Harmonizing Communication for Law Firm Success With Areg Sarkissian

Areg Sarkissian is the Owner and Managing Attorney of Sarkissian Law Group, where his passion and dedication go above and beyond for his clients to provide excellent legal representation and peace of mind. Throughout his legal career, Areg has handled hundreds of real estate cases, civil litigation matters, and business transactional cases. He’s licensed in California, Nevada, and Hawaii. From the University of California, Berkeley, Areg graduated with a degree in middle eastern and political science, and from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School he received his JD. He is also a licensed California Real Estate Broker and a published author of The Jerusalem of Transformation: Popular Understandings about and Attitudes toward the Armenian Quarter.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• Areg Sarkissian talks about bridging the communication gap between attorneys and clients
• What ignited Areg’s passion for the courtroom setting
• How harmony amongst co-workers can strengthen and grow a business
• Areg is proudest when his clients see results
• Areg explains turning negative moments into learning experiences
• What daily team-building ritual does Areg follow?

In this episode…

These days it seems like law firms are missing the connection between attorneys, staff, and clients. What can your law office do to combat widening gaps in communication? How can you attract new customers to build your business? A law firm can thrive with the right team. Areg Sarkissian takes pride in the team he has created — a team that works together for a common goal. By creating an environment of mutual trust in your team, you’re building a reputation with clients. Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool, and Areg credits this method to his success. In this episode of 15 Minutes, Chad Franzen sits down with Areg Sarkissian, Founder and Managing Attorney at Sarkissian Law Group, to discuss creating good relationships within your firm. Areg talks about conducting cooperation and teamwork, a powerful marketing technique, and how a different perspective can be a learning experience.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Chad Franzen on LinkedIn
• Gladiator Law Marketing
• Areg Sarkissian on LinkedIn
• Sarkissian Law Group
• Sarkissian Law Group’s phone number: 818-827-5199
• The Jerusalem of Transformation: Popular Understandings about and Attitudes toward the Armenian Quarter by Areg Sarkissian

Sponsor for this episode…

This episode is brought to you by Gladiator Law Marketing, where we deliver tailor-made services to help you accomplish your objectives and maximize your growth potential. To have a successful marketing campaign and make sure you’re getting the best ROI, your firm needs to have a better website and better content. At Gladiator Law Marketing, we use artificial intelligence, machine learning, and decades of experience to outperform the competition. To learn more, go to gladiatorlawmarketing.com or schedule a free marketing consultation. You can also send an email to ad**@gl*******************.com .

