The Kelly Firm, LLC Proves Why Small Firms Beat Big Law
February 26, 2026
Three sisters, Lauren, Erica and Gianna Kelly, switch sides, from being defense lawyers to giving a voice to plaintiffs. The result? The creation of The Kelly Firm, LLC and a transformation of the medical malpractice space. In this episode of Between the Briefs by Steno, the trio joins hosts Adrian Cea and Joe Stephens to explore how they transitioned from defending healthcare providers to advocating for injured patients, the strategic advantages of small-firm practice and how family dynamics can come into play (in a good way) when building a law firm from the ground up.
Three sisters, Lauren, Erica and Gianna Kelly, switch sides, from being defense lawyers to giving a voice to plaintiffs. The result? The creation of The Kelly Firm, LLC and a transformation of the medical malpractice space. In this episode of Between the Briefs by Steno, the trio joins hosts Adrian Cea and Joe Stephens to explore the full story.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to leverage defense litigation experience on the plaintiff side
- The optimal case vetting framework for medical malpractice litigation
- Why pre-suit negotiation timelines differ between practice areas
- How to scale your firm without compromising on client connection and culture
- The strategic deployment of AI and legal technology in resource-constrained firms
- Building firm culture around distributed trust and complementary skill sets
- Why smaller firms deliver measurable value that scale cannot replicate
Tune in for an energizing and purposeful story from the world of law!
Highlights:
00:00 Introduction
02:11 The Kelly Firm’s Origin Story & Switching from Defense to Plaintiff
04:05 On Being a Women-Led Firm
06:50 How Three Attorneys Manage One Case
09:06 Family Legacy and the Evolution of Legal Practice
14:00 Why Patient Representation Matters
15:45 Gender Bias in Litigation and How to Overcome It
20:05 The Small-Firm Advantage When it Comes to Scaling
21:35 Case Vetting & Quality Over Volume in Medical Malpractice
25:37 Pre-Suit Negotiation vs. Litigation Timelines
27:46 Trial Preparation on a Skeleton Crew
30:20 Managing Burnout: Peer Accountability and Work-Life Boundaries
33:07 The Kelly Firm Guide to Strategic Technology Investment
34:46 Why Closed Systems as Non-Negotiable
35:23 Figuring Out Personality-Client Alignment
38:35 Teaching the Next Generation: Practical Skills Over Theory
41:40 Why Critical Thinking Remains Non-Negotiable
42:06 Starting Your Own Firm & Embracing Calculated Risk
43:10 The Kelly’s Hot Take: Pittsburgh's Personal Injury Market Has Room for All
47:45 Key Takeaways & Closing Thoughts
Quotes:
- “We need to fight for people who can't fight for themselves. We need to fight for the patient who had a catastrophic injury due to a medical error and can't work anymore and can't support their family." - Lauren
- "We're creating our own type of law where we put the client first. We really try to connect with them and try to empathize with how they're feeling." - Gianna
- "The quality of work doesn't correlate to the number of attorneys you have at a firm. When you go to a smaller firm, you know you're gonna talk to one of those attorneys, not a secretary or paralegal every time you call." - Gianna
- "There's always somewhat of an uphill battle, not only when you're a woman, but when you're a young woman. We've many times been the youngest attorneys in the room or sometimes the only female attorneys in the room, and what that means is you have to be twice as prepared and twice as ready. We really pride ourselves on the fact that even if we are the youngest attorney, we will always be the most prepared." - Erica
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