I had vowed off the legal field entirely, and I I did go to the University of Miami for undergrad when they were winning national championships. This is back in um the Larry Coker days. Um but I graduate and I end up because I grew up in DC, uh, going back to DC, and I get a uh job at a think tank downtown, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. And uh they were focused on the Warner Rock uh primarily and anti-terrorist activities um throughout the Middle East. Uh but I couldn't get a job elsewhere. I was really struggling. And something they told me is look, man, uh in this town, you don't get ahead unless you have a connection, you have a security clearance, you have an advanced degree or some type of uh military experience. Bonus if you if you speak a foreign language. I had none of that. I was just there's not many locals in DC anymore, but um I I was a local about that type of background. So I start thinking about options, and uh initially I look at this program over in Syria where I go and live with a family, I'm gonna learn Arabic, okay, because that's one of the things, learn a learn a language. But I don't know, the program seemed a bit sketchy and uh kind of backed out of that. And then I really did want to serve at the time. Uh I very much supported the Iraq war. I and in retrospect, I I think I was wrong, but I I did at the time, and I wanted to put action behind what I was saying and and researching and writing for these think tanks. Uh, so I looked at becoming an officer. I had a college degree, and it was 2007, which was about the height of the war, and it was pretty pretty bad at that time. It was the height of casualties, and uh uh it was rough. So they they were desperate for people coming in. So I assumed that I had a pretty good shot. I had good grades, I'd never really got in in trouble, or at least formally in trouble, um up to that point. And I go before this OCS board, but as you can see, I'm a bit more casual, and uh that still hasn't changed. But I show up to the OCS board, and um I wasn't as clean cut. Um, I I'd come from Miami for four years. I think maybe I was wearing sandals, and uh I don't think they appreciated that. So despite you know, something's gone for me, um, they said no. And uh that was kind of a shock to my system. I I didn't know what to do next because I'm trying like send me to war, please, right now. And uh my first and second choice was uh infantry or uh armor. Um so I thought that that would be a good path. Uh so I was I was humbled and uh had to reassess. But then I found this this other way to get in. Uh, and it was through the going enlisted and this job psychological operations. And with psycholap psychological operations, you get uh foreign language training, you know, you're part of special operations, uh, you're airborne, uh you're with elite units. It's a really cool job, and you get to study uh foreign populations, how they think, how they operate, and you get to win battles without killing people, without kinetic action. You're you're often attached to these small units, but uh that sounded really exciting to me, and I I was ready to go. So um I signed the paperwork. And when when you do that route, it's a bit of a risk because it if you don't get accepted, it's needs of the army. So my my idea of being in this special unit uh could completely get thrown out, and it's needs of the army, and needs of the army at that time, I don't know, it could be a truck driver um driving around in Iraq, which is a very undesirable job, at least for me, it and it's a really hard job because that they didn't have much support and we were getting hit by IEDs all the time. So if you hesitate at the door when you're jumping out of that airplane, uh trying to get through, don't get selected, that's where ending up. Um, but I I I did pass and and I got in, and uh I think it was one of the best decisions I ever made. Um, it was extremely hard, but uh very, very thankful to uh get through that process.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Well, sometimes when one door closes and you think that's the end of the road, there's another opportunity to get where you need to go.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

Absolutely. And uh if I had the option to go back and and and do OCS, no, I wouldn't do it. I I I think I chose properly.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

So so you went in there, it worked out, you came out. What what made you think of I want to go to law school?

SPEAKER_00 8:13

Yeah. So I still wasn't thinking law school. Um I ended up going to to grad school in DC uh because I wanted to join uh the CIA or or some intelligence agency, the DIA, one of those. And there's a small little niche school a few blocks north of the White House called the Institute of World Politics. And I got in um last second, I I mean I took the GRE real quick, um, but I got into this really cool program and I studied political warfare. It's not political science. Political warfare is how do you overthrow governments and and and covert action, and uh um similar to things we were doing um in the units when I was deployed, uh, I wasn't overthrowing governments, but uh propaganda is is part of that, right? And um I ended up working for the State Department, uh, get my foot in the door, and I worked for the Fulbright Program, which is a legacy um exchange program that started during the Cold War in an attempt to um create more um unity between the West uh uh against the the Soviet bloc and and and the the Warsock Pact. So um it it's since evolved and it's it's encompassed uh a different mission set, but it's it was it's a great program. It's it's pretty high level for for um you know prestigious academics, but I could not stand the bureaucracy of it, and it it felt stifling and coming from a small team in special operations where it's me and a handful of guys running around without much oversight, getting missions done. Um that was tough. That was really tough. I I also was really struggling with PTSD at the time. That's also why I didn't re-enlist. Um I I it was bad. It it was it was pretty bad for me. So um all that to say the bureaucracy also was not not helping because that adrenaline rush, uh the mission, um, let's get something done quickly, uh, just wasn't there. And I started looking at options, and I remember calling my dad and asking, you know, what what should I do? He goes, son, you know we have a law firm out here. Uh why don't you just come out and just visit for a bit and see how it is? And uh I remember coming out and meeting with uh my my my dad and and my uncle, and they go, This is brutal, this is a tough industry, it's cutthroat. But here's the thing we're our own boss, and uh there's no red tape, and we can be as successful as we want to be. And that type of pitch for me, where it's mission-oriented, you can thrive, you you don't have a bunch of red tape. Um, it is stressful. I I I need that. Um it seemed like a good fit.

