Growing Beyond Atlanta: Building Stronger Community Connections Across Georgia

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here for another episode of High Velocity Radio. And this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, Business RadioX. If you’re a coach or consultant who is tired of selling and ready to lead by serving, set up a call with Stone Payton at bookstonephone.com to learn how to give local leaders a voice and become a recognized authority in your market. Today on the show, we have a return guest, one of our favorite attorneys, Seth Bader. Welcome.

Seth Bader: Hey, thanks so much for having me back on the show.

Lee Kantor: Well said. I heard there’s big news. I heard you’re not only in Atlanta, but you’re taking over all of Georgia. What’s going on there?

Seth Bader: Well, you know, I don’t know about taking over, but we are expanding our footprint and we are making ourselves more available in person in different parts of the state. We already have some other satellite offices, but recently we opened an office in Columbus as well as Augusta. So really excited about those two new offices and just being able to be on the ground in person to, to connect with the people in those communities that we’ve been representing, many of them, literally thousands of clients from the Columbus and Augusta areas for for years. But now we actually will have a home base where we can represent them and connect with them in person, where they don’t have to drive to Atlanta to meet with us.

Lee Kantor: Now, talk a little bit. I’d like to share with our listeners. A lot of folks have businesses that are in one market, like you were in Atlanta, based in Atlanta, you know, boots on the ground in Atlanta. How do you go about kind of an expansion plan like you did? Is it something that you have to now hire somebody there to physically be there. That’s a better law kind of person. Are you looking for a partner that maybe has a firm already that you can collaborate with? Like, how did you kind of attack? Okay, I’m going to expand and I want to have a physical presence in a variety of cities around the state.

Seth Bader: And I think you can there’s a variety of approaches. And at some point we probably will expand through acquisition or partnership. But for now, we were just looking at markets where we have there’s a there’s a demand and growing markets and markets where not only are the markets themselves growing, but our inventory of our clients is growing. And so we wanted to be sure that we had, you know, presence on the ground. And so we’ll have team members that are available to meet with clients in person. And whether it’s a client meeting, whether it’s a deposition or a mediation, we’ll be able to meet with our clients in person at our offices.

Lee Kantor: So are those attorneys?

Seth Bader: I’ve not hired a new attorney to work in those offices, but we will have staff members, paralegals or otherwise, and then our attorneys will be able to meet physically with our clients. Our clients don’t always come to the office. So for the attorneys to be there, you know, full time is not necessarily a, you know, a necessity, particularly in a world where so many people are working from home. But we now have a physical presence so we can meet with our clients in person, lawyers and non-lawyers.

Lee Kantor: So your physical presence in a given market. So their role is to kind of just, um, just become part of the community, right? And get to know the community and be available for them if they have any questions or needs.

Seth Bader: I think, I think the idea is I think, look, this is a professional service business and we represent people that are injured. And I think the ability to, you know, even though so much work today in our industry and others, um, is done, including this podcast is done Remotely. Um, the human connection is really, really important. So to be able to meet physically at an office that’s our own, um, where clients don’t have to drive as far to me is a really, really important thing to do. And then again, being part of the community, um, is also very important as well. Building relationships, boots on the ground, um, with, with our, you know, partners and medical providers. Um, and, you know, other other folks that we would work with. I think it’s really important.

Lee Kantor: Now, um, is that help you differentiate from the other, um, firms doing a similar activity as you?

Seth Bader: Um, I mean, I think it does differentiate, I mean, there’s a lot of firms that exist already and have a physical presence in a Columbus in Augusta. Um, I think, I think it differentiates us from where we were before. I think where, where we’ve been is we’ve had a sort of a marketing presence, but not necessarily a physical presence. And so I think this is this is a better version of us, but I wouldn’t so much get into like, whether this is better than other firms because again, I have friends, colleagues that are in Columbus that are in, um, that are in Augusta, that have offices that do a great job. But I think for our clients, we want to make sure that we’re there and present for them.

Lee Kantor: So when you noticed that your client base is in certain areas and you say, okay, this might be an area that’s worth exploring for expansion, did you do kind of an experiment and pick a market and see how that went before you kind of rolled out to these additional markets?

