The Litigator's Edge

In this candid episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant sits down with attorney, legal business consultant, and host of the podcast “The Un-Billable Hour”, Christopher Anderson. We discuss one of the most debated topics in legal practice: the billable hour. Christopher shares his unconventional journey from astrophysics and software development into law and explains how a scientific-met...

In this trenchant episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant sits down with Jeremy Hollembeak, Partner at Baird Holm LLP, to explore the world of distressed assets, claims monetization, insolvency strategy, and cross-border asset recovery. Jeremy shares his unconventional journey from studying chemical engineering in Kansas to practicing at elite New York law firms and eventually building...

In this episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant sits down with Av Sinensky, Partner at Falcon Rappaport & Berkman LLP, to explore the realities of modern middle-market M&A, deal psychology, and AI-powered legal workflows. Av shares his journey from New York BigLaw to advising founders, entrepreneurs, and private equity clients on high-stakes mid-market transactions ranging from...

In this insightful episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant sits down with Ethan Goemann, partner at Sommers Schwartz and former defense-side labor and employment lawyer, to explore the evolving world of wage-and-hour litigation and why he ultimately transitioned to representing employees. Ethan shares his path from Duke Law and federal clerkship to defending employers at major firms li...

In this instructive episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant sits down with Melissa Jordon, partner at Hamilton Miller & Birthisel LLP and president of the Miami-Dade Bar Association, to discuss what it really takes to build a successful modern litigation career. Melissa shares her journey from overcoming childhood shyness and becoming the first attorney in her family, to working he...

In this enlightening episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant sits down with Lisa Cukier, partner and chair of fiduciary litigation at Rubin Rudman, to explore the complex intersection of family wealth, mental health, and high-stakes legal disputes. With a unique background in social work and law, Lisa brings a deeply human perspective to fiduciary litigation, representing high-net-wort...

In this inspiring and anecdote-rich episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant sits down with Ruth Kraft, Yale Law graduate, former NYU professor, administrative law judge, and now founder of Kraft Employment Law Group. From deciding at just four and a half years old that she wanted to become a lawyer to building a distinguished decades-long career across academia, the bench, and private...

In this instructive and inspiring episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant sits down with Trevor Okomba, Partner at Ellenoff Grossman & Schole, to explore an unconventional journey, from performing violin at Carnegie Hall to working on complex M&A deals and SPAC transactions. Trevor shares how an early interest in trial law evolved into a career in corporate law, shaped by train...

In this episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant sits down with Krista Stoumbos, Partner at Tyson & Mendes, who has taken nearly 50 cases to trial. From defending catastrophic injury claims to handling sensitive cases involving abuse, Krista shares what it really takes to perform under pressure in the courtroom, and how top trial lawyers think when millions are on the line. The conv...

In this episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant sits down with Shahzad Qadri, Partner at Wong Fleming and Chair of Corporate & Immigration, for a candid and wide-ranging conversation on what it truly means to be a modern lawyer: versatile, technology-forward, and ethical. From graduating from law school at just 20 years old to starting his career as a prosecutor, Shahzad shares how...

What started with emails in the Enron era…is now becoming an AI-driven transformation of the entire legal system. In this episode of The Litigator’s Edge, Aniket Sawant sits down with Marla Crawford, General Counsel at Cimplifi and a pioneer in eDiscovery, to unpack how legal technology has evolved over the past two decades and where it’s headed next. From spending 22 years at Jones Day to buildin...

In this latest episode of The Litigator’s Edge, we sit down with Rich Lee, former patent attorney, two-time General Counsel, and Founder & Executive Chairman at New Era ADR, a platform rethinking how everyday disputes get resolved. After years of seeing the same recurring issues, unpaid invoices, employment claims, and disputes too expensive to litigate, Rich realized something critical: the t...

