Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Matthews
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
After graduating law school in the Summer of 2020, during the peak of the Covid pandemic, I was forced to move back home with my parents in my hometown of Austin, TX. During this time, while studying for the bar exam, I was desperately in need of a full-time job. After sending out my resume to a myriad of law firms in the central Texas area hoping to get something – regardless of the type of law that firm practiced. After only a few short weeks though, I landed a non-attorney position with the largest personal injury firm in Texas, Thomas J. Henry, at their Austin location. One of the selling points to this position was I was also offered a full-time associate attorney position contingent on me passing the bar. So, after many months of studying, and a couple failed attempts later, I finally received my law license in November of 2021. From that point on, I guess you could say the rest is history.
I started my official legal career pre-litigation attorney with Thomas J. Henry and held that position for about seven (7) months. Due to my ability to quickly grasp legal concepts and skillfully negotiate, I amassed immediate success in this role and became one of the top-grossing pre-lit attorneys across the entire firm. because of this success, I was promoted to Managing Attorney of the Austin office – which, for not even being an attorney for a full year was a daunting yet exciting challenge I didn’t hesitate to accept. In this role, I managed a team of 15+ pre-litigation attorneys in the Austin office and again, was one of the most profitable departments across the entire firm during my tenure. However, at the start of 2023, I wasn’t satisfied professionally in a managerial role and wanted to get back to handling cases myself. So, after a few phone calls with a colleague of mine, Bryce Carpenter, who had just opened up his own PI firm across town, myself and my good buddy from TJH left there and went to help Bryce grow his firm.
Through all of our collective efforts, we were able to help this new law firm expand its client base from 150 active cases to over 500, and boost the firm’s revenue from grossing $1mil to over $5mil in one year – an accomplishment I am extremely proud of.
Again though, even after doing so well at this new firm, I still felt I could do more and needed a bigger challenge even as a young attorney. So, after much deliberation and long discussions with my colleague/close friend, Daniel Baker, he and I decided to leave Bryce’s firm and open up our own personal injury firm in Austin, Baker Matthews Law Collective (BMLC), which we officially opened the doors to in March of 2024. At BMLC, I serve at the CEO and Managing Partner.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Smooth road for the most part. Biggest struggle has been starting own law firm and the new challenges this presents on a daily basis – yet the best decision I’ve ever made.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Baker Matthews Law Collective (“BMLC”) is a personal injury law firm founded in Austin, Texas by attorneys, Daniel Baker, and local Austinite, Alex J. Matthews, aimed at serving the greater Central Texas community. At BMLC, representing injured clients is much more than negotiating settlements, but rather the collective effort of many qualified, experienced and zealous individuals working together to accomplish the single goal of ensuring every single client is made whole again – physically and financially.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I define success as accomplishing or exceeding a goal, promise or expectation that you have set for yourself. Sometimes, the process of achieving success and the lessons you learn along the way are more important than actually achieving whatever it is you are attempting to do.
Also, I like to compare success to a river. It flows downstream in the same direction for everyone – meaning what’s at the end of the river might be different from person to person and the reasons why people are floating down the river might also vary, but we are all trying to move forward and towards something. You can stand on the bank and watch others in pursuit of their success, you can build or own boat and start paddling, or you can grab an oar and join in someone else’s boat and achieve success together.
In the end, success is more so the pursuit of something that’s to the benefit of either yourself or others as a collective effort.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bakermatthewslawcollective.com/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/baker-matthews-law-collective-austin
Image Credits
Kerri Meigs Photography
