Is it harder to make your first million—or keep it?
For law firm owners, especially in family law, it might be harder to keep it.
That’s what I explored in a recent conversation with Darren Wurz, founder of The Lawyer Millionaire Founders Network and author of The Lawyer Millionaire: The Complete Guide for Attorneys on Maximizing Wealth, Minimizing Taxes, and Retiring with Confidence. We first connected on LinkedIn and finally got to sit down for an interview.
Darren works exclusively with law firm owners. What he’s discovered should be a wake-up call: lawyers making $1M+ often don’t have $1M in assets.
Why High-Earning Lawyers Stay Broke
According to Darren, there’s one simple reason:
“Overspending—in both the business and personal sides.”
Many lawyers obsess over growing revenue but ignore profitability. That was true for me too. I built a business outside of law to $23 million, thinking I was brilliant. But I lacked discipline, and eventually rolled that business back down to a few million before selling.
Darren’s advice? Don’t mistake revenue for wealth.
Darren’s 3-Step Framework to Build Wealth
Darren guides clients through a three-step process:
1. Stabilize the Business
- Separate personal and business finances.
- Stop paying for business expenses on your personal AmEx card.
- Pay yourself a regular, automated salary.
- Build financial reserves for both business and personal life.
“You can’t build wealth on instability.”
This is the same foundation we’ve built at Sterling Law, which now operates across multiple Wisconsin and Illinois locations.
2. Maximize Profitability
- Focus on cash flow clarity, not just top-line revenue.
- Use systems like Profit First to manage distributions and taxes.
- Bring on a fractional or full-time CFO once you cross $10–$15M in revenue.
I’ve lived this. We hired a full-time CFO around $15M, and though revenue dropped by $500K, our bottom line tripled.
We also outline some of these financial shifts in our law firm client content and case studies showing how small shifts led to real growth.
3. Grow the Wealth
- Only after steps 1 and 2, start investing.
- Darren recommends passive index funds as the core.
- Diversify with real estate, private equity, or business investments—if you’re ready.
“I can afford not to be the world’s best investor—but I can’t afford to be a bad one.”
You can find tools we recommend for this stage on my favorite resources page.
Special Considerations for Family Law Firms
Family lawyers face unique stressors:
- Crisis-driven clients
- Constantly changing schedules
- High emotional load
To scale, you’ll need to offload. Darren suggests:
- Hire virtual assistants and part-time help
- Consider a life or divorce coach to support clients emotionally
- Build systems that let you step away—eventually
“To get to ‘work optional,’ you have to build it into your business—not just your finances.”
Avoiding the Million-Dollar Trap
Making money and keeping money are two different skill sets.
- Making money: Risk-taking, speed, gut instincts
- Keeping money: Discipline, structure, consistency
Darren shared the story of Jesse Livermore, a stock trader who shorted the 1929 crash and became the richest man in America overnight—then lost it all.
The lesson? Don’t let success blind you to risk.
The Hard Truth About Wealth Building
Darren said it best:
“The biggest trick in life is to get the goalposts to stop moving.”
Too many lawyers increase lifestyle as income rises. Instead, find the lifestyle that makes you happy—then invest the rest.
Final Thoughts
You don’t need to become an expert investor. You need:
- Stability
- Profitability
- Consistent systems