Episode Transcript

Intro  0:01   You’re listening to 15 Minutes, where we feature community leaders sharing what the rest of us should know, but likely don’t. Chad Franzen 0:12 Hi, Chad Franzen here I’m one of the hosts of 15 Minutes where we talk with top notch law firms and lawyers about what it takes to grow a successful law practice. This episode is brought to you by Gladiator Law Marketing, delivering tailor made services to help you accomplish your objectives and maximize your growth potential to have a successful marketing campaign and make sure you’re getting the best ROI your firm needs to have a better website and better content. Gladiator Law Marketing uses artificial intelligence, machine learning and decades of experience to outperform the competition. To learn more, go to GladiatorLawMarketing.com, you can schedule a free marketing consultation. Throughout the course of his legal career, Areg Sarkissian has handled hundreds of real estate cases, civil litigation matters and business transactional cases, having procured not only multi millions of dollars, but peace of mind for his clients. He’s licensed in both California and Nevada, and has also recently taken the bar to be licensed in Hawaii. Mr. Sarkissian, thanks so much for joining me today. How are you? Areg Sarkissian  1:12   Very good. Thank you for having me. Chad Franzen  1:14   Hey, what would you say makes Sarkissian Law Group which is your law firm, kind of unique among other law firms? Areg Sarkissian  1:22   Sir, so we actually a quick update, actually, I just got the results for my Hawaii Bar exam last week, I did pass. So I just wanted you to take a note of that kind of excited about. So that’s three grids now. We take really big pride in our care for our clients. So I think it’s a what law firms are missing today is creating that good connection between the staff, the attorneys, as well as the wants and needs of clients. And I believe what Sarkissian Law Group does, it brings them all sort of in his family, we inquire about what’s going on, we really deeply care about the issues and want to resolve these issues. And given the real estate sector, everything is always a unique situation. So I think that’s what makes the Sarkissian Law Group stand out compared to other firms. Chad Franzen  2:12   When did you realize or when or When and how did you realize that those things were important beyond just kind of your knowledge of law and expertise? Areg Sarkissian  2:21   Sure. So it’s going to be close to 11 years that I’m licensed in California. And I’ve always taken on the practice of real estate litigation. And throughout my career of being licensed throughout those many years, I’ve noticed what clients want is communication and care. And the Sarkisssian Law Group premises, a lot of our abilities on resolutions, results and respect wishes are three Rs. And so I’ve noticed clients want to hear from you. They want to get bombarded with emails, they want to receive calls. So it was early on in my career that I started, you know, getting the hang of this communication method. Chad Franzen  3:04   How did you how did you get started in your career. Areg Sarkissian  3:08   So since I was probably in middle school or high school, I had a passion for law and always strive to learn more about law. I took any and all courses I could about legal sort of field. And it was just a natural progression from UC Berkeley, where I have two bachelors, I sort of went on the path of looking for law schools, I ended up moving to Michigan. And it was sort of natural for me, it was never something that someone forced me upon or it was always just sort of something I was passionate about. Chad Franzen  3:44   So how did you get interested in law in middle school? I think I wanted to be like the quarterback of the Broncos when I was in middle school. How did you become interested in law? Areg Sarkissian  3:52   Um, so I think that what what sparked sort of my passion in the legal field was when I was participating in different moot court and mock trials, different clubs and middle school and high school. And we actually ended up going before several Los Angeles Superior Court judges and taking on fictitious cases. And I sort of gained that passion being in the courtroom and I love to be in a courtroom. Most attorneys probably do not want to be before a judge. But I love that feeling of being able to argue and present yourself and just sort of, you know, manage yourself in that courtroom setting. Chad Franzen  4:34   What what kind of experience did you have before you started your own practice? Areg Sarkissian  4:39   I would say I’ve taken on lots of jury trials as well as bench trials on a regular weekly basis. I think the firm average is between eight to 10 hearings. Those can be a combination of trials. But I think what I have experience in is a lot of being in different courts throughout Southern California, mostly lien could be in Glendale, it can be Burbank and Chatsworth. And I love the interaction between opposing counsel and the judges. Chad Franzen  5:08   Did you work for another firm or something like that before you started Sarkissian Law Group? Areg Sarkissian  5:12   I did. I previously worked as in house counsel for large scale. Landowners as well as property owners, and I would provide internal information for their plazas for their shopping centers, as well as for other law firms. Again, I would say 70 to 80% has always been engaged in real estate. Chad Franzen  5:36   How did you kind of get your own thing started then? Areg Sarkissian  5:39   So actually, COVID-19, believe it or not, switched me over to opening my practice in the middle of the pandemic, which