On The Merits

Jad Abumrad is the executive producer and creator of More Perfect, a podcast that explores Supreme Court cases and tries to explain the impact of the Court’s decisions on the lives of Americans. The challenge is making the cases “come alive,” Abumrad told Josh Block of Big Law Business. “Can I make it feel exciting and visceral? but also honor the complexity of the arguments?” In this podcast interview, Abumrad, also the creator of Radiolab, tells Block about More Perfect’s unique approach to covering the Court, what he’d ask Justice Sonia Sotomayor if he had the chance, and teases the next season of the podcast (which is coming sooner than listeners might expect). Sponsors: Epiq http://epiqglobal.com/en-us Bloomberg Law https://www.bloomberglaw.com/ More Information: Big Law Business https://biglawbusiness.com/

Law firm leaders from Wilson Sonsini and Orrick were joined by in-house leaders from Workday and Malwarebytes to talk about the state of the legal industry at this month’s Big Law Business Summit-West. This episode of the our podcast was recorded live at the Summit. The panel was moderated by Michael Hytha of Bloomberg News and includes Ed Brown, ‎Vice President and General Counsel, Malwarebytes; Katie Martin, Chair of the Board, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati; Jim Shaughnessy, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Workday; and Mitch Zuklie, Chairman and CEO, Orrick. Big Law Business https://biglawbusiness.com/ Subscribe to the Big Law Business podcast on iTunes. itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-l…d1074067483?mt=2 Want to receive more stories like this in your inbox every morning? Subscribe to our daily newsletter! about.bna.com/big-law-business-newsletter Podcast Sponsors DMX www.epiqsystems.com/how-we-help/edi…covery/dmx-demo Bloomberg Law www.bloomberglaw.com

"Starting in the 2000s it was women who had already made partner, and who were not leaving [big law] for work-life balance reasons, but were leaving for business reasons and I don’t think that trend is going to change." – Nicole Galli, former litigation partner at Pepper Hamilton, who now has her own small firm. In the second of our two-episode podcast series, Josh Block of Big Law Business explores why many women lawyers are leaving big law and starting their own law firms. Galli and Stephanie Russell-Kraft, who recently reported on the topic, share their insights. Subscribe to On The Merits on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Megaphone, or Audible.Podcast Sponsors:DMX http://www.epiqsystems.com/how-we-help/ediscovery/project-based-ediscovery/dmx-demo Bloomberg Law www.bloomberglaw.com

Why are many women lawyers choosing to leave big law, and starting their own law firms, even after they make partner? In the first of a two-episode podcast series, Big Law Business's Josh Block explores that question with Stephanie Russell-Kraft, who recently reported on the topic, and Nicole Galli, a former partner at Pepper Hamilton, who now has her own small firm. Subscribe to On The Merits on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Megaphone, or Audible.Podcast Sponsors: DMX http://www.epiqsystems.com/how-we-help/ediscovery/project-based-ediscovery/dmx-demo Bloomberg Law www.bloomberglaw.com

There’s some good news if you’re an equity partner at a large law firm. Based on the findings of a survey of firms released by Wells Fargo Private Bank’s Legal Specialty Group, equity partners should see “healthy levels of profit” this year, according to Joe Mendola, a senior director of sales with the group. However, Mendola also warned that this continues to be “a challenging time” for many firms in the second hundred of the Am Law 200, and we should expect consolidation to continue in the coming years. Mendola visited the Big Law Business office on Wednesday to record an interview with Josh Block about the findings of his group’s Mid-Year Check-In, a survey of financial measures of approximately 135 law firms. About 60 Am Law 100 firms participated in the survey, including a “high percentage” of the Am Law 50. Big Law Business https://bol.bna.com/ Subscribe to the Big Law Business podcast on iTunes. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-law-business/id1074067483?mt=2 Want to receive more stories like this in your inbox every morning? Subscribe to our daily newsletter! http://about.bna.com/big-law-business-newsletter Podcast Sponsors DMX www.epiqsystems.com/how-we-help/edi…covery/dmx-demo Bloomberg Law www.bloomberglaw.com

Women represent private parties in civil litigation just 18.5% of the time in New York according to a New York State Bar Association report released earlier this month. Judge Shira Scheindlin backed up those findings during a recent podcast recording: “what I witnessed in the courtroom was a great gender disparity in privately retained counsel.” Judge Scheindlin, a former Federal District Court Judge, was one of the members of the task force that prepared the report. Last week she also published, “Female Lawyers Can Talk, Too” an op-ed about the report that ran in The New York Times and clearly struck a nerve; it received 274 comments before the Times closed commenting. Earlier this week, Josh Block travelled to Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, the law firm where Scheindlin is Of Counsel, to record this podcast interview with her about the report, her own career experiences, and her thoughts about the continued disparity and gender imbalance in big law. Big Law Business https://bol.bna.com/ Subscribe to the Big Law Business podcast on iTunes. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-law-business/id1074067483?mt=2 Podcast Sponsors DMX http://www.epiqsystems.com/how-we-help/ediscovery/project-based-ediscovery/dmx-demo Bloomberg Law https://www.bloomberglaw.com Show Notes If Not Now, When? Achieving Equality for Women Attorneys in the Courtroom and in ADR http://www.nysba.org/WomensTaskForceReport/ Female Lawyers Can Talk, Too https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/08/opinion/female-lawyers-women-judges.html?_r=0 Stark Gender Divide Between Private and Public Sector Cases in New York https://bol.bna.com/stark-gender-divide-between-private-and-public-sector-cases-in-new-york/ Judge Scheindlin on Women’s Absence in Courts https://bol.bna.com/judge-scheindlin-on-womens-absence-in-courts/ Mistaken For The Court Reporter: Litigating As A Woman https://bol.bna.com/mistaken-for-the-court-reporter-litigating-as-a-woman/

Kasowitz Benson Torres has been representing Donald Trump, in various matters, for more than 15 years. In May, when the firm’s founding partner Marc Kasowitz was chosen to represent the president in the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, the lawyer and firm were thrust into the spotlight. In this episode we take a deep dive on Kasowitz Benson. Josh Block talks with Bob Van Voris of Bloomberg News, and New York Law Journal’s Christine Simmons. Big Law Business https://bol.bna.com/ Subscribe to the Big Law Business podcast on iTunes itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-l…d1074067483?mt=2 Sponsored by Zapproved https://www.zapproved.com/e-discovery-resources/events/prex17/ Bloomberg Law www.bna.com/bloomberglaw?promocode=BLBBLAW

Leaders from Venable, Latham & Watkins, Morgan Stanley, and Capital One talk about the state of the legal industry. This episode was recorded live at the Big Law Business Summit, and moderated by Bloomberg Businessweek’s Megan Murphy. Topics include talent management, how corporations choose law firms, automation in the legal industry, pressure on the law firm economic model, whether law firms are doing enough to achieve diversity, the millennial generation, and how the business of law is changing during the Trump administration. Guests include: Matthew Cooper, Executive Vice President, Head of Legal, Capital One Financial Eric Grossman, Chief Legal Officer and Managing Director, Morgan Stanley Stuart Ingis, Chairman, Venable LLP Jamie Wine, Partner and Global Litigation and Trial Chair, Latham & Watkins Big Law Business https://bol.bna.com/ Subscribe to the Big Law Business podcast on iTunes itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-l…d1074067483?mt=2 Sponsored by DMX www.epiqsystems.com/DMX Bloomberg Law www.bna.com/bloomberglaw?promocode=BLBBLAW

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff thinks increased competition has had an impact on law firms, for the worse. “It is to the point that the professional ethics and the professional responsibilities of the firms have been affected,” Rakoff told Big Law Business, explaining that firms, in order to keep clients, are willing to endorse risky behavior. In the podcast interview with Big Law Business’s Casey Sullivan, Rakoff laid out his concerns about how attorneys in his courtroom have placated clients, to the detriment of their legal judgment, in order to retain business. This, he said, has resulted in over aggressive legal tactics that undermine the credibility of lawyers. In the podcast, Rakoff speaks about the business of law, his career path, his involvement in an influential insider trading ruling, as well as his biggest pet peeves of lawyers who appear before him in court. Interview begins at 4:16. Big Law Business https://bol.bna.com/ Subscribe to the Big Law Business podcast on iTunes itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-l…d1074067483?mt=2 Sponsored by DMX http://www.epiqsystems.com/DMX Bloomberg Law www.bna.com/bloomberglaw?promocode=BLBBLAW

For the latest episode of the Big Law Business podcast, Josh Block and Casey Sullivan let the leaders of two top grossing law firms take over. This is the full-length audio version of our "Chairs on Chairs" series featuring Kim Koopersmith, of Akin Gump, and Steve Immelt, of Hogan Lovells, interviewing each other about the business of law. Topics include: the Trump administration and travel ban, Brexit’s impact on the industry, diversity and inclusion at large law firms, running a large law firm, crisis management, growing revenue in a time of flat demand for legal services, taking over for Bruce McLean at Akin Gump and Warren Gorrell at Hogan Lovells, law firm culture, millennial lawyers, flexible work schedules, legal technology, cybersecurity, leisure time for law firm leaders. Big Law Business: https://bol.bna.com/ Sponsored by Bloomberg Law: www.bna.com/bloomberglaw?promocode=BLBBLAW Subscribe to the Big Law Business podcast on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-l…d1074067483?mt=2