Next Lawyer Up Podcast with Attorney Ron Sykstus

Talk about longevity in a legal career!   Sam Rumore  has been practicing law in Alabama since 1974 and he is still at it!  Sam is very well known and respected in Alabama.  He served the lawyers throughout our state as a previous past president of the Alabama State Bar.   He also wrote a regular feature for 14 years that appeared in the  Alabama Lawyer  magazine about every courthouse and county...

Pat Lamar  is a highly respected personal injury lawyer who has been practicing law in North Alabama for a long time. He is now with the esteemed law firm of  Conchin, Cole, Jordan and Sherrod  located in Huntsville, Alabama.  I have known Pat for many years, and I first learned of him through my law partner,  Brad Botes .  Brad and Pat met right out of law school when both served in federal clerk...

When you listen to this podcast with  Dee Miles , it is no wonder why he has had the successful and admired career that he has.  Also, as you'll hear, he has no plans on slowing down, which is something he has taken to heart from his mentor and law partner, Jere Beasley.  In fact, Dee and I talk a good bit about  Jere Beasley on this episode and here is the podcast I did with Jere several years ag...

Attorney Lauren Clark  has an upbeat personality and a positive outlook so it is no wonder that she has all of the clients that she can handle!  Lauren has been practicing consumer bankruptcy law since she graduated from law school at the University of South Carolina.  She lives in the Charleston area and remotely serves debtors across the state of South Carolina. In addition to her law practice a...

Attorney Bill Hall  is the founder and principal of  Bill Hall and Associates,  located in Huntsville, Alabama.  Bill has focused his law practice exclusively on domestic relations cases since he founded his law firm in 2009.  Prior to that, Bill was a long-time partner with an old, established firm in Huntsville.  Bill is highly respected for the work that he does and, as we discuss on the podcas...

Attorney Brian Beck is a highly respected criminal defense lawyer who has been practicing law for a long time. He is located in Huntsville, Alabama.  Growing up in both Birmingham and Huntsville, Brian practices criminal defense throughout the state of Alabama.  I enjoyed getting to Brian's story on this episode of the podcast and learning about his circuitous route to law school that included a y...

Eugene (Gene) Milhizer is the Dean Emeritus at  Ave Maria School of Law .  He has served at that law school as a law professor for over twenty years and he ultimately rose to the position of president of the law school, in addition to his teaching role.  If there is one person I have ever met that should be a law professor, it is Gene Milhizer.  I first got to know him when he was a law professor...

The practice of law is a tough and stressful career and, oftentimes, not very enjoyable.  Many lawyers try to use their law degree to find a different and more fulfilling way to make a living.   Attorney Robert Ingalls  is a great example!  In his bio, Robert describes himself as a "recovering attorney."  He practiced law for a while but wanted to start his own business not in the practice of law....

Attorney Matt  Carter  is a partner with  Fuller, Willingham and  Carter located in Cullman, Alabama.  Matt's law firm is the largest firm in Cullman, and they handle a broad spectrum of legal matters for their clients.  A Cullman product where he was born and raised, it is hard to imagine Matt living anywhere else.  He tells a funny story about promising his wife that they would move to Cullman f...

Attorney Maurice Scott  is the founder of  United Legal Team,  a consumer law firm located in Huntsville, Alabama.  Maurice handles consumer law claims for financial justice.  As part of his consumer practice, Maurice focuses on helping consumers under the  Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) , which is the federal law that controls everything that can or cannot be on an individual's credit report or...

Attorney Chip Schwartz  is a co-founder  of  Zarzaur and Schwartz , a well-known and highly regarded law firm based in Birmingham, Alabama.  The primary focus for Chip and his law firm is debt collection in several states to include Alabama, and he has been doing this work for almost fifty years.  Obviously, my work is on the other side of debt collection, but I always tell my clients that this la...

Attorney Nathan Hill  is a lawyer practicing with the highly respected Huntsville law firm of  Lanier Ford .  In fact, I have previously done podcasts with Lanier Ford lawyers  Andy Sieja ,  Laura Harper ,  Alabama State Senator Sam Givhan  and  Robert Bailey , a retired lawyer and now full time author.  As I learned on this podcast, Nathan diverted into the practice of law after a realization tha...

Attorney Ken Riemer is a South Alabama native who is an exceptional consumer lawyer. He is located in Mobile, Alabama.  Ken started his law career in environmental law and then, after working in "big law" for a number of years, decided to open his own law firm.  From there, he morphed his law practice into consumer law and he has been doing it ever since.  I enjoyed getting to know Ken's story on...

