The Practice Playbook Podcast with Susan Guthrie

"That's the way we've always done it" might be the most expensive phrase in your practice, even when you never say it out loud. Susan Guthrie explores the practice rules professionals follow without ever consciously choosing them, from availability and referrals to pricing, customization, and the very definition of success.

The last two episodes of The Practice Playbook Podcast explored whether your practice is working for everyone but you and what your calendar reveals about your business model. This week, Susan goes one layer deeper into the patterns shaping practices that were never consciously chosen, but simply inherited.

Using a relatable (and timely) suitcase story as the through line, Susan walks through five areas where inherited rules quietly take over: availability, referrals, pricing, customization, and success. The message isn't that inherited rules are wrong. It's that they deserve to be examined, kept, revised, or released, so the practice you're building is the one you actually intended.

What You'll Learn

How invisible rules decide what you say yes to, what you charge, and how available you feel you have to be

Why constant availability isn't the same thing as excellent client service

How a referral-based practice can quietly shift from intentional to passive

Why most pricing decisions are inherited rules dressed up as choices

The difference between client-centered service and over-customization that exhausts you

Why your definition of success may belong to someone else's practice, not yours

A simple one-sentence exercise to start identifying your own inherited rules

Free Episode Companion Resource:

This week's companion resource will help you work through all five areas from this episode: availability, referral sources, pricing, customization, and success and identify the inherited rules behind each one.

Download the worksheet at susaneguthrie.com/podcasts

Join The Practice Accelerator 
Susan's Practice Accelerator is now open as a monthly membership subscription!  Designed for professionals who want more than just ideas, the Accelerator delivers structure, strategy, accountability, and a community of forward-thinking professionals who are serious about building sustainable, successful practices.

If you have ever wondered if you would benefit from professional coaching, this is your opportunity to test the waters with Susan at an accessible price point.  

Members receive:

One monthly live Implementation Hour webinar with Susan in her signature practical and easily implemented insights and strategies for building your practice.

Two live monthly group Practice Lab sessions with Susan.  A place to bring your questions to receive expert advice and insights from colleagues on the same journey.

Bi-Weekly Premium Resource that accompanies the latest Practice Playbook Podcast episode that supports you in implementing the golden nuggets in the episode.

And much more for only $99/month.  Use code "PPP" for $10 off your monthly subscription!

Visit https://susaneguthrie.com/accelerator to join now.

Meet Our Creator and Host: Susan Guthrie
Susan E. Guthrie is one of the most respected voices in mediation and conflict resolution today. A nationally recognized family law attorney and mediator for 35 years, she is now a top professional coach and consultant helping dispute resolution and legal professionals build thriving, modern practices.

Susan recently appeared on The Oprah Podcast, expanding her reach to an even broader audience and highlighting her role as a trusted expert in divorce, communication, and modern conflict resolution. She is also the creator and host of The Divorce & Beyond Podcast, ranked in the top 1% worldwide, with millions of listeners and a global following.

As Past Chair of the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution, Susan continues to shape the future of the profession while training and mentoring practitioners around the world.

Connect with Susan E. Guthrie

Website: https://susaneguthrie.com

Books: https://susaneguthrie.com/books

 

Practice Playbook Series: https://intentionalpracticedesign.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/susaneguthrie

Instagram: @susaneguthrie and @practiceplaybookpodcast 

If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to subscribe to The Practice Playbook Podcast on your favorite platform, leave a 5-star review, and share the episode with a colleague or professional friend who would benefit from this conversation. Your support helps us continue bringing practical insights, forward-thinking strategies, and meaningful conversations to lawyers, mediators, arbitrators, and entrepreneurial professionals looking to build stronger, smarter, and more sustainable practices.

And as always, please remember that this podcast is presented for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended as legal advice, business advice, or professional advice of any kind, and listening to this podcast does not create any attorney-client or professional relationship.

A full calendar can feel like proof that a practice is working. The phone rings, the referrals come in, the consultation requests land in the inbox, and from the outside, that looks like success. But inside the practice, a full calendar can hide a lot. In fact, a full calendar is not the same as a healthy practice.

