For most of us, this happens because we are trying to pinpoint those things we hope to improve on over the next 12 months. 

But as my guest and I discuss in today's episode, when it comes to leadership, these sorts of ‘self-audits’ tend to focus inward, when sometimes we need to take stock of the people and peers we choose to surround ourselves with.

Joining me this week is John R. Miles, CEO and founder of Passion Struck, an organization focused on impacting real change by educating people on how to live intentionally. 

A  former U.S. Navy officer, Fortune 50 executive, and global thought leader, John’s core philosophy is that when people matter, they thrive. When organizations make people matter, everything else follows.

John is now the executive producer and host of the Passion Struck podcast, ranked in the top 0.01% of all podcasts globally, and his latest book, "Passion Struck: Twelve Powerful Principles to Unlock Your Purpose and Ignite Your Most Intentional Life." was named a Next Big Idea Club Must-Read. 

As a man of many talents, John shares the leadership lessons he’s seen that transcend any one institution, how situational leadership is about adjusting style, not principles, and the dangers of defining ourselves solely on the circumstances we find ourselves in. 

Enjoy the show!

Now, unfortunately, somewhere along the way the expression, “telling stories”, became short-hand for “making stuff up”, and since there’s already plenty of jokes about lawyers’ relationship with the truth, my answer is typically a much-less mysterious, “defense attorney”. 

But as someone who consumes a fair amount of legal media - be it in books or on screen - I can tell you that truth is almost always stranger than fiction. But as my guest this week is quick to point out, just because a story is ‘strange’ doesn’t mean it has to be ‘complicated’. 

Joining me this week is Brent Turman, a trial attorney whose commercial litigation practice covers a variety of matters including business disputes, intellectual property, real estate, arbitration, and civil RICO actions. 

But before his legal career, Brent was an Associate Operations Producer for ESPN & ABC College Football, also producing commercials, industrial videos, in-arena entertainment, and music videos for clients throughout North America. 

Now he pulls from these experiences, frequently giving trial skills presentations across the country, teaching other attorneys about the strategies and tools he has used in the courtroom.

We discuss how Brent found his way into the legal profession, the narrative tools from his early career have transferred into deliverable results for his clients, and so much more. 

Enjoy the show! 

Typically we see youth as a combination of  'risky behavior' mixed with 'poor decision-making' - a dangerous cocktail to be certain - but trying something new at ANY stage of life will often look foolish to those on the outside. 

The question each of us faces, then, is how much are we willing to trust ourselves. 

It's a question my guest this week wants her clients to answer with confidence, and maybe a little bit of laughter. 

Nermin Jasani joins us this week for a conversation about how she went from managing to get into a Wall Street job at the height of the financial crisis to moving across the country to attempt a tech start up, ultimately coming back to the law as a consultant for other women in the profession. 

We discuss the importance of hiring good people, why technology is fantastic but can't replace our responsibilities, and how the business of law is always rooted in the economics of Supply & Demand.

Enjoy the show!  

But one thing I do miss about my longer drives to work some days is the time I was able to spend listening to the radio. Usually a mix of news and music, but sometimes it’s just whichever station isn’t playing commercials. 

But there’s one program I make a point to listen to: NPR’s My Unsung Hero. It’s usually no more than two minutes long, but the stories about what often seem like small acts of kindness often have impacts that last far beyond that moment. 

For my guest this week, that act was being handed a pamphlet by a concerned coworker.

As a Marine Corp Veteran, Mark Ross was suffering from PTSD, and as he shares in this week’s episode, after reading it over, he realized that of the 12 common symptoms, he checked nearly every single one. 

It was a small gesture of encouragement that would not only save Mark’s life, but the lives of all those he’s helped in his journey towards recovery. 

After living with the symptoms for years, Mark has now decided to turn his pain into purpose. 

Today, he's the creator and the host of the podcast, Speak Your Truth with Mark Ross, a show dedicated to mental health awareness, community resilience, and honest conversations that shatter stigma. 

Mark also co-facilitates fatherhood groups to incarcerated men at the Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center, helping them reclaim their roles as fathers and leaders, and speaks frequently on the intersection of veterans and mental health. 

It’s a wonderful, if not tough conversation that I can promise ends in plenty of laughter.  

Enjoy the show!

This kind of thought-experiment came to mind after my conversation this week which left me asking, "If two people are arguing without a goal of some sort of resolution, at what point does it just become a fight?"

Joining me this week to unpack that question is Attorney and Mediator Scott Levin. 

Having practiced for more than 20 years, a decade ago Scott made the choice to work exclusively in the realm of mediation and conflict resolution.

As he shares in our conversation, he realized he did his best work when helping both parties to resolve a matter. And his clients and peers certainly agree.  

Named one of 2024's Top Law Firm in San Diego, Scott continues to build his practice into one that fosters innovative solutions through collaboration, communication, and cooperation. 

We discuss why any sort of negotiation can't truly begin until both parties can bring politeness to the table, and just how easy it can be to fall into endless arguments that serve neither client nor counsel.

Enjoy the show!

Now, of course we'd had text-message notifications for year, but now notifications could come from an almost infinite number of sources. 

Emails could be read without even unlocking your phone. 

Health apps could gently nudge us to stand up five minutes at a time. 

The possibilities seemed endless, but little did we all know at the time how quickly that connectedness would lead to burnout. 

The same is true in an attorney-client relationship.

My guest this week captures this struggle in her newest book, writing, “the way I practiced law had become too emotionally overwhelming [...] but in hindsight, it’s a wonder I didn’t burnout sooner.”

Cindy Rendon is an Attorney specializing in Family Law and Personal Injury matters & the author of, "Judge Me Not: An Attorney's Journey from Burnout to Recovery"

Having practiced in both the public and private sectors, in 2012 Cindy would found her own Firm, and while her practice would thrive in the coming decade, Cindy would struggle to balance her desire to help her clients with a need to take care of herself. 

On this week's episode, she shares her journey & the wisdom gained along the way. 

Enjoy the show! 

Most of these were in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s when there was a concerted effort to institute massive Tort Reforms - particularly in the area of medical malpractice - that would have ripple-effects throughout the courts. 

But even when it seemed like the sea-change might be on the horizon, there was still a horizon, a distance between proposing an idea and instituting it that allowed stakeholders to prepare themselves. 

But for my guest today, both she and her clients are required to navigate a legal-landscape that almost ceases to shift beneath their feet. 

Saja Raoof is a Business Immigration Attorney whose passion for the field began with an internship at the National Immigration Project in Boston during her first year of law school.

She would go on to intern for the American Civil Liberties Union and since 2006 her practice has focused on Business Immigration Law where her clients have included engineering and architecture firms, startups, overseas companies, nonprofits, as well as all of their highly talented foreign national employees.

In this week’s episode of Legal Grounds, we discuss her own immigration story, how it informs the way she helps her clients, and the effects of navigating the Kafkaesque system of immigration law. 

It is a fascinating & necessary conversation that attorneys of any stripe need to hear. 

Over the course of his career he’s handled litigation in a variety of areas including, personal injury, construction, transportation, oil and gas, products liability, and civil rights cases.

And because it’s fun to brag on your friends, Rob and his team have tried over 125 cases to verdict, and in the process he’s been awarded the Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating in both Legal Ability and Ethical Standards, and been named a Texas Legal Leader by the Dallas Morning News. 

For this week’s conversation, he and I discuss what it felt like landing in the frying pan and the fire at the same time, and how what felt like chaos turned out to be the best training we could have gotten. 

We also talk about the joy that comes with passing the torch to the next generation and why the most effective way to build a bridge across the generational divide is to make it a group project.

We also swap some war stories and plenty of laughter, and I can’t thank him enough for sitting down and catching up on his journey to becoming a lawyer of impact. 

Enjoy the show! 

Listen to Legal Grounds wherever you get your Podcasts.

Now, setting aside historical-bias, my best guess for this being the case is that the level of infrastructure at the time of the phrase’s coining (1190) was well beyond anything available or imaginable. 

Afterall, the “Dark Ages” earned their moniker because so much of the knowledge that “built Rome” had been lost to time, leaving people ‘in the dark’ when it came to using systems that had been put in place for centuries.   

And while I’ve strayed as far into the territory of amateur historian as I feel comfortable, the reason for this though was something my guest said in his latest book: 

“Until you have systems in place, you don’t have a business, you just have a job”.

If Rome wasn’t connected by all the systems they’d put in place, they’d have had a village, not a City.

My guest this week is Brian Glass. 

A Personal Injury Attorney, Brian was recently named one of Virginia’s Top 40 Under 40 by the National Trial Lawyers Association, and is co-author of “Renegade Lawyer Marketing”, now in its second edition and a best-seller on Amazon. 

We discuss the constantly evolving landscape of legal marketing, why being a good lawyer is only one piece of a much larger puzzle, and how the best leaders learn to celebrate other’s victories. 

Enjoy the show! 

Listen to Legal Grounds wherever you get your Podcasts.

Looking at those same numbers, it’s easy to track the strength of the economy with the number of new attorneys going solo increasing during economic downturns.

But now that so much of the work we do can be done virtually, what used to be one of the largest challenges for any attorney deciding to hang out their own shingle – finding physical office space – has all but been eliminated. 

As my guest today points out, with the ability to work remotely no longer in question, the stigma of being what was once called “post-office attorney” is fading.

Nikita Lamar is an attorney specializing in Family Law, Trademarks, and Probate & Estate Planning. 

After graduating from Law School in the wake of the Great Recession, Nikita would found The Lamar Legal Group and, as she herself has written, her commitment to preserving what clients have worked tirelessly to build is the cornerstone of her practice. 

We talk about her unlikely journey to law school, practical and philosophical tips for attorneys thinking of starting their own practice, and how vulnerability and empathy can coexist with zealousness. 

Enjoy the show! 

This also means we all remember the nervousness that comes with that first day. First month. Even the first year. 

While it hopefully wanes over time, those feelings of general uncertainty combined with a vague sense of having to prove one’s self can easily lead to imposter-syndrome and burnout. 

But you throw a bad leader into the mix, and – as my guest today had to experience – you have a recipe for disaster. 

Early in her legal career, a then-boss told her she’d never be a trial attorney. No qualifications. No ‘constructive’ criticism. Just a blunt, “you’re too meek.”

Now as Managing Partner at Duane Morris’s L.A. offices, Cyndie Chang often handles litigation involving mergers & acquisitions, asset or stock sales, frauds, and securities, all while ensuring her team has the resources to thrive. 

Cyndie and I talk about her journey into big-law, and how the resources and the community they provide helped her to feel not just empowered, but included. 

We also discuss the dangers of looking at your people as commodities and not investments, and why new lawyers need to consider WHERE they want to practice just as much as WHAT they want to focus their practice on. 

Enjoy the show! 

After all, whether it’s a marriage, partnership, or friendship, the act of separating one’s self from another person usually stems from an inability to collaborate in the first place. 

But over the last four decades, Dr. Honey Sheff has designed many of the systems to help shepherd families through the separation process in a way that serves everyone. 

After working the Family Courts for 30 years, she decided there had to be a better way to help families separate while still honoring the wishes of everyone involved. 

Among her many professional achievements, Dr. Sheff is responsible for helping create the parenting plan summary form that is now used statewide by mental health professionals and attorneys with divorcing couples. 

She and Mike discuss why more and more attorneys are choosing A.D.R. to help couples separate with civility, why she believes the worst place for any family is inside a courtroom, and why boundaries are not only necessary to protect your emotional wellbeing, but vital in preserving your ability to serve your clients.

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SHOWNOTES:

Dr. Sheff on LinkedIn

But my guest this week faced a situation I don’t know if we’ve ever covered on the show:

What do you do when the Leader you THOUGHT you wanted to be collides with who you want to be as a Person?

After serving four years in the Army, Ryan Crittenden left with mixed emotions but a passion for leadership. 

He would go on to earn his Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology, stepping out into the professional world, eager to take on a mentor. And while the journey that followed was far from smooth, it would become the inspiration for his latest book, “Becoming the Compass”. 

