The Lawyer's Edge

Hilary Gerzhoy is a partner at HWG LLP, where she represents lawyers, law firms, legal tech companies, and in-house counsel navigating the full range of legal ethics matters. She serves as outside general counsel to law firms nationwide, advising on risk management, conflicts and disqualification, and firm formations and dissolutions. Hilary is the Chair of the D.C. Bar Rules of Professional Condu...

Tina Solis is a partner at Nixon Peabody. She has built a national practice advising lawyers and law firms on high-stakes professional and business transitions. She's particularly known for representing individual attorneys and groups making lateral moves, helping them navigate complex partnership agreements, fiduciary obligations, and departure issues to protect their interests and minimize risk....

John R. Kormanik, Esq., is on a mission to help attorneys reclaim their purpose, energy, and impact. As a Certified Professional Coach, former trial lawyer, and author of Break the Law: A Story of a Reimagined Career and a Reclaimed Life, John brings decades of experience from the courtroom to the coaching space. Today, he guides attorneys to say "no" to burnout and "yes" to building sustainable c...

Charlie Jimerson is the founder and CEO of Jimerson Birr, a Florida-based business law firm with a national reputation for litigation, regulatory, and transactional work. He's also a U.S. Air Force veteran, a board-certified construction law attorney, and a widely recognized leader in the legal and business communities. Under his leadership, the firm has been repeatedly honored for its workplace c...

Aaron Y. Strauss is one of the leading legal advisors in the commercial real estate industry, providing insight and guidance on billions of dollars' worth of transactions during his career. As founder and managing partner of A.Y. Strauss, he has positioned the firm as one of the region's most respected legal organizations for commercial real estate owners, lenders, and sponsors, serving the needs...

Jeffrey Bast is a nationally respected attorney with over 30 years of experience in insolvency and commercial litigation. He represents debtors, creditors, trustees, and business stakeholders in workouts, reorganizations, and bankruptcy-related litigation, with a strong focus on avoiding bankruptcy when possible and guiding clients through complex financial transactions and restructuring. Jeff com...

Lexlee Overton is a former trial lawyer who spent more than 30 years in the courtroom before choosing a different path. After experiencing firsthand how the legal profession can wear lawyers down, she founded Mind Over Law to help lawyers move beyond burnout and lead with greater clarity, resilience, and purpose. Today, she works with both individual lawyers and legal teams using a science-based a...

Ken Vrana is a Senior Director at Western Alliance's Juris Banking Group. He specializes in crafting customized capital solutions for law firms, alternative legal service providers, and legal tech companies. With a deep expertise in complex banking relationships, he provides his clients with in-depth guidance on operating and fiduciary account setup and ongoing management, including advising on fr...

Kirsten Branigan was facing an existential crisis. Working at a large New Jersey law firm with young children, she felt the rubber meeting the road in a significant way. She couldn't do everything she wanted to do with her family while meeting all the firm's requirements. Instead of just accepting the situation, Kirsten made two bold decisions. She started her own employment law firm built around...

Candisse Williamson is a highly accomplished General Counsel known for her creative deal-making and extensive legal expertise across the entertainment and corporate sectors. After graduating from Northwestern Law, she refined her corporate law skills, with a focus on M&A and private equity, at prestigious firms including Paul Weiss and King & Spalding. Her career then transitioned to entertainment...

Darin Klemchuk is the CEO of Klemchuk PLLC , a leading litigation, intellectual property, and business law firm based in Dallas, Texas. Klemchuk focuses his practice on IP litigation (patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets), IP enforcement and anti-counterfeiting programs, and IP strategy.  He helps clients build market share and block competitors through intellectual property law.  Da...

Scott Love is the President of The Attorney Search Group and host of The Rainmaking Podcast , which helps attorneys, professional service firms, and B2B salespeople get more and better business from all their clients. As a prolific thought leader on the topics of rainmaking, recruiting, and leadership, he helps law firm partners mitigate risk and maximize opportunity when transitioning from one or...