Attorney Luke Carlson  is the managing partner of  LS Carlson Law, PC  with offices located in California and Florida.  Luke's firm handles business law, real estate matters, and estate planning. In addition to these practice areas , Luke and his firm are subject matter experts in the field of HOA law.  In fact, you can find Luke's book,  "Bad HOA – The Homeowners Guide to Going to War and Reclaim...

Attorney Chris Weston  is the managing partner of the long-established and well-respected law firm of  Johnston, Moore and Weston  in Huntsville, Alabama.  As you'll hear on this episode of the podcast, Chris was a nomad of sorts growing up, moving every three years or so.  Finally settled in North Alabama, Chris took another detour to attend  Albany Law School in New York , before returning back...

Rico has been a very close friend of mine who I have known since we were young U.S. Army JAG First Lieutenants at Fort Bliss, Texas.  Beyond that, Rico introduced me to my wife of 36 years, Patty, as we all lived in the same apartment complex on the west side of El Paso.  As I always describe to people, Rico is the closest individual to being a "Renaissance man" that I have ever met.  Everything t...

Judge Karen Hall  was the longest-serving judge in Madison County, Alabama history, when combined with her time on the bench as a District Court Judge followed by her long tenure as a Circuit Court judge, until her recent retirement. And when I say retired, I mean  just retired  as in this podcast was done on her first day off after working for a lifetime!  Judge Hall was instrumental in starting...

Heath Brooks  is a highly respected personal injury attorney with the Huntsville law firm of  Timberlake, League and Brooks . You can also listen to previous podcast episodes with Heath's law partners  Michael Timberlake here ,  Will League here  and  William Messervy here . In addition, this law firm sponsors the popular  LawCall show on WAAY/ABC 31 on Sunday nights at 10:30pm.    As you'll hear,...

Attorney Jack Duncan  is an exceptional creditors rights lawyer who is highly respected throughout the state of Alabama.  Jack is a partner at the large regional firm of  McCalla Raymer.   As an aside, here is a previous podcast I did with  another McCalla partner, Mike McComick .  Jack started his education with an eye toward engineering, but with three impressive semesters of calculus under his...

Affectionately known as Bill Harvey or William Harvey, I have known Bill since we met as law school classmates at the age of 22.  In fact, we became roommates for our 2L and 3L years.  As you'll hear, I like to take credit for introducing Bill to the most important person in his life, his long-time spouse Kathy, but Bill is somewhat reticent to give me credit!  Bill stayed in the Chicago area afte...

As I learned on this episode of the podcast,  Attorney Tim Semelroth  is an Iowa boy through and through!   We talked a lot about wrestling because, if you grow up in Iowa, wrestling is pretty much in your blood.  Tim has an interesting career arc and an impressive pedigree. He runs one of the largest personal injury practices in the state of Iowa.  Also, Tim and his wife grew up in Iowa. His wife...

Ralph   Hornsby ,  Jr ., is a highly respected attorney who has been practicing law in North Alabama for a long time.  He comes from great stock and  he has an impressive pedigree!    Ralph  learned his craft, in large part, from his father,  Ralph   Hornsby  and former Madison County Circuit Court Judge S.A. "Bud" Watson.   All of  Ralph 's law firm information for  Hornsby , Watson and Associate...

Attorney Brian White  is a highly respected attorney located in Decatur, Alabama where he has been practicing law for many years. I have known Brian by reputation, but this is my first opportunity to get to speak with him. He works throughout North Alabama and concentrates his practice especially in the counties of Morgan, Lawrence, Limestone and Cullman. Brian focuses the majority of his law prac...

I have known  LTG (Ret) Stuart Risch  since we were both first lieutenants in the U.S. Army JAG Corps. We met as students in the 116 th  JAG Basic Course at the Army's law school in Charlottesville, Virginia. It is an understatement to say that Stu has had a spectacular career with his 40 years of uniformed service with the U.S. Army -- 36 of which were on active duty, while another 4 were spent i...

Attorney Rho Thomas  has an impressive pedigree which led her into practicing "big law" with a large law firm in Georgia after she received her law degree.  After an introspective search by her and her husband, a practicing doctor, following the birth of their first child, the pair dove into learning about money and transformed their personal finances, paying off a significant amount of student lo...