Sticky Lawyers

Send us Fan Mail Alysen Bayles launched her legal career with an early interest in dispute resolution. Then after several years as in-house counsel and a law firm litigator, she found a mediation mentor and increasingly used alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and mediation in her private practice.   Appreciative of how ADR gives both sides a voice, Alysen is now director of a federal court-conne...

Send us Fan Mail Chris Jennison is a government attorney with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). He’s an American Bar Association Officer and Young Lawyer Member-At-Large. He’s also a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician and board president with the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad. Oh, and he’s also a father of two young children. Aside from sleep, this sticky lawyer devotes his time a...

Send us Fan Mail Haydée Dijkstal grew up in Wyoming, but frequent travel to visit the families of her Puerto Rican mother and Dutch father piqued her interest in international relations at a young age. In fact, it led her all the way to The Hague and a career in international criminal law and human rights law. In this episode, Haydée shares her path to international legal practice, and how she bec...

Send us Fan Mail Swimming by the time he learned to walk, Adam Grant soon ran faster than the other kids in school and biked when others drove cars. His interest in triathlons and ultra-marathons was a natural path for him. But creating a data privacy legal practice during the advent of the iPhone? Turns out, this sticky lawyer manifests his best ideas when he’s in a state of flow. With incredible...

Send us Fan Mail Most attorneys hope to impact their clients’ lives and livelihoods by providing expert representation. As chief pro bono counsel at Arnold & Palmer’s New York office, Lucy McMillan’s legal career is keenly focused on making positive change for those who often can’t afford good legal representation. Lucy forges deep relationships with non-profits and legal services organization...

Send us Fan Mail Raised on an Indiana farm by an engineer dad who farmed after work, attorney John Schwarz has never been a stranger to long days and manual labor. He knows firsthand the struggles farmers face dealing with the USDA Farm Service Agency, grain contracts, solar leases, and all the farm-related legal issues in between. As a row crop farmer, he’s deep in the dirt with them. This sticky...

Send us Fan Mail Cielomar Puccio grew up dancing in Puerto Rico. And although she didn't pursue it professionally, her passion for ballet led her to a unique niche law practice. Based in Miami, Cielo's practice focuses on helping dancers, choreographers, and others in the arts with immigration and intellectual property matters.   With a background in advertising and PR, Cielo has grown h...

Send us Fan Mail Frank Bibeau’s life as a member of the Anishinaabe or Ojibwe people in northern Minnesota has largely been governed by his reservation’s tribal laws and customs. And manoomin—or wild rice—plays a central role in his culture as a primary food that requires protection. But what happens when the tribe’s right to manoomin is threatened by state and federal laws or industry? Another st...

Send us Fan Mail Hira Jaleel is Pakistan’s first accredited Animal Law attorney, who has fought a lion's share of legal battles around animal welfare and animal rights, helping to shape federal and provincial legislation around animals in Pakistan. She vividly recounts troubling issues around live animal markets and the exotic animal trade that needs government oversight in her native country...

Send us Fan Mail What do you get when you combine a computer scientist, an attorney specializing in Intellectual Property law, and a comic book aficionado? A very interesting sticky lawyer.  James Daily pursued a master’s degree in computer science while earning his law degree at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. Now he represents clients in intellectual property matters while work...

Send us Fan Mail Jasmine Moy did not always love the practice of law, but she has always loved food and the fine dining experience. As a young attorney in New York, she fueled her passion for the foodie world by treating herself to wonderful high-end restaurant experiences and writing articles about them as a hobby. She eventually pivoted from litigation to restaurant and hospitality law, and anot...

Send us Fan Mail Erik Weber is an attorney, a champion runner and running coach, an author, and a motivational video creator and speaker. Oh, and he is also autistic. His own special education experiences, and his unique ability to understand and advocate for special needs students, have helped countless families navigate the IEP process in California. A passion for helping the disabled community...

Send us Fan Mail While nearly a quarter of the U.S. population lives in rural America, only 2% of attorneys practice there. Phil Garland has spent 50 years as a general practice lawyer in Garner, Iowa — population 3,000. He has been his town's one-stop shop for legal representation and created a thriving practice through his relationships with residents, local businesses, and other lawyers in...

