Jeff Caesar Chukwuma is a top criminal defense and personal injury attorney, and the founder of Chukwuma Law Group. Prior to founding the firm, Jeff served as an Assistant State Attorney for Florida’s 17th Judicial Circuit. As a prosecutor he investigated and litigated a wide range of felony criminal cases and tried over 50 criminal cases to verdict.
Jeff has a Juris Doctorate degree from Nova Southeastern University Law School and is eligible to practice law in Florida and the United States District C. Beyond his legal practice, Jeff has grown his social media following to over 700,000 across Instagram and Twitter. He uses the platform to educate his followers on their legal rights, legal options, and empowering those who may feel alienated or intimidated by the legal world.
Please tell us a little bit about your company
My law firm specializes primarily in Criminal Defense and Personal Injury throughout South Florida. We offer a boutique experience in which each client feels as important as the next. At CLG, every client is a VIP, and that’s the level of care that goes into each case, regardless of how big or small the legal issue at hand.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
I’ve been a lawyer for the last 6 years. After graduating from law school, I worked at the Broward County State Attorney’s office as a prosecutor for over 4 years, which was an invaluable learning experience for me as a new attorney. I learned the ins-and-outs of complex criminal litigation and became familiar with the complexities of the criminal justice system, knowledge that has served me well as a defense attorney since I left the State Attorney’s Office and established my own law firm.
What would you say are the top 3 skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur, and why?
That’s easy: discipline, resilience, imagination.
- As an entrepreneur, you’re your own boss. Most people only hear the glamour in that and don’t notice the responsibility. No boss or manager will be following up with you about deadlines you must meet and work that needs to be done. You must develop the self-discipline required to do the work necessary to deliver value for your customers.
- That goes hand in hand with resilience. It’s easy to get into a nice stride when things are going well. But the first rule of entrepreneurship is that things never go according to plan, no matter how good your plan is. You can either become defeated and discouraged when things don’t go your way. Or you can use failure and roadblocks as learning moments to develop your character and hone your skills.
- Lastly, I’d say you have to cultivate your imagination and stay loyal to your dreams. There’s a great Neville Goddard quote that says, “imagination is loyalty to the unseen reality.” What that means is you have to believe in your dreams before anyone else does. Most people like certainty. They only go as far as their senses can guide them. But if you’re aspirations are only limited to what you see around you, you’ll never go very far. You have to believe in your dreams and nourish them in order to realize them. And that’s hard in the struggle phase where you’re working hard and not seeing the results you’d like to see. But if you stay patient and faithful to the unseen reality, sooner or later your dreams will manifest as your reality. You just have to believe.
What are your plans for the future, and how do you plan to grow this company?
My plan for the future is the same as it’s been from day one: making the Chukwuma Law Group the best law firm in South Florida. I want to offer a level of service clients will be hard-pressed to find outside the doors of my office and deliver value to them and their families as I help guide them through some of the most trying and sensitive situations in their lives. It’s a big dream, but I’ve always believed in going big or going home. If you’re going to do anything in life, you might as well give it your all and leave everything on the court. In time, hopefully, more people will see the value in what we’re building and join us on this exciting journey.
How do you separate yourself from your competitors?
Empathy. Being able to relate to our fellow human beings and see their pain and struggles as our own is holding us back in multiple areas including the law. That’s why CLG has a human-centered approach to the way we handle the cases that come to us. Our goal is to treat each client’s problems as our own or those of someone we care for. When you orient your thinking that way, you stop focusing on what’s in it for you or taking shortcuts that prioritize your own gains over the well-being of your clients. We believe this is a major pillar of our success not only in delivering results for our clients but also in earning their trust and that of the larger community.
What were the top three mistakes you made starting your business, and what did you learn from them?
- Partners. This is one of the biggest decisions people have to make when starting a business. They can be great or they can be your worst nightmare. Nothing can prepare you for who someone might become once money is involved. Make sure you absolutely need a partner before you get into business with them. Think clearly about what value they’re adding to the business and alternate paths to achieving the same result.
- Next, marketing. You can have the greatest product in the world, but if no one knows about it, your business will not succeed. Knowing how to get people’s attention and keep it will be the primary determinant of your business’s success apart from the quality of your product or service.
- Lastly, time management. Rome was not built in a day, but it was still built. You have to find a way to accomplish a myriad of complicated, time-consuming goals while still maintaining balance in the various parts of your business and personal life. It’s a tall order, which is why I say not everyone is meant to be an entrepreneur. But if you feel called to it and can handle the pressure, it’s incredibly rewarding.
Tell us a little bit about your marketing process, what has been the most successful form of marketing for you?
Social media by far has been the biggest cheat code. I realize my colleagues who are older than me don’t appreciate the power of social media as much as I do, but it can be an incredibly powerful tool to get your voice and story out there. Thanks to digital tools, for the first time in history, the ordinary person is able to amplify their voice to the entire world. That’s crazy if you think about it. We’ve never had this much power to shape our identities and public perception of ourselves. If you can use that to your advantage, the sky’s the limit to what you can achieve.
What is the one thing you wish you knew before starting your business?
Better time management. The rule of businesses is that everything takes longer than you expect. That memo you need to write, the motion you need to file, that ad campaign you need to develop – all if it will take longer than you expect, especially in the beginning. Eventually, you hit your stride and adjust to the demands of your work life, but it’s definitely a learning curve that I underestimated before I was in the middle of it.
Can you recommend one book, one podcast, and one online course for entrepreneurs and authors?
Courage is Calling by Ryan Holiday. It’s a great book not just for entrepreneurs but for anyone trying to do something significant in life. Because any time you’re trying to achieve something, you’ll face resistance and opposition. Emotionally, we experience that opposition as fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of embarrassing ourselves. The list goes on and on. What the book helped me realize is that you’ll never get rid of fear. If you’re waiting to no longer be afraid before you start taking action, you’ll never do the things you dream of. You’ll live and die in your comfort zone, the ultimate dream killer. Instead of getting rid of fear, each person must develop more courage, becoming braver in spite of the fear. The book helped me learn that fear is natural and part of our nature. However, that doesn’t mean we should let fear control us and stop us from reaching our potential as individuals.
If you only had $1000 dollars to start a new business, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
Easy, social media marketing agency. Understanding the nuances of marketing and online consumer behavior is a skill. A lot of people look at influencers like the Kardashians and assume they don’t have talent because it didn’t come packaged with a fancy degree or prestigious corporate job title attached. But the skill of getting and keeping people’s attention in a world consumed by instant gratification, endless notifications, distractions, and ads is incredibly rare. Not many people can do it, which creates an incredible opportunity for people like myself who can. And like the saying goes, if you’re good at something, never do it for free. Although I’m already dedicated to the law, there’s a great business idea for someone out there brave enough to pursue it.
What is your favorite quote?
“Fortune favors the bold” In case you couldn’t tell, I live by that. Fear is the enemy stopping you from achieving your dreams. Boldness and courage are the way to your destiny.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
Don’t tell people more than they need to know. In the early stages, your business is like a newborn baby: weak, vulnerable, and dependent on the care of a responsible, loving parent to survive. There will be people, some who even mean well and care about you deeply, who will try and kill your dreams in this stage. They’ll tell you all the reasons why it won’t work or why you’re not the right person to do it. Don’t listen to them. More importantly, don’t give them the opportunity to infect you with their negative thoughts at this critical stage where your dreams and ideas need all the nurturing and love they can get. Keep your circle small and your mouth shut. Then let your results speak for you.
How can we get in touch with you?
All my information is on my website, chukwumalaw.com
