Meet The Masala Mentor
Hi! I’m Jay Sahota, and I’ve been a litigation solicitor for 20 years. I started my career at Allen & Overy and since then, I have started, owned, grown and sold law firms.
I now mentor law firms and run fun and comprehensive time recording/fees/costs/pricing/billing workshops, even if you only work on fixed fees (critical to record your time to assess profitability). These workshops have received wonderful feedback, increased my clients’ billing and profits, and led to a host of other improvements that make staff and clients happier.
Pain Points for Law Firms: Law firms usually have a combination of these struggles.
- Lawyers are busy but not making enough money
- Working on fixed fees but not making enough money and losing time
- Low billing
- Write-offs
- Lock-up
- Low time recording
- Time/wip not translating into bills
- Poor debt recovery
- Poor cashflow
- Poor productivity/efficiency
- Discounting, under-estimating, over-servicing
- Poor scoping and estimating
- Not updating the scope or estimate as the matter progresses
- Shoe-horning work into the existing estimate
- Not charging for additional work
- Not being confident in self-worth/value
- Not wanting to talk money with clients
- Running from file to file but not making enough money
- Fee earner doesn’t realise their own value and that of their work for the client
- They don’t know how to estimate properly in a structured way (I have a process)
- They under-estimate because they’re scared of client reaction
- They inevitably go over the estimate
- They don’t revise it
- They don’t want to talk to the client about it and they lack confidence in talking about money
- They write off the additional work and money-losing their firm money - to keep themselves and their client happy
- This erodes self-worth and value, plus the client always expects it
- The vicious circle starts again
- Clients surprised by bills
- Undue pressure on fee eaners re time recording
- ANY client debt
I fix all of this instantly in my workshop.
With Support from The Masala Mentor:
- I fix ALL of this with my one-day workshop leading to long-term, natural, sustained profit, mindset and behavioural improvements.
- My clients have increased billing and profits, happier and more rounded fee earners and teams, happier clients and better firms
- We fix many other issues (which they didn’t even know were issues!) as we go - all making more money.
- A tiny investment for potentially huge gains.
- I’m the only person delivering a comprehensive workshop covering ALL interlinked issues (including client management, conversion, time management, getting in more work, etc.).
- I am uniquely placed with my experience as a former law firm owner, litigator, solicitor, trainer, NED, the experience of detailed assessment, and it WORKS!
New on the blog
Read our articles and find tips and tricks that you can use in your firm, useful advice and success stories.
Testimonials
Feedback from Workshop client
Jay Sahota 🌶🪄💰🕰 Law Firm Trainer and Mentor's real strength is his straightforward and friendly demeanour which puts people at ease straightaway and enables him to facilitate an open and constructive discussion between team members.
His workshop is an incredibly thorough ‘floorboards up’ review; much more than just billing. In fact, some of the most important takeaways for us were those involving how we work as a team, rather than those directly related to billing.
Thank you, Jay, for encouraging and engaging our team.
Feedback from Clients
“Your triangle, estimating tool and lessons are all over my walls”
“We talk about you every day - ‘what would Jay do?’”
“What did we ever do without you?”
“You’ve changed everything about how we work”
“It’s as though the money tap has been turned on since you trained us”
“All of your lessons are having huge impacts”
Billing Workshop
Many thanks, Jay Sahota 🌶🪄💰🕰 Law Firm Trainer and Mentor.
You left us with some great ideas and numerous helpful tips.
There was something here for everyone in the team to conjure with.