Send us Fan Mail A deep-dive into the horrors of food-borne illnesses may not seem like an appetizing path for a young attorney forging a legal career. But for Washington based-attorney Bill Marler, handling plaintiff cases after the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak gave him unique expertise and led to a niche practice that specializes in representing those affected by food-borne illnesses. H...

Send us Fan Mail Growing up Muslim in America, Sumbul Ali-Kalamari was accustomed to explaining her religious culture to non-Muslims, especially in the Stanford University dorms. After becoming a corporate attorney and earning an LL.M. in Islamic Law, the cultural questions continued. She wrote her first book in 2008 and has made a career of writing, lecturing, and educating the public to promote...

Send us Fan Mail For an attorney who once had political aspirations and started his career in public finance law, Richard Walawender’s deep Polish roots and serendipitous timing helped him create a fascinating law career that started in the 1980s Solidarity movement and continues today in his role as Honorary Consul for the Consulate of the Republic of Poland in Detroit. A senior partner at Miller...

Send us Fan Mail The 2022 midterms may be over, but who are the election lawyers behind the scenes? We found one – meet Katherine Knox.  Election law piqued Kate’s interest during a law school internship, and she hasn’t  looked back. As one of the most highly regarded lobbying and election law attorneys in Maine, Kate has helped pass groundbreaking legislation (including the first ballot initiativ...

Send us Fan Mail From forgery schemes to Nazi-looted art to patrimony laws to sanctions on Russian oligarchs, Steven Schindler has seen it all. As the leader of Schindler, Cohen & Hochman’s art law group, he proves that one interesting client can propel you to a niche practice area that shapes the rest of your career. Steve joined a large firm after law school and focused on commercial litigat...

Send us Fan Mail Zachary Strebeck has always loved games, whether on a board or a video screen. In law school, he took classes and participated in internships to gain the skills he knew he would need to represent clients in the games industry. And a niche law practice was born. A digital nomad who works from a laptop from any place in the world, Zachary solves the legal issues of game start-ups, s...

Send us Fan Mail Environmental warriors are often inspired by stories of ecological travesties or climate problems that speak to their souls, and Donald Simon is living proof. A National Geographic magazine article he read as a kid in Ohio sparked a lifelong passion for protecting the earth. Although he began working with nonprofits in environmental activism early in his legal career, he moved to...

Send us Fan Mail Christopher Melcher never dreamed about representing celebrities and wealthy clients in divorce court .  Instead, as a young lawyer, he met an LA attorney with a high-end solo practice in divorce and family law who invited him to join the practice. He dove into the world of representing wealthy and celebrity clients, working with the teams that manage them, and never looked back. ...

Send us Fan Mail What do five-minute interviews, going broke on the first day of a fellowship in Nairobi, opening a high-end hosiery franchise, and being appointed to an international trade committee by the Obama administration have in common? They are all experiences that shaped the fascinating life and legal career of Craig Owen White. Nurtured by his father and teachers to be curious, Craig kne...

Send us Fan Mail We've talked to attorneys on this podcast who represent clients' needs in distinct, niche areas of the law. But what about lawyers? They're humans with needs and a few flaws, just like the rest of us. Who do they call when they need a lawyer to represent them?  If they're smart, they will hire today's guest. Meet Trisha Rich. A first-generation college gra...

Send us Fan Mail She loves Elvis Presley, classic rock, and Northern Soul, and has a successful legal career in the music industry. Meet Erin Jacobson.    With a private practice in L.A. that has grown exponentially since its inception in 2009, Erin helps Grammy and Emmy winning singers, musicians, songwriters, legacy artists and catalogs, heirs and estates, and others navigate complex contract, l...

Send us Fan Mail Thousands of kids have likely dreamed of working for NASA as an astronaut. But how many science fiction-loving youth dream of being a NASA lawyer when they grow up? Meet Laura Montgomery.  Although NASA didn’t end up on her CV, Laura spent more than two decades as a space lawyer with the FAA. Now in private practice, she specializes in regulatory space law, commercial space transp...