Lawyerist Podcast

In this episode we're joined by Alan Sugarman to talk about the landmark case that opened up access to law and ultimately resulted in more options for online legal research today. Alan Sugarman founded HyperLaw in 1991 to publish electronic law treatises linked to case law. HyperLaw successfully challenged Westlaw’s copyright claims to the text and citations of court opinions

Dean Cardinale is no lawyer, but he knows a thing or two about taking informed risks. In this episode, we talk with a professional "adventurer" about achieving big goals, and how you can apply the same knowledge to leverage your own business aspirations. Dean is an avid mountain climber, outdoors enthusiast, and adventure lover, the founder of World Wide Trekking, and the President and Founder of...

In this week’s episode, we talk with attorney branding specialist, Nicole Abboud, about the benefits of tailoring your firm to meet the demands of a growing millennial clientele. Nicole Abboud is the Founder of Abboud Media - a modern video branding and podcasting agency for lawyers. She is a Millennial speaker, former practicing attorney, and producer and host of two podcasts – Leaders Love Compa...

In this episode we speak with the co-author of "Rebooting Justice," Ben Barton, about how making legal technology and innovation a priority in law schools can help shape a market that benefits both lawyers and their potential clients. Professor Ben Barton is also the author of "Glass Half Full: The Decline and Rebirth of the Legal Profession" (Cambridge) and "The Lawyer-Judge Bias in the American...

In this episode, we talk with deaf-blind civil rights lawyer and accessibility advocate Haben Girma about accessible justice and how designing courts, law firms, and the attorney-client relationship for people with disabilities can increase access to justice for everyone. The first deaf-blind person to graduate from Harvard Law School, Haben Girma is a civil rights lawyer and she advocates for equ...

In this episode, we talk with Laura Genoves and her experiences as one of the first Limited Licensed Legal Technicians in Washington State. We also discuss the differences between a legal technician and a practicing attorney, including everything from education costs to how each can practice. Laura is one of Washington State’s newest form of Legal Professionals, a Limited License Legal Technician...

In this podcast, we ask Brad Johnson why financial advisors find it so difficult to build referral networks with lawyers. We also discovered some interesting parallels between financial advising firms and small law firms. Brad Johnson is VP of Advisor Development at Advisors Excel and mentors a small group of the country’s most elite financial advisors, teaching them to maximize their marketing RO...

In this episode we talk with Nika Kabiri about the ways stress may be sabotaging your clients and getting in the way of your ability to represent them. You’ll also learn how to empathize with your clients the way lawyers who are building truly client-centered law firms must do. Nika Kabiri is a sociologist who conducts research and leverages learnings from political science, economics, psychology,...

In this episode, the "Father of Unbundling," Forrest ("Woody") Mosten explains how unbundled services came to law practice, discusses the future of unbundling and its potential for closing the access-to-justice gap, and lays out some best practices for lawyers who want to offer unbundled services. Forrest (“Woody”) Mosten is internationally recognized as the “Father of Unbundling” for his pioneeri...

In this episode, Pete Vargas explains how lawyers can use speaking engagements to generate new clients and referrals. Plus, Pete outlines a three-part presentation outline (heart, head, and hands) designed to get the audience to take action. Pete Vargas has been educating speakers for over a decade, helping speakers, entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and small business owners land speaking engagements an...

In this episode Christina Scalera explains why Pinterest really is a great place for lawyers to build business, and how to approach it. The gist of it is this: people go to Pinterest to find things, which presents an opportunity to get yourself in front of your potential clients. Learn more on the podcast, but you should also download Christina's Pinterest for Lawyers guide. Christina Scalera is t...

In this episode, Melissa Hall argues that lawyers can learn from healthcare, where a primary care doctor diagnoses and treats common health problems and sends patients to specialists as necessary. As with doctors, primary care lawyers could be the primary user interface for law. It's the approach Melissa has taken with her own practice, Smol Law. Melissa Hall is a general practice, "primary care"...

  In this episode, Jeff Skrysak lists 14 things you can do to improve your SEO profile that don’t cost much money. (They do require a bit of effort, though.) Give each page a good, relevant title (HTML tag). Write good content for each page, and give each a good meta description. If you use Wordpress, install the Yoast SEO plugin. Create a directory structure for your pages that is descriptive and...

In this episode Joyce Tischler discusses lessons learned from the founding of Animal Legal Defense Fund, which she founded in 1979. Today its annual budget is nearly $13 million and it has over 200,000 members and supporters. Joyce explains how she founded ALDF, what she learned, and gives some tips to anyone interested in starting a legal nonprofit today. As founder of the Animal Legal Defense Fu...

In this episode, Rikke Hansen explains how lawyers should think about career change—including when to leave the profession or start their own firm. She also explains the ways in which lawyers tend to overthink their career paths and self-sabotage, and how to overcome those blockers. Rikke Hansen helps smart professionals in their 30s and 40s change careers or start their own business by sharing he...

In this episode, Doug Brackmann explains why traditional meditation may not work for innovators, entrepreneurs, and other highly driven individuals. Instead he proposes an alternative meditation style and productivity tools better suited to the "Driven" brain. To find out if you are Driven, take the assessment at HighlyDriven. Life. If you want to learn more, pick up Doug's book, Driven: Understan...

In this episode, Legal Malpractice Insurance in One Hour for Lawyers author JoAnn Hathaway explains why you need malpractice insurance and how to shop for it. JoAnn L. Hathaway is a practice management advisor for the State Bar of Michigan. She previously worked as a legal liability claims director and risk manager, paralegal, and legal administrator.

On this episode, we discuss the civil right to counsel (sometimes called "civil Gideon") movement with John Pollock. The American Bar Association has endorsed a right to counsel whenever basic needs are threatened, and Pollock leads a national coalition seeking to bring the civil right to counsel to all US jurisdictions. "It's not about winning or losing. It's about not losing everything." John Po...

In this episode, Alix Devendra explains why lawyers need to learn and apply design thinking in their law practices. Design is just a process for creative problem solving, and lawyers building client-centered law practices need design thinking as well as legal thinking to build successful client-service models. Alix Devendra is a co-founder and design strategist at Start Here HQ, a purpose-driven c...

In this episode, in-house lawyer Elliot Miller and outside litigation counsel Adam Losey discuss the different perspectives they have in their respective roles, the realities of traditional v. alternative billing structures, the importance of trust, and more. Adam Losey represents companies and individuals in high-stakes litigation across the country and advises clients on a variety of information...

In this episode, Jess Birken, whose solo-practice website stands out among the top ten law firm website of 2017, explains how she got that website built while keeping costs low. Jess Birken focuses on helping nonprofits solve problems and get back to their mission.

In this episode, Gyi Tsakalakis explains why local marketing matters online (spoiler alert: “[those] earning more than $150,000 per year were more likely to choose an attorney based on an internet search than via a friend”) and how to do it effectively. Gyi Tsakalakis helps lawyers earn meaningful attention online because that's where clients are looking. On Lawyerist and elsewhere, he writes and...

In this episode, we discuss the business of public access to law with one of its pioneers, Tim Stanley, and wonder why it's taking so long for courts and legislatures to get on board. Plus, a little karma.

In this episode we check in with Katie Floyd, co-host of the Mac Power Users podcast, about her experience setting up her solo practice and the tools she uses to run it. Katie Floyd is a Florida estate planning and landlord-tenant lawyer who believes that technology is the great equalizer for the small firm and solo practitioner. She is nationally recognized for helping individuals and small busin...

In this episode, we talk to Joshua Browder about how he built his DoNotPay chatbot—which has already helped thousands an is about to grow into 300+ robot lawyers—has made robot lawyers a reality. The BBC has called Joshua Browder's DoNotPay robot lawyer the Robin Hood of the internet. Border himself is one of Forbes' 30 under 30 for 2017.