Kevin Moore on the Challenges of Opening and Maintaining a Law Office

Kevin Moore was born and raised in Texas. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma and then attended law school at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan. After law school, Kevin initially worked for a law firm, but soon thereafter he opened his own legal practice. The Law Firm of Kevin Moore focuses on injury law with a specific focus on helping clients with Workers’ Compensation issues. Kevin also does a lot of pro bono work through free legal clinics.

Kevin Moore is also currently working on a secondary degree at Vanderbilt University, a Master of Divinity degree in American History, Law, and Religion.

What would you tell others looking to get into your industry?

I would recommend it. The experience and the training are incredibly valuable even if you do not practice law. It is an incredibly honorable profession. As a lawyer, I am able to help make a positive difference in people’s lives.

What traits do you possess that make a successful leader?

I have a really strong work ethic and a desire to succeed. I am attentive and I am good at assessing the facts and the law in order to put those pieces together for the benefit of the client. I am very good at reading and picking out what needs attention.

What do you love most about the industry you are in?

My work is limited to Workers’ Compensation Law. I really love working with clients and just being able to help them. It sounds corny, but it’s pretty accurate. If you don’t love what you do, you shouldn’t do it.

What is the biggest lesson you have learned managing your business/team?

Always have contingencies and always stay abreast of changes in the law. Always challenge yourself to make sure that you never get complacent. Facts and circumstances are always evolving. For example, my primary license is in Florida, but I have secondary licenses in Tennessee and Illinois. I’m always looking and considering “what-ifs” and what is next.

Workers’ Compensation law and client benefits can be affected by the legislature and judicial rulings. It is imperative for attorneys to understand court rulings and legislative activity to ensure client rights are protected.

How has your company grown from its early days to now?

I was pretty successful right out of the block. I did institutional work for about a year or year and a half, representing nothing but insurance companies because the law firm that I was with did insurance work only. But then I wanted to represent injured workers as I saw how unfair the worker’s compensation system was for them.

The previous experience of representing insurance companies helped me effectively represent injured workers.

My Law Firm also utilizes technology for the benefit of my clients. We are always looking for ways to make the process easier and more efficient for our clients.

If you could change 1 thing you did in the beginning of your career what would it be?

I don’t think there would be anything. I really thought about that. I just don’t know if I would do anything different. Not that there aren’t regrets or failures along the way, but purely would I do something different? No.

How do you maintain a work-life balance?

The technology we have in place allows me to balance work and life.

What trends in your industry excite you?

There is a new case law that is coming out all the time and new sets of facts. It’s just a continual assessment of cases and facts that come down from either the District Court or the Supreme Court. This continual assessment is dynamic.

There are changes in the details such as evidentiary processes or how the justices look at a particular fact scenario. Those are ever-changing all the time.

What is one piece of advice that you have never forgotten?

I would have to go back to what my father told me when I first passed the bar exam. I am proud of what I do to help others and I truly feel that my profession is invaluable.

Where do you see you and your company in 5 years?

Exactly what I’m doing now. I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing at the level that I can. I’ll continue to broaden some of it.

I would also like to teach. That’s really one of the things I want to do with my Vanderbilt degree. I don’t want to teach in lieu of my legal practice. I just want to teach in conjunction with what I’m doing.

Explain the proudest day of your professional life.

I would probably just say the day I started my practice. I enjoy my work and when I started working for myself I really felt like I was exactly where I wanted to be doing exactly what I wanted to do.