Legal Talk Network - Law News and Legal Topics

In this episode, Johanna White joins me to talk about the world of branding and how to position your brand as premium vs. commodity. We discuss what branding truly means, debunking common misconceptions along the way, and provide valuable insights into Johanna’s three-step process required when starting a brand and offer guidance on how to effectively distinguish your brand from competitors.Johanna White is an award-winning graphic designer and visual branding strategist who designs premium brand identities that create impactful first impressions. As the founder of Design By Jo Studio, she believes that if someone is the best at what they do, they deserve to look like it! For the past decade, she’s worked with everyone from individuals to Fortune 200 brands worldwide to help magnetize their dream opportunities, clients and investors, and be as delightfully expensive as they deserve to be. Johanna knows there’s no limit on success, and she proved it several years ago when she took life by the horns and started three companies within one year while battling a brain tumor. At a time when everyone else in her life was suggesting that she quit working and go on social security to cover medical bills, she chose to do the opposite and defy the odds. As a result, Johanna is a now a “Dreamer Extraordinaire” for top performers, elite experts, and companies who are driven to maximize their impact. Specializing in designing premium brand identities from start to finish, Johanna assists her clients in a large range of needs, with complete branding packages that include everything you need to show up in the world as your best. - These days, she is on a mission to help other driven founders fully capture their uniqueness, level up their legacy and embody their limitless potential. Johanna gives listeners actionable tips on: [1:55] How most people treat their brand [3:45] What brand is and isn't [8:20] The three step process you need when starting a brand [10:20] How to distinguish your brand [13:10] Creating a premium vs. commodity brand [16:55] How to translate this into your firm [18:10] Developing brand consistency [24:30] Having clarity in your brand message [28:10] Why you need to create an intentional brand [30:30] Why it's hard to undo preconceived brand perceptions [39:30] Johanna's book recommendation Resources mentioned in this episode:Start by Jon AcuffConnect with Johanna here: https://www.instagram.com/designbyjostudio/  https://www.linkedin.com/in/johanna-white-designbyjo/ https://www.facebook.com/Designbyjostudio  https://www.designbyjostudio.com/  Connect with me Instagram Pinterest Facebook Twitter Karin on Twitter Karin on LinkedIn Conroy Creative Counsel on Facebook https://conroycreativecounsel.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the current exam, candidates have a 90% chance of passing, if they follow the advice of their law schools’ academic support staff.When the National Conference of Bar Examiners launches a revamped version of the bar exam in 2026, called the NextGen bar exam, it is expected that there will be new assessments on skills including legal research, investigation and client counseling. And that could mean less focus on memorization for candidates. Or not, says Mike Sims, president of the test prep group BARBRI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to the League of Women Voters, “Voting is a fundamental principle, and all Americans deserve the equal opportunity to make their voices heard in our democracy.” Yet over the years, various states have suppressed voters from reaching the ballot box through various methods like strict ID laws, purging voter rolls, and cutting early voting. Gerrymandering, defined as “to manipulate the boundaries of (an electoral constituency) so as to favor one party or class” has taken center stage when it comes to voting in elections. Just recently, SCOTUS decided to take up a South Carolina racial gerrymandering case, a lower court decision that struck down a congressional district in South Carolina as an illegal racial gerrymander. This case will be heard by SCOTUS next term.In this episode, host Craig Williams joins guest, professor Ruth Greenwood, Director of the Election Law Clinic at Harvard Law School. Craig and Ruth discuss election law, voting rights, gerrymandering, and SCOTUS and the South Carolina racial gerrymandering case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lately, AI developments have been top of mind for just about everybody—lawyers included. And with AI’s potential to solve all kinds of workflow problems and majorly improve access to justice, the excitement around it does have real merit. However, concerns about accuracy, security, and the current lack of regulation are just as pressing as the excitement surrounding the AI bandwagon. To address all these issues and more, Sharon Nelson and Jim Calloway welcome John Simek to unpack the latest AI trends and their implications for lawyers. John W. Simek is vice president of the digital forensics, managed information technology and cybersecurity firm Sensei Enterprises. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Small Firm Roadmap Revisited doubled-down on our Healthy Firm model. But what, exactly, is it? Join us for another stop on our podcast book tour. This week we’re diving into recruiting, building, and retaining Healthy Teams.Stephanie talks with Aaron Elinoff, Labster and managing partner of Novo Legal Group, about how he guided his team to define who they are and how a breakthrough at a team retreat helped identify his firm’s vision and goals. Learn the steps he took to get his team aligned, moving in the same direction, and keep momentum.Links from the episode: If today’s podcast resonates with you and you haven’t read The Small Firm Roadmap Revisited yet, get the first chapter right now for free!Thanks to Posh Virtual Receptionists, Clio, & LawPay for sponsoring this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Let’s talk about bias. Not just “explicit” bias, the conscious bias for or against someone. Instead, think about “implicit” bias, those subconscious decisions we all make about hiring, capability, and value because of our own experiences. It happens every day. Guest Al De La Cruz leads the litigation department for the San Diego