In this solo episode, Susan Guthrie continues the lead-up to the launch of The Business Plan Playbook, Second Edition, by turning to one of the clearest places a practice tells the truth: the calendar. She breaks down what a full calendar can actually be hiding, why revenue alone does not tell the whole story, and why the real question is not whether the calendar is full, but what it is full of.

Susan walks through a practical 30-day calendar audit designed to help identify what the calendar is rewarding, what it is ignoring, and where one pattern might be ready for redesign.

What You'll Learn

What a full calendar can actually be hiding, from underpricing to wrong-fit clients to weak systems

Why traditional business planning can miss the point when it only looks at revenue goals

How to figure out what your calendar is really rewarding, and whether that matches the practice you want to build

How to study your last 30 days and identify one calendar pattern that's ready for redesign

Free Episode Companion Resource:

The First Redesign Priority Worksheet

This week's free companion resource walks you through mapping the last 30 days of your calendar, scoring each block of time with a simple plus, equals, or minus, and identifying the one pattern taking the most and returning the least. It takes about fifteen minutes with your actual calendar in front of you, and it ends with a decision, not just a reflection.

Download the worksheet at susaneguthrie.com/podcasts

Join The Practice Accelerator 
Susan's Practice Accelerator is now open as a monthly membership subscription!  Designed for professionals who want more than just ideas, the Accelerator delivers structure, strategy, accountability, and a community of forward-thinking professionals who are serious about building sustainable, successful practices.

If you have ever wondered if you would benefit from professional coaching, this is your opportunity to test the waters with Susan at an accessible price point.  

Members receive:

One monthly live webinar with Susan in her signature practical and easily implemented insights and strategies for building your practice.

Two live monthly group Office Hours sessions with Susan.  A place to bring your questions to receive expert advice and insights from colleagues on the same journey.

Weekly Premium Resource that accompanies the latest Practice Playbook Podcast episode that supports you in implementing the golden nuggets in the episode.

And much more for only $99/month.  Use code "PPP" for $10 off your monthly subscription!

Visit https://susaneguthrie.com/accelerator to join now.

Meet Our Creator and Host: Susan Guthrie
Susan E. Guthrie is one of the most respected voices in mediation and conflict resolution today. A nationally recognized family law attorney and mediator for 35 years, she is now a top professional coach and consultant helping dispute resolution and legal professionals build thriving, modern practices.

Susan recently appeared on The Oprah Podcast, expanding her reach to an even broader audience and highlighting her role as a trusted expert in divorce, communication, and modern conflict resolution. She is also the creator and host of The Divorce & Beyond Podcast, ranked in the top 1% worldwide, with millions of listeners and a global following.

As Immediate Past Chair of the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution, Susan continues to shape the future of the profession while training and mentoring practitioners around the world.

Connect with Susan E. Guthrie

Website: https://susaneguthrie.com
Books: https://susaneguthrie.com/books
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/susaneguthrie
Instagram: @susaneguthrie and @practiceplaybookpodcast 

If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to subscribe to The Practice Playbook Podcast on your favorite platform, leave a 5-star review, and share the episode with a colleague or professional friend who would benefit from this conversation. Your support helps us continue bringing practical insights, forward-thinking strategies, and meaningful conversations to lawyers, mediators, arbitrators, and entrepreneurial professionals looking to build stronger, smarter, and more sustainable practices.

And as always, please remember that this podcast is presented for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended as legal advice, business advice, or professional advice of any kind, and listening to this podcast does not create any attorney-client or professional relationship.

Have you ever looked at your practice and thought, this should feel better than it does? Not because you hate the work. Not because you're bad at it. In fact, the opposite is often true: you may be very good at the work, you may care deeply about your clients, and you may have every outward sign of success, and still feel like something is off. That's the question we tackle in a special series about intentional practice design, kicking off with this episode.

Intentional practice design is built on the idea that a thriving practice is not inherited, improvised, or assembled one urgent decision at a time. It is intentionally designed. Drawing on 20-plus years running a family law litigation practice, Susan Guthrie breaks down the three forces shaping every practice, inherited patterns, reactive patterns, and intentional choices, and walks through the signs that a practice is asking for redesign.

A practice that feels off does not mean you chose the wrong work. It may mean you've outgrown an inherited model, or that reactive decisions have quietly piled up, or that the practice still reflects a former version of you. That is not failure. It is growth, it is information, and it is leadership, because the practice you lead should be something you build by design, not something you simply end up inside.

