Lawyers Who Lead

In this week’s episode, Sigalle interviews Paula J. Schauwecker, Principal and Chief Talent Officer at Beveridge & Diamond. As a more in-depth follow up to her short form interview in 2022, Paula shares her journey from singer songwriter to her dual roles in practice and professional development. She also emphasizes the importance of establishing trust to promote lawyer and firm growth and how...

In this week’s episode, Sigalle interviews Kathy M. Zhu, Co-Founder and CEO of Streamline AI, an intake and workflows automation platform purpose-built for in-house legal teams. Kathy shares how her various pivots from law firm to in-house to entrepreneur helped her gain the courage and vision to build products with purpose. She also discusses the importance of leaning in, taking risks, and what i...

In this week’s episode, Sigalle interviews her first repeat guest, James Gatto, partner in Sheppard Mullins' IP Practice Group, Leader of the Open Source Team, and Co-Leader of the firm's Blockchain and FinTech team.  Focusing deeply on leadership in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) space, Jim illuminates the various stakeholders and the corresponding legal angles rapidly arising. Topics include f...

In this week’s episode, Sigalle interviews Peter A. Halprin, partner in the New York office of Pasich LLP where he represents commercial policy holders and complex insurance coverage matters. He also acts as counsel for US and foreign companies in both domestic and international arbitrations, and is a member of numerous organizations including the AAA National Roster of Arbitrators.  A third-gener...

In this week’s episode, Sigalle interviews Jordana Confino, Assistant Dean of Professionalism and adjunct professor at Fordham Law School where she leads initiatives designed to promote student wellness, mentorship, and professional identity formation. She is also the founder of JC Coaching and Consulting, a company that partners with law firms and law schools to advance the well-being of the lega...

In this week’s episode, Sigalle interviews Kara Hardin, Founder and CEO of the Practice Lab, an organization that helps high performance companies cultivate human-centered businesses and practices. Kara shares how her experiences as a corporate and securities lawyer helped her explore what was actually meaningful in her life versus the story she was telling herself. Using this line of questioning,...

In this week’s episode, Sigalle interviews Ariana Tadler, founding partner of Tadler Law LLP, a WBENC-certified, women-owned boutique law firm that offers an array of litigation and legal counseling services. Ariana shares how her value of direct communication has manifested into a business model of demarcation of client case management, a focus on clear team retention and management, and the civi...

In the final episode of our coverage of NALP's 2023 Annual Education Conference (AEC) in Vancouver, B.C., Sigalle interviews Anjie Vichayanonda,  Chief Operations Officer and IP attorney at Creedon PLLC, a law firm that builds and protects great brands by providing experienced intellectual property and business legal counsel. Visit https://www.creedon.com/ to learn more.  National Association for...

In episode three of our coverage of NALP's 2023 Annual Education Conference (AEC) in Vancouver, B.C., Sigalle interviews Neil Dennis, Director of Professional Development at Blaney McMurtry LLP, one of Canada's premier law firms based in the heart of Toronto’s financial district. Visit https://www.blaney.com/ to learn more.  National Association for Law Placement NALP is an association of over 2,5...

In episode two of our coverage of NALP's 2023 Annual Education Conference (AEC) in Vancouver, B.C., Sigalle interviews Erica Horton, Director of Professional Development & Training at Brown Rudnick, a firm that represents clients from around the world in high-stakes litigation and business transactions.   Visit https://brownrudnick.com/ to learn more.  National Association for Law Placement NALP i...

In this four-part series, Sigalle covers insights from NALP's 2023 Annual Education Conference (AEC) in Vancouver, B.C. In episode one, Sigalle interviews Melissa McGonigal Berry, Director of Attorney Development at Perkins Coie, a leading international law firm that is known for providing high-value, strategic solutions and extraordinary client service with more than 1,200 lawyers in offices acro...

An attorney's responsibilities to manage client accounts got a lot riskier in the wake of recent bank failures and the threat of additional instability. In this week's episode, Sigalle shares the audio recording from Lawline's CLE course "Navigating Client Trust Accounts in a Challenging Banking Climate."  Taught by Jordan Turk, Jonathan Grabb, and Paul Garibian and moderated by Robert J. Ambrogi,...

In this week’s episode, Sigalle interviews Kelly Rittenberry Culhane, Co-founder and Co-managing partner at Culhane Meadows, the largest woman owned national full service law firm in the US. Kelly shares her journey to being a lawyer and the tough career decisions she had to make as a woman and mother. Taking her experiences, she co-created a law firm that focused on fairness and equity by creatin...

