From helicopter pub crawls in Southland to getting kicked out of university, building a computer business, selling it to a global giant, moving to Malaysia, then abandoning an entire market after discovering firms ran two sets of books, Doug Thomson’s journey eventually led him home to build OneLaw, one of New Zealand’s most trusted legal software systems.

We cover:• How a Southland farm kid became a salesperson who ran his own computer company• Why Malaysia’s “shadow accounting” exposed a market no compliance product could fix• How a retired product left 600+ NZ law firms stranded—and created a once-in-a-generation opportunity• The three-year MVP grind, the quakes that slowed everything down, and the first customers who came on for free• How NZ’s unique trust accounting rules keep global competitors out

Whether you’re building legal software, running a firm, or just curious how grit, timing, and a bit of chaos can create a world-class product from a small New Zealand town, this episode is for you.

This episode is brought to you by VXT. The phone system built specifically for law firms.

Nick Abrahams has had one of the most unconventional careers in law.

From starting a comedy club in Tokyo to attending film school in Los Angeles, helping run a dot-com during the boom (and bust), then returning to the law to become a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, Nick has built a powerful and unique personal brand.

We cover:

• How a Tokyo comedy club and sitcom became part of Nick’s legal detour
• What it was like working on ER and The West Wing
• The lessons he learned during the dot-com crash
• Why going “off-track” helped him build a standout legal career
• The origin of Nick's business, LawPath and how it reached 500,000 customers
• How AI is already changing how lawyers work
• Why you don’t need a passion - you can build one through mastery
• What separates thriving lawyers from grinding ones

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Whether you’re just starting out in law, thinking about your next move, or curious how creativity, risk, and reinvention can lead to a career you actually enjoy this episode is for you.

This episode is sponsored by VXT, the phone system built for law firms.

Hunter Steele grew up surrounded by small law. Now, as the founder and CEO of Smokeball, he’s built a legal tech company that helps small firms get more work done in less time.

From his early days shadowing his father in a three-person law firm to knocking on doors in Naperville, Illinois, Hunter shares the journey of how Smokeball found product-market fit, expanded across three countries, and became one of the most popular practice management systems in Australia, the U.S. and the U.K.

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We cover:

• How growing up in his Dad's small-town law firm shaped his vision for Smokeball
• How Smokeball got its first client in the U.S.
• Why small law firms struggle with running a business and how technology helps
• What it takes to launch and scale a legal tech company across different regions
• The surprising success of Smokeball’s AI assistant, Archie
• The biggest lessons from leading a fast-growing legal tech company
• Why small law firms should be billing more for the work they do

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Whether you're building a legal tech company, running a small law firm, or interested in how great businesses are built, this episode is for you.

This episode is brought to you by VXT, the phone system built for law firms.

Connect VXT to your practice management system (like Smokeball), to sync your contacts, record time and automatically save AI phone transcripts and summaries to the right matter.