Ryan and I unpack the benefits of Strengths-Based Coaching, how building your talents shouldn’t start at the bottom of your skill-set, and the unbreakable link between Trust and Time. 

Enjoy the show.

This is not to say that clients take a back-seat when it comes to other kinds of legal matters, but it should come as no surprise to anyone - regardless of legal acumen - that when you’re dealing with people's money AND family, communication can make or break a case. 

My guest this week knows this better than most.

Larry Praeger is board certified as a Family Law Specialist, and has been a practicing attorney for nearly four and a half decades. 

His Dallas based practice focuses on family law, with a specialty in mediation, and professional licensing issues. 

For the past 30 years Larry has gained extensive experience in all aspects of Family Law, as well as preparing and defending mental health professionals in family law matters and helping them prepare for the litigation process. 

Having started his career as Assistant County Attorney in Bell Texas, he has been an author, speaker, and as of last year, Larry has added Professor to the growing list of titles.

We discuss his tips for effective client communication, how the legal landscape has changed, and the many nuances of Family Law. 

Enjoy the show. 

Heidi K Brown is the Associate Dean of Upper Level Writing at the New York School of Law. 

Inspired by her own experiences untangling a fear of public speaking during her litigation career, Heidi is passionate about helping lawyers at every level find their authentic legal-voices through her teaching and her writing. 

Her books include, The Introverted Lawyer: A Seven-Step Journey Toward Authentically Empowered Advocacy,  Untangling Fear in Lawyering: A Four-Step Journey Toward Powerful Advocacy, and The Flourishing Lawyer: A Multi-Dimensional Approach to Performance and Well-Being, and the recently released travel memoir - The Map I Draw

We discuss the importance of writer-identity and how she’s helping her students to find their voices so that they can advocate from a place of authenticity. Of course, with the rise of Generative A.I., Heidi has had to pivot HOW she teaches - and the story of the first encounter with Chat GPT is worth the listen alone. 

We also talk about her own journey into the law, how she learned to leverage her introversion to her advantage, and how attorneys can benefit from embodying the mentality of professional athletes 

All of my peers thought I was crazy to have a kid right as I was about to finish law school; my guest this week earned her JD at night while working a full-time job. 

I could do more of these comparisons, but the point is that hurdles take on a lot of different forms, sometimes obvious but sometimes not. 

As lawyers we want the necessary facts, and while that’s great for understanding a case, people are often a lot more nuanced. My conversation this week was one of the best reminders I’ve had in a while to slow down and get to know someone else's story. 

So with that in mind, my guest this week is Breeana Somers, a litigation associate with Ballad Spahr whose practice focuses on consumer financial services matters.

Earning a place in 2024’s “Ones to Watch” by Best Lawyers in America, her journey has been anything but traditional, but nothing short of extraordinary.

Enjoy the show. 

Having spent the past 6 years on the Super Lawyer’s Rising Star list, Suraj began his legal career as in-house counsel for Rising Sun Engineering before founding his own firm in 2018. 

Suraj developed an interest in construction work at a young age, pursuing an undergraduate degree in Water Resources Management & Policy, but his interdisciplinary interests would lead him to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps, combining a love of engineering with the law. 

Now with nearly a decade of practice beneath his belt, Suraj is as committed to helping his communities as he is his clients. We sit down to discuss how curiosity is the catalyst behind everything he does, the people that shaped his journey, and why engineers and lawyers are more alike than you may think. 

Enjoy the show! 

10 years later I got my first laptop, and as I entered some time while FLYING ON A PLANE, I also remember thinking, “this is so convenient, I’m never going to miss an entry!”

10 years later I got an iPhone and made a similar claim. 

And while all of these technological advancements certainly did make it easier for me to capture my time as an attorney, as my guest and I today discuss, all the systems and technology in the world can’t help you if you don't stay consistent. 

Joining the show this week is Molly Kremer, a former litigator and certified life coach who is on a mission to help attorneys capture their time so they can recapture their love of practicing law. 

Now known simply as The Billing Coach, Molly has worked with hundreds of attorneys at every level and stage of their careers so they can free themselves from the billing traps they’ve unwittingly created. 

For any attorney who wishes they had a better relationship with the billable hour, this is a conversation you don’t want to miss. 

Enjoy the show! 

Though possibly apocryphal, the quote is attributed to J. Edgar Hoover and – irony aside – is a solid piece of logic. 

As you may have guessed from the subject-line, today’s episode is not going to be a jovial one. I also think it happens to be one of the most important we’ve ever recorded. 

And while the subject of immigration carries the weight of policy and politics, THIS conversation is about the laws that already exist – the same one’s all attorneys are sworn to uphold. 

My guest this week is Astrid Munn, Lead Attorney for the Center of Immigration and Refugee Advancement.

Her work centers around providing direct representation to clients who have survived violent crime, domestic violence, and severe forms of trafficking.

Astrid and I discuss the consequences of cherry-picking language, the impact of the current legal climate on legal education, and why so often the important work goes unseen. 

Enjoy the show. 

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Learn more about the Immigration Law & Justice Network

If you’re the one in charge, shouldn’t you be overseeing whatever ‘service’ is being done by your team? 

But in the same way that Leadership is confused with the idea of Management, the word Servant in the term ‘Servant Leadership’ often gets mistaken for the idea of Subordinance. 

But as my guest today discusses, Servant Leadership is about more than being willing to jump in and help your team complete a mission when a situation goes sideways, it's about making sure they know you’re doing everything you can to keep them out of that situation in the first place.

Joining the podcast this week is Ben Morton, a sought-after leadership mentor, coach and bestselling author. 

A graduate of the Royal Military Academy Sandurst, he served two tours in Iraq before going on to assume the Global Head of HR role at World Challenge, eventually joining the ranks at Tesco, helping to develop their Leadership Academy.

But after moving from the battlefield to the boardroom, Ben began to notice how many programs relied on ‘tools’ and models’ that turned leadership into a numbers-game. 

Determined to make a change, in 2011 he founded Ben Morton Leadership under a singular principle: A leader exists to support, develop, and look after the people they have the privilege and responsibility to lead so that they can deliver the results for which the leader is accountable.

We discuss why providing a sense of safety is at the core of leadership, why telling and teaching are two separate things, and why not all leadership lessons translate from the battlefield to the boardroom. 

Enjoy the show. 

As lawyers, it can be easy to rely on a strategy that’s worked in the past, and in some ways it’s necessary. But if there’s anything standing in front of a jury will teach you, it’s that having to adjust your message while maintaining the mission is a core part of what it means to be a leader. 

My guest this week is Marty Strong. A combat veteran of the U.S. Navy SEAL Teams, he earned his graduate degree in Management from National University and would go on several VP roles as a financial advisor and is no stranger to Leadership. 

Over the course of his career, Marty has helped to build and lead multiple companies and is currently the CEO of Legacy Care which specializes in providing post-acute treatment to patients in need. 

A sought-after guest speaker and consultant, he is the author of the Amazon best-seller, Be Visionary: Strategic Leadership in the Age of Optimization, and the recently published Be Different: How Navy SEALs and Entrepreneurs, Bend, Break, or Ignore the Rules to Get Results.

We discuss the differences between the academic leader and the practitioner leader, the value of reminding others of the potential you see in them, and why all of the practical training in the world can’t help if someone doesn’t understand their purpose. 

Enjoy the show!

And like an almost comical right-of-passage, it’s a mistake that EVERY lawyer makes at some point, typically early on in their career. 

The type of detached logic we use to navigate a problem is great for guaranteeing Justice, but it’s also what makes it terrible for acknowledging (much less validating) the role emotions play in interpersonal relationships. And when your spouse, colleague, or friend suddenly feels like they’re being cross-examined, it doesn’t end well.

Trust me. 

But as my guest this week discovered through his own journey, oftentimes the logic of relationships only breaks down because we’re trying to solve for the wrong variables. 

And sometimes we’re not even working on the same equation. 

Rod Jeter is a Navy veteran who found success in multiple careers including Real Estate and Software Engineering, but as he writes in his latest book, his personal life was on a downward slope. 

Not one to give up easily, Rod began working backwards to figure out why it seemed like even though two people had the exact same information AND knew each other well, they could come to such vastly different conclusions about something. 

This question would lead him to develop the YBAngry relationship tool with the goal of creating happier homes and helping as many people as possible solve conflicts and disagreements with less chaos and more fun.  

On this week’s episode of Legal Grounds, Rod shares his journey, insights learned from working with hundreds of couples, and a couple of laughs along the way. 

Enjoy the show. 

And probably second-year.

And sometimes even... well, you get the point. 

Climbing the career ladder is far from uncommon in the Legal Profession, and when I think back on it, nearly every paralegal we've hired has had some prior job that was at least somewhat legally-adjacent. 

But what IS rare is for someone to do it all in one place. 

And when it does happen, you're almost certain to find that mentorship played the deciding factor. 

My guest this week is Shelly A. Walker, Director of Legal Administration at Posinelli. 

Prior to joining the management team, Shelly was a paralegal who specialized in Products Liability and Toxic Torts, but her journey began as docket-clerk who - as she puts it - found the right mentor at the right time. 

This is most certainly a conversation for the Leaders listening in this week, and my hope is that Shelly’s story can serve as a reminder why making the time to teach others is a heck of a way to learn about ourselves. 

Enjoy the show. 

With six decades of experience working some of the country's most high-profile Civil Rights cases, he would become a household name after accepting the position of representing Timothy McVeigh in the wake of the Oklahoma City Bombing. 

In this week’s episode, Stephen was kind enough to join me for what I think is best described as a Craft-Conversation around the art of practicing law. So while we talk extensively about his time spent representing McVeigh, if you’re looking for your ‘true-crime’ fix, this isn’t it. 

We discuss the importance of the Sixth Amendment as a buffer against vengeance, managing the emotional-toll that complex cases take on even the best attorneys, and the often unspoken balancing act between desire for swift justice and need for procedural patience. 

You don’t have to be a lawyer to appreciate the wisdom shared in this episode. 

But for those who are in the legal profession, I think this is a rare opportunity to listen to, and hopefully learn from, someone who embodies what it means to practice the law in its purest form: absent of ego or prejudice. 

Enjoy the show. 

________________
SHOWNOTES

BOOK: Other's Unknown by Stephen Jones

OKLAHOMA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: Voices of Oklahoma Audio Interviews

But when it comes to appeals, unless it’s a particularly heinous criminal case, the process is rarely deemed newsworthy. 

I suspect there’s a litany of reasons for this lack of coverage, though at the end of the day I think it comes down to the appeals process being both nuanced and - using the metrics of 24-hour news - excruciatingly slow. 

And while it’s not always granted, the ability to appeal a verdict is still fundamental to our legal system because ultimately it allows the space for humility. A space to say, “I never considered _____”. A space to grow.

In my estimation, being an appellate attorney is more akin to being a craftsman or artisan than any other field of practice. It also takes a level of patience and flexibility that many attorneys (myself included) don’t revel in.

My guest this week is one of these craftsmen.

Todd Smith is the Founder and Principal of the Texas Appellate Counsel, which helps attorneys implement the tools of emerging technology thoughtfully, effectively, and ethically.

Todd has devoted his career to appellate practice, starting more than 3 decades ago with a two-year judicial clerkship at the Texas Supreme Court, moving to private and solo practice throughout his career.

Todd and I discuss his journey towards discoing a passion for appellate work, the lessons he’s learned being on both sides of the leadership role, and how technology does and doesn’t impact the ways law will be practiced in the years to come. 

Enjoy the show!  

Listen to Legal Grounds wherever you get your Podcasts.

And yet, whether we recognize it or not, all of us are navigating through life by operating on a set of beliefs. Some of them are constant but many evolve, and some even drop away all together. 

As my guest this week explores in his latest book, we hold beliefs about things like relationships, family, and character that can make our lives richer, but can just as easily jade our view of others, ourselves, and the world writ-large. 

After coaching Division 1 football for nearly a decade, Jack W. Williams entered the business world holding leadership roles as Vice President and COO of a regional service firm followed by becoming a SVP in a Fortune 500 company. Since that time he has led several businesses and served on three Boards. 

