Khurram's Quorum

Shashi Kewalramani has built a nonlinear career across elite private practice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, criminal defense, the bench, and now mediation.This episode is about how skills compound across those chapters.Some of the most valuable legal skills are not built in the most obvious places. In this episode, we explore:Nonlinearityopenness to roles that do not look “on path” from the outsidewhy the safe path is not always the path to the best skill developmenthow varied experiences can clarify what you are actually good atCJAtrust is built through time, transparency, and actionindigent defense can be elite training in client counselingthe hardest thing is often getting the truth from your own clientMagistrate jurisprudencemagistrate roles are underrated schools for writing, discovery, and case managementrepetition builds judicial pattern recognitionCompounding advantageskills learned in one role transfer into the nextdeep listening, credibility, and clear explanation become differentiators latera nonlinear career can produce a more durable kind of expertiseIf you liked this episode, here are 3 others you might like:Judge Vince Chhabria for more on why process is substance, and how judges think about managing real cases in real time.Judge Matthew Kennelly for a deeper look at judicial decision-making, docket management, and what credibility looks like from the bench.Louis Tompros for another conversation about nonlinear legal careers, adjacent opportunities, and building something distinctive over time.About the host:Khurram Naik is a partner at Freshwater Counsel, a boutique recruiting agency focused on patent litigators. Before founding the agency, he practiced patent litigation at Goodwin. Khurram hosts Khurram’s Quorum, a podcast with in-depth conversations with federal judges, first-chair trial lawyers, and chief legal officers on their career challenges and successes. Khurram also shares insights on LinkedIn.

Judge Richard Linn first pointed me to Louis Tompros years ago, when he told me my entrepreneurial approach to breaking into patent litigation reminded him of one of his former clerks. The story he shared stayed with me: Louis created his own chance to argue at the Federal Circuit by stepping into a pro bono inventor appeal.In this episode, we explore how Louis has built durable edge through high-agency adjacent bets:Agencycreate your own reps instead of waiting for permissiontake manageable risks to accelerate learninguse pro bono work, teaching, and relationship-building to create career-accelerating opportunitiesAdjacencybounded adjacent bets strengthen the core rather than distract from ittrial and appellate work sharpen each otherpatent, copyright, and trademark work inform each otherplaintiff and defense work reveal the other side’s blind spotsTeachingteaching forces you back to first principlesit makes you more creative as a practitionerin a mistrust-heavy courtroom, the best advocates help the audience feel capable of decidingClient perspectivethe client is the fourth audienceyou can win the case and still miss what matters most to the clientGift-givinglong-term business development starts with doing useful things for people before there is any immediate returnrelationships compound on an uneven timelinedoing good work and doing the right thing are not separate strategiesThe