In this episode of the Legal Growth Podcast, host Aaron Fulk sits down with Ford Miller, a real estate and transactional attorney with a passion for analytics, efficiency, and building smarter legal processes. Ford shares his unconventional path from philosophy major to UMKC Law grad, and how early mentorship led him deep into the world of title work, underwriting, and the life cycle of real estate deals.

After years in big law and corporate roles, Ford partnered with previous guest Leo Oppenheimer to combine their skill sets — bringing Ford’s transactional expertise together with Leo’s litigation practice. Their collaboration now allows the firm to handle real estate matters from both ends: preventing problems on the front end and resolving them when things go sideways.

Ford also reveals his not-so-secret superpower: a deep love for numbers, data, and pattern recognition. From automated reports to pivot tables, he explains how data analysis shapes everything from client budgets to practice management to predicting shifts in the real estate market. He also breaks down emerging trends like foreclosures, loan workouts, and economic pressures that may reshape the next decade of real estate work — and how his firm is positioning itself to stay efficient, effective, and prepared.

Listeners will learn:

• How Ford transitioned from philosophy to real estate law

• Why title work and underwriting created the perfect foundation for his practice

• How combining litigation and transactional work creates stronger outcomes for clients

• How data analytics can dramatically improve law firm operations and forecasting

• What current real estate patterns may signal about the future of the market

• How efficiency and systems help keep legal spend down during financially stressful situations

• Why understanding both borrower and lender perspectives leads to better resolutions

👉 Tune in for a smart, strategic, and insight-packed conversation that showcases how data, collaboration, and real-world experience can transform the way law firms serve clients — especially in the fast-evolving real estate industry.