1174: Building a Five-Star Personal Injury Practice: Service, Growth, and Philanthropy with Personal Injury Lawyer and Founder Lem Garcia

Robert Plank 0:04 H ey, welcome back to the podcast. Lem Garcia is here, and Lem is the founder of Lem Garcia law. They are a highly successful personal injury law firm based in Southern California, in West Covina. Their website is Lem Garcia law.com and we're going to talk about all kinds of fun stuff. We're going to be talking about how Lem has built a five star reputation on Google and Yelp, how he has a really fun and amazing origin story. His dedicated to philanthropy, supporting impoverished communities in the Philippines and so much more. So Lem excited and glad to be speaking to you today.

Lem Garcia 0:39 Oh, thank you for having me on. I really appreciate it

Robert Plank 0:42 And I appreciate you too. I'm here to do my part and help you with your SEO rankings, and say someone's looking up Mr. Lynn Garcia and what he's all about, just to get to know you a little better. Because I love the idea that when we tune into, like, say, the radio and we hear some DJ, maybe we've heard this person for years, and there's, like, this one sided relationship, or like, you know, talk show host, game show host on TV, right? We get to know the person, so hopefully we'll get to know you a little bit. So we introduce you a little bit. But in your own words, what are you all about? What has you just excited and passionate these days?

Lem Garcia 1:14 Well, what really has me excited and passionate these days is really just creating a law office that provides a service to the community where they can come to us. You know, even if we don't handle that type of case, they can come to us for help. And if we don't, if they don't have a personal injury case, at least we can guide them in the right direction. So anyone that has any kind of legal matter, they can give us a call. We'll listen to them, and then, you know, if we can help them, great. And if not, then we can, you know, get them to somebody else who can help them in the proper way.

Robert Plank 1:45 And I love that mindset, and, you know, I'm glad that we started there, because there's the tendency to think, like, okay, like, Let me maximize my time, right? If I'm, if I'm putting in five minutes half an hour, I need to, like, you know, make the most money from that. And sometimes we do things that might seem like a waste, right? Like going to networking events, like answering the phone, as you say, for someone who maybe they're not a buyer, right then, but you can then send them to somewhere else, and that helps your relationship with the person that you're referring to, but it also kind of makes you like an accessible person, but I imagine that you might like drive yourself crazy a little bit and say, like, well, is this like, a good use of my time? So do you have any thoughts on that? Like, this idea of, well, I'm going to be a useful resource, but I also need to make money. How can you help us tap into this idea of, of, like, you know, doing some of the free work now that pays off later.

Lem Garcia 2:38 Yeah. I mean, that's, that's a good point. I think a lot of attorneys, even even me, from time to time, have a hard time saying, okay, this person that's on the phone with me, or even in person that walked in, is talking about a case that I'm not going to make any money on. But, you know, I think big picture, if we just help out everybody that we can and spend time with them, in the end, it's gonna, it's gonna work out. That person said, Oh, hey, that person was really nice, and they'll remember us. And then down the line, you know, if they get into an accident or they have a case for us, they'll remember us, and they'll come back. So it's not always about that second, making money on that person, but I think, you know, just if you're showing that you're just helping people, they'll remember that, and in the end, you know, you'll, you'll come out on top.

Robert Plank 3:25 I love it, and it makes you feel good, maybe even gets the gears turning for like, some like YouTube content. So so it still pays off in the unexpected ways. And so why a personal injury? Out of all the things you could do, all the kind of law practices you could have built, why this space?

Lem Garcia 3:41 Well, to be honest with, you know, when I, when I opened the firm, it wasn't only personal injury. I opened up the firm, I wanted to just help people. And I said, Okay, well, what can I do to help people? So I was, you know, personal injury, workers comp, estate planning, Social Security, disability benefits, like these were things that I, you know, I thought I could help out people in the community with and then the people that came were mostly car accidents. So I said, Well, let me just focus on this. Let me get really good at at this particular area of law, and just go all in on that, because that's what most people were coming in for. And it was something that I really saw, you know, because when I, when I was marking, I was looking at different offices, and I said, you know, there's a lot of bad reviews for different firms that that handle personal injury. So I said, you know, I think I can improve this area of law by just taking those reviews and making sure that I don't do those things and improve on it, and then just focus it on that. And, you know, do the best that we can in personal injury.

Robert Plank 4:43 Wonderful. And I've heard this referred to as, like, choosing your major, right, like you choose a major in college. But then with lawyers, you hear that maybe they specialize in, like, big law or tax law. So you said, Okay, personal injury, you're good at it. You like it. And then you see it being kind of. Are underserved or mishandled by others, and so, like, what do we need to know? Like, what are the basics of this personal injury thing? Like, how does someone know if they're a candidate for coming in to you and contacting you?