Seth Bader: Um, not necessarily. I think we just kind of had an opportunity to look at the markets themselves, to look at the growth in those markets. Uh, and also both, you know, just, just statistically unrelated to our practice just in terms of population growth. Um, but then also within our inventory and in our our system, we can see, you know, where, where we’ve seen growth. And those are two areas in particular where we really wanted to focus. And, you know, they’re not they’re, they’re not that far from Atlanta, but they’re far enough that they require, I think, boots on the ground.

Lee Kantor: Now, is there like, what is kind of your profile of a good market? Like, do they have certain types of industries? Is there a certain demographic? Like how did you choose those out of, you know, other ones?

Seth Bader: Yeah, I mean, look, I think that we do, we do, um, personal injury and workers compensation. Um, both of those markets, particularly Columbus have, um, a pretty significant, uh, industry, um, and opportunity to, to support and represent people that are hurt on the job. Um, but they’re just growing markets. I mean, personal injury. Um, I mean, it’s, it’s really, there’s, there was kind of a correlation between the number of people, um, in a market and the number of cases and opportunities. And we feel like what we do is we look at, um, you know, again, the population growth and the number of people there. Uh, we also see where we feel that there’s maybe an not an adequate number of attorneys that can serve that community. And those are two of the markets where we found that opportunity.

Lee Kantor: Now, have you, um, do you have the offices open now or are you planning to have them open? Like what status are they at right now?

Seth Bader: Um, I mean, they’re open. I mean, they’re still like, we’re still furnishing them and everything, but they are, we’ve signed leases. Um, and, um, you know, there’s still some work to do, but we are active in those markets now.

Lee Kantor: So what is a person in Augusta or Columbus or Macon? What is their kind of a day to day job that you’ve kind of, um, put them on in order to immerse themselves in the market and to let everyone know that beta law is here now.

Seth Bader: Yeah. I mean, I think their job is, is Very similar to the job that they would do in, in Atlanta. Um, it’s to, you know, to be available. Um, obviously, again, a lot of our work is done via telephone and computers, but, uh, it’s not, it’s not anything particularly unique to the market. It’s what’s unique is that it’s now, um, there so that if a client wants to come to our Columbus office right there on ninth Street, they can come, they can meet with us in person. Um, and the same is true for our Augusta office.

Lee Kantor: So you don’t have them going to chamber meetings or kind of joining the rotary or doing some of the just kind of letting everybody in the community know that beta law is physically here. You’re just, it’ll just happen.

Seth Bader: No, no, I think, I mean, I think when you sorry, you were asking me about my particular like employees that are there on the ground. I mean, I think.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, I’m just trying to get an idea of how if, if a company wants to deploy people out into the market. I want to know. Okay, first of all, I understand the why part. Just. Okay, now what are they doing? They’re just sitting by the phone and waiting for the phone to ring. They might as well have been in Atlanta.

Seth Bader: Well, I think, I think that the opportunity to build the relationships and be there in person, I think I will, you know, as the firm’s primary brand ambassador, we’ll be investing a lot more time. I was just in Columbus. I was just in Augusta. Um, and, and I will, I personally will be much more involved, uh, in, along with, uh, some other individuals in the firm to be there connected, meeting people, building those relationships, boots on the ground. But the individuals that actually in the firm, um, today physically will be individuals that are supporting clients and supporting the operation. So, um, it’s not, I think, I think maybe you’re under the impression that the idea is that we’re expanding and having, you know, an entire fleet of people on day one. I think it takes time to really build up that presence. And so at least to start. It starts small, but you know, I will be actively involved, um, and building relationships with folks in the community.

Lee Kantor: And then when you want to find those kind of local partners who are, who are the ones you want to meet?

Seth Bader: Um, do you mean like.

Lee Kantor: Like in Columbus? Do you want to meet chiropractors? You want to meet? Yeah. So, um.

Seth Bader: Yeah, so, so, so I think, I think across the medical spectrum, um, we would want a medical provider, I think is probably the main focus, but other law firms as well, um, where we can build a referral partnerships. Um, I think those are the two key, but also like folks in the industry, I don’t know, you know, if there’s, if there’s folks that are, you know, connected to unions, I know that unions are not big in the South, but, you know, finding folks that have access to, um, potential clients where we can serve and support them and let them know that we’re there. And, um, you know, I think that’s where the focus would be.

