Podcast: How Going Narrow Helped Me Win a $4M Case Rejected by 4 Firms

Chris Dreyer: A lot of lawyers fall in the trap of trying to be everything to everyone. They want the car wrecks, the slip and falls, and maybe even a little criminal offense on the side to pay the bills. If you want to stand out in a crowded market, you need to niche down.

Today, we’re talking with Chad Meyers, founder of Meyers Injury Law in Nashville, Tennessee. We’re breaking down what it takes to risk almost six figures on a single case that four other firms passed on, the grim but highly lucrative world of funeral home negligence, and why dominating a hyper-specific niche is your fastest ticket to growth.

This is Personal Injury Mastermind. I’m Chris Dreyer, founder and CEO of rankings.io, the elite performance marketing agency for Personal Injury Law firms. Let’s get into it.

You’re the epitome of going all in, right? You opened your personal injury law firm in Nashville, straight out of law school. But talk to me about a recent win, something comes to mind.

Chad Meyers: We’ll do. Yeah, I did. I had a recent settlement. It was $4 million. It was a negligent security settlement. There’s a bunch of different types of negligent security, whether it’s lost prevention security guards or apartment shooting cases, lack of security for the better explanation.

This was a loss prevention case where there was a guard hired by a specific retailer and that guard was employed by an outside security company. Really, they just had a bunch of different rules like that retailer had rules, the security company had rules. They conflicted with each other and probably put this security guard in a position that he really didn’t know what to do.

He just unfortunately, my client was stealing, took three cans of ravioli and he was walking out and he got stopped. He put everything back. That security guard just pepper sprayed them all the way from the entrance to his car.

There was another guy in the car and as they backed out, the security guard started pepper spraying the driver and the driver, I mean, crazy, just had a flare gun. I don’t know who drives around with the flare gun, but shoots the flare gun at him and my guys and the passenger seat, they’re driving off and he just unloads his clip, hits my guy in the back and paralyzes him from the waist down. I took that case and about four other law firms had passed on it.

When I say passed, I don’t mean they took the case and referred it to me. I mean, they literally just said, no, you don’t have a case. 

Chris: So it got to make you feel good when you get that case, get that $4 million settlement, everybody else passed on it, so no referral fee or anything like that. So that was a big win.

Chad: That was great for my firm, my family. It gave me the opportunity to, I didn’t go out and buy a race car or nothing like that. I took that money and reinvested it into my firm, hired some more people and just plugged away.

Chris: Let’s go. That pumps me up, that story there. This was like a risk it all type case, right?

Where you talk with the wife, it’s like, how did that convo go?

Chad: Yeah, I think that’s a funny story. My wife and I talk about it a lot because when I started my firm, I remember specifically that we were sitting one day and we wanted to get Chipotle. We couldn’t afford to go out and get it because she was in real estate.

I was starting my firm, she was new. We just didn’t have the money to do it. My dad had bought a half a cow and given it to us.

We were living off of this half a cow and stuff like that. Whenever I fast forward to this case, I’m pretty young considering owning your firm. I’m 34.

I was about 32, 33 whenever I decided like, hey, we’ve got to start spending money on experts and stuff. The expert I had was ex-FBI, ex-Quantico, big wig and security stuff. His retainer was like 20 grand.

It was 10 grand and then another 10 grand, so it’s technically 20 grand. But I wanted that expert prior to going into any depositions or anything because I wanted to be able to pin down their corporate rep and the security guard in a way that was going to be effective if we were going to mediate the case because I had some other problems with it too. When I had to start spending money on the case, it was high, like almost into the six figures that we had invested in the case.

I sat my wife down and I was like, listen, I’m going to have to start spending a lot of money on this case. I don’t operate my firm on any debt. I think that’s a poor choice in terms of running a law firm.

You get into some trouble there. I decided, hey, I’m going to spend this money. I told my wife and she said, well, are you going to win?

I said, I think so. Yeah, I think I got a good chance that if it goes to trial, I think it does. But the problem was everybody I talked to was, they’d see the video and they’d be like, oh, shit Chad, I don’t know.

Man, I had multiple lawyers tell me, I don’t know if I like that case. But then I started talking to some lawyers outside of Tennessee, which is really a great thing to do. They were like, go all in on that case.

That’s a good case. So my wife and I risked it. I told my wife, if I lose and I lose all this money, it’s going to be a problem.

It’s going to be a big problem. Have to mortgage our house type problems. But she believed in me and my staff believed in me.

And I think the most important part is that I believed in myself. And that’s hard to do whenever you’ve got, as lawyers, we’re trained to think of the worst case scenario. And I was able to believe in myself, believe in my case, believe in my client. And we got to win.

Chris: That’s like goosebumps. That’s a good one. That’s a risk it for the biscuit.

And so talk to me about the momentum leading, like after that, like attracting cases. And we got to bring it up, right? You’ve got not only the negligence security, but you’ve also got a unique niche that I’ve never heard of, the funeral home negligence.

So talk to me about how you’re thinking about attracting cases and also in really these unique areas.

Chad: I think whenever you get, you know, after I’ve got this security settlement, and after I started, people just started calling me, asking me about their cases. Attracting cases comes by way of helping people and helping other lawyers. And the problem we have in our industry is there’s a lot of old dog lawyers that will try to slime in on people’s cases and get a fee or like say, hey, I’ve settled, you know, $15 million security cases, sign me in on your case, and we’ll settle it for at least $7 million or something.

And then they don’t do shit. So I’m always really wary to younger lawyers about who they let in on their cases because there’s a lot of lawyers that they just want to get in and get part of that fee. So when lawyers call me or I tell people, hey, you know, you don’t got to bring me in on the case right now.

Let me talk to you. Let me give you some ideas. And then if you think you need to, you want to bring me in, then do it.

But hey, I may give you a golden nugget that takes you to the finish line and you settle your case for seven figures. So that’s how I do. I try to do it by helping people.

I try to do it by giving people ideas, by getting outside of Tennessee. I think that’s really important. I think if you talk to a lot of people, they’ll tell you that Tennessee is one of the most difficult states to practice in.

We’ve got damage caps, really difficult laws. We’ve got a unanimous jury verdict requirement. And some people can’t, like my buddy can’t, he’s like, every time I talk to me, he’s like, I can’t believe you guys got a unanimous jury verdict requirement. That’s insane. But talking to lawyers outside of Tennessee and becoming helpful to them, and it’s really helped me kind of bring in more cases.

Yeah, I didn’t know the unanimous jury verdict. You know, the more I get into this, the different laws and states and the tort thresholds, it just…I can’t get 12 people to agree to the sky’s blue, let alone that my client is hurt from a rear end collision.

Chris: Let’s dig into that. So does that mean jury selection is like not just an afterthought, it’s like you got to dial in your jury selection?

Chad: I would argue it’s the most important part of a trial in Tennessee. If you have a goal and you want to get what you want, then you need the people on the jury that will give you what you want. Obviously, that’s difficult and sometimes you make mistakes.

I was supposed to be in trial and next week, I was actually on a negligent cremation case and it got pushed to November. But then I’m in trial again the first week of April in Murfreesboro on a different case. In both of those cases, I’m doing jury selection.

So that’s where my focus is. It’s very important. If you’re going to get what you want, then you need the people that are going to give you what you want. And you just, you’ve got to hone in on that.

Chris: Let’s dig in this a little further. Is there a TAC? Do you do a whole bunch of focus groups? Do you, like, what’s just some basic tips that you kind of apply yourself when you’re picking the jury?

Chad: Being honest, first and foremost, because first of all, I don’t do a lot of focus groups. That’s probably something I need to change in my practice. I’ve been involved with cases that do them and sometimes they get it wrong.

Sometimes, not every case I think is prime for a focus group or not every case justifies that cost. But I think that’s something I need to change. I’m not perfect and nobody’s perfect when they run their firm or no lawyer is perfect.

But one of the first things I say in jury selection is, I always say, listen, you’re sitting in a courtroom you’ve never been in and you’re sitting in a position you’ve probably never been in and it’s really uncomfortable. If I was sitting in your position, I can probably promise you I’m not going to be the one that’s going to raise my hand and talk first. I’m probably going to be pretty quiet.

That’s just how I am as a person. But I’m going to be a hypocrite right now and I’m going to ask you not to be like me. I need you to talk to me.

I need you to be honest with me. And I think if you get that out there and let them know like, hey, I’m like you. I’m a person that’s not going to be real vocal and show them that they can’t say anything that’s going to be, you know, somebody’s going to look sideways at or side-eyed at that will let them open up more and allow you to do your job better.

So I always start off with that and let people know like, hey, I’m going to be a little bit of a hypocrite and ask you not to be like me. Okay. Just talk to me a little bit. That’s helped a little bit.

Advertisement: Even Up is a specialized, proactive AI built for personal injury law firms. Personal injury is in their DNA. Visit evenuplaw.com to learn more.

Chris: Getting 12 people to agree on anything is a monumental task, but before you can even pick a jury, you need the right cases walking through your door. Chad’s firm is known for negligent security, but he also dominates a highly specific, sensitive niche, funeral home negligence. So let’s dig in on those cases and how they help Chad grow.

Swing it back around, we mentioned this twice, the funeral home negligence. You know, your parents owned a funeral home, so you’ve got…

Chad: Still do.

Chris: Still do. So you have a better understanding of that space. Like, what’s…Like, I don’t even know. Like, what is a funeral home negligence case? Like, what’s some more examples there?

Chad: It turns on essentially two different ways you can have a funeral home negligence case. And a lot of people probably know the Tri-State Crematory case, which happened here in south Tennessee down by Chattanooga, where there was a guy, I think it was, I want to… I forget the exact date or year.

I think it was like back in the early 2000s, it was basically throwing people into the woods and stuff, and giving people ash, like cat litter and charcoal and stuff.

Chris: Unreal.

Chad: That was more of an intentional act, right? So when I come in, it’s more of this person was embalmed. They were embalmed incorrectly.

They decompose or they’re not presentable, or they’ve started to purge. I settled a case down in Chattanooga where this lady was, she died of liver failure. And science comes in a lot in these cases because you need to know that our science has evolved and the medicines we take have evolved, so the embalming process is involved.

And she died of liver failure, which makes you become jaundice-y, like yellowish, greenish. And there’s a specific type of embalming technique that you should use, like, and she was particularly overweight. And they did a single point injection so that embalming fluid wasn’t getting to where it needed to be. And they should have done a six-point injection. And she decomposed and purged, and then the family was brought in, and she was shown to the family, and she was purging and all this stuff. So there’s cases like that where there’s embalming issues.

And then I also have crematory cases where, for example, the case that was set for trial next week, that got continued. Back in 2013, there were two people from two different funeral homes that went to one crematory in Nashville. And that’s called a, basically they contract.

So it’s not a direct to cremation situation where they die and go to the crematory. They were at a funeral home, two people, they went to one place. And by law in Tennessee, you have to have a titanium tag with a number printed on it when you arrive.

And there’s receipt of remains, and it gets really technical. They get cremated. And then after cremation, you’re supposed to have a written tag with the name, date of birth, social security number placed into the cremates.

Now, that’s by law. That’s a statute. Nobody knows about that really. You can’t expect a regular person to know. So they close these up, send them back to the family, back to the funeral homes who give them to the families. On the outside of the box says the person’s name.

On the inside, there’s another box that says the person’s name, has an ID tag. The ID tag reads the same. So in 2013, in 2022, Mother’s Day, my clients decide, hey, we’re going to go to our cemetery, we’re going to spread mom’s ashes.

So they open up the ashes and they grab a handful, and they grab that tag that’s inside, that plastic tag. Wrong name, wrong date of birth, wrong social security number.

Chris: Super interesting, that expertise. I mean, right now, the audience is listening, it’s so rare that I could imagine you might get a contact from that. Let me ask you, look, I’m not an attorney, this is maybe one of the dumbest questions I’ve asked.

So let’s just take your through and through auto accident, let’s say the statute is two years. You said, hey, like they didn’t care about the statute. Like is there a scenario where somebody was in an auto accident three years ago, could still have a case or is it just?

Chad: So in Tennessee, we have a one year statute of limitations. It’s the shortest in the country. There’s kind of certain ways you can get around it.

For example, in Tennessee, if there was like a citation or a charge, it extends it to two years. Like if somebody was drunk driving, it extends it to two years. Certain claims against the state.

All in all, I’m sure maybe a different attorney may have some different answers for you. But I mean, we get cases all the time from other lawyers outside of Tennessee. That’s why I caution people who practice in states with extended statute of limitations to take Tennessee cases.

Because probably every quarter, I get a call from a lawyer that’s like, hey, I didn’t know you had a one year statute of limitations. I need you to file this today. I help people out. Like I’ll file it. It’s no big deal.

Chris: Because the blown SOL, that’s a big issue, right?

Chad: That’s a, yeah, that’s a, that’s a you’re going to be sitting in front of the ethics committee issue.

Chris: So it takes a very specific type of expertise to handle sensitive cases like funeral home negligence. And because those niches are so specialized, you can’t just throw up a billboard and expect them to roll in. I wanted to find out how Chad operates his direct to consumer marketing.

It turns out he avoids the traditional mass market approach entirely. You’ve handled some of these unique cases and like these are good from a receiving or referral perspective. Like how are you thinking about direct consumer marketing? You got a clean website, SEO optimized. Like how are you thinking about digital?

Chad: In terms of the niche areas I get, I mean we rank really well on SEO for security and funeral home cases. Those cases get to refer to me all the time. The funeral home cases are for every 100 that I get referred to, I maybe take two of them or three of them. It just really depends. As for the regular run of the mill PI stuff, I’m really heavy on digital. I don’t really do any traditional advertising.”

I’m the epitome of wasting your money on that. I think a lot of people need to realize that, and I did, I spoke at the TTLA Tennessee Trial Lawyers Convention on branding and intake. And one of my big things was, hey, don’t make this mistake.

Everybody wants to see their face on a billboard. Everybody wants to see their face on TV. It’s really cool.

I get it, but that’s not for you, right? That’s not for you to drive by and see. And I spent, you know, they have these little billboards around Nashville, and I spent some money doing that, but my SEO wasn’t good.

Now, those billboards and TVs, those are just touches. Those are just staying in front of mine. But like to get directly to the consumer, your SEO, your pay-per-click or your LSAs or whatever, they’ve got to be honed in, because those are the cases that are really going to grow your firm.

And if you go directly to TV, directly to billboards, stuff like that, you haven’t honed in that practice area that you want to focus on to get those cases. And I would also urge people not to be Jack of all trades. If you want to be the best, like don’t hire Chad Meyers to be your criminal lawyer, because you’re going to end up in jail.

Like I wouldn’t know what the hell I was doing. And I see a lot of lawyers, they’re like, I want to do this and get paid this way, and I want to do some wills and some estates, and this, that and the other. And I was like, you’re not going to be the best at anything doing that.

That’s probably the most feedback I got from that conference was people saying, you know, I didn’t really think of it that way. Like I want to make the most money I possibly can, but I really need to hone in on one area. So yeah, I think for us, I’m honing in on my digital, my SEO and stuff like that.

But I also don’t, I don’t deal with it anymore, because I’m just a lawyer. Like I’m not a marketing guy. I’ve got a director of operations and I’ve got a CMO that I don’t, I can’t look at a screen and be like, yep, my Google is performing well or my, this is performing well.

I’m just a lawyer and I got to know what I don’t know, and I don’t know how to deal with that. So I’ve delegated that and I think it’s become a lot easier and simpler for me, and also easier for my staff because there’s a lot of things that I try to make a macro manner sometimes and my staff’s like, hey, that’s like my director of operations. So it’ll be like you make it more difficult for me when you try to jump in and do this, this, and this.

Chris: And I respect you’re saying that to me.

Chad: I’m the epitome of that. I just go right in. I go right in and then I try to, I try to, you know that Homer Simpson meme where it goes into the bushes?

Chris: Yes, yes, yes. I’ve said that a few times. That’s good. So what’s the future look like?

What’s some, what’s, you know, kind of cast in like the big picture? Like what are some things you’re excited about or or maybe trying to, you know, implement at the firm? Like what’s next?

Chad: I’ve got a vision. I really, I know a lot of people want to go multi-state. That’s not my goal.

My goal is to dominate Nashville and then to expand outward. I think when I first started, I was like, hey, let’s try to get some cases in Memphis. Let’s try to get some cases in Chattanooga. Let’s try to get some cases in Knoxville. But I think it’s best to not have a blanket when you first start and just kind of hone in. And since I’ve implemented that strategy, we’ve grown a lot.

And then for the future, I personally, I know I have to handle some of the car wreck cases and stuff like that. But if I could make my living only doing security and funeral home cases, I would. So for me, my goal is to only handle those types of specific niche cases and then for my associates to handle the other cases.

Because I found that, you know, I mean, the other day I’ve gotten an associate, Leah, who I gave her a bunch of cases. And it’s not even in the first quarter and she’s already into her bonus. And also, there’s cases, there’s one case I was like, thinking maybe we should drop and talk to my, my director of operations.

Like, man, I think we maybe should get out of this case. She settled for policy limits, 100 grand, like a week ago. And I went to my director of operations and I’m like, am I losing it?

Like, am I missing something here? Like, what the hell? And I think if you just-

Chris: That’s one of those good surprises.

Chad: Yeah. I mean, I think if you really surround yourself with good staff and then delegate that to Elevate and just let the leash off of them, that’s fine. I mean, it’s baptism by fire here.

She was sworn in and she argued and intervened on a deck action a week later. I mean, she was up in Knoxville doing depositions. You got to let your young lawyers learn by fire.

You got to let them make mistakes. Even your case managers, you know, I’ve got a lot of respect for the people that work for me and I just, I let them do their thing and I’m here to help them, you know?”

Chris: That’s what it’s all about. I love that. Chad, this has been amazing.

For audience, listen, it has a potential case for you. It has questions about the pod. What’s the best way to get in touch?

Chad: You can text me on my cell phone, 816-810-1618 or you can email me at Chad, chad@ meyersinjurylaw.com.

Chris: Amazing. Chad, thanks for coming on the show.

Chad: Hey, thank you.

Chris: To truly scale, you’ve got to know what you don’t know and delegate the rest. Chad’s approach to focusing purely on unique niches he loves is exactly how you build a firm that serves you rather than the other way around. If you’re ready to stop being a jack of all trades and start dominating your market through elite data-driven SEO, head over to rankings.io, see how we help elite personal injury firm scale.

I’m Chris Dreyer. Thanks for listening to Personal Injury Mastermind. I’ll catch you next time.