The Portia Project

Joanne Caruso , EVP and Chief Legal and Administrative Officer of Jacobs Engineering, describes her journey from BigLaw to in-house leadership. She explains how she leads and builds teams and fosters collaboration. Tune in to gain valuable insights from a high-profile litigator and trusted legal and business advisor.

Skirball Cultural Center CEO Jessie Kornberg - who set the leadership framework for Ms. J.D. and led public interest organization Bet Tzedek in Los Angeles- brings two decades of civil rights work to Skirball’s leadership team. In this episode, she sits down with M.C. Sungaila to reflect on that journey and share how she navigated these leadership paths and transferred her legal skills to the...

Immigration law is an important yet often overlooked area of law, but it is one that affects a significant population in the country. Here to discuss the ins and outs of practicing immigration law in the nonprofit sector is Camila Maturana . Camila is a supervising attorney with the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) Tacoma and South Unit. In this episode, she opens up to MC Sungaila on ho...

M.C. Sungaila sits down with  Kalpana Srinivasan , co-managing partner of one of the U.S.'s leading boutique litigation firms, Susman Godfrey. She discusses her path from journalism to the law, from a federal clerkship to high profile litigation and becoming one of the few women of color to lead a major law firm. She provides powerful insights into navigatin...

Justice Debra H. Lehrmann is a senior Justice on the Supreme Court of Texas and the Court’s longest-serving woman justice in Texas history. She joins MC Sungaila to share her journey to the Supreme Court, and to provide some appellate advocacy tips and insights for those appearing before Texas' highest court . 

As part of a Girls Inc. Of Orange County "Girls Meet the Workforce" job readiness And Externship program, about 100 11thgrade girls from Orange County gathered at Santa Ana College for a live recording of the Portia Project® podcast, which featured prominent female lawyers and judges from Southern California.   This live event featured previous podcast guests and was tailored for Girls Inc. o...

Today’s guest is Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack of the Michigan Supreme Court , one of the cohosts of the Lady Justice podcast. She sits down with M.C. Sungaila to talk about how being Chief Justice has helped her impact the legal system. Chief Justice McCormack shares her work prior to the bench as a criminal defender, and as a law professor and dean of clinical education, including in inno...

In today’s episode, California Fourth District Court of Appeal Administrative Presiding Justice Judith McConnell shares her journey from the trial bench to administrative presiding justice of the Court of Appeal, and the difference she has made for women and girls and access to justice both before and after joining the bench, including as founder and president of the Lawyers Club of San Diego and...

Many people lack access to, or funds for, a lawyer. This makes public interest work an essential part of our legal system. M.C. Sungaila delves into the public interest space with Leigh Ferrin , the Director of Litigation and Pro Bono at the Public Law Center. Leigh shares how and why she chose to work in the public interest arena, and how she leads and coordinates both the team of staff atto...

Judge Nicole Bershon was appointed to the Los Angeles Superior Court in 2013 by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. Prior to becoming a judge, she served as a court commissioner and even an inspector general just to name a few of her varied roles in law during her practice. In this episode, she chats with MC Sungaila to share the twists and turns of her journey to the bench, from commissioner to superior...

In this episode, M.C. Sungaila interviews an esteemed panel of female legal tech founders:  Nicole Clark  of Trellis Research, Inc.,  Dorna Moini  of Documate, and  Jacqueline Schafer  of Clearbrief. They discuss their respective businesses and the pain points that pushed them to move from law into the legal tech space. This standout trio is w...

MC Sungaila welcomes the Honorable Christine Byrd of the Los Angeles Superior Court, whose path to the family law bench included serving as a federal prosecutor and BigLaw partner. She offers valuable career advice -- including making sure you are paid commensurate with the value you bring to the law firm you work at -- and how women's career paths often involve multiple lateral moves in order to...