Review from John Wilkinson at JWP SOLICITORS:
“Jay has delivered 2 excellent and inspirational billing, time recording and pricing workshops to my fee earners, with his combination of wit, experience and knowledge. Both were extremely well received and have had great tangible benefits for the firm in terms of increases in billing, client management, time recording, teamwork, efficiency and profits”
“My lawyers are only recording 3 chargeable hours per day, but your workshop is too expensive”: law firm owner
A law firm managing partner contacted me in May as his fee earners were:
🔴discounting
🔴under-estimating
🔴not recording anywhere near enough time
🔴going over estimates and fixed fees
🔴not billing enough
🔴not being efficient
🔴racking up client debt
These are all interlinked and fixed, instantly, in my billing workshop
The ROI is more than 100 times the cost
It works
Therefore, it’s not cheap, because the value is huge
When I told him the cost, his response was “that’s too expensive”
The irony. He who does not understand value and only sees price will be eliciting the same behaviours in his lawyers and clients
Fine, I said. Good luck
Naturally, the problem didn’t just vanish. It got worse. He tried a cheaper provider without intimate experience of law firms and it backfired as morale dipped
He called me in August to ask me to deliver my workshop
I did - at a higher price - in early October
He sent me a dm this morning:
“I am sorry I was so obtuse. You must see this all the time with law firm owners as we are too arrogant to admit we need help and don’t understand the value of what you provide, with your unique skills and expertise..
..just since you were in, our time charging has gone up to 4.4 hours a day and we have not even implemented it all yet”
Value, not price
Plus humility
That’s what it’s all about
Review from a Law firm Owner
From a law firm owner whose firm I trained a few months ago:
“Your training was amazing It’s had a huge impact.
The staff are so confident.
There’s been a sizeable jump in time recording.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg as we are still implementing what you taught us.
The team feel great about it I would be delighted to convince any prospect who is on the fence about instructing you that it’s an absolute no-brainer.
Review from large regional Law Firm Owner
"We never thought it possible"
"As you know, you delivered your first training session to us in Winter 2023. We were so impressed that you have now trained all our departmental fee earners. We have seen the following transformations:
Chargeable hours from 3.3 to 4.8 day
Billing average £11,363 to £16,071
Much cashflow improvement
Total return across firm from extra billingis more than £2million - we have had to pinch ourselves when meeting our accountant...
We cannot thank you more."
Review from a London Law Firm
Practice manager of 70 fee-earner London law firm:
“Jay’s workshop was so helpful for our business. I witnessed a number of light bulb moments happen there and then and the change in behaviours that has followed has been game-changing for our business in terms of profitability.”
A Review from the owner of a London Firm
"Jay your insights were invaluable. Your clarity and strategic perspective have given me a clear way forward on the sale of my law firm - thank you."
Medium-sized South East law firm
"Thank you for your time last week. I thought that the training was generally terrific and quite timely for us as well…
I thought that the content of the training was presented in a generally helpful and applicable way. It was very heartening that some people were already considering how they could implement some of the things that were spoken about immediately following the day. I also thought that you endeavoured to try and make what is often a difficult and technocratic subject to sound interesting, engaging and kept people’s attention generally throughout the training. I can see immediately the benefit to fee earners of the content and the technique which I think will benefit fee earners going forward not merely from the firm’s point of view but also but also from their own point of view in (for example) having a crack at their incentive-based pay as well as (I believe) their own self-worth. The latter is a factor that I think is really important …
My own conclusion is that the day was incredibly helpful and that there is real scope with the right follow up internally at the form for an improvement in the issues that were addressed, and certainly a greater understanding of commercial realities of law firm economics was had by everyone in the room.”
A review from a time recording workshop
“5 Stars!!
I wanted to take a moment to express my sincere appreciation for the time recording workshop our team recently attended. It was an incredibly valuable experience.
The content was well-structured, engaging, and practical (with lots of funny anecdotes). Jay's expertise and clear explanations made complex concepts easy to understand, and I was particularly impressed with the interactive elements that allowed us to apply what we were learning in real time. The entire session felt like a two-way discussion rather than a lecture.
We look forward, as a team, to implementing several new techniques as discussed, and we are confident the impact will be immediate and positive.
Thank you for providing such a well-organised and insightful workshop. I would highly recommend Jay to any law firm management team looking to improve their time management and billing skills. We look forward to attending more of your sessions in the future!”
Law firm owners, managers and partners: you know what you need to do!
What have you got to lose??!
A review from a billing and pricing workshop
“Jay, we cannot thank you enough for your recent training …
We mentioned the new corporate enquiry on the day. We were going to price this at £100,000, but using your cushions, scoping, assumptions, differentiators, value, csm pitching, this is how we work, ffbv etc, we have priced at £160,000 … and the client has converted and happily accepted the price - and further on the back of what you said already paid the fee when we would have waited!
