Donald Marcari

Kevin Daisey:

All right. We are live. Welcome to another live recording of The Managing Partners Podcast. My name is Kevin Daisey, and I’ll be your host. And I am joined here today by a special guest who’s actually right here in the same area I am in Chesapeake, Virginia. Don Marcari, welcome to the show.

Don Marcari:

Good afternoon, Kevin. How are you?

Kevin Daisey:

I’m doing good. Just telling Don backstage, I was actually out for about a week, which is an extremely long time for me to be away from running my company. And as you managing partners listening, or Don here, we were just chatting about that. But so playing a lot of catch-up today, but happy to be back and have Don on the show here.

Kevin Daisey:

Don is someone who I’ve met before. They have a firm just down the street, based here in Virginia. Of course, he’s in multiple states. And we’ll get to learn more about that here in just a moment. But me and Don are pretty much neighbors. So again, happy to have him on the show. Has an exciting story and career, a very nice-sized firm, has done very well for himself. So he’s got a lot to share here. So any young attorneys or aspiring managing partners, looking to go out on your own, Don can share a ton today. So we’ll try to cram in as much as we can with Don’s time. Don, thanks again for coming on the show.

Don Marcari:

You’re welcome, Kevin. Glad to be here.

Kevin Daisey:

Absolutely. Well, first question, like I always ask, and I want you to share some of the cool stuff, tell us what made you become an attorney? What was that moment that you’re like, “You know what? I’m going to law school, I’m going to become an attorney”? And tell us what that was like.

Don Marcari:

Okay. Actually, I started out as a city manager. I have my master’s in public administration. And nobody in my family had been a lawyer, but it’s something that was always in the back of my mind. So I was 25. And I decided if I was going to do it before I was married and had kids, I’d go to law school. So I did. Got out. Well, I had a job with the attorney general’s office in Raleigh, North Carolina, but the Navy recruiter was coming to law schools. And before I knew it, I was signed up and went into the JAG Corps for four years. So had a pretty good career in the JAG Corps, then got out and stayed in the Tidewater area.

Kevin Daisey:

So you were mentioning that you really wanted to be in Charleston, South Carolina, and they sent you here to Norfolk, Virginia, where we’re located, which is a great area. Love Charleston, too. So while in the JAG program, so tell us a little bit about that because I know something that the audience will know here soon, but some of the successes you had, obviously there was a movie created around you and a case you had. So tell us more about that.

Don Marcari:

Sure. When I went in, they were starting what was called the mobile trial team. So I was a defense counsel, and they would fly us out to the ships on the aircraft carriers. We would try cases onboard the carriers all over the world. And we got a call one day that there were ten Marines in the brig in Guantanamo Bay, they were doing these code reds. They’d all made confessions. And so we were supposed to go down there and just plead them out. I had never tried a case up to that point. So I flew down to Gitmo and met with the colonel down there. And my client ended up not taking this deal. And we went to court. And it became the basis for the movie A Few Good Men. So it’s tough when your first trial becomes a movie, nowhere to go but down after that, but that was the start of my career.

Kevin Daisey:

Well, that’s pretty amazing. So yeah, for everyone listening, A Few Good Men, 1992, I think when it came out.

Don Marcari:

Right.

Kevin Daisey:

Tom Cruise, or Don Marcari.

Don Marcari:

I wish, I wish.

Kevin Daisey:

I think Don looks a lot better than Tom. Come on. So yeah, I mean, that’s pretty exciting and pretty cool that your first trial becomes a movie. That’s pretty crazy. So I guess backing that up is basically the two gentlemen, they didn’t take a plea, like usual..

