The Practice Playbook Podcast with Susan Guthrie

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.

The best business relationships have nothing to do with business. Not at the start, not in the room, not over coffee or at a conference. Phil Fornaro, attorney and podcast host, calls what he has built relationship capital, and with a client conversion rate approaching 100%, he has the results to prove that leading with the relationship instead of the business is not just a nicer approach, it is the smarter one.

Susan Guthrie sits down with Phil Fornaro, attorney, founder of Fornaro Law, and outside general counsel to founder-led businesses. He is also the host of the podcast Light Bulb Moments: It's All About The Energy. When Susan was a guest on his show, Phil said two words at the end of their conversation that made the light bulb go off: relationship capital. She knew right away it needed to be an episode of The Practice Playbook Podcast.

Together they get into what relationship capital actually is, why most professionals are not building it intentionally even though they think they are, and how the shift from transactional networking to genuine relationship investment changes everything about how a practice grows. This is not a conversation about networking tips. It is a conversation about rethinking one of the most valuable assets in your professional life.

What You'll Learn

Why relationship capital is a compounding asset that grows in value over time, just like money in the S&P 500

Why the moment you walk into a room thinking about business, you have already lost the relationship

How the follow-up, done in person and in a specific way, is where relationships are built or lost

Why trust begins with your ears, not your elevator pitch or your credential list

How to stop waiting for connection opportunities and start creating them, from small dinners to a thirteen-year networking event

Why authenticity is not optional, and how people can always tell when you are performing instead of engaging

Free Episode Companion Resource: The Relationship Capital Audit
A 10-question self-assessment that gives you an honest picture of where your relationship capital stands right now, plus one clear action you can take immediately.

Download the resource here: https://susaneguthrie.com/podcasts

Meet Our Guest

Philip Fornaro is the founder of Fornaro Law, where he serves as Outside General Counsel to founder-led businesses navigating complex, high-stakes decisions. For nearly three decades, he has worked at the intersection of legal strategy, business judgment, and relationship capital - helping clients create clarity and move forward with confidence.

He is also the host of Light Bulb Moments: It's All About the Energy, a podcast featuring conversations with entrepreneurs, leaders, and professionals about the moments that shape how they think, lead, and grow.

Philip believes the most valuable asset people build over time is relationship capital - the trust and alignment that compound when thoughtful people connect.

Email: philip@lbmpodcast.com
Website: http://fornarolaw.com
Podcast: http://lbmpodcast.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.

This episode is about what happens to legal and dispute resolution pricing when AI does in twenty minutes what used to take a full day, and why the subscription billing model may be the answer. Clients know their lawyers are using AI, and they want to know why that is not showing up in what they are charged. It is a fair question, and most practitioners do not have a good answer yet.

Here is the part that should get your attention: if you use a tool that cuts your time in half and bill as though you did not, that may not be a client relations problem. It may be an ethics one.

Susan Guthrie sits down with Mathew Kerbis, The Subscription Attorney and CEO of Practi, and what makes this one worth your time is simple. Mathew is not theorizing about subscription pricing from the sidelines. He runs a subscription law firm. He knows what these pricing conversations actually feel like, what scope management looks like day to day, and what it takes to get clients to genuinely prefer this model over the clock.

Together they get into the ethics questions clients are already raising, how a subscription practice really works from the entry-level price to the tiers to the flat-fee add-ons, why putting your pricing on your website now helps AI tools recommend you, and what the next five years look like for the practices that decide not to adapt.

Free Episode Companion Resource: Are Your Fees Keeping Up With How You Actually Work?
Download the resource here: https://susaneguthrie.com/podcasts

What You'll Learn

Why billing by the hour while using AI is a professional responsibility question, not just a business one

Why your clients are not paying for your time, they are paying for your judgment, your access, and your outcomes

Why it is bad scope definitions, not bad pricing, that quietly sink subscription practices

How just two or three clients and a 60-day evaluation let you test this model without rebuilding your practice

Meet Our Guest

Mathew Kerbis, The Subscription Attorney and CEO of Practi, is a national award winner dedicated to revolutionizing the legal profession by helping attorneys abandon the billable hour for the subscription model, and leverage automations and artificial intelligence to serve clients affordably at scale. After 10 years of practice and four years running his law firm, he co-founded Practi as the business model solution for Al-powered lawyers. He is also a frequent public speaker, host of the Law Subscribed and Legal Al Live podcasts, and instructor of highly-rated CLE courses.

Mathew's free notebook, 276 curated resources powered by NotebookLM: https://notebook.practi.ai

Practi: https://www.practi.ai

The Subscription Attorney law firm: https://subscriptionattorney.com

Law Subscribed and Legal AI Live podcasts: https://lawsubscribed.com and https://legalailive.com

Matthew on LinkedIn: Kerbisverse

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.

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.