That’s just one immediate impact ..
… so so grateful”
Fee Earner at Elite Law Solicitors
"As a lawyer, you’re not taught in university that you also need to be a salesperson. But in practice, converting leads and building relationships is just as important as legal expertise.
My recent training with Jay Sahota 🌶🪄💰🕰 Law Firm Trainer and Mentor, the Masala Mentor, was insightful. It built on my existing skills and gave me that extra edge—I certainly needed it! The key takeaway? *Knowing your value* and communicating it effectively is essential in turning leads into clients.
A big thank you to Jay for delivering such engaging and impactful training. Highly recommend it to anyone looking to improve their client conversion skills."
A review from a law firm after a workshop
“Jay - you’ve transformed our firm..
Cashflow woes gone and profit up” 💰✅💰
“We were sceptical about your offering as we had had various trainings previously but we wanted to try you out as a test to see if other teams could benefit after Family and Children
We were and still are well and truly astounded and grateful as you have already transformed our law firm
We have experienced so many changes in client care, conversion, engagement, time recording, morale, self-worth, organisation and efficiency, structure - all making more money
But the 2 hugest changes are..
Cashflow: before the training, we had a lot of debt as we were not great at getting monies on account.
Now, because of your triangle, on estimate roughly 80% of our bills are paid before we come to bill. Our cashflow woes have gone
Billing, fees and profit: profits up
You trained our team of 12 fee earners, each of them - not to include time recording which has gone up anyway - is charging on average 2000-3000 pounds more per piece of work
Because we do large divorces. Each is quoting on around 1-2 new matters per week.
That means on figures 45000 pounds per week from alone better pricing because we have in place your cushioning, factors, compelling message differences, value, self worth psychology and analysis and know your client methods
We look forward to your next session with disputes in September”
A review from a law firm after a workshop
“After Jay’s time recording workshop, I have
- Increased my billing
- gained a lot of missing knowledge on time recording (I didn’t know there was so much to it!)
- been able to communicate from the initial stage of matters how I work, which has resulted in no resistance with clients when it comes to billing
- been able to formulate, following jays advice, a method of updating clients efficiently, resulting in positive feedback and client experience
- developed more confidence with billing and time recording
- substantially reduced debts/unpaid invoices.”
ALL law firms and lawyers need to be able to do all of the above and there are always improvements to be made
Fee Earner at Buss Murton Law
"I had a brilliant day of training with Jay Sahota 🌶🪄💰🕰Law Firm Trainer and Mentor today!
We covered so much – from valuing your time and knowing your worth, to being intentional about the clients you take on and the value you bring to the table. It was real, relatable and full of lightbulb moments.
Huge thanks to Jay for such an engaging and honest session. I’m excited to start putting some of those lessons into action in my role in the Property Department at Buss Murton Law over the next few weeks and months and cannot wait to see the results !
Definitely one of those workshops that stays with you!"
A review from a mentoring client (law firm)
“Working with Jay Shota has been an absolute game-changer for our law firm. His expertise as a masala mentor has helped us streamline our operations, increase our efficiency, and ultimately become more profitable. Jay's guidance and support have been invaluable as we navigate the challenges of the legal industry. I cannot recommend Jay Shota enough to any law firm looking to improve their bottom line. Thank you, Jay, for all that you do!
J and A”
Law firm managing partner:
1 week = £16,500! 💰
“Jay, thank you more than I can express for your fabulous workshop last week…
In spite of (or maybe due to) the innuendo, it was thoroughly enjoyable and opened our eyes.
Even the most long-in-the-teeth among us learned a lot
I am delighted to report that, just since last week, we are all charging at least one extra hour per day - much more than I ever hoped
I look forward to you speaking with [M] on Friday to book sessions with our next department, and they are already looking forward to it as word has spread!”.
Law firm coaching client
"I'm really excited about our next sessions and finally feel confident the business can grow."
