Letting Go of the Billable Hour with Trevor Riddle

About this episode

Trevor Riddle discusses how moving away from the billable hour transformed his legal practice and personal well-being.

What if your burnout isn’t caused by the work… but by the way you’re paid to do it? After 14 years in high-stakes criminal defense, Trevor Riddle walked away. He thought he needed a new practice area. A new city. A fresh start. But the real problem wasn’t the cases. It was the billable hour. So he came back, built a firm on flat fees, and bet everything on alignment over tradition. Would you have the courage to rebuild your career from the ground up?

People in this episode

Host: Jonathan Hawkins

Guest: Trevor Riddle

Topics covered

• burnout
• billable hour
• law practice
• flat fees
• career rebuilding

Keywords

• burnout
• billable hour
• law firm
• flat fees
• career change

More episodes of Founding Partner Podcast

• Niching Down in a Small Town with Chris Rodd · June 9, 2026 · 55 min
• Fighting Fraudsters with Jon David Huffman · June 2, 2026 · 57 min
• Value over Volume with Chaz Roberts · May 26, 2026 · 59 min
• Building Systems That Scale with Lorena Saedi · May 19, 2026 · 58 min
• Letting Go of Control and Chasing Big Verdicts with Christopher Newbern · May 12, 2026 · 57 min
• Meeting with 10 Successful Law Firm Owners to Ask What Worked and What Didn’t with Aaron Thomas · May 5, 2026 · 40 min