was kind of crazy, because everyone was like, law firms are shutting their doors, they’re firing staff, they’re getting rid of offices. And here I was, you know, I believe it was May when March the pandemic, and in May, I opened a firm in Encino. And then everyone was just like, whoa, what’s going to happen? And we flourished because COVID-19 brought so many new regulations and laws, especially here in the city and county of Los Angeles. And even now, we’re just sort of sifting through different laws and changes. And I think, and we also opened the second office now here in North Hollywood. So we’ve been flourishing. And I think what sets us apart is our knowledge and ability to understand these new changes that are happening. Chad Franzen  6:34   So you started kind of in the midst of COVID, what were the early days like people were coming to you? Like nonstop? Areg Sarkissian  6:43   Sir. So I think, because I believe a law firm cannot do remote work, because I think the team setting in a team environment, and just your resources is a key of any law firm, especially a litigation firm. We weren’t coming in on a daily basis, we never worked remotely unless there was truly an emergency. And we did have some clients coming in during this time. And the problem was, a lot of evictions were also placed on a moratorium. So people just needed guidance and direction. So we were meeting clients in office virtually. But we were always hitting the hammer showing up to the office, just as if things were normal, except prophet was great back then, too. Sure, Chad Franzen  7:27   so So you were kind of I mean, you would obviously been an attorney and a practicing attorney for a long time. But this was your first time running your own. You’re running your own place. And then you have kind of an influx of customers as a result of this situation. Was there anything kind of you, you realize that you didn’t know, at the time? Areg Sarkissian  7:46   Um, I think what I realized that, after I sort of opened, the firm was finding good help finding good team members. And I think a law firm thrives on the environment and the teamwork. Most of the traditional larger multinational Corp law firms, rely on billing, billing, billing, and see how much we can build clients. I take very big pride in the environment and my team and their ability to work together. And I think that was one of my biggest challenges was to find people that work well together. And so far, so good, as they say, so. But that would be one of the things that people don’t realize, you have to have great help assist you and trust them. Chad Franzen  8:33   How did you get the word out that you were kind of you were kind of up and running, a lot of a lot of attorneys that I speak to say, you know, I knew everything about the law, I knew all of my specific niche when it comes to what I did in terms of illegal practice. But in terms of running a business, I, I didn’t know how to promote myself or you know, something like that. How did you kind of get all that stuff out? Get the word out there, Areg Sarkissian  8:54   of course. So I think because of the years of experience and working with large scale management companies, as well as owners like we represent one of the largest Southern California management companies, one of the largest Korean based management companies. I think over the years, I’ve developed so many relationships that as soon as people found out that there’s a firm that is owned by me, and is run by me, and has the expertise, I think they just sort of flocked to it, which was great. And a lot of it is referrals and word of mouth. We could do a lot of you know, general marketing and billboard ads and radio ads. But in the end of the day, I think word of mouth got us to where we needed to be. And, you know, we’re very grateful to all of our clients and, you know, pushing us forward and making us what we are. Chad Franzen  9:45   So it’s been what about two and a half years now since since that time, how have things changed for you Areg Sarkissian  9:52   think great, actually. So we ended up getting a lot of further new clients through referrals. We ended up doing wonderful improvements and opening our initial office in Encino. We’ve just opened our North Hollywood office here at the City National Bank building off of Lankershim. This just opened on November 1. So we have officially entered a second offense. And the plan is by passing the Hawaii Bar exam to hopefully next spring or summer, open a third office somewhere in Honolulu. So I think things have been going great. We have two law clerks awaiting bar exam results which come out this Thursday. So we have the potential of adding two additional attorneys to our team, which will be wonderful. Chad Franzen  10:40   Wow, awesome. What is the what’s kind of like the proudest moment that you have so far, now that you’ve kind of kind of been running your own shop? Areg Sarkissian  10:48   Sure, I think the proudest moment I have is one client see results. And, you know, some, some problems are so large, and some problems are not so large. But for each individual person, you can adapt to what is a large or small problem. And what I try and do is I put myself in the shoes of that client, for example, you know, an elderly couple that relies on their, you know, back house for rent, and they haven’t been able to collect two years of rent and they don’t have money to live, right. So this may be a small problem for someone, but it’s a huge problem for this elderly couple, because they can’t pay for food, they can’t pay for their own mortgage. But I think what I take a lot of pride in is seeing the results from whatever it is