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

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of High Velocity Radio and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show we have founder and owner of Bader Law, Seth Bader. Welcome.

Seth Bader: Lee, thank you so much for having me. It’s a pleasure to be here with you today.

Lee Kantor: Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about your practice. How are you serving folks?

Seth Bader: Well, Bader Law has been in the market here in Atlanta for 18 years. And in fact, we just celebrated our 18th anniversary and we represent injured people, those that have been injured in automobile accidents, those that have been involved in other accidents where someone else was at fault. And then we also represent injured workers who have been injured in the course of scope of their employment.

Lee Kantor: So what’s your backstory? How’d you get involved in this line of work?

Seth Bader: Well, you know, it depends how far back you want me to go. But, you know, in terms of my career, I started out as an insurance defense attorney. And then after about five years, I realized that I really wanted to help people. And I really thought that there was an opportunity, a huge opportunity in a space in the market for a lawyer and a law firm that genuinely cared about clients, that really wanted to give them a great experience while also getting them a great result.

Lee Kantor: So when you decided to get into this specific line of practice, was that a time before all of these kind of billboard attorneys were out there? Were you or, or had they already been out there? Kind of. It seems like almost monopolizing every billboard in the state, in all the states now on every highway.

Seth Bader: Yeah, yeah, that’s what that’s what the industry has done. I came into the industry after that started as a matter of fact. You know, lawyer advertising was not legal and not ethical until around, I think, 1976. Um, and since that time, more and more lawyers have gotten into marketing and into advertising. And I think it’s never been as competitive as it is today. And there’s never been as many law firms on billboards and other, you know, channels of marketing than there are today. In fact, in 2026, it’s not just law firms that are, you know, marketing for, you know, cases, but there are huge multi-million dollar marketing agencies. Private equity has gotten into the game. And what’s really unique also is law firms from around the country are now are now practicing and marketing in Atlanta, in Georgia, and really throughout the entire nation.

Lee Kantor: Now, is there any kind of misconceptions that the public might have about these lawyers, like when you see a person’s name on the on the billboard, is that actually the person that’s going to be taking your case, or is it sometimes they’re just kind of lead generation for a firm. They may not even be in the state.

Seth Bader: Yeah, I mean, I think I think it depends, right? I think that often, you know, often the lawyer that’s on the billboard is not the lawyer that’s going to have his or her hands on the case working directly with the client. In some cases they are. You know, I still handle cases. I speak with clients on a regular basis. Um, but it’s not exclusively what I do because I’m the owner of the founder and, you know, I have other roles and responsibilities in the business. As far as other firms, you know, there are founders and other, you know, sort of, uh, we’ll call them, you know, the brand of the, of the firm that handle cases. And then there are others, particularly around multi, you know, multi-state firms where it’s just impossible for those founders and those owners to be handling every single case.

Lee Kantor: So when you started your practice, I’m sure you started it small and it eventually grew to the size it is today. Can you talk about that kind of story of getting it off the ground? Because a lot of entrepreneurs, especially our listeners, like to learn how to kind of get that escape velocity from an idea to the beginning of a practice to then having it thrive like yours has.

Seth Bader: Yeah, I appreciate that. Um, and I think it starts with having a vision, right? I mean, even if you haven’t fully formed the vision, I think getting clear on what your goals are, what you’re trying to achieve, the kind of impact you’re trying to make in the world. I think getting as clear as possible, um, is essential because it’s going to really dictate the direction you take your business. And there’s not really a right or wrong vision. There’s a right vision for, for me, and there’s a right vision for another lawyer who may want to have a small boutique practice, um, versus a larger practice. Um, that vision, by the way, can evolve over time. Um, but I think that that’s the starting place. I think that as far as my journey, I started out at a one bedroom apartment, I had $5,000 to my name. Um, I knew I wanted to build something great. Uh, it was not something necessarily that that looks like it is today, but I knew it was a firm that was going to really provide excellent representation, uh, genuine care, um, and really a zealous advocacy to, to get our clients the best outcomes, um, possible. And, um, you know, I think what happened was because of the impact that we were making as a small organization, naturally we started getting more and more clients through referrals, both from professional referrals and from client referrals. And then, um, you know, and then I, I realized that there was an opportunity to make even bigger impact. And so we decided to start dibbling and dabbling into different areas of marketing and advertising. And we, you know, some of the stuff that we were doing was really, really effective, particularly in the Hispanic community, and things just kind of took off from there. And so, um, at that point, you know, we had to learn how to run a very different business than we were running when we were running out of a small one bedroom apartment, uh, with just a $5,000 to my name. But, but the principles of really solid representation don’t change.

