Transcript

I Interviewed the Richest Lawyer in America

From School of Hard Knocks · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 19 min · 4,583 words · 31 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "I Interviewed the Richest Lawyer in America", an episode of School of Hard Knocks published June 21, 2025 (19 min, about 4,583 words). It mentions 17 people, works and ideas, including John Morgan, Millionaire Week, Black Swan, Forbes magazine, Mark Cuban.

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 3:00: John Morgan, Forbes magazine, New York, New York, Orlando, Florida
  2. – 9:00: Mark Cuban, Millionaire Week, Jeff Bezos, School of Mentors
  3. – 12:00: Forbes magazine, John Morgan, Millionaire Week
  4. – 15:00: Black Swan, A Random Walk Down Wall Street
  5. – 18:00: Colossus, Golden Rule
  6. – 19:16: Give and Take, John Morgan, School of Mentors

Notable quotes from "I Interviewed the Richest Lawyer in America"

  • Who am I here with today? I'm John Morgan. And for those that don't know, what industry did you decide to pursue a career in? A lot of businesses, but I built luckily the largest PI law firm in.
    about John Morgan · at
  • Guys, I'm about to interview a billionaire out here in Orlando, Florida. And his name is John Morgan.
    about Orlando, Florida · at
  • How do I get one of those shirts? I got to get you one. I need one of those, though. There's a shop on Rodeo Drive called Ro. Where are you from? From the DC area, but I live in Austin, Texas.
    about Rodeo Drive · at
  • Work. And that's who I am. One turn, everything's different. You know who I admire a lot? Mark Cuban. Because he'll tell you the same thing. I interviewed him. Did he talk about luck? Yeah. Luck.
    about Mark Cuban · at
  • I'm launching the first ever millionaire week where I'm bringing a multi-millionaire right to you every single day. Have you ever wanted to ask a millionaire about your business or.
    about Millionaire Week · at
  • Are you putting your money? I tell you viewers, read these books. A random walk down Wall Street and black swan. Where do I put my money? Index funds for equities. Taxfree…
    about Black Swan · at
  • It's real verdicts. And these insurance companies have a software called Colossus. They know exactly what law firm is going to do on every single case. And they know when they…
    about Colossus · at
  • Them to take with them for the rest of their lives. What would that be? The golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Because I believe in karma. I…
    about Golden Rule · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • John Morgan — Person · 5 mentions · first at
  • Mark Cuban — Person · 2 mentions · first at
  • Jeff Bezos — Person · 1 mention · first at
    You have. Yeah, but I back. So, how do you respond to that when that happens? Well, Jeff Bezos said something once I read it was unbelievable, which is sometimes you just got…
  • Lamar Odom — Person · 1 mention

Books & papers

  • Black Swan — Book · 3 mentions · first at
  • A Random Walk Down Wall Street — Book · 1 mention · first at
    Part of the top 1% of the top 1%. Where are you putting your money? I tell you viewers, read these books. A random walk down Wall Street and black swan. Where do I put my…
  • Give and Take — Book · 1 mention · first at
    Best advice you've been given in the last couple years? I would say there's a great book I read called Give and Take.

Companies & orgs

  • Forbes magazine — Company · 2 mentions · first at
    We did $2 billion. I love Shaq, but I wouldn't trade with Shaq. Are you a billionaire? Forbes magazine said I was.
  • School of Mentors — Company · 2 mentions · first at
    Grab your ticket to Millionaire Week, you will also get access to a full month of the School of Mentors, the number one community for business owners in the entire world, where…
  • Morgan & Morgan — Company · 1 mention

Products & tech

Concepts & topics

Places & events

Full transcript with timestamps

I'm about to interview a billionaire out here in Florida, you guys. Come on. How you doing, John? John, come on in. Great to meet you. Appreciate that, man. Thank you for having us out. Appreciate that. Who am I here with today? I'm John Morgan. And for those that don't know, what industry did you decide to pursue a career in? A lot of businesses, but I built luckily the largest PI law firm in North America. Are you serious? Yeah. What was the most amount of money that you've made in a single year? Last year, we did $2 billion. I love Shaq, but I wouldn't trade with Shaq. Are you a billionaire? Forbes magazine said I was.

