How I Lawyer Podcast with Jonah Perlin
Jonah Perlin
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In this podcast Professor Jonah Perlin (Georgetown Law) interviews lawyers from across the profession about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it well.
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May 26, 2023
#113: Mark Fava - Aviation Lawyer
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.
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May 19, 2023
#112: Panel Opinion - How I Law Student (An Episode About Paths to Law School & Finding Success Once You Arrive)
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.
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May 12, 2023
#111: Paul Sarker - Entertainment Lawyer
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.
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May 5, 2023
#110: Jordana Confino - Lawyer Well-being & Positive Lawyering Expert, Assistant Dean of Professionalism at Fordham Law
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.
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Apr 28, 2023
#109: Priya Coffey - Real Estate Lawyer
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.
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Mar 24, 2023
#108: Donald Sherman - Government Ethics & Oversight Lawyer
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.
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Mar 17, 2023
#107: Kevin Elliker - Investigations & Appeals Lawyer, Former Federal Prosecutor, and Former Investigative Counsel to the January 6th House Select Committee
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?
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Mar 10, 2023
#106: Dan Cotter - Chicago Business and Privacy Lawyer, Former In-House Counsel, Bar Leader, Author, and Podcaster
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?
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Mar 3, 2023
#105: Brian Farkas - Mediation, Arbitration, and Litigation Attorney
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)
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Feb 24, 2023
#104: John Strohmeyer - Tax and Estate Planning Lawyer & Legal Marketing Expert
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)
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Feb 17, 2023
#103: Panel Opinion - Paths to Becoming an Appellate Lawyer (Collaboration with The Appellate Project)
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://ww…
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Feb 10, 2023
#102: Matt Schwartz - Financial Transactions Attorney and Mentorship Thought Leader
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 practi…
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Feb 3, 2023
#101: Michelle K. Camp - Freelance Attorney
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…
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Jan 27, 2023
#100: Kristen Vander-Plas LaFreniere - Teeny Law Firm Founder, Business Lawyer, and Litigator
💯 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.
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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 Stat…
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Jan 20, 2023
#099: Jenni Katzman - Government & Policy Lawyer
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…
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Jan 13, 2023
#098: Panel Opinion - How to Succeed as a Junior Associate with Sean Marotta and Michelle Strowhiro
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 f…
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Dec 30, 2022
#097: Jonah Perlin - Law Professor and How I Lawyer Host (Interviewed by Personal Jurisdiction)
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 Ye…
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Dec 27, 2022
#096: Karine Sokpoh - Business and Immigration Lawyer
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 sponsor…
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Dec 27, 2022
#095: Kevin Buckley - Biopharma and Digital Health Patent Attorney
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…
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Dec 23, 2022
#094: Jack Newton - Legal Tech Founder & CEO
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.…
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Dec 16, 2022
#093: John Grant - Legal Process Improvement Coach
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 s…
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Dec 9, 2022
#092: Mark Palmer - Chief Counsel of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism & Former Police Officer
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…
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Nov 22, 2022
#091: Angela Lennon - Family Lawyer
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, edi…
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Nov 17, 2022
#090: A Short Chat with Former Solicitor General Neal Katyal on Audience and Writing
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.
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Nov 17, 2022
#089: Mary Chartier - Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer
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 p…
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Nov 11, 2022
#088: Joshua Lenon - Legal Tech "Lawyer in Residence"
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.