In 1993 he formed the IDEALS Foundation which works with high school students in the area of leadership, role modeling and life / soft skills training. 

In 2008, Jack left his position as president of a regional company to devote full-time to his Foundation and his consulting business, the Timbridge Group, and most recently he’s the author of “The Question: A Guide to Answering Life’s Most Important Question.”

It’s a wonderful conversation about the power of understanding our core-beliefs, why you can’t split your priorities in half, and the difference between Telling a person what to do and Teaching them what to do.

Enjoy the show. 

_______________

SHOWNOTES:

Jack's Podcast - Knowledgecast 

Jack's Website & Contact

Purchase Jack's Book

Now, as we’ve discussed in previous episodes with both experts & those who’ve experienced it first-hand, addiction is nearly always a symptom of something deeper. 

But one of the things that struck me in this week’s conversation was that while as a society we’re beginning to see through many of the cultural MYTHS we hold surrounding addiction, there may exist an even bigger problem: a fundamental understanding of what addiction actually is & how it can manifest itself in our lives. 

My guest this week is Michael Molthan, a former drug addict and alcoholic who has dedicated his life to helping others on their path to recovery on his daily talk show, M2 The Rock. 

Since 2017, Michael has been inspiring individuals to break free from life-shattering addictions and everyday obstacles, empowering them to embrace their true potential and live their best lives. 

A sought-after speaker, Michael also helps run the M2 organization, a nonprofit that helps connect those struggling with addiction to resources, including Certified Recovery Coaches, Information and referrals, scholarships for intensive outpatient programs, as well as other resources.

We discuss why rock-bottom is often a plural, how finding freedom for ourselves can sometimes require freeing those around us, choosing true love as a form of tough love, and so much more. 

Enjoy the show.

___________

SHOWNOTES

Michael’s Instagram 

Michael’s LinkedIn

Michael’s Story (Video by IAMSECOND)

But when it comes to modern forms of abuse such as digital bullying or image-based sexual abuse, or even with children in the foster-care system, the path to justice is often retraumatizing, ill-equiped, or simply non-existent. 

My guest today is Allison Mahoney, the Founder and Managing Attorney of ALM Law, where she specializes in trauma-informed legal representation for survivors of abuse and children harmed in child welfare systems. 

With more than a decade of experience, Allison has built a distinguished career advocating for vulnerable children in foster care and those impacted by sexual abuse and domestic violence. Her work is defined by her deep commitment to securing justice for survivors.

We discuss her early career and what drove her to pursue a line of work many of us would like to forget, why victim-blaming is so ingrained - even on a linguistic level, and what steps need to be taken to reform the system to serve the people who need it most. 

Enjoy the show. 

John Trimble has more than four decades of experience trying and mediating catastrophic, complex, and class action litigation in state and federal court, rightfully earning him a reputation as a major force in the Indiana legal community.

As you’ll hear in our conversation this week, John is passionate about helping the next generation of lawyers learn to ground themselves in the fundamentals, but the wisdom he has to share is valuable to attorneys at every level. 

We discuss the oft neglected business-side of the legal profession, why it’s a good idea to make succession planning should be a part of the onboarding process, and how a reputation for civility and integrity is the best calling-card you’ll ever have. 

Enjoy the show.

But one thing that I would venture a guess most law students don’t consider is how genuinely uncomfortable and awkward our profession can truly be. Unless you’re devoid of empathy AND immune to first, second, or even third-hand embarrassment, the law of large numbers means you're going to find yourself in a scenario that feels like the worst episode of a sitcom you already didn’t like. 

The importance of telling your client something they don't want to hear is nothing new, but as my guest today has seen in her decades of practice, when it comes to the complexity of the legal system it's generally the folks who THOUGHT they understood what was happening who end up taking the biggest emotional hit.

Rachel A. King is an attorney in practicing in California, Arizona, Kentucky, and Texas.

A veteran of the U.S. military Rachel served in the Army as a paralegal and Communication Specialist before earning her JD from Thomas Jefferson School of Law.

As the founder of the King Law Firm, Rachel is Board Certified in the area of Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law, and is committed to the legal success of her clients and believes communication is essential for a successful attorney-client relationship. 

She not only proves this daily in her practice, but as the host of the Gavels Down, Voices Uppodcast which aims to demystify the legal system, and as the author of the forthcoming book, "Getting Divorced, Now What?", a guide which aims to be a compassionate, relatable roadmap for those who may not be able afford an attorney. 

We talk about everything from what it's like to grow up in a legal family, why a nontraditional route to law school is often more of an asset than a liability, and why –  no matter how much we may want it – as a boss, we eventually have to choose between being a leader and a friend. 

Enjoy the show.

And while this is absolutely true, It also means the equation works in reverse. 

By saying No you leave room to say Yes to something else, or maybe even Find out what it is you want to say yes to in the first place.

My guest this week is Corey Poirier, a sought after speaker and author of multiple books including his latest release, “The Enlightened Passenger". 

We discuss lessons from the book as well as from Corey’s multiple Ted Talks, and have plenty of laughs along the way. 

From the rise of “infobesity” and how it crowds out wisdom, to why building a space-shuttle from scratch isn’t as crazy as it sounds, there’s a little something for everyone. 

Enjoy the show.

SHOWNOTES
_______________

BLU Talks
Corey's Website
Link to The Enlightened Passenger

But as my guest today argues, if it's your efforts at Self-Improvement that have begun to feel like looking for a needle in a haystack, there's a good chance there's not a needle in the first place. 

Ryan Christensen is a veteran and author with more than two decades of expertise in intelligence operations and certifications in advanced hypnosis. 

He now works with high-achievers and neurodivergent professionals to shift their subconscious, helping them discover new working models of belief constructions.

Ryan recently published “Winner Peace: How to End Inner Conflict and Make Success Inevitable”., and in it he pushes back against many of the assumptions we carry into our self-help journeys - some of which we've even talked about before on this very podcast. 

We discuss the myth that there is no finish line to improvement, what it means to feel like our emotions are happening TO us, and why so many of us fear the question, "Who am I?".

Enjoy the show!

Show-Notes
____________________

Ryan's YouTube Channel

It seems like every year when I sit down to write these episodes I have the same thought: “What new is there possibly left to say about Christmas?”

So instead of meditating on the day itself, for 2024 I decided to focus my thoughts towards the future -well, a very short distance into the future.

The day after Christmas - at least in countries that don’t celebrate Boxing Day - isn’t widely discussed. 

But if you’ve ever woken up at 3am to put together a present or had to host a family dinner, then you know that no matter how well you plan, there’s always that small voice of worry. 

But sometimes when your plans veer off course, you end up finding the destination you arrived at was more beautiful than you could have planned in the first place. 

So for this week’s episode, hear how an unmade documentary, a controversial jazz album, and scheduling error led to the greatest Christmas special of all time, and why it still serves as a reminder that the simplest moments are the ones that truly make the season bright. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from everyone at Legal Grounds.

-Mike

It’s a phrase my son’s and I still use today, and while there is more jest than earnestness in its use, there are times in life - be they professional or personal - when we all have to gargle peanut butter.

And while in most professions, and hopefully all relationships, the goal is to get to a point where this ISN’T the case, when someone decides to become a trial attorney they are signing up for a job that guarantees there will be times when work cannot be ‘balanced’. 

But as my guest and I discussed this week, just because we know we’re going to have to “gargle peanut butter” at some point - say, when a major case goes to trial - that doesn’t mean we have to treat everything that crosses our desk like it’s a top-priority. 

As a former prosecutor and trial attorney whose firm just celebrated its 25th year in business, Mark Perkins shares how he had to learn these lessons the hard way. In his words, after powering through much of his career on adrenaline, he began to feel off. 

But the journey it would lead him on was filled with valuable lessons on kindness and the power of vulnerability when it comes to dealing with mental-health.

It was a wonderful and story-filled conversation that, if anything, has plenty of laughs. 

As always, enjoy the show.

If time-machines existed, a lot of attorneys would still be trying their first case. 

We’ve talked before about how perfectionism runs deep in the legal profession, but the concept of Anxious Advocacy as a root cause for this trait is something I hadn’t run across until preparing for this latest episode. 

It’s also the reason for my time-machine theory. 

No matter if you win or lose, as a trial attorney, you are always doing a post-mortem on a case. 

Why didn’t something work?

What can be done better?

What did we miss?

And while those are valuable questions to ask, all attorneys, but especially young attorneys, can get so worried about what they might do wrong that they suddenly believe they can’t do ANYTHING right.

And while these are my words, not her’s, I think Anxious Advocacy might best be described as a self-induced imposter syndrome. 

To talk about this and a whole lot more, I’m joined this week by Renée Pardo.

A practicing attorney with over 25 years of trial experience in both the public and private sectors, she has been an Assistant District Attorney in both Texas and New York.

And as of February 2024, she is also the founder of Renée Pardo Coaching which provides coaching for attorneys, particularly women, struggling with anxious advocacy, helping them to navigate new spaces and advocate for themselves.

We talk about the challenges (both old and new) faced by women in the law, Renée’s skeptical embrace of self-improvement models, and why lawyers in particular seem to fall for the illusion of control. 

Enjoy the Show

After all, if the OTHER side is playing hardball, the temptation to fight fire with MORE fire can almost seem like a responsibility. 

But as my guest today so eloquently puts it, “lawyers that fight over every issue do it because they don’t know the issues that actually matter.”

This week I was lucky to be joined by veteran trial attorney and founding partner of The Champion Firm, Darl Champion.

Consistently recognized in the National Trial Lawyers ‘Top 100’ in the State of Georgia, he has represented clients in every federal district court in Georgia, the Georgia Court of Appeals, Georgia Supreme Court, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and numerous state and superior courts throughout Georgia.

In our conversation we discuss the slow erosion of civility on both sides of the docket, how lawyers of impact, be they defense or plaintiff, have more in common than not, and why more of us need to approach our cases with the mindset of problem solving, not winning.

As always, enjoy the show.
_________________
SHOWNOTES:

Mindset - Carol Dweck
The Slight Edge - Jeff Olson

Even if you’re confident in your case, your arguments have been tested and refined, and every piece of evidence is on your side, picking jurors is a stark reminder that so much is out of your control. 

And because the ways in which all of us receive and retain information is changing, it’s up to attorneys to adapt the ways in which they approach jurors.

From the effects of polarization,the expectations around evidence, and generally shorter attention spans, there is so much to unpack about the way juries continue to evolve. 

Thankfully, I’m joined by Jury Consultant and Strategic Advisor, Dr. Christina Marinakis to help me do just that. 

With over 20 years of experience, Dr. Marinakis is the CEO and Founder of Immersion Legal which specialize in jury research, jury study, and applied practice in law and psychology. 
 
Dr. Marinakis has assisted trial counsel with jury selection and daily trial monitoring across the country on some of the most substantial cases of our time, including her assistance to the prosecution with jury selection in State of Minnesota v. Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd.

This is definitely a conversation for the trial attorneys out there, but anyone with a passing curiosity in jury-trials will enjoy this peek behind the curtain. 

Enjoy the show. 

Some of this, I believe, comes from a natural - though not at all helpful - competitive mentality. After all, the number of hours we bill is frequently worn as a ‘Badge of Honor’, and so why would we want to “share our secrets”?

But as my conversation today hopefully highlights, there is often a deeper set of reasons many Attorneys, myself included, come to loathe the billable-hour; the most treacherous of which is tying our INNER worth to our OUTER performance. 

This week I’m joined by Emily Logan Stedman, commercial-litigation Partner at Husch Blackwell. 

Most recently she is the creator and host of The Grace Period Podcast which aims to have honest conversations about striking a better balance, developing coping strategies, and destigmatizing mental health for stakeholders across the Legal Profession. 

Emily writes frequently and openly about her struggles and strategies when it comes to all-consuming billable-hour.

Our conversation this week aims to leave listeners with new tools to tackle the worst part of being a Defense attorney, while also reminding them that they’re not alone. 

Enjoy the show. 

No matter what age, it’s good to be reminded that some days are just going to suck, and in a lot of cases - just like Alexander - these reasons are completely out of control. 

At the end of the book, Alexander is able to go to bed, reassured by his mother that everyone is allowed to have bad days. 