Lee Kantor: Now, when you were at the start and you didn’t have any clients, um, how do you go about getting kind of that first client? How do you go about kind of finding the person who has a need that you, you can serve because in your world, it’s, I mean, it literally happens almost by accident. Nobody plans on, I don’t think, um, you know, today’s the day I’m going to hire my personal injury attorney. Like, unless something happened that put that process into motion.

Seth Bader: Yeah, it’s I think I think when you’re starting out, I imagine this applies to to many businesses, particularly professional service businesses. You know, when you’re starting out, you have to figure out, you know, where, where can you essentially source clients or potential clients because you don’t have the typically you don’t have the money to, to put into advertising, whether it’s digital advertising or traditional advertising. So you really have to be scrappy. You have to kind of be boots on the ground, have kind of a kind of a guerilla marketing strategy. Um, but you can be intelligent about it. You can be intentional and strategic about it. And the way that I started was to, to find referrals. Um, there are a lot of, at least in my industry, and I imagine this is the case in other industries as well. There’s a lot of what I think at the time we called overflow business. So I was searching other law firms big and small that might have had overflow business or just business opportunities that maybe. Didn’t meet their threshold because they were so well established and they were able to generate. I was able to generate referrals through those relationships.

Lee Kantor: So that’s a great lesson for our listeners about finding these channel partners and these partners, uh, that you can help each other. But in those cases were there, how do you kind of reciprocate back? Because that’s what a lot of people, um, struggle with. They’re like, you know, why is this big company going to help my small company? Like what, what am I going to be able to do for them that, um, you know, to reciprocate? Is there a way that you were able to kind of navigate that? Or is it just the fact that, hey, look, our client size is X, yours is Y, so you can have all the y’s.

Seth Bader: Um, I mean, excuse me, I think it’s kind of a mixed bag. You know, it’s interesting you’re saying how do you reciprocate? And this is going to sound a little odd, but one way you can actually reciprocate is, is to pay it forward. And so yes, it’s great if you can give that referral source, that lead channel, something back in return, and I’ll explain how we do it in our industry. But I think what I found is that in the same way that there were, were, were other business owners, other entrepreneurs, other law firm owners that were willing to give me a chance and give me referrals when, when I was more established and I had opportunities to refer cases to other lawyers, I did that too. And I suspect that they then followed that same pattern because I think I think if you’re an entrepreneur, if you’re a business owner, if you’re a founder, you know, you know how hard it is. And so you, you really want to support, um, your, you know, your peers in getting off the ground as far as like my industry goes, uh, you know, we pay referral fees, we are allowed to do that legally and ethically. And so all of those attorneys who send me cases to begin with, I was able, I was able to, um, you know, to send them a referral fee and then there might have been other, you know, medical professionals that send me cases and, and shortly thereafter, I was able to, um, send them, you know, clients that they were able to, to take on as patients, uh, and they were able to, to, you know, not only serve them, but also earn some additional revenue for their businesses.

Lee Kantor: Now, as you were growing the firm and you got to the point where you couldn’t kind of, I guess, be that hands on lawyer for every single client, how did you kind of make that transition? How did you kind of make those first hires into, okay, this person is going to now take the ball. I got to trust, I got to train them up. I got to make sure, you know, they’re going to get a similar level of service than what I would give.

Seth Bader: Yeah. Um, I mean, I think I don’t want to oversimplify it, but I just made some hires. Um, I hired in my case, I hired some really talented people that didn’t have a lot of experience that didn’t have. A huge demand on compensation, but they had a huge thirst for growth, for opportunity and for building something. And so I think one of the advantages that you have as a as a new business owner or a newer business owner is that you’re building and there are other people that want to build something that may not have the same risk, risk tolerance, but have the same desire to build something great. And if you can find those people and you’re willing to make an investment into them in terms of training, development and support beyond a financial investment, then there’s a very high probability that that you can grow with them. And what I found is that they have tended to be over time, very, very loyal, very committed. And it’s really been something I’m proud of to see how they’ve grown and developed in their careers.

Lee Kantor: Now, how were you vetting them? Like, were there certain questions you were asking them? Like, what qualities were you looking for that maybe weren’t like the obvious ones?

Seth Bader: Yeah. Um, I think that, um, again, didn’t have as many options because the compensation that I was able to, um, to pay at the time was, was not what you would need to pay, like really experienced, really talented people. So, um, that’s the first thing. I mean, I went through my industry, I knew people that were, um, in the space that were in different roles. Some of them were mediators at the state board of Workers compensation. Um, you know, others were, were, were, were sort of, they had worked for other firms for maybe six months a year. Um, and so I was able to find some really talented people, um, that were looking for growth in their careers. But I think in terms of the questions that you ask, I don’t think they’re that different than the questions that we would ask our people today. I think it’s really around, um, values first more than skills, values, character, um, and, and, and sort of what they want for their career. I think you start there because if you’re not aligned on values, then it doesn’t matter how experienced they are. It doesn’t matter how talented they are. It’s not going to be a good fit. And I think if you start there and then you check those boxes, you can then move on to understanding the skills. And again, when you’re not able to afford really talented, like really well established and experienced people, you’re really kind of looking for the raw material that you can mold. And so if they have the right raw material, the right work ethic, the right character, um, then, and you know, obviously they have the aptitude for it, then I think you have an opportunity to really help, um, you know, build them up and build your business.

