We had the good fortune of connecting with Seth Hansard and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Seth, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I try to gauge how much time, money, and energy I risk on any project. I adjust my expectations accordingly. In my first year, I guarded my money more carefully than my time. That strategy was necessary, but I passed up on some good opportunities as a result. That approach worked for me because I wasn’t trying to knock the industry on its rear – I was trying to build a foundation. Near the end of my second year now, I will risk money on an idea where I see good odds of success, but I’m miserly with my minutes. If an idea might yield returns in both money and time, I am far more likely to take a chance on it than on an idea where the benefits are all financial.

What should our readers know about your business?
I try to give my clients the advice I would give a member of my family who was thrust into the client’s situation. And I try to respond to my clients the same way. True, I’m not always able to answer the phone. But if my client has a problem, then I have a problem. If anything sets me apart, it’s that.

I don’t think business is ever easy. Lots of my clients own businesses, and none of them ever describe their lives as “easy.” But they still find the rewards worth the costs.

Business is humbling. A lawyer can be a business owner or an employee and do the same work. But in business, you live with the results. That’s your name on the door. The challenge I find is switching among three lines of thinking. I tend to today’s to-dos, then step back and look at my results for the month. Then I have to look at the overall direction of the firm in the long-term. That kind of thinking might be natural for some businesspeople, but it’s a lesson they don’t cover in law school.

My biggest challenges so far have also been my biggest learning experiences. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is: under-promise and over-deliver.

Want to know a secret about lawyers? We don’t really know what’s going to happen in your case. We are forever saying “every case is different” because, even though we’ve seen a hundred cases almost just nearly like yours, there are always unknowns. I make it a habit to specify the unknowns on the front end. Doing so hurts sales because clients crave confidence from their lawyers. But the clients who choose to work with me find themselves better prepared in the long-run for having known the pitfalls to avoid. That’s the only way I know for a law firm to deliver good value to clients.

Lawyers result from government and laws so complex that it’s inefficient for people to navigate them alone. We’re a transaction cost. I would rather live in a society where lawyers weren’t necessary, and I think the rest of America would as well. But I still want clients to be glad they worked with me. When people think of my firm, I want them to feel they got the best possible outcome from a challenging situation, plus some actual human concern along the way.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The best way to appreciate Atlanta it is to spend more time outdoors than in. Atlanta proper is best understood in the parks, I think. I would advise fitting in a Braves game, or maybe Atlanta United. Plenty of good hiking can be had within driving distance of Atlanta. Don’t get me wrong – there’s always good food, and more places to get it are constantly opening. We have excellent museums, too. But Georgia has a wide range of flora and hills that provide lovely views without being proper mountains. That’s my insider perspective.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
For all the wisdom and kindness people have shown me, I should have figured out world peace or perpetual motion, if not both. But I’m just a lawyer. My accountant friends at King of Kings Firm have encouraged me constantly for years now, and I am in their debt. Friends and coworkers over the years have helped me learn everything from filing lawsuits to speaking Spanish. But one mentor has taught and inspired me for a couple of decades now.

Mr. Steve Garner is a self-styled country lawyer who recently graduated into mediation (and grandfatherhood). I worked for him during summers from high school to law school, then worked in his firm for a while as a new lawyer. He demonstrated what a sincere, confident, caring lawyer could do in the lives of people around him. He cared about his clients more than any lawyer I’ve seen since. And if a client got mad anyway, he never failed to step into the other guy’s shoes and reach for a peaceful solution.

He never yelled at me, either. It was always his avuncular grin that greeted me after I’d blow up at some poor soul on the phone. “Well,” he’d say, “what did you learn?” He’s spent more time and effort on me than I can recall, and I hope never to disappoint him. I think he will always be my model of success – someone who has honored his God-given convictions and studied well the lessons of life.

Website: hansardlegal.com

Instagram: inmigracionahora

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-hansard-8bba442a/

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

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutAtlanta is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.