Description

Margaret is passionate about partnering with law firm leaders to help them achieve their unique goals. Leveraging decades of experience consulting with lawyers, Partners, and small to mid-sized law firms, she founded MB Law Firm Consulting to help fill a need at small to mid-sized law firms: experienced and effective help. Margaret specializes in strategy, operations, finance, culture, and marketing, and has advised and led acquisitions, relocations, succession planning, restructuring, and start-ups. Earlier in her career, she served as CEO of a Boston-based law firm and helped launch and build a consultancy that provided services to law firms.

Margaret earned her MBA at Sawyer Business School at Suffolk University. A lifelong learner who prioritizes professional development, she is a Certified Legal Manager (CLM), Yellow Belt Legal Lean Sigma, and Certified Professional Coach. She is also an active member of the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) – currently serving on the Programs Committee – and is proud to be recognized as an Excellence in the Law in Firm Administration and Operations Honoree. When not problem-solving with clients, Margaret can be found cooking fun and funky vegan cuisine, mastering her latest kitchen gadget, taking a barre class, or traveling with her husband.

In this episode, Philip and Margaret Burke discuss: 

• Turning engagement into content and momentum
• Building foundations before growth demands them
• Escaping the hamster wheel through intentional design
• Using time, pricing, and incentives strategically

Lightbulb Moments:

• Reading listener reviews on air reframes them from vanity metrics into living content and community fuel. The practice motivates the host while inviting listeners into a shared feedback loop. Engagement becomes something that builds the show forward, not just a number to admire.
• Entrepreneurs often wait until capacity is broken before defining roles, processes, and expectations. Margaret’s experience shows that delaying structure creates avoidable strain later. Putting SOPs and clarity in place early prevents growth from becoming chaos.
• Many firm owners keep billing without pausing to define what they actually want from their business. Blocking thinking time, writing goals, and accepting help are the real keys to change. Growth becomes intentional only when vision is chosen rather than endured.
• Hiring is reframed as buying back time so owners can focus on higher-value work. Flat fees, incentive buckets, and new services emerge best through small experiments and real data. When strategy matches the practice and client needs repeat, sustainable growth follows.

“Really focus on the systems – taking the time to document and systematize the practices. Don’t allow important information to only be in your head or someone else's head without documenting it.” - Margaret Burke

Connect with Margaret Burke: 

Website: https://mblawconsulting.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mb-law-firm-consulting-llc/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MBLawFirmConsultingLLC 

Connect with Philip: 

Website: https://www.fornarolaw.com/ 

Podcast Website: https://lbmpodcast.com/ 

"X": https://x.com/FornaroLaw 

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/philipfornaro/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@fornarolaw3002 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fornarolaw 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fornarolaw/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FornaroLaw 

https://www.facebook.com/philip.fornaro.3/ 

Podcast Production by Turnkey Podcast. Thinking of starting a podcast? Get more info at https://turnkeypodcast.com/or reach out to Doug Sandler directly at Doug@TurnkeyPodcast.com or call 410-340-6861. 

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