Jonathan Breeden didn’t just build a thriving family law practice in North Carolina—he built it from scratch in an underserved area, overcame multiple breakdowns, and scaled past $4 million in annual revenue.
His journey offers a blueprint for attorneys stuck in survival mode who want to scale smart.
Why We Featured Jonathan Breeden
Jonathan shared his story on the Masters of Family Law podcast hosted by Jeff Hughes. His candid breakdown of early struggles, marketing pivots, and leadership decisions makes this one of the most tactical conversations we’ve seen on law firm growth.
This article distills his insights from that conversation and years of trial-by-fire experience.
Go Where the Lawyers Aren’t
After graduating from Campbell Law School in 2000, Jonathan intentionally avoided saturated markets like Raleigh.
“80 of North Carolina’s 100 counties are legal deserts. If you go where the lawyers aren’t, you can make a living even if you’re not the best lawyer.”
He planted his flag in Garner, NC—a Raleigh suburb growing rapidly. He had no connections there. No courthouse nearby. But demand outpaced supply.
The Early Grind: Flip Phones and $2,500 Months
For the first two years, Jonathan had no staff. He forwarded calls to a flip phone, answered them in courthouse hallways, and wrote court letters himself.
“I was answering calls on my StarTac during court breaks. People made fun of me.”
He only needed $2,500/month to survive—$1,200 in personal expenses and $1,300 for rent and office supplies. His first employee came four years later. His first associate didn’t arrive until 2009.
A Paralegal Shifted His Entire Focus
In 2007, a new hire from a Raleigh firm gave him tough love:
“She said I was turning away $5,000 custody clients to fight $300 drug charges. She told me to stop showing up in court every day and focus on family law.”
Jonathan took her advice, dropped court-appointed cases, and began building a real business.
The SEO Collapse That Nearly Killed the Firm
By 2015, he was spending $6,000/month with a vendor that got him penalized by Google.
“FineLaw killed our site with bad backlinks. Business dropped overnight. My wife became my paralegal while our 3-year-old was in preschool.”
Jonathan canceled the contract and partnered with Postali, a legal marketing firm. They rebuilt everything.
“Within 18 months, we had one of NC’s top family law websites.”
But the influx of leads exposed a new problem.
Fixing the Phones First
“I had no CRM. No tracking. No phone scripts. I didn’t understand what was working.”
He joined Richard James’ coaching program in 2020. First order of business?
- Add call scripts
- Track calls with a CRM (Cleo Grow, then FourEyes)
- Hire offshore team members to follow scripts
This alone unlocked huge gains.
He started fixing the client experience the same way Sterling Lawyers emphasizes through operational systems and human-first communication.
Systemizing to Survive Turnover
From 2018 to 2023, no employee stayed more than a year.
“Turnover was worse than McDonald’s. But we kept growing because I built systems.”
He started recording Loom videos during every employee’s exit. New hires could onboard themselves.
He tracked KPIs. Installed weekly scorecards. Created SOPs.
As described in Jeff Hughes’ client book, documenting and delegating is the key to long-term freedom.
The Breakthrough Hire: Supervision = Retention
In September 2023, Jonathan made a pivotal hire: Holly Grow, a supervising attorney from a top Raleigh firm.
“I was losing baby attorneys because I wasn’t training or supporting them. Hiring Holly changed everything.”
He quickly hired three new law school grads. Retention stabilized.
Marketing Momentum + Math
Jonathan spends about 15% of revenue on marketing—capped intentionally.
- LSAs + Google PPC: $10K+/mo
- Postali Website + SEO: $10K+/mo
- Facebook Ads: Built by Postali
They now:
- Handle ~100 paid consults/month (95% show rate)
- Close ~38% of consults
- Make 600+ outbound calls weekly
- Track Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Growth Timeline
- 2019: $700K
- 2021: $1.2M
- 2022: $1.5M
- 2023: $2M+
- 2024: $3M+
- 2025 (YTD): 10 attorneys, 25 staff
Final Advice from Jonathan Breeden
“Don’t quit. Get out of the scarcity mindset. There’s enough business for everyone.”
“Fix your phones first. Then build systems. Then get supervision in place. Only then should you scale.”
“You can’t scale if you’re still answering phones and writing court letters yourself.”
Want to Learn More?
- Visit BreedenFirm.com
- Want to hear the full conversation? Listen to The Sterling Family Law Show
What’s the first system you need to fix in your firm?