£297,000 CASH in less than 9 months! 💲💲💲💲💲💲💲💲💲
“Jay came in to present us with his costs workshop on 5 April 2023. We are a team of 8 litigators in a boutique firm in Kent
One of the partners had to be dragged into the session as he was a sceptic and thought he knew it all.
What can I say. Jay was lovely and not what we expected. Very knowledgeable and down to earth. We all sat up and listened - including David the partner
The class was action-packed, fun and we made copious notes.
After the session we implemented nearly all of Jay’s suggestions including pricing, costs, hourly rates, time recording, time tips, changing free meetings and conversion, client marketing, scoping our fees, charging properly, team structure, recruitment, monies on account and jays magic triangle and magic conversion formula, delegating and teamwork, and much more besides
We were surprised to say the least as we had thought we were doing well anyway.
Not only do we have better and happier clients, the team is working better. Because our year end is December, we checked and, compared to a normal month, over the period since Jay came in we have made almost £297,000 as a firm. Of course we can’t say for sure that every single penny is due to jay until we analyse further, but nothing much else has changed to explain any difference and for many of the changes wr see the direct correlation.
This also means that we have hit targets quicker and are working less hard.
Jay is back to train another firm we refer work to in a few months’ time and I thank him fully”
Suffice to say that I am glowing
Ps I love the litigator caveat!
Law firm coaching client
“I have been dealing with Jay for about a year now and can genuinely say he’s a thoroughly brilliant chap. His Commerciality training is second to none and really should be a must for all law firms, it’s full of great little nuggets which we will be implementing immediately. Jay delivers the course in a no nonsense, humorous way which keeps his audience engaged throughout.”
If you want to improve your:
✅billing
✅profit
✅costs
✅pricing
✅time recording
✅fixed fees
✅debt
✅client management
✅fee earner engagement and productivity / efficiency
Then it’s a bit of a no-brainer
Feedback on a law firm billing workshop - 1 year ago
Jay, we knew the moment your enjoyable workshop finished that a number of fundamental pieces of the jigsaw just fell into place, and that other fundamental changes would be needed to happen and implemented to put all of your amazing strategies into practice.
We have worked on this tirelessly over the last year. All of your knowledge and tips has become engrained in our everyday practice. We practise all of what you preach. We know it works. We mention your name every day. We are leaps and bounds ahead of where we were before you came in. You have transformed us.
This is all very nice , but we’ve also billed, in a comparison period of one full financial year, an additional 32.6%, thanks to what you have taught us. This is truly life-changing for us. Ever grateful, MS
Feedback time recording workshop
“Jay, thank you more than I can express for your fabulous workshop last week... In spite of (or maybe due to) the innuendo, it was thoroughly enjoyable and opened our eyes Even the most long in the teeth among us learned a lot I am delighted to report that, just since last week, we are all charging at least one extra hour per day - much more than I ever hoped I look forward to you speaking with [M] on Friday to book in sessions with our next department and they are already looking forward to it as word has spread!”
Law firm managing partner
Feedback time recording workshop
I just attended Jay's time recording workshop. The day was engaging, relaxed and very informative!
The content flow was responsive to the discussion points but with an underlying structure.
So many things to take away and reflect on and as well as parts to implement. Thanks Jay 🤩
Feedback Client
I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Jay for his longstanding support and exceptional dedication to maintaining an incredibly high standard of quality in all our collaborations. His vast knowledge and extraordinary personality shine through in every task, project, and discussion we've undertaken together. Jay's commitment to excellence is evident in the full effort he puts into every aspect of his work.
One of Jay's greatest strengths is his unwavering reliability, coupled with a consistently high-quality output that he delivers to each and every client. He is always reachable, incredibly dependable, and quick to follow through on agreements. Jay has a remarkable ability to focus on the smallest details, understand the unique needs of his clients, and work tirelessly in their best interests.
I deeply appreciate his professionalism and human touch, as Jay is truly the kind of partner who provides a broad range of services that many business owners genuinely need. I am thankful for the years of high-quality, reliable collaboration and for the personal connection we've built as two business professionals committed to achieving great things for ourselves and our clients.
Thank you, Jay, for everything.