In this episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant sits down with Hongming Liu, Senior IP Counsel at Tencent America and a former PhD software architect, to explore the intersection of technology, patents, and legal strategy. From his journey transitioning from engineering to law, to working at companies like Nokia and Tencent, Hongming shares a rare inside perspective on how modern paten...

In this forward-looking episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant sits down with Larry Robins, a global brand management authority and Partner at FisherBroyles. With a career spanning over four decades, Larry brings a rare dual perspective, having served as Worldwide Trademark Counsel for tech giant Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) before championing today's overhead-free, distrib...

In this episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant, Co-Founder and CEO of Threadeo, sits down with Steven Molo, founding partner of MoloLamken, to explore what truly separates elite trial advocates from the rest. From his South Side Chicago roots to early prosecutor experience, including writing a Supreme Court brief that led to a 9–0 reversal, to representing Elon Musk, Molo shares the l...

In this episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant, Co-Founder and CEO of Threadeo, sits down with Dafney Dubuisson Stokes, a former law firm partner whose career spans civil rights litigation, Fortune 100 defense work, and now high-volume arbitration operations. From reviewing inmate files in the Innocence Project clinic to trying a First Amendment case with the ACLU, Dafney began her le...

In this riveting episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant, Co-Founder and CEO of Threadeo, sits down with Eric Strober, head of the medical malpractice defense department at Rivkin Radler and seasoned high-stakes trial lawyer. Eric shares his multi-generation path into medical malpractice, from plaintiff-side exposure in his early years to building a defense career shaped by mentorship,...

In this refreshingly human episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant sits down with Nina Dow, a tax and estate planning attorney who has mastered the art of making the complex simple. Nina shares her unconventional journey from film school to earning an LL.M. in Taxation, revealing how she uses accessible analogies—like comparing trusts to Tupperware—to demystify wealth transfer for her...

In this riveting episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant sits down with Frank Amanat , a veteran litigator andMember Attorney at Motley Rice who has spent his career hunting down fraud at the highest levels. Frank takes us inside the war room of the historic Barclays investigation, revealing how he and his DOJ team helped to pioneer the use of AI and relationship mapping to unravel a m...

In this strategic episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant sits down with a power duo representing the two essential halves of a winning intellectual property strategy: Mark Campagna, a visionary in-house leader (formerly of Dexcom and Google), and Ryan Phelan, a tactical outside counsel and Partner at Marshall Gerstein. Together, they discuss the framework detailed in their recent ACC...

In this energetic episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant sits down with Leah Stiegler, a labor and employment partner at Woods Rogers who views her practice as "privileged gossip" with high stakes. Leah shares her hilarious origin story—from a homemade broccoli costume to successfully lobbying her mayor at age 13—and explains why her hatred of business suits drives her missi...

In this timely and pertinent episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant sits down with Jacqueline Goralczyk, a modern-day crisis counsel who guides organizations through their worst digital nightmares. Jacqueline shares her fascinating pivot from running a real estate title agency to becoming a leading voice in cybersecurity law, driven by the sudden explosion of wire fraud in 2017. Jacqu...

In this inspiring episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant sits down with CJ Evans, a partner at Willis Law Group whose career is defined by a singular philosophy: delivering the highest standard of service, regardless of the client. CJ reveals how she bridges the gap between two vastly different worlds—navigating complex commercial insurance litigation and guiding families through ofte...

From working the second shift on a brake manufacturing assembly line to advising the world's leading biotech innovators, Matt Jorge’s path to patent law is anything but typical. In this illuminating episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant sits down with Matt to explore the complex intersection where "engineering meets science." Matt shares how his hands-on background info...

In this tactical episode of The Litigator’s Edge, host Aniket Sawant sits down with Mark Rose, a partner at Roig Lawyers who brings a rare "triple threat" background to the legal industry: Industrial Engineer, MBA, and seasoned litigator. Mark reveals how he applies engineering principles—like queuing models and bottleneck analysis—to transform law firm operations from reactive to proact...