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Oct 28, 2022
#087: Eli Albrecht - Big Law Corporate M&A Private Equity Lawyer & Law Dad
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…
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Oct 21, 2022
#086: Ashley Herd - HR & Employment Lawyer, General Counsel, TikTok Creator
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 conn…
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Oct 14, 2022
#085: Helen Wan - Media Lawyer Turned Novelist, Author of The Partner Track (Now a Netflix Series)
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 difficul…
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Oct 7, 2022
#084: Sateesh Nori - Housing Rights Attorney
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 a…
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Sep 30, 2022
#083: Megan Cacace - Civil Rights Lawyer & Technology Anti-Discrimination Advocate
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 advisi…
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Sep 22, 2022
#082: Mauricio Noroña - Immigration Lawyer
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 profes…
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Sep 16, 2022
#081: M.C. Sungaila - California Appellate Lawyer & Portia Project Podcast Host
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…
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Sep 9, 2022
#080: Paresh Patel - Appellate Federal Public Defender
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,…
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Sep 1, 2022
#079: Micah Gibson - International Tax Director
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 a…
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Aug 26, 2022
#078: Alé Dalton - Healthcare Transactional Attorney & First Gen Lawyer
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…
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Aug 18, 2022
#077: Christine E. Webber - Plaintiffs' Class Action Employment & Civil Rights Lawyer
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 b…
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Aug 10, 2022
#076: Kobie Flowers - Civil Rights & Criminal Defense Lawyer
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 skil…
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Aug 3, 2022
#075: Kirk Nahra - Experienced Privacy & Cybersecurity Lawyer
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 Univ…
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Jul 28, 2022
#074: Evan Rothstein - IP & Web3 Lawyer
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.…
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Jul 21, 2022
#073: Vivek Jayaram - Lawyer for Innovators
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 pro…
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Jul 14, 2022
#072: D. Todd Smith & Jody Sanders - Texas Appellate Lawyers & Podcast Hosts of the Texas Appellate Law Podcast
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…
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Jun 30, 2022
#071: Helam Gebremariam - Cravath Litigation Partner & Former DOJ Senior Counsel
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…
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Jun 15, 2022
#070: Bradford Hardin - Banking & FinTech Services Lawyer
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…
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Jun 8, 2022
#069: David Sparks (MacSparky) - "Country Doctor" Lawyer Turned Productivity and Consumer Technology Expert
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 transiti…
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May 31, 2022
#068: Doron J. Gold - Lawyer Turned Therapist to Lawyers (Mental Health Month Collaboration with Personal Jurisdiction Podcast)
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 Univers…
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May 24, 2022
#067: Dr. Diana Uchiyama - Executive Director of the Illinois Lawyers' Assistance Program (Mental Health Month Collaboration with Personal Jurisdiction Podcast)
**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 an…
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May 17, 2022
#066: Brian Cuban - Attorney, Author, & Addiction Recovery Advocate (Mental Health Month Collaboration with Personal Jurisdiction Podcast)
**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 s…
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May 10, 2022
#065: Bridgette Carr and Vivek Sankaran - Designing a Fulfilling Life as a Lawyer (Mental Health Month Collaboration with Personal Jurisdiction Podcast)
**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 h…
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May 3, 2022
#064: Heidi Brown - Expert on Introversion, Fear, and Performance in the Legal Profession (Mental Health Month Collaboration with Personal Jurisdiction Podcast)
**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 e…
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Apr 27, 2022
#063: Fabio Bertoni - Media Lawyer & General Counsel of The New Yorker Magazine
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…
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Apr 20, 2022
#062: Danielle Citron - Law Professor, Privacy Scholar & MacArthur Genius Fellow
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, Pro…
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Apr 14, 2022
#061: Sara Y. Razi - Antitrust Lawyer
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…
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Apr 8, 2022
#060: Jay Harrington - Legal Business Development, Marketing, and PR Expert
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 opene…
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Mar 30, 2022
#059: Jean Lee - President & CEO of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association
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-profi…
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Mar 25, 2022
#058: Abigail Kohlman - Investigations Lawyer with Extensive Pro Bono Practice
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 mas…
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Mar 16, 2022
#057: Jesse Mosier - Startup Lawyer with a Focus on Latin America
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…
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Mar 11, 2022
#056: John B. Quinn - Prominent Litigator & Founder of Quinn Emanuel
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 techn…
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Mar 2, 2022
#055: Emily Dunlap - Attorney for Trafficked and Exploited Persons
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 situa…
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Feb 22, 2022
#054: Panel Opinion - Oral Argument Techniques from Judge Patricia Millett, Joe Palmore, and Prof. Tiffany Wright
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…
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Feb 16, 2022
#053: Robert Ingalls - Legal Podcast Producer, Trained Lawyer, and Small Business Owner
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 practi…
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Feb 8, 2022
#052: Jason Bennett - Energy / Global Projects Lawyer
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-d…
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Feb 1, 2022
#051: Chief Justice Harold Melton - Former Chief Justice, Georgia State Supreme Court; Partner at Troutman Pepper
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 Geor…
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Dec 29, 2021
#050: Tiffany Graves & Ellyn Haikin Josef - Pro Bono Counsel
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 bas…
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Dec 28, 2021
#049: David J. Ribner - CFIUS and International Trade Compliance Lawyer
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…
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Dec 23, 2021
#048: Adam Yoffie - Pharmaceutical Industry Investigations & Litigation Counsel
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; techniqu…
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Dec 21, 2021
#047: Austin King - Government Attorney at Federal Trade Commission
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 C…
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Dec 15, 2021
#046: Rebecca Blake Chaikin - Bankruptcy and Restructuring Attorney
**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 pod…
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Dec 8, 2021
#045: Gabriel Teninbaum - Legal Innovation and Productization Expert
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 cod…
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Dec 3, 2021
#044: Jeremy Siegel - Cannabis Attorney
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…
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Dec 2, 2021
#043: How I Mentor (Special) - Introducing the Legal Mentor Network with Executive Director Chrystal Mauro
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…
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Nov 23, 2021
#042: Suzanne Levy Friedman - Medical Devices Attorney
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 bef…
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Nov 19, 2021
#041: Suchi Pahi - Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Lawyer
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…
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Nov 3, 2021
#040: Jared Knicley - Environmental Litigator
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 craft…
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Oct 20, 2021
#039: Russ Feingold - Former US Senator and President of the American Constitution Society
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.…
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Oct 13, 2021
#038: Brian Potts - Big Firm Environment and Energy Lawyer, Inventor, and Author of The Jobless Lawyer's Handbook
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…
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Oct 6, 2021
#037: Alex Su - Legal Tech Leader and Social Media Maven
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 all…
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Sep 29, 2021
#036: Carl Cecere - Appellate Lawyer and Solo Practitioner
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 allowe…
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Sep 21, 2021
#035: EJ Lee - Solo Trademark and Copyright Attorney
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 t…
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Sep 9, 2021
#034: David Lucking - Derivatives Lawyer and Head of Global International Capital Markets at Allen & Overy
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 rol…
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Sep 1, 2021
#033: Brant Martin - Commercial Trial Lawyer
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…
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Aug 25, 2021
#032: Mike Yaghmai - Facebook's Head of Brand and Marketing Legal
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 li…
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Aug 16, 2021
#031: Panel Opinion (Special Edition) - Tools for Success for New 1Ls
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, socioeconomi…
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Aug 4, 2021
#030: Cory Isaacson - Lawyer for Clients on Death Row
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 publi…
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Jul 30, 2021
#029: Panel Opinion (Special) - On-Campus Interviewing 2021
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.…
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Jul 21, 2021
#028: Judge Robert Bacharach - Federal Appeals Court Judge
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 approa…
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Jul 14, 2021
#027: Megan Siddall - White Collar Litigator, Founder and Managing Partner at Woman-Owned Litigation Boutique
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 whereve…
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Jul 7, 2021
#026: David Lat - Legal Commentator
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 inters…
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Jun 30, 2021
#025: Robert Tembeckjian - New York Chief Judicial Ethics Enforcement Officer
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 e…
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Jun 23, 2021
#024: Patrice Sulton - Criminal Justice Reformer, Civil Rights Lawyer, Legislative Drafter, and Non-Profit Founder
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 just…
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Jun 14, 2021
#023: Matthew Blumenstein - Litigation Finance Director and Underwriter
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.…
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Jun 3, 2021
#022: Karen Vladeck - Employment Lawyer and Podcaster
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…
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Jun 1, 2021
#021: Panel Opinion (Special) - How To Succeed as a Legal Intern or Summer Associate (Especially in a Remote or Hybrid World)
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. Na…
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May 27, 2021
#020: Collin Seguin - Insurance Lawyer
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 ful…
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May 11, 2021
#019: Kannon Shanmugam - Supreme Court Advocate
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 adv…
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May 4, 2021
#018: Paul Grewal - Cryptocurrency Chief Legal Officer, Tech Lawyer, Former Magistrate Judge
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 federa…
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Apr 26, 2021
#017: Mark Joseph Stern - Legal Journalist
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).
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Apr 14, 2021
#016: Liz Glazer - Law Professor Turned Comedian and Actress
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 t…
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Mar 31, 2021
#015: Pia Owens - In-House Technology Lawyer
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).
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Mar 24, 2021
#014: Ken Basin - Entertainment Lawyer and Business Affairs Executive
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…
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Mar 16, 2021
#013: Tiffany Wright - Civil Rights Lawyer and Clinic Director
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 fa…
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Mar 9, 2021
#012: Phil Weiser - Colorado Attorney General
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 20…
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Mar 2, 2021
#011: Joshua Fiveson - Military Lawyer and Former State Supreme Court and Federal Appellate Law Clerk
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).
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Feb 16, 2021
#010: Juvaria Khan - Founder and Director of the Appellate Project Non-Profit
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).
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Feb 9, 2021
#009: Andrew Trask - Scientist Turned Patent Litigator
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…
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Feb 2, 2021
#008: Khalida Sims - Public Defender
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).
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Jan 26, 2021
#007: Zarena Sita - Assistant State's Attorney
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.
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Jan 18, 2021
#006: Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle - Federal District Court Judge (Retired)
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.
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Jan 9, 2021
#005: Nick Boyle - Accomplished International Litigator
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…
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Jan 9, 2021
#004: Jay Hyne - Director of Regulatory Relations
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.
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Jan 2, 2021
#003: Raffi Melkonian - Texas Appellate Litigator and #AppellateTwitter Dean
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.
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Jan 2, 2021
#002: Andrea Stagg - College Deputy General Counsel
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.
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Dec 27, 2020
#001: Welcome to How I Lawyer (Trailer)
In this episode I tell a little bit about my story and the story of my new podcast, How I Lawyer.
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