Legal Grounds | Conversations on Life, Leadership & Law

This upcoming weekend is Labor Day, and hopefully you’ve got some fun plans (or no plans!) in your future.  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 wan...

Right before recording this podcast, I was in the big-fat-middle of preparing for trial. 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...

It's fairly obvious why judging someone based on their appearance is a bad idea. After all, the adage, "don't judge a book by its cover," is one that has stuck around since 1860 - no easy feat. As leaders, when we label a person, the first thing we're doing is taking away their agency in our perception of who they are as a person. But perhaps even worse, as my guest today...

My late mother taught me that there were three things that you never brought up in polite company: Politics Religion 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. ...

Starting a new business is not for the faint of heart.  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, th...

We talk a lot on this podcast about what it takes to be a lawyer of impact; a rainmaker intent on helping others thrive.  But here’s the deal…  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 gener...

If it feels like we touch a lot on the myths surrounding the legal profession it is because there are many, and because they often contain at least some elements of truth.  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...

Over the past three years we’ve talked a lot about the growing-pains the legal profession has endured as it experienced a seismic shift in technology.  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 ,...

There are some leadership experiences that most of us will never find ourselves in.  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 Viet...

Yesterday marked the 79th anniversary of the Allied landings on the beaches of Normandy. D-Day I was fortunate enough to visit those beaches on the 70th anniversary of the landings. And while everyone who knows a little history can tell you how just how deep the beaches were, there is another topographical feature that I wasn't prepared for: The craters. They are tightly packed, small areas t...

This past Monday was Memorial Day, a day for remembering those who have given their lives in the service of this country.  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 al...

When I first started this podcast I never thought I would have the range of guests I’ve been lucky enough to talk to over the past couple of years.  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 someo...

If you’ve ever watched a professional football game then you know that about 70% of the time when they cut to a  shot of a coach there’s a clipboard or tablet in front of their face.  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...

I often joke on the show that a lot of people my age have the "these kids today..." mentality.    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...

If I asked you how many of today's Fortune 500 companies have maintained the status quo over the past 60 years, you're probably going to get the number wrong.  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 consis...

Every time I get to sit down and record an episode of this podcast I remind myself that what I want is a conversation , not an interview.  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,...

Sometimes it helps to start by saying the quiet part out loud: 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 th...

I’ve always thought that one of the best parts of being raised in a military family is that  it taught me how to be direct.  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’ wi...

This week’s episode is just a little to the left of what we normally do here on Legal Grounds.  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 bec...

I’ve never heard any podcast host admit it, but when you get the opportunity to interview someone who excels at what they do AND also happens to be a good friend… well, it kind of feels like cheating.  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...

This week, we’re going to be talking about PTSD.  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 vi...

This week we’re going to talk about your dreams. 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 talki...

As an attorney, I spend plenty of time thinking about what it means to work inside an adversarial system, and I believe competitiveness - at least for those of us who practice trial law - is one of, if not the biggest reasons many of us enjoy working in the legal field. Now, I don’t think any of us doubt the fact that competitiveness will inherently generate some need for leadership skills.  Even...

Well it’s been a little bit, but I’m happy to say we’ve got a full, brand new episode of the podcast this week.  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 set...

It  feels like a strange thing to say when you host a podcast, but there's really no need to listen to this week's episode. Instead, I'm asking you  to take a VERY QUICK SURVEY to help us chart the future of Legal Grounds. You'll also have the chance to enter to win one of the small prizes we'll be sending to a couple lucky listeners. Thank you in advance for taking 2 minu...