But here's what I tell you about being rich. Have you ever been over in business? Yeah, you have. Yeah, but I back. Did you come from a lot of money? Listen, my dad needed a co-signer to pay cash. No, I did not come from a lot of money. So, you don't think everybody's built for entrepreneurship? Oh, absolutely not. Look, today in the jungle, a lion's going to be born and a sloth is going to be born. The sloth is and the lion is king. And that's that's it. If you died tomorrow and all you had left was one more guiding principle for the younger generation for them to take with them for the rest of their lives.

What would that be? Guys, I'm about to interview a billionaire out here in Orlando, Florida. And his name is John Morgan. And he's got a net worth according to Forbes of 1.5 billion with a B. And he built his wealth, his fortune from creating what has now become the biggest law firm in all of North America. We're about to go meet up with him and figure out how he became not just a millionaire, but a billionaire and how you can follow his exact blueprint. So, let's go meet up with John and go see what he has to say.

We're on the way right now to go interview John at his house. But I want to point something out real quick that makes this interview fascinating to me. When you think about the amount of people that became billionaires and built their fortune through just simply law, you can count it on less than two hands. And John Morgan, who we're about to go interview, is one of those people. So, this video is going to be crazy, you guys. This may be one of the wildest interviews that we've ever done. And this is the 19th billionaire that I've ever interviewed. So, let's go. All right, you guys. We just got to John Morgan's house, and it's safe to say that he lives at a proper compound out here, you guys. So, I'm excited for this one, man. This is going to be a good one, to say the least. Come on. How you doing, John? John, come on in. Great to meet you. Appreciate that, man. Thank you for having us out. Appreciate that.

How do I get one of those shirts? I got to get you one. I need one of those, though. There's a shop on Rodeo Drive called Ro. Where are you from? From the DC area, but I live in Austin, Texas. Okay. The flagship stores in New York. So, my kids go to New York shopping. They know what to get me for Christmas. Nice. I love it. Where are we going to do it? We can do it uh out front. Here's cool. For those that don't know, what industry did you decide to pursue a career in? A lot of businesses, but my main industry is personal injury law.

and I built luckily the largest PI law firm in North America. Are you serious? How did that happen? What was the single greatest decisions you made that enabled you to grow a multi-billion dollar law firm? Delegate. Get partners that you can trust and share in the profit. If you're going to scale and you want great people, you got to bring them along with you and they got to make a lot of money with you, not for you. What's the number one thing that you look for in people when you're building your team? If a person is what I call send, delete. In other words, I send them something and I know I don't have to worry about it and I can delete it. If you're a send, delete person, you're my guy. Why did you want to become a lawyer? Did you always know you were going to be a lawyer? I didn't know I was always going to be a lawyer. My brother got hurt, was paralyzed when I was in college. I got

pissed off at the way he was treated. It changed my life. It changed his life. And so therefore, that's what I did. I knew what I was going to do when I went to law school. So, an accident that happened to your family, that's what led you wanted to become a lawyer. Yeah. He's paralyzed. C6, C7. He just passed away last year, but he worked with me and built the law firm with me all those years. I'm sorry for your loss. Thank you. But you turned your pain into fuel ultimately. Oh, I turned my pain into passion and purpose. And every time I walk in and see one of my clients, I see Tim. And when I see Tim, I say, I'm going to treat you the way I wanted Tim to be treated, and I'm going to protect you the way Tim should have been protected. I love it. Did you come from a lot of money? Listen, my dad needed a co-signer to pay cash. No, I did not come from a lot of money. So, what was your turning point to financial

freedom? What did you see that made you want to go out there and create this billion dollar company? I think you're born with it. I think when I meet people my age, I say, "Were you a paper boy?" When I meet paper boys that are my that were paper boys, you're born with this entrepreneurial seed. It's just in you from the beginning. Cuz a paper route is tough. It's every day, 7 days a week. There's no vacation. If I find a paper boy, I just found a hustler. I love that. So, you don't think everybody's built for entrepreneurship? Oh, absolutely not. Look, today in the jungle, a lion's going to be born and a sloth is going to be born. The sloth is and the lion is king. And that's that's it. I'd never heard that before.

That was good. Let me ask you this. Somebody's on their last year of law school right now. What advice would you give to them? They want to build an empire like you. What advice would you give to them? Apply to work with me because all these other law firms, they build by the time. Everybody's getting ripped off. Everybody's getting stolen from because you're billable time. With what I do, I don't bill anything. I pay you if I win. I don't charge a fee unless I win. So, I would not be a lawyer charging by the hour. There's just not enough upside for that for you.

Are you a good negotiator? Yeah, you are. Yeah. Can you give me a master class on negotiating right here? Master class in negotiating is this. Whoever speaks first loses. And you've heard that, right? Yeah. So, you got to listen. People who talk too much, they don't hear. You got to listen and learn and then negotiate. Was there a time where you did not speak for a while? I've always been a pretty good negotiator. I've always kind of sized up the the the deal and sized up the person and made that decision. So, listen, I've been hustling since I was 7 years old. I sold cheerful cards at 7 years old. So, I think that the entrepreneur is born with it. And what I really think is that life is luck. I believe everybody say, "Oh, you did it. You did." Listen, I did it this way. I made a thousand left turns and a thousand right turns and a thousand U-turns. If I made one different turn, everything could have

been different. Everything. And yet, I pat myself. Oh, look how great I am. No, I'm a lucky guy that was born to work. And that's who I am. One turn, everything's different. You know who I admire a lot? Mark Cuban. Because he'll tell you the same thing. I interviewed him. Did he talk about luck? Yeah. Luck. Yeah. Listen, successful people pat themselves on the back too much. What they really should do is get on their knees and thank God that those left turns and right turns and U-turns ended up here. So, you believe in God. I believe in God. I must cuz I pray every night. So, faith has been important for your success. Every night I pray to God.

What's the best advice you ever got from a mentor? Keep your word because all we have at the end of the day is our reputation. And if you one person once, it'll get out. But if you keep your word, everybody keeps coming back. Everybody keeps coming back and wants to do business with you because they know that your word is your bond. Have you ever been over in business? Yeah, you have. Yeah, but I back. So, how do you respond to that when that happens? Well, Jeff Bezos said something once I read it was unbelievable, which is sometimes you just got to pay people to walk away, to leave. And so what I do is I find cancers in my business and I excise the cancers. And sometimes you pay them just to walk away because negative energy is the worst energy of all. You cannot get rich when you're negative. You can only get rich when you're positive. So excise the cancers.

Cut the cancers out of your life. Sometimes you get over. You want revenge. The greatest revenge, as you know, is success. You're the biggest lawyer in the world. Have you ever been sued before? I've had lawyers in my firm that have made mistakes and have it up a case. And guess what I do? I admit it. I bring the client and go, "Look, he up." But here's the good news. I got insurance. You're going to do better now than you went because you know what? You were my client. You came to me. I'm going to take care of you now. Even though you got to go hire a lawyer and sue me. That's okay. That's why I've got insurance. That's why I got money to pay those things. Guys, in the last few years, I've spoken to over a thousand millionaires. I've interviewed Mark Cuban, Shaq, Tom Cruz, and over a dozen billionaires. And you wouldn't know the single biggest lesson that I've learned that's allowed me to build a

multi-million dollar company and one of the largest media companies in the entire business space. It's that people will take you places that money can. The key to success is not about what you know, it's who you know. Proximity is the cheat code. The problem is, it's hard to meet the right people and get them to mentor you. So, for that reason, this next week from June 23rd through June 29th, I'm doing something insane. I'm launching the first ever millionaire week where I'm bringing a multi-millionaire right to you every single day. Have you ever wanted to ask a millionaire about your business or idea? Or have you ever wondered what it's like to be in my shoes and be able to ask the most successful people in the world anything you want? Now you'll be able to ask multi-millionaires your questions live on Zoom and get mentored directly from them every single day. So, if you're broke, this will help you get

out of your rut and build momentum. If you're rich, you already know how valuable and priceless mentorship from the right person really is. And this will help you level up even more. Plus, on top of all that, if you watch this entire video and click the link below to grab your ticket to Millionaire Week, you will also get access to a full month of the School of Mentors, the number one community for business owners in the entire world, where inside the community, you will unlock weekly live mentorship calls with millionaires and billionaires. You'll unlock 100 plus hours of exclusive content and access to the 9 figureure network where you can network with other entrepreneurs. Now, let's address the elephant in the room.

Yes, there is an investment. It takes a lot of work behind the scenes to make this all happen. But we set it up so that way anyone that genuinely wants it can afford it. Unlike $10,000 coaching programs or $997 courses, this is significantly cheaper. You can get all of that for just 49 bucks. All you have to do is go down and click the link in the description of this video to grab your ticket. And I'll see you guys on June 23rd for day one of Millionaire Week. With that being said, let's get back to the interview. Now, law is very competitive. You're not afraid of a competitive market though to go compete with other lawyers. Competition is what makes people great. The reason Michael Jordan was great is because he thrived on competition. He wanted competition.

Competition makes me better. And competition should make you better. I welcome competition. And I hope my competitors get better because if they get better, I got to get better to stay ahead. But what did you do differently from 99% of other lawyers that enabled you to build the biggest law firm in the entire world? I had a vision and the vision went like this. What would Google do if it was a law firm? And I said, I'm going to build the Google law firm. And then I said to myself, what would Google be? I said, Google be everywhere for everyone, all 50 states, 24/7, go to your phone, you want to be a client of mine, you can be my client in 2 minutes.

Why is that? Because that's what Google would do. When I told people that I was interviewing you and I was like, I'm interviewing, you know, John Morgan, he's one of the biggest lawyers in the world. Morgan and Morgan, everybody knows your brand and your business. How did you take your law firm national? What was that process like when you're like, I want to go to California. I want to, you know, go take over this market. What was that strategy like, Luke? I first went from Orlando to Tampa. Then I went from Orlando to Jacksonville. Then I went from Orlando to Naples. Brick by brick by brick by brick. When you build a house out of bricks, remember the three little pigs? Don't use straw.

Don't use sticks. Use bricks. Cuz bricks stand up to a hurricane. Straw and sticks don't. Now, throughout your career, what was the most amount of money that you've made in a single year? Last year, we did $2 billion in fees. Our margins are pretty good. We have no debt. I love Shaq, but I wouldn't trade with Shaq. Are you a billionaire? Forbes magazine said I was. But here's what I tell you about being rich. One time I went to a party, I got him Jimmy Bryant. He owned a large Toyota dealership. Somebody asked him, he said, "What are you worth?" And Jimmy said, "People who say they know what they're worth, they're not worth shit." One day Kanye was a billionaire. The next day Kanye was living out of his car or something with Lamar ODM. I don't know. So I'm comfortable. But it's safe to say though before today I had interviewed 18th billionaire. You're the 19th billionaire that I've interviewed. Is that safe to

