Happy Sunday Reader:

Would you hand the keys to your filing cabinets to a company in another state and say, "You decide when I can access my files"?

Of course not.

Yet that's exactly what I discovered I'd done after my practice management services provider locked me out of my account - after a technological error on their end meant that they did not take a couple of payments out on their end.

Despite their error, their solution: to either pay up or stay locked out.

The Permission Problem

This experience made me think about what our agreements with cloud service providers amount to. Every time we sign up for a cloud service, we're essentially saying: "Here are the keys to my business. Please be reasonable about when you let me in."

We've become so accustomed to asking permission to access our own data that it feels normal. But normal doesn't mean smart.

The psychology behind this shift is fascinating.

Convenience addiction works exactly like any other dependency—it starts with genuine benefits, then gradually increases until you can't imagine functioning without it.

What physical file control taught us was simple.

If you can't access your files whenever you want, for whatever reason, you don't really own your practice.

You're just renting it.

I elaborate more on this idea below.

The Control Comparison

Let's walk through what we actually traded away:

With filing cabinets, you had complete control.

• Files stayed exactly where you put them.
• No one could change your filing system without your permission.
• No one could decide your access fees should triple next month.

Sure, it was less convenient.

• You couldn't access files from home.
• Collaboration meant physical meetings
• . Backup meant photocopies.

But you owned every aspect of your information system.

Cloud services gave us incredible benefits: remote access, automatic backups, seamless collaboration.

But in our rush to embrace these advantages, have we created a professional infrastructure where our ability to serve clients depends entirely on someone else's business decisions?

The Independence Path

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting we need to go backwards to paper files.

What I am saying is that we have to reclaim our digital filing cabinets by creating "practice sovereignty":

• systems that serve you instead of the other way around.
• systems we control completely while maintaining the benefits of modern technology

We can do this by building our practices on no-code platforms that cost a fraction of traditional options and give us

• remote access
• automatic backups
• seamless workflows.

while also getting something invaluable: true ownership of your practice infrastructure.

Yes, you'll take on more responsibility for system management and updates.

But you'll gain something more valuable: the confidence that comes from knowing no one can lock you out of your own practice.

Your Next Move

To illustrate, I'm launching a live tutorial series where I'll show you step by step how to build a replacement for common legal practice tools that costs 75% less than traditional options and gives you 100% ownership.

Again, I'm not going to pretend that this is not going to be the complete solution. After all your practice needs will be different from mine.

What I will be showing is that in an age of vibe coding and no-code development platforms, we no longer have a need to be held hostage to the business practices and good will of legal technology companies.

I'll talk more about this video series in next week's email. However you can be the first to know about when each of these videos are published, by subscribing to our YouTube channel here.

One More Thing...

Last week, I talked about the Modern Lawyer Practice Accelerator experience designed specifically for solo practitioners who want sustainable success:

• ✅ 1-on-1 Quarterly Strategic Plans with legal practice experts who’ve been where you are
• ✅ Monthly Workshops addressing the real challenges solo lawyers face
• ✅ AI Wizards designed specifically for legal practices (not generic business tools)

For reasons that I'll discuss in a subsequent email, the name of the experience will be changing to "The Thriving Legal Practices Mentorship Circle" to better reflect:

• our reliance of the Thriving Solo Lawyer Model
• our commitment to put the wellness of lawyers first
• our belief in the role that mentorship plays in the growth of lawyers.

While we are still updating our branding, you still have 24 hours to apply to the Mentorship Circle. We have a couple more spots left.

​Apply To the Mentorship Circle​

That's all for this week

Questions? Reply to this email. I read every response personally.

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Have a great week,

Romesh

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