SPEAKER_01 12:03

So well, first of all, thank you for your service. And I'm glad you got back to a place where you can make a decision and see the outcome rather than trying to turn the cruise ship around in the ocean, which takes a lot more effort and a lot more input from others. So I'm glad that worked out for you. And and I'm sure your uncle and father were finally relieved that you did the right thing and went to law school and came to join the firm.

SPEAKER_00 12:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:29

Hey, speaking of which, uh, it's a PI firm, right? Where you're advocating for clients to get the best outcome for them. And there's two types of attorneys that look at AI. There's the attorney who thinks that it's going to be the death of the profession, and then I see attorneys who are embracing AI to focus on the meaningless tasks, repetitive tasks that have to be done. Where do you land when it comes to AI? And are you guys utilizing it in any part of your practice?

SPEAKER_00 13:02

When it other attorneys say don't use AI. AI is horrible, it hallucinates, it makes up stuff, and and they they cite some example out of, I don't know, some other state. It makes national news. Please scare everybody else into not using it. I think that's foolish. This technology is not going away, and it's getting better every month. Um, we we do incorporate AI into our firm, and I think we were one of the first. I remember when the first model of Chat GPT came out, I had somewhat of an existential crisis in my office, um, just seeing the basics of what it could do. And I said in 10 years, it's everyone out of a job. Um I I don't think that's the case, but I do think it's going to revolutionize the industry, and those who don't leverage it are going to be left behind. And we are uh because we were early adopters, we understand the limitations and and have it's a tool. Uh, for example, you could have a third-year law student top of the class as an intern write a memo or uh a draft brief for you. Do you just submit that? No, you double check it, it's a tool, and this is a smart tool, it's an evolving tool. Um, it's it's interesting because we've incorporated it into our case management software. And we use Filevine. I really like Filevine. Um it's an excellent uh uh service. And what's really interesting is you can ask it questions and you can have a conversation, but it doesn't just spit out an answer like like Chat GPT may. It actually will say, okay, here's a summary of the last month, and it will cite exact notes that uh attorneys have have put in and will link to it so you can double check everything, um, and then say, okay, any red flags um or or something that that you think I need to be focused on. And and it will mention something. And you go in there as a an attorney knowing this stuff, but sometimes it catches things that oh yeah, I I I should check on that. Um and it's it's helped us be more efficient and more accurate in our work. And uh the people who say otherwise, um, are you never checking your work? Because humans can be inaccurate too. It's all about being doing your due diligence and following up. So um I'm a big advocate of it, but using it responsibly and understanding it's just a tool.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

You're so right. It's a very smart tool that's ever-changing, and they have to have the human element to review and refine the work product. But if we use it correctly, I like to describe it as allowing smaller and mid-sized firms to compete with bigger firms and entities with bigger resources. It's a lot like NIL in the sports industry, and we're gonna get to that later, but it has allowed uh the non-powerhouses to to move up the food chain and compete. So let's get back to Filevine. I I love Filevine and I think it's perfect for a PI firm. It's perfect for a lot of firms, but in the PI world it really works well and it plays nicely with uh QBO. What is that what you use for accounting?

SPEAKER_00 16:50

We do.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

Okay, so there's this nice bridge between QBO. What kind of uh how do you handle in your firm forecasting andor KPIs? What what do you focus on?