say? I would say that I am in rare air and I can't believe it. And I you know what? Here's what I'm expecting any moment because I came from Kentucky. I'm waiting to wake up in Kentucky, blink my eyes, and it was all a dream because I just been lucky. As a billionaire, what's the best financial advice you've ever received? Give me a lesson about money that's not taught in school. First of all, it's hard to make money. It's harder to keep money. When I've lost money is when I greed has taken over. When I've gone off and done something where I knew it was wrong. I got a saying where I say if it smells like dog there's dog whether it's life or love. And the times that I've made mistakes, I knew the person was a sociopath almost. But my own greed got ahead of me. And you got to cut your own greed out so that you can be cleareyed and understand this. And here's my word for everything. My best advice for

everybody, if it's too good to be true, it's too good to be true. All that glitters is not gold. You have a saying, grow or die. I believe is it. Grow or die. That's a the hallmark. And I also say if you look around here, you see these trees. These trees, you know, have been here for a long time. I've been here for years and years. Sometimes people come out and they look at their their yard, they have no trees. They go, "Oh, I should have planted a tree." The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time to plant a tree today. And a lot of people don't plant the tree cuz they say, "I should have done it 20 years ago." Should have, would have, could have. That's an excuse. That's a lazy guy's excuse.

Plant your tree today. if you didn't plan it 20 years ago. Because I'll tell you what, trees grow fast with water. What keeps people broke in today's world? Greed. There are so many fake people out there. I look at this crypto world. I don't even understand what the it is. Everybody wants to do crypto. I don't know what it is. If I don't understand it, I don't do it. I don't understand crypto. I I would like to understand crypto. I've tried to understand crypto, but if I don't understand it, I don't do it. You're part of the top 1% of the top 1%. Where are you putting your money? I tell you viewers, read these books. A random walk down Wall Street and black swan. Where do I put my money? Index funds for equities. Taxfree bonds that yields about four to four and a half% tax-free in the Great Depression. Less than 1% defaulted and US treasuries. I take my capital invest in me. I own attractions.

I own hotels. I develop shopping centers. I build apartments. I take all my cash and I put it into that. And then I take my investments. And once my money goes into my investments, I never touch it. It's it's there forever. That's some game right there. Yes. What was the number one book that changed your life? Black Swan. Black Swan goes like this. Everybody thought there were white swans one day, but someday they came out. There was a black swan. How is that possible? Swans are white. We start thinking one way and that it's got to be the only way. And then a black swan flies into our life. I'm always looking for the black swan. I'm always waiting for the black swan. The book black swan is about this thick. There's only one little line that I took from it. The solution to black swan, be prepared. Be ready for the black swan. What does that include? All your money in savings, no debt. Debt and leverage is the death of

most business people. You don't like debt. I have no debt. I have zero debt. But some people argue, oh, you know, you the more money you can borrow, the more access you have to capital. Well, a lot of people like that. A lot of people go to Vegas, too, and lose their asses. But I don't. I mean, when I go to Vegas, I'd say, okay, I'm take $3,000. I know I'm going to lose it probably, and if I make 10, I stop gambling. So, that's entertainment for me. But people that have that mindset of leverage, they're gamblers. And what gambling is in business is like musical chairs in preschool. One day the music's going to stop. Do you have a chair or you don't have a chair? And when the music stops and you don't have a chair, that's the end of the game. But I heard also that scared money don't make money. How much money do you spend a year on advertising? 400 million. You spend $400 million a year. Yeah. But think about

this. Last year we did 5 billion in settlements and verdicts. 5 billion. So would you spend 400 I mean it's less than 10%. How do you know that there's an ROI there? Looking back, you spent $400 million. What was it that made that so successful and enabled you to close $5 billion in settlements? There's two things in my business. There's catching fish and cooking fish. Catching fish I'm great at, but cooking fish is you got to have the law firm that can actually go get the verdicts. The insurance industry knows who I am because I win a lot. And it's not makebelieve. It's not, oh yeah, it's real verdicts. And these insurance companies have a software called Colossus. They know exactly what law firm is going to do on every single case. And they know when they draw me, they're in for a fight. When they draw a lot of lawyers, it's a lawyer taking a knife to a gunfight. I mean, there's no there's no chance. And so, you have to

have them both. You have to have the marketing, which we have. But if you don't have the lawyers, you're a paper tiger. Cuz this is a very competitive business. I'm suing the biggest drug manufacturers in the world, the tobacco industry, the insurance industry. Are you not afraid going after them? No. My hero in history was David who took down Goliath. I love that guy. I love the little guy with the slingshot right between the eyes. But you're going after these giants every day. And guess what? They're shooting back with real bullets.