Lem Garcia 5:14 Well, as far as personal injury goes, you have a good case when three things are met. Number one, you're not at fault for what happened. Number two, there's some kind of damages involved, bodily injury, or your car is damaged. And then lastly, if there's insurance to cover everything, or if the other person, the defendant, has assets to pursue. So if you check off those three boxes, you have a good case that we can help you pursue. As far as contacting us, I think any legal matter, you know if you need help with it, and you don't know where to start, like, I don't even know if I need an attorney. I don't know where they turn to we talk to everybody. They can ask for me, and I'll talk to them and see if we can help out, or get them to somebody that can help out.

Robert Plank 5:58 Wonderful. And so when someone does contact you, and it does become something like a path that is to pursue, like, what's it usually like? Because you think, okay, when there's a car accident, maybe there's like, insurance involved or police involved, but at what point does that not work, and at what point does someone need to then contact you?

Lem Garcia 6:19 I think from the very beginning, it's important to talk to an attorney. They don't have to, you know, call us. We appreciate the call. We want to help out. But I think as soon as you get into an accident, after you get things sorted out, call an attorney. The call is free. The advice is free, and you at least know from the beginning. Well, okay, this is what they offer. This is what I should do. And then, you know, decide for yourself if you want to get an attorney or not, because there really is nothing negative that comes out from talking to a personal injury attorney after an accident.

Robert Plank 6:56 That's good advice. There's no harm in just having that initial conversation. And I saw something on your website that, like, a moment ago, or, like, you know, before we did this call, that was like, the like, the cost to you is less than the settlement, or something along those lines. Could you explain that?

Lem Garcia 7:12 Oh, yeah, so our guarantee goes a bit further than there's no fee if there's no recovery. So we promise clients that the fee that goes to our office to lend Garcia law will be less than how much they walk away with after the attorneys fees and the medical bills are paid. So there's a lot of situations where someone gets seriously hurt and they have a lot of medical bills to pay, and there's only so much recovery. There's only so much compensation that they can get because there's only so much insurance coverage. And in a situation like that, there's, you know, it's possible where the attorney's fee can be more than how much the client walks away after the medical bills are paid. What attorneys fee is a third and then there's, you know, two thirds left, but then the medical bills are, you know, 50% that that'll leave the client with less than a third of the recovery. So in a situation like that, we would reduce our fee to make sure that the client doesn't get the lease amount or less than the attorney's fee.

Robert Plank 8:14 Okay, well, that's great to know. That's a wonderful guarantee. And then so then, you know, people go through this process with you that they get the help that they need. What is maybe like, not known or not discussed, enough about personal injury

Lem Garcia 8:31 what's not discussed enough like it just in the public. What I think is missing, yeah, what I think is missing in the conversation is just, I think how much the insurance companies will would like, the extent that they will go to decrease, how much you recover in the end, because they have a lot of commercials. I think you just watch TV for half an hour, you'll get at least two or three car insurance commercials with a celebrity or somebody funny, that makes you say, Okay, I'm gonna, you know, makes you want to trust insurance company, right? And I think the insurance company, as much as they say that they're your good neighbor or you know that they'll be there for you when something happens, in the end, their business, and they're trying to pay you as little as possible, and so you need someone that's going to actually advocate for your rights and advocate for how much you should walk away with in the end, and you should, you should contact an attorney to see what your case is potentially worth, versus just talking to the insurance company what they want you to do and then sell it for your case, for you know, pennies on the dollar of what it's truly worth

Robert Plank 9:49 and that makes logical sense. You want someone who's definitely on your side, not someone who like, well, maybe they're on your side, but they also want to save as much money as possible and like, do you think that. Uh, having a personal an injury attorney is overkill. Or do some people kind of think that, like, well, do I really need this?

Lem Garcia 10:09 No, absolutely not. It's it's not overkill. Everybody after an accident, even even if you're at fault for what happened, you should talk to a personal injury attorney just so that you're fully aware of your rights. Again, the call is free, the consultation is free to get advice and to know what's what's right, because we have a duty to do what's best for you. The insurance company does not. And so you know, the advice that we give you is will be, you know, absolutely to do so that you can do what's in your best interest. And as far as I mean being too like over to kilting, an attorney, you know, the insurance company is not going to pay you the full value of your case just because you know you're seriously hurt or you're in a serious accident, they're still going to try to find ways to minimize what they're paying you, because every thought they don't pay you this the thought that they save.

Robert Plank 11:04 And so it helps to have someone like you who knows the ins and outs of this, versus if you're just going it alone. And it's the first time you've gone through this process. And so I'm really curious about like, the growth that you've experienced, right? And there's different kinds of growth, right? There's your personal growth as a person, like finding the confidence, but there's also the growing of your business. So what are the last few years been like? And, you know, what's the transformation been?

