We were lucky to catch up with Darren Heitner recently and have shared our conversation below.

Darren, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

In early 2014, I was already a successful lawyer. Roughly four years out of law school, I had a strong paying job, was quickly building a book of business, and working with clients who had interesting issues. Yet, I needed change.

It took a scary accident on the highway, where life flashed in front of my eyes, for me to reconsider whether I was truly happy in my position. I asked myself, “if not now, then when?” Many of the clients that I had brought into the firm I was working at asked me to quarterback their cases over my boss who was much older and more experienced. Those same clients urged me to go off on my own so that I could call the shots.

I felt confident in my capacity to manage a law firm, was up-to-speed with the latest technologies to help me administer a new business, and I had saved enough capital in case the firm got off to a slow start. Fortunately, I have run that firm — Heitner Legal — for eight years now and have never had a slow day.

I knew that this was a worthwhile endeavor because I was unlike many other lawyers that I had studied. Many of the more respected lawyers were terrible communicators, failed to truly understand their clients’ concerns and interests (and put those interests above their own), and failed to think outside of the box, not just in the legal sphere but also in going beyond the call of duty to find value for clients. Communication was key to my offering. No client should have to wonder what his/her lawyer was doing and wait lengthy times for responses; at Heitner Legal, every client is treated as though he/she is sitting in first class.

Darren, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I enrolled at the University of Florida in 2003, graduated as Valedictorian with a Bachelors of Arts in 2007 and then went straight to law school at the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2007. I graduated with a J.D. in 2010 and did not believe that I would be a lawyer. Instead, my goal at the time was to continue to develop a sports agency that I had founded immediately prior to enrolling in law school.

Interestingly, when I moved down to Fort Lauderdale after taking the Florida Bar Exam, I fell into an associate position at a law firm, having never clerked at a law firm during law school. I was interested in the opportunity because the firm allowed me to continue to build my sports agency as long as it did not interfere with billable hours. I decided to completely pivot from being a part-time sports agent to a full-time lawyer during the year that I worked at that law firm. I realized that my talents were best suited for practicing as a lawyer and that I more thoroughly enjoyed legal work over the constant recruiting and babysitting involved with being an agent.

Importantly, I never burned bridges when I was an agent. Instead, I was always congenial and cordial with my adversaries. This proved to be key as I transitioned from being an agent to developing a practice of law that catered to benefitting agents and their clients. Now, I am the go-to lawyer for sports-related work and I work with some of the most influential athletes, agents, and brands in the space.

I am also proud of my work in helping college athletes finally benefit from their names, images, and likenesses. I have always fashioned myself as an athlete advocate and long believed that athletes should not be denied the same NIL rights as everyone else, including students on their own college campuses. I jumped on the opportunity when I was asked to help push legislation in the State of Florida to provide athletes these rights, well before the NCAA changed its position on the matter, and have since been heavily involved in helping athletes and brands find value and protect themselves in this new ecosystem.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I was a very early adopter of social media, particularly among the legal community. It has served me well, as much of my business comes from either referrals or people who find me on platforms such as Twitter or LinkedIn, where I have developed strong, loyal followings over time.

The tricks, and I do not believe them to be novel, are to have an authentic voice, to find a niche topic that you care about and can dive into, and to regularly engage with your audience. It is also important to find a balance between posting too much and not enough at all.

It is a process. Take Twitter, for instance. While I am approaching 50,000 followers, it took quite some time and staying true to my voice. I joined the platform in March 2007 and have remained active for the vast majority of that time.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

There is no better source than your own clients. It feels as though many of Heitner Legal’s clients are part of a tribe where they take pride in being a client and proudly promote our tag line: “I Love My Lawyer.” When others hear that, their eyebrows are raised. Lawyers are not supposed to be loved; they are supposed to be among the most despised individuals on this planet. It causes people to question the stigma associated with the legal profession or at least venture to find out what we are all about at Heitner Legal.

Contact Info:

• Website: DarrenHeitner.com
• Instagram: @DarrenHeitner
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heitner/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sportsagent/
• Twitter: @DarrenHeitner
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DarrenHeitner
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/heitner-legal-fort-lauderdale