How I Lawyer Podcast with Jonah Perlin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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