In today's episode I share some reflections with the newest members of the legal profession, the Class of 2024. In these remarks, first delivered to Section 4 of the Georgetown Law Class of 2024, I talk about how career trajectories are rarely linear and I encouraged the graduates to embrace serendipity. It is a message I think we all need to hear. The Class of 2024 is a special one for this podcast because the graduates today are the first class that has had access to this podcast since the day they began law school. In some ways it's How I Lawyer's first graduation. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by ⁠⁠⁠LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys⁠⁠⁠. Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a ⁠⁠⁠Review⁠⁠⁠ (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Follow on ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ Subscribe on ⁠⁠⁠iTunes⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠Spotify

In today’s episode I speak with Ryan McKeen who is the Co-Founder and CEO of the Connecticut Trial Firm which focuses on representing plaintiffs in personal injury cases. In addition to his expertise and experience in the courtroom, Ryan is a sought after speaker on topics related to law firm leadership and success for personal injury lawyers. He is the author of two books: Tiger Tactics: Powerful Strategies for Winning Law Firms and CEO Edition and is active on LinkedIn where he shares lessons from running his own firm and his lawyer life to his more than 16,000 followers on LinkedIn. Ryan started his career at Leone, Throwe, Teller & Nagel in East Hartford, Connecticut before opening his own firm. He is a graduate of Framingham State University (Go Rams) and Western New England University School of Law (Go Bears). In our conversation we discuss his path to becoming a lawyer and his practice area, the life of a personal injury lawyer (and his response to common critiques of the practice area), the shift from being a junior associate at a small firm to founding his own firm, the ways that he leverages technology in his law practice, the story of his firm's landmark 100 million dollar verdict (the largest bodily injury verdict in state history), and more. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by ⁠⁠LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys⁠⁠. Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a ⁠⁠Review⁠⁠ (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Follow on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Subscribe on ⁠⁠iTunes⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Spotify

Hello & Welcome Back! In today’s episode I am excited to speak with Mike Spivey who is the Founding Partner and CEO of The Spivey Consulting Group LLC and previously a senior level administrator and admissions dean at Vanderbilt University, Washington University in St. Louis, and The University of Colorado. Mike is an expert on law school administration and admissions and has been a featured speaker and panelist. In addition to his law school consulting work, he hosts the Status Check with Spivey Podcast. He is a graduate of Vanderbilt University from which he holds a BA and a Doctorate in Education and the University of Alabama where he earned his MBA. After learning a little bit about Mike, I am excited to chat with him about three topics near and dear to this podcast and its listeners: mental health, admission, and the 2024 US News rankings which are scheduled to be released very soon. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by ⁠⁠LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys⁠⁠. Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a ⁠⁠Review⁠⁠ (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Follow on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Subscribe on ⁠⁠iTunes⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Spotify

In today’s episode I speak with Regan Smith, who is Senior Vice President and General Counsel at the New/Media Alliance as well as an Adjunct Professor at GW Law where she teaches copyright law. Regan is a trustee of The Copyright Society of the U.S.A and the Chair of the ABA’s Copyright Legislation Committee. Before joining New/Media Alliance, she worked as the Head of Public Policy in Spotify’s Government Affairs group and spent seven years working at the United States Copyright Office including three years as General Counsel of the Copyright Office and Associate Register of Copyrights. She began her career at two large law firms focused on IP litigation and transactions. Her interest in media goes way back — she even worked as a record store clerk in Ann Arbor Michigan during college. In this episode, Regan and Jonah discussed: 💼 Regan's transition from entertainment business to law. 👩‍🔬 How an unexpected foray into patent litigation led to valuable experience. [05:23] ⚖️ The difference between litigation and transactional work [06:32] 🇺🇸 Government work v. private practice [15:34] 🎧 Relationship between lawyering and business strategy in her time at Spotify [19:53] 💻 Tensions between copyright and AI [26:29] ✍️ Important skills: writing, multitasking, experience, and patience [32:45] This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by ⁠LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys⁠. Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a ⁠Review⁠ (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Follow on LinkedIn Subscribe on ⁠iTunes⁠ or ⁠Spotify

Welcome back to another episode of the How I Lawyer Podcast, where Professor Jonah Perlin interviews lawyers about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it well. This episode features the hosts of the Lawyers Behaving Badly Podcast, Karen Delaney and Jennifer Judge.  Karen is the Principal of Delaney Legal PLLC, where she serves corporate clients.  Before founding her law firm, Karen worked as in-house counsel at Half Price Books and GameStop and as an associate at a law firm in Dallas.  Jennifer is the Chief Legal Officer of Destination Pet, LLC, and before her current role, worked as a solo practitioner, General Counsel at Rug Doctor, Deputy General Counsel at Caliber Home Loans, and also as a law firm associate. In this episode, Karen and Jennifer share valuable insights about the legal profession including: ⏱️📅 How there has been a frenetic increase in the pace in which lawyers practice law, due in part to technological advancements, such as emails [7:53] 🏠📑 How in-house lawyers’ responsibilities ranges broadly, from handling employment issues to reviewing 40+ contracts at any given time [13:16] 👩‍💼🏢 How one difference between being an in-house counsel vs. solo practitioner is that you have experts and greater resources at your disposal as an in-house counsel, but you have to be THE expert as a solo practitioner [18:57] 🛠️📚 How to find your niche by learning skills that are in demand in the market and by making the most of every opportunity [25:40] 🎙️💡 How the Lawyers Behaving Badly Podcast originated by Karen and Jennifer looking for their shared interests [32:40] 🔍💻 How Karen and Jennifer prep for their podcast episodes by researching to ensure they’re making accurate representations [36:12] 📢🌎 How the goal of the Lawyers Behaving Badly Podcast is to create a community and bring entertainment to listeners [43:02] 🤝🌟 How creating relationships is paramount as a lawyer and can lead to future opportunities [46:43] This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by ⁠LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys⁠. Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a ⁠Review⁠ (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Follow on LinkedIn Subscribe on ⁠iTunes⁠ or ⁠Spotify

Welcome back to another episode of the How I Lawyer Podcast, where Professor Jonah Perlin interviews lawyers about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it well.  Today’s guest is Rachael Bosch, the CEO and Founder of Fringe Professional Development (a leading professional development provider for lawyers and executives) and Candorly (an online tool to make gathering upward feedback easy and efficient).  Before becoming a legal tech Founder, Rachael worked in recruiting and development at top law firms, including Paul Hastings and Skadden, and before that, she was a professional actress and singer. In this episode, Rachael shares valuable insights about the legal profession including: 🎭⚖️ How her professional journey – from working as an actress to the legal profession – showed her that skills are transferrable between different jobs [2:04] 📈🌟 How there is a trend toward law firms becoming much more serious about investing in professional development, coaching, recruitment, and leadership [9:18] 🧠📚 How Rachael finds fulfillment in working with summer associates because lawyers’ brains are like sponges at that early stage in their careers [15:48] 👍👎 How many lawyers don’t understand that some of the characteristics that make you a good lawyer can simultaneously make you a subpar leader [19:19] 🌍💡 How Gen Z is entering the workforce and is starting to influence the profession’s culture [22:55] 🙋‍♂️❓ How it is senior lawyers’ obligation to answer questions about culture posed by younger lawyers [26:05] 🚦📉 How law firm leaders make choices about culture that have real consequences for their firm [33:55] 🎯🚨 How to prepare for legal interviews by understanding what you value and by asking targeted questions designed to see whether law firms share your values [40:23] 💬🤕 How to ask for and receive better feedback, even when it is uncomfortable [46:40] This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by ⁠LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys⁠. Please take two minutes to support the How I Lawyer Podcast! Leave a ⁠Review⁠ Subscribe on ⁠Spotify⁠ or ⁠iTunes⁠ Share on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ or ⁠Twitter

Welcome back to another episode of the How I Lawyer Podcast, where it is my job to interview lawyers about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it well. Today’s guest is Emily Stedman, a Partner at Husch Blackwell, where she helps clients resolve complex commercial litigations. Emily represents a wide range of corporate clients at all phases of litigation, from investigation to appeal, in state and federal courts. After graduating from the University of Mississippi School of Law, where she served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review, Emily clerked for Judge Pamela Pepper in the United States District Court and Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Following her clerkships, Emily worked as a commercial litigation associate at another law firm in Milwaukee before joining Husch Blackwell’s office there, where she was promoted to Partner in 2024. Online, Emily maintains an active LinkedIn presence and shares her perspective on lawyer well-being. In this episode, Emily shares valuable insights about the legal profession including: 👩‍🏫 How taking two years off before law school to teach a room full of children, as part of Teach for America, helped Emily hone her time-management and public speaking skills and gave her greater real-world experience prior to starting law school [3:17] 🌊 How making the most of her second choices and “riding the waves” of her career gave Emily opportunities leading to where she is today [8:54] 🏛️ How the judge she interned for during her 2L year landed her a last-minute federal clerkship in Wisconsin that became the foundation of her legal career [10:31] 🔀 How her day-to-day as a Big Law litigator is dynamic and ever-changing [18:02] 👩‍⚖️ How clerking gave her the ability to know what annoys judges and their clerks, and conversely, how to effectively advocate before the court [19:44] 🗂️ How she prepares for depositions by creating a document-driven outline [24:53] 🎯 How she takes control of her annual billable hour requirement by tracking her daily, weekly, and monthly billing targets [30:47] 📑 How reviewing a client bill gave her insight into billing best practices [36:46] 🏦 How Emily made her case to become Partner at Husch Blackwell [40:54] 🌱 How lawyers must invest in their well-being and bring humanity to their jobs [49:05] This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by ⁠LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys⁠. Please take two minutes to support the How I Lawyer Podcast! Leave a ⁠Review⁠ Subscribe on ⁠Spotify⁠ or ⁠iTunes⁠ Share on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ or ⁠Twitter

Welcome back to another episode of the How I Lawyer Podcast, where it is my job to interview lawyers about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it well. Today’s guest is Astor Heaven, a Partner at Crowell & Moring, where he is a trial lawyer and commercial litigator working on a range of matters, with a focus on defense industry and government contract clients.  After graduating from the United States Naval Academy, Astor served as a Surface Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy before attending law school at American University Washington College of Law.  After graduating from law school, Astor worked as a transactional attorney at Mintz before joining Crowell & Moring’s litigation practice. In this episode, Astor shares valuable insights about the legal profession including: 🏈 How discovering his personality didn't align with a sports agent role led to a rewarding shift to law. ⚓ How his experience serving on a Navy ship gave him the perspective to realize that law school was not the only thing that mattered in his life [6:47] 🕒 How he effectively juggled his commitments as an evening student, in addition to working as a military recruiter and as a new father, by being deliberate with time management [9:43] ⚖️ How working on pro bono cases fueled Astor’s passion for being in court and led to a lateral move from a transactional practice to litigation [12:30] 📚 How thorough research and self-advocacy are key to succeeding in law firm interviews [15:56] 🎯 How leveraging pro bono opportunities can sharpen trial skills and clarify career goals [24:40] 🤝 How and why to deliberately develop a sponsor relationship [28:45] 📅 How a day in the life of a litigator combines case strategy with future client planning [32:51] 🏛️ How trial work's fast-paced, collaborative environment is intense yet rewarding, reminiscent of the teamwork in sports [35:31] 💡 How to demonstrate initiative by proactively bringing new ideas to the table [37:29] 🌐 How building a network in law school lays the groundwork for future professional opportunities [41:10] This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. Take two minutes to support the How I Lawyer Podcast! Leave a Review Subscribe on Spotify or iTune Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

Welcome back to another episode of the How I Lawyer Podcast, where Professor Jonah Perlin interviews lawyers about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it well. For today’s special episode (and the final episode of 2023), we bring to you How I Lawyer’s first-ever live-recorded episode featuring former guests of the podcast, Eli Albrecht and Jordana Confino, in a discussion about positive lawyering in the practice of law.  This episode was recorded LIVE at DLA Piper’s Offices in Washington D.C. with the support of sponsors Lateral Hub, LawPods, and the Legal Mentor Network. In this episode, Jonah speaks with Eli Albrecht and Jordana Confino. Eli is a partner at SMB Law Group LLP where he represents buyers and sellers of businesses and specializes in representing private equity groups.  After graduating from Georgetown University Law Center, Eli worked as a mergers and acquisition Associate at DLA Piper and at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.  In addition to his day job, Eli writes about his own path in the legal profession primarily on LinkedIn where he focuses on balancing life as a private equity lawyer, husband, and LawDad in a way that is “fully integrated.” Jordana is a lawyer and expert on positive lawyering. She previously served as the Inaugural Dean of Professionalism at Fordham Law where she remains an adjunct professor.  Jordana was voted Fordham Law Adjunct Professor of the Year in 2021 for her class on Positive Lawyering. In 2022, Jordana founded her own consulting and coaching business with the mission to advance the well-being of the legal profession.  Prior to joining Fordham Law, Jordana served as the Assistant Director of Academic Counseling, Acting Clerkship Advisor, and a Lecturer in Law at Columbia Law, clerked for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and Southern District of New York, and graduated from Yale Law.   In this episode, Eli and Jordana share valuable insights about the legal profession: 😊 Jordana discusses how googling “how to be happy” led to her discovery of positive psychology early in her legal career [4:36] 👩‍❤️‍👨 Eli discusses how a conversation with his wife recalibrated his career goals [12:15] 🧠 Jordana discusses how she redefined success by living according to her values rather than her fears [14:43] 🌟 Eli encourages listeners to follow their north star and to speak openly about life outside work [19:06] 🧩 Eli explains how “full integration” allows him to maintain continuity throughout his family, workplace, faith, and other vital parts of his life [26:31] 🌉 Jordana defends why boundaries are important and can create bridges to better relationships [29:57] 📅 Jordana explains how to identify your nonnegotiable needs and calendar them into your schedule [33:55] 💵 The panel debates the billable hour [36:52] 🤗 Jordana explains how to build a better relationship with yourself as a starting point to positive lawyering [54:26] 🌍 Eli implores listeners to trust that the world will support you and to enjoy the ride [55:43] You can hear more from Eli by listening to HIL episode 87 and hear more from Jordana by listening to HIL episode 110. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. This live episode was sponsored by: Lateral Hub⁠ ⁠LawPods⁠ ⁠The Legal Mentor Network Take two minutes to support the How I Lawyer Podcast! Leave a Review Subscribe on Spotify or iTunes Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

Welcome back to another episode of the How I Lawyer Podcast, where Professor Jonah Perlin interviews lawyers about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it well. Today’s guest is Michelle Kallen, who is a Partner in Jenner & Block’s Supreme Court and Appellate practice and previously served as the seventh Solicitor General for the Commonwealth of Virginia.  After graduating from Vanderbilt University Law School, Michelle clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and then worked as a Litigation Associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, before moving to the public sector.  Following her service as the first woman Solicitor General for the Commonwealth of Virginia, Michelle represented the Select Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives to investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. In this episode, Michelle shares valuable insights about the legal profession including: 🗂️ How Michelle’s experience working in the appellate litigation clinic in law school gave her the opportunity to argue in the Sixth Circuit [3:04] ⚖️ How seeking pro bono appellate work as a junior associate allowed her to work on federal appeals early in her career [7:06] 💼 How and why employing an appellate lawyer at the outset of litigation is valuable in constructing a winning appellate strategy [11:28] 🚪 How working in Virginia’s Solicitor General’s Office opened the door to Michelle’s current appellate litigation practice [14:00] 🏛️ How practicing in state court gives you the opportunity to argue a plethora of diverse legal issues [22:09] 📝 How creating a clear argument outline, before drafting, makes it easier and more efficient to write compelling briefs [26:55] ✍️ How she prepares for appellate arguments using the same method that she learned in the appellate litigation clinical during law school [31:45] 🧩 How viewing yourself as a full member of the team, embracing an ownership mindset over your work, and presenting solutions to problems, can set you apart as a junior associate [40:04] 🌟 How surrounding yourself with excellent people, who are both kind and smart, can set you up for an amazing legal career and life [44:17] This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. Take two minutes to support the How I Lawyer Podcast! Leave a Review Subscribe on Spotify or iTunes Share on LinkedIn or Twitter If you liked this episode, support Michelle by following her on Instagram, @appealsinheels

Welcome back to another episode of the How I Lawyer Podcast, where it is my job to interview lawyers about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it well. Today’s guest is Ayyan Zubair, who is a Litigation Associate at Allen & Overy, where he has experience practicing commercial litigation, intellectual property litigation, and white-collar investigations, and also maintains a robust pro bono practice. Following his graduation from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, Ayyan clerked on the Nevada Supreme Court for the Honorable Justice Lidia Stiglich, before joining Allen & Overy. In this episode, Ayyan shares valuable insights about the legal profession including: 🎓 How legal internships provide valuable, experiential learning opportunities while still in law school [4:52] 🏛️ How clerking for a state supreme court justice gave him a peak behind the judicial curtain [7:11] 🌍 How being a junior litigation associate involves a multitude of practice areas [14:27] ⏳ How “work life integration” allows him to handle the workload of a big law junior associate [16:13] 🖥️ How to start a new research assignment by asking what is really necessary [22:01] 🔍 How junior litigation associates are often the master of the facts on their cases [26:05] 👂 How to handle feedback as a junior lawyer and how to treat constructive feedback as a gift [29:13] 🤝 How to network by creating personal connections with those at all levels [37:55] 🚪 How to open the doors to new lawyers by refusing to be a gatekeeper and by embracing kindness [42:15] This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

Welcome back to another episode of the How I Lawyer Podcast, where it is my job to interview lawyers about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it well. Today’s guest is Danielle Garno, who is a Partner and Co-Chair of the Entertainment Practice at Holland & Knight, where she focuses on legal issues faced by fashion, beauty, and luxury brands. Danielle also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law and has written and lectured extensively on topics relating to fashion law. Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Danielle was a Partner at two big law firms, Cozen O’Connor and Reed Smith. In this episode, Danielle shares valuable insights about the legal profession including: 💡 How to develop technical skills in your first job after graduating law school [5:06] 💼 How she transitioned from employment law to commercial litigation at her first law firm [7:38] 👠 How advocating for herself led to her career in fashion law [11:44] 📚 How her fashion law practice involves both transactional and litigation legal work [17:11] 🤹‍♂️ How her practice involves a focus on servicing industry clients [21:18] 💻 How to build your brand as a lawyer and the importance of maintaining a great reputation [26:44] 🤝 How she landed her first client in the fashion industry [28:32] 🎤 How she prepared for her first public speaking event and how that helped shape her brand [32:09] 🌐 How to successfully market yourself on LinkedIn [35:27] 👩‍👧‍👧‍👧‍👧 How to balance a robust legal practice while being a mother to four daughters [37:30] This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

Welcome back to How I Lawyer, where I interview lawyers about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it well. Today’s guest is Lindsay Barnes who is a Senior Counsel at Capital One, where he advises on consumer financial services for one of the largest credit card issuers in the United States. Lindsay began his legal career clerking for both state and federal judges, Judge Pamela White in Maryland State Court followed by Judge Ronald Buckwalter in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  After clerking, he spent seven years as a commercial litigation associate at two big law firms, DLA Piper and Cadwalader, before going in-house at Capital One in 2021. In this episode, Lindsay shares valuable insights about the legal profession including: How his background as a journalist shaped the way he communicates as a lawyer [1:51]. How sending over 200 tailored cover letters landed him a federal clerkship [11:10]. How clerking for both state and federal judges taught him the difference between litigating in state versus federal court [14:02]. How to manage a broad commercial litigation practice at two big law firms [21:58]. How to develop subject area expertise alongside continuing to acquire new legal skills [27:47]. How he transitioned from working in private practice to in-house counsel [30:23]. How the role of in-house counsel involves a different type of legal work [34:53]. How to create effective visual presentations and how to learn to say more with less [37:38]. How his experience as in-house counsel taught him the importance of respecting people’s time [42:45]. How to take a 10,000-foot view of your career [44:11]. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. Take two minutes to support the How I Lawyer Podcast! Leave a Review Subscribe on Spotify or iTunes Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s episode I am excited to speak Scott Oliver. Scott is a Partner at Lewis Kappes in Indianapolis where he represents banks and non-bank lenders in SBA transactions nationwide. Scott became the youngest equity partner in his firm’s history after closing thousands of SBA loans and has counseled clients at every stage in the lending process. In addition to his busy practice, Scott is a frequent speaker on business development, personal branding, and supporting the “human” side of practice. Scott is an adjunct professor at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law where he teaches Legal Communication & Analysis. In our conversation we discuss the importance of finding a practice area that “fits and fills your cup,” what SBA lawyers do and why the practice area is growing, the unique nature of doing transactional work in a regulated area of law, ways to build your personal brand and book of business even as a new lawyer, why taking ownership of a case and a task (even if it is something as simple as ripping out staples) is the ticket to a successful legal career, the power of sharing publicly and building a brand, and more. You can follow Scott on LinkedIn. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? • Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) • Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify • Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s episode, I speak with Jason Mehta & Natalie Adams who are partners in Foley & Lardner LLP’s Tampa, Florida office where they defend companies and individuals facing government investigation and civil and criminal prosecution. Between the two of them, they have represented clients in healthcare, defense contracting, procurement, higher education, as well as Title IX complaints and in the financial service industries. Both Jason & Natalie are also former Assistant United States Attorneys who received a number of accolades and awards for their work on behalf of the United States Government. They both started their legal careers as judicial law clerks and at large law firms in DC. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s episode I speak with Peter Orlowicz who is Senior Counsel and an Alternate Designated Agency Ethics Official at the United States Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) speaking in his personal capacity. Peter previously served as a General Attorney for the RRB for 8 years before being promoted to Senior Counsel in 2022. He started his career in government as an attorney advisor at the Social Security Administration. He was honored by the RBB with the Special Act of Service award in 2020, recognizing his significant individual contribution to the Board's efforts. Peter is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and Illinois State University. In our conversation we discuss his path to the law after earning an undergraduate degree in criminal justice, the challenges with getting his first government job during a difficult hiring market (and what he learned from that experience), why taking a first job in government helped him get the government job he has today in a different agency, what the RBB does and his role at that agency, some quirks of being a government train lawyer, why benefits work is not as boring as it might seem on first glance, and more. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s episode I speak with Hilary Gerzhoy who is a Vice Chair of HWG LLP’s Legal Ethics and Malpractice group where she focuses her work on legal ethics, white collar defense, and complex civil litigation. She has represented lawyers before various disciplinary bodies at both state and federal levels, including the USPTO’s Office of Enrollment and Discipline and the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility. Hilary is deeply involved in the legal community. She is the Vice Chair of the D.C. Bar Rules of Professional Conduct Review Committee, she is on the ABA’s Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee, and she is on the DC Circuit Admissions and Grievances Committee. Hilary uses her expertise in legal ethics to teach as an adjunct professor of professional responsibility at Georgetown Law (Hoya Saxa) and she is also a regular author in the legal and popular press on topics related to legal ethics. Hilary earned her JD from the University of California Berkeley School of Law and her BA from the University of Chicago. In our conversation we discuss her path to the law, the unique nature of legal ethics and malpractice work, what it is like to be a lawyer representing lawyers, her public facing writing and publishing, the importance of her volunteer work serving legal organizations and on bar committees, and more. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s episode I speak with Aliza Shatzman who is the Founder and President of the non-profit Legal Accountability Project based in Washington, DC an organization dedicated to ensuring that law clerks have positive clerkship experiences while extending support and resources to those who do not. Aliza writes and speaks about judicial accountability, clerkships, and diversity in the courts and has submitted written testimony before Congress and published extensively in both academic publications and in the popular press. She is a graduate of Williams College where she was a member of the golf team. Prior to Law School she worked on Capitol Hill of three years. She then graduated from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law and following law school, Aliza clerked in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. In our conversation we discuss her decision to become a lawyer, her own clerkship experience and why she founded LAP as a result, her mission to improve the judicial clerkship system by making it a safer and more transparent training ground for junior lawyers, the ups and downs of founding a non-profit advocacy group as a young lawyer, and more. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s episode I speak with Allison J. Snyder, a long-time construction attorney, arbitrator, and mediator based in Houston, Texas. She has over 35 years of experience as a construction attorney specializing in construction and commercial litigation, arbitration and mediation, construction contract negotiation and drafting and the resolution of various construction claims/work-outs. After 22 years at the Law Firm of Porter Hedges LLP, she went out on her own in May 2023 and will continue to focus on her own ADR practice focused on the construction industry. Ms. Snyder is a Fellow in the American College of Construction Lawyers and the College of Commercial Arbitrators. She has served as Chair of the State Bar of Texas Construction Law Section and as Chair of the Houston Bar Association ADR Section. She is listed as one of America’s leading lawyers in construction law by Chambers USA. Allison was recommended by a longtime How I Lawyer listener who wrote the following: Allison is one of the absolute best construction lawyers in Texas, if not nationwide, and is a personal role model of mine. The first thing out of every single person’s mouth when her name comes up is invariably “Allison is so smart. . . Her demeanor is very calm and thoughtful, she comes across so well and authoritative without ever having to appear to push for it — accomplished, aggressive lawyers from all ages and backgrounds seem to just listen when she speaks." With that intro, how could I not interview her. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s episode I am excited to speak with Betsy Philpott who is a Senior Vice President & General Counsel of my hometown Major League baseball team the Washington Nationals. After starting her career as an associate in BigLaw for 4.5 years, she took a career pivot by starting over as an intern and going back to school for her Masters in Sports Industry Management. She has now been with the Nationals Organization for more than 9 years starting as a Legal Affairs Specialist and working her way up to General Counsel. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s special Panel Opinion episode of How I Lawyer produced in collaboration with The Appellate Project I am excited to welcome four lawyers to talk about the judicial clerkship process and how to secure a judicial clerkship. Specifically I speak with: Megan Moffett Grayce Zelphin Ramon Ryan Justin Lam I am excited to partner with the Appellate Project once again on this episode. TAP is a non-profit dedicated to diversifying the appellate bar and empowering law students of color to thrive in the appellate field. On Episode #103, I spoke with four appellate lawyers about their paths to appellate practice and I previously spoke to TAP's Executive Director and Founder Juvaria Khan on Episode #10. Learn more about The Appellate Project at http://www.theappellateproject.org. The Clerkship Handbook discussed on the episode is available here. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s episode I speak with Beth Kurtz. Beth, who is appearing on the show in her personal capacity, currently works as a Trial Attorney in the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Before DOJ, Beth was an Attorney at the American Bar Association at the Center on Children and the Law and before that worked for five years at the Children’s Law Center first as an Equal Justice Works Fellow and later as a Supervising Attorney. Beth started her legal career as a judicial law clerk on the DC Court of Appeals. Before attending law school, Beth worked at American’s United for the Separation of Church and State. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s episode I speak with veteran Aviation Lawyer Mark Fava. Mark started his career as a judicial law clerk and litigation attorney in Charleston, South Carolina but for the past 20+ year he has worked in aviation. In August 2001 mere weeks before 9/11 he went to work for Delta as a Chief Operations Attorney managing passenger litigation and defending the company for all FAA actions. He then worked as a Law Firm Partner focused on litigation and regulatory matters related to airlines, and for the past 13 years has been at Boeing where he has served in a number of different legal and executive roles. Mark is also active in writing and speaking about the legal profession and aviation law. He has a blog called www.theaviatorlawyer.com, he has taught CLE courses about what he learned from his time as a law clerk, and now he is almost done with a book called What I Learned from the Admiral about business and leadership lessons I learned as an admiral's aide over 30 years ago. Mark is a graduate of University of North Carolina and the University of South Carolina Law. In our conversation we discuss Mark's path to the law, finding and then carving out a niche in aviation, what it was like to be working as an airline lawyer on 9/11, his time as a junior associate and then later as a partner after being in-house, his move back in-house to Boeing, his transition from a legal role to his current role as ombudsmen, his public-facing speaking and content and why that has been so important to his growth, and so many lessons he has learned along the way. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

Hello & Welcome Back! In today’s very special panel opinion episode, I am excited to welcome four FUTURE lawyers to the podcast to talk about their paths to law school, their lives as Georgetown Law students, and their tips for success. I think this episode is a great starting place if you think you might want to go to law school. It is also a great listen for those who haven't been in law school in a little while. My guests are Noah Curtiss, Naman Gupta, Jon-Mark Overvold, and Alexis Marvel. I couldn't be more grateful to them for sharing their time and their personal stories. On the episode we discuss their different paths to the profession, their motivations to attend law school, what a day in the life of a law student is like and their tips & tricks for success. I am lucky enough to work with law students everyday but recording this episode was really powerful for me. It is a reminder that the future of our profession is very bright. One final note. Our four panelists today were selected because of their support of the Georgetown Law Equal Justice Foundation auction, an entirely student-run program that helps provides funding for Georgetown Law students working in unpaid summer internships within public interest organizations in Washington, D.C., across the nation, and around the world. I couldn't be more pleased to support EJF with this episode. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today's episode I speak with Entertainment Lawyer Paul Sarker who was recently named a Shareholder at Greenberg Traurig’s New York Office. Paul represents clients in mergers and acquisitions, television affiliation and retransmission consent agreements, content licensing, business affairs, television production, music, copyright, recording agreements, sponsorships, rights acquisitions, guild, and union matters. Before joining Greenberg Traurig, Paul worked in-house at Disney & Marvel as well as at other law firms in the Entertainment space. In addition, Paul is the co-host of Better Call Paul, a podcast that discusses the business and legal side behind the scenes of Hollywood, sports, and entertainment. In our conversation we discuss Paul's path to law, his decision to take an in-house job at Marvel out of school, his first day on the job, the differences between BigLaw and in-house practice, skills for junior lawyers, the power of visual communication, his podcast, and more. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In honor of Well-being Week in Law I speak with Jordana Alter Confino. Jordana plays many different roles but what they all share is a focus on the skills, well-being, empowerment, mental health, and growth of lawyers & law students. She is the Assistant Dean of Professionalism at Fordham Law where she oversees all aspects of the Professionalism Office’s work including the Law School’s wellness, professionalism, and peer mentorship offerings. Jordana also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law, teaching Positive Lawyering and Peer Mentoring & Leadership. She was voted Fordham Law Adjunct Professor of the Year in 2021. She also has her own consulting and coaching business where she works with individuals and groups on topics related to building connections, living your values, dealign with perfectionism by cultivating a growth mindset, and using positive psychology to boost well-being, resilience, performance, and happiness. She serves as a leader of number of academic and professional organizations focused on balance and attorney well-being. Prior to joining Fordham, Jordana served as the Assistant Director of Academic Counseling, Acting Clerkship Advisor, and a Lecturer in Law at Columbia Law and before that started her career as a law clerk to judges on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and the Southern District of New York. She is a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School (Go Bulldogs) and she holds a certification in applied Positive Psychology from the New York Open Center. In our conversation we discuss her personal challenges and how they led her current career, her decision to study and then teach positive psychology to law students and lawyers, her techniques to help lawyers deeper and more fulfilling professional and personal lives, perfectionism in our profession, the importance of identifying and living your values, and more. You can learn more about Jordana and her work at the following links: Jordana's Website: https://www.jordanaconfino.com/ Subscribe to Jordana's Blog, Chronicles of a Recovering Type A+ Perfectionist: https://www.jordanaconfino.com/newsletter-sign-up Values Discovery Guide: https://www.jordanaconfino.com/values Jordana's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanaconfino/ This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s episode I speak with Priya Coffey who is a Partner at Jackson Walker in Houston, Texas where she practices Real Estate law. Specifically, Priya assists clients with complex commercial real estate transactions, including the representation of buyers and sellers in the acquisition and disposition of raw land, office buildings and retail centers, and the representation of landlords and tenants in commercial office building leases and retail leases. Priya’s experience extends to advising her clients on land use matters, City of Houston ordinances and other governmental compliance related matters. She also represents both buyers and sellers in the acquisition and disposition of high-end residential property. Priya is active in a number of legal and community organizations including Covenant House, Executive Sleep Out Committee, Board of Directors of Recipe for Success, and the University of Chicago’s Houston Regional Council. She is also a member of the South Asian Bar Association of Houston, and The Junior League of Houston, Inc. and the Executive Women’s Partnership in Houston. Priya is a graduate of the University of Chicago (Go Maroons) and holds a Masters in Public Policy from the London School of Economics, and a JD from Texas Tech University School of Law (Go Red Raiders). In our conversation we discuss her decision to become a lawyer, how a clerkship changed her professional life even as a transactional lawyer, the unique parts (and not so unique parts) of real estate law, some of the suprising parts of her career, the super power of taking on opportunities to learn new things, where the practice of real estate law is going in the years to come, and more. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s episode I speak with Donald Sherman who is a government ethics and oversight lawyer who is currently the Senior Vice President & Chief Counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, CREW (where, full disclosure, he works with my wife). In addition to his non-profit litigation experience at CREW, Donald has worked in all three branches of government. He served for a number of years as Senior Counsel to Ranking Member Senator Claire McCaskill on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Before that he was Chief of Staff and Senior Counsel for Oversight and Investigations in the Office of General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). And before that he worked for Rep. Elijah Cummings, then-Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform including as Chief Oversight Counsel. He started his legal career as a law clerk Honorable Neil E. Kravitz of the District of Columbia Superior Court and worked in private practice at Crowell & Morning. Donald is a proud graduate of both Georgetown University and Georgetown Law (Go Hoyas). In our conversation we discuss his decision to become a lawyer in elementary school, how crashing a wedding helped him get his first job in government oversight, the nuts and bolts of being an oversight and ethics lawyer on Capitol Hill and in the non-profit space, how the Hill and advocacy organizations interact when it comes to government oversight work, developing the skills of factual development and investigations, what constitutes success when advocating for major political change, the ways to transition from the private to the public sector, the superpower of being an effective generalist, and the role that people/kindness/relationships play in the life and career of a lawyer. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s episode I speak with Kevin Elliker who is currently Counsel at Hunton Andrews Kurth in Richmond, Virginia where he focuses on Appeals, Litigation and Investigations. Prior to rejoining the Firm in October 2022, Kevin spent three years in government service first as an Assistant United States Attorney in Richmond and most recently as an Investigative Counsel for the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. He also assisted in an independent review commissioned by the City of Charlottesville, Virginia, to examine the City’s response to protest events in the summer of 2017, resulting in a published report detailing the independent review’s findings. Kevin started his law career as a clerk to Judge King of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and Judge Gibney on the Eastern District of Virginia. Prior to Law School at William & Mary (Go Tribe) where he graduated number 1 in his class, Kevin was a High School history and government teacher for two years. He is a graduate of James Madison University (Go Dukes).  In our conversation we discuss his decision to pivot from teaching high school to the law; how his experience teaching helped him find success in law school; securing his two clerkships and what he learned from each, his time as a federal prosecutor and investigations attorney for the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol where he conducted more than 60 interviews and depositions, provided Congressional briefings, coordinated the presentation of evidence for televised hearings, and contributed to the Committee’s final report; why being a "Fourth Circuit Nerd" helped him get opportunities at his firm; his work in private practice; and more.   🙏 Thanks to Episode Sponsors This episode is sponsored by LegalBoard, the computer keyboard designed by lawyers for lawyers. Listen to the episode for a 10% discount on the coolest (and most helpful) piece of legal computer hardware you can find. This episode is also sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s episode I am excited to speak with Dan Cotter. Dan is currently an attorney at Howard & Howard in Chicago where he represents businesses at many different stages in corporate and transactional matters. He has a particular emphasis on privacy and cybersecurity law. But over the course of his 25-plus years as a lawyer, Dan has had a varied and in his words "eclectic" practice having practiced in different areas and different settings including but not limited to litigation, in-house counsel, outside general counsel, and working on behalf of both for profit and non-profit entities.  More than that, Dan has been active in the legal community including doing pro bono work and serving as a past president of the Chicago Bar (and a current Mediator for that group). He also hosts a podcast called Podium and Panel and he is a prolific writer, writing a regular column called Cotter’s Corner for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and a book titled the Chief Justices: The Seventeen Men of the Center Seat, Their Courts, and Their Times.  Dan is a graduate of the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law (Go Dragons) where he was a night student but still was an editor on the law review graduated number 1 in his class and Monmouth College where he played football and was a radio DJ among other accolades (Go Fighting Scots). He’s a longtime supporter of How I Lawyer and I am excited to get the chance to share his story. 🙏 Thanks to Episode Sponsors This episode is sponsored by LegalBoard, the computer keyboard designed by lawyers for lawyers. Listen to the episode for a 10% discount on the coolest (and most helpful) piece of legal computer hardware you can find. This episode is also sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s episode I am excited to speak with Brian Farkas. Brian is an Associate at Arent Fox Schiff in New York City where he handles complex commercial disputes in federal and state courts as well as in arbitrations and mediation proceedings. Before joining that firm Brian served as a law clerk to Judge Robert W. Lehrburger of the US District Court of SDNY and worked for six years at a midsize litigation firm in New York. He is deeply committed to teaching and training the next generation of lawyers. I am not sure how he has time for it all but he serves as an adjunct professor at Cardozo Law where he teaches arbitration and dispute resolution having won the Best Adjunct Professor Award several times as well as teaching mediation and negotiation at CUNY and Brooklyn Law. He is also an active member of the New York City Bar Association, where he serves on the Board of Directors and chairs the City Bar’s New Lawyer Institute, which offers career development programming and mentoring for law students and recent graduates. He’s been named a Rising Star in Business Litigation for 8 years and He’s also active in the ABA and is a regular contributor to law reviews and legal trade publications. He is a graduate of Vassar where he currently serves on the Board of Trustees and Cardozo Law. In our conversation we discuss his path from college journalist and student bar leader to lawyer, the real value of what a legal education provides, dealing with imposter syndrome as a junior lawyer (getting comfortable with being uncomfortable), his decision to be a mid-career judicial law clerk, not ignoring the downside risk of not making a change when assessing a new opportunity, the differences and similarities between litigation, mediation, and arbitration practices, why the best lawyers know how to read a room, learning how to be a "middle voice," rethinking of networking as friendship building, and more. 🙏 Thanks to Episode Sponsors This episode is sponsored by LegalBoard, the computer keyboard designed by lawyers for lawyers. Listen to the episode for a 10% discount on the coolest (and most helpful) piece of legal computer hardware you can find. This episode is also sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s episode I am excited to speak with John Strohmeyer. John is a Tax and Estate Planning Attorney in Houston, Texas. After working in several law firms, John started his own firm about five years ago where he helps clients through the maze of estate planning, tax, & probate law to help them leave No Unfinished Business® John is active in the tax and estate planning communities like the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, the International Tax Committee of the Tax Section of the Texas State Bar, and the ABA. He also is a regular speaker on these issues to individuals and lawyers alike.  But more than just a lawyer, John is a thought leader for lawyers who want to run effective and client-centered law practice. His wonderful podcast, Five Star Counsel, which has more than one hundred episodes ask a provocative question question: "What would a law firm built by the founders of Disney, Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, and Zappos look like.” In his podcast he draws on interviews and his own expertise in the law and almost three years as a customer service professional as the Night Manager at the Four Seasons in Austin, Texas before law school.  In our conversation we discuss his path to law as a college Zoology major and hotel manager, what is unique about a tax and estates practice, the lessons that lawyers should take from high-end experiences like the Four Seasons (and why they not be the lessons they think they should take), knowing and sharing your value as a lawyer when helping clients solve problems, the benefits of a fixed fee practice, techniques for marketing and sales other than having the lowest price product, why his dogs are on the staff page of his website, and more.   🙏 Thanks to Episode Sponsors This episode is sponsored by LegalBoard, the computer keyboard designed by lawyers for lawyers. Listen to the episode for a 10% discount on the coolest (and most helpful) piece of legal computer hardware you can find. This episode is also sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s special Panel Opinion episode of How I Lawyer produced with The Appellate Project I am excited to welcome four appellate lawyers who share their paths to becoming appellate lawyers and the tools they have learned for success along the way.  I am excited to partner with the Appellate Project on this episode. TAP is a non-profit dedicated to diversifying the appellate bar and empowering law students of color to thrive in the appellate field. I previously spoke to TAP's Executive Director and Founder Juvaria Khan on Episode #10! The episode features: Cristina Najarro (Deputy State Public Defender at  the Office of the State Public Defender in Oakland, California)  Mahogane Reed (Appellate Attorney at the U. S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.) Juan Perla (Partner, Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP in New York, NY) Ian Courts (Assistant District Attorney-Appeals Unit in Philadelphia, PA) Learn more about The Appellate Project at http://www.theappellateproject.org.  This episode is also sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s episode I am excited to speak with my friend Matt Schwartz. Matt is a transactional partner and law firm leader at the international law firm DLA Piper where he serves as Chair of the US Finance Practice and the Head of Venture & Growth Lending. He has been at DLA for more than 20 years since graduating from Harvard Law School (Go Crimson) and the George Washington University (Go Colonials). At DLA and in the broader legal community, Matt is deeply committed to mentorship. He is a co-founder of and leader in the national non-profit Legal Mentor Network where he has personally mentored dozens of junior lawyers and helped facilitate hundreds of mentor-mentee partnership. He is also active in charitable efforts in the San Diego community and is perhaps most known as a baseball coach and #lawdad.  In our conversation we discuss his path to transactional work, the lifecycle of a deal, the importance of learning what you want to do by getting experiences, mentoring pest practices, the network effects of being a mentor, removing the shame from making mistakes, and the upcoming DLA Piper/Legal Mentor Bootcamp (more information below). ***Want to learn more about transactional law practice? (It is free and available to anyone).*** DLA Piper & non-profit Legal Mentor Network are hosting a four-part introduction to fundamentals and best practices for new lawyers working in a transactional practice. Each session will be eligible for 90 minutes of CLE credit and the Legal Mentor Network will provide a certificate of completion for anyone who attends all four sessions. DLA Piper has underwritten the cost of the entire program which is free to any law students or young lawyers who would benefit from the content.  Session Dates Session 1: Friday, February 17 Session 2: Friday, March 3 Session 3: Friday, March 17 Session 4: Friday, March 31 You must attend all four sessions to receive the LMN certificate of completion. All session times 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm PT 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm CT 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm ET Learn more here.  🙏 Thanks to Episode Sponsors This episode is sponsored by LegalBoard, the computer keyboard designed by lawyers for lawyers. Listen to the episode for a 10% discount on the coolest (and most helpful) piece of legal computer hardware you can find. This episode is also sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today's episode I speak with Freelance Attorney Michelle K. Camp. Michelle is an experienced litigator who has handled all aspects of litigation from pre-litigation to drafting pleadings and motions, conducting discovery, and assisting with trials and appeals in both state and federal court. She began her career and worked for nearly seven years at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP, where she focused on securities litigation and mass tort litigation. In her freelance work over the past 6 years since leaving BigLaw, she has assisted clients with a variety of business litigation, arbitration, appeals, and labor & employment projects on a freelance basis. Michelle is a proud first-gen graduate of Portland State and Pepperdine Law (from which she graduated summa cum laude). She is also a proud military spouse and mom to four young children. In our conversation we discuss Michelle's path to law school, finding success as a first-gen student in law school, getting a position in BigLaw, her decision to move to freelance work, the different kinds of freelance work lawyers can do (including working on substantive motions and legal writing), and the various personal and professional benefits she has found in the freelance path.  This episode is sponsored by LegalBoard, the computer keyboard designed by lawyers for lawyers. Listen to the episode for a 10% discount on the coolest (and most helpful) piece of legal computer hardware you can find. This episode is also sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 👍 Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

💯 Welcome to Episode #100 of the How I Lawyer Podcast! 💯 I started the podcast in January 2021 to help junior lawyers, law students, and the legal community learn from the stories of lawyers from across the profession about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it well. 100 episodes later the podcast has grown beyond my wildest dreams.  If you've enjoyed the show I hope you'll leave a review and rating and share the podcast with friends, colleagues, or on social media.  --- In today's episode I speak with Kristen Vander-Plas LaFreniere who founded her own #TeenyLaw Firm in her hometown of Lubbock, Texas where she works with her husband David LaFreniere and their PAWclerk Copper. Kristen practices in a number of different areas including: business counseling, civil litigation, probate, and civil appeals. She is a member of the State Bar of Texas and the Lubbock Area Bar Association and is admitted to practice in all Texas courts, the Supreme Court of the United States, the Federal Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, along with various federal district courts. Kristen is a leader in her community and has held various positions of leadership throughout the Lubbock area including teaching courses in business law to college students and coaching moot court teams. After Kristen completed a summer internship with then-Justice Don Willett at the Supreme Court of Texas (now Judge Willett on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit), Justice Willett asked her back to be his post-graduate law clerk and briefing attorney for the 2016-17 court term. She then practiced at a medium-sized law firm before founding her own firm. She is active on Twitter at www.twitter.com/KVPTexas. In our conversation we discuss Kristen's path to the law from home school to completing multiple majors and minors in college, the power of learning how to learn, her experiences at the Texas Supreme Court (including participating in conference), the role of moot court in her legal education, her decision to found her own "Teeny" law firm (and how others can do the same), the balance between picking areas of practice and being an expert, how being the daughter of a Pastor taught her to be a better at client service, how to network with less stress, the counterintuitive goal of making yourself unnecessary to your clients, balancing work and life as a law firm founder working from home, and so much more.  This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today's episode I speak with Jenni Katzman who is a government & policy lawyer with experience in all three branches of government, several political campaigns, and non-profit advocacy organizations. Currently, she is the General Counsel and Chief of Domestic Policy for Senator Ron Wyden (D-Or). Before working on Capitol Hill, Jenni worked as a Director of Policy Development and Programming at the American Constitution Society and before that in the Executive Branch at the White House, DOJ, and the Department of Education, and as a Voter Protection Counsel for the Obama for America Campaign. Prior to her career in policy, she worked in private practice at two different law firms and served as a law clerk to a federal judge. She is a graduate of Duke and Cornell Law. In our conversation we discuss her path to the law, her experience clerking after several years in private practice, the transition from litigation to policy work, the roles that lawyers play on Capitol Hill and in the Executive Branch, what its like to be a lawyer in a fast-paced presidential campaign, the power of not just saying no but also trying to come up with creative solutions to get to yes, why diversity is so important on Capitol Hill and throughout the government, what distinguishes policy work from other areas of legal practice, and the importance of speaking up as a junior lawyer.  This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s special episode of How I Lawyer, Panel Opinion I am excited to speak with two law firm partners on how to succeed as a junior associates at a law firm with Sean Marotta and Michelle Strowhiro.   Michelle is an employment partner and M&A transaction advisor in McDermott’s LA and Orange County Offices. She leads McDermott’s Transactions and Executive Contracts Employment Subgroup and co-leads McDermott’s COVID-19 Employment Task Force.  Michelle was recently named an a Trailblazer by American Lawyer and a Labor & Employment Star by Benchmark Litigation. She is also active in mentoring junior lawyers both formally and informally within her firm and on social media.   Sean Marotta is an Appellate Litigation Partner at Hogan Lovells DC office. Sean has worked on cases and appeals in many substantive areas of law but is particularly experienced in civil-procedure, automotive, energy, and administrative appeals. Sean has received a number of awards and recognitions for his work including as being selected as a DC Rising Star by the National Law Journal. Like Michelle, Sean is deeply dedicated to advancing the profession and mentoring junior lawyers. He is active or should I say prolific on social media where he regularly offers advice for junior lawyers.   This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.  Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In this final episode of 2022, I decided to share a little bit about how I lawyer. Yes, after 96 episodes as your host, I thought it fitting to end year 2 of the podcast with a little bit more about what I do, why I do it, and how I do it well (or try to). As the host of the show I really like finding interesting guests and asking the questions. I am a bit weary about being the guest. But a few months ago my friends at the Personal Jurisdiction Podcast (Hallie Ritzu & Allison Freedman) asked if I would come on there incredible podcast and tell my story--and now I am sharing that interview here.  We discuss my path to the law; my time clerking, in private practice, and now teaching at Georgetown Law; what I've learned from How I Lawyer; and so much more. I am very grateful to Hallie and Allison for letting me share this interview on my feed and hope you'll subscribe to their show wherever you get your podcasts. I'll be back in January 2023 with new and exciting interviews. Happy New Year friends! Personal Jurisdiction is edited by Scott Donnell at Run and Drum Media https://www.runanddrummedia.com Our Theme Song is Pleasant Porridge by Kevin MacLeod. Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/7614-pleasant-porridge License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

In today’s special episode recorded LIVE at ClioCon I spoke with Karine Sokpoh who practices immigration, family law, and intellectual property at 402 Legal in Omaha. She also teaches at her local university and helped found the first and only Black Chamber of Commerce in Nebraska. Originally from Togo, Karine recently won the first Reisman Award for Diversity & Inclusion for her legal work and community engagement. She is a graduate of the University Benin in Lome Togo, the University of Nebraska, and Creighton Law.  Her path from wanting to be a lawyer in Togo to becoming a lawyer in the US, how her personal story plays a role in her practice, the unique nature of her many different areas of practice, the importance of having teachers that look like students in our increasingly diverse profession, finding what you do and don’t want to do professionally, the importance of intentional networking especially for those without established networks, and more.  This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. *** Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s special episode recorded LIVE at ClioCon I spoke with Kevin Buckley of the Torrey Pines Law Group. Kevin is an accomplished international patent attorney & executive. He founded Torrey Pines Law Group in 2013 to help his clients bring lifesaving, enduring, and commercially valuable technologies to market after previously working in Big Law. He recently earned the Clio Reisman Award for Best Growth Story for his work and the work of his law firm during the Covid 19 pandemic. Kevin is a graduate of US San Diego where he studied Biochemistry and the University of Pittsburg School of Law.   In our conversation we discuss the importance of finding what you are good at, what patent attorneys do (and how that has changed through his career), the importance of connecting business/law/science especially in today’s historical moment, and why they best skill to learn is how to constantly learn from the smart people around you.  This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. *** Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s episode I speak with Legal Technologist and Clio Founder & CEO Jack Newton. Although not a lawyer himself, Jack is a technologist and entrepreneur who has long been at the forefront of cloud-based legal technology who is recognized as one of the profession’s foremost experts on security, ethics, and privacy issues related to lawyers’ use of cloud computing.  He is also the author of the Client-Centered Law Firm, a bestselling book, dedicated to helping law firms thrive in an experience-driven era. He holds a BS and MS in Computer Science from the University of Alberta (Go Golden Bears and Pandas).  In the conversation we discuss the story of how he founded a legal technology company despite not being a lawyer, the importance of learning about the business of law, the reasons why lawyers tend to be slow to change and the value of being OK with rejecting the status quo, finding the latent legal markets of today and tomorrow, reframing clients as customers, and more.  This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. *** Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

Hello & Welcome Back! In today’s episode I speak with John Grant. John worked in the technology industry for a decade before going to law school and then went on to practice in-house, in his own law firm, and as the executive director of the Commons Law Center in Portland Oregon which works to fill the access to civil justice gap for people who quality for legal aid or don't quality for free legal services but still have trouble affording legal services. Now John primarily works as a coach and consult for lawyers with his company Agile Professionals. He is a graduate of Tufts (Go Jumbos) and Lewis & Clark Law School.  In the conversation we discuss John’s path to law (including a story about how his great-grandfather basically founded the field of entertainment law), his work in the tech industry before going to law school (and how it helped him find success once in law school), and his work now counseling lawyers to work smarter not harder using process-oriented frameworks (and specifically Kanban boards).  This is the time of year where many lawyers take stock of their past work and recommit to processes and pathways to find greater success with less stress. This episode is a real brass tacks discussion of how to make that a reality.  This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. *** Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

Hello & Welcome Back! In today’s special episode recorded at ClioCon I spoke with Mark Palmer. He is the Chief Counsel at 2Civility, the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism where he works to facilitate the promotion of professionalism, civility, and integrity among lawyers and judges in Illinois. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Illinois College of Law. Prior to his work with the Commission, he was a trial attorney in Champaign and before law school was a police officer for the Champaign Police Department. He is a graduate of the University Illinois and the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law. In our conversation we discuss his path from police officer to attorney, his views on the importance of civility in the legal profession (and how to make those goals a reality), the need for active listening in the life of a lawyer, the increasing role of technology in legal practice, and the power of learning from more senior lawyers without a set agenda or specific expectations. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. *** Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

Hello & Welcome Back! In today’s special episode recorded LIVE at ClioCon I spoke with family lawyer Angela Lennon. Angela is a Partner at the Omaha Law Firm Koenig Dunne where she focuses her practice on collaborative divorce. Angela is active in legal and local business organization and has won a number of awards for her work. She recently won Clio’s Reisman Award for creating Untie Online, Nebraska’s affordable divorce service that uses to technology and step-by-step guidance, personalized legal documents, and support powered by the Koenig|Dunne legal team to reimagine what divorce support looks like. She is a graduate of Vassar College (Go Brewers) and Creighton School of Law (Go Bluejays).  In our conversation we discuss her path from receptionist at her law firm to partner, the online program she created to provide limited-scope divorce support, a day-in-the-life of a family lawyer, the importance of listening as a divorce lawyer, and more. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. *** Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In this mini-episode of How I Lawyer recorded live at ClioCon in Nashville, I spoke with Neal Katyal who is a partner at Hogan Lovells and the former Solicitor General of the United States. Most importantly for my purposes, he also was my criminal law professor when I was a student at Georgetown Law. In our brief chat, we discussed the importance of speaking to your audience as a lawyer and his takes on what law schools can do better to train the next generation of lawyers.  This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. *** Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s special, mini-episode recorded LIVE at ClioCon I spoke with Michigan Criminal Defense lawyer Mary Chartier. Mary has successfully defended clients in numerous federal and state trial courts and on appeal at the Michigan Supreme Court. Mary’s practice is not limited to one single area of criminal law but instead she has developed a reputation as an expert defense attorney no matter how novel the case is. She even takes on “doggy death row” cases pro bono representing dogs who have been ordered to be euthanized. She and her firm recently won Clio’s Reisman award for its wrongful conviction work. In our conversation we discuss her path to criminal defense law despite thinking she wanted to open a restaurant, the ways in which being a criminal defense lawyer is different from but even more exciting than you might see on TV, the ways in which female lawyers are changing and improving our profession, how she thinks about arguing hard and novel cases, the importance of pro bono to her practice, the kinds of skills you can build as a young lawyer to become a criminal defense lawyer.  This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. *** Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today’s episode I speak with Joshua Lenon who is the Lawyer in Residence and Data Protection Officer at major legal software company Clio. Joshua has served in this role at Clio for the past decade and before that he worked at Thomson-Reuters. I interviewed Josh just a few days before I attended ClioCon—a major legal technology convention where I interviewed legal tech luminaries (more interviews from ClioCon to come soon).  In our conversation we discussed his unique role as in-house lawyer at a legal technology company as well as the findings in Clio’s 2022 Legal Trends Report (available here). In a profession where technology now plays an increasingly important role this is not an episode that you'll want to miss! This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. *** Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In today's episode I speak with Eli Albrecht who is an Associate at Gibson Dunn’s Washington D.C. office where he is a member of the corporate practice with a focus on private equity and mergers and acquisitions.  In addition to his day job, Eli writes about his own path in the legal profession primarily on LinkedIn where, in his words, he focuses on balancing life as a private equity lawyer, husband, and LawDad in a way that is "fully integrated." He shares openly about finding the balance between being a fully engaged dad and working in a highly demanding legal practice and how he practices his faith while also practicing law. In our conversation we discuss his path to the law, a day in the life of a corporate M&A lawyer in a big international law firm, the skills that help corporate lawyers stand out (and how to acquire those skills after law school), why M&A law is like wedding planning, how he navigates being a Sabbath-observant Jew in an always-on profession, the importance of enjoying the stage you are at, rejuvenating during the slow times so you are ready in the fast times, his personal approach (and journey) to being an effective lawyer while also being a engaged father, and more. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. *** Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In this episode I speak with Ashley Herd who is the founder and CEO of Manager Method where she helps employers and employees through training, coaching and tools that are engaging and actionable. Previously she was the SVP of People & Legal at Modern Luxury, an Associate General Counsel at McKinsey, a Legal Director at Yum foods, as well as in-house counsel at several other companies and as an employment lawyer at several private law firms. You may have seen Ashley on LinkedIn or TikTok where she has more than 120,000 followers for her fun and interesting videos to teach about HR and legal issues. Ashley is a graduate of Emory Law and Centre College. In our conversation we discuss her decision to become a lawyer from a very young age; the impact of her pre-law school work in corporate America on her professional journey; why she loves working in the employment & HR space; the differences between employment litigation, employment counseling, and day-to-day human resources; how to connect the human parts of her work to the professional and legal requirements; how to share bad news in ways that are effective; what she learned by leaving a great job to move to Australia with her family for several years; why (and how) she became a content creator and how that plays a (mostly) positive role in her professional life; and more.  This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. *** Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter

In this episode I speak with Helen Wan. Helen is an author, speaker, and diversity and inclusion consultant who previously worked as a corporate, media, and intellectual property lawyer at law firms and in-house. She is best known as the author of The Partner Track which was recently turned into an original TV series on Netflix. Helen was born in California and raised in Northern Virginia. She is a graduate of Amherst College, UVA Law, and my alma mater Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology.  In our conversation we discuss her path from being in the law to writing about it, the real life foundations of the fictional world she created in The Partner Track, the similarities and differences between the life of a novelist and the life of a lawyer, the ways in which her fictional work seeks to shed light on the shortcomings of our profession, the path from novel to Netflix Original Series, and her views on how to have meaningful and productive conversations about difficult subjects like race in professional spaces. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. *** Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter.

In today’s episode I am excited to speak with Housing Rights Attorney Sateesh Nori. Sateesh went from pursuing human rights law as a career to working in housing court in Brooklyn. He spent more than twenty years as a legal services attorney at The Legal Aid Society of New York City (including most recently as Attorney in Charge of the Queens Neighborhood Office) and Bedford Stuyvesant Community Legal Services. In those two decades Sateesh became a manager, started teaching as a clinical adjunct at NYU, wrote a book, and even ran for judge. Born in India, Sateesh was the first South Asian attorney to direct a borough-wide office of a legal services organization in New York City. This past spring he took a step back from his front lines representation in housing court to join JustFix, a tech company focused on providing access to justice in the housing space. In our conversation we discuss his somewhat circuitous path to Housing Rights Attorney (and why he almost never practiced as an attorney at all), the unique nature of housing court, managing a significant and court-intensive docket, working in a broken system, his transition to legal tech, the use of technology as a path to greater access to justice, and more.  This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. *** Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter.

In today’s episode, I speak with Megan Cacace who is a civil rights lawyer and anti-discrimination advocate focused on the intersection of civil rights and technology. She currently serves as the Director of Anti-Discrimination & Equity Programs at Airbnb. Previously she worked as a civil rights lawyer at the law firm of Relman Colfax for almost 14 years. In that role, in addition to plaintiff-side civil rights litigation, she worked on civil rights audits including Facebook’s 2020 Audit. Before joining Relman Colfax, she was a Fellow at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. She started her career as a law clerk to Judge Morris Lasker of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.  In our conversation we discuss her path to civil rights law, her work first as a litigator and now as an in-house anti-discrimination and equity programs leader, the importance of showing demonstrated interested in getting a public interest job, civil rights audit and advising on civil rights best practices, how to prepare for an unknown future when planning a legal career, the importance of passion in your professional life, and more.  This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.  *** Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter.

In today's episode I speak with Professor Mauricio Noroña who is a Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor of Law at the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic at Cardozo Law School. In that role, he supervises Clinic students on individual and impact litigation matters and drives large-scale immigration policy advocacy projects. Before joining the clinic, Noroña was the supervising attorney at African Services Committee where he led a team providing comprehensive legal services to immigrants and asylum seekers in New York City, and before that he worked as a solo immigration law practitioner. In law school, he was a Haywood Burns Fellow in Civil and Human Rights.  In our conversation we discuss his path to immigration law; the ways in which immigration law is a unique practice area with unique challenges for lawyers and clients; his own experiences as an immigrant to the United States and then as a solo practitioner, non-profit supervising attorney, and now clinical professor; how he thinks about his own participation in the system; the different ways to be an immigration lawyer today; and more.  This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. *** Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter.

In today's episode I speak with M.C. Sungaila who is an Orange County-based shareholder and leader of the appellate practice at Buchalter. M.C. has briefed and argued appeals in a number of different practice areas at the California Supreme Court and throughout the country. She has won numerous awards including California Lawyer of the Year from California Lawyer Magazine and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. In addition to her practice, M.C. is active in pro bono and professional organizations. Among them, she is the co-chair of the Appellate Practice Committee for the ABA & is active in the National Association of Women Lawyers. She writes and speaks in popular and trade publications and has taught appellate law as an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School for a number of years. She is also the host of the absolutely fabulous podcast, the Portia Project, which interviews women on their path to the bench, the bar, and beyond. To quote Hamilton (sort of), the woman is non-stop! In our conversation we discuss her path to appellate law (and what she loves about it), the pace of her practice, why she thinks that oral argument matters, her writing process (and why having a writing process is so important), the great parts about doing a clinic, the business side of appellate law, why she started the Portia Project Podcast and what she's learned from interviewing top female lawyers, and more. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. *** Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter.

In today's episode I speak with Paresh Patel who is currently the Chief of Appeals at the Office of the Federal Defender for the District of Maryland where he has worked for the past 18 years. In this role he represents clients on post conviction matters including direct appeal and federal habeas. He also assists trial attorneys on complex legal issues that arise in their cases. In our conversation we discuss his path to becoming a public defender, the unique role of an appellate lawyer in the federal criminal system, the ways criminal law and criminal prosecutors have changed over the past two decades and how those changes have affected his role, how he drafts briefs and prepares for oral argument, the process for becoming a public defender, the impact of storytelling in his writing, the strategy of balancing the arguments of individual clients and other similarly situated criminal defendants, and the power of on the job learning as a young lawyer. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. *** Want to Support the Podcast in 2 minutes or less? Leave a Review (this helps the algorithm connect me to new listeners) Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify Purchase How I Lawyer Merchandise Share on LinkedIn or Twitter. 

In today’s episode I speak with my dear friend Micah Gibson who is an International Tax Director at Big 4 accounting firm PWC based in Washington, D.C. In this role, Micah helps global businesses structure their tax arrangements to support their strategic goals. He joined PWC more than 8 years ago after completing his JD and LLM in Tax from Georgetown Law. During his time at Georgetown he was an extern for Judge Albert G. Lauber on the United States Tax Court.  In our conversation we talk about what makes tax such a unique area of practice, why being a tax lawyer is exciting because it requires creativity, the difference between working for a law firm and an accounting firm, how he works with clients both internal and external, the way he stays up-to-date in such a fast-changing area of law by digesting the never-ending stream of information in effective ways, the importance of specialization in his area of practice but also the value of having a network who can help you in other areas, the benefit of embracing "hard things," the importance of working with great people, the experience and value of being on the ground during a change in the law, and more. If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

In today’s episode I speak with Alé Dalton who is an associate at Bradley LLP’s Nashville Office. Her practice focuses on healthcare transactional work where she provides counsel during mergers and acquisitions, as well as guiding clients through issues that arise from the complex nature of operating in a highly regulated industry. She also advises clients in matters involving clinical research and telemedicine. Beyond her healthcare industry work she is committed to doing pro bono and helping to meet the legal service gaps in the state by staffing community legal clinics. In addition to being active in Bradley’s pro bono program she serves as vice chair of the firm's Lawyers of Color Resource Group and as a liaison for the firm’s Women’s Initiative. Alé is a first-generation college student, lawyer, and American with a keen interest in mentoring other first gen students. She is a 2016 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law and Lipscomb University.  In our conversation we talk about her path to the profession as a first generation American, college, and law student (who early on had a dream to become a surgeon); the ways that the internet and social media can support more junior lawyers in building and expanding their networks; the day-to-day life of a lawyer who helps clients buy and sell hospitals and healthcare facilities; how to stand out as a junior associate; and how to find your niche and grow during the first few years of law practice. If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

In today’s episode I speak with Christine E. Webber who is a leading plaintiff-side class-action civil rights & employment attorney. Christine is a Partner and Co-Chair of the Civil Rights & Employment practice group at Cohen Milstein. In this role, she represents victims of discrimination and wage and hour violations in class and collective actions. She has represented clients in some of the largest, groundbreaking discrimination and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) class and collective actions in the United States. She has been recognized with numerous of awards for her work and has served as a leader in a number of employment-law related organizations. Christine started her career as a law clerk to Judge Will on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and as a Fellow at the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights. In our conversation we discuss her path to law which began by lobbying for more rights for girls in her 3rd-grade classroom, the differences between changing the law through policy and through litigation, the importance of seeing both the big picture and the narrow details in plaintiff-side class action work, how she prepares for depositions (in her words, it is like putting a puzzle together without having the picture on the box) and the importance of both planning and flexibility in that process, why she loves working with statistical experts who are so important to her cases, how "winning" differs as a plaintiff-side class action lawyer, the skills that make newer lawyers stand out in her experience (research, details, preparation), why her decision to take a risk early on and jump at an uncertain opportunity made the rest of her career possible, and the various paths to the kind of work that she does. If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

In today’s episode I speak with civil rights and criminal defense lawyer Kobie Flowers, who represents the wrongly accused and the wrongly convicted. He is a Partner at Brown, Goldstein & Levy in Washington, D.C.  Kobie is a trial lawyer’s trial lawyer. He started his career in the Attorney General’s Honors Program where he worked as civil rights prosecutor at the United States Department of Justice with a focus on prosecution of police brutality. After he completed his time at DOJ, Kobie worked as an Assistant Federal Defender in Baltimore where he represented clients in a number of different substantive areas of criminal law. His practice has given him chances to litigate in state and federal courts throughout the country as well internationally at the military commission in Guantanamo Bay. He is active in the legal community including service on the boards of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project. He’s taught trial skills and trial advocacy across the country in both professional and academic settings. Kobie is a graduate of Stanford University and Georgetown Law. Before attending law school he served in Peace Corps. In our discussion we discuss his path to law school after the summer of 1992 and its similarities to the summer of 2020; how starting in DOJ as a civil rights prosecutor made him a better criminal defense lawyer; the importance of learning from hard cases and why the raw number of cases you've tried is less important than how difficult they were; life as a federal defender and later criminal defense lawyer; the unique experience of the grand jury; the value of having a case theory from the very beginning of your case all the way through trial; the power of watching and learning from experienced lawyers as well as more junior lawyers (and even non-lawyers); the critical skill of storytelling as it relates to trying criminal cases; and the societal problems he sees with the disappearance of the criminal jury trial.  If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.  This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

In today’s episode I speak with experienced privacy and cybersecurity lawyer Kirk Nahra. Kirk is a Partner at WilmerHale in Washington, D.C. where he chairs the firm’s Big Data and Cybersecurity & Privacy Practices. He has been a leading authority on privacy and cybersecurity matters for more than two decades and is ranked in Band 1 by Chambers in both privacy and data security. In 2021, he received the Vanguard Award from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) for his exceptional leadership, knowledge, and creativity in privacy and data protection. He counsels clients across industries from Fortune 500 companies to startups but is best known for his work with health insurers, hospitals, service providers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and other health care industry participants. He has taught privacy issues at several law schools including serving as an adjunct professor at the Washington College of Law at American University and at Case Western Reserve University. He currently serves as a Fellow with the Cordell Institute for Policy in Medicine & Law at Washington University in St. Louis and as a Fellow with the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology. Kirk is a dedicated mentor in a number of different mentorship groups. He can be found on Twitter @KirkJNahrawork. In our wide-ranging conversation we talk about his path to a practice area that did not exist when he attended law school, the different substantive areas of law that led him to a career in privacy and data security, how small moments can have a huge impact on your professional life, the power of having a plan even if not everything goes according to plan, what privacy lawyers do and how to be a part of this fast-growing space (whether that is at a law firm, in-house, or for another type of business), how job postings should be read as wish lists and not checklists--and why you should not take yourself out of the running for a job just because you don't meet all the listed prerequisites, how to mentor junior lawyers effectively, and how to make the most out of a mentor as a mentee.  If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

In this week's episode I speak with Evan Rothstein who is an intellectual property and trade secrets attorney in Arnold & Porter’s Denver Office. Evan maintains both an active trial practice as well as providing strategic advice guiding companies on the development, protection, and enforcement of intellectual property assets. He has experience across a broad range of technologies and recently has gained significant experience guiding clients on cutting-edge matters involving cryptocurrency and NFTs including setting up marketplaces, advising on intellectual property rights in digital assets, and forming entities for the creation of digital art. In 2021, Evan launched TMT Time, a podcast focused on the technology space where he hosts guests discussing pressing issues facing the industries in which he works. Before joining Arnold & Porter, he practiced as a partner at two other law firms in Denver, Colorado. He is a graduate of Emory University and University of Colorado Law School.  In our conversation we discuss what he does as an IP lawyer in cutting edge industries; techniques for growing as a junior associate especially in remote-first and distributed law firms; how today's lawyers need to be skilled not just in law but also in communications and sales; why "soft skills" are real skills; his foray into podcasting; and the power of one simple question (how can I help you?).  If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

In this week's episode I speak with Vivek Jayaram who is an attorney, entrepreneur, and founder of Jayaram Law which has the tagline of "lawyers for innovators." Vivek and his team work with creatives, brands, venture-backed companies, and entrepreneurs on new and cutting edge projects. Specifically he advise companies, creatives, and entrepreneurs around the world on IP and corporate law issues & disputes, with an emphasis on new technology, Web3, NFTs, art, fashion, and other cool and interesting things.  Before starting his own firm, Vivek was a law clerk to Judge Adalberto Jordan formerly of the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida and now of the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and as an associate at Greenberg Traurig. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Cardozo Law at Yeshiva University.  In our conversation we discuss his path to founding and growing his innovative law firm; the importance of lawyer as writer and creative problem solver; the future of law in the creator economy; how law can respond to new and inventive things; the need for lawyers to be authentic, find what they enjoy, and make connections outside of law; and most of all finding a path that brings both fulfillment and success but also joy. If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

In today’s episode I speak with not one but two Texas appellate lawyers, Jody Sanders and D. Todd Smith. You may know them as the co-hosts of the Texas Appellate Law Podcast which is a weekly podcast dedicated to demystifying the appellate process and encourage best practices in litigation and appeals.  But that is just their side hustle. In his day job, Jody Sanders is a Partner at Kelly Hart where he represents clients at all stages of litigation in trial courts throughout Texas, as well as appeals and original proceedings in Texas's intermediate courts of appeals, the Texas Supreme Court, and federal appellate courts. He also frequently assists other litigators in drafting dispositive motions, ensuring error preservation, and handling trial and post-trial proceedings to prepare for a potential appeal. He has handled cases in wide-ranging substantive areas of law.  D. Todd Smith is a civil appellate specialist at Butler Snow LLP in Austin, Texas. Todd moved to Butler Snow after spending 15 years building and managing my own appellate firm. He has extensive experience representing clients as lead appellate counsel and has briefed and argued multiple cases before the Texas Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He also works with trial teams in all phases of civil litigation, often taking the lead on strategic analysis and briefing, jury charges, and potentially dispositive motions, all with a focus on preserving error and positioning cases for appellate review. He is active in legal organizations including the ABA, Texas, State Bar and the Austin Bar Association where he was the past president.  In our conversation we discuss their different paths to becoming appellate practitioners in Texas, the day-to-day life of an appelalte attorney in Texas, the value of judicial clerkships (especially in state courts), the power of finding a practice area the matches your skill set, some of the quirks of Texas appellate process, the importance of junior lawyers building relationships with senior lawyers and senior lawyers building relationships with junior lawyers, techniques for effective brief writing including the importance of tables of contents and topic sentences, and what they have learned from their excellent and informative podcast.  If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

In today’s episode I speak with Helam Gebremariam who is a Litigation Partner at Cravath, Swain, & Moore in New York City where her practice focuses on antitrust litigation, contractual disputes, securities and shareholder derivative suits, and investigations. She is also deeply committed to doing pro bono work and serves as an Executive Board Member of the New York University Law Alumni of Color Association, as a member of the Board of Directors of the Immigrant Justice Corps, and on the Board of Trustees of the Vera Institute of Justice. She is the first Black woman litigation partner in the Firm's history.  Helam began her legal career as a law clerk to Judge Robert Patterson, Jr. of the Southern District of New York and then after spending several years as an associate at Cravath worked at the U.S. Department of Justice as Senior Counsel in the DOJ's Office for Access to Justice and then as Senior Counsel to Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. She then worked at WilmerHale in Washington, D.C. before rejoining Cravath in 2019 where she was elected to the partnership in 2020. She now serves as partner liaison to the Firm’s African American/Black Affinity Group and as a Member of the Firm’s Pro Bono Committee. She is a first-generation student who graduated from Columbia and NYU Law where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the NYU Law Review. In our conversation we discuss her path to law as the daughter of Ethiopian immigrants to the United States; her decision to join the government and her time doing policy work as an advisor at the Department of Justice; the reasons why its ok to close doors in your career (they often don't really close) and how new doors can open as a result; why she chose Cravath and her transition from summer associate to senior associate to junior partner; techniques for growth for junior lawyers in the increasingly remote practice of law; her favorite parts of going to trial; how to find a mentor (see her feature from Bloomberg on that topic here); being in a two-lawyer parent family; and what she does everyday as a generalist BigLaw litigator.  If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

In this episode I speak with Bradford Hardin who chairs Davis Wright Tremaine’s national banking and financial services practice where he frequently supports banks, credit unions, and innovative FinTech companies through high-risk examinations and enforcement investigations at the state and federal levels. Bradford also advises on regulatory compliance and new product development. In his career, he has worked with large banks and fast-moving challengers alike in developing innovative new products, overcoming regulatory barriers, and getting to market. Bradford started his career as a Law Clerk in the Middle District of Alabama and then worked at WilmerHale in its DC office before moving to Davis Wright Tremaine. He is a graduate of the University of South Alabama and the University of Alabama Law School. In our conversation we discuss his path from litigation to a counseling, investigations, and regulatory practice; what he does in his role as a banking lawyer (and law firm practice leader); how he broke into the DC market from his start in Alabama (and how others can make the move to new legal markets); the importance of being autodidactic and constantly learning as a junior attorney; his approach to providing exceptional client service that goes beyond just being responsive; finding your niche in the law; how to stay in the law by being willing to pivot if your first job is not the perfect fit; and the importance of a team and sticking to your sweet spot.  If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.  This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

In this episode I speak with David Sparks who is known in internet circles as MacSparky. For more than 28 years, David was a business law attorney first at George & Shields, LLP and then more recently at his own law firm called Sparks Law based in Irvine, California. But in perhaps a first for the How I Lawyer podcast, I invited David on the show knowing full well that he recently left the practice of law altogether. In addition to being a lawyer, over the past fifteen years David has also become a recognized expert in consumer technology (including, but not limited, to Mac products) and productivity. As part of his MacSparky business, he podcasts and writes about getting more out of consumer technology, automating your life, and getting more focused. He hosts multiple podcasts including Mac Power Users, Focus, and the Automators. You can find all of his work at www.macsparky.com. In our conversation we discuss his decision to attend law school as a science student, his career transitions from litigator to "country doctor" lawyer to consumer technology expert, building a practice based on providing the best service and not necessarily the biggest bottom line, how referring business to other lawyers supported his growing law practice, the power of effective information management systems and processes in a lawyer's life, the importance of attention management and using technology to help our focus and efficiency as opposed to harming it, ways to use automation better as a lawyer, the need to protect time for high impact knowledge work, and why the most expensive technology is not always the best for practicing lawyers.  If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

This month, May 2022, How I Lawyer is teaming up with the Personal Jurisdiction Podcast (https://www.personaljxpod.com/) to feature five interviews on the important topic of mental health in the legal profession. This is the final episode in this series. Thanks to the Personal Jurisdiction team for joining me in this important work. In this week's episode I speak with Doron Gold who is a psychotherapist and former practicing lawyer (primarily in the area of family law) from Toronto, Canada. Doron works primarily with lawyers, law students, and judges as well as other professionals. His personal experience working in the legal profession, coupled with his many years of experiences working with lawyers in distress at the Ontario Lawyers' Assistance Program (OLAP) give him a unique and valuable perspective on the challenges faced by these individuals. In addition to treating lawyers, Doron presents regularly on issues related to mental health for lawyers. He is a graduate of York University and York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School and the University of Windsor from which he holds a Masters of Social Work. You can learn more about him and his work on Twitter @DoronJGold.  In the episode we discuss his personal path from lawyer to therapist, the mental health challenges that lawyers often face, ways that lawyers can and should find help, why perfectionism is so common in legal professionals (and the challenges resulting from this perfectionism), the importance of thinking about "how you feel as opposed to how should you feel," learning about yourself and the real (as opposed to perceived) expectations of those around you, the power of therapy when you find the right person to talk to, techniques for finding the right person to talk to, the difference between feedback and criticism, the benefit of "finding your people" and building community, the value of showing kindness when you see a meaningful change in a friend or colleague, and more.  This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

**This month, May 2022, How I Lawyer is teaming up with the Personal Jurisdiction Podcast (https://www.personaljxpod.com/) to feature five interviews on the important topic of mental health in the legal profession. This is episode #4 in this collaboration. Learn more here.** In today’s episode, Personal Jurisdiction hosts Hallie Ritzu and Allison Freedman speak with Dr. Diana Uchiyama who is a lawyer & psychologist helping people struggling with mental health and substance use issues as the the Executive Director of the Illinois Lawyers' Assistance Program.  Dr. Diana was previously the Administrator of Psychological Services for DuPage County and worked for the Kane County Diagnostic Center, as both a Staff Psychologist and Juvenile Drug Court Coordinator. She also has an extensive background doing court ordered psychological, sanity, fitness, and sex offender evaluations and therapy. She has implemented numerous changes to court ordered programs both in Kane and DuPage County and is a certified trauma informed care trainer. Prior to obtaining her masters and doctorate in Clinical Psychology, Dr. Uchiyama was an Assistant Public Defender in Cook County. She obtained her law degree from Pepperdine University School of Law. If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Stay tuned next week for my interview with another truly inspirational lawyer turned psychotherapist, the Lawyer Therapist Doron Gold. The How I Lawyer Podcast is sponsored by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. Personal Jurisdiction is edited by Scott Donnell at Run and Drum Media.

**This month, May 2022, How I Lawyer is teaming up with the Personal Jurisdiction Podcast (https://www.personaljxpod.com/) to feature five interviews on the important topic of mental health in the legal profession. Learn more here.** In today’s episode I speak with Brian Cuban. Brian is a Dallas-based attorney, keynote speaker, writer, and addiction recovery advocate. Brian has been in long-term recovery from alcohol, cocaine and bulimia since April of 2007. Brian is well known and speaks across the country at law schools & law firms both to tell his story and to offer advice on how our profession can better improve mental health awareness, awareness of substance abuse problems, and building more compassionate communities. He is the author of three books: Shattered Image, the Addicted Lawyer, and most recently his debut novel: The Ambulance Chaser.  In our conversation, Brian candidly shared his personal story from addiction to recovery; what he recommends to individuals who are struggling & those who want to support them, and suggestions for the legal profession and legal education writ large.  **Please note this episode does cover several topics that some might find disturbing including substance abuse, eating disorders, and suicide.** This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

**This month, May 2022, How I Lawyer is teaming up with the Personal Jurisdiction Podcast (https://www.personaljxpod.com/) to feature five interviews on the important topic of mental health in the legal profession. Learn more here.** In today’s episode Personal Jurisdiction hosts Hallie Ritzu and Allison Freedman speak with University of Michigan Law Professors Bridgette Carr and Vivek Sankaran. Bridgette Carr is a Clinical Professor of Law and the Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives at the University of Michigan Law School. She is also the founding director of the Law School’s Human Trafficking Clinic, the first clinical law program solely devoted to addressing this issue comprehensively. Bridgette is also a first generation college graduate who wasn’t sure law school was for her. She didn’t so a journal or apply for a clerkship, and instead spent her spare time during law school working at a local legal aid office and an asylum shelter. Despite now being an expert on human trafficking, Bridgette hadn’t heard of human trafficking work until after she graduated from law school.   Vivek Sankaran is also a Clinical Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School. He directs both the Child Advocacy Law Clinic and the Child Welfare Appellate Clinic, through which law students represent children and parents in trials and appellate proceedings. He is also a father of three boys, he loves coaching youth sports, and he is learning to play the guitar.  Together they teach a course that they created called “Finding a Fulfilling Life in the Law” at the University of Michigan Law School. In it, they ask students to consider what they want out of life after law school and how they can create that life. The course applies innovative principles of problem solving to the concept of designing your life in and beyond law school. Bridgette and Vivek also recently launched an exciting new business—LawLifeProf Coaching—to help lawyers in practice build a toolbox for a fulfilling life.  In their conversation they discuss why being curious, trying new things, and staying connected to people you care about can help you to design a fulfilling life in the law. There is no yellow brick road, there is no checklist - but Bridgette and Vivek share many pieces of advice and personal reflections for anyone who is not quite fulfilled in their career.   If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Stay tuned next week for my interview with author, activist, and motivational speaker, Brian Cuban. The How I Lawyer Podcast is sponsored by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

**This month, May 2022, How I Lawyer is teaming up with the Personal Jurisdiction Podcast (https://www.personaljxpod.com/) to feature five interviews on the important topic of mental health in the legal profession. Learn more here.** In today’s episode I speak with Professor Heidi Brown who is the Director of the Legal Writing Program at Brooklyn Law School. Having grappled with extreme performance anxiety as a law student, attorney, and new law professor, Heidi ultimately untangled her fears, and embraced authenticity as a powerful asset in teaching and practicing law. She is the author of two fantastic books on the subject, The Introverted Lawyer: A Seven-Step Journey Toward Authentically Empowered Advocacy, and Untangling Fear in Lawyering: A Four-Step Journey Toward Powerful Advocacy.  Professor Brown’s brand new book, The Flourishing Lawyer, analogizes law students and lawyers to athletes and performers & offers a fresh lens through which to view the palpable challenge of enriching and safeguarding well-being in the legal profession—an approach that (1) champions individual and collective strengths, rather than stigmatizing purported weaknesses, and (2) redefines “character and fitness to practice law” as attributes we can, and must, actively and continuously cultivate, as individuals and legal communities.  She recently earned her master’s degree in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and holds a BA and JD from the University of Virginia. In our conversation we discuss her path in the law and her decision to study topics related to mental health and success in the legal profession, staying true to yourself as a lawyer, the difference between introversion and social anxiety, techniques from athletes and performers that can be applied to a career in the law, and so much more.  If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

In this episode I speak with Fabio Bertoni who is the General Counsel at The New Yorker Magazine and an experienced media lawyer. Previously he served as an Assistant General Counsel at HarperCollins, a Deputy General Counsel at ALM Media, and as an associate at two different New York City law firms. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Fordham Law School and at NYU.  In our conversation we discussed his path from journalist to a lawyer who works with journalists; the process, decision, and value of getting a dual degree; the importance of law school clinics to his legal path; the overlap of the legal and journalistic mindsets; the roles that he plays as an in-house media lawyer including pre-publication vetting and review and other work related to potential libel claims; the future of journalism and the law;  the difference between law-firm lawyering and in-house lawyering; the challenges of leaving and returning to the legal workforce after spending time at home with his then-young children; and more.  If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

In this episode I speak with Professor Danielle Citron who is the Jefferson Scholars Foundation Schenck Distinguished Professor in Law and Caddell and Chapman Professor of Law at the University of Virginia Law School, where she writes and teaches about privacy, free expression, and civil rights. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the MacArthur Genius Grant in 2019 for her work on cyberstalking and intimate privacy. She also serves as the inaugural director of the school’s LawTech Center. She is a gifted teacher and prolific writer including two books Hate Crimes in Cyberspace and the forthcoming The Fight for Privacy: Protecting Dignity, Identity, and Love in the Digital Age (available for pre-order here) and more than 50 law review articles. More than that, she is a public intellectual who has published in popular outlets, given testimony to lawmakers, and has worked directly with legislators on issues related to technology and privacy.  Before joining UVA Law, Professor Citron taught at the Boston University School of Law and the University of Maryland School of Law where she progressed from Visiting Assistant Professor to a named professorship with the rank of tenure. She started her legal career as a litigation associate at Wilkie Farr in New York and served as a law clerk to United States District Court Judge Mary Johnson Lowe. She is a graduate of Duke University and Fordham Law. In our conversation we discussed her largely unplanned path to legal academia in a field that did not even really exist when she graduated law school, how disappointment and being told no is an important part of growing as a junior lawyer, ways to become a part of a scholarly community even as a law student or junior lawyer, her writing process and how she crafts scholarship that speaks to academic and more general audiences, the fast-growing area of technology and data privacy (and the jobs that are being created as a result), and the importance of being a life-long student as a lawyer. If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

In this episode I speak with Sara Y. Razi who is the Global Co-Chair of the Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice at Simpson Thacher. She joined the firm's Washington D.C. office in 2013 after serving as a senior official at the Federal Trade Commission for nearly a decade. Sara has been recognized as a Leading Lawyer by the Legal 500 and was ranked one of the Top 250 Women in Litigation in the United States by Benchmark Litigation. In addition to advising clients in antitrust investigations and litigation as well as mergers, she serves co-chair of the Firm’s Pro Bono Committee. She started her career as an Associate at Jones Day. In our conversation we discussed her path from horse trainer & molecular biology major to antitrust lawyer; how she became interested in antitrust law; the varied daily life of an antitrust lawyer; the differences between practicing as a government lawyer and as a Big Law lawyer (as well as how those experiences informed one another); how junior lawyers can stand out in a technical practice area like antitrust; how law students can prepare for on campus interviews; how she makes time (and helps others make time) to do pro bono work; and more. If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

In this episode I speak with Jay Harrington who is one of the country’s leading consultants and strategists in the areas of legal marketing, PR, and business development. His consulting work includes helping clients define strong market positioning, develop effective thought-leadership strategies, gain visibility through public relations, and generate new business through the execution of marketing tactics. In addition to running his own agency, he is the author of three books (The Productivity Pivot, the Essential Associate, and One of a Kind) that teach lawyers how to develop their business, manage their time, and stand out both in their firm and in the legal world more broadly. I first learned about Jay through his wonderful LinkedIn profile where he posts thought provoking (but not cookie cutter) ideas about how to succeed in the practice of law daily to more than 13,000 followers.  Jay started his legal career at the law firms of Skadden Arps and Foley & Lardner and also opened his own boutique law firm in Detroit focused on bankruptcy and restructuring before moving to legal marketing work and coaching full-time.  In our conversation we covered a lot including: his path from Big Firm lawyer thrust into bankruptcy work in the wake of 9/11, to boutique bankruptcy lawyer in Detroit during the automative bankruptcy crises, to leading an agency that teaches and supports lawyers in building brands and marketing themselves better; the importance of finding and serving a niche instead of being all things to all clients; how to build a personal brand as a junior lawyer without coming of as sleazy or disingenuous; how to gain expertise and then position yourself as an expert that clients want to work with; the power of investing in yourself as a lawyer while also doing good work and being an integral part of your team; and more.  If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

In this episode I speak with Jean Lee who is the President and CEO of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA), the nation's leading organization focused on hiring, promoting and retaining women and diverse attorneys by providing cutting-edge research, best practices, and training. Prior to joining MCCA, Jean served as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at JP Morgan Chase & Co. where she worked on consumer litigation and regulatory matters. Before joining JP Morgan Chase & Co. in 2011, she worked on litigation matters at a boutique litigation firm in New York City. She started her career as a law clerk to the Magistrate Judge John J. Hughes in the District of New Jersey and before law school was a practicing social worker. She is a graduate of NYU (from which she also holds an MSW in Social Work) and Rutgers Law.  In our conversation we discuss her path from social worker to litigator to regulatory lawyer to non-profit leader; what she does each day as a non-profit leader (and how her legal training prepared her for it); what MCCA does and how it provides a data-based approach to important diversity, equity, and inclusion work; the similarities and differences between diversity, equity, and inclusion; what firms and corporate legal departments are doing well and what they can do better in terms of DEI initiatives; how law students and junior lawyers can better assess the DEI commitments of their future employers; and so much more.  If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

In this episode I speak with Abigail Kohlman who is a Counsel at Akin Gump in its Washington D.C. Office. Abby’s practice focuses on representing corporate and individual clients in internal and government-facing investigations including criminal, congressional, and regulatory proceedings. She also has experience counseling clients in a variety of white collar defense matters, representing companies and individuals in a broad range of congressional inquiries, and trial experience in federal and state courts. In addition to this work, she maintains an extensive pro bono practice. She started as an Akin Gump Pro Bono Scholar and initiated Akin Gump's Pro Bono Parole Representation Project, which was recently awarded an Outstanding Achievement Award by the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. A regular listener who recommended Abby for the show described her as someone who is supportive of juniors lawyer and who has an incredible “ability to spearhead massive pro bono projects while maintaining a super demanding billable practice.” She is a graduate of Cornell University and Georgetown Law. In our conversation we discuss her somewhat surprising path to Big Law, what it means to be an investigations lawyer and how to stand out in that practice, securing and succeeding as a summer associate, choosing a practice area, the importance of doing pro bono work and how to make time for it, and more.  If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

In this episode I speak with Jesse Mosier who is currently the General Counsel at Migo, a financial technology company that offers embedded lending and credit solutions in emerging markets. He spoke with me in his personal capacity about his career path and what he has learned along the way. Prior to joining Migo, Jesse was a corporate and financial transaction attorneys focused on Latin American startups and venture capital at Gunderson Dettmer in San Francisco and an associate at Cleary Gottlieb in both the firm's New York and Sao Paulo offices. Prior to law school, Jesse worked in politics as a Director of Constituent Services for a Member of Congress. He is a graduate of NYU and holds a Master's Degree in International Relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He completed his Master's Degree jointly with his law degree at Georgetown Law where he was my classmate. In our conversation we discuss Jesse's path from Wall Street firm to boutique VC practice to in-house GC; why he pursued a master's degree in addition to a JD (and what he learned from it); his consistent focus on practicing law with a focus on Latin America; the importance of his time working at a US law firm's Brazil Office (including how he hosted oyster pop-up's in Sao Paulo while he was there); techniques for succeeding in a fast-moving transactional practices; and navigating the challenges of being in a two-working parent family with two young children.  If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 

In this episode I speak with John B. Quinn who is one of the world’s top trial lawyers and also the founder of one of its top law firms. Bloomberg has described John as one of the “most famous practicing lawyers in the world.” During his career, he has represented numerous major companies and prominent individuals in important cases across practically every area of legal practice. Quinn Emanuel, the litigation-only firm which John co-founded in 1986 with three other attorneys, is one of the world's most successful and profitable law firms and boasts more than 800 litigators worldwide.  In our conversation we discuss his path to the law; the decision to leave a prestigious transactional practice at Cravath in New York City as a third-year associate to move to California; starting and growing his own law firm (even after having his first attempt at starting a law firm fail); learning to litigate by litigating (as opposed to the more traditional apprenticeship approach); the techniques and mental models that make high-quality litigators stand out from the pack; the importance of knowing what will ultimately matter in a case first; and the decisions that he and his firm have made to build such a successful, lucrative, and unique practice including, most recently, announcing a shift to a permanent "work from anywhere" model.   If you enjoy this episode, please make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

In this episode I speak with Emily Dunlap who is a Senior Staff Attorney at Advocating Opportunity in Columbus, Ohio, an organization dedicated to providing comprehensive, holistic, trauma-responsive legal and support services to persons who have experienced sex and labor trafficking. In her practice she focuses specifically on immigration law, post-conviction relief, family law, housing issues, and other civil matters. She is also as an educational and organizational resource who conducts trainings on anti-human trafficking activities.  Emily started her career as a post-graduate Greif Fellow in Juvenile Human Trafficking at the Ohio State University College of Law from which she also holds her JD. Emily is also an alum of the Americorps Vista program and a graduate of Ohio University. In our conversation we discuss her path to the law and more specifically to working with trafficked individuals, connecting with and gaining trust from clients who have gone through challenging situations, the importance and centrality of trauma-responsive and narrative-based lawyering in her practice, the benefits of providing different types of legal services to a single client, ways to separate her work and personal life, and the importance of developing a professional network of people you can trust along the way. If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

Welcome back to How I Lawyer!  In most episodes of the How I Lawyer Podcast I interview individual lawyers about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it well. This special episode is the fourth in a series called "Panel Opinion" where I bring together experts on a particular topic. In this episode I discuss the important topic of oral argument with a superstar panel including Judge Patricia Millett, Joe Palmore, and Professor Tiffany Wright for this discussion.  Judge Patricia Millett is currently a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit where she has served since December 2013. Prior to becoming a federal judge, she led the Supreme Court Practice at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Field LLP in Washington DC. Earlier in her career she spent fifteen years representing the United States of America in the federal courts of appeal and the United States Supreme Court while working on the Appellate Staff of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division and as an Assistant in the Office of the Solicitor General. In total, she argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court prior to becoming a Judge. She started her career as an associate at Miller & Chevalier and as a law clerk to Judge Thomas Tang on the Ninth Circuit. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois (Go Illini) and Harvard Law School, Go Crimson.  Joe Palmore is the co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s Appellate and Supreme Court Practice and Managing Partner of its DC Office. Joe is an experienced appellate advocate with 12 arguments in the US Supreme Court and more than 45 in other appeals courts nationwide. Prior to joining MoFo, Joe served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice for nearly five years where he was responsible for briefing the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s Minimum Coverage provision. He started his career as a law clerk to Judge John Gleeson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eastern District of New York, Judge Dennis Jacobs of the Second Circuit and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He is graduate of Harvard (Go Crimson) and UVA Law (Go Wahoos). Tiffany Wright is the Co-Director of Howard Law’s Civil Rights Clinic and a Senior Associate at Orrick, Herrington, & Sutcliffe LLP. Professor Wright began her legal career as a law clerk to Judge Royce Lamberth on the United States District Court in DC, Judge David Tatel on the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor on the United States Supreme Court. She has recently briefed and argued a number of key Civil Rights cases and was recognized by the National Bar Association as one of the Best Advocates Under 40 and the Nation’s Best Advocate of the Year. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland (Go Terps) and the Georgetown University Law Center (Go Hoyas) where she completed her law degree at night while also working full-time as a Law Clerk and Paralegal at the US Attorneys Office for the District of Maryland. Tiffany is also the first return guest to the podcast as her story is featured on Episode #13. If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

In this episode I speak with Robert Ingalls who is the Founder and Chief Strategist at LawPods—a company that produces branded podcasts for some of the premier law firms in the world. I have gotten to know Rob over the past several months since LawPods started editing the How I Lawyer Podcast and became a sponsor of the show. If you are interested in lawyers that choose to pivot from the everyday practice of law or if you have ever been curious about why lawyers might want to podcast or how to try it yourself, this is the episode for you. Rob started his career practicing criminal law, civil litigation, and estate planning. But after some time in the trenches he decided to pivot from the formal practice of law to focus on more creative and entrepreneurial pursuits like helping lawyers and law firms create professional podcasts.  My conversation with Rob was one of the most fun I have had to date. We discussed his decision to become a lawyer, some of the struggles he had when practicing law, his pivot to working with lawyers that want to podcast, how his legal training has served him well since starting a small business, the power of storytelling and audience for 21st century lawyers, the ways that starting a podcast can help lawyers build networks and communities, and the importance of embracing who you are and what you want to do every day when choosing a professional path.  If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

In this episode I speak with Jason Bennett who is a Partner at Baker Botts in Houston, Texas where he serves as the firm-wide chair of the Global Projects Practice as well as co-head of the firm’s Energy Sector leadership group. Specifically, his practice focuses on the development and financing of gas & hydrogen, as well as carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS). In this role, Jason assists clients with developing and structuring investments and joint ventures in the energy sector through project agreements and venturing vehicles, as well as acquisitions and sales of interests in energy projects. Before law school, Jason spent a year on a US-government fellowship in Kyiv. He is a graduate of the University of Texas (during which he studied abroad in Moscow) and is also a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center. In our conversation we discuss his path to energy law; his time living and working fo Baker Botts in D.C., Dubai, Moscow, and Texas; how he manages billion-dollar energy deals; techniques for junior lawyers to learn a new, technical practice area; the future of the fast-moving field of energy law; and the importance of remaining curious in your legal career. If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

Happy New Year! After some time to reset in January, I am happy to say welcome back to YEAR 2 of the How I Lawyer Podcast. YEAR 1 included 50 episodes and 49,500 downloads. I am so excited to see what YEAR 2 brings.  In this episode I speak with Chief Justice Harold Melton who is the Former Chief Justice of the Georgia State Supreme Court and a current partner at Troutman Pepper based in Atlanta where his practice focuses on complex litigation matters. Prior to serving on the bench for sixteen years, Justice Melton served as executive counsel to Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue and in the Attorney General’s Office for the State of Georgia where he worked on issues related to consumer protection, tax, the Georgia Tobacco Settlement, and the creation of the Georgia Lottery Corporation. He is a proud graduate of Auburn University (Go Tigers) where he was the first African-American student government president and where the student center is named after him. He is also a graduate of Georgia Law School (Go Bulldogs). In our conversation we discuss his path to law school and the law; how he found himself nominated to the Georgia State Supreme Court at a young age; how he and his colleagues reached decisions on cases presented to them; and what he has taken with him from his time as a Justice to his new role as a Partner at Troutman Pepper in Atlanta.  If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys. 

In Episode #050, the final episode of the first year of the How I Lawyer Podcast, I speak with not one but two incredible law firm pro bono counsels about their careers and how to integrate pro bono work into any legal practice.   My first guest is Tiffany Graves who is Pro Bono Counsel at Bradley where she runs the firm's pro bono programs across ten offices. Prior to joining Bradley, Tiffany was the Executive Director of the Mississippi Access to Justice Commission an organization created by the Mississippi Supreme Court in order to improve access to civil justice and civil legal aid. She also served as the interim director of the University of Mississippi School of Law's Pro Bono Initiative and Executive Director of the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers' Project. She is also an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia School of Law and the Co-President of the Association of Pro Bono Counsel.  My second guest is Ellyn Haikin Josef who is Pro Bono Counsel at Vinson & Elkins based in Houston, Texas. Ellyn has been leading Vinson & Elkins's pro bono work for 13 years and is a recognized expert in the field. Prior to joining the firm, Ellyn was a staff attorney at the Houston College of Law Legal Clinic.  In our conversation we discuss what they do each day in the role of pro bono counsel, the ways in which their firms select pro bono projects, the professionalization of their field and its impact on the quantity and quality of pro bono law projects to lawyers today, how all lawyers (not just junior lawyers) can and should build pro bono into their practice and what they can gain personally and professionally from the experience, what questions law students can ask to determine the actual commitment of individual firms to pro bono work, and what you can do in 2022 to use your law degree (or future law degree) to help your community. It was an inspiring conversation for me and I am sure it will be for you as well. The two articles mentioned in the episode are available here: 1. David Lash, The Case for Professionalizing Pro Bono Services 2. Esther F. Lardent, Making the Business Case for Pro Bono Many thanks for listening all year. The How I Lawyer Podcast will be back in February with new interviews and regular episodes. As always, if you enjoyed this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with David J. Ribner who is a CFIUS and international trade compliance lawyer in the Washington D.C. Office of O'Melveny & Myers LLP. His practice focuses on counseling clients in the United States and abroad on regulatory matters including securing national security clearances by CFIUS (Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States) as well as counseling clients on compliance with U.S. economic sanctions, export controls, customs laws, and the FCPA (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act). David has been recommended as a leading lawyer for international trade by The Legal 500 US and recognized as an “Up & Coming” CFIUS expert by Chambers USA. In our conversation we discuss the unique nature of his cross-board practice; how to gain expertise in a very technical area of law; the ways that trying different practice areas can make you a stronger specialist in the long run; what its like to work with international clients; how to prepare for a phone call with a client; and how he manages his time while working with dozens of clients each day. If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with my friend Adam Yoffie who is currently Senior Counsel for Litigation & Government Investigations at Bristol Myers Squibb based in Princeton, New Jersey. Before going to Bristol Myers Squibb, Adam was a trial attorney for the Health Care Fraud Strike Force at the United States Department of Justice and an Associate at Williams & Connolly, LLP in Washington DC. He started his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Anita Brody of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Judge Morton Greenberg of United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Before law school he was a Deputy Press Secretary for the Congressional Joint Economic Committee and a Fulbright Scholar in Jerusalem. He is a graduate of Yale Law School and Duke University.  In our conversation we discuss his path to health care law; the differences between practicing as a Big Law litigator, prosecutor, and now in-house counsel; how one's personal story can affect your professional path; techniques for standing out as a junior attorney; the emerging areas of pharmaceutical legal practice; and more.  If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with my dear friend and former co-clerk, Austin King. Austin is currently the Associate General Counsel for Rulemaking at the Federal Trade Commission. I conducted this interview when Austin was in his former role at the FTC as Attorney Advisor to Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter. Before joining the FTC in 2018, Austin was a counsel at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and an attorney at the nonprofit Better Markets, Inc. Before law school, Austin was an elected official serving as an alderperson in his hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. He also worked for the SEIU and Acorn. Austin is a proud graduate of the University of Wisconsin, New York University School of Law (where he graduated summa cum laude as a Root-Tilden Scholar), and the Harvard Kennedy School from which he holds an MPA.  He served as a law clerk to Judge Jed Rakoff of the Southern District of New York and Chief Judge Robert Katzmann of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit where he and I successfully shared an office for 11 months. He spoke with me purely in his personal capacity and his views on the episode do not represent the views of the FTC or the government. In our conversation we discuss his path to public interest law from local politician, the unique role of government lawyer and attorney advisor, the power and importance of being both a good writer and a good editor of the writing of others, ways to land a legal government job, and the differences between clerking on the district court and on the court of appeals. If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

**Rebecca Blake Chaikin is currently a Partner at Jackson Walker in Houston, Texas** In this episode I speak with Rebecca Blake Chaikin who at the time of her interview was a Partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in New York City where she practices in the areas of corporate restructuring, bankruptcy, and financial distress. Before attending law school at NYU, Rebecca was a paralegal at Kramer Levin in New York and a Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, D.C.  In our conversation we discuss her path to becoming a bankruptcy lawyer in the wake of the financial crisis, the unique work that restructuring lawyers do, the ways in which her work provides strategic responses to financial uncertainty, the value of what she learned as a paralegal, how to learn to issue spot in a vast new area of legal practice, and more.  If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Professor Gabriel Teninbaum who is the Assistant Dean of Innovation, Strategic Initiatives & Distance Education at Suffolk University Law School and Professor of Legal Writing. He teaches, writes, speaks, and consults on the technology of law and recently published the book Productizing Legal Work: Providing Legal Expertise at Scale and runs the Lawtomatic newsletter which I strongly recommend for anyone interested in legal tech. In addition to his work at Suffolk, Gabe is a Visiting Fellow at the Yale Information Security Project and the Founder and CEO of Spaced Repetition Systems LLC. Prior to Law School, Gabe worked as an Operations Support Technician in the United States Secret Service.  In our conversation we discuss his path to legal innovation, how being an active consumer of technology led him to becoming an expert in the technology of law, how lawyers (junior and senior) can work in legal tech and innovation, the opportunities provided by no code and low code tools to productize legal services to provide better and more affordable representation by shifting the one-to-one model to a one-to-many model, the future of legal practice and legal education when it comes to tech and innovation, the power of spaced repetition, and how to manage attention in our fast-paced world, and more.  If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Jeremy Siegel who is the Vice President for Compliance & Legal Risk at Eaze which is one of the largest cannabis delivery services in the country. Prior to joining Eaze, Jeremy worked as a litigation attorney, e-discovery project manager, and law clerk to Magistrate Judge John Facciola on the District Court for the District of Columbia and for Judge Richard Eaton on the United States Court of International Trade.  In our conversation we discuss his twisting and turning path to working in the cannabis industry, graduating law school in the middle of the financial crisis and finding a fulfilling career, the exciting part of working in an industry where the law is being written every single day, the connections between lawyering and lobbying in this highly regulated space, the joys (and challenges) of being a lawyer in a start up environment, finding ways to support not just the industry but also respond to the historical responses to cannabis including the war on drugs, the future of lawyers in the fast-growing cannabis community, and the importance of connecting to people in any work that you do.  If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this week's special mini-episode I speak with Chrystal Mauro about the newly founded Legal Mentor Network where she serves as Executive Director. The Legal Mentor Network (full disclosure: I sit on the Board of Directors) is a new, non-profit, FREE mentorship program connecting law students and recently barred attorneys to more senior members of our profession. Like the How I Lawyer Podcast, the Legal Mentor Network seeks to provide alternative channels for the informal networking that we know is so important to the future of our profession especially during such challenging times.  The brain child of Brian Potts (Episode 38) and several others, the program has already matched over 1,000 law students and newly admitted attorneys with mentors in their preferred localities and fields of legal practice. Mentors love it. Mentees need it. And it has led to hundreds of new relationships, not to mention the dozens of young professionals who have landed jobs they otherwise would not have obtained. Operating informally since 2020, with the generous support and contribution of founding sponsor DLA Piper LLP, the informal network has been able to form a new non-profit organization, build a website, recruit an amazing executive board, and now the Network can begin implementing a larger, more formal (but still free!) nationwide mentoring program for years to come. If you want to learn more please read the press release available here. Most of all, I hope you enjoy the episode and consider signing up as a mentor or mentee at http://www.legalmentornetwork.org.