What You'll Learn:

Why a practice can look successful on the outside and still feel wrong on the inside

The difference between inherited patterns, reactive patterns, and intentional choices

The central clarity question: would you build your practice the same way if you started today?

Common signs your practice is asking for redesign

A simple three question exercise to find where your practice needs to change

Free Episode Companion Resource: The Practice Design Assessment
This week's free companion resource is the Practice Design Assessment, a seven minute interactive tool at intentionalpracticedesign.com that looks at five dimensions of a practice, including pricing, delivery, client experience, positioning, and AI governance.

Take the assessment at IntentionalPracticeDesign.com

Join The Practice Accelerator 
Susan's Practice Accelerator is now open as a monthly membership subscription!  Designed for professionals who want more than just ideas, the Accelerator delivers structure, strategy, accountability, and a community of forward-thinking professionals who are serious about building sustainable, successful practices.

If you have ever wondered if you would benefit from professional coaching, this is your opportunity to test the waters with Susan at an accessible price point.  

Members receive:

One monthly live webinar with Susan in her signature practical and easily implemented insights and strategies for building your practice.

Two live monthly group Office Hours sessions with Susan.  A place to bring your questions to receive expert advice and insights from colleagues on the same journey.

Weekly Premium Resource that accompanies the latest Practice Playbook Podcast episode that supports you in implementing the golden nuggets in the episode.

And much more for only $99/month.  Use code "PPP" for $10 off your monthly subscription!

Visit https://susaneguthrie.com/accelerator to join now.

Meet Our Creator and Host: Susan Guthrie
Susan E. Guthrie is one of the most respected voices in mediation and conflict resolution today. A nationally recognized family law attorney and mediator for 35 years, she is now a top professional coach and consultant helping dispute resolution and legal professionals build thriving, modern practices.

Susan recently appeared on The Oprah Podcast, expanding her reach to an even broader audience and highlighting her role as a trusted expert in divorce, communication, and modern conflict resolution. She is also the creator and host of The Divorce & Beyond Podcast, ranked in the top 1% worldwide, with millions of listeners and a global following.

As Immediate Past Chair of the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution, Susan continues to shape the future of the profession while training and mentoring practitioners around the world.

Connect with Susan E. Guthrie

Website: https://susaneguthrie.com
Books: https://susaneguthrie.com/books
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/susaneguthrie
Instagram: @susaneguthrie and @practiceplaybookpodcast 

If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to subscribe to The Practice Playbook Podcast on your favorite platform, leave a 5-star review, and share the episode with a colleague or professional friend who would benefit from this conversation. Your support helps us continue bringing practical insights, forward-thinking strategies, and meaningful conversations to lawyers, mediators, arbitrators, and entrepreneurial professionals looking to build stronger, smarter, and more sustainable practices.

And as always, please remember that this podcast is presented for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended as legal advice, business advice, or professional advice of any kind, and listening to this podcast does not create any attorney-client or professional relationship.

AI in the legal world is often met with fear instead of curiosity, but Susan Guthrie has a different take: used with the right skepticism, it doesn't replace professional judgment, it frees practitioners to use more of it. That shift is exactly what's playing out with Descrybe, the legal research tool that's gone from a free startup product to one of Anthropic's official launch partners for Claude for Legal in just eighteen months. Susan sits down with the co-founders of Descrybe, Kara Peterson and Richard DiBona to unpack how that happened, and what it means for the future of practice.

Kara first joined Susan on the podcast back in December of 2024. Since then, Descrybe has added many new features, including a Citator to evaluate good law versus bad law, a deep research tool called Descrybe LM, and an advanced brief checker, all while earning national recognition, including being named one of the ABA's Legal Women of Tech.

Together, Susan, Kara, and Richard, explore how Descrybe evolved from startup to industry leader, why the Anthropic partnership matters, what AI-powered legal workflows look like today, and where authority-based search and option generation are already changing how practitioners and mediators work.