Lee Kantor: And then as you expand, are there other kind of cities on your roadmap, or are you going to just kind of hold from here, learn some stuff, and then use that information to kind of maybe expand it to other areas?

Seth Bader: So we already have a presence in Carrollton and in Norcross. Um, we don’t have any other, uh, you know, like in 2026, there’s no other specific locations that we’re looking to expand to. Um, I think we want to get settled in again in Columbus and Augusta and are really excited about the expansion in those markets. But I imagine in 2027, we’ll look at other markets making this one. Gainesville is one. Dalton. I mean, I think, um, I think it’s really again, it’s really, really important to have a physical presence, um, where you can, um, because this, this is such a people focused relationship, um, centered business.

Lee Kantor: Now is your work exclusively in Georgia, or do you also serve the outlying states? You know, Alabama, Tennessee, Carolina.

Seth Bader: Today, we’re exclusively in Georgia, and we don’t have any plans to expand. We do get calls from folks in other states, and we do have referral partners that we can refer out to. But our work is exclusive to Georgia.

Lee Kantor: And is that like, what was the thinking there to just kind of, okay, we’re going to just hang out here for a minute.

Seth Bader: Um, I mean, we are, we are licensed to practice in Georgia. This is the area of law we know even though laws are similar. Um, our, our, I guess our area of expertise and our niche is, is personal injury and workers comp in the state of Georgia. That’s what my attorneys know. That’s what we’re built to support and that’s what we want to focus on. I think that, um, there’s enough business in Georgia that I think it’s, I mean, look, I’m excited. I always get excited about growing. But I think that right now the focus is growing within the state of Georgia and being able to support injured Georgians, whether it’s personal injury or worker’s comp.

Lee Kantor: And then you feel there’s enough business here to hold you for a while.

Seth Bader: Yeah. And I mean, I think that’s our focus. I think there’s a lot of firms that are multi-state and, um, I think it’s inspiring, you know, how fast they’ve grown and what they can do. But I think for us, um, you know, we really are dedicated, um, to Georgia. That’s really our focus. Um, that’s where we reside, that’s where our clients reside and work and getting in and that’s where, that’s where we want to focus.

Lee Kantor: So what do you need more of? How can we help you?

Seth Bader: Um, how can you help me? I think, you know, we need I don’t say we need more clients, but I think, you know, getting, getting exposure to and connections to different folks in different markets, particularly again now in Columbus and Augusta. If there’s a, you know, anyone that has a need to work with a personal injury or worker’s comp attorney, if there’s a referral opportunities for us to refer, you know, we get a lot of calls, um, for other areas of law, whether it’s criminal bankruptcy, um, immigration. So we’re always looking for referral partners to send cases to. And if there’s, um, attorneys that are looking for, you know, um, referral partners in the personal injury and workers comp space, we are excited and, uh, you know, about the opportunity to, to support them and their clients. And the same is true on the medical side. And, um, I think those are the two main areas. But if there’s other, um, if there’s anybody else that is interested in learning more about my practice, would love to, um, to meet with them and see what we can do, um, To help and to, you know, to support the, the communities that we’re expanding into, again, whether it’s Columbus or Augusta. We, we try to get into doing a lot of community stuff. Historically, we’ve done a lot with schools. Uh, and maybe there’s opportunities to connect with different folks, uh, in the community and find ways that we can give back, not just support in terms of representing people, but also just giving back to the communities.

Lee Kantor: Now, uh, is a big percentage of your business through like a direct inquiry, or do they come through the referrals that you mentioned via another law firm that may not specialize in what you do or a medical practice, that client might have a need.

Seth Bader: We get cases in a variety of ways. So, I mean, a lot of it is by way of, you know, word of mouth through clients and former clients. A lot of it is through professional referrals, and a lot of it is through, um, advertising and marketing that we, that we, um, create to, um, you know, create awareness for the brand, uh, and make ourselves available to folks that are maybe not sure who to hire, but, but are searching. And so, um, we, we get cases in, in clients in a variety of ways.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more, whether they, um, need your services or would like to explore partnering with you, what’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?

Seth Bader: Sure. The best way to connect is baderlaw.com, baderlaw.com. And we also have presence on all the social media channels as well.

Lee Kantor: Well, Seth, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Seth Bader: Thanks so much. I appreciate you having me on.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on High Velocity Radio.