But whereas Alexander isn’t going to have to face the same problems the next day, as attorneys we’re often faced with the same set of problems day after day, case after case. To be fair, it’s our job to solve problems, but when we’re unable to separate our self-worth from work-product we’re setting ourselves for a ride on the Doom-Loop.

Matt Cianflone returns to the show this week to discuss his latest article, “Shattering the Doom Loop”, which explores the causes, symptoms, warning signs, and solutions for pulling out of a professional and personal nose-dives alike. 

We talk about how quickly the line from adversary to enemy can become blurred by miscommunication, why the ways we think about ‘winning’ a case have become distorted, and how distanced-self-talk can help ground us in our lowest moments. 

A seasoned litigator, Karl is also the founder of SKRIBE AI, a software platform for capturing and analyzing legal testimony as an alternative to the traditional court reporting service. 

As someone who has taken more depositions than they could count, what Karl and his team are doing piqued my interest and I wanted to chat with him about how they’re navigating new legal frontiers while also acknowledging the potential for disruption.

We talk about everything from how low cost depositions can increase access the justice to what AI REALLY can and can’t do.

It was one of the most wide-ranging conversations we had so far on A.I., so give it a listen and enjoy the show. 

But when it comes to the jury, we tend to only see them during opening or closing remarks, and even then they almost always act more as a set-piece than a character. 

Now occasionally you get the shot of a jury reacting to the most sensational part of a case, but for the most part they tend to fade into the background - both literally and figuratively. 

But as my guest today is wise to point out, when it comes to actually trying a case the jury is perhaps the most scrutinized corner of any courtroom, which is why the best lawyers learn to build a relationship with them. 

Similar to how a stage actor builds a rapport with their audience, as attorneys we too have to recognize that even when we’re not speaking we can still be the center of someone’s attention. 

Anne Redcross Beehler is a litigation attorney who represents corporate and individual clients in a wide range of matters across California and New York.

With both civil and criminal experience under her belt, over the past decade Anne’s practice has increasingly focused on the real estate industry where she has represented tenants, landlords, and everyone in between

Anne is also a regular contributor to LAW360 and the Orange County Lawyer, and she has worked for the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York and clerked for the NY State Court of Appeals.

This week she sits down to talk about bullying in the law, why sometimes being underestimated can be your best asset, and why My Cousin Vinny is the top legal film of all time.  

__________________
SHOWNOTES

Information on ALIGHT

A sort of accelerated version of ‘practice makes perfect’. 

In reality, it’s often the spaces, people, and organizations we find ourselves immersed in that slowly but inevitably shape how we interact with the world.

But as my guest this week reminds listeners, when leaders experience major transitions, we need to remember that a lot of what we’ve learned no longer works. 

Joe Bogdan is the outgoing Chief of Enlisted Force Development for the United States Air Force, and founder of Waypoint Front Solutions. 

After 24 years of service he is retiring in September of 2024, but true to form, this transition is one Joe has been planning for a long time. 

This week he sits down with Mike to discuss what it looks like to have to give up some of the leadership-tools you’ve perfected for ones you never had to consider, why we need to see the small transitions is practice for the larger ones, and the danger of losing ourselves to our accomplishments. 

________________________

SHOWNOTES

• Contact Joe
• Joe's Reading List 

Since founding her own Professional Organizing Service in 2004, she has been on a mission to help people strip away the shame and negative stigma surrounding clutter in our modern lives. 

We discuss how clutter is almost always speaking to a deeper narrative in our lives and how it can offer a more gentle lesson in tackling bigger issues.

And while we do talk about a couple of practical tools for keeping organized, as Star explains, dealing with clutter is way more than finding the perfect label maker.

Enjoy the Show
__________________
SHOW NOTES:

• Free Digital Copy of "Why The F*** Am I Still Not Organized"
• Star's interview on NPR's LifeKit
• Star's instructions on How to Fold a Fitted Sheet - you laugh, but give it 2 minutes.

What was once the poster-child for corporate and social responsibility, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts are now either underfunded, swept away quietly, or, in some corners, vilified.  

We've talked at length on this podcast about the power of diverse teams, but they don't happen by accident, and they certainly don't happen without a difficult conversation or two. 

That’s why I felt lucky to be joined this week by Denise Hamilton, a nationally recognized Diversity & Inclusion leader, specializing in Ally training.

Denise is the author of the best-selling book, "Indivisible: How to Forge Our Differences into a Stronger Future" as well as the Founder and CEO of WatchHerWork, a digital learning platform for professional women.

In our conversation this week, we discussed why story is the gateway to empathy, explored what happens when we 'switch the nouns', and even managed to get in a few laughs. 

Enjoy the show. 

But, a fear of heights and claustrophobia are probably the last two things you’d want if your dream was to become a fighter-pilot.

And yet my guest today endured both while doing what he loved and teaching others to do the same. 

Waldo Waldman flew F-16s as an instructor, and in combat, serving in  the United States Air Force for more than two decades, and his story is proof that passion can be made greater than fear when communication and community are at the core of what you’re doing. 

Now a NYT bestselling author and National Speakers Hall of Fame inductee, he sits down to share stories from his life and lessons from his book, Never Fly Solo, in this week's episode of Legal Grounds. 

We discuss the myth of the Maverick - both in the air and in the board-room, the need for leaders to take the time to learn about their team, and why your backup plan really should have a backup plan. 

Enjoy the show!

SHOWNOTES:

Waldo's NYT Bestseller - "Never Fly Solo"
Yourwingman.com
Contact Waldo at: info@yourwingman.com

20 Months later she would step away from that role as her own struggles with mental health came to a breaking point. 

Susan has since returned to private practice, specializing in representing defendants struggling with mental health issues, helping them find a path to the treatment they need instead of being warehoused in the penitentiary.

On today's episode she shares candidly about her own naivety when it came to being everything for everyone, what it was like to struggle in the spotlight, and why the journey towards healing is never over, it just gets easier.

Susan's vulnerability is truly inspiring and one I think all of us can learn from.

Enjoy the show.

SHOWNOTES
_________________

Susan's Website

Like we talked about in last week’s episode, when it comes to mediators, too often the job is perceived as “controlling” two diametrically opposed parties; the idea being that in choosing what information to share and how to share it, mediators hold all the cards. 

And while I think we debunked this notion fairly thoroughly, this week I talked with veteran Mediator turned Marketing Consultant, Natalie Armstrong-Motin, about how ADR professionals not only have a duty to dispel this myth, but that doing so is vital to growing one’s reputation and ultimately, business. 

As the Founder and Managing Director of Marketing Resolution and the author of “The Essential Guide to Marketing Your ADR Practice”, Natalie is recognized as a pioneer and global leader in successful marketing strategies involving the resolution and legal industry. 

Her company has designed and developed hundreds of campaigns for private practices, firms, educational institutions, authors, organizations and associations around the world. 

From a humorous interaction with a Judge at a young age, to starting her first marketing newsletters on floppy discs, Natalie’s depth of knowledge made for a wonderful conversation with a light-hearted ending. 

Enjoy the show!

For the first 15 years of his career it was a job that Jeff Kichaven excelled at, but as he himself admits in our conversation today, it is incredibly taxing.

After discovering his passion lay in the negotiations of his own cases, Jeff has since become one of the most sought after mediators in the country.

We discussed topics ranging from the misperceptions of mediators as advocates to the complicated nature of confidentiality versus deception.

I would consider this week's episode required listening for any attorney no matter which side of the bar you find yourself on.

Enjoy the show!

SHOWNOTES:

Articles authored by Jeff


Contact Jeff:
Email: jk@jeffkichaven.com
Phone: 888-425-2520

For me, Capital Punishment has always been an interesting choice of language in that it implies that the act of dying is a punishment in & of itself; “capital” simply acts as a modifier for how and by whom this “punishment” is dispensed. 

Now, when thinking about these things, I would be remiss to point out that I have the luxury of doing so in the hypothetical or philosophical sense. 

But for my guest today, wrestling with death has been a tangible experience. One that, as I hope our conversation today reminds listeners, manifests itself in emotional, physical, and social pain. 

Before becoming a journalist, Sophia Laurenzi worked alongside death-row inmates in the states of Louisiana and Tennessee. 

As a capital defense investigator she strived to bring her clients into their legal process so she could, as she wrote in one of her many articles, “ensure they received a meaningful, through defense they were constitutionally entitled to.

Now as a journalist, Sophia’s work covers grief, criminal justice, and mental health, all of which are realms she has inhabited not just in her professional life, but her personal one as well. 

It is a wide-ranging conversation that felt, for me, both illuminating and necessary. Hopefully you’ll feel the same. 

Enjoy the show.

SHOWNOTES:

Sophia's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophia_laurenzi/
Sophia's Website: https://www.sophialaurenzi.com/
Sophia's Book Recommendation: Why Fish Don't Exist - by Lulu Miller

But in 2008 she began covering the intersection of technology and law as a journalist for publications like The American Bar Association, Above the Law, and The Daily Record.

In 2012  she joined MyCase, a legal software case management system, where she serves as a Subject Matter Expert and Educator, and in that time has become a self-proclaimed Legal Technology Evangelist.

I was able to hear Nicole speak earlier this year, and by the time she'd finished her talk she'd convinced even me to give a ChatGPT subscription a shot. 

But our conversation this week deals with far more than the productivity promises of A.I.. 

Nicole and I discuss whether our own biases  to these new technologies can exacerbate current legal disparities, how generative A.I. could help you build better human relationships, and why you should praise our future robot overlords... just in case. 

Enjoy the show. 

Setting aside the very serious and very real consequences to one’s health, when your profession is one that bills by the hour, spending half of that time in “damage-control” mode is less than optimal. 

But as my guest, Courtney Redman, points out, what’s more troubling is that while many of these attorneys know this isn’t sustainable, they can’t seem to point to one specific thing, task, or procedure that’s holding them back. 

With more than a decade of experience in nearly every support role a law firm can have, Courtney came to learn that oftentimes the “thing” that needs to be fixed is how THINGS get done in the first place. 

This realization, coupled with a desire to help and coordinate at multiple levels, led her to found Legacy Contracts, a full-service administrative organization that works with medium and large firms on everything from Case Management and Workflow to Invoicing, Billing, and Process Implementation. 

This week’s conversation is definitely one for the organization and systems nerds out there, but I would encourage lawyers and leaders at every stage to listen, if only to gain an understanding of how vital this unseen work is.

Enjoy the show!

And while forgetting you needed to pick-up a couple of ingredients for dinner is always a bummer, when leaders find themselves running on autopilot, there’s suddenly a lot more at stake… and for A LOT of other people as well. 

We talk plenty on this podcast about the less-admirable traits of leadership and how to go about changing them for the better. 

But my guest today, Dr. Eugene K. Choi, decided to take it a step further. 

Instead of simply asking, “how can I fix or improve these areas I clearly need to work on?”, he also asked, “where do these habits even come from in the first place?”

Dr. Choi is a clinical pharmacist, certified consultant for Neuro Change Solutions, and the founder of Destiny Hacks, a coaching program that focuses on the science of change. 

Now a transformational Mindset Coach on a mission to transform leaders, businesses, and communities, Dr. Choi has become a prolific writer and thought-leader whose articles have garnered over 8 million readers and his videos and short-films have amassed more than 23 million views. 

From learning that sometimes working towards an accomplishment is actually driven by our “Fight” response to understanding that being good at planning is widely different from executing said plan, we dive into the psychology and physiology of how habits can make or break leaders, and in turn, how leaders can break the habits. 

Enjoy the show!

SHOW NOTES
-------------------

Dr. Choi's NeuroHacking Podcast

Last time we spoke, Serban and I discussed his life story and really focused on how trust is the foundation to any working relationship. 

But what listeners didn’t know was that we had an entire section of the interview that we simply ran out of time on. 

And - perhaps ironically - that subject was Burnout. 

So today we pick up where we left off, discussing the different kinds of ‘burnout’ and the ways they can manifest themselves, why the pursuit of efficiency is harming business, and why the best leaders put themselves in a place to work ON their business not IN their business. 