What You'll Learn

Why Descrybe becoming an official Anthropic launch partner for Claude for Legal is a milestone for access to justice, not just for one company

How Descrybe grew from a free case law search tool into a full suite that includes a Citator, a deep research tool called Descrybe LM, and an advanced brief checker

Why healthy skepticism, not blind trust, is the right way to work with AI, and how treating hallucinations like an "Easter egg hunt" keeps you sharp instead of anxious

How searching by authority instead of by keyword surfaces the cases practitioners actually cite, not just the ones that match the words

Why option generation is one of the most valuable uses of AI for mediators, and how it can help polarized parties find middle ground faster

How Descrybe's data-first approach lets the same verified legal data work across Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other platforms practitioners already use

Meet Our Guests
Kara Peterson, Co-Founder & CEO: Kara leads marketing, partnerships, and strategy. She brings a background in technology and social impact and a deep belief that access to information is a social justice issue. She was named to the ABA Women of Legal Tech 2024 list.

Richard DiBona, Co-Founder & CTO: Rich leads product and engineering. He built the structured primary-law corpus and reasoning architecture that powers DescrybeLM. He is widely recognized as a leading expert in the application of AI to legal research. Descrybe has earned multiple industry awards for the platform he built, including the American Legal Technology Awards, the Anthem Award, and recognition from the Legalweek Leaders in Tech Law Awards and the Webby Awards.

Website: http://descrybe.com

Free Episode Companion Resource: The Modern Legal AI Starter Guide
A practical guide to help you start putting Claude and Descrybe into practice, with prompts and a simple workflow you can use right away. Visit susaneguthrie.com to download.

Join The Practice Accelerator 
Susan's Practice Accelerator is now open as a monthly membership subscription!  Designed for professionals who want more than just ideas, the Accelerator delivers structure, strategy, accountability, and a community of forward-thinking professionals who are serious about building sustainable, successful practices.

If you have ever wondered if you would benefit from professional coaching, this is your opportunity to test the waters with Susan at an accessible price point.  

Members receive:

One monthly live webinar with Susan in her signature practical and easily implemented insights and strategies for building your practice.

Two live monthly group Office Hours sessions with Susan.  A place to bring your questions to receive expert advice and insights from colleagues on the same journey.

Weekly Premium Resource that accompanies the latest Practice Playbook Podcast episode that supports you in implementing the golden nuggets in the episode.

And much more for only $99/month.  Use code "PPP" for $10 off your monthly subscription!

Visit https://susaneguthrie.com/accelerator to join now.

Meet Our Creator and Host: Susan Guthrie
Susan E. Guthrie is one of the most respected voices in mediation and conflict resolution today. A nationally recognized family law attorney and mediator for 35 years, she is now a top professional coach and consultant helping dispute resolution and legal professionals build thriving, modern practices.

Susan recently appeared on The Oprah Podcast, expanding her reach to an even broader audience and highlighting her role as a trusted expert in divorce, communication, and modern conflict resolution. She is also the creator and host of The Divorce & Beyond Podcast, ranked in the top 1% worldwide, with millions of listeners and a global following.

As Immediate Past Chair of the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution, Susan continues to shape the future of the profession while training and mentoring practitioners around the world.

Connect with Susan E. Guthrie

Website: https://susaneguthrie.com
Books: https://susaneguthrie.com/books
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/susaneguthrie
Instagram: @susaneguthrie and @practiceplaybookpodcast 

If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to subscribe to The Practice Playbook Podcast on your favorite platform, leave a 5-star review, and share the episode with a colleague or professional friend who would benefit from this conversation. Your support helps us continue bringing practical insights, forward-thinking strategies, and meaningful conversations to lawyers, mediators, arbitrators, and entrepreneurial professionals looking to build stronger, smarter, and more sustainable practices.

And as always, please remember that this podcast is presented for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended as legal advice, business advice, or professional advice of any kind, and listening to this podcast does not create any attorney-client or professional relationship.

There are two words that can make you excellent at your work and quietly sabotage the practice you actually want, and most professionals say them without noticing. A colleague floats an idea, and before they finish the sentence, you are already building the response that starts with "Yes, but."

Stephen Seckler calls it the yes, but reflex, and he has spent a career helping lawyers and dispute resolution professionals catch it before it costs them the relationships, the work, and the practice they keep saying they want.