Lem Garcia 11:31 Wow, that's a good catch question. So I've never really had a minute to think about that, but I would say from the beginning. So this was, you know, about 10 years ago, when I started to now, there's a lot more confidence in what needs to get done, not just on the business side, but with the cases, and, I think, just with managing clients and talking to the insurance carriers and dealing with other attorneys. I mean, there's a lot of confidence that comes with the 10 years of experience in the, you know, hundreds, if not 1000s of cases that have come across the office. So just really knowing how to navigate everything going through, I mean, going through COVID was difficult. There's, you know, no cars on the road, so there's very few accidents. But we were, we managed to get through that, not, not letting anybody go. And you know, in the end, it's just having that security and knowing that everything is going to be okay, like, if you do what's right for people and do what's you know right for their cases, ultimately, everything is going to pan out just fine

Robert Plank 12:37 yeah, optimism, gratitude, confidence. And I'm always amazed with, well, I'm always amazed with, like, lawyers and attorneys, where their their communication and their leadership and their time management is always like, really good. Like, it has to be right in order to do all, like, deal with all these steps, do with all these people. And so is it. Do you have like a secret to your success? Like, organization wise, time management wise, that maybe is like a step above others.

Lem Garcia 13:05 Yeah, I think I do a really good job of just making sure that I'm there's nothing, there's no moment that is wasted. So whether I'm I think I'm in the car, I'm talking, I'm not just driving to where I'm going or listening to music I'm talking to a client, or talking to an adjuster, talking to another attorney, or if I don't need to make any phone calls, then I'm listening to a book on tape, something that's going to help me develop as an attorney. Or I'm listening to motivational YouTube videos. There's, there's always something that I'm doing. Or if I'm working out, I'm just not working out, you know, I'm on the treadmill, like watching something that's going to, you know, also help me out in the business, you know, those YouTube videos that I mentioned, or some, you know, some, some, some, something that's going to educate me about the practice of law. Just, you know, whatever I can do to continue pushing and moving the ball forward with my practice, I'm always finding ways to to do something that's, that's, that's productive.

Robert Plank 14:05 I love that. And they say something like, If you on like, the average time of a commute, if you listen to, like, audio books podcast for three years, then you end up getting the equivalent of a two year college education. And like that time adds up. And what's reassuring to me is that it doesn't necessarily mean we have to, like, be like, 100% stressed all the time. You can, you know, listen like you said, Listen to motivation, listen to podcasts, or, like, do it, make a phone call with someone, someone you haven't spoken to in a while. And so this way you make the use of your time, but you can also have sort of downtime, in a sense, like you do it while you're working out. So that's great to know and great to hear. And then so so next, kind of, for selfish reasons, I'm always kind of looking into what people are doing to market themselves. And it's always fun and interesting to talk to people who are outside my space, such as you right in the legal profession. And there's always the thinking about like the PR and the. SEO, and here you are doing a podcast. So like, what do you like to do to get the word out about you and your law practice?

Lem Garcia 15:09 I think we do a little bit of everything. You know, we there was a point when I was really heavy into social media, you know, Tik Tok and Instagram and making reels and that, you know, got a lot of attention. Now, you know that doing that because being very, really busy on social media, making content is really time consuming, exhausting, so I really couldn't continue doing that as much as I'd like. But I think what's really huge for us, and it has been since the beginning, is SEO, and I think in 2014 compared to now, the game is a lot different. Everybody is doing SEO, and I think we got in at a time where not everybody was, I feel like everyone's all in on SEO right now. It wasn't like that in 2014 so we really have a big advantage that we started out when people weren't doing it, and we got a leg up, and now it's just a matter of just continuing that push, creating content online and just creating creating as much content as possible. Just create content, get it out there. You never know who's listening or how people come across your business, but you know everyone's searching something online or watching something online, and you don't know where they're going to be exposed to your contacts, so you just create a bunch. And then, you know, the I feel like the more that you make, the more attention that you get in, the more clients you end up, you know, contacting getting, in the end,

Robert Plank 16:37 100% I completely agree with you that it's a good habits you have, especially by putting out the useful information and the super specific stuff, because like and like we all do, right? We all search like a super specific phrase for my exact situation. So if we just made like, three or four videos and called it quits, that wouldn't be good. Like, if you have this, this habit of making lots of little videos for very specific situations. That's very helpful. And these are all paths leading back to your website, especially like, what would you say? What we're doing right now, right? We're recording the podcast. Put it on YouTube. We'll put it on the podcast platforms. Make the reels to hopefully rank for some of these phrases, like West COVID in a car accident. Attorney, Car Accident Lawyer, things like that. And so it's, it's good in any profession for us to think about, like, what can I do to get ahead? And so it's also my understanding that you also give back as well, because that's, that's what it's all about, right? You earn your money, you get the business, but you also help others. And so what is this philanthropy in the Philippines all about?