SPEAKER_00 17:03

So you want to look at settlement demands out, you want to look at revenue in, you want to look at average case value. Um those are for attorneys. I think those are some you want to look at reviews. Um those are the four that really come to mind, but also what's the case duration? Are are people not responding? Are people meaning attorneys or legal staff not responding to clients quick enough? Uh, and and cases are just sitting on desks. You have to move these things. I think the average case duration uh just nationally is around 12 to 14 months for a PI firm, but that's the average. If you have a soft tissue uh case where it's chiropractic and physical therapy, uh you should be able to resolve that quicker. I know the the the typical attorney answer, there's always exceptions. You know, maybe there's a VA lien involved, and and you have to get that negotiated down, and and that that can extend it. But on average, um 12 to 14 months, lower for soft tissue, multiple surgeries and and years of recovery, it's it's gonna extend it. But how long is a case that's been in negotiation been sitting on a desk? Two, three, four weeks? Why are you not calling the adjuster? Um, and if you call them once, just putting in a note and saying I called and left a message, well, that's not what we ask you to do at our firm. You're you're supposed to accomplish the task, accomplish the mission. It's not check the box. And I think that's where that military background comes into play. Uh, there's a big push in the legal industry for checklist processes, or in military terminology, uh, standard operating procedure, SOP. There is absolutely a place for that. But when your SOP, when your checklist becomes the goal and not accomplishing the bigger mission, you are failing. So if if you think you did a good job because you you made calls, but you didn't actually move the case, that's not a good fit for this firm. And and that's the mindset that we've adopted.

SPEAKER_01 19:35

I call that playing ping pong where you take your task and you hit the ball over the net and then you move on. You don't care that nobody was there, or you didn't get a response or the ball back. And and that's the the biggest thing that we try and teach young people is hey, it it's not just enough to do the task, but you have to follow through so that you can move on to the next task. And I love what you said about case duration and what you focus on. And we work with a lot of PI firms, and one of the biggest value pieces we bring to all clients is forecasting. And I hear a lot of PI firms say, oh, it's it's impossible to forecast, there's too many variables. When in reality, you know that average case value, you know the case duration, and you know the milestones within that those cases, and you have this inventory of cases in File Vine or whatever your case management system is, and you can build a model that says, okay, we can forecast cash. What is cash going to be in 12 weeks, three months, six months? Um it is possible to do, it's a little bit harder than in an hourly environment, but it's it's possible in a contingent environment.

SPEAKER_00 20:42

Absolutely, it's absolutely impossible. And I think where most firms fail is that they're not tracking data. Uh, they don't they're not tracking KPIs properly. Um, it's it's while some don't even track or have budgets, they just kind of go month to month. Um we use Domo uh integrated with uh Filevine, and it what we have now is a pretty state-of-the-art system where I can pull up any data point in the firm. You name it. It could be activity throughout the week, it could be uh which attorney and paralegal are the most efficient throughout throughout the month uh or work well together. Uh which which paralegal uh is associated with the most demands going out. Um case value by case type. Uh it it's it's really an incredible dashboard that I don't think a lot of law firms have, uh especially three, four, or five years ago.

SPEAKER_01 21:52

Well, and file bind really is a great tool, except when you don't use it properly and don't put the data in. It's very open source, so you can. Can create reports that you want, but you you need to utilize until you get to learn it, you need to utilize the support partners that they have to make sure you're using it correctly. Right. And there are other good case management systems. I mean, Clio's the the big 800-pound gorilla in the room, but it and it it's good, it's just not as, in my opinion, effective in creating the data sort that you need.

SPEAKER_00 22:24

Yeah, I I agree with you. I mean, your reports are only as good as the accuracy of the data that you input.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

Trash in, trash out.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:35

Hey, let's talk about the defining the the great or the best client experience for clients of your firm.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

So we want to make the client journey focused on number one, and we tell this to people uh when we're talking about whether or not they want to work with us. Our advice is always health first, money second. You only have one body in this life, and honestly, there's no amount of money that is going to compensate you fully, particularly for um catastrophic injuries. So if you can get better or get as good as you're gonna get with good doctors who care for you and communicate, that's our number one focus. You also need to be have you also need to have communication with our legal team and understand how is your case progressing. You also need to have realistic expectations about what is your case worth. There's all types of uh attorney commercials out there, and it's the uh $10 million case, and I've you know, we we've settled uh a $25 million case, and it it kind of anchors uh a lot of people in these unrealistic figures when in fact you're capped by what's available and and also the extent of your injury. So being honest and and uh frank up front is critical uh to it to a happy outcome. If I were a client and I went to an attorney and no one corrected me about my uh assumption that my case was worth $300,000 when my medical bills are maybe $15,000 and I and I went to Cairo for two months, I I would be pretty upset. And I just don't think that happens everywhere. So you also want to have your case move, and you want to know that there's a legal team that if it doesn't settle, if we don't get to a reasonable place, that they're actually going to fight for you. It doesn't mean you you take every case to trial, you have to have a breakdown of the pros and cons. And those attorney uh attorneys that I I call it puffing about going to trial on every case, I I think they're misleading their clients in in certain ways. Uh going to trials like like gambling, and people have different risk appetites. If you're and it's their money on the line, and it's it's it's it's their case ultimately. So you have to break down and say the weaknesses and the process. Are you willing to and can you uh deal with 12 to 18 months um for this process to resolve or not? Then you have things like uh statutory uh offers of settlement, where maybe you win, but you get under that that offer from the defense side, and now that client has to pay the other side's costs, and that's tens of thousands of dollars. Do you have the money to do that? So if you're not properly counseling your your clients about that, uh, I think you're doing them a disservice. So, but that said, there are certain cases where we absolutely we will strongly encourage our our clients. We we need to litigate this, we need to apply the pressure because I I know that it's money's tight, money's tight for so many people, so many people live in month to month, but this offer it sounds good, but your case is worth more, and we really can we can prove that and show that. So having that skill set um is extremely important. Uh so between getting them healthy, finding them good doctors, uh telling them the truth, properly communicating um the pros and cons of the case, so managing those expectations, being ready to fight, but not going into battles that um you think that the odds are against your client and helping them negotiate those medical bills uh down as much as possible as well. I think that's a good client journey.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

I love your approach to the PI side of law and and clear and consistent communication helps define that client experience. Hey, before we wrap up, I want to switch gears. And I mentioned earlier that I think AI is a game changer for all of us. I think NIL is a game changer for college athletics and specifically college football. You've got the U hat on. I was in Miami the week leading up to that game. I I moved up to Fort Lauderdale for some work meetings, so it wasn't too far from the game. The atmosphere in South Beach and Miami was it was out outstanding. I mean, there were a ton of Indiana fans there, but it was a home game for the year. Um what what are your feelings on NIL and what what should change? I you know, a lot of people said Miami shouldn't even be in there. I I believe they did deserve to be in there. Clearly, some things need to change with respect to the playoff and NIL.

SPEAKER_00 28:37

Yeah, um with regards to NIL, I think that was a long time coming. I I don't think it it was fair to the players who are putting their bodies on the line. Uh and I could imagine the frustration. You're walking around town and everyone's wearing your jersey, and you've been just beaten up for 12 weeks straight, and you don't even know if you're gonna survive the season to get to the NFL, um, which is where you've invested all your time, and and and the goal for a lot of these guys at these D1 elite programs. So so I'm I'm happy the players are are getting uh paid. I really can't believe it took that long for them not to. The issue with NIL is it's destroying the culture of college football, loyalty to programs and teams uh seems to be morphing into the NFL light and uh a minor league in a sense. I don't like that aspect of it. So I I if they could bring it in and maybe limit the the amount of transfers you can do, um, and be a bit more transparent about um the communication going on. Uh the there's there's all types of allegations uh against a lot of programs right now. Um it's I don't know what the right term is. I think it's called meddling or or uh or uh uh but essentially improperly communicating with uh players who already have contracts and and uh that's not good for football.

SPEAKER_01 30:25

Let's let's the biggest fleece was Clemson and Ole Miss right as the portal was closing, and yeah, that could that can blow things up.

SPEAKER_00 30:34

In a huge way, you you're building your program and next year's team and recruiting based off of the guys you got on the roster. And if that changes on the last day, how how angry is everybody? Right. It just it doesn't feel right.

SPEAKER_01 30:52

Well, you and I talked beforehand, and and I I would love to see I too welcome NIL, they should get paid. I'd like to see them be able to transfer one time unless there's a coaching change, then they get a second opportunity. But this mercenary environment we're in where I had a good year, I'm gonna go test the waters. If you look at who's won the national championship, Big Ten in the last couple years, yeah, um, those are older, more mature teams that have been together longer. They've plugged in different pieces, but Indiana's average age was in the 23, 24 area.

SPEAKER_00 31:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:28

And so they are just more mature than a team of 18, 19, 20-year-olds. So I don't know. Hey, Brennan, this has been a great conversation. I love your focus on communication and data and creating a client experience that's creates good outcomes. Love your military background. Thank you so much for sharing your perspective and your approach with us today. And thank you all for listening to Judicial Dollars and Cents. If you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe, like, and share with a colleague who's thinking about legal strategy and how to run their firm better. Until next time, this is John Scott with Anders Virtual CFO Services for Law Firms. Thank you. Thanks for joining us on Judicial Dollars and Cents presented by Anders Virtual CFO Services. If you found value in today's conversation, be sure to follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcast. To learn more about how Anders helps law firms strengthen their financial foundations and drive groups.com. Until next time, keep making smart decisions that make perfect sense.