This interview is with Jacqueline Salcines, Founder, Attorney at Law at SALCINESLAW.

Jacqueline Salcines, Founder, Attorney at Law, SALCINESLAW

Can you tell us about your background in law and what areas you specialize in?

I started out in criminal defense, having worked as a legal secretary to several high-profile criminal defense attorneys in Miami. I worked as a legal secretary and, once I graduated, as an associate in these firms handling federal and state criminal defense. Midway in my career, I shifted to real estate law. As a female sole practitioner, criminal defense was more and more difficult with a growing family and a husband who hated me being at FDC at 11:30 at night. I then shifted my practice to real estate law and have been in this area for the past 20 years.

What inspired you to pursue a career in law, and how has your journey shaped your current practice?

Growing up as a child of divorced parents, I was always surrounded by and taught the scarcity mindset. We never had enough and watched every penny spent, as it could result in not being able to eat that week. Watching my mom go through this after her divorce, I vowed to never experience being dependent on a man or this level of codependence anymore.

In your experience, what's the most common misconception about legal contracts that you've encountered among clients?

The most common misconceptions are that oral terms are binding or that not knowing what you are signing is an excuse to invalidate a contract. When I speak to clients and let them know that these arguments are not going to be accepted by the courts as a defense, I am often met with pushback, as if I am lying.

Can you share a challenging case you've worked on that required creative problem-solving? How did you approach it?

A recent case that required creative problem-solving was a trial where the plaintiff alleged there was a written contract between the parties for the loan of monies to share in corporate stock. During the trial, the receipt for monies was found to be a written contract, but the court held in our favor and found that there were no specific terms as to when the monies were to be returned or how much.

Based on your expertise, what's one piece of legal advice you would give to small business owners to protect their interests?

The greatest piece of advice I can give is to find a mentor or business coach early. That way, you are guided on what to do or not do in your firm to scale. I waited too long to do this and began scaling only a few years ago.

How has technology impacted your law practice, and what emerging tech trends do you think will shape the future of legal services?

Having systems, processes, and procedures in place helps my law firm work robotically, so that everyone knows what they are doing, what their KPIs are, what they need to do daily, and work in the most efficient manner possible. AI is taking over in every field, and I have embraced it from form creation to blog posts. It's going to take over every field, and if you don't keep up with trends and embrace it, then I feel that law firms will be outrun by those that do.

In your opinion, what's the most underutilized legal resource available to the public? How can people better take advantage of it?

I feel the most underutilized resource in our field is referrals. I feel that many lawyers count clients as one-and-done, and miss the opportunity to not only obtain referrals from happy clients but continue to nurture them for years. Referrals are the best legal resource to grow and scale any firm, and not reaping those rewards, and ignoring past clients, will leave significant money on the table.

Can you describe a situation where your negotiation skills made a significant difference for a client? What strategy did you employ?

A recent negotiation of a client's garnishment changed a client in significant ways. She was a mother and head of household and faced a wage garnishment for a past-due judgment. We were not only able to negotiate the amounts due, but based on her head-of-household status, we were able to completely quash the garnishment and have her paycheck restored 100%.

Looking ahead, what do you see as the biggest challenge facing the legal profession in the next decade, and how can lawyers prepare for it?

I feel the biggest challenge is AI and how it is changing the legal industry, both from research and writing, and media. It has taken over every aspect. If law firms don't embrace AI and fight it, they are going to be left behind. AI is not only user-friendly but has the ability to save so much time and effort. Anyone not embracing it cannot call themselves an entrepreneur as they are not embracing the changing times.