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I'm Jim, and I'm a lawyer.

But I don't write about legal topics.

I write about leadership and personal growth.

Why learn from me?

I bring an expertise you won’t find anywhere else online.

Besides leading teams in multiple law firms for years...

And starting two law practices from scratch...

In 2017 I branched out … I co-founded a telehealth website where we helped people overcome excess drinking through medication-assisted treatment and personal development coaching.

What’s the link to lawyering?

As a lawyer, I defend against injury cases that require a deep understanding of medicine and psychology. 

I’ve deposed over 300 doctors and mental health providers, diving into medical and psychological concepts at their level.

I transferred that skill set, along with years of solving problems for clients, into the wellness and personal growth space.

I applied my analytical skills, the same I use to dissect real-world, complex legal cases, to pick apart the science behind personal development.

I crafted not just medical solutions (through the doctors we contracted with) but also systemized, actionable, personal growth training for our patients.

And we didn’t just aim to restore patients to an average level of health...

We transformed their lives through growth-focused skills ⚡

Here are a few testimonials we received from patients that went through our program:

✅ “This program didn’t just change my habits - it gave me the confidence and clarity to control my life in ways I never thought possible."

✅ “Your support and coaching is invaluable. I’m so lucky to have you and Alcure. It has helped immensely.”

✅ “I especially wanted you to know that your videos alone were worth the first month. You do great work!”

✅ "Loved your videos on Life Hacks, Minimalism, and Gratitude.”

✅ “My future looks so much brighter! Thank you. I was skeptical, but now I’m proof that this approach works. I can’t wait to see where I go from here.”

After helping 400+ people (many during the pandemic) and generating over $500,000 in revenue, we wrapped up the project in 2023.

Now I’m onto new ventures.

Some more about me:

✅ Made over $500,000 in revenue with a telehealth website while maintaining a full-time law practice

✅ Thomson Reuters ranked Super Lawyer (2012-2025), top 5% in Southern California

✅ Invited speaker

⭐ Follow me and tap the 🔔 for my daily posts on clarity, growth and leadership 🔥

👁️ For deeper insights, sign up for my weekly newsletter, essential frameworks, below ⤵

Learn to lead yourself.
Learn to lead others.

James Kamanski

Protect your peace - like your life depends on it.
Because in many ways, it does.

A chaotic mind can’t focus.
Can’t create.
Can’t lead.

And it definitely can’t enjoy the journey.

So choose calm over chaos:

✅ Cut the noise.
✅ Step back from draining people.
✅ Set the boundary, even if it’s awkward.
✅ Say no, even if it disappoints.

You don’t need more stimulation.

You need more stillness.

Because clarity lives in quiet.

And your best ideas?
They only surface when your mind is calm enough to hear them.

Inner peace isn’t a luxury - it’s your foundation.

💬 What’s one thing that protects your peace?

🔁 Repost now with your network.
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Helping professionals master clarity, growth and leadership • Created a research-backed personal development course that helped 400+ people transform their health, wealth and relationships • Follow me for daily insights

If you don’t own your story, someone else will rewrite it for you.

In your career.
In your relationships.
Even in your self-worth.

When you stay silent, others fill in the blanks.

That’s why owning your story isn’t just about confidence:
It’s about clarity, boundaries, and truth.

✔️ Say what shaped you.
✔️ Stand by what you’ve overcome.
✔️ Speak up for what you believe.

Because your story deserves to be told
and no one can tell it like you.

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Behind every productive person isn’t more time… it’s sharper attention.

You don’t need another hour in the day.
You need to stop leaking focus.

And I KNOW YOU FEEL IT TOO!

This is because you’re pulled by distractions.
This is because attention is your true currency.
This is because you confuse being busy with being effective.

While you think your calendar is the problem…

(Your real challenge is attention slipping through tiny cracks.)

Here’s how to fix it:

1/ Audit Your Attention
Where does your focus actually go? Not where you assume it goes.

2/ Set Daily Intentions
Choose 1–3 priorities that truly matter. Everything else is noise.

3/ Eliminate Low-Value Work
Cut busywork. Guard your calendar like it belongs to someone you respect.