It was a lively conversation full of laughter and a couple of soap-box-moments, so I hope you’ll give it a listen. 

Enjoy the show!

____________________
SHOWNOTES:
The Monkey Business Illusion Video

What attracted me to Dave was not simply the work he does helping to reunite families, but the story of his OWN family and the power to grow through grief. 

While not giving away the entire episode, after graduating from law school, Dave’s life took a very sudden and very unexpected turn when his father fell ill. 

The conversation this week was free-wheeling, but in the end I found it to be a meditation on the power of mentorship, both the intentional and the unknown. 

We also discuss the reasons Dave was drawn to public service, what advice he’d give to young lawyers, and why the best leaders never say, “do this FOR me,” but instead ask, “how do WE do this?”

Enjoy the show.

SHOWNOTES:

Dave Obrand for California State Assembly

As a writer focusing on Legal Technology and the Business of Law, it was a great chance to get the pulse of what’s happening at the forefront of the legal profession. 

We discuss how A.I. is helping lawyers while also unpacking why no amount of computing power can take away the responsibilities we have as attorneys. 

I was also fascinated by how Victor sees law schools adapting to new technology and enjoyed exploring the difference between having access to knowledge versus knowing how to apply it. 

We also talk about bullying in the law, how entertainment has shaped the practice of law, and even Richard Nixon makes a brief appearance. 

Enjoy the Show. 

SHOWNOTES:
Nixon in New York: How Wall Street Helped Richard Nixon Win the White House
by Victor Li

Victor's Recommendations:
Master of the Senate by Robert Caro
Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs by Dave Barry

Twelve. 

That’s the number Liz and I unearthed the first time we decided to give Minimalism a try. 

We had both just read the book, “The More of Less” written by my guest today, Joshua Becker, founder of Becoming Minimalist.

The book explained how Minimalism wasn’t just a novel series of systems or routines to apply to your life, it was about a philosophy, a way of interacting with and moving through the world. 

As Josh puts it, “Minimalism is about the intentional promotion of the things we value most.”

Our conversation this week explores the misconceptions surrounding Minimalism, the way Minimalism can impact and improve our relationships, and perhaps my favorite topic - how organization tricks us into thinking we have less, and why the more we have the harder it is to truly value it all

Enjoy the Show

SHOWNOTES:

Find All of Josh's Books HERE

Josh's Recommendation: The Magic of Big Thinking by David Schwarts

Sam is a  Amazon Bestselling author of Virtual Law-Firm Secrets: How to Run Your Law Firm so it Doesn’t Run You and appears frequently on podcasts across the entrepreneur and legal ecosphere. 

We discuss how lawyers are learning to incorporate A.I. into their business, why being good at managing a law firm is wildly different from being a good lawyer, as well as how leaders can use tools like ChatGPT to help find and grow their strengths.

It was a fascinating conversation and a look into the future of law through a lens I hadn't considered until now. 

Enjoy the show.

Mediation now makes up around 30% of my practice, and as you’ll be able to tell from today’s conversation, it’s something I’ve truly come to love. 

What really broke open this week’s conversation for me was Jean’s observation that in a world where conflict is prevalent, the tools of dispute resolution are about so much more than working out the technicalities. 

They are about learning to recognize others. 

A set of skills we ALL need to acquire for the betterment of ourselves and those around us. 

Jean and I discuss this idea in detail, as well as how the landscape has changed since we both began practicing and what the switch from in-person to virtual meetings has done to mediations and the practice of law at-large.

Oh, and in a first-ever, we made a Top 10 list ~ live with no rehearsal.

And so for this episode, Jean and I come up with the 10 things every attorney can do to get the best out of their next mediation. 

It was a great conversation and I can’t thank her enough.

Enjoy the show!


SHOWNOTES:

Lawler Alternative Dispute Resolution

While it’s no secret that we at Legal Grounds are big fans of self-improvement, I think there is a real danger in ALWAYS moving forward.

As anyone who has done Deep Work can tell you, it’s exhausting. 

And while it’s worth the effort, it’s also not a state that one can maintain for infinite periods of time. 

Or, rather, you CAN maintain it, but all of the energy you might use for building and nurturing the relationships outside of yourself is going to be gone. 

So for this episode I want to talk about why it may be time to actually look backwards this year, so that we can move forward with intention. 

I hope y’all had a Happy New Year and we’ll be back next week with a new episode.

For most of us it will be something meaningful but probably not always something major - after all, nearly all research points to the fact that making a drastic change overnight is rarely sustainable.

But what if you are feeling like maybe you’re stuck? 

Like the career path you’ve chosen, while rewarding, no longer holds your attention in the way it used to?

Now there are certain professions that we associate with marketable, versatile skills, and a lot of these usually fall into the creative realm. 

So it’s no surprise that when a lawyer thinks about changing careers, not only can it feel like they’re throwing away an education, it can feel like they’re throwing out an identity.

My guest has struggled with these feelings since the minute she walked out of taking the bar exam. 

Alexandra Macey Davis is the managing editor of “Public Discourse,” the online policy journal of the The Witherspoon Institute whose mission is to enhance public understanding of the moral foundations of free societies.

But before that, she was the founder of Davis Legal Media, a company that specialized in working with those in the legal fields on marketing, ghostwriting, and major content. 

And before THAT, she was a practicing attorney, specializing in business litigation and personal injury. 

In this week’s episode, Alex and I talk about what options attorneys have when it comes to stepping back from the practice of law, which also happens to be the subject of her latest book, Pivot: The Non-Traditional J.D. Handbook. 

And while the conversation centers around the legal profession, there’s plenty to take away no matter what your line of work, including discussions on procrasti-planning, the sunk cost fallacy, and so much more. 

It was a great conversation to close out the year and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

We’ll be back next week with our annual New Year’s Lightroast. 

It’s such a cliche that it’s become a comedic trope, but behind the joke is the very heartfelt fact that we don’t want others to feel left out. 

But instead of thinking about the things we get from others, I want to reflect on what we can give ourselves when we decide, not to add, but to SUBTRACT from our lives. 

So for this week’s episode, let’s talk about the art of letting go. 

Happy Holidays and enjoy the show.

And as the person who ‘knows’ what they're doing, having to correct or explain what seems obvious is a recipe for frustration - no matter how good the leader. 

But while getting frustrated is a natural emotion, for leaders there is the added complication of turning that difficult moment into a teachable one.

Or at least, that should be the goal 

Unfortunately, when that power dynamic is forgotten, some observation or suggestion the leader may intend to be constructive can come off as judgment.

Now there are plenty of practical things we as leaders can do to make sure we’re helping people fail-forward, many of which we’ve talked about on this podcast.

Things like using an appropriate tone of voice, asking questions instead of declaring our opinions as fact, and of course, putting ourselves in the other person's shoes. 

But as my guest today so wisely points out, when it comes to criticism versus judgment, oftentimes the only thing separating the two is Trust. 

Does the person receiving the advice trust that it’s coming from someone who wants them to succeed? 

And vice versa, does the person giving the advice trust that the person receiving it is in fact doing their best?

This is one of the many topics we tackle with this week’s guest. 

Serban Mare is an Engineering Program Manager with 18 years of experience leading cross-functional teams in the semiconductor industry through multimillion-dollar projects. 

He came to the United States from Romania at the age of 23 with $200 and within 10 years he had the red-brick house, a job he enjoyed, and a wife he loves. 

But despite achieving the “American Dream,” Serban realized he craved deeper meaning and fulfillment. 

Today we’ll discuss that journey; one which has led Serban to become a Professional Speaker, Certified CBT Practitioner, frequent podcast guest, and Life Coach who believes in continuously refining his communication and leadership skills to connect with diverse audiences effectively.

Enjoy the Show! 

A Licensed Professional Counselor, Bunny is now a business coach and retreat facilitator whose clients include Fortune 50 companies and C-suite leaders.

This is one of those conversations that I never could have planned and included meditations on the nature of work, leadership, and parenthood. 

At the end of the day, I would say this conversation is about how leaving a legacy involves building a much different kind of capital than you might think.

Enjoy the show. 

That being said, when it comes to the kinds of major trucking accidents that our firm deals with, understanding the science behind them has actually been one of the most fascinating parts of my career.

Now, one type of injury that we encounter frequently are T.B.I.s, or Traumatic Brain Injuries. 

When I first started practicing, we didn’t have nearly the amount of medical research we do today on the human brain. 

But even though the science has grown exponentially, one thing I’m confident in saying is that the more I’ve learned, the more I’ve realized there is so much more we DON’T know than we DO know when it comes to the brain. 

Which is why, for me, our guest this week is particularly inspiring for what he’s overcome. 

At 28, Dan MacQueen was leading a healthy, active life. 

But after an optometrist appointment to identify the cause of his persistent headaches was cut short, he was handed a sealed envelope and told to go directly to the hospital.

After surviving two emergency brain surgeries, weeks in a coma, and months in the hospital, Dan battled through excruciating rehab exercises to rebuild his life and return to a job he loved.

Beyond grateful for the doctors who saved him and the friends and family who supported him, now he wants to pay it forward. 

As a keynote speaker, for the past six years Dan has helped teams explore the areas of resilience, mindset, mental health, and social media. 

We discuss the importance of knowing where your motivation comes from, what it’s like to have to fight for voice, and why acceptance is the opposite of giving up. 

Enjoy the show! 

SHOWNOTES:
Dan's recent post on mindset after his latest eye surgery. 

A motivational speaker, Max is also the author of Fearless Happyness: My Addiction. My Battles. My Recovery, as well as hosting the Fearless Happyness podcast.

We talk about how the opposite of addiction is connection, how "No" can be a complete sentence, and why he chooses to spell Happyness with a “Y”. 

Enjoy the show! 

And if you’re a fellow Texan, there’s a good chance you heard about the recent, and massive attack that essentially crippled the city of Dallas.

And yet when it comes to the world of technology, so many leaders, often older, are either aware of or worse, actively dismissive of the potential threats floating in the digital ether.

And so while my guest and I will be looking at cyber security through the lenses of the justice system, I would argue that if you own a small business, or work with technology (so basically anyone), there’s a lot to be learned from today’s conversation.

Daniel Cotter has been working on privacy and cybersecurity issues since 1996, including development of terms and conditions and disclaimers on Fortune 500 websites in the late 1990s. 

Over his nearly 3 decades of practicing law, Dan has dealt with complex insurance regulatory issues and transactions, reorganizations of holding company systems and has substantial experience with internal investigations and employment-related issues.

A past President of the Chicago Bar Association and an Adjunct Professor at the John Marshall Law School, Dan is also a prolific author of news and legal articles as well as the book, “The Chief Justices” an in-depth look at the 17 men who sat at the center seat. 

Our conversation deals heavily with cyber security and the law, but we also touch on topics ranging from tips for young law students to Supreme Court history. 

It was a fascinating conversation and I hope you’ll join us.

Enjoy the show! 

For our first three episodes, we aimed to show founders and leaders how planning for the future is an essential tool for operating in the present.

In our final conversation, Perry and I take a look back at some of the key elements and warning signs that come before these Fork in the Road moments that every founder should know.

But this isn’t just a recap. 

Perry and I discuss actionable strategies leaders can take, such as the habit of being inclusive, the art of delegations, and yes - getting up early. 

This week’s episode is a lighthearted, practical conclusion to our first-ever multipart series, and I can’t thank Perry enough for coming along for the ride. 

Enjoy the show! 

SHOWNOTES:

"Every Day is a Gift" - Sen. Tammy Duckworth

Now again, that’s a silver lining. 

Not just because of the sheer toll the pandemic took in human lives, but because as my guest today points out, for many of us it took the world shutting down to earnestly sit with our own thoughts. 

And while receiving a medical diagnosis can be incredibly relieving, simply taking a medication will not suddenly make everything better. 

And like my guest today, I speak from experience. 

For the first half of her career, Michele Capots was a journalist whose work was published by the likes of The Washington Post and Marie Claire. 

But while working full time at the Tribune Review, Michele came face to face with her own diagnosis, a struggle that would lead her to discover there’s a difference between mental HEALTH and mental WELLNESS.

This is just one of the many topics we cover in this week’s episode. 

A tale of tragedy and triumph, Michele now shares her story and works with others who are learning that the path to recovery is very rarely a linear one, but well worth the journey.

Enjoy the show! 

SHOWNOTES:

Connect with Michele:

• LinkedIn
• Instagram

I won’t lie to you folks, this week’s episode is a tough one, but I also think it might be the hard conversation someone just might need to hear.

This week my guest is Sonny Von Cleveland, Director of The Von Cleveland Foundation, a non-profit organization that uplifts marginalized individuals by providing coaching, resources, and a safe haven for learning, all free of charge.

I think Sonny would be the first one to say he’s simply paying it forward, but it is where the currency comes from that makes Sonny’s story so unique.

Charged with his first felony at the age of 7, his childhood oscillated between being in trouble with the law and being abused at home.

He would end up spending 18 years in prison, but during a long stint in solitary confinement he would meet a mentor and fellow inmate who would change his life.

It’s a story he tells beautifully, if not heartbreakingly, in his new memoir, “Hey White Boy: Conversations of Redemption” and continues to explore with others on his podcast, “The Choice Effect.”

This episode won’t be for everybody, but for the person that needs to hear it, I think it can be transformational.

Enjoy the show.

Perry is the founder of PSK consulting, a firm that specializes in working with founder-led companies.

When he last joined us we discussed what it looks like when it comes to transitioning a business to the next level or the next leader; how to navigate the fork in our proverbial road. 

For this week’s conversation, we dive into some fairly frank discussion on what it looks like when it’s time for a leader to let go. 

Now, letting go might mean retirement or moving to a new project, but whatever the impetus is, the planning needs happen further out than most owners recognize. 

Perry and I talk about how to know when the stress feels different, why it’s hard for leader’s to pivot from survival-mode to strategy-mode, as well as red-flags that owner’s can look for when it comes time to enter the marketplace. 

Enjoy the Show!

And I’ll be the first person to raise their hand and admit I have fallen trap to it.

But as my guest today reminds us, the world gets smaller when you’re doing a million things. 

Now, if you’re like me, you can sometimes mistake volume for substance. 

The old, “I’m so busy” mentality being worn like a badge of honor. 

But what takes more discipline in this age of ‘now’ is to slow down and be intentional. 

Chris Earley is an attorney and founder of the Earley Law Group, a personal injury practice based in Boston.

And as you’ll hear from our conversation, it is this mindset of intentionality that has informed every decision and success in his practice.

We discuss why it’s important to remember we’re in the business of practicing law, why sometimes 10x is actually easier the 2x, and the power of a good-ol’-fashion phone call. 

Enjoy the show!

SHOWNOTES:
The Earley Show Podcast
The Earley Edition Newsletter

Perry is the founder of PSK consulting, a firm that specializes in working with founder-led companies, and when he last joined us we discussed what the 'Fork in the Road' moment looks like for a business and how leaders can learn to prepare for them.   

If you want to listen to that episode you can find it here.

For this week, we dive into what it looks like when it comes to transitioning a business to the next level or the next leader; how to navigate the fork in our proverbial road. 

And if you're a leader or someone who is looking to become one, there's still something for you, because as Perry and I discuss, preparing for the future has immediate impacts in the present, from the bottom-line to employee retention. 

The challenge of passing down leadership skills and institutional knowledge is not one that should be taken lightly - though we do have a laugh or two. 

Enjoy the Show! 

_____________________
SHOWNOTES:

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team 

I know I always appreciate federal holidays because it’s a lot easier for me to disconnect when everyone else isn’t available either. 

But for a lot of leaders in my generation, and certainly in the one before mine, these holidays were viewed as ‘optional.’

So for  this week’s episode, I wanted to focus on what I think leaders need to consider when it comes to generational shifts in the workforce - specifically, how this younger generation has a much different approach to how they work, and what they’re working towards. 

It’s a hot sports opinion to match the weather, but I promise there are absolutely zero “get-off-my-lawn” vibes. 

Have a great Labor Day & enjoy the show!

I wasn't in full "Game On" mode, but the possibility of spending my next three weeks in a courtroom wasn't negligible. 

And even though I've been doing this for nearly 4 decades, every time I sit down to prep for a case there will come a point where I have to come face to face with my limiting beliefs. 

That "this trail" could be the one I somehow fumble in a way that could be embarrassing at best and dangerous at worst. - and crazy as it may sound, I'm thankful for these moments. 

As my guest today learned much earlier than I did, putting ourselves in situations that force us to reconcile who we are with who we want to be is the surest way toward growth.

Stephenie Zamora is the founder of Stephenie Zamora Media, a business and marketing firm.

She and her team specialize in working with people who are struggling to rise up in the aftermath of loss, trauma, depression, and other big life transitions as they begin building a business around their callings. 

Stephenie is the author of multiple books, including “10 Life Tips for the Dark Night of the Soul”, and the memoir, “Unravel”, which became a #1 new release in multiple categories. 

Undeniably passionate and radically vulnerable, Stephenie continues to document her journey through her Substack community as well as her YouTube channel and Podcast, “Tales From the Journey”

We discuss why the meaning we assign to our suffering matters as much as the lessons we learn from it, how leaders make purpose their purpose, and how community can conquer all that life has to throw at us.

Enjoy the Show! 

A regular contributor to Forbes and sought-after speaker, Jevon  is the author of Own Your Kingdom, How To Increase Your Confidence, Build Your Self-Esteem, And Control Your Destiny and as of May of this year he is also the host of the Podcast, Design your Life and Business. 

We discuss Jevon's early life and how he went from facing 7 years in prison to serving 12 years in the US Army (earning a Bronze Star), why you can't lead with rank, and how to find the lessons in the losses. 

Enjoy the Show! 

SHOWNOTES
------------------

• Jevon - ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS 
• The 5 'Y's
• Organic Marketing
• Podcast Interview - A Space to Breathe

Crucial Conversations (Mike's Book Recommendation)

1. Politics
2. Religion
3. Money

Now, I'd argue that in social situations these are still best-practices. but what's interesting is those first two... well, they're not so 'taboo' any more.  

Now, I don't have the numbers to back it up, but I think a huge factor is social media. 

And PLEASE know I'm not 'blaming' anyone for anything, but I'd be willing to bet a majority of us share their political and religious affiliations and opinions openly. 

Whether it's Twitter (r.i.p.) or Instagram or TikTok, politics and religion drive a huge part of the conversations and content. 

But money? 

Not so much.

Sure, there's plenty of stuff about saving and making money, but I don't think I've seen anyone post their savings account balance.

But my guest today wants to break that taboo.

Darren Wurz is a portfolio manager for Wurz Financial Services, a boutique, family business, specializing in the financial planning needs of law firm owners. 

A Certified Financial Planner, he holds a Master’s Degree in Financial Planning and is the author of The Lawyer Millionaire, A Financial Guide For Attorneys published by the American Bar Association.  

We talk about the financial conversations lawyers need to be having at every stage of their career, why leaders need to promote financial literacy at all levels, and how being better with our own finances actually helps us serve our clients better. 

Enjoy the show! 

The confidence, courage, and work ethic it takes to get something off the ground is nothing less than herculean. 

But once a business is off the ground and things are going well, every owner will - hopefully - hit what we’re calling The Fork in the Road. 

A point where it comes time to grow, sell, or pass off a company. 

With that in mind, this week’s episode is the first in a four-part series on this topic that will be spread out over the next couple of months.

And joining me to discuss how leaders can navigate this Fork in the Road is Perry Kaufman, a Strategic Advisor who has worked for some of the largest firms in the country, including KPMG as well as TravisWolff and Armanino where he was Partner.

He now heads his own boutique practice, PSK Consulting, which specializes in advising Founder-Owned companies at every stage and size.

For this first episode we talk about how the classic idea of ‘the owner’ no longer applies, why people as driven as entrepreneurs stutter when it comes to innovation, why it’s actually a good thing to run out of answers. 

Enjoy the show! 

Not everyone wants to be a partner.

Not everyone wants the corner office.

Some people want practicing law to be a job not their entire life. 

And guess what? THAT’S OK. 

As my guest today points out, the legal profession currently finds itself  in a generational rift. 

What was once the expected track is not what interests young lawyers anymore; not because they’re lazy, but because they are allowing themselves the time to figure out what they want to do!

Wendy Merrill joins me in the studio this week to discuss this and so, SO much more. 

Just think of the stereotypes of The Ambulance Chaser with a desk full of papers in an office that’s too small. 

Or the Righteous D.A. who always knows the right thing to say. 

A lot of these myths are harmless, comical, or FAR too flattering, but there is one myth - or perhaps trope would be the better word - that follows legal professionals around like the Charlie Brown cloud. 

The Hard Drinking Lawyer. 

When I was cutting my teeth in the late 80’s, liquid lunch was not uncommon. 

Or at least it wasn’t frowned upon. 

But as more and more awareness has been raised (and more data gathered), the “glamor” that surrounded this lifestyle is fading. 

But just because irish coffee isn’t office appropriate doesn’t mean the problem has gone away. 

And as my guest today will tell you, people can get pretty good at hiding it - especially from themselves. 

Gary Miles has been a high-level trial attorney for over 40 years in a variety of areas including transportation law, serious personal injury, and family law.

He has been the managing partner of Huesman, Jones, and Miles for over three decades and an active member of many professional associations, but he will be the first to tell you he’s learned as much from his failures as he has from his success.

I know few lawyers – though the numbers are growing – who will openly admit the parts of THEIR lives they regret, and I know even fewer who will share their struggles when it comes to one of the few taboos we still have in our profession and our culture at large: addiction. 

But that struggle is not Gary’s entire story, and in fact it is the story of those lessons learned that have made him into a more effective attorney and mentor. 

It’s a shorter episode this week, but don’t confuse brevity with lack of depth, because Gary has it in spades.

Enjoy the Show! 

__________

The Free Lawyer Podcast

This shared experience of fumbling our way in the dark (see: Lawyer Cat) was humanizing, but even once we all got the hang of it, my guest today was already wondering if we could stick with it. 

As Matt Cianflone asked in a September 2021 article, “Will we turn back into pumpkins when the clock strikes midnight, or will we, as a legal community, actually apply some of the cost savings and risk management techniques that we were forced to put in place over the past 18 months and counting?”

That’s only one of the questions Matt and I tackle in this week’s episode. 

Before becoming General Counsel for Gold Medal Bakery, Matt spent his time in private practice where he first cut his teeth as a criminal defense attorney - an experience that would help solidify his passion for helping people. 

This episode is a little on the longer side, but I promise there’s not a minute of wasted time. 

Enjoy the show. 

________________

Articles by Matt:

Rethinking Our Approach 7/13/2021
Seasons of Change 9/7/2021
An Existential Crisis? 11/2/2021
The Sunk-Costs Trap in Claims 6/6/2022
Avoiding the Pitfalls of the Litigation Business 11/14/2022
The OODA Loop Trumps the ‘Seinfeld’ Model 2/21/2023
Building Resilience 5/1/2023

And often, it’s those experiences that can provide the most valuable lessons a leader could ask for…and never wanted to learn. 

In 1968, at the age of 22, Robin Bartlett  assumed the leadership of the 1st Platoon, A Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) during the height of the Vietnam War.

A distinguished military graduate, Robin turned down an opportunity to attend West Point, opting to go to Ranger school, which he calls the best insurance policy he ever took out on himself. 

For 50 years, Robin rarely shared his experiences, until, in his words, things started to leak out. 

What would result is one of the best pieces of non-fiction I've read in years: Vietnam Combat: Firefights & Writing History.

As fate would have it, his mother had saved every single one of the 100+ letters he’d sent home, and thanks to an enduring friendship with his Medic, he also had pictures with which to retrace his steps during the most pivotal time of his life. 

Robin and I discuss what it means to grow up in an environment that places a premium on leadership, what it’s like to lead and lose a team, and we even manage to squeeze in a couple laughs. 

I couldn’t have asked for a better conversation to come back from our break. 

Enjoy the show!

Enjoy the show. 

Many of us, especially those privileged enough to have a 3-day weekend, used the time to gather with friends and family. 

