In this blog, we feature insights from  Mike Morse, founder of Michigan’s largest personal injury firm, Mike Morse Law Firm as he explains how personal injury firms can achieve data-driven success by using the Jumbotron Principle.

Key Principle #3: Know All Things Data

Critical to Mike’s success is the foundation he created based on five key principles. The focus on this blog is on Key Principle #3: Know All Things Data.

For years, Mike Morse admittedly ran his personal injury law firm in the dark. He was making major business decisions without the benefit of key performance data to guide him. As he puts it, it was like “watching a football game with the scoreboard blacked out” — having no visibility into the score, time remaining, or any other metrics.

That all changed in 2007 when Mike implemented what he calls the “Jumbotron Principle”.  Just as stadium Jumbotrons provide real-time data on every aspect of the game, Mike built comprehensive dashboards to light up his firm’s performance data across every department, team, and metrics that mattered. Suddenly, he could see his law firm’s “score” in areas like new cases, revenue, average fees, and process cycle times. With this information now at his fingertips, Mike could finally set goals, make adjustments, and run his business in real time.

The Positive Impact of Data-driven Decision Making

The results were transformational. With the ability to make data informed decisions, Mike’s firm saw their numbers go up across the board. Every single department, team, and employee became focused on collecting and optimizing their performance data. This allowed Mike to identify bright spots and underperforming areas to address. He could isolate top-performer benchmarks and rally the rest of the team to match them. Granular metrics like case cycle times allowed him to pinpoint process bottlenecks and inefficiencies to resolve.

Perhaps most importantly, the Jumbotron data allowed Mike to intimately understand the financial impact of key strategies like litigation vs. settlement rates. For example, by tracking those metrics, he realized that filing lawsuits in 60% of cases rather than taking easier settlements allowed his firm to double their fees.

Now whenever someone calls Mike for business advice, he can rattle off all the key performance indicators for his firm with just 3-4 questions. If they don’t know those same numbers for their own firm, he knows their Jumbotron is blank, just like his used to be. And he understands the massive opportunity they’re missing. For any lawyers who think they’re running a successful practice based on revenue alone, Mike cautions that they’re likely operating in the dark, sub-optimizing, and leaving millions on the table.

Creating a Data-driven Law Firm Culture

Becoming a data-driven success required an “all-in” commitment from Mike Morse. For Mike Morse Law Firm, the Jumbotron Principle has become deeply ingrained in the firm’s culture and the way they make decisions. Examining the data is the first step before any changes, strategies, or investments. It allows them to adapt quickly and laser focus their efforts. While implementing a full Jumbotron dashboard requires upfront effort, Mike has made the process turnkey for other firms. His team can take a personal injury law firm’s data and build out performance dashboards tailored specifically to their business. From there, it’s just a matter of reviewing the data regularly to course correct as needed.

For law firms struggling with everything from process inefficiencies and leaking profits to maintaining a competitive edge, the Jumbotron Principle could be a game-changer. It enables law firms to transition from operating based on gut instinct and anecdotes to becoming a truly data driven, adaptive business. In today’s competitive, legal environment, having that level of visibility and agility is invaluable.