4/ Create Focus Blocks
Silence the pings, shut the tabs, and protect your deep work.

5/ Guard Your Energy
A scattered mind drains faster than a full inbox. Choose clarity.

Because here’s the truth:
It’s not time you’re running out of - it’s focus.

If nobody else has reminded you today, I will:
+ You already have enough time.
+ Start protecting your attention.

Your best work is waiting.
↳ Every focus block adds up!

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I transform people’s lives as both a family law attorney and a law firm owner consultant so that my clients are thriving in all they do and living epic lives based on their own vision. 

I’m a family law attorney with a passion for transformation. Your family’s future is my first priority. Your future is bright with epic, endless possibilities. I am a real-life example of my own epic divorce transformation. 

What does all this mean for EBFLG as well as Elise Buie Consulting law firm owner clients?

For our EBFLG team, it means that we focus on dreaming big together and strength-based coaching directed at achieving their one-year, three-year and ten-year visions. We actively maximize our team by encouraging them to work toward their strengths and to dream big. 

For EBFLG clients, it means that because we have a fulfilled team and a value-centered firm mission, our clients receive best-in-class customer service with an Unreasonable Hospitality focus. 
We pay attention to all of the little details, which is why we have over 150 five-star google reviews.

For Elise Buie Consulting clients, it means that you will get crystal clear on your vision (not my vision nor anyone else’s vision). Once your vision is crystal clear, you will learn how to track the important data, make strategic decisions and elevate your leadership to attract A players so that your Vision will become your daily reality. Live the epic life you dream with ease. 

This hyper focus on transforming lives and Unreasonable Hospitality penetrates everything we do. 

I thrive on maximizing people around me whether it’s my own large brood of young adults, my EBFLG team, my EBFLG clients, my consulting law firm owner clients. You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. I don't want to spend time with a bunch of Eeyores who don't have life goals outside of the office or who just go home to binge watch netflix! I want my team to live fulfilling lives outside of the office, chasing their own big goals while constantly learning and improving. Dreaming together energizes me as I learn about their wins. My team inspires me to improve and to dream bigger.

This year, I had the incredible opportunity to speak at the Lawyer on the Beach Retreat in Cancún—a space filled with brilliant legal minds and meaningful conversations. Being part of this international event reminded me why I do the work I do: to grow, to connect, and to make an impact in and outside the courtroom.

Elise Buie

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, especially as a woman in leadership. There’s a real tension between building something visible and impressive and building something steady and human. 🤔

We’re taught, directly and indirectly, that ambition is loud. Growth should be obvious. Leadership should be public. And if we choose stability or depth, it can look like we’re opting out. 🤷‍♀️

But some of the most meaningful leadership I’ve seen happens in very unglamorous ways. 🥵

It looks like carving out real 1:1 time with team members even when your plate is full. Asking how they’re actually doing. Paying attention to what lights them up, what’s hard, and where they want to grow. Remembering those conversations and investing in their future over time. 📣 

None of that shows up on a highlight reel. And yet, those moments compound. They build trust. They create loyalty. They help people do the best work of their lives. 💯

As women leaders, this kind of relational leadership can feel complicated. It’s often expected of us, but not always valued in the same way as more performative leadership. Still, walking away from it never feels right either. 🤯

So we live in the tension.

Choosing to lead with care and consistency, even when it’s quieter. Even when it doesn’t get applause. Trusting that investing in people is not a detour from ambition, but a different expression of it. 💜☮️

For me, that choice keeps proving itself over time. 💯

Thanks Elizabeth Henson for such great memories in these pics. 💜

 🌸 Elise Buie

🚀🦄 Transforming families and Family Law Through Joy, Data & Unreasonable Hospitality | Building Leaders, Not Just Law Firms | People First, Profit Follows 💜☮️

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Following years of over-functioning for others and smoothing over challenges that weren’t mine to fix, I had an epiphany over the holidays: 

Something in my communication style had to change. 

After all, as a law firm owner, as a leader, I can’t build a culture, at least one that will endure, that values care, accountability, and high standards if I’m constantly putting out fires or softening hard truths.

So, in 2026, I’m committing to something different: clearer, more direct communication. 