the problem that had arisen, and the gratefulness and the happiness that these clients have for the work performed. Chad Franzen  11:45   Would you say when clients like that or anybody else comes to you that they are confident that, you know, you’ll be able to just take care of this and handle this situation for them are there? Or are they like desperate and hopeful and this is kind of like my last resort. Areg Sarkissian  12:01   I think it’s a combination, actually. Because here’s the thing, some people come to you, and they’re so nonchalant about it, right? So they’re like, oh, and then they know about all these COVID 19 restrictions. So they believe that there is absolutely no resolution, right. But at the same time, then you have clients like, this is like the end of end of be all you know, and I’m like, but it’s not, you know, you’re still healthy are still alive, you know. So you try to bring them to reality in the sense that, you know, your health is so important, you’re gonna have a heart attack, just dealing with this every day, every day, you know, and at the same time, you have to appreciate that this truly may be, you know, a large issue for them. So I think you have to balance it out just like the scales of justice, right? So you balance it all out? Chad Franzen  12:52   Who are your mentors? And maybe what’s a piece of advice that you really remember from them? Areg Sarkissian  12:59   I think I’ve had so many mentors throughout my career, I believe a lot of judges. So when initially I started, you know, as my career as a licensed attorney, I think making mistakes and judges critiquing you on your mistakes, sometimes uncomfortably critiquing you. They create a good relationship with you. And since I’ve been seeing so many judges throughout the LA Superior Court day themselves, I’ve seen my development over the past several years. And so I would say a lot of judges have been my mentor, both in kind ways, and in not so kind ways. Even as of today, this morning, I had a hearing and you know, some judges still make comments about certain things. But I would say my mentors would be the legal field, the judges, and taking the negative as well as issues that were not done properly and turning them into learning experiences, and helping the clients. So that same error doesn’t occur in the future. Chad Franzen  14:03   Have you always had that mindset? You know, I could see a lot of people maybe having their ego damaged because of Judge reprimanded them in front of a client or in front of a group of people, you know, in a hearing or something. But you kind of view that as a mentorship. Did you have to, was that a mindset, a mindset you had to adopt? Or has that always been how you’ve, you’ve thought? Areg Sarkissian  14:23   Sure, I think towards the beginning when you’re a licensed attorney, you’re young. You think you How should I put it you on the world, right? Nothing can stop you. And then you sort of come off of that high chair of yours. And some judge some attorneys don’t come off that high chair, unfortunately. But I definitely came off of my chair and I definitely am a very black and white person if I’m wrong, I will apologize and admit that something was an error or wrong. And I take that as a learning experience. But I think towards the beginning I had, you know, a different perspective. And then I said, You know what? The quieter I am, the more information someone else is going to provide me, the more apologetic I am, the possibility of reaching a resolution comes closer. So, you know, you sort of take your battles, and then you see, do you want to just win the war or the battle? And I always take the, you know, you could win this little war, but I’ll take the battle in the end, right. Chad Franzen  15:25   I have I have one more question for you. But first, how can people find out more about Sarkissian Law Group, Areg Sarkissian  15:31   sir, so they could visit us on our website. It’s SarkissianLawGroup.com SarkissianLawGroup.com. Our phone number will assist you also, it’s Area code 818-827-5199. And like I said, we have an office both in Encino, California, as well as in North Hollywood, California. And we’re definitely taking on additional clients given the second office. And, you know, we really appreciate, you know, having such great clients. And, in fact, I would like to share that we’re currently working on a toy drive for the holiday season. And so we have several businesses that our clients, we’ve set up various bins throughout Southern California to collect toys for this upcoming toy drive this year. Chad Franzen  16:21   Great, very nice. Hey, last question for you. What are some daily kind of daily rituals or routines that you find to be particularly important in a typical day. So because Areg Sarkissian  16:31   we have so many staff members and so many offices at this time, what we do is a morning meeting, we do a task meeting. And so we saw sort of shuffled through what everyone is going to go through today. And not only does that provide some team building, but it also provides direction for the entire staff. Given it’s a litigation firm, we get calls, we get emails, we get emergencies, it’s always good to sort of have a goal and then once the distractor comes, you’re still set on that goal throughout the day. And it also keeps the team as well as the communication at mine. Chad Franzen  17:07   Very nice. Hey, it’s been great to talk to you. I really appreciate your time and your insights. Thank you so much. Areg Sarkissian  17:12   Thank you have a great day. You too. So long, everybody. Outro  17:18   Thanks for listening to 15 Minutes, be sure to subscribe and we’ll see you next time.