Jennifer Cona on The Lawyer’s Edge Podcast

Recently, Jennifer Cona was on The Lawyer’s Edge podcast. This was originally posted on The Lawyer’s Edge, and Jen’s episode can be heard there, as well as wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Jennifer Cona, is the Founder and Managing Partner of Cona Elder Law, an award-winning elder law and estate planning firm located in Melville, New York. Celebrating 25 years in business, Cona Elder Law has been consistently ranked the number one elder law and trust in-estate firm on Long Island. Jennifer has won many awards, including the New York Law Journal Award for Top Women in Law.

She and her firm are committed to corporate social responsibility, and she has held roles on the board of trustees of the Long Island Alzheimer’s and Dementia Center, the United Way of Long Island, and the executive leadership team of the American Heart Association.

Jennifer has also been featured in many publications such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and has appeared on radio and TV. She also writes a monthly column for the Long Island Press called Power of Your Attorney. Jennifer Cona’s dedication to Elder Law and her impact on her community are a testament to her outstanding career.

Click here to listen to the Podcast.

WHAT’S COVERED IN THIS EPISODE ABOUT HOW TO GROW FROM SOLO PRACTICE

Many lawyers dream of opening their own practice. It takes a lot, though, to go from working for someone else’s firm to starting your own, especially if you have no one with experience to guide you.

Jennifer Cona didn’t grow up in an entrepreneurial family who could show her the ropes. But going on guts, she managed to open an elder law practice and successfully grow it from a solo operation to a boutique. And even she will tell you it looked like she did it by the seat of her pants at times!

In this episode of The Lawyer’s Edge podcast, you’ll discover how Jennifer launched and grew a law firm while creating a culture built to last. She’ll also reveal how everyone at Cona Elder Law reinforces the core values of the firm, how they focus on the local community even outside of serving clients, and the challenges and opportunities presented by younger generations in the workplace and the advent of artificial intelligence.

2:16 – How Jennifer went from working at someone else’s firm to starting her own within five years of practicing law

5:26 – Why Jennifer felt the need to move her solo firm out of Manhattan to Long Island and expand to a 35-lawyer boutique

10:37 – Jennifer’s leadership style and how her firm focuses on corporate social responsibility

13:57 – How the core values of Jennifer’s practice are constantly reinforced and make it much easier to hire (or fire) people

16:42 – The generational issue Jennifer thinks is the greatest challenge these days

22:31 – How Jennifer uses AI now, how she plans to use it in the future, and why she’s excited about it when many others are wary

26:08 – The difficulty of growing a law firm (especially when you’re also trying to raise a family)

29:39 – Why you’re always answering to somebody even if you own a law practice

SPONSOR FOR THIS EPISODE…

Today’s episode is brought to you by the coaching team at The Lawyer’s Edge, a training and coaching firm which has been focused exclusively on lawyers and law firms since 2008.