Don Marcari:

Right. There was actually, out the 10, seven of the kids took a plea agreement. My client and two other ones went to court. We used the obedience to orders defense. The way it became a movie actually was one of the other attorneys was a lieutenant named Debbie Sorkin. And her brother was Aaron Sorkin, who was a 28-year-old unknown playwright at the time. He got the record of trial and made a play on it that ran on Broadway for two years. And Rob Reiner from Castle Rock made the movie out of it. So great movie. About half of it’s true. When the movie came out, my client and I went to see it together. And there was no Demi Moore, naturally. And so about halfway through, I leaned over, I said, “David, if there would’ve been a Demi Moore, I’d have plead you guilty and been in the O club with her. You’d be at Leavenworth right now.”

Kevin Daisey:

That’s funny.

Don Marcari:

It’s a great movie. Great movie.

Kevin Daisey:

Yeah, I assume not all of it was true. And you have to write a movie to sell tickets.

Don Marcari:

There you go, yeah.

Kevin Daisey:

But that’s still really cool that that happened. And I need to watch the movie again, so I need to go do that. How many times have you actually watched the movie? Did you watch it once and say, “I’m out,” or-

Don Marcari:

Well, I’ve seen it a couple times, but for Christmas for many years, that’s all I got for Christmas presents was everybody gave me a copy of the movie. So I got them somewhere at the house, but hadn’t seen it in a while.

Kevin Daisey:

Got a whole library.

Don Marcari:

That’s right. Anybody wants to borrow a copy, let me know.

Kevin Daisey:

No problem. I can get you to sign one for me.

Don Marcari:

Okay, there you go.

Kevin Daisey:

All right. Well, cool. Well, so let’s fast-forward a little bit. And so after coming out of there, so take us back to when you started your own practice and what that was like. And then we’ll talk maybe more about really what you focus on today, what you’re passionate about and what you’re doing from a management and marketing side.

Don Marcari:

Sure. I stayed in the Navy for four years and I’d met two other lawyers, civilian attorneys. And we decided to form a firm. And we just did a general practice for six years. Great guys. We took everything that came in the door. I hated domestic relations, but I was doing divorces and wills and real estate and criminal. But it gave me a good foundation. So I did that for about six years, but then I decided I really liked the personal injury part of the practice. Those cases were interesting to me. They weren’t as emotionally draining as criminal cases. I was doing murders and rapes and everything.

Don Marcari:

So I’ve been focusing on in my practice now … This firm has been in existence going on our 23rd year. We do mostly personal injury workers comp, and we have a big veteran’s practice. The personal injury practice is focused really on Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina. The veterans practice, we do all over the country. We’ve grown from initially we started with 13 of us. We now have close to a hundred, probably need 15 more positions. We’ve grown. The management part is getting to be a pain, but so we’ve grown pretty substantially in the last 20 years.

Kevin Daisey:

Yeah, huge growth. That’s amazing. And tell us the full name of the firm because I’ll mess it up, I’m sure.

Don Marcari:

It’s Marcari, Russotto, Spencer & Balaban. So that’s a mouthful. We just say MRSB. But my four partners [inaudible 00:08:29]. There’s four partners. We have 16 attorneys. They want some name recognition. So I let them be on the letterhead a little bit.

Kevin Daisey:

Nice. So everyone tuning in, if you are listening, it’s donmarcari.com. That’s M-A-R-C-A-R-I, Don Marcari. We’ll also have that up everywhere else too. But if you’re listening or watching on video right now, it’s down at the bottom of your screen. You can go check out Don’s firm, see what they’re all about. Check out the websites. They also have … if you drop down in the navigation on his website, there’s a link to the veterans site. So if you want to go take a look at what kind of things that they’re doing there, what practice areas they’re covering and what cases they’re handling. But that’s federally based. That’s basically anywhere around the country?

Don Marcari:

Yes, sir.

Kevin Daisey:

Excellent. So personal injury, what do you really specialize in? If Don is going to take a case, what kind of areas are you really specializing in or have a big focus on, other than the veterans?

