The Lawyer's Edge

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...

Priyanka Timblo is a partner at Holwell Shuster & Goldberg, a New York-based litigation boutique. Her practice focuses on trials and high-stakes commercial litigation and arbitration, primarily antitrust and breach of contract. She represents several large companies in antitrust trials and arbitration, such as the payment card network Visa and the video game developer and digital distributor compa...

Amanda Sexton is the founder and CEO of FocusWorks Marketing . Her agency uses the power of digital marketing to grow law firms through content that converts. For 15 years, she has shaped brand development, created award-winning content, and helped service providers like law firms create successful marketing campaigns. Amanda is also president of New Jersey Legal Industry Providers and a director...

Hieu Williams is a partner with Hirschfeld Kraemer , an employment law boutique she also helps manage in San Francisco. She regularly defends employers against claims of discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, retaliation, breach of contract, and wage and hour class action violations. Her employment law experience includes representing organizations, executives, and supervisors from vari...

Many lawyers dismiss conferences as a drain on time and money. And frankly, they're right—unless you know how to make the most of them. With the right approach, conferences can transform from missed opportunities into a cornerstone of your business development strategy. In this episode of The Lawyer's Edge podcast, Elise Holtzman shares actionable insights on how to unlock the full potential of in...

Ben Chiriboga left the law firm lawyer track at the young age of 30, choosing instead to set out on a journey to find his unique place in law. Eventually, he found it in legal tech, which led him to become a legal tech executive with Nexl . Nexl is a legal tech company that helps law firms grow by uniting marketers, business development, and lawyers all on one platform. As its Chief Growth Officer...

Lucille Karp is a partner at McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, a New Jersey-based firm with 140 practicing lawyers across 13 offices in nine states. She serves as the firm's General Counsel, co-chair of the transactional group, and co-chair of the hiring committee. Lucy earned her undergraduate degree from Rutgers University's College of Engineering and her JD from Widener University School...

Joshua Wurtzel is a commercial and real estate litigation partner at Schlam Stone & Dolan LLP , a Manhattan boutique law firm that represents businesses, non-profits, and individuals in complex and corporate matters. He has successfully represented public and private companies and prominent individuals in both federal and state court. With his focus on aggressive litigation and his ability to deve...

Terri Adler is a visionary leader and creative attorney who focuses on the commercial real estate industry. As the Managing Partner of Adler & Stachenfeld, a boutique real estate law firm in New York City with nearly 50 attorneys, Terri has guided the firm's growth to become one of the city's leading real estate law practices. With a wealth of experience in national and international real estate,...