MC Sungaila is joined by the Honorable Anna Blackburne-Rigsby , Chief Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Chief Judge Blackburne-Rigsby shares her journey as a Black woman lawyer and the advocacy and inspiration that spurred her towards a place on the bench. She describes the influence of her mother (now a retired judge), and that of her peers and mentors, and how she is in turn he...

M.C. Sungaila sits down with former law firm partner and litigator Jennifer Friend , now CEO of Project Hope Alliance . Jennifer shares her experience of homelessness and how that led her to law school, litigating in a law firm, and now leading a non-profit organization whose mission is to help homeless youth succeed in life. Jennifer is a beacon of kindness and mercy, and articulately explains ho...

Justice Lee Smalley Edmon is the Presiding Justice of the Second District, Division Three of the California Courts of Appeal. She previously served as a judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court from 2000 to 2015, and was that court's first female presiding judge from 2011 to 2012. Before joining the bench, she practiced civil litigation at Adams, Duque & Hazeltine and Dewey Ballentine, a...

Senior Assistant Orange County Public Defender,  Tracy LeSage , talks to M.C. Sungaila about her experience defending those accused of crimes, from misdemeanors to serious felonies. She provides insights into the value of a judicial clerkship, and the very personal rewards of representing the vulnerable and helping them recover their future. 

We’re in for a treat as MC Sungaila dabbles a little bit more into legal academia as a career option for lawyers and law students. Joining her is Professor Rebecca A. Delfino  of the Loyola Law School  in Los Angeles. Professor Delfino wears many hats in the school, most notably as a Professor of Law and Faculty Adviser of the Moot Court program. She takes us back into her storied journe...

Our guest today is Jane Bland , a Justice on the Texas Supreme Court. Learn how Justice Bland got into law and moved from BigLaw practice to the bench. Discover what it takes to be elected to the bench, and serve the community in a myriad of ways. (And for you litigators, hear some tips on succeeding as an advocate in court.)

Host M.C. Sungaila sits down with Lyrissa Lidsky , Dean of the University of Missouri School of Law. Lyrissa discusses her passion for teaching and her career journey from a small town in Texas to leading a major law school. Listen as she shares the challenges and rewards her academic career has brought her -- and how surviving breast cancer while serving as Dean impacted her, her family, and her...

Harmeet Dhillon, the founder of Dhillon Law Group and the Center for American Liberty, is a nationally recognized lawyer, trusted boardroom advisor, and passionate advocate for individual, corporate and institutional clients across numerous industries and walks of life.      Harmeet describes her family's journey to the United States, her time at UVA Law School, a sti...

Arizona trial court Judge Danielle Viola joins M.C. Sungaila to discuss how her policy work with the Arizona state government and law practice at the venerable Phoenix-based firm Snell & Wilmer collectively inform her approach to problem solving and decision making on the bench. She also provides some solid advice for litigators in the trial court.

 M.C. Sungaila discusses the ins and outs of improving and developing your business development skills with Sheila Murphy , a former Senior Legal Officer for a Fortune 50 company and current President, CEO and General Counsel of Focus Forward Consulting . As a certified coach and career and business consultant, Sheila Murphy helps lawyers, leaders and legal organizations build fulfilling and...

Join MC Sungaila as she talks to attorney and member of the Orange County, California Board of Supervisors Katrina Foley about becoming a community leader. Prior to her election to the Board of Supervisors, Katrina served as Costa Mesa’s first directly elected Mayor and a member of the Costa Mesa City Council for 12 years, in addition to running her own firm, The Foley Group.   Katrina discus...

Lisa Lang describes her journey from serving in the military as a paralegal to becoming general counsel at Kentucky State University, a public historically black land-grant university. She also describes how embracing social media, and establishing her network and brand through it, impacted her career.

Antoinette Balta , Executive Director and Co-Founder of the legal nonprofit Veterans Legal Institute®, discusses her nonprofit career, how her military experience and her immigrant family impacted the direction of her career, and her prestigious role as a Presidential Leadership Scholar. This episode is a must-listen for those interested in public interest law, or those who would like to understan...