In this episode I speak with Suzanne Levy Friedman who is a Senior Associate in the Medical Devices and Technology Regulatory Group at Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C.. In that role, Suzanne assists device companies in a wide range of activities across the life cycle of their products, including preparing regulatory submissions for clearance or approval of new devices, advising manufacturers on the lawful promotion and advertising of their devices, and addressing post-market enforcement issues.  She has a particular specialty in dealing with the FDA's evolving paradigm for software and digital health products, and she has helped clients determine the appropriate regulatory pathway for various products in this space and bring them to market. In law school, Suzanne interned at the FDA's Office of Chief Counsel, where she learned firsthand about the range of legal and regulatory issues addressed by the agency's Food, Drug, Device, Veterinary, and Tobacco centers and spent two years before law school working for a health policy consulting firm advising clients on the business impact of FDA actions and related legislation. We live in a world where consumer health products and even software can serve an important role in keeping us healthy. As a result we discuss the fast-moving and ever-growing practice area of medical device law where Suzanne regularly practices before the FDA. We also discuss Suzanne's path, the mindsets and skills necessary to succeed in a scientific practice area (even if you are not a trained scientist), the varied toolbox of experience necessary to work in a heavily regulated area, how to communicate with in-house partners to succeed as outside counsel, and the importance of project management skills to young lawyers.   If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Suchi Pahi who is a data privacy and cybersecurity lawyer who currently works as a Senior Privacy and Product Counsel at Databricks. She previously served as a Director of Privacy and Business Affairs and Acting Chief Privacy Officer at Rally Health and before that as an associate in the data privacy and cybersecurity practice groups at two major law firms: Greenberg Traurig and Baker Hostetler. She is a regular speaker on data security topics and holds her CIPP/US certification from the International Association of Privacy Professionals. In our conversation we take a deep dive into the worlds of data privacy and cybersecurity (and the differences between the two). We also discuss Suchi's path to these practice areas, ways to pivot to this practice area, the increasing importance of these practice areas in today's legal landscape, and how lawyers who work in these areas can be effective by being genuinely curious, excited about new technologies, empathetic listeners, and most of all ready to work in emerging areas of the law that are rapidly evolving. If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Jared Knicley who is a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in Washington, DC. Jared's practice focuses on defending imperiled species, protecting communities from chemical spills, ensuring public access to government records, and enforcing federal environmental laws in courts across the country. Jared first joined NRDC as a Beagle Litigation Fellow after clerking for Judge Diana Gribbon Motz of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Baltimore and Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia where we were co-clerks. Jared is a graduate of the University of Virginia where he studied Urban Planning and Harvard Law where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Environmental Law Review. In our conversation we discuss different ways to work at the intersection of law and the environment, his path from urban planning to environmental litigator, techniques for crafting effective complaints in civil cases, and the importance of finding and cultivating not just mentors but also champions in the early years of a lawyer's career.  If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Russ Feingold who is currently the President of the American Constitution Society, the country’s leading progressive legal organization. He previously served as a United States Senator for the state of Wisconsin for eighteen years and for ten years before that as State Senator in Wisconsin. He also served as the Special Envoy for the African Great Lakes and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and as a professor at several colleges and law schools. Russ is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Oxford University where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar, and Harvard Law School. In our conversation we discuss his path to politics, how becoming a lawyer allowed him to have both an impactful and varied career, the role of thinking big and taking chances in creating social change, the problems of today's political climate, ACS's new podcast "Broken Law," and his thoughts on the future of the federal judiciary and the United States Supreme Court. **PERSONAL NOTE: My wife is a Director of Policy and Program at the American Constitution Society**  If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Brian Potts. Brian is a Partner at Perkins Coie based in Madison, Wisconsin. He is an environment and energy lawyer with an active pro bono practice but is also an active speaker, writer, and serial entrepreneur (including inventing the LegalBoard (legalkeyboards.com), the world's first computer keyboard made just for lawyers). He is also deeply committed to demystifying the process of getting a legal job and helping young lawyers find their legal path. During the pandemic he has personally mentored hundreds of lawyers he met on LinkedIn and has started an informal lawyer mentorship network. His book, The Jobless Lawyer's Handbook (https://www.brianhpotts.com/), is scheduled to come out very soon.  Brian's professional story is one of patience and persistence. His firm bio includes the following anecdote about his own path his current position:  "In 2002, as a second-year law student, Brian applied to work at every one of the Top 100 law firms in the country. He received form rejection letters from all of them. Less than a decade later, Brian was among the youngest to make equity partner at one of those firms. And today, he’s an equity partner at Perkins Coie―where his form rejection letter from the firm in 2002 hangs on his office wall."  In our conversation we discuss his path from rejection letters to law firm partnership, how investing in yourself is one of the highest leverage things you can do as a young lawyer, techniques for more senior lawyers to serve as more effective mentors, finding joy and entrepreneurial success in his side hustles, and tips and techniques for standing out and getting hired in today's job market.  If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Alex Su. Alex is currently the Head of Community Development at Ironclad, a digital contract management company. Before working at Ironclad, Alex was a Sales Team Lead and Director of Business Development at several other legal tech startups and before transitioning to the world of legal tech, Alex was an Associate at the New York law firm Sullivan and Cromwell and a law clerk in Chicago to federal district court Judge Edmond Chang. In addition to Alex's work in the legal tech space he is perhaps most well known on TikTok (where you can find him @legaltechbro) where his comedic videos about the legal industry get an incredible 3-4 million monthly views. He is also on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn where he shares his personal story and social commentary on the legal industry. In our conversation we discuss his path to legal tech, how to find the best legal career for you (even if the path is not as traditional), how being authentic on social media allows him to lead conversations about the future of the legal profession, the valuable skill of cold calling (and how to do it better), and advice for consumers of legal tech as well as those who want to enter the space.  If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with appellate lawyer Carl Cecere who owns his own firm in Dallas, Texas. Carl handles cases in state courts (including the Texas Supreme Court) as well as in federal courts of appeal and the United States Supreme Court. He represents clients at the certiorari stage, at the merits stage, as well as in filing amicus briefs. Before opening his own firm seven years ago, Carl practiced appellate advocacy at Akin Gump in Washington, D.C. and Hankinson LLP in Texas. He began his career as a law clerk to Judge Mary Lou Robinson in the Northern District of Texas.   In our conversation we discuss his path from DC Big Law litigator to solo appellate practitioner in Texas, the business side of being an appellate lawyer, why young lawyers should always have a business plan and can use social media as a professional tool, the importance of networking (even without going to cocktail parties or a website), how a major health scare required him to step back but also allowed him to build a new practice and step up years later, how to become a better writer, the unique skill of writing effective amicus briefs, and the importance of carving out time for family especially as a solo practitioner.  If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with EJ Lee who runs her own entertainment, copyright, and trademark law firm based in Atlanta, Georgia which services clients across the country. EJ has described her practice as where "creativity and legal protection collide" and her firm's motto is "be creatively legal." In addition to her client work, EJ also creates online courses in the area of trademark and copyright protection for those who need only limited legal assistance. She is active on social media (@EJLeeLaw on Twitter) and is famous for her "Referee With a Whistle" uniform. EJ is a graduate of Kaplan University and the Thomas Cooley School of Law of Western Michigan University. In our conversation we discuss her path to entertainment and intellectual property law, the benefits of running her own law firm, why she builds information products as well as representing clients directly, the importance of the state bar for a solo practitioner, and the value of having a brand as a lawyer dedicated to protecting client's brands.  If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with David Lucking who is a Partner at Magic Circle law firm Allen & Overy where he was recently named Head of the firm's Global International Capital Markets Group and where his practice focuses on derivatives and structured finance transactions. David's career path embodies the international focus of his practice. He is a graduate of a King's College London, the Sorbonne, and Oxford and is now based in the firm's New York office and is the firm's first US-based Practice Group Head.. He is also the Global Co-Head of the law firm's LGBT+ allies program where he regularly leads initiatives related to workplace diversity. In our conversation we discuss David's day-to-day life as a transactional lawyer and his path to a practice focused on derivatives law; the differences between learning to practice litigation and transactional law in a large law firm setting; his views on the increasing role of remote practice and technology in the legal profession; and the role his own identity plays in his position as a law firm leader.  If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Brant Martin who is a civil litigator at the Texas-based law firm Wick Phillips where he has been a partner for the past 17 years. Before joining Wick Phillips and helping to grow the firm to more than 60 attorneys across multiple offices, Brant worked in Corporate and Securities Law at a Vault 50 law firm, as a corporate counsel at a startup in New York City, and as a plaintiff-side trial lawyer in Texas. He started his legal career as a law clerk to Chief Judge Schell of the Eastern District of Texas. Brant is a graduate of SMU Law, the Yale Divinity School, and Washington & Lee University. In our conversation we discuss Brant's path from divinity school to law school; what he does as a trial lawyer representing businesses in litigation against other businesses; his approach to building a law firm and book of business; his approach to training junior lawyers; the importance of building deep, meaningful relationships with clients; and how he prepares for trial and depositions in efficient and effective ways. If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Mike Yaghmai who is a Director and Associate General Counsel at Facebook where he heads up the company's legal work related to the company's brand and marketing. In this capacity Mike and his team are responsible for clearance, prosecution, and enforcement of the company's brand portfolio as well as the legal elements of Facebook's marketing policies. Before working at Facebook for the past 8 years, Mike worked at eBay for almost seven years and before that he worked as an intellectual property associate at Willdman Harrolld and then Howrey LLP. Mike is a Bay Area native and graduate of San Jose State University. After college, he worked in the San Jose mayor's office before moving to Chicago to complete his law degree at the DePaul University School of Law. In our conversation we discuss Mike's (largely unplanned) path to becoming a brand and marketing lawyer, what a brand and marketing lawyer does on a day-to-day basis (especially at a large company like Facebook), ways to stand out as part of an in-house legal team or as outside counsel servicing in-house legal teams, and techniques for transitioning into management roles where leadership skills become as important if not more important than legal skills. If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome back to How I Lawyer! Today's special episode is third in a series called "Panel Opinion" where I bring together experts on a particular topic (don't worry, there will be a new interview episode later this week or early next). Today's topic is on the mind of many How I Lawyer: how to succeed in your 1L year.  I am grateful to the three incredible professional academic success professionals who agreed to join me and share such incredible wisdom for those just starting their legal education:  Maura Demouy is the Director of Academic Success at Georgetown Law. At Georgetown, Maura provides personal and academic advising; develops and presents the 1L 101 workshop series; and oversees the peer tutoring program. She is also the head of the innovative RISE Program, which is designed to serve incoming JD students from backgrounds historically underrepresented in law school and the legal profession, including but not limited to underrepresented racial, ethnic, geographic, socioeconomic, and first generation college backgrounds. Prior to coming to Georgetown, Maura was the Dean of Students at The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law. She started her legal career as a law clerk to Judge Catherine Blake of the United States District Court for Maryland and as an associate in private practice at two law firms in Baltimore.  She is a graduate of Maryland’s Carey School of Law. Professor O.J. Salinas from the University of North Carolina School of Law where he is a Clinical Professor and Director of Academic Excellence. A native of South Texas, O.J. Salinas is the first Hispanic to hold a full-time faculty position at the University of North Carolina School of Law. His teaching and research interests include academic and bar support, legal writing, and client counseling. He has written several essays and blog posts on academic and bar support, and he is the author of A Short and Happy Guide to Effective Client Interviewing and Counseling (West 2016) and the upcoming book, MBEs for the MBE: Mnemonics, Blueprints, and Examples for the Multistate Bar Examination. Salinas is a graduate of the University of Dayton School of Law and St. Mary’s University. Before joining the academic ranks, Salinas practiced civil litigation in Texas and received a Master’s Degree in Counseling from the University of Texas at San Antonio, where he worked with individuals suffering from severe mental illness to students seeking educational academic support.  Professor Sarah Schendel from Suffolk Law. Sarah is an Associate Professor in the Law School's Academic Support Program where she teaches and writes in the areas of academic success, legal writing, negotiation and professional responsibility. She was previously an instructor at Emerson College, Northeastern University, and Northeastern University School of Law. Before that, she was an immigration attorney for 7 years, representing immigrants facing deportation, seeking security and safety in the United States, and reuniting their families. She was previously a Board Member of the Irish International Immigrant Center, and the Co-Chair of the Immigration Section of the Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association. She is a graduate of Bard College and Northeastern Law. Other Resources: - Rachel Gurvich's Article: https://scholarship.law.unc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1402&context=faculty_publications - Jonah's Tweet Thread on Law School Success: https://twitter.com/JonahPerlin/status/1425809608606507014?s=20

In this episode I speak with Cory Isaacson who works for the non-profit Georgia Resource Center where she represents indigent people on Georgia’s death row in their state and federal habeas corpus proceedings. Before coming to the Center, Cory was an attorney at Georgia Justice Project, where she represented people facing barriers to employment and housing because of their criminal history and advocated for reforms to the state’s record restriction laws in the legislature. Cory started her career in public interest lawyering as a student in and later an attorney and clinical supervisor at the Youth Defender Clinic at the East Bay Community Law Center, part of the clinical program at UC Berkeley School of Law where she represented young people in juvenile court and in school discipline proceedings.  In our conversation we discuss the importance of representing those who have been convicted of capital crimes, the benefit of clinical programs, the challenges of breaking into public interest lawyering, and the power of protecting everyone's humanity and dignity in the legal system. If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In most episodes of the How I Lawyer Podcast I interview individual lawyers about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it well. This special episode is the second in a series called "Panel Opinion" where I bring together experts on a particular topic. This episode is focused on how to succeed in on-campus interviewing in 2021. In this episode we discuss the current state of the legal market. It is also chock full of information for those who are about to start interviewing with law firms, those who may interview at law firms in the future, and even those doing the interviews.  I am grateful to have two incredible panelists for this episode: Donna Harris and Rob Cacace.  Donna Harris is the Director of Legal Recruiting based in the New York Office of Cleary Gottlieb. In that role, she advises firm leadership on recruiting strategy and is responsible for the recruiting, hiring and integration of all levels of legal talent across Cleary’s many offices and over 1,000 lawyers. She is also responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with law schools and search firms throughout the country. A recognized leader in the field of law firm talent management, she has served the legal industry continuously for over twenty years. She has held several elected positions in both NALP and NYCRA and is a frequent conference panelist and speaker on topics related to legal recruiting, professional development and diversity initiatives. She is a graduate of Pace University. Rob Cacace is the Executive Director of Professional Development in the Office of Career Strategy at Georgetown Law where he also serves as an adjunct professor. Before entering the Georgetown Law career strategy office about ten years ago Rob was a law clerk to Judge Gladys Kessler (DDC) and a plaintiff-side litigator. He is a graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Law, and Oxford. One final programming note: traditional interviews will return next week. In the meantime, if you have any feedback or suggestions for this occasional episode format or ideas for "Panel Opinion" episodes please let me know at [email protected] or @JonahPerlin on Twitter. Finally if you are interested in listening to previous episodes or want to be notified of future episodes they are all available at www.howilawyer.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Judge Robert Bacharach who is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Prior to becoming a federal appeals court judge in 2013, Judge Bacharach served as a Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Oklahoma for 14 years and before that as a litigator at the Oklahoma City law firm of Crowe & Dunlevy. He has also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Judge Bacharach started his legal career as a law clerk on the 10th Circuit for Judge William Holloway Jr., whose seat he now holds. He is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and the Washington University Law School. Judge Bacharach also recently published the book, Legal Writing: A Judge's Perspective on the Science and Rhetoric of the Written Word published by the ABA.  In our conversation we discuss his path to the bench, his process for hearing cases and crafting judicial opinions, and his general approach to legal writing as embodied in his recent book which draws on his years of experience on the bench as well as the fields of rhetoric and psycholinguistics. If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Megan Siddall who is a founder and the managing partner of the women-owned, Boston-based, criminal litigation boutique Miner Siddall LLP. Her practice focuses primarily on white collar criminal defense and criminal appeals but she also has extensive experience in civil litigation and government enforcement actions. She has practiced in a number of different kinds of law firms including a large law firm in Washington, D.C. and a medium-sized litigation boutique in Boston. Megan started her career as a law clerk to Judge John G. Koeltl of the Southern District of New York. She is a graduate of Georgetown University and Harvard Law School. In our conversation we discuss her work as a white collar criminal litigator, her experience founding and now running her women-owned litigation boutique, and her approach to handling cases large and small.  If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with legal commentator David Lat. For more than a decade David has been one of the country's foremost legal commentators and legal bloggers. He started his legal blogging career with the blog Underneath Their Robes where he wrote about the federal judiciary pseudonymously. He then went on to found Above the Law (one the country's most well-known legal media blogs) which he led for more than ten years. After a brief period working in legal recruiting, David recently returned to writing about law and the legal profession full-time with his newsletter Original Jurisdiction (davidlat.substack.com).  David started his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain (9th Circuit). He then worked as an associate at Wachtell and as an Assistant United States Attorney in New Jersey before shifting to a full-time career writing about the law.  In our conversation we discuss the his path to becoming a legal blogger; the importance of finding the intersection of what you like to do, what you are good at, and what your experience makes you uniquely qualified to do; some of his favorite Above the Law stories; and how lawyers can (and should) promote themselves and their work on the internet. If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Robert Tembeckjian, the Administrator and Counsel at the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct. The Commission is the independent state agency responsible for reviewing complaints of ethical misconduct against the more than 3,000 judges and justices in the New York Unified Court System. As the Chief Judicial Ethics Enforcement Officer in New York, he runs the day-to-day operations for the commission and leads a team of more than 40 based in New York City, Albany and Rochester. He is also an important leader in the field of judicial ethics having worked for the Commission for more than 40 years.  In our conversation we discuss the importance of judicial ethics enforcement, the process for conducting investigations, and some of the common ethical mistakes that judges make. We also discuss the types of skills and experiences that lend themselves to effective judicial enforcement lawyers. If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Patrice Sulton, the Founder and Executive Director of the DC Justice Lab, a nonprofit dedicated to researching, organizing, and advocating for large-scale change to Washington D.C.'s criminal justice system. Patrice not only has experience advocating for changes to the law. She has extensive experience actually rewriting these laws having served as a Senior Attorney Advisor to DC's Criminal Code Reform Commission, an independent agency within the District of Columbia government established to comprehensively revise the District’s Criminal Code. She also has experience representing clients in court and teaching both in the community and at the George Washington University School of Law where she has won a number of awards for her teaching.  In our conversation we talk about the process of drafting criminal laws and how to most effectively advocate for progressive changes to those laws, the importance of diversity and representation in the criminal justice non-profit community, how to balance the need to do individual representation and systems change work, the power of arguing from first principles, how to succeed as a young lawyer or law student in a new legal area, creating a "discipline of rest" to prevent burn out, and the ways that all lawyers--regardless of their primary role--can support organizations that serve their communities.   If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Matt Blumenstein, the Head of Underwriting and Deputy General Counsel at Statera Capital, a leading commercial litigation financing firm based in Chicago, Illinois. At Statera, Matt is responsible for leading the firm's investment underwriting and confirmatory diligence process and acts as the firm's Deputy General Counsel. Before joining Statera last year, Matt was an associate at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, D.C. where he litigated civil and criminal cases. He started his career as a law clerk to Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. In our conversation we take a deep dive on litigation finance: what it is, the role it plays in litigation today, and some of the potential benefits and challenges that it presents. We also discuss Matt's move from Big Law practice to entrepreneurial start up, and why it is important to build networks, bet on yourself, and take chances when presented with them. If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Karen Vladeck, an employment lawyer at the law firm Wittliff Cutter PLLC based in Austin, Texas. Karen represents corporate, start-up, and non-profit clients in the resolution of employment disputes and counsels clients from many different industries on  employment-related issues. Before moving to Texas, Karen practiced employment law at Arent Fox LLP in Washington, D.C. After graduating from the University of Miami Law School, Karen started her legal career as a law clerk to Judge Mary Ellen Barbera of the Court of Appeals of Maryland (Maryland's highest court). In addition to her practice, Karen co-hosts a podcast called In Loco Parent(i)s with her husband Steve who is a professor at the University of Texas School of Law where they "discuss parenting and lawyering — in that order."     In our conversation we discuss what employment lawyers do (and what she loves about that practice area), her unplanned path to Texas, the importance of both being lucky and making your own luck in finding career success, what its like to practice at a small, start-up-style law firm, strategies for balancing both personal and professional fulfillment in two-lawyer parent families, and what she loves and has learned from both podcasting and maintaining an active social media presence.  If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In most episodes of the How I Lawyer Podcast I interview individual lawyers about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it well.  This special episode is a little bit different. It is the first in a new, occasional series called "Panel Opinion," where I host a panel of experts about a discreet topic as opposed to sharing the story of a single lawyer. In this episode, we tackle the question that is on the minds of many as we head into the summer: how can a law student succeed as a legal intern or summer associate especially in a remote or hybrid world? The panelists include:  Natasha Zech who is the Director of Attorney Recruiting, Diversity, and Development at my old law firm, Williams & Connolly LLP here in Washington, D.C. In that role, Natasha wears a number of hats, but most important for today’s episode she is the coordinator of hiring and the summer associate program--which as I can attest as both a former summer associate and firm lawyer are absolutely stellar. Natasha has been at Williams & Connolly for the past eleven years and before that was a litigator at several firms in the D.C. area and was a law clerk on the D.C. Superior Court. She is a graduate of UVA (Go Cavaliers) and the Georgetown University Law Center (Go Hoyas).  Professor Rachel Gurvich who is a clinical associate professor of law at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Professor Gurvich teaches legal research and writing and has also served as the co-chair of the Clerkship Committee. She is well known on social media for her work supporting law students not just at UNC but across the country, often under the Twitter hashtag #PracticeTuesday. Before UNC, she clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and practiced for seven years at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr in Boston, where she specialized in patent and appellate litigation and helped coordinate that office’s summer associate program. She is a graduate of UNC (Go Heels) and Harvard Law (Go Crimson).  Jean Yin Crews who is a counsel at Venable LLP in Washington, D.C. where she practices real estate law. Jean started at Venable as a summer associate a decade ago and has been practicing there since graduation! Jean also spent two years co-running the office’s summer program and has served on the firm’s hiring committee. She is a graduate of Princeton (Go Tigers) and Penn Law (Go Quakers). One final programming note: traditional interviews will return on Thursday. In the meantime, if you have any feedback or suggestions for this new occasional episode format or ideas for "Panel Opinion" episodes please let me know at [email protected] or @JonahPerlin on Twitter.  Finally if you are interested in listening to previous episodes they are all available at www.howilawyer.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Collin Seguin, an insurance lawyer and business executive at Travelers Insurance in Hartford, Connecticut. Collin currently serves as the Assistant Vice President and Regional Director for the Subrogation Major Case Unit where he leads a team that handles many of the most complex subrogation cases in the company. He has also served in many different roles in his 15-year tenure at Travelers including as an in-house litigation counsel, paralegal, and customer service's professional. He completed his JD at the University of Connecticut School of law in the evening while working full-time at Travelers as well. In 2019, Collin was named to the Hartford Business Journal's 40 under 40 for his professional accomplishments and his work in the community including serving as an alumni mentor to first-year law students at his alma mater.  In our conversation we discuss the different roles one can play in insurance law, how he survived full-time work and being a full-time law student, what he learned from his time as a litigator that assists him in his managerial role, the techniques he uses to manage remote teams in non-pandemic times, the importance of building skills from both strength areas and areas of potential improvement as a lawyer, how to speak to different audiences, and techniques for staying engaged in areas of the law outside of his specific professional niche.  If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Kannon Shanmugam who is a Partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP where he is both the Chair of the Supreme Court and Appellate Practice Group and the Managing Partner of the Washington D.C. office. Kannon is one of our generations most prominent and prolific Supreme Court advocates. He was recently named 2021 Appellate Litigator of the Year by Benchmark Litigation and has argued 32 cases before the United States Supreme Court. Prior to joining Paul Weiss, he spent ten years as a Partner at Williams & Connolly LLP and more than four years as an Assistant to the Solicitor General. Kannon clerked for Judge J. Michael Luttig (Fourth Circuit) and Justice Antonin Scalia. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School as well as Oxford where he earned an M.Litt. in Classics as a Marshall Scholar.  In our conversation we discuss his path to appellate and Supreme Court advocacy, the role that his clerkships play in his approach to advocacy, how he prepares for and conducts oral argument, and how to stand out both as a young associate and as a more senior lawyer tasked with transforming the work of others into his own. Make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or wherever you get your podcasts. 