Susan Guthrie sits down with Stephen Seckler, career and business development coach for lawyers, host of the Counsel to Counsel podcast, and author of Think Like a Lawyer, Act Like an Entrepreneur, published by the American Bar Association. Stephen spends his days helping skilled professionals get out of their own way. What Susan loves about his thinking is that he is not asking anyone to become someone they are not. The same instincts that make you sharp in a negotiation or precise as a neutral are the ones that can stall your growth the minute you step into building a practice.

Together they get into where that line sits, how artificial intelligence is testing it right now, and why so many professionals end up with a full calendar of work they never actually chose. It is about the small shifts that move a practice from reactive to chosen.

What You'll Learn

Why the "yes, but" reflex makes you effective in a deal or a courtroom and quietly undermines you the moment you start building relationships

Why you do not have to change who you are or how you think, only how you act when you are building a practice rather than practicing in it

Why risk is not the enemy, avoiding it on reflex is, and how that same shift is exactly what our professions need around AI right now

How to let the technology do the sorting while your judgment and critical eye stay the real value in the room

Why most practices grow reactively, filled with whatever work shows up, and how to start choosing the work that actually energizes you

Why marketing is not advertising or selling, and how a series of small, genuinely helpful touches is what gets you the call

Free Episode Companion Resource: The "Yes, But" Audit
A one-page reset to help you catch the reflexes that keep you reactive and start choosing the practice you actually want. Download the resource here: https://susaneguthrie.com/podcasts

Meet Our Guest
Stephen Seckler is a career and business development coach for lawyers and the host of the Counsel to Counsel podcast. He is an attorney who has dedicated his entire legal career to heaping other attorneys find greater professional satisfaction in or out of the law. Stephen is the author of Think Like a Lawyer, Act Like an Entrepreneur, published by the American Bar Association. He sits on the board of the ABA Career Center and on the editorial board of the ABA publication GPSolo.

Website: http://www.seckler.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenseckler/
Book: Think Like a Lawyer, Act Like an Entrepreneur

Join The Practice Accelerator 
Susan's Practice Accelerator is now open as a monthly membership subscription!  Designed for professionals who want more than just ideas, the Accelerator delivers structure, strategy, accountability, and a community of forward-thinking professionals who are serious about building sustainable, successful practices.

If you have ever wondered if you would benefit from professional coaching, this is your opportunity to test the waters with Susan at an accessible price point.  

Members receive:

One monthly live webinar with Susan in her signature practical and easily implemented insights and strategies for building your practice.

Two live monthly group Office Hours sessions with Susan.  A place to bring your questions to receive expert advice and insights from colleagues on the same journey.

Weekly Premium Resource that accompanies the latest Practice Playbook Podcast episode that supports you in implementing the golden nuggets in the episode.

And much more for only $99/month.  Use code "PPP" for $10 off your monthly subscription!

Visit https://susaneguthrie.com/accelerator to join now.

Meet Our Creator and Host: Susan Guthrie
Susan E. Guthrie is one of the most respected voices in mediation and conflict resolution today. A nationally recognized family law attorney and mediator for 35 years, she is now a top professional coach and consultant helping dispute resolution and legal professionals build thriving, modern practices.

Susan recently appeared on The Oprah Podcast, expanding her reach to an even broader audience and highlighting her role as a trusted expert in divorce, communication, and modern conflict resolution. She is also the creator and host of The Divorce & Beyond Podcast, ranked in the top 1% worldwide, with millions of listeners and a global following.

As Immediate Past Chair of the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution, Susan continues to shape the future of the profession while training and mentoring practitioners around the world.

Connect with Susan E. Guthrie

Website: https://susaneguthrie.com
Books: https://susaneguthrie.com/books
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/susaneguthrie
Instagram: @susaneguthrie and @practiceplaybookpodcast 

If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to subscribe to The Practice Playbook Podcast on your favorite platform, leave a 5-star review, and share the episode with a colleague or professional friend who would benefit from this conversation. Your support helps us continue bringing practical insights, forward-thinking strategies, and meaningful conversations to lawyers, mediators, arbitrators, and entrepreneurial professionals looking to build stronger, smarter, and more sustainable practices.

And as always, please remember that this podcast is presented for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended as legal advice, business advice, or professional advice of any kind, and listening to this podcast does not create any attorney-client or professional relationship.