It is a solemn Holiday that has also somehow become the unofficial beginning of Summer, and while I am not here to be the grumpy old man, I think we can all admit it’s a little weird to use it to sell mattresses. 

But again, I don’t want to be “that guy,” and so I set about trying to see if I could find a reason for this strange combination of reverence and relaxation that wasn’t based on anecdotal evidence. 

And while I suspected it to simply be a number’s game, I stumbled across something interesting that clicked a lot of pieces into place for me. 

Hopefully it can do the same for you. 

Enjoy the show

Getting to learn what leadership looks like in fields outside my own has taught me that, while leadership is going to look different in every setting, good leadership has qualities that are universal, and therefore transferable.

Now, talking to someone who has changed professions is par for the course on this show, but I don’t think we’ve ever caught a guest who was literally in the process of shifting between two wildly different careers. 

But, if you think about it, it makes sense; starting a business leaves little time for much else. 

That’s why I was so thankful that Clive Savacool took the time to sit down and unpack that transition in real-time. 

A  veteran firefighter with 25 years of experience, Clive would end up captaining multiple departments in his home state of California. 

During that time he responded to thousands of calls and became very familiar with administering and tracking narcotics to on-scene accident victims. 

He was also smart enough to notice there was a huge problem - all these records were being kept by hand.

These real-world experiences led him to develop LogRX, a medication tracking and management system that keeps patients safe and medical professionals accountable by tracing narcotics from their origin all the way to their administration. 

Clive and I discuss what skills are always transferable as a leader, what it takes to become comfortable leading in a space where you don’t know it all, and why the “move fast and break things” mentality doesn’t always work. 

Enjoy the show! 

And if you’re in anyway familiar with the game, you know it’s not because they’re all nearsighted but because they are THAT concerned with keeping their strategy a secret.

So with that in mind, I want you to picture what would happen if it came out the the head-coach of ‘Team A’ was going to training-camps for ‘Team B’ and saying, “Here’s how we play. Here’s the new plays we’re trying. And here’s how we’ve improved.”

Not only would that coach quickly be out of a job, fans and players alike would cry foul (pun intended) because after all, this is a competition! 

Well, that’s what a lot of lawyers might think my guest this week is doing and it’s not their fault — they’ve been trained to think that way.

I first met Joe Fried at a DRI conference in Chicago when he was giving a talk very similar to our hypothetical head-coach. 

For three decades, Joe has practiced as a plaintiff’s attorney at both the State and Federal levels, and like you’s truly, he specializes in trucking accident litigation.  

In 2007 he founded his own firm, Fried Goldberg, but not content with simply trying cases, Joe is also a prolific speaker at both Plaintiffs and Defense Conferences, as well as CLE Courses.

His passion for teaching led him to found the Academy of Trucking Accident Attorneys which is committed to providing cutting edge resources, education and support to its members and to encouraging the sharing of information between members. 

If his name sounds familiar that’s because Joe was guest number EIGHT on this podcast; to say the legal landscape has changed since then would be an understatement. 

Joe and I discuss the rise of run-away verdicts and (ironically) the danger they pose to future plaintiffs,  why living a life outside of law is necessary to being an attorney of impact, and why the defense bar needs to stop with the hoarding strategy and start sharing skills unless we want to be left in the legal-dust.

So listen up fellow Defense Attorneys and  the rest of you….

Enjoy the show. 

But like a lot of humor there is a strong undercurrent of truth, and so my hope has always been that leaders will eventually see that this mentality is not just foolish, but also pretty dang silly. 

And to further complicate things, as my guest today points out, adults aren't totally wrong that this generation seems to be less motivated and less resilient than those that came before them. 

The problem: it's our fault.

Too often as leaders and, for lack of a better term, "grown-up’s,” we are very good at pointing out the problems and very bad at remedying them.

Sarah Hernholm  is a former elementary school teacher turned entrepreneur. 

In 2009, she left the classroom to create WIT - Whatever It Takes - an organization that works with teens and tweens around the world who are interested in using their voice and ideas to launch businesses, non-profits, and/or social movements, all while helping them to develop emotional intelligence, soft skills, and an entrepreneurial mindset

A three-time TEDx Speaker (1) (2) (3), Sarah also writes for FORBES and TODAY Show Parent, hosts the DO WIT podcast, and is currently writing her book “11 Tips for Doing WIT.”

We discuss why kids actually DO love working, why adults too often play the victim in situations they create, and the power of commas over periods. 

Oh, and Will Ferrell...

Enjoy the show!

Or, at least I did. 

When we think of the Titans of Industry - your IBM's, your G.E.'s, your AT&T's - it's easy to see why we'd assume that Fortune 500 companies have been around forever OR have consistent staying power. 

But once you start to look past the old-guard, you quickly realize that a lot of the companies that once shared a spot on that coveted list are gone. 

A.O.L. anyone? 

But even with all of that in mind, the number was still shocking: 89%. 

And while a lot of factors can be pointed to, my guest today points to one factor that unites them all - a failure to reinvent. 

Nadya Zhexembayeva is an entrepreneur and has founded multiple companies, most notably the Reinvention Academy and the WE EXIST Reinvention Agency whose clients have included Coca-Cola, IBM, and Cisco Systems. 

She has taught courses on business and management at multiple institutions including IEDC-Bled School of Management in Slovenia, Case Western Reserve in the United States, and IPADE Business School in Mexico.

Nadya has given multiple TEDTalks (1) (2) (3) and is the author of multiple best-selling books, with several focusing on the environmental impacts of business including, “Overfished Ocean Strategy: Powering Up Innovation For A Resource-Deprived World” and “Embedded Sustainability: The Next Big Competitive Advantage.”

We discuss why so many companies don’t survive disruption, how the more you know about what you do the easier it is to let things go, and why admitting you don't have the answer can actually generate more solutions. 

It's a fantastic conversation, and if you're a statistics nerd then this is the episode for you. 

Enjoy the show!

Now, a big part of that is because when asking questions I know I have the tendency to default to "lawyer-mode,” which I would technically describe as listening, but the only purpose of the answer is to inform your next question. 

A conversation, however, requires active listening. 

It requires letting topics and thought-processes intertwine in ways both strange and wonderful, and when it can be sustained the conversation morphs into something like jazz.

A mood contained. 

My conversation this week with Garner Berry happens to be one of them. 

He is a dear friend and a damn good attorney, recently being named partner at Chartwell Law. 

But for the purpose of our conversation today, Garner is the father of a 13 year old son with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a degenerative disease with no known cure. 

From refocusing during times of crisis to laughing in the face of tragedy, trying to encapsulate everything discussed would take as long to read as it would for you to listen to the podcast, so I'll simply say two things: 

1) The best leaders are the ones who keep going when hope is all that's left. 

2) Get your tissues. 

Enjoy the Show.

Check out the links below for more information about DMD and  ways to help.

The Parent Project - a DMD Specific Organization

Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA)

RAD (Radically Against Dystrophy)

Too many seasoned attorneys worry about retaining their book of business at the expense of training the next generation of lawyers. 

And in the end, the client is the one who suffers.

Some version of this problem has existed for as long as there have been apprenticeships or something like them.

And anyone who’s ever lost an employee they invested in knows there’s a weird sting to it. 

Even when you genuinely want the best for that person. 

But look at any lawyer of impact and one trait they are guaranteed to have in common are mentors who both guided them, and, when the time came, allowed them to carve a new trail. 

Thankfully my guest this week  is someone who had those kinds of mentors in her life. 

Whitney Lay Greene is an experienced civil litigator, practicing in the fields of transportation/trucking law, ride-share litigation, premises liability, and products liability in both state and federal courts all over Georgia. 

Whitney is active in multiple organizations including DRI, TIDA, and the ABA. 

The past couple years have been a little busy for all of us, but after becoming a partner at Chartwell Law, starting The Mother Board podcast, AND having twins - all while adjusting to a pandemic - Whitney has embodied a calm wisdom & passion for leadership. 

This is definitely an episode for the lawyers, but I think the jokes help carry the day for everyone. 

Enjoy the Show! 

Coming from the top down, that directness could take a lot of forms, some good, some…not so much. 

But what I never was after walking away from a conversation with my old man was ‘unsure’ of what he meant. 

Now, I think a lot of us lump together the idea of ‘being direct’ with the notion of telling people something they don’t want to hear. 

As if there is a sort of cold cruelness attached to it.

But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve discovered that being direct really means telling people what you need them to hear in a way that they will listen. 

But - plot twist! - what happens if the person you need to be direct with is yourself?

As leaders, it’s our job to spend a huge portion of our bandwidth thinking about the needs of others. 

Too often, however, what feels like self-sacrifice is actually self-sabotage. 

After all, how can we be direct with ourselves if we barely know what’s going on with us in the first place?

That’s a question Kekua Kobashigawa found herself asking after the “dream life” she worked so hard to build began falling apart. 

But not one to sit among the rubble, Kekua began to build the life she never even knew she wanted in the first place. 

Now she’s a Woman’s Leadership Mentor and the best-selling author of “Do Big Shit: The Road Map for Taking Control of Your Life.”

She is also the founder of the HBIC Development. 
And yes - it stands for exactly what you think it does. 

Kekua and I discuss the perils of common sense, why auto-pilot doesn’t equal safety, and what leaders need to know about how engagement is a two way street.

Fair warning: there’s some salty language so maybe listen with headphones

As a podcast that puts a lot of emphasis on Leadership, we spend a fair amount of time talking to our guests about those leaders who helped guide them in the early stages of life. 

Now, to be sure, we’ve had plenty of guests who have endured trauma from their childhood that has shaped who they would become. 

And plenty for who found themselves in the ditch later in life.

But imagine, if you can, living a life in which the first time you remember the feeling of being treated like a human being was while you were working at a wastewater treatment plant on prison-detail.

I don’t pose this question to throw a pity-party on behalf of my guest, but to highlight one of the major themes of this week: empathy vs. compassion. 

And that’s because, believe it or not, it’s ok not to be able to empathize with people. 

What’s more, when we understand where our ability to empathy ends, we can actually better serve those around us because we recognized the need for compassion, not comparison. 

My guest this week is Jonathan York.

At 30 years old he found himself on the inside of a prison cell, divorced, and having lost his business and home. 

Jonathan would serve 3 years, but as he puts it, prison was the best thing that ever happened to him.

Today he and his wife are the co-founders of Resionus Industrial Coating, a majority female and veteran owned company with decades of combined experience in industrial flooring needs. 

And most recently, Johnather has begun The Relisent Man Project in an effort to share stories like his own, and show how faith and vulnerability is the key to continually moving forward. 

I would encourage leaders of ANY role to listen to Jonathan’s story, if only to learn how leader’s that give second-chances can change lives. 

Enjoy the show

Now, don’t get me wrong, I prepared for this week’s episode because some of the subjects are deeply serious. 

And of course I wasn’t just going to wing it on my introduction. 

But when it came time for the questions, I got through about ¼ of what we could have discussed. 

My guest this week is Sofia Ramón, Manger & Cofounder of Ramón | Worthington, a majority-women owned and minority-owned law firm.

Having practiced trial law for over three decades, she has primarily represented defendants in first-party insurance claims, transportation law, commercial, insurance, and serious personal injury matters - just to name a few of her specialties.

Sofia is also a qualified Mediator, an executive board member of the Texas Association of Defense Counsel, and proudly serves as a National Director for AVANCE, INC., an organization which works to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty through innovative, two-generation educational support for families with young children. 

We discuss how making connections early in your career can help you become a better lawyer and leader, the impact of mentorship, and what to do about the very real disparities in representation for Latino and Latina Lawyers. 

But maybe more than anything, this episode feels like the coffee break conversations that inspired this podcast. 

So pardon the occasional curse-word, and know that teasing is a love-language. 

Enjoy the show! 

I say this as a heads-up for listeners that we’ll be dealing with some heavier subject matter. 

And because we’re talking about such a serious subject, I think you’ll understand why the copy for this episode isn’t as chipper as usual. 

PTSD is something that I think a lot of us have come to associate with either combat veterans or the victims of violence, but any mental health professional will tell you that there is no litmus-test for trauma. 

