Stephen Embry has spent years thinking and writing about the intersection where lawyers and technology meet. In Episode 17 of Lawyerpreneur we talk about how Embry has transitioned from spending most of his time practicing law to writing and consulting about legal tech because it’s the work that recharges him. We discuss the importance of networking and building trust equity with clients and potential clients during an absence of in-person meetings. Finally, Embry talks about how remote working environments may give law firms an opportunity to decrease overhead and even … wait for it … decrease billable hourly rates [gasp]....
In Episode 16 of Lawyerpreneur, we talk with M.C. Sungaila about developing your business and your reputation. We also explore the topic of operating out of an abundance mindset, rather than a place of fear and scarcity. Our last topic is how writing books and being a client has helped M.C. be a more empathetic lawyer. You can listen here or on your favorite podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, and RSS. Today’s show is sponsored by ALPS, the nation’s largest direct writer of lawyers’ malpractice insurance. Right now you can get 25% off one...
In Episode 15 of Lawyerpreneur, I speak with Steven Arango and Dani Barondess about an initiative they’re launching called Law Clerks for Diversity. They are developing a program that will pair former federal law clerks as mentors to law students to help create more diversity — gender, racial, and cultural diversity — in the federal judiciary. You can listen here or on your favorite podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, and RSS. Today’s show is sponsored by ALPS Insurance, the nation’s largest direct writer of lawyers’ malpractice insurance. Right now you can get 25% off...
Since beginning his recovery from cocaine and alcohol addition in 2007, Brian Cuban has become a leading advocate for awareness and change within the legal community of mental health and substance abuse. He is the author of two books, Shattered Image, which chronicles his struggles with body dysmorphia disorder, and The Addicted Lawyer, a book about his and other lawyers’ substance use issues and recoveries. In Episode 14 of Lawyerpreneur, we discuss not only Brian’s addiction and recovery but how he built a business so that he can help the greatest number of people. And Brian tells us that while...
I’ve started running again. Over the last five years, I’ve only run in fits and starts. This is the post-kiddo era. I’ve never totally worked myself back into the routine I had in the years before we had kids. But here’s the thing about running. I feel better when I’m running. It’s not that my body feels better. Although, it does — except in those grueling first couple of weeks of working yourself into running shape again. Getting to the point where you can run 3 miles without wanting to die. I feel better at a mental and emotional level....
Countless lawyers have said, “I’m going to write a novel some day.” I am included among them. There’s something innate, particularly among litigators, that compels us toward storytelling. But Robert Dugoni has actually made the transition and written not one, but more than 20 novels. In Episode 12 of Lawyerpreneur, we sit down with best-selling thriller author Robert Dugoni and talk about his writing career. He shares real, practical wisdom about making career choices and gets personal about when he knew he had to make a change from litigation to pursuing his vision for himself of being a writer. Finally,...
This week, I recorded an interview with author and appellate lawyer M.C. Sungaila. We talked a great deal about he approach to business and relationship development. But before the interview “officially” began, we talked about how our lawyering skills are broader than we often give them credit for. And we discussed the Lawyerpreneur podcast itself, and why she reached out to me after listening to the episode with Ross Guberman. The Lawyerpreneur episode with M.C. Sungaila will air in a couple of weeks, but Patrons can access the bonus audio of our pre-taping conversation. If you don’t yet support the...
I’m not scared of spiders or tight spaces or heights. In the summers, when I was a high school teacher, I hang gutter with a friend of mine. I would routinely be leaning out over the edge of three-story buildings, balancing and long run of gutter with one hand and trying to screw it into the building with the other. Most of the things that people cite as their biggest fears, I just shrug off. My fears are much deep-seeded and sinister. They’re not the fears that keep you from riding a Ferris wheel. Or that send you frantically waving...
What started as a law student’s blog in 2010 has evolved into a business that has allowed Keith Lee to transition out of the practice of law and meet the needs of a new set of clients. In Episode 10 of Lawyerpreneur, Keith tells us how a non-traditional career has provided a different kind of fulfillment and has continued to evolve into new roles and opportunities over the years. Associate’s Mind has been providing valuable information to lawyers for a decade. Then in 2016, Keith launched LawyerSmack, an online community for lawyers to have a place to talk shop and...
Primary care law is a vintage (and all but forsaken) form of law practice under a new name that Melissa Hall has coined to convey her intent to the community she serves. Melissa’s “cocktail party” law practice serves a niche community in Seattle. At its essence, she has transported a small town practice to the big city. In Episode 9 of Lawyerpreneur, we talk with Melissa Hall about what it means to have a primary care practice, gaining the trust of the queer community that she serves by being involved in the community, and how her unique payment structure gives...