Don Marcari:

We do car wrecks, tractor trailer cases, drunk driving, premises liability, anything where somebody’s been injured. And I said, we do that in three states right now. A large portion of that comes from the internet because with the internet, your boundaries are expanded and to grow, which I think in this profession now, our fees aren’t going up, but our costs are going up. So I think if you want to survive, you’ve got to find some way for that growth to happen.

Kevin Daisey:

Yeah, absolutely. So you’re in three states, you’re trying to expand into the fourth?

Don Marcari:

Probably just stay in the three right now, but I wouldn’t rule that out.

Kevin Daisey:

Okay. Excellent. And you said you’re plenty busy. You’re looking to have … it sounds like you need more people to do more work. So that’s a good problem to have.

Don Marcari:

If you can find them. I think [crosstalk 00:10:32]-

Kevin Daisey:

If you can find good people.

Don Marcari:

Yes. And I think that’s one thing our marketing is doing very well. One time when I was with a general practice, we had a big debate over spending $400 for a half page yellow page. Back then, back in the early nineties, lawyers didn’t advertise that much. We were on television for a long time, radio, billboards. But now we’re really just focusing … because we’re in several different markets, to be competitive on TV, the cost is cost-prohibitive. But the Internet’s been very successful. But with that comes the span of control. You’re trying cases in a lot of different jurisdictions. And I think one of the areas that we didn’t anticipate was the rapid growth and then having the staff to handle that growth. Because the worst thing is to have cases coming in … Well, it’s the best thing, but the worst thing is not being to handle those cases. So that’s been a challenge, especially with COVID and the great resignation. That part of the business is needing constant attention lately.

Kevin Daisey:

Yeah. Well, as running a business, I feel like that’s the constant ebb and flow, if you will, of a lot of clients banging on your door, how you’re going to handle the work and do it well, and give good customer service and make sure that they’re kept up with, and then you go the next, where you have not work coming in, and trying to figure that out.

Don Marcari:

Sure. The clients nowadays need more handholding. They’re much more informed. Back when I first started practicing, I think we were a learned profession and a respectable profession. And I think that has waned somewhat. Client now have access to a tremendous amount of information, good or bad. And certainly there’s enough competition out there that if you’re not servicing their needs, they’ll go to somebody else. So that’s one thing I try to focus is on customer service and answering that phone and talking to the clients and just explaining, understanding what they’ve been through. And like I said, that takes personnel, it takes empathy. And it’s a constant training of your staff and getting them to understand what your philosophy is. And sometimes some of the team members think that the cases just fall off trees so they don’t understand the expense and the time to have that client ring that phone and call you.

Kevin Daisey:

No, absolutely. I think that’s another big challenge, I think, as you start to grow, is that every team member understands the vision, the mission, why we do this and things like that. And we’re just over 20-some people, 25 maybe. And even at that level, it’s still a constant re-education and trying to make sure everyone understands what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. So 100%. So you do also do some medical malpractice. That’s something you guys focus on [crosstalk 00:13:45] o.

Don Marcari:

Yes, sir. Doing less and less of it because it’s an expensive and time-consuming area of the law. The cases rarely settle. You doctors have a consensus [inaudible 00:13:56] clause. So I think if you’re going to get in … I think there’s a lot of malpractice, unfortunately that happens. But I think the key to that area of practice is getting the right case because you will spend a tremendous amount of time and resources pursuing that case. And so medicine’s not an exact science. Those are tougher. So we’re taking less and less and being more selective in those cases.

Kevin Daisey:

That makes sense. Are you focused at all on … Just talking about more marketing. So I know you’re doing a lot more online. I totally agree. I mean, that’s what we do. We do some marketing. And we can be more specific, more focused quickly in a different market versus like a TV or radio. But are you focused at all on Spanish or Hispanic translations?

Don Marcari:

[crosstalk 00:14:44] That’s a growing … an area. And the initial challenge with that was finding staff that could handle Spanish-speaking clients. So now I think we have three lawyers that are bilingual. We probably have, I think, four paralegals that are bilingual. So it’s a good area of practice. But you need, there again, you’ve got to have the staff that handle that and to find people that can talk to people and converse and explain the concepts to them, to the client, is crucial.

Kevin Daisey:

That’s excellent. Yeah, so good that you guys had that. I noticed that you had, I think, the translation on your website. So that’s why I was asking. That’s something that we’re actually doing. So there’s a marketing company. And a lot of our attorneys and firms that we work with either need or want translation on their sites, which we’re happy to do. But we’re also going towards that market of Spanish-speaking law firms and ones that only support that. That’s a very underserved market.

Don Marcari:

Definitely.

Kevin Daisey:

So I want to say we have three full-time employees that are fluent or bilingual account managers. So that’s something we’re looking at doing to get into that market as well. And I don’t think there’s any digital marketing agencies that are doing that, but I guess we’ll find out when we start to try to break into that. So you guys, pretty large firm. What do you use to manage your pipeline? So what are all the attorneys using right now to manage their cases?

Don Marcari:

Well, I try to keep it … Being a former city manager, I think it’s crucial to have the budgets, goals quoted. I mean, you’ve got to run it. We’re a profession, but we’re also a business. So I try to make sure that each attorney has no more than 180 to 200 cases, each paralegal has 110 to 120. I think we found that for the people we have, that’s the successful number.

Kevin Daisey:

Nice.

Don Marcari:

Certainly it matters. I still practice. I still have a caseload in addition to the management duties. I try to keep that at about 50. But we have an evaluation committee meeting with the 16 attorneys once a month where anybody can bring a case to the meeting and we can talk about it. I tell the attorneys, “Look, I’ve been doing this for 36 years. I’ve had probably over 200 jury trials, but I don’t know everything.” And so the tough part about what we do is there’s no book to go by. What’s the value … And the clients … I had a client the other day, “Well, what’s my case worth?”

Don Marcari:

And I said, “Ma’am, I can’t tell you at this point. Once you get finished your care.” But there’s so many variables that go into that. So we’re constantly talking, training, just trying to do the best we can for the client.

Kevin Daisey:

That’s excellent. Well, just a random question. Have you read the book by John Morgan?

Don Marcari:

I have.

Kevin Daisey:

Can’t Teach Hungry?

Don Marcari:

Yeah, Can’t Teach Hungry. [crosstalk 00:17:59] He’s an amazing … I mean, he’s grown. I can’t imagine the manager problems he has. [crosstalk 00:18:06]-

Kevin Daisey:

I have a new idea. I just finished that book a couple weeks ago. And obviously I don’t own a law firm, but any business owner listening to this, pick that book up. It does refer a lot to running an actual personal injury firm, but applicable. Most of it, it can apply it to any business. And just a lot of principles and ways that he makes it simple for you to understand. His marketing budget, $30 to $40 million.

Don Marcari:

Yeah, that’s crazy. We established budgets [inaudible 00:18:42]. We just got back from a partners retreat. We try to get together four or five times a year, have an agenda. I have a big notebook prepared. We plan out the year. I think you have to have goals and strategies and prepare for the best and worst, what our average fee for case is, what’s acceptable kick drops, how many we sign up. Everything in our business I think is quantifiable, but I think you have to have that plan or else you don’t know where you’re going. We keep at least one month’s operating expenses in the bank because we have a bonus structure and commission structure. But you have to run it like a business. We now have a director of finance, a director of marketing, director of IT, a human resource director. I mean, all the things that you would see in a corporation. And I think to be successful, the law firm is a business as well as a profession.

Kevin Daisey:

No. And I think for anyone listening that’s, again, trying to start their own firm, looking to go out on their own, they might just be starting by themselves … Two, maybe there’s others that are getting ready to form a partnership. But you got to start thinking like the way Don is telling you here. And Can’t Teach Hungry, great book too. But setting these things in place, meetings that you’re going to have periodically, check points. There’s a sweet spot for how many cases your attorneys should be managing at one time. Are they going to trial versus are they just settling? And that might be based on your preference, but I know John Morgan’s book, he kept, “Hey, who’s not going to trial? Who’s just sitting back or wasting time on these cases and then settling 10 months, 12 months later when they could have just settled early,” right?

Don Marcari:

Right, right. And I think it’s subjective, I mean, case selection. Soft tissue rear end case should be completed. The time on desk, you’re losing money if it’s around more than eight months. I mean, once the clients … There again, we have metrics. Once the client’s finished treating and released, 60 days it should be in demand, within those 30 to 60 days, settle. There’s variables in there, but you’ve got to know which cases to try and you’ve got to be ready to try them. I mean, the insurance companies know if you’re not. So you’ve got to have a strong litigation department. 85% of the cases will probably settle, but you’ve still got to have that strong litigation department too, to put the pressure on the insurance companies. They got to know you will go to court.

Kevin Daisey:

Well, yeah, exactly, because if they know, “Hey, they never go to court. They never try,” then they can run right over you, right?

Don Marcari:

Exactly. You’re going to get a crappy offer.

Kevin Daisey:

Yeah. But if they go, “All right, we’re not messing with these guys, they’re going to go to trial if they need to”-

Don Marcari:

It makes a difference.

Kevin Daisey:

Yeah, excellent. That’s a good tip right there for anyone that’s … especially going in the personal injury space, obviously other practice areas. And I think Don made a good point too, in the beginning here, he did a general practice. And I’ve talked to a lot of attorneys on here who all mostly start that way or they intern somewhere or they’re trying to pass the bar and all that. So they get that experience and figure out which way you want to go. Don didn’t start by saying, “I’m going to be a personal injury attorney,” but he got enough experience to know what he did want to do.

Kevin Daisey:

So I think it’s okay to go out there and start that way. At the same time, Don, I’ve had a lot of good folks on the show here that find a super niche after having some experience at another firm. And then they serve that niche that they find other firms don’t want to do. And that works well for them because they get a lot of referrals and they find that little sweet spot. So specializing, I see that more often these days too.

Don Marcari:

Well, I think you’ve got to find … Professional law, it’s stressful enough. So if you’re miserable doing it, it’s going to make it that much worse. I’ve been practicing law for 36 years. I still love every day. I love coming in every day. There’s challenges, but if I was doing, for instance, divorce work, I probably would’ve found something else to do. So you’ve got to find which you’re happy at doing. And there’s a ton of clients out there. I mean, sometimes we think there’s a lot of lawyers, but if you’re good at it, if you care about the client, you put the client first, you’re going to get plenty of business. It may take a little while to start up. But if you got a niche, whatever you want to do, find out what you’re passionate about. I mean, I tell my kids that. I’ve got three kids, none of them are lawyers. They said, “Dad, you work too hard.” But I just tell them, “Find your passion because you’re going to be doing it for a long time.”

Kevin Daisey:

Yeah, I mean, if you didn’t like it, you wouldn’t be still doing it, right? And I think that’s a difference too. If you do what you love and you enjoy it, then it’s not really work at the end of the day.

Don Marcari:

Exactly.

Kevin Daisey:

Yeah. So I think that’s important to get in a space, especially as an attorney. You’re going to be working a lot, regardless of which one you choose. So might as well pick something you’re passionate about. [inaudible 00:24:06] just generally passionate about employees and their families and just having a team. So there’s other aspects of it if you’re running a firm versus just on the work. Well, Don, so what’s the outlook, what’s your plan for the next, say, next two to five years? I know we’re coming out of COVID. And hopefully things will change a little bit, but we can’t control all that. But if you had it your way, what’s the next two to five years really look like for your firm?

Don Marcari:

Well, I think we’ve decided that we’ve got to continue to grow. I said that the expenses, as ever everyone knows, with inflation, personally, and malpractice insurance, and everything is going up. So to compete, we just want to focus in the three states we’re in, keep building the value on the cases, taking the right case selection, but our mission is to grow. And I think you just mentioned a minute ago, which I think is crucially important, is to hire the right people. Excuse me. And to make sure they know that they’re appreciated. I make sure that I wish everybody a happy birthday. I make sure I know if their child is graduating. The first thing I do in the morning when I come in is I walk around the office, just say hello. I mean, I think especially today, I think the team members might have the upper hand. So you’ve got to show they’re appreciated. Money’s important. We try to pay a competitive wage. We’ve got 401(k)s, we pay 80% of their health insurance, but I think-

Kevin Daisey:

Very nice.

Don Marcari:

… we want them to grow with us and stay with us. Turnover sucks. And I think the biggest thing is just to show them that they’re appreciated. And when they have issues and problems, be there to help solve those problems. We’re all busy. I have an open door policy. I might be in the middle of something, but somebody comes in, and you just got to find time to talk to them and help them out.

Kevin Daisey:

I love it. Absolutely. Yeah, if you’re not growing, you’re dying, so you got to focus on that. And I think that’s definitely us too. And I think there’s a owner side of it, the entrepreneur side, that’s just like growth and everyone just thinks, “Well, that’s just more money,” and whatever. But I think just trying to get all your team members and employees to understand, “Hey, we have to be growing in order to support you and give you more opportunity. And if you want to manage people or become C level or whatever, we can’t stop growing because if we do, then those opportunities aren’t there.”

Kevin Daisey:

And then not just that, it’s been, I think, hard for us because our mission, I guess, more or less is to help people like you, Don, help people. So we can bring you more clients that need your help, that you can help. So it’s like, what’s our purpose here? It’s not just making websites and stuff like that. That doesn’t really have much of a meaning to it. So we have to dig deeper sometimes and say, “All right, well, here’s what we really do and why we do it.”

Don Marcari:

Well, I think marketing is so … Again, marketing is 25% of our budget, whether you like it or not. And I have some partners that don’t appreciate the value of it. But in this day and time, you’ve got to market yourself. Whether you think that’s seemly or not seemly, it’s a reality. And we push the five star reviews on Google. I want clients to tell … referrals are the best source, but you can be the best lawyer in the world, if you don’t have the clients, you’re not going anywhere.

Kevin Daisey:

Yeah, 100%. And I get to talk to prospects like that all the time, and usually what I … a lot of attorneys, you couldn’t even advertise as an attorney, I think back in [crosstalk 00:28:15] in the eighties, I think?

Don Marcari:

[crosstalk 00:28:18] whenever it was, yeah.

Kevin Daisey:

Yeah. So for a long time, it was like … and I still talk to attorneys today, especially in the family practice areas and stuff like that, “Hey, we don’t market, we don’t advertise. We have integrity. We can’t say anything about anything. We just wait for people to find us, more or less.” And I usually tell them this, and this is for anyone listening, and for Don, is “If I was just in a serious car accident or I’m going through a divorce or whatever it may be, and I need help, and if Don knew about me, he knew this, he could help me. But if I don’t know who Don is, and I go looking on the internet or Google or whatever, and Don doesn’t show up, then Don can’t be there to service me or help me out. But someone will be there to help me out.”

Kevin Daisey:

So usually I tell a story, well, if I was going through a divorce potentially, and I needed information and I wasn’t sure, and I Googled for some questions, could you answer those questions? And they’d be like, “Oh, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m the best around.” Okay, cool. What if you answered those questions, you came up, I ended up on your website, I read some articles, you had a podcast about whatever, and I felt a lot of help in that and then I eventually reached out when I was ready to say, “Hey, I need your help. And your website’s been helpful. You had a video that was helpful to me. I feel comfortable. I feel like I know you. I wanted to go ahead and schedule a consultation.” And so that’s really what we’re trying to do here, and all firms should be trying to do that, but you have to be, or you don’t get the work and you can’t help the client at the end of the day.

Don Marcari:

Exactly.

Kevin Daisey:

Yeah, so that’s how everyone should be viewing marketing. Advertising, maybe a little bit different, screaming on TV and all that stuff. And Don’s always … I mean, I’ve seen Don, I’ve seen your commercials before I even had my own company or it was in marketing at all, because you guys did a good job. But they were always classy, nice commercials versus other folks that scream and talk about how much money they’re going to get you and stuff like that. So yeah, I think you’ve always done a good job with your marketing and your brand.

Don Marcari:

Thank you.

Kevin Daisey:

Are you guys still doing TV now?

Don Marcari:

No. We’ve been off TV now for probably five years, I guess. We’re in Tidewater market, Raleigh market, Charlotte market, and to compete in three different markets was tough. So the internet is where we’re solely … naturally referrals. But as far as the internet’s where we’ve been, and pretty successful there.

Kevin Daisey:

Yeah, excellent. Well, I think that’s a good move. Again, I don’t even have TV anymore. I think I just have [crosstalk 00:31:10]-

Don Marcari:

Well, that’s because people have got … they’ve got Hulu and all these other streaming services, or you DVR it and you flash right through the commercial. So if you look around now, everybody … I look at my kids, I mean, they’re on their phones constantly. And if they were the information, it’s so accessible right there, right in your hand.

Kevin Daisey:

Yeah, every time I look at a website, it’s like analytics and stuff, I’d say about 75% to 80% are on a mobile phone. Especially in your industry.

Don Marcari:

Sure.

Kevin Daisey:

So you’re talking about 20% to 30% on a computer. So yeah, it’s rapidly changing to mobile only.

Don Marcari:

It is.

Kevin Daisey:

So yeah, you got to be where they are. And you can still do those same commercials on YouTube or Facebook or whatever. You just don’t have to do it on TV. Side note, I was actually looking at all the subscription stuff because I remember, like, “Oh, we cut the cord and we’re saving money from Cox or Verizon or whoever you have.” And now I have so many subscriptions, I think it totals up more than what my cable bill [crosstalk 00:32:14]-

Don Marcari:

That’s what I’m afraid of.

Kevin Daisey:

So now it’s like, whatever, just spend the money anyway. So Don, anything else exciting coming up or that you’d like to share? I definitely want to put your website back up here again as well.

Don Marcari:

No, this has been great. And like I say, any young attorneys that want go out of their own or are thinking about start a firm, I’d love to give you some advice if you need it. I’ve made every mistake you can make. I’m still learning, but I still enjoy every day. It’s a great profession. I’m proud to be an attorney. You actually do get to help people no matter what field you’re in. We’re going to keep growing and hope be around for a while. And then maybe one day I’ll figure out an exit strategy, but I haven’t figured that out yet.

Kevin Daisey:

And you’re sticking in it for now. So yeah, donmarcari.com, it’s at the bottom of the screen here. And if you’re listening, you can go there, reach out to Don. Is there any other way that folks can reach out? They just go to the website and call or email or what’s the best way for them reach out to you?

Don Marcari:

Either that or they can email me at donm@mrslawfirm.com. Shoot me an email. I’ll be glad to talk with you [inaudible 00:33:31].

Kevin Daisey:

Yeah. And I would encourage you, anyone listening to that, again, I’ve gotten to meet Don and learn more about his firm, but full of information and can be helpful to any attorney out there. Or maybe if you’re not going out on your own, it sounds like Don could use some extra attorneys over there.

Don Marcari:

There you go. Come on. [crosstalk 00:33:56]-

Kevin Daisey:

Yeah, maybe should connect with him. So before we wrap up, Don, on a lighter note, what are some things that you like to do personally?

Don Marcari:

Mostly I coach football. I’m the commissioner for the Great Neck Area Youth Football League. And I’ve coached at Lynnhaven Middle School and at the high school.

Kevin Daisey:

Awesome.

Don Marcari:

Yeah, I enjoy the kids. And I think the game of football’s great. The city is trying to get away from tackle, which we continually fight. This new world is wants to give participation trophies. And I don’t believe in that. So coaching football with the kids is my passion. So I spend a lot of time doing that.

Kevin Daisey:

That’s awesome. Yeah, I’m with you on that. I got kids, I got small kids. Sometimes they come home with something I’m like, “Oh, cool. What’d you get?”

Kevin Daisey:

Like, “Oh, well, I didn’t do good at all.”

Kevin Daisey:

“Why’d you get that? Send it back.”

Don Marcari:

[inaudible 00:35:00] I don’t know. I guess I’m like, “Get off my lawn.”

Kevin Daisey:

That’s funny. Yeah, I’m going to be that old man too. So football, professional football. What is your team?

Don Marcari:

I like the Patriots. I like their style. I like their process, how Belichick’s just like, “Do your job.” That’s a great philosophy that I try to instill here. I tell people, “Just stay in your lane, do your job. And the team will be okay.”

Kevin Daisey:

No, I like that. I like Belichick, and I’ve always said … So I’ve always been a Redskins … or now I don’t even know what the heck they’re called at this point. But I was born into that. I got a picture of me in pajamas, Redskins pajamas, when I was a couple years old. But so I continue to support them no matter what their name is. But I’ve always said “If you’re an American, how can you not like the Patriots?”

Don Marcari:

Yeah.

Kevin Daisey:

And the Cowboys, what is that, America’s football team? I don’t agree.

Don Marcari:

Yeah, that’s one thing in my bucket. I do want to go to the stadium there, though. I would like to see that.

Kevin Daisey:

That looks beautiful there. It’s really cool. I’ve never been. I’d like to get to a Super Bowl at some point in my life-

Don Marcari:

[crosstalk 00:36:19] one day.

Kevin Daisey:

All right, Don, let’s go. We’ll get some tickets together at some point.

Don Marcari:

All right. Sounds good, Kevin. Look forward to it.

Kevin Daisey:

[crosstalk 00:36:25] make a lot more money, though.

Don Marcari:

That’s right. That’s right. I think they were $5,500 a ticket this year or something.

Kevin Daisey:

It’s within reach. It’s not too bad.

Don Marcari:

There you go.

Kevin Daisey:

Well, Don, thanks so much for sharing your story today. Please reach out to Don and connect with him, or at least go check out his firm and what they do. I think he’s a great example for anyone listening to follow in his footsteps. Go check out A Few Good Men so you can see what Don used to look like when he was younger.

Don Marcari:

Yeah, that’s right. [crosstalk 00:36:54]-

Kevin Daisey:

Tom Cruise. And yeah, you can check out this episode and many more. We’ve had, I think, over 200 managing partners like Don on the show from all walks of life, so different practice areas, different states, different areas. There should be something you can find on this show that’s going to help you. So you can sort by state, you can sort by practice area and find maybe another attorney that you would relate with and that can help you out. So we encourage you to do that. You can go to thisisarray.com/podcast. And then stay tuned because we also have the Managing Partner’s newsletter, which goes out twice a week. So we feature attorneys, episodes like this with Don, any tips like that as well. And if you need help with marketing to get where Don is at, that’s what we do. Digital is where we live. thisisarray.com. Reach out to me or anyone on my team and we’ll be happy to help you out or answer any questions you have. So Don, that’s all we got.

Don Marcari:

Great, Kev. Thanks. Have a great day.

Kevin Daisey:

Thanks for joining me. Stay on with me for a second.

Don Marcari:

All right.

Kevin Daisey:

Everyone else, have a great day. Get out there, put your head down, get to work like Don says, and everything else will work out.