In this week’s episode, Sigalle interviews Jennifer Thibodaux, Senior Legal Editor at Thomson Reuters and Founder of JMT Speaks, LLC.  Jennifer shares how she left firm partnership after over a decade of practice to pursue a more authentic life for herself. By posing questions that helped her take the leap, she explains the process by which she continues to build a life that focuses on assisting o...

In this week’s episode, Sigalle interviews Marc Snyderman, founder and CEO of Snyderman Law Group and managing partner at Well Bridge Capital.  Marc shares how his experience being a lawyer and a COO helped him identify a huge gap in legal accessibility for small and mid-sized businesses. Determined to find a better way beyond the billable hour, Marc shares his legal as a subscription-based model....

Concluding our week long coverage from the 2023 ABA Tech Show in Chicago, Illinois, Sigalle interviews Keith Lee, principal at Sidebar Ventures and founder of Associates Mind and Lawyer Smack.  Keith shares his journey as a lawyer, author, and entrepreneur, while also providing his over 10 years of experience attending the ABA Tech Show. Keith's interview illuminates vital themes for the future of...

Continuing our week long coverage of the 2023 ABA Tech Show in Chicago, Sigalle interviews Haley Altman, Strategic Advisor at Litera, the leading provider of workflow, collaboration, and data management solutions for law firms and legal teams globally.    Haley discusses her journey from associate to partner to founding Doxly, a transaction management platform that was ultimately acquired by Liter...

Continuing our week long coverage of the 2023 ABA Tech Show in Chicago, Sigalle interviews Cynthia Thomas, ABA Tech Show Co-Chair and owner of PLMC and Associates, a law firm management consulting company, which provides best practices in human resource and financial operations management to small and mid-sized firms.  Cynthia shares her journey from law school to law practice management to ultima...

Continuing our week long coverage of the 2023 ABA Tech Show in Chicago, Sigalle interviews Niki Black, Senior Director, SME and External Education at MyCase, a legal practice management software.  Niki shares her journey from practicing attorney to legal tech expert to ultimately working at MyCase. Focusing on being both an internal and external educator of all things legal tech, Niki highlights t...

In this week long series, Sigalle covers insights from the 2023 ABA Tech Show in Chicago, Illinois. Next up is Paul Garibian, CEO and Co-Founder of Nota by M&T Bank, an innovative cloud-based platform that provides business banking solutions for attorneys managing solo and small firms.  Although not a lawyer, Paul discusses how he is leveraging his 20 years of experience helping financial institut...

In this week long series, Sigalle covers insights from 2023 ABA Tech Show in Chicago, Illinois.  In episode one, Sigalle interviews Jazz Hampton, CEO and General Counsel at TurnSignal, a black-owned tech company that provides real-time legal guidance from an attorney to drivers, all while their camera records the interaction.  Jazz describes his journey as a web developer who ultimately changed co...

In this week’s episode, Sigalle interviews Andre Gharakhanian, Founder and Partner at Silicon Legal Strategy, a premier boutique law firm providing targeted, bottom-line oriented advice to tech startups, innovative entrepreneurs, and seasoned investors. Andre shares how he transformed his firm from just himself and one paralegal into one that spans offices in San Francisco, L.A., and Denver. Desig...

In this week’s episode, Sigalle interviews Melissa J. Holloway, Vice Chancellor and General Counsel for North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, the nation's largest historically black college and university (HBCU), located in Greensboro, North Carolina. Melissa shares her journey from growing up in housing projects and being raised by a community of incredible women, to her piv...

In this week’s episode, Sigalle interviews Shavon J. Smith, principal at the SJS Law Firm, PLLC and author of the Small Business Owner's Guide to Hiring an Attorney and the forthcoming book, Tell me About the Hard Part: Five Steps to help Businesses Face Solve and Prevent Problems. Shavon shares how leaving BigLaw marked her Freedom Day to focus on her true purpose of starting her own firm that he...

In this week’s episode, Sigalle interviews Jonathan Havens, managing partner at Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr. Jonathan is also co-chair of the firm's Cannabis Law practice and the firm's Food, Beverage, and Agribusiness practice. Jonathan's shares his journey from interning on Capitol Hill as a teenager, to working at the FDA right out of law school, to building a Cannabis Law practice. His experien...