No, radical candor isn’t always comfortable. 

But it is necessary to uphold the highest standard of care for clients, colleagues, and the firm itself.

In my latest article, I'm sharing what this will look like in practice, why it matters in law, particularly family law, and how a law firm culture that embraces honesty and accountability can serve a higher good. 

(Photo: Me and my hubby, Doug, enjoying the perks of a work culture based on life-work integration, a place where emotional dis-regulation must be the standard that guides all others.)

#LawFirmLeadership #FamilyLaw #LeadershipInLaw #AccountabilityMatters #TeamCulture #ClientCare #ProfessionalGrowth #LegalIndustryInsights #DirectCommunication #HighStandards #LifeWorkIntegration #LawFirmExcellence

Open article: Why Straight Talk Will Be Driving My Communication Style in 2026 by Elise Buie Family Law Group • 5 min read

Why Straight Talk Will Be Driving My Communication Style in 2026

Saturday is my fave work day. 🤔

No one is slacking, emailing, DM’ing me. I get so much more work done on a Saturday.  💻 

Working on Saturday also keeps me from unnecessary crowds. ☮️

Working on Saturday also lets me stay in my flannel penguin 🐧 nightgown all day if I want. 🤪

Working on Saturday also lets me analyze last week while strategizing and delegating for next week. 📊 

Working on Saturday also grounds me on the freedom and flexibility I have to take off on Wednesday because I get a special discount at the spa. Or I can get in to get my nails done easier. Or I spend hours at the pool or enjoying a walk in the woods. 

Working on Saturday is freedom. 

I used to spend Saturdays at multiple football games and now I work on Saturday so I can enjoy other days doing exactly what I want. 🎉

Freedom and flexibility make all the difference for highly responsible, high accountable people. 

Ollie and Ella embracing their freedom. 💜☮️🐶

Yesterday was a tale of two days.🤔

I started the morning collaborating with my marketing, intake and sales leaders and with another firm across the country and their intake leader. We dug into marketing together. What are they seeing? What steps have they taken to improve things? What have we fixed? What is the data telling both of us so far? We committed to keep sharing what we learn as more information comes in. 📊 

I walked out of that meeting feeling incredibly proud of my team and so grateful for their values. They are smart, caring, engaged, helpful, curious, collaborative, and kind. Truly. That was the best part of my day. 🎉☮️📊

Unfortunately, that meeting ended at 9:00 a.m. 😢

The rest of the day was a hot mess. I was on the receiving end of bullying, chest-bumping, and gaslighting behavior from not one but three attorneys. It was brutal. And honestly, exhausting. 🤦‍♀️

Luckily and gratefully, I woke up (albeit in the middle of the night) still believing in the goodness of people today. ✅

Maybe that makes me optimistic. Maybe a little naïve. Or maybe it just means I know which rooms I want to build, which rooms I want to lead and which ones I am no longer willing to tolerate. 🛑 uh oh, if something lands on my toleration list, there is about 3 weeks to solve it or be gone! Iykyk 🤪

I will keep choosing teams, partnerships, and ways of working that are grounded in curiosity, data, generosity, kindness, compassionate feedback, integrity and respect. Because it is better. And because it works.🎉

Those are my people. 🫂 

Bullying be gone! I’m so over it. ☮️

My sweet boy, John 🐈‍⬛, giving me all the love yesterday. 🙏

If you own a law firm and your sleep is light, it is not because you cannot “turn your brain off.” It is because your nervous system is trained to stay alert. ‼️ Ask me how I know 🤷‍♀️

When responsibility starts early and never really stops, vigilance becomes the default. Clients in crisis. Employees whose livelihoods depend on your decisions. Risk that follows you home whether you want it to or not. 🤦‍♀️ Now add in raising 6 humans (let’s talk hypervigilance)

That level of care trains the body to stay on duty long after the workday ends.

For years, I treated this as a discipline problem. Better routines. Better time management. Better boundaries. None of that touched the real issue. The issue was physiological. 🧠 

In 2026, one of my top leadership priorities is regulating my nervous system, not to disengage from responsibility, but to carry it without living in a constant state of alert.