Scott Tiedemann first joined Liebert Cassidy Whitmore as an associate in 2000 and became a partner in 2004. When his tenure as managing partner concludes on September 30th of this year, he will be focusing his energies again full-time on his practice representing public safety agencies and building the firm's private investigations practice. Melanie Chaney is an experienced labor negotiator and li...

Sandra Cohen is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Cohen & Buckmann, which specializes in executive compensation, employee benefits and pensions. Her firm is nearly ten years old and is highly ranked in Chambers USA Guide and The Legal 500, no small achievement for a young, small boutique firm. She is a frequent author and speaker and is a former adjunct professor at NYU Law School, where she...

Anthony M. DeSimone is a leading advocate for integrating generative AI into the legal profession, specializing in helping law firms harness AI to enhance efficiency, profitability, and client service. With more than 25 years of experience as a CPA and CMA, Anthony began his career at Deloitte before transitioning to focus on business optimization. Today, he operates "You're the Expert Now, LLC" a...

Talk to any senior partner in a law firm, and you're likely to get a complaint or snide comment about the younger generation of lawyers being lazier, more entitled, and less interested in making partner or assuming leadership roles than their predecessors. On the flip side, some younger lawyers will be all too happy to tell you that senior lawyers are overly demanding, can't respect boundaries, wo...

Sophie Lechner is a former practicing lawyer turned business coach, speaker, and author with two decades of LinkedIn expertise. She helps mission-driven professionals turn marketing from a chore into a joy, enabling them to attract clients like a magnet rather than chase them down. Sophie is the creator of The MAGNET Model, a framework that simplifies client attraction and relationship-building on...

Jennifer Gardner is a Los Angeles-based trial lawyer and persuasive communications consultant. Her three-decade career spans entertainment litigation, serious criminal cases, and business and real estate disputes.  Jennifer teaches high-performing professionals how to grow their influence, impact, and executive presence through her programs The Art of Influence and The Power Lab. She also consults...

Coaching is often misunderstood in the legal profession. It's not about giving advice, cheerleading, or fixing a problem. It's about creating space for clarity, growth, and meaningful change. In this solo episode, Elise Holtzman shares what lawyers need to know about professional coaching, including how it works, when it's most effective, and how law firms are using it to support top talent. In th...

Pat Gillette is one of the country's leading voices on gender equity in the legal profession. A seasoned employment litigator, rainmaker, and law firm leader, Pat spent 40 years in practice before shifting her focus to empowering women lawyers through speaking, writing, and consulting. She is a sought-after advisor on advancing women and diverse attorneys in leadership and business development. Du...

Denise Baker is a Co-Managing Partner of one of Canada's oldest and most prestigious firms, WeirFoulds. In addition to that role, she advises on complex municipal and land use planning law issues that appear before multiple courts and tribunals. She also participates in mediations and negotiations to effectively resolve disputes before they get to court. Denise chairs numerous land use and municip...

Christa Brown-Sanford is a partner at Baker Botts in Dallas and chair of its Intellectual Property department. She also serves on the firm's Executive and Diversity and Inclusion committees and is an adjunct professor at SMU's Dedman School of Law, where she speaks regularly on patent matters. At every stage, she provides guidance on patent procurement, patent portfolio development, patent litigat...

Katie Schwarting is a real estate lawyer and partner at Seyfarth Shaw LLP in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her practice focuses on commercial mortgage-backed securities such as conduit and single asset, single borrower and Freddie Mac securitizations, and collateralized loan obligations. She works with servicers and special servicers on legal issues regarding asset management, compliance, default str...

Making partner at your firm is a significant milestone, but successfully transitioning from associate or counsel to partner isn't automatic. It requires a mindset shift, strategic planning, and the development of new skills to ensure long-term success. In this episode of The Lawyer's Edge podcast, Elise Holtzman shares six actionable tips to help you navigate this pivotal career transition. She di...

Molly Kremer is a certified life coach and former Biglaw litigator. As a high-achieving lawyer for 16 years, she made mistakes in how she approached billing her time which resulted in unintended and unsatisfactory outcomes. When she pursued her life coaching certification in 2021, she started understanding the real reasons behind her unhelpful billing practices and retrained herself to bill more c...