Legal Talk Network - Law News and Legal Topics

Guest Charlène Gisèle is a former big-firm litigator turned professional high-performance coach. This show is about you. It’s about you being your best, taking better care of you, and avoiding burnout and other health issues. It’s no secret, the legal profession is a field filled with stress. Deadlines, precision, scheduling, marketing, and running a business. It’s a lot for anyone to handle. Gisèle helps her clients improve their well-being, increase productivity, and maintain a sustainable practice.It’s great to set goals, even ambitious goals, at the start of every new year. But don’t forget to take a moment to make a plan for yourself and how you’ll keep going, day after day, with so much weight on your shoulders. Hear how Gisèle used her own experience and a lot of professional research and training to develop a coaching method that helps stressed professionals enjoy their life and stay healthy. “You can have all the success in the world,” she says, “but if you’re not going to be around to see it, how much success is that truly going to be?” Do you feel stressed? Exhausted? Isolated? Do you know the symptoms of burnout? This is a podcast for you. You are not alone. Mentioned in This Episode:Charlène Gisèle's PodcastE-book, “Breathwork For Cognitive Performance,” by Charlène Gisèle “Burn-Out An ‘Occupational Phenomenon:’ International Classification Of Diseases,” World Health OrganizationJoin The Un-Billable Hour Community Table Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Under the 14th Amendment, "No state shall...deprive any person of...property, without due process of law." This principle was at the heart of the matter of the 2023 Supreme Court case of Culley v. Marshall, in which two women had respectively loaned their cars to others only to have the cars seized under an Alabama civil forfeiture law following each lendee's arrest for drug offenses. The petitioners claimed that, absent a preliminary hearing, their 14th Amendment rights had been violated. Justice Kavanagh wrote for the majority stating that “In civil forfeiture cases, the Due Process Clause requires a timely forfeiture hearing, but does not require a separate preliminary hearing.”In this episode, Craig is joined by Attorney Kirby Thomas West from the Institute for Justice to discuss the recent SCOTUS decision in Culley v. Marshall. Craig & Kirby spotlight civil forfeiture and the potential impact of this ruling.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a new lawyer, have you ever considered a career in government oversight? It’s a broad, important field that ensures a wide range of agencies work as designed while protecting public funds and interests.Guest Lucy Lang is a former prosecutor now serving as the New York Inspector General. She is charged with overseeing investigations into corruption, fraud, and abuse in the New York State government (more than 100 agencies) and has been a steady advocate of criminal justice reform. Lang shares her path and passion in this inspiring episode of Young Lawyer Rising.The complex nature of Lang’s work depends heavily on her ability to lead, a skill she had to learn on her own and is now pressing the legal education field to include in law school curriculum. Seeking out mentors, learning on the job, and taking on new challenges were all part of her career growth. “If not you, then who,” she asks. “Be brave; take the bull by the horns.”Get an inside look at the workings of government oversight, the value of public service, untangling difficult ethical decisions, and making a positive difference through leadership. It could be just what you need to help you take your next, bold step.Resources:New York Offices of the Inspector GeneralNew York State Offices of the Inspector General, Job PostingsLucy Lang, Wikipedia “Lucy Lang ’06: An Advocate for Criminal Justice Reform and Government Integrity,” Columbia University NewsLucy Lang, Selected Publications“New York State Inspector General Report Finds Persistent Racial Disparities in Discipline Within New York State Prisons”“NYS Parks Employee Pleads Guilty to Official Misconduct”New York State government oversight hotline: 1-800-DO RIGHTNew York Offices of the Inspector General on Twitter/XABA Section of State and Local Government LawAmerican Bar AssociationAmerican Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When forensic evidence gets it wrong, how do we free the innocent?-----In our history of criminal prosecutions, some types of evidence ended up being unreliable. Forensic sciences like bite-mark identification, arson investigations, and shaken baby syndrome sent many innocent people to prison. So where does that leave us? How do we make it right?Lindsay Herf, executive director for the Arizona Justice Project joins host Michael Semanchik to discuss junk science and ways to protect innocent people.Special thanks to our sponsor Clio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, author and speaker Emily Nagoski, Ph.D., discusses how to handle stress and break the burnout cycle in your personal and professional life.  Links from the episode:  Check out Rocket Matter: modern legal software for busy lawyers Burnout by Emily Nagoski  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!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jared kicks it off by exploring the biggest players in productivity software you should be using, well, be more productive. But no productivity suite is perfect. So, get to know the strengths and weaknesses of each so you can make the right choice for you.Then, back in the day, lawyers often got their IT services from some independent techie who took care of stuff on an as-needed basis, but that sort of break/fix model is problematic if your tech strategy is only reactive instead of proactive. Jared talks with Michael Doherty about what it looks like for lawyers to engage IT services through a managed service provider (MSP). Michael walks attorneys through modern realities and ethics for technology use in their law firms and the potential for better outcomes when working with an MSP. Later on—the Rump Roast, of course! The guys play “Hard Choices”, where Jared poses difficult Boston-themed scenarios and Michael must educate the masses on what a true Bostonian would do. -----Let's keep this Boston train going. Next stop: some of Boston's greatest musical hits.-----Our opening track is Two Cigarettes by Major Label Interest.Our closing track is Take a Ride With Me by The Revolution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now, this is a story all about how Sam Alito's wife got flipped-turned upside down.-----Sam Alito flew his flag upside down in the aftermath of the insurrection. He doesn't deny that, but he blames his wife for it. Dames, amirite? Aside from the obvious ethical issues implicated by having a Supreme Court justice visibly light in the "defending the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic" department, why is Alito so objectively bad at responding to his scandals? Next thing you know, he'll be blaming her for the Dobbs leak too. Meanwhile the California bar exam is running into bankruptcy and rather than address the problem, the State Bar is just gonna kick the can further down the road. And Elon Musk's lawyers again earn their reputation as the gang that can't shoot straight, managing to Streisand Effect a dispute with a Delaware law expert by threatening to fire a Biglaw firm if the professor filed his brief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you hear all this talk about how lawyers can use an assistant but worry it will never work for you? In this episode, Stephanie talks with law firm owner Robyn Christo, law firm owner, and Raquel Gomes, Stafi founder. Hear about Robyn’s experience hiring her first virtual assistant from Stafi and finally delegating her inbox to someone else! It can be done!  Links from the episode:  Visit Stafi and get $500 off with code Lawyerist!  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!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You want to help that friend of a friend with their minor auto accident settlement, but taking the case is not a good business decision. However, there are things you can do to extend goodwill and validate the referral…tune in for our tips. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It seems like every time that there’s a major disruption or event that threatens to upend the legal industry, it spells doom for the billable hour. But that could be more out of hope than anything else. The billable hour survived the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic, despite many people thinking—or maybe wishing—that it wouldn’t. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices