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DECEMBER 2021
4315 W. Lovers Lane, Suite A, Dallas, TX 75209 | 1900 W. Illinois Avenue, Suite 101, Midland, TX 79701 www.buttonlawfirm.com | 214-888-2216 HOT-BUTTON ISSUES
LONE WOLVES DON’T GO FAR
3 Reasons to Tag Team Your New Year’s Resolutions
1. Your team’s strengths compensate for your weaknesses. Back in high school, I realized pretty quickly that in order to go far on the basketball court, I needed help. So I started building a personal team. I enlisted a retired University of Texas shooting guard to teach me how to get my shot off against taller players, and I asked coaches to show me how to break down game plans. Their expertise saved me research time and taught me valuable lessons that helped me maximize my potential. I never would have gotten that far as a “lone wolf.” You can do the same thing with your New Year’s resolutions. If you want to eat healthier, for example, enlist the help of a nutritionist or a friend who loves to meal prep. People who are strong in areas where you are weak will help you succeed.
One of Hollywood’s favorite archetypes is the “lone wolf” — the maverick business man, outlaw hero, or ambitious young woman who needs nothing and no one to achieve glory and success. But let me tell you a secret: That trope is a big, fat lie! In the real world, the most efficient way to succeed is by building a team. You could even call them a wolf pack. That truth hit me this morning when I came across this ancient proverb:
achieve them or hiring a service you’ll feel obligated to use.
3. Your team helps you achieve more while working less. “Working less” isn’t a bad thing in this context. It’s just efficiency. Here at BLF, we’ve structured our team differently from most law firms to maximize this. Instead of one lawyer working alone on one case, we all work on every single case in some way, shape, or form. That allows each person to play to their strengths and helps us do better work overall. Every day at the office we go far together, instead of moving fast alone. You can do the same thing on a smaller scale for your New Year’s resolutions. If you want to finish a home improvement project, why not invite a bunch of friends over and make it an adventure? You’ll likely finish the project faster, it will turn out better, and you won’t be exhausted from sawing, hammering, and painting all by yourself. I hope this realization is as helpful for you in 2022 as it was for me. I know that if I run into a hang-up with one of my goals next year, my first move will be building a pack.
“If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.”
I immediately wrote down the quote and sent it to friends because it got right to the core of what I’ve always believed about teamwork: If you want to build something sustainable and enduring, you must have other people at your side who believe in it as much as you do.
2. Your team keeps you motivated.
My parents have trouble motivating themselves to go to the gym — so they hired a personal trainer. Because they have to pay for the service, they always show up now! That trainer is on their team and holds them accountable for their progress. Since my parents stopped “lone wolfing” their workouts, they have built good habits and are reaping the benefits. You can do the same thing by sharing your resolutions with a friend who will push you to
“If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.”
Honestly, I think this might be the secret to succeeding at any goal, including New Year’s resolutions. In my experience, these are the top three reasons why teamwork literally makes the dream work.
–Russell Button
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NEW HIRE ALERT! HELP US WELCOME ASHLEY GARZA TO THE TEAM
It turns out Ashley was hoping for a job as an executive assistant and project manager, which is exactly what we needed! Her background included time spent as a paralegal and case manager, working in a variety of legal niches, including personal injury, family law, criminal law, and immigration. Russell brought her on board right away, and she put her eight years of personal injury experience to work. Today, Ashley also helps manage our projects and pitches in with marketing and network building. “I’m glad I chose to be part of a team that is dedicated to bettering the lives of their clients. You can tell how much respect the team has for each other,” Ashley says.
seat, and adding Ashley has been a huge momentum boost for us to finish 2021 strong,” Russell says.
When Ashley isn’t hard at work helping our clients, she’s busy being a mom.
“My life revolves around my two kids — my son, Ashton, and my daughter, Leah. We enjoy attending church on Sundays and learning about God. If we’re not at a movie theater, you can find us outdoors! We really enjoy family time at lakes, trails, and parks,” Ashley says. Like the rest of our team, Ashley also loves to read in her free time. She’s currently working her way through Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. If you chat with her in the next few weeks, make sure to ask if she liked it!
Russell admires initiative — so when Ashley Garza called our office looking for a job with a family-oriented law firm, his interest was piqued! “I called her back and told her we’re always looking to add superstars to our team. Then, I asked what she was interested in doing,” he remembers.
The feeling is mutual!
“We always try to play to people’s strengths and put the right person in the right
PRACTICE(PANTHER) MAKES PERFECT Our New System’s Client Portal Will Make Your Life Easy!
How many tabs do you have open when you work on the computer? If you’re a 10- tab person, you know exactly how euphoric it feels to close all of those little windows at the end of the day. Sweet relief! Here at BLF, our team got to experience that feeling this summer. In June, we officially consolidated all of our spreadsheets, data banks, and client information into a single place — closing every “tab” but one. Our last tab standing is the case management system PracticePanther (PP). It streamlines our case information and makes everything easy, including creating documents, coordinating with the team, and communicating with clients. “It took us from January to June to put everything together,” Russell remembers. The whole team chipped in on data entry, and Ashley W. created a manual for our customized version of PP.
“The most exciting part for me is being able to quickly review data from past cases,” Ashley says. “Let’s say we have a new case where we have filed a lawsuit and were assigned a judge. PP allows me to quickly search what other cases we have had in that same judge’s court so we know what to anticipate as far as the judge’s individual rules or needs.”
“We still haven’t even tapped into all of the perks that PP offers. I am still actively working on building out things to make the system even better. For example, we expect to have a fully functioning Client Portal running for all of our active cases by the end of the year. This will allow our clients to sign into their portal and communicate with us through it,” Ashley says. Our whole team is really excited about this portal. Once it’s up and running, your emails will never get lost again, and sending photos and records to us will be easy. You can upload those things directly from your portal after logging in, and they will automatically be added to your file. Keep an eye on ButtonLawFirm.com and this newsletter for more updates on the portal and other ways PP will make your life easier!
PracticePanther has made our whole legal team more informed and effective!
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ACTOR, FILMMAKER, DIGITAL MARKETER, PARAGLIDER … Is There Anything Scott Can’t Do?
Almost as soon as he met Scott Duvall, Russell knew that we had to feature him in our newsletter.
“One thing led to another, and a few months later, I had drafted up a script for a commercial and enlisted a cinematographer friend of mine and one or two actors to make this come to life,” Scott says.
“Scott is awesome — and I mean awesome,” Russell says. “He helps our team with digital marketing, but that’s only a small part of his story.”
Scott is a senior digital marketing strategist/SEO analyst with Foster Web Marketing, the lawyer-focused digital marketing company our team uses. He helps us maximize traffic to our website with SEO techniques and direct email campaigns. But he’s also working on his master’s degree in Television Management and discovered marketing through an unlikely channel: acting. “Around the end of college, I ended up getting an acting agent. He put me on a few industrials, which are basically videos meant for internal training purposes,” Scott says. “I was doing one for the Army when I realized I was paying more attention to what was happening behind the camera than the scene I was acting in front of it! I thought, ‘There must be something there,’ and that’s what got me into film production.” Scott spun his theater background into a career creating short films and web series. Then, a friend who ran a homebrewing company approached Scott for help reaching a new audience. BLF HIGHLIGHT REEL
The Jay’s Brewing commercial went locally viral on social media and launched Scott into a career in advertising. This February, he signed on with Foster Web Marketing and landed the BLF account! We’ve had a fantastic time working with him ever since. “BLF is a super great law firm to work with. They’re very relaxed, confident, and capable. They know what direction they want to go in and start with a really good strategy right out of the box,” Scott says. As you might imagine, after that brewing commercial, Scott also brews his own beer. Oh, and he’s a licensed hang glider! To learn more about Scott’s work, visit FosterWebMarketing.com. “Russell Button and his firm are fantastic at what they do. They represented our family well and made the process as painless as possible. We are grateful for them and would highly recommend their services.” –Brandon T. CLIENT REVIEW
Scott Snellings and Russell at the annual GLM seminar
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4315 W. Lovers Lane, Suite A Dallas, Texas 75209
www.buttonlawfirm.com | 214-888-2216
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
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Want to Achieve Your 2022 Goals? Don’t Go It Alone
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Meet Our New Executive Assistant Reaching Our Team Is About to Get Easier! Meet Scott Duvall: Actor-Turned-SEO Expert BLF Highlight Reel
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A Day at the Amusement Park Gone Wrong
THE DARK SIDE OF KIDS’ PLAY AREAS
BLF Secures Justice for 2 Injured Children
When you take your child to an indoor play area or amusement park, you’re trusting that facility to care for them and keep them safe. Parents assume these places are well-maintained, hazard- free, and supervised. But that’s not always the case. This year, our team tackled two cases for parents whose children were injured at the same play space. The park’s escalators were poorly maintained and lacked updated safety features to make sure that they would stop quickly in the event of an emergency. That negligence led to two tragic and entirely preventable accidents. One child — we’ll call him Max — was descending the escalator when tragedy struck. Before he knew what was happening, his hand, finger, and knee were sucked into a space that shouldn’t have been there. He was trapped between the steps and the comb plate at the bottom of the escalator! Max’s screams brought people running, but not before he suffered permanent injuries to his hand and knee because of the incident.
middle fingers caught in its grate. Like Max, Kennedy suffered severe injuries to her hand, leaving her permanently disfigured and facing the difficult future of not being able to fully use her hand ever again.
These awful incidents were entirely preventable. The play area should have maintained its escalators so that they would be safe for kids or, at the very least, warned parents of the danger and posted guards nearby! The escalator was the only way kids could get to the second floor of the play area. When we heard about these two children, we knew someone had to hold the company in charge of the play area accountable. With the help of fellow attorney Scott Snellings of Snellings Law, our team secured justice for both Max and Kennedy and ensured that the play area paid for their medical bills, pain, and suffering. Fortunately, this dangerous play place no longer exists, so no more children will be hurt there. We can only hope that our hard work on behalf of these two families will ensure children’s parks in Texas are more careful in the future!
The next year, it happened again. Another child — we’ll call her Kennedy — was descending the escalator when her index and
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