Lem Garcia 17:39 So yeah, this is something that we started recently, and I really want to start doing more of it. But I think a couple months ago, we had an event in the Philippines where we were just giving away basic necessities to people that were affected by that typhoon over there. And a lot of people came out. We had, you know, we have some, some team members out there that are, you know, working remotely with it already, and they said that we can go to this local village and then buy just a base, a lot of necessities for them, you know, food, just basic kitchen supplies, just a lot of, you know, different things that, you know, we take for granted, I think, and just we got that, you know, gave them, you know, put them in a bag, and just had an event with everybody in that community that just came out. And it was a good event. And, you know, it was, it was really touching to see how much you know, the little things help out, and how much they matter to people when you know, when they don't have them. And it's something that's small that we can give and I'm just looking forward to being able to do more things like that over there.

Robert Plank 18:44 Wonderful. It's great motivation, right? You say, Well, hey, this I'm not just piling up the mountain of money. I'm putting it towards a good cost where it's good use to helping people that need it. They were hit with a huge storm. They need the kitchen supplies. They need the food and we'll and maybe even, like, save some lives, right? Even, like, prevent some starvation, or just make, make the living a little bit better as they recover from that storm. And so we've covered all kinds of bases here, right? Lynn, we've covered, like, the motivation and the personal development, and the the business building and the the legal the personal injury aspect itself. Is there anything that we're missing here, is there, like, a question and all these different topics we've been dancing around in, is there a question that you wish I would ask you, but I just don't know enough to ask?

Lem Garcia 19:33 Ask myself a question that, I mean, I guess, just the basic like, what advice would you give to someone that's starting out a business? And I think the answer to that is, you take the risk, or you lose the opportunity. Because there's a lot of things that we come across as entrepreneurs, and a lot of risk involved, but a lot of those times, the. Risk is really an opportunity for you to do something that's bigger than you can imagine, and taking that risk is something every entrepreneur needs to take. And if you don't take it, you lose that opportunity, and then you might not ever get another one. So I think people that want to start a business or do something new really need to be able to take the risk and just, you know, really, just do whatever it takes to figure out how to to get to where they want to go.

Robert Plank 20:28 I think that is huge, and that's something that young people take for granted, right? When you're young and you're in your 20s, then you almost have, like, analysis paralysis. You have, like, there's FOMO, there's almost too many things to do. But as you get older, you have responsibilities, the family or money or career, and sometimes you miss your window. So I think that's huge. And you always hear all these platitudes about like the elderly when they're maybe in their retirement years or close to death, they have regret. And there's always the regret over what you didn't do, and not so much the regret over what you did. So that's it's a great message you have for us. Take the risk, pursue the opportunity. If you can start a business, then do it, even though you might have to put in the hours, even though it might be scary outside of your comfort zone. Do it. Build the business. Make it happen. And so how can we find out more about you. If someone is in the West Covina area and they need this car accident attorney, how can they get in touch with Lem Garcia law?

Lem Garcia 21:30 Well, they could email me Lem at Lem Garcia law.com or give us a call. Our phone number is 626-337-1111,

Robert Plank 21:39 wonderful, and that is L, E, M, G, A, R, C, I, A, L, A, W.com, that's Lem at, Lem Garcia law.com, and you gave us that phone number. Can we get it one more time, just in case? Yeah, 626-337-1111, very nice. And so as people are either making that phone call, go into the website, send them the email, whatever makes sense for you and your current situation. It's time to get a tiny little sound bite at the end. Here limits, I like to put my guests on the spot a little bit and ask them for a fun, interesting quote or lesson that has helped them, that can help us. So Does anything come to mind? As far as I know, I'm putting you on the spot, but a fun quote or lesson to help us out.

Lem Garcia 22:24 Do whatever it takes to figure it out.

Robert Plank 22:27 Very nice. Do whatever it takes to figure it out, including solving your car accident situation. If that has dropped into your lap, you know, life is unpredictable. It helps, as Lem said, to have someone on your side to check out your situation, to talk to the insurance company and just to get this, this mess figured out, like get your situation resolved. Lem is here to help you. He cares about you. He loves doing this. This is how he specializes and Lem, Garcia law.com, is the place to go. Thank you very much, Lem for stopping by being real and personal, sharing some helpful advice with us. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Robert podcast.com, forward slash, free. Go there right now to see what you could be missing in your podcast. Maybe you aren't active enough on social media. Are you writing and broadcasting an email for every episode of your podcast. Do you follow up with your podcast guests? Do you do things to make your podcast interview and content creation easier? Go to dfy podcast.com/free, to claim your gift right now. Transcribed by https://otter.ai