office of Manning & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez, Trester LLP and examines how our own internal biases affect our daily decisions, even if we don’t realize it. When legal cases touch on discrimination or other issues in employment law, start with understanding how the decision was made. What was going on? It’s complicated.To overcome bias, start by being intentional. Learn to reflect on your decisions and understand your own starting point and thought process. It’s not just race, ethnicity, or gender. Think about being tall, short, older, younger, etc.Bias has consequences across our daily lives, from education to business to economics and the law. Take this opportunity to make the best, most equitable, decisions you can. Start with the Harvard University’s implicit bias test.Mentioned in This Episode:Law360 Article, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (free registration required)Implicit Association Test (IAT), Harvard UniversityAmerican Bar Association, “Implicit Bias Videos and Toolkit”New York Times, “Why Many CEOs Are Tall People? The Height Of The Matter” (registration required)The Economic Times, “The Necktie Syndrome: Why CEOs Tend To Be Significantly Taller Than The Average Male”“Thinking Fast and Slow,” Daniel Khaneman“Blink, The Power of Thinking Without Thinking,” Malcolm Gladwell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Take a deep dive into eDiscovery for small and midsized firms with an old friend and frequent New Solo contributor, guest Brett Burney, a lawyer and longtime consultant who’s passionate about legal tech. Facing a mountain of electronic documents from PDFs to spreadsheets to emails to texts in discovery? You don’t need to be an expert, but you do need to understand the basics, the traps, and the available tools.Start by accepting that electronic files aren’t paper files. They are inherently different and aren’t meant to be printed out. Embrace the format and treat electronic documents as what they are. If you print electronic documentation out, or you accept a printed version, you’re not getting the full picture, and you’re letting potentially valuable information slip through your fingers.It's a digital world, and litigation is more likely than ever to include emails, smartphones, voice mails, social media posts and comments, and texts.If you’ve been wondering if you’re doing the best job possible with eDiscovery, this is the episode for you.Got questions or ideas about solo and small practices? Drop us a line at NewSolo@legaltalknetwork.com Topics: Electronic discovery (eDiscovery) involves electronic files that are inherently different than paper discovery. What you need to know and mistakes you may be making. Metadata included in electronic documents can offer valuable clues that help you prepare your case, but it’s easy to contaminate that data. Understand the available tools that organize, preserve, and prepare digital evidence, including extracting text messages, voice memos, and emails from smartphones and tablets.  Mentioned in This Episode:Previously on New Solo, with guest Brett Burney LegalWeek New YorkiMazing“Forensic Image,” Science DirectSynctechSynctech SMS Backup and RestoreX1 SearchPage VaultPagefreezer WebPreserver vs. PagefreezerRelativityRelativity OneEverlawNextPointLogicullDiscoLexbeGoldFynchAcrobatDigital WarRoomNextPoint blog, “eDiscovery with Outlook: 3 Reasons Why Outlook is NOT a Document Review Tool,” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the depths of addiction to helping attorneys overcome their own, lawyer and author Brian Cuban joins the show to share his personal journey, as well as shed light on the often overlooked issue of substance abuse within the legal community.Drawing from his own struggles, Brian highlights the unique pressures, stressors, and challenges which can commonly lead lawyers down the path of addiction. He also offers valuable advice to attorneys and law school students who find themselves grappling with similar issues.Tune in as we delve into the prominence of substance abuse, events that can contribute to addiction, available resources for support and guidance, and the steps lawyers can take towards a healthier and more fulfilling life.Additional Resources:Mental Health Options for AttorneysDealing with a Death or Serious IllnessHow Lawyers Can Cope with Vicarious TraumaVoices of Recovery Podcast SeriesABA Young Lawyers DivisionABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fastcase and vLex have merged to form the world's largest law library, containing the law from over 100 countries and more than a billion documents. One platform with all these resources means attorneys around the world will have bigger, better, faster access to everything they need to do legal research. Jared chats with Ed Walters of Fastcase about their goals for democratizing the law and what plans they have to continue developing this global library and legal AI for easier use.This time on the Rump Roast, Jared and Ed play “Wack-Ass Responses from AI to Completely Reasonable Prompts,” but that title seems a bit unwieldy, so you can just think of it as: “ChatGPT Jeopardy!”And, since AI will probably take over the world eventually, let’s prove our superiority while we still can. Jared’s found the clincher: we’re funny, and AI’s sense of humor is decidedly lame. We win.Ed Walters is the CEO and co-founder of Fastcase, an online legal research software company.Read more about the merger: Legal tech disruptors vLex and Fastcase merge to form world’s largest global law library-----Legal research is all about searching, but there's a lot of other stuff you can look for, too.-----Our opening track is Two Cigarettes by Major Label Interest.Our closing track is Yellow Letter by Sam Barsh. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How can one guy mess up this much?Ron DeSantis is about to announce a run for president, but meanwhile he's botching remedial civil procedure and running face first in the Fourteenth Amendment. Also, the Kamala Harris camp seems interested in reigniting her tough-on-crime persona by trashing public defenders. It's dangerous rhetoric that erodes faith in the justice system. Finally, Justice Kagan lashes out at Justice Sotomayor over intellectual property rights. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices