The Velvet Hammer™ Podcast

We keep telling ourselves courts are supposed to be different, calmer, more neutral, more focused on the rule of law. Then we turn around and ask judges to campaign like everyone else, shake hands, chase endorsements, and win votes. That contradiction kicks off a heated, funny, and surprisingly personal debate about judicial elections vs judge appointments, and what each system does to legitimacy,...

Death isn’t just a dark thought we save for funerals. It’s a quiet force that can steer our calendars, our relationships, and the risks we’re willing to take, especially as we realize time is finite. We start with a blunt question, how much do we actually think about death, and quickly get into what scares us most: not “being dead,” but the transition, the loss of control, and the unbearable uncer...

We show up to a big legal conference… and immediately realize we forgot the poster we were supposed to bring. That tiny disaster turns into a bigger, surprisingly personal talk about what lawyer conferences and bar associations are really for, especially in the trial lawyer world where the “opponent” is often an insurance company, a big corporation, or government power. When you’re up against that...

A packed Seattle festival. A shooting. And then, for hours, the city is left wondering who is actually steering the response. We dig into the Bite of Seattle tragedy and the leadership test it created, focusing on the part that can either prevent more harm or multiply it fast: crisis communication and public safety coordination. We talk about Seattle’s long-running instability at the top of the Se...

A door plug blows out mid-flight, passengers think they’re going to die, and suddenly the legal system asks them to relive it all again, for hours, on the record. We get into what plaintiff depositions look like when the defendant is a giant like Boeing, and why “just tell your story” can turn into seven hours of scripted preamble, invasive questions, and page after page of transcripts that nobody...

A face that does not move can cost you a verdict. We get candid about plastic surgery, Botox, and why looking “younger” is not always an upgrade when your job is to persuade a jury that you’re real, present, and trustworthy. Karen tells two close-to-home stories: the nose job she seriously considered and then quickly rejected, and the moment her own child asked if she’d had Botox. From there, we z...

The fastest way to test your identity is to remove the crutch you didn’t know you were using. We sit down for a messy, honest “psychology session” about change: who we’ve become over the past couple of years, why Mo can flip big switches like going vegan and quitting alcohol, and why Karen still thinks the story people tell about willpower leaves out the real work.  We break down behavior change a...

A new partner walks in and you can feel the room change. That’s what it’s like when Elizabeth Hanley joins us, and we’re not going to pretend we can introduce her without telling the Maui story first: a big convention crowd, a poolside setup spiraling, a missing bartender, and Liz showing up injured and still asking one simple question, “What can I do to help?” That’s the kind of attitude you can’...

A four-year-old can’t cross the street alone, can’t understand contracts, and can’t grasp what fame costs, yet our culture keeps placing kids into adult rooms with adult incentives. We sit with a recent tragedy as a starting point and then zoom out to the bigger pattern: child actors, child musicians, and now child influencers being turned into products long before they can choose a life. We talk...

A trial can turn ugly fast when the other side decides “mean” is a strategy. We talk through what it feels like to face a hostile, snide defense team, how that negativity shows up in depositions and at counsel table, and why we refuse to let it control our courtroom presence. The surprising part is how often that kind of lawyering backfires, not because jurors are naïve, but because they’re lookin...

The jury is filing in, the verdict form is in hand, and suddenly the loudest feeling is not victory. It’s relief. We talk candidly about what verdict day does to trial lawyers and why even a “good” jury verdict can feel heavy, tense, and strangely joyless. We break down the real-time experience of listening to a verdict being read: negligence, proximate cause, damages, and then the gut-punch quest...

Courtroom culture loves control and punishes messiness, and nothing reveals that faster than tears. We start with the joke everyone knows, “There’s no crying in baseball,” then follow it into a much sharper reality: for generations of lawyers, “no crying” has been treated like a rule of professionalism, especially for women and anyone who already feels out of place in the room. Karen Koehler share...

Your mind hits rewind and suddenly you’re back in a meeting from last week, a mistake from ten years ago, or a conversation you wish you could redo. We dig into why rumination feels so convincing, how it differs from real reflection, and what it costs when the replay becomes a nonstop soundtrack of regret, second-guessing, and anxiety. We talk through two very different coping styles. One of us ca...

You can feel it before the first question is even finished: the witness is about to lie. The problem is not whether you can prove it. The problem is when you should prove it. We talk through real deposition strategy and trial lawyer decision-making for dealing with false statements in sworn testimony, including the risk of confronting a lie too early and watching it get “fixed” the moment opposing...

A single celebrity at courtside can flip a playoff game into a culture argument. We start with Taylor Swift, loop back to Madonna as a blueprint for modern pop fame, and then follow the real thread: why people get so defensive about who “belongs” in sports arenas and why cameras keep choosing celebrities over the action.  From Dave Portnoy’s complaints about fair-weather fans to the very real pull...

People love to say they’re fine with aging right up until an older woman refuses to disappear. We start with Madonna, her decades-long career, and the noise surrounding her new music, then we get honest about what the backlash is really signaling: ageism, sexism, and a deep discomfort with women who stay powerful past the age society “assigns” them. If you’ve ever heard someone judged for how they...

When someone suffers a catastrophic injury, choosing the right attorney can be one of the most important decisions they'll ever make. But how do you know who to trust? In this episode of Velvet Hammer, Senior Managing Partner Karen Koehler and Senior Partner Mo Hamoudi join Mike Todd to walk through a realistic personal injury scenario—from the moments after a serious collision to hiring a la...

Karen and Mo vent about the special breed of defense lawyer who turns routine litigation into a personal drama, then acts shocked when we push back. Along the way, we break down how bad briefing and petty attacks destroy credibility, and why making a clean record can save a case. • a defense filing that drags in a nickname instead of law and facts • why bully defense lawyers often act thin-skinned...

"Mom, I need a break", Karen's daughter and personal assistant lets Karen know she needs a break. Karen talks about how driven she is and how it affects her life away from the office. Stay Connected with The Velvet Hammer™ Podcast Hosted by Karen Koehler and Mo Hamoudi, trial lawyers at Stritmatter Law , a nationally recognized plaintiff's personal injury and civil rights law f...

Karen and Mo discuss the trial and the challenges of taking on a case this old.  Stay Connected with The Velvet Hammer™ Podcast Hosted by Karen Koehler and Mo Hamoudi, trial lawyers at Stritmatter Law , a nationally recognized plaintiff's personal injury and civil rights law firm based in Washington State. Featuring Mike Todd, producer, audio engineer, and the Disembodied Voice of Wisdom &amp...

Season 6, Episode 22 The Verdict Part 2 Can expert witness testimony overcome decades-old missing records? In Part 2 of this trial breakdown, Karen Koehler and Mo Hamoudi discuss the expert witnesses, courtroom strategy, and pivotal testimony that helped establish liability in a childhood sexual abuse case involving institutional failures and destroyed records. From former child welfare profession...

The verdict is in. Karen and Mo talk about the case and how they feel after the jury has made its decision. Stay Connected with The Velvet Hammer™ Podcast Hosted by Karen Koehler and Mo Hamoudi, trial lawyers at Stritmatter Law , a nationally recognized plaintiff's personal injury and civil rights law firm based in Washington State. Featuring Mike Todd, producer, audio engineer, and the Disem...

The trial ends, the courtroom empties, and then comes the part nobody romanticizes: waiting for the verdict. After weeks of jury selection, motions, testimony, and closing arguments, we’re left staring at the one thing we can’t influence anymore. The jury takes a Memorial Day weekend pause, and that small delay turns into a magnifying glass on stress, control, and the way trial work gets under you...

Karen asks Mo and Mike about professional and personal commitments and how they affect our lives. Do you find you overcommit in your life? Listen to our conclusions.  Stay Connected with The Velvet Hammer™ Podcast Hosted by Karen Koehler and Mo Hamoudi, trial lawyers at Stritmatter Law , a nationally recognized plaintiff's personal injury and civil rights law firm based in Washington State. F...

Episode 18: The start of a trial In this episode of The Velvet Hammer™ Podcast , Karen Koehler, Mo Hamoudi, and Mike Todd talk about Karen and Mo starting a new trial.  What goes through their heads as they prepare and as the trial begins. 🎧 Stay Connected with The Velvet Hammer™ Podcast Hosted by Karen Koehler and Mo Hamoudi , trial lawyers at Stritmatter Law , a nationally recognized plaintiff...