Lee Kantor: Now, you mentioned early about, um, values you mentioned earlier about, um, kind of serving an underserved marketplace. How it sounds like you had kind of this clear vision of what you wanted, the culture of the firm to be future in the future before. At the early stages, has that kind of culture evolved into the way you dreamed it would be, or what have you learned along the lines of building kind of a healthy culture for a growing organization like the one you have?

Seth Bader: Yes. So, um, the culture has evolved. I mean, it’s at times it’s been a bit of a challenge. Um, at times it’s been exactly what I wanted. Um, and I suspect that that’s true of any business. I mean, once you start to grow and to scale and you have so many people in the organization, it is, is a bit, everything becomes a little bit more complex and a bit challenging. Um, including building the right culture. Um, my, I’ll, maybe I’ll start with the, the lessons. Um, and then maybe I’ll work my way back to kind of the experience in the journey. I think if you want to build a great culture, you have to be very, very, very intentional about the people you bring on. You know, there’s, I think there’s a phrase, uh. Uh, I don’t know if it’s hire slow fire fast. Right. And I think that, I think that when we’ve been more deliberate and more intentional and more patient about finding the right fit and the right people, things have worked out better when we’ve sort of been in a position of what feels like desperation and, and urgency. You when we’ve made some hires that really were not, I wouldn’t call them bad hires. I would just call them misaligned hires. And, and if you hire people, really, if you engage in any relationship with people that are misaligned, even if they’re great people, if they’re misaligned with you and your values and your business’s values and culture, then the whole experience is going to erode. The culture is going to erode. And, and at times that is what has, um, what has happened. But, you know, overall, the culture that we’re building that we’ve, we’ve, we’ve sought to build is one of accountability, one of compassion and care, not only for the people that we represent, but for our team members. Um, and, you know, one where people can grow and develop, um, and again, it hasn’t always been perfect. It’s something we work on and we’ve learned, um, from some mistakes we’ve made in the past and we continue to try to evolve and get better.

Lee Kantor: So how do you coach up your, um, your staff when it comes to the resilience? Because in your business, you know, there’s wins and losses, there’s big impacts that might not go your way some days. How do you kind of build up that resilience in your team so that they, you know, are fired up the next day after the the ramifications kind of are clear.

Seth Bader: Yeah. Um, resilience is a really critical part of, I think ownership. And I think it’s a really critical part of anyone’s career. I think in our industry, it’s not so much the, the wins and losses. I mean, that is a part of it. Um, but in our industry and this is not unique to my firm. Um, most cases result in settlements, not, not trial where you win or you lose. It is a compromise. I think where the resilience really factors in is the resilience to evolve and to grow with the business. And I think that, um, I think you ideally you can, can sort of build it on the front end by providing vision and clarity as to where you’re going as a business. Um, so that the team knows and they can be more aware of the changes that are coming that otherwise would feel really bumpy and uncomfortable and create uncertainty and insecurity. But if you can provide clarity of vision, if you can provide, you know, the north star of where you’re going as an organization, then people are going should be more resilient as the changes come along. Um, beyond that, I think it’s really about building a culture where people feel a sense of belonging, uh, and where they feel a sense of purpose. And I think if you can do that. Um, and remind them that, that they’re part of something special, they’re part of something bigger than themselves and that they’re making an impact in the world, then I think that they’re going to be more willing to be resilient and stay the course.

Lee Kantor: Now, is there a story you can share, maybe an early story when you started working and you maybe got a big win? Is there a rewarding story? Share. Maybe the challenge that came to you and how you were able to help your client, maybe get to a place that they didn’t even think was possible? Is there something you could share along those lines?