In this episode I speak with Paul Grewal who currently serves as the Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at Coinbase, the leading cryptocurrency exchange in the United States where he and his team were recently responsible for overseeing the company's massively successful IPO. Before joining Coinbase in September 2020, Paul spent four years as a Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Facebook. Before that, Paul was an accomplished intellectual property litigator, law firm partner, and federal Magistrate Judge in the Northern District of California. Early in Paul's legal career he served as a law clerk both in the Northern District of Ohio and on the Federal Circuit. Paul is a graduate of MIT and the University of Chicago Law School.  In our conversation we discuss what it is like to work as a lawyer for companies focused on emerging technologies such as Coinbase and Facebook, how to stand out as a junior lawyer even in these new industries, what he learned as a federal Magistrate Judge before moving in-house, the reasons that he thinks we are in a "golden age" for lawyers, and the future of "remote first" practice of law.  Sign up for alerts about future episodes at howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts (pod.link/howilawyer).

In this episode I speak with Mark Joseph Stern who is a legal analyst and the Supreme Court Correspondent for Slate magazine. He is also the author of the book, American Justice 2019: The Roberts Court Arrives. Mark is a graduate of Georgetown University and the Georgetown University Law Center. His writing is available at slate.com and @mjs_DC on Twitter. In our conversation we discuss his path to legal journalism, the similarities and differences between writing as a lawyer and writing as a journalist, how he learns and writes about complex legal topics for non-legal audiences, the role of social media for lawyers and legal journalists--and how legal journalists can amplify otherwise forgotten legal stories. Sign up for alerts about future episodes at howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts (pod.link/howilawyer).

In this episode I speak with Liz Glazer who is a former lawyer and tenured law professor who is now a full-time, professional stand-up comedian and actress. Liz is graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago Law School. After law school, she worked in the real estate department at Fried Frank in New York City before joining the faculty and receiving tenure at Hofstra University Law School. At Hofstra, her scholarship focused on issues facing the LGBTQ community. Her work is published in the Northwestern Law Review and the Georgetown Law Journal among others. But in 2015, Liz left her position at Hofstra to pursue a full-time career in stand-up comedy where she recently won the 2020 Boston Comedy Festival. She performs all around the country in-person and now via Zoom. You can learn more about at her at dealizglazer.com or on Twitter at @ElizabethGlazer. In our conversation we discuss success, rejection, and serendipity; how her student note allowed her to follow her dream to become a law professor; and then how a combination of a magical first stand up act, an academic disappointment, and a once-in-a-career financial opportunity led her to find her true professional calling and more importantly true joy as a comedian.  Sign up for alerts about future episodes at howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts (pod.link/howilawyer).

In this episode I speak with Pia Owens. Pia has worked as a technology lawyer at a big law firm, in state government, and now for a technology company based in Massachusetts where she is responsible for commercial agreements, software licensing, cybersecurity, and data privacy. Pia is a graduate of Brown University and Harvard Law. Before attending law school in her late 20s, Pia was a software engineer.  In our conversation, we discuss how Pia handles new and complex cybersecurity regulatory regimes, how she drafts contracts, the differences between practicing as a technology layer in an in-house setting as outside counsel and as a government attorney. We also discuss some of the professional jumps that she took to find a career that was fulfilling both personally and professionally.  Sign up for alerts about future episodes at howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts (pod.link/howilawyer).

In this episode I speak with Ken Basin. Ken is a seasoned Hollywood lawyer who is currently the Executive Vice President and Head of Business Affairs at Paramount Television Studios. He began his legal career at the law firm Greenberg Glusker where he practiced both litigation and transactional law as the Associate Chair of the Entertainment Department. After leaving the firm he became a business affairs executive at Amazon, then at Sony, and now at Paramount Television Studios. In addition to his practical experience in the field, Ken is the author of the book The Business of Television. He also has served as an adjunct professor or lecturer at Harvard, UCLA, and Southwestern Law Schools. In our conversation we talk about how to break into entertainment law, the dual business-legal role of a business affairs executive, the importance of learning "the business" to the success of any lawyer, negotiating from a position that everyone can win, and how to shift your mindset as a lawyer from "no" to "no but."   Sign up for alerts about future episodes at howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts (pod.link/howilawyer).

In this episode I speak with Tiffany Wright. Tiffany is the Co-Director of the Howard University Law School's Human and Civil Right's Clinic. Tiffany is a graduate of the University of Maryland and the Georgetown University Law Center where she completed her law degree at night while also serving as Editor-in-Chief of the Georgetown Law Journal's Annual Review of Criminal Procedure and working full time as a law clerk and paralegal at the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland. Before her position at Howard, Tiffany worked as an associate at two prominent DC law firms: WilmerHale and Orrick, Herrington, and Sutcliffe LLP (where she remains a Managing Associate).  Tiffany started her legal career as a law clerk to three federal judges in Washington, D.C.: Judge Royce Lamberth (DDC), Judge David Tatel (DC Circuit), and Justice Sonia Sotomayor (U.S. Supreme Court).  In our conversation, we discussed her remarkable path to becoming a lawyer that began with a family tragedy, took a detour with some helpful advice from a lawyer who came to her aid as a child, and continues today with her role leading the charge to protect the rights of those who need that protection the most. We also discussed how Tiffany was able to complete law school at night with a full-time job and a young son at home, the many skills she learned as a law clerk including how to write opinions in complex and technical areas, the role and strategy behind amicus briefs including those drafted by her clinic, the power of representation and diversity in our profession, and how to best integrate the policy behind the law, into written legal advocacy.  Sign up for alerts about future episodes at howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts (pod.link/howilawyer).

In this episode I speak with Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser about his career in public service. Attorney General Weiser is a graduate of Swarthmore College and NYU Law School. After graduation he clerked for Judge Ebel on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Colorado and then on the United States Supreme Court for Justice White and Justice Ginsburg. After completing his three clerkships he worked at the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division for two years before returning to Colorado and entering academia at the University of Colorado Law School where he worked for ten years teaching and directing the Silicon Flatirons Center. After that, he returned to DC to work as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust at the Department of Justice under President Obama and then as a Senior Advisor at the National Economic Council before returning to the University of Colorado where he taught for ten more years including five five as dean. In May 2017 he successfully ran for Attorney General of the State of Colorado.  In our conversation we discuss his path from law clerk to government attorney to academic and then ultimately state attorney general and the skills along the way that led him to success at each step: a desire to serve, a commitment to empathy, a focus on the task at hand, and a helpful dose of willingness to take risks and see where serendipity took him.  Sign up for alerts about future episodes at howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts (pod.link/howilawyer).

In this episode I speak with Lieutenant Joshua Fiveson, Senior Appellate Counsel in the Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps and former law clerk on the Texas State Supreme Court and the military's highest court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. In our conversation we discuss what it is like to be a military lawyer and the path to that career, what he learned from his clerkships (and how he thinks about applying for clerkships and how to succeed once there), and the importance of working hard as a new lawyer while also not forgetting that there is more to life than professional success.  Sign up for alerts about future episodes at howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts (pod.link/howilawyer).

In this episode I speak with Juvaria Khan, the founder and director of the Appellate Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering law students of color to thrive in the appellate field. In our conversation we discuss what it is like to found and run a non-profit, her path to becoming a non-profit founder including stints at Big Law firms, a district court clerkship, and several years as an impact litigator at Muslim Advocates. We also discuss the goals of the Appellate Project and the importance and potential impact of better representation in the field of appellate advocacy.  Sign up for alerts about future episodes at howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts (pod.link/howilawyer).

In this episode I speak with Andrew Trask, a Partner at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington D.C. where he practices patent litigation. Andrew has played practically every professional role in the patent process. He started his career as a scientist/chemist where he was the co-inventor on a number of patents. He then went on to work as a non-lawyer Patent Agent at a large law firm in New York City while he completed law school at night. After graduation he clerked on the Federal Circuit (the federal court of appeals responsible for hearing patent appeals) and then after a few years at Williams & Connolly as a patent litigator he moved in-house to work at Google. He returned to the firm several years ago where he was just elected to the partnership this year. In our conversation, we discuss his path from scientist to lawyer, what it was like to simultaneously work as a big law patent agent and complete law school at night, the unique nature of practicing before the federal circuit, the differences of working in-house and at a private law firm, and some tips and tricks to succeed as a patent litigator.  Sign up for future episodes at howilawyer.com or wherever you get your podcasts (pod.link/howilawyer).

In this episode I speak with Khalida Sims, an Assistant Federal Defender in the Northern District of Ohio in Cleveland. Before her current position she worked as a public defender in Cuyahoga County, Ohio for seven years.  In our conversation, we discuss her path to becoming a public defender, the roles she plays both inside and outside the courtroom, the importance of building rapport with clients (especially those who are currently incarcerated), the centrality of representing the person and not the conduct, and how a trip to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina changed her professional life. Sign up for future episode updates at howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts (pod.link/howilawyer).

In this episode I speak with Zarena Sita who is an Assistant State's Attorney in Baltimore County, Maryland.  In our conversation, we discuss her path to becoming a prosecutor, how she reviews case files, makes plea offers, and prepares her opening statements, the role of on-the-job training, some of her most memorable moments in trial, and the importance of diversity in prosecutor's offices. 

In this episode I speak with Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle. Judge Huvelle recently retired from the bench after twenty years of service on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (federal trial court) and ten years on the D.C. Superior Court before that. In our conversation, we discuss her pioneering career as the first woman elected to the partnership at Williams & Connolly LLP, the shifts in the practice of law over the past forty years, her path to the bench, why she loved working with juries, how she kept up with the hundreds of cases on her docket, her approach to writing opinions, conducting oral arguments, and sentencing criminal defendants, and how she selected and worked with law clerks.

In this episode I speak with Nick Boyle who is a litigation partner at Latham & Watkin’s Washington D.C. Office. Before that he was a litigator at Williams & Connolly for almost twenty years.  Nick hails from Scotland and came to America after completing degrees at King's College and Cambridge to study at Harvard for an LLM. His international practice focuses on commercial litigation where he has represented business to business data providers, software companies, movie studios, investment banks, private equity funds, and even a Hall of Fame NBA basketball coach. In an age of specialization and silos, Nick has done it all: corporate work, arbitrations, trials, appeals, and strategic advising for individuals and institutions. But what makes Nick standout in a world of excellent civil litigators is not just the breadth and depth of his practice but also his focus on mentoring and developing junior associates. In our conversation we talk about the nature of his Big Law civil litigation practice, how a kid from Scotland became an American litigator, the importance of learning from experience, the central role of networking and getting to know people as a lawyer, best practices for how to mentor younger lawyers, how younger lawyers can stand out by taking ownership of their cases, and the importance of law at this moment of national challenges. (Seriously don’t miss the end of this episode.)

In this episode I speak with Jay Hyne who is a Director of U.S. Regulatory Relations at American Express. Before transitioning to regulatory work at Amex, Jay worked in the Financial Intelligence Unit where he conducted anti-money laundering investigations. He started his career as a law clerk to Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith in Hartford, Connecticut and then worked a litigation associate at an AmLaw 200 firm in New York City. Jay is a graduate of Brandies University and the University of Connecticut Law School.  In the conversation we discuss his path from litigation to investigations to regulatory work, the importance of emotional intelligence and reputation in the life of a lawyer, the importance of taking parental leave when its offered, and the ways that a legal skillset can extend from the courtroom to the boardroom. 

In this episode I speak with Raffi Melkonian who is a Partner at Wright Close & Barger LLP in Houston, Texas. Raffi is an experienced appellate litigator who practices in Texas state courts, the federal courts of appeal, and the United States Supreme Court. When he is not drafting legal briefs, arguing at the lectern, or cooking up feasts for his family, you can find him on Twitter @RMFifthCircuit where has been dubbed the "so-called Dean" of #AppellateTwitter. In the conversation we discuss his path from New York Big Law corporate lawyer to Texas appellate litigator, the personal and professional benefits of social media, the unique nature of appellate practice in Texas, what he learned from his trial and appellate clerkships, and how he writes briefs and prepares for oral argument.

In this episode I speak with Andrea Stagg (@AndreaStagg) who is the Deputy General Counsel at Barnard College in New York City. In the conversation we discuss how a college internship led her to a career in higher education law, the unique joys (and challenges) of working in the general counsel's office at a college or university, and the power of e-mail as a means to convey concise and kind legal advice.  

In this episode I tell a little bit about my story and the story of my new podcast, How I Lawyer.