I shoot back with real bombs cuz I think my lawyers are better than their lawyers. So you're you're willing to go headtohead. Every week we have 200 dockets in America trial set in America. Every week. Every week. Not every day. Every week we have 200 do. So yes, we're ready to go. You built a multi-billion dollar brand that is renowned, respected. Give me a quick masterass on branding right here. somebody's trying to build their company into rather just a business, but like a brand that has raving fans, that has raving customers that is going to get that repeat business. You got to be willing to kind of make fun of yourself a little bit. If you look at some of my ads, it's not necessarily, you know, this serious face. All these other lawyers just one face, one saying one thing. You got to be able to go out there and make your creative creative. People call ads, you know, that's your crib. Make your

creative creative, but you got to build a brand that people can trust for the long haul. And I think what people want more than anything, they want a winner. They want a fighter because they want to win. And you got to convince them and show them why hiring you makes them a winner. And for anybody watching this, say, "Well, if he did so well in life, he had to win a lot." And I did. But I did it with partners and lawyers who made me better. How old are you now? 69. I would have guessed like 50, though. Well, I just I look like a million dollars. Of course you would guess. Of course you would have. I know you do. But if you died tomorrow and all you had left was one more guiding principle for the younger generation for them to take with them for the rest of their lives. What would that be? The golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Because I believe in karma. I believe in karma. It comes

back good and bad. Thinking about your network that you've built over these years of the most successful people from celebrities to other billionaires to just very successful people. What's the best advice you've been given in the last couple years? I would say there's a great book I read called Give and Take. And that book showed me something that I think I'd practice. And it's this. Most people are takers. But it turns out that people who give expecting nothing in return are the ones who end up getting the most. The takers, we know who they are. We guard them like this. But the givers who want to lift you up, to want to raise you up, who want to help you.

You become a person they trust. And when you give, you're not expecting anything. When you get it back, you'll think back, you know what? So I would say it's better to give than to receive. And when you do that, you're actually going to get more than if you try to take. Guys, that was one of my favorite interviews that I've done all year. My guy John Morgan is the 19th billionaire that I've interviewed and he just went crazy. But I need you guys to like and subscribe for amazing content cuz I'm going all over the world to find and interview every billionaire that I can for you guys. And if you haven't already done so, guys, I'm giving you direct access to the multi-millionaires and billionaires that I interview on this channel every single week because I host live calls inside of my private entrepreneur community, the school of mentors. It's the number one community for business owners in the entire world.

And you can join the community right now by going down to the link in the description of this video. I can't wait to see you on the inside. With that being said, I'll see you in the next

Questions about this episode

What is discussed in "I Interviewed the Richest Lawyer in America"?

In order: 0:00 John Morgan, Forbes magazine, New York, New York, Orlando, Florida; 6:00 Mark Cuban, Millionaire Week, Jeff Bezos, School of Mentors; 9:00 Forbes magazine, John Morgan, Millionaire Week; 12:00 Black Swan, A Random Walk Down Wall Street; 15:00 Colossus, Golden Rule; 18:00 Give and Take, John Morgan, School of Mentors.

What is mentioned in this School of Hard Knocks episode?

17 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including John Morgan, Millionaire Week, Black Swan, Forbes magazine, Mark Cuban, School of Mentors. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "I Interviewed the Richest Lawyer in America"?

The episode runs 19 min; the transcript is about 4,583 words in 31 timestamped sections.

More from School of Hard Knocks

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated July 10, 2025.