But of the many professions that interact with trauma, few of them do so as regularly as that of a firefighter, and unfortunately my guest today had to find this out the hard way. 

After becoming a firefighter at the age of 19, Nick Wingo quickly realized he was not yet equipped to handle the Death part of the life-and-death situations he was being called to help in. 

And after years of towing the line and pushing down his pain, Nick finally broke. And as he has put the pieces back together and come to understand his PTSD, he is on a mission to share his story and help other first responders seek the help the need and deserve. 

The author of Amazon Bestseller, Building Grit: Fighting the Fires of PTSD, Nick and I discuss how leaders can recognize warning-signs in themselves, why our blindspots usually end up being the things we see most clearly in others, and the need to dispel the myth that there is a threshold for who gets to struggle. 

I hope you enjoy the show. 

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If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. Veterans, press 1 when calling OR contact Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741 to text with a trained crisis counselor from the Crisis Text Line for free, 24/7

Now we’ve talked a lot about the importance and power of getting a good night’s rest, and the act of dreaming is a product of REM sleep which, in turn, gives the brain time to heal. 

So in this sense, dreaming is good. 

But as interesting as the encounter between you and a giant penguin dressed as your high school principal might be, we’re not talking about those sorts of dreams this week. 

Instead, I’m joined in the studio this week by Digital Marketing & Business Consultant, Two Time TEDx Speaker, and Writer, Jacqueline Boone.

Fluent in English, Spanish, and Mandarin, she has worked and taught on multiple continents for over two decades. 

And for the purpose of this conversation, she is also the Founder of The Dream Academy, an online education hub for both new and seasoned entrepreneurs, as well as the Six Months to Live Project. 

Jacqueline and I discuss the misconceptions around day-dreaming, the need for leaders to give their people the space to dream - even if it means losing them, and why so many of us stop dreaming in the first place. 

I know dreaming sounds like an idle task, but I promise this conversation is anything but stationary. 

Enjoy the show!

Jacqueline’s TED Talk on Dreamers the Do
Jacqueline’s TED Talk on World Peace

Now, I don’t think any of us doubt the fact that competitiveness will inherently generate some need for leadership skills. 

Even from a young age, kids who show the most competitive drive are the ones who make team captain, school president - and this isn’t a bad thing. 

But as my guest points out, that kind of competitive leadership is balanced by cooperation. 

Yet, the practice of law demands constant skepticism, the ability to create multiple narratives. 

And while these are great qualities in an attorney, they can also be the qualities of the micro-manager from hell. 

Balancing cooperation and skepticism is only one of the many unique challenges when it comes to leadership in the law, but thankfully Donald Polden literally teaches the class on this subject. 

Donald Polden is Dean Emeritus and Professor at Santa Clara University’s School of Law where for nearly two decades he has served students and the larger community. 

Dean Polden practiced antitrust and corporate law for several years and has taught courses in federal antitrust law, corporate and federal securities law, and employment law. 

And for the interest of our conversation today, he also teaches leadership skills and theory to law students and lawyers. 

We discuss how the next generation of lawyers views leadership, how different situations can call for different styles of leadership, and even manage to squeeze in some self-deprecating legal humor. 

Enjoy the show! 

Over the past month it’s felt like everything has conspired against me being able to sit down and record a new episode. 

First it was a covid scare, then a couple of reschedules (both on me), a couple of unforeseen matters getting shuffled around, and finally a case that should have settled but went to trial anyways. 

And because I’d taken on some new files, on top of trying to get my other case to settle, I found myself working a LOT on mediations. 

Now, I don’t keep my love for being a mediator a secret and it’s one of the things I’m excited to do more of as I transition away from managing the Firm. 

But having to actively participate as an interested party is, on a good day, mentally exhausting. On a bad day, it can be devastating to your client, your case, or both. 

And I think it’s because of that drain, that adrenaline drop that always comes after a contentious mediation or any trial, that a lot of us lawyers do our best to keep our emotions in-check, if not buried.
 
After all, if you practice long enough you will have that one client or case where it’s obvious someone’s been wronged, but the law just isn’t there. 

Thankfully my first guest after a brief hiatus is one of the best mediators I know, and she’s flipping the script by bringing emotions to the forefront of how conflict resolution can work. 

 In the two years since we last spoke, Winter Wheeler has given two TEDTalks**; the book she’d just co-authored, #Networked, has become a bestseller, and most recently, she has earned the title “Senior Neutral”—the highest honor a mediator and arbitrator can achieve in her home city of Atlanta.

Winter Wheeler has been a senior litigation attorney at multiple law firms, was named one of National Black Lawyers Top 40 Under 40, and is the founder of her own incredibly successful mediation practice and coaching program.

We discuss her 4 cornerstones for successful mediation, how allowing space for emotion can also allow space for negotiation, and why the myth of “leaning in” is leading to the very real problem of burnout among women in the professional realm. 

I couldn’t have asked for a better conversation to kick things back off. 

Enjoy the show! 

TEDTalk: Confessions of a Mom Who Has it All

TEDTalk: Mastering the Art of the Uncomfortable Conversation

Find Winter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/winterwheeler/

In fact, it reminds me a lot of the ‘sleep is for the weak’ mentality that persisted in the 80’s and 90’s. 

On the other end of this spectrum, you have what I’m going to call Mindfulness Culture. 

And while there are amazing benefits to be had from deep breathing and meditation, just like the “grind,” mindfulness is not something that can be packaged in LinkedIn inspirational quotes. 

As my guest this week takes great care to remind us: Mindfulness is not a luxury.

Dr. Jannell MacAulay is a combat veteran who served 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, as a pilot, commander, special operations consultant, international diplomat, and professionalism instructor. 

With her innovative leadership style, Dr. MacAuley was the first leader to introduce mindfulness as a proactive performance strategy within the United States military and she currently serves as a Leadership and Human Performance consultant for the Department of Defense, government sector, and corporate America. 

A TEDx Speaker and Podcast Host, Dr MacAulay graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy, and holds a Masters Degree in Kinesiology from The Pennsylvania State University, and a Ph.D. with work in the field of strategic health & human performance. 

We discuss how servant leadership can actually become a toxic trait, why it’s important for leaders to dream for their team members, and the myth that there’s a “right” way to be mindful. 

As always, enjoy the show! 

*Dr, MacAulay on LinkedIn*

A survivor herself, Madison decided set out on a mission not just to make herself whole, but to heal communities and to change the way we as a culture deal with the epidemic of sexual violence. 

Since founding Leda Health, Madison has been named to Forbes 30 under 30, and Leda’s EEK (Emergency Evidence Kit) was an honoree at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show. 

We talk about what it’s like to have your ideas rejected, especially when change is so urgently and obviously needed, and why our cultural narrative relies on the myth of the “perfect victim.”

From expanding services to rural areas and telehealth, unpacking the grim statistics, and understanding the legal complexities and injustices around sexual assault, this conversation is one every leader should take the time to listen. 

Enjoy the show. 

1. What could I be doing better?

&

1. How can I go about improving on those things?

As leaders, these questions can seem so broad that they somehow become both vague and insurmountable.

The basketball legend Larry Bird once said: “I wasn't real quick, and I wasn't real strong. Some guys will just take off and it's like, whoa. So I beat them with my mind and my fundamentals.”

So perhaps, when faced with these fundamental questions, we would be best served by looking at how our own “fundamentals” are serving us. 

In that vein, this week’s episode can best be viewed as a “back to basics” conversation with my friend and fellow attorney, Stewart Shurtleff. 

Stewart has specialized in the area of construction law for nearly two decades, first in private practice, and most recently as the CLO of Osburn Contractors. He is also the co-host of the 17Twenty Podcast.

We discuss why the little things going wrong get under the skin, the correlation between being a good lawyer and a good partner, and why, no matter what role you find yourself in, you’re a leader.

I couldn’t have asked for a better conversation to start off the New Year. 

Enjoy the show! 

After all, if you’re like me and ate your body weight in dessert this Christmas, it’s tempting to want to dig ourselves out of the glutinous rut we’ve settled into.

But before you buy that brand new pair of running shoes or throw out every item from your kitchen with sugar on the ingredient list, I’m going to make a suggestion, and I mean this nicely:

Get real.

No, not “get real” as in you’re being a dingus, “get real” as in actually take the time to plan for the unplannable.

The truth is a lot of New Year’s resolutions are dead by the time Valentine’s Day creeps up. 

I know because I’ve been the holder of many of them.

So for the final episode of 2022, I take a brief moment to meditate on what it means to be realistic. 

Not just with our goals, but with ourselves.

I hope it can serve as an anchor for all your resolutions.

Enjoy the show and we’ll talk to you next year.

Sounds kinda good, right? 

Everyone being nice to each other, never fighting to merge for traffic or crowding the grocery store aisles… 

But, counterintuitive as it may seem, a world devoid of Anger would actually be a pretty terrible place to live. 

See, a lot of us have been taught that our negative emotions are, in a way, "not fit to print." 

Sadness, guilt, anger - all of these emotions are natural, and yet we are either taught to avoid them or shamed out of experiencing them. 

This, in turn, affects our ability to fully communicate our authentic selves. 

My guest this week, Marcia Reynolds, learned that lesson from an unlikely source in an unlikely place - a cell-mate during her time in jail. 

Marcia has gone on to earn two master's degrees and a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology. 

She is the founder of Covisioning, a leadership coaching firm that focuses on engagement and emotional intelligence to help leaders foster change in their organizations and bring teams closer together. 

Marcia is a two time TEDx speaker and the author of multiple books including Wander Woman, and The Discomfort Zone. 

We talk about the positive power of anger, why people tend to hide (or hide behind) their negative emotions, and how the "lean in" culture is becoming a thing of the past. 

Enjoy the show!

But if the rise of things like A.I. and the ‘Blockchain’ seems foreign, even scary, well then I hope this week’s episode can broaden your perspective and maybe even put your mind at ease. 

My guest this week is Larry Bridgesmith, an attorney with more than 4 decades of experience in the legal arena, who has tried cases before the United States Supreme Court; the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth AND Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals as well as numerous federal and state courts.

Larry is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University, and the founding executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management at Lipscomb University. He currently teaches at multiple institutions in areas from business to bioethics. 

But aside from being a brilliant lawyer, Larry has a passion for technology and how it can aid the Justice System in becoming more efficient. 

To that end, he co-founded LegalAlignment, which provides technology tools and legal project management training to assist lawyers in managing the delivery of legal services more efficiently with greater transparency and price predictability. 

DASH, the companies primary legal technology platform, was chosen as a finalist in the 2021 British Legal Technology Awards program in the Innovative Legal Services category.

A lot of the ideas discussed are actually fairly uncomplicated. 

For example: Allow software to generate/complete the more monotonous, but still incredibly necessary task so they can simply be reviewed by an attorney, saving time and money for all parties involved. 

Larry and I discuss why, how and when law firms should adopt new technologies, the myth that efficiency equals less billable time, and how the landscape of the economy is becoming more collaborative. 

As always, Enjoy the Show! 

To cut to the chase, my guest this week is Rena Cook, a Professor Emeritus at the University of Oklahoma who teaches a myriad of subjects including voice, speech, dialects, acting and directing. 

…and for some. dang. reason. my normal audio setup betrayed me. 

So please don’t think I ‘masked’ my voice for fear of being judged by the vocal coach.

Now, with that little caveat out of the way, this week’s conversation is pure gold for anyone whose job involves frequent communication - but honestly, these topics are pretty much applicable to everyone.

With decades of teaching experience, Rena earned her MFA in Theater & Production from Oklahoma University, as well as an additional Masters in Voice Studies from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

She has written multiple books on authentic, confident communication, including one specifically for women in the legal profession. 

Rena and I cover a lot of ground in this episode, but that only means there’s more for you to pick and choose from. 

Topics range from how posture affects speech, teaching formerly incarcerated women how to find their voice, and why ending sentences with the “question-y” up-inflection feels like nails on a chalkboard. 

Oh, and because it’s an episode about voice, there’s plenty of impersonations and even more laughter. 

Enjoy the Show!