After the JAG Corps: Navigating Your Career Progression

Jennifer Green had plans to become an in-house counsel somewhere until she accidentally sent her resume to a recruiter and what played out is an incredible account of career progression being like the proverbial box of chocolates. Listen closely as Jennifer talks about the clients she gets to represent as a plaintiff's attorney. You can hear the passion she has for her clients in her voice. Je...

Matt Bernstein, an Army Veteran and Partner at Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P. in Miami, Florida, takes us through his career progression from the Active Component to a civilian practice, which was not his original plan. Matt talks about being humble, which includes a willingness to acknowledge what you do not know going into a new job as well as explaining why starting out at a lower position is...

This week is my conversation with Jessica Hernandez who, like many of us, made a career change, going from practicing law in New York City to figuring out what to do next when she married a Navy officer and relocated to Washington, DC. After some networking and exploring, Jessica ultimately decided to get into helping others by becoming a certified coach. Jessica has helped executives and lawyers...

This week, I talk to Army JAG veteran Chris LaCour whose retirement from the military was a little more abrupt and sooner than he had intended due to medical issues. Stationed in Hawaii at the time, he and his wife executed a plan to relocate to San Antonio, TX, and then find work with Chris attending a Hiring Our Heroes Cohort, through which he landed a non-legal job at USAA before eventually bei...

This week, I talk to Stephen Dunn, a JAG in the Army Reserve, who explains why separating and retiring JAGs should consider doing a law firm or entering the corporate world. Unsuccessful in obtaining a commission in the active component, Stephen secured a Reserve commission after becoming a prosecutor in Michigan before moving over to a law firm. Eighteen years later, he talks about juggling both...

Michael Turner joined the Navy's JAG Corps in 1999 (Norfolk, Bahrain, Naples) and became a U.S. diplomat in 2004, retiring in April 2023.  Serving as a foreign service officer in Indonesia, Colombia, the Secretary of State's Office, Vietnam, Shanghai, and Beijing, his last tour was leading the Department of State's largest overseas communications office (China) where he had served sinc...

Mike Palmer retired from the Navy JAG Corps in 2018 after 30 years of service with no intention of practicing law again. However, like so many judge advocates who at one time or another have taught as an adjunct somewhere, Mike has continued serving as an adjunct professor and then picked up a job as instructor teaching foreign officers. Mike also talks about the importance of doing those things t...

In this episode, we learn about Matt Osman's journey from his 6.5 years hardship tours in the Navy from Japan to Rota, Spain, to Charleston, SC, his decision to get out, the mistake he made in looking for that first job getting out of the service, and how he ended up being an elected judge for the past 12+ years. Matt's profile is at https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewosman/details/experie...

Paige Ormiston knew that her assignment to Naples, Italy, would be her last duty station in the Navy before retirement. What she did not know was that while a global pandemic would drastically alter this overseas experience, and not in a good way, it did prove to be somewhat fortuitous when it came time to looking for work back in the United States. In this episode, we hear about the joys and chal...

In the 1980s and 1990s, environmental regulation began to have a significant impact on the Navy's ability to conduct operations, both at sea and ashore, resulting in the Navy JAG developing a small cadre of environmental law experts. Neil Sheehan was one of those and in the early 2000s was serving as the environmental law attorney for Commander, Pacific Fleet. This was his last position on act...

In today's episode, Matt Reeder talks about his journey from the U.S. Marine Corps to Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, to his recent transition to OnlyFans, where he now serves as Deputy General Counsel. Additionally, having served on a number of hiring panels while with Orrick, Matt talks about the importance of accurately describing what you have done in the military, and the importan...

Passed over twice for promotion, Jeremy Burkhart was forced to make the jump to the civilian sector, where he ultimately landed at Holland and Knight, LLP. With the benefit of hindsight, Jeremy considers his non-selection "as the best thing that ever happened to me." Now also serving in the Army Reserves, Jeremy encourages judge advocates to think about life after the JAG Corps well in a...

Last week, I had the opportunity to catch up with Rob Passerello who retired last year from the Navy JAG Corps as a captain. Rob and I had talked about him passing along his experiences. Now, a year later, Rob finds himself pivoting to a second post-military job, proving again that your first one will not necessarily be the last one. Join me as we hear from one of the truly “good guys” of the JAG...

Following his retirement from the Navy in 1998, where he had spent many years on the bench as a judge, Ken Krantz served as an Administrative Law Judge for three different Federal agencies. While Ken acknowledges his information about when he became an ALJ is a little dated, he nonetheless brings awareness to the opportunities that are out there for people who would like to serve as one after leav...

Carson Honeycutt was a USMC Sergeant and CH-53 Crew Chief when he left the service after 5 years. He then went onto a sales job, where he failed. Undeterred, he has gone onto get his MBA and JD. In this episode, he passes along his lessons learned, which he uses to mentor people leaving the service. Carson’s LinkedIn profile is found at https://www.linkedin.com/in/carhoney and his website is www.t...

In this episode Immigration Judges Megan Jackler and Jennifer Peyton give an overview of life as Administrative Law Judges for Immigration matters, including the process for becoming one. Hint: if interested, a new posting on USAJOBS is only days away. Judge Jackler serves in the Navy Reserves, while Judge Peyton was in private practice before going to the bench.

Nik Mathews, U.S. Army veteran and Partner at Orrick, Herrington, and Sutcliffe talks about his journey and the upcoming VLCF that Orrick sponsors. Nik's profile can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikmathews. VLCF information and registration available at https://www.veteranslegalcareerfair.com/

Bob Stern is a retired corporate counsel who now volunteers with Candorful, a non-profit organization that provides interview coaching for military transitioning to the civil sector. He also talks about why he believes military JAGs are well suited for work in the corporate world, and has served a mentor to a number of former judge advocates, including individuals previously interviewed on this po...

Another incredible transition story. When Augustus popped up in my LinkedIn feed, I immediately reached out to him to tell me how he scored his current gig with Amazon Prime. His story has everything: setback, perseverance, adaptability, embracing challenges, self-improvement, a pandemic, and finally, success! You gotta hear his story about Primetime, Amazon style, that is. Augustus’s LI profile c...

Raise your hand if you have looked at a job description and determined that you were not qualified for it? In this episode, my friend, and leadership and performance coach, Dr. Bryan Price, talks about “Imposter Syndrome” and why we talk ourselves out of applying. A must listen for those who still have their hands up! To learn more about Bryan and his work, please visit topmentalgame.com and his L...

I first met Toren Mushovic back in 2002.  At the time, he was a Lieutenant Junior Grade Surface Warfare Officer aboard USS PRINCETON (CG 59), which was part of the NIMITZ Strike Group, for which I served as the SJA.  (As a side note, yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the commencement of our deployment.) Toren then attended law school on his own before returning the Navy as a JAG....

In this episode, David Thompson talks about finding work as a family law attorney and how his background as an SJA, trial counsel, defense counsel, and victims legal counsel has benefited him in his new role.  We also talk compensation and having the right expectations when leaving the service.  David's LinkedIn profile can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-thompson-lawyer/

This week, I catch up with Randy Bagwell, one of the many great Army JAGs with whom I had the honor to serve.  As you will hear in this episode, through networking Randy was an opportunity to leverage his expertise in International Humanitarian Law with the American Red Cross in Washington, DC, before being asked if he would be willing to take a "temporary" posting in Yokota, Japan, where he...

In December, Danny Murphy posted "A Call to Service" on LinkedIn, in which he recounted the tremendous advice and mentorship from which he benefitted leading up to his retirement from the U.S. Army in 2020, and implored former and retired JAGs to help their brethren.  A good friend tagged me in his response, and on January 6th, Danny and I had a conversation about his post.  In this epis...

Last week, I dropped part one of my conversation with Ross Booher.  This is part two of our conversation, most of which is Ross passing along a lot of considerations for JAGs leaving the service.  Again, Ross's LinkedIn profile is HERE while information about Latitude Legal can be found at https://latitudelegal.com.