For me, that means:

Daily movement as a non-negotiable 🏊‍♀️ 

No alcohol 🛑 

Fewer inputs and fewer decisions (teach ownership and enforce accountability downstream)

Time with zero performance requirement 📚 💭 

The standard I am holding myself to is simple:

be the lowest heart rate in the room and still sleep through the night. ✅ #goals

If you run a firm, your nervous system is part of your operating system. If it stays dysregulated long enough, it will quietly shape your decisions, your patience, and your longevity as a leader. 🤯

Most firm owners do not burn out from work.

They burn out from never feeling safe enough to rest. 🛌 

Instead of my normal focus on life-work integration for my team, it’s sleep-leadership integration for me. 

If this resonates, what do you notice showing up first: sleep, irritability, or decision fatigue?

#lawfirmowners
#sustainableleadership

Pic from my time with zero performance requirements 💜☮️🐶

I see this pattern regularly in my consulting work. 🤔

Leaders say they want accountability. What they actually want is for problems to resolve themselves without an uncomfortable conversation. 🤷‍♀️

So they go quiet.
They wait.
They hope behavior changes.

That’s not leadership. That’s avoidance dressed up as patience.

Accountability only exists where there is direct conversation. Clear expectations. Timely feedback. Real words said to real people. Mean what you say and say what you mean. 

If you are running a professional services business and you cannot say the hard thing to someone directly, you will eventually pay for it in resentment, turnover, and underperformance. 😢

Law firms are a special case. This work lives in conflict. We ask clients to face reality every day while leaders avoid it internally. That disconnect always shows up in culture.

Silence is not neutral. It is a decision. And it usually protects the wrong person. Say the thing!

If you want accountability in your business, stop hiding behind time, structure, or “letting it play out.” Say the thing. Early. Kindly. Directly.
That is the job.✅

Leadership is growth with scars. 🤕

The real kind.
The kind you earn the same way you earn them as a parent. 

You don’t get wiser because someone taught you a framework.

You get wiser because you’ve stayed up at night worrying. 😢

Because you’ve made the call you weren’t ready for.

Because you’ve had to be steady while someone else fell apart.🙏

Leadership looks a lot like parenting in that way.

You notice when something feels off. 🤔
You pause, even when your body wants to react.☮️
You choose your words carefully because you understand the impact of the power dynamic. 

You hold boundaries not to control, but to protect.
That’s not softness.
That’s strength shaped by care. 💪 🤗 

Most leadership advice assumes you’re starting from neutral.
Many of us aren’t.

Some of us lead after betrayal.
After being lied to.
After learning the hard way what happens when information is hidden and trust is broken.

So yes, leadership can feel heavy.
Not because you’re doing it wrong.
But because you’re doing it consciously.

Growth with scars looks like discernment instead of naivety.
Boundaries instead of explosions.
Facts instead of defensiveness.
Repair instead of avoidance.

If leadership feels exhausting sometimes, that doesn’t mean you’re failing.

It might mean you’re leading the same way you parent:
with care, attention to long term development, and a deep commitment to doing better than what you were given. 🤯

And that kind of growth is your legacy. 💜☮️

Random pic with my Katie. 💜

Restoring trust after a spouse’s betrayal is no easy task. 

Nor will it come from a single effort.  

It will come from a few, including therapy and ownership of what's happened and why. 

Another option couples consider as part of their commitment to rebuild is a postnuptial agreement, also called a postnup. 

Like a prenup, a postnup sets clear expectations around finances and responsibilities, but it’s created after marriage.

Postnups can help restore a sense of safety when both partners approach them with good intentions. 

Betrayal doesn’t always involve money, but it can affect finances in ways people might not expect, such as undisclosed debts, career decisions, or the sharing of private information.

With these issues in mind, I devoted my latest Psychology Today article, named an "Essential Read" under their "Marriage" vertical and linked in the comments, to how couples can approach betrayal in their marriage with a postnup. 

I'm curious to hear what you think about using a postnup to bring a couple closer following a betrayal in a marriage.

taplio

The Battle

James Kamanski

Elise Buie

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taplio

The Battle

James Kamanski

Elise Buie

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}James Kamanski's LinkedIn Performance

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