Seth Bader: Yeah, I think I can. Um, early on in my career, a young lady. She was 21 years old, came into my office with, uh, two children, one a baby in her arms and the other a five year old holding on to her hand. And, uh, she came in and she was sort of teary eyed. We sat down and she proceeded to tell me that she was represented by another lawyer who was not available, who was not communicating with her. Um, and she was really scared and didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know how she was going to pay for, uh, her, you know, for her home. She didn’t know how she was going to pay, um, for her child care for diapers, for milk. And the reason is that her husband had just been killed in a tragic accident, and, um, you know, and she said to me, you know, can you help me? And how are you going to help me? And it was uncomfortable because I’d never handled a death claim before. Um, and, uh, my instinct was just to be honest with her, you know, I told her, look, I’ve never handled this type of case. I’ve handled hundreds of other cases, both as an insurance attorney and as a plaintiff attorney, but I’ve never handled this type of case. And so it was a little uncomfortable. You know, I was a little uncertain as to how I was going to proceed, but I knew that I was going to put in the work and do whatever research necessary, consult whatever, you know, peers I needed to, to figure it out.

Seth Bader: And so we went through the process. Um, and ultimately, uh, we were able to get her a really phenomenal result to, to a certain extent, life changing and certainly, uh, set her and her children up, uh, for a much better future. And, you know, I’m happy to report that, you know, I still keep in touch with her. Um, she’s a, she’s a business owner, a really successful business owner. She still has the house that she purchased with her, um, settlement funds and she’s now getting into property. And she told me she recently purchased a second home. So, um, I think it’s just, I think, you know, when you, when you start out a business, you just don’t have all of the answers, whether in my case it’s legal. Um, but in other businesses, you’re just not going to have all of the answers and you’re just going to have to put in the time to figure it out, but you’re never going to, you know, I would never, never be able to tell another person, um, that I handled the death claim unless and until I handle the death claim. So you’re going to have to take some risk. And in my case, you know, I found that just being very open and honest was the pathway. And, you know, she tells me that that’s, that was a really important, um, part of why she hired me.

Lee Kantor: So, uh, what’s next? What does the future hold for Baylor law?

Seth Bader: Well, um, the future is bright. It’s big, and it’s exciting. Um, we we have an amazing team. We have the strongest leadership team that we’ve ever had. We were building and have built and are continuing to build and refine our systems. Um, we’re a very data driven organization. Uh, there’s a lot of transparency in the work we do and for our team members, um, and we’re very innovative. Um, you know, um, we, we leverage technology as much as we can and will continue to as well. The industry Is evolving incredibly fast. I imagine this is not unique to to law firms, but you know, artificial intelligence is really changing the way that we work, um, and changing the way that we deliver, you know, an experience for the clients. Um, and, um, you know, we continue to try to stay cutting edge with our technology, but also, you know, with our operations, our system, our systems, uh, and, um, yeah, it’s really exciting. I mean, we’re, we’re growing very, very fast right now. We’re, we’re, we’re contemplating moving into other markets. I don’t want to go that fast because I want to make sure that we really tighten up everything here in Atlanta before we expand. Um, and you know, as we expand, we’ll first expand within Georgia, uh, throughout the state and then and then beyond.

Lee Kantor: So what do you need more of? How can we help? You need clients, you need talent, you need referral partners. What? How can we help you?

Seth Bader: Um, all of the above. And if you listed the next ten things on your list. I would probably say all of that. I mean, I think, you know, I think it all really starts. Look, it starts with with with two groups of people. Um, and I think that I don’t, I think what comes first is your talent, right? I mean, if you don’t have the talent, um, you cannot serve your clients. So, um, and you can’t scale. So even if you send me or, you know, if somehow you were able to help facilitate, you know, hundreds of clients a month more, if you don’t have the talent, well, you’re not going to serve the clients well, and it’s going to be a bad experience and it’s all going to go south from there. Um, so I think make sure that we have the best talent possible throughout the whole organization from, you know, executive leadership down to management, down to, you know, and I’ll say line workers, but like members of the production, you know, that are handling the cases, handling, um, working with the clients to other positions, whether it’s human resources, whether it’s, um, you know, the facilities, like I just think having the best talent is a winning formula. Not saying anything new. I love sports. You look at the, you know, the best organizations in sports and in business. They all have really the best talent, starting with the leadership and down throughout the organization. And then of course, clients referrals are huge. The best, I would say the best clients. But you know, by the numbers, the best outcomes we’ve gotten have, generally speaking, come from referrals, whether they’re referrals, you know, professional referrals from doctors, lawyers and other people in business or whether they are client referrals. They have far and away been the most serious and the best cases that we’ve handled.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on the team, what’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?

Seth Bader: For sure. Um, the, the, the website is bater.com B a d e r l e w.com. The phone number is 48888888, and somebody can also email me directly at seth@law.com. And I would be more than happy to talk to anybody who would like to talk business, marketing, legal. Like, I really get excited about sharing and exchanging ideas with other business owners, particularly those that are maybe in other industries, just because there’s so much to learn, because there’s stuff that they’re doing that we’re not doing that might really work for us and vice versa.

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

Seth Bader: Lee, thank you very much, I appreciate it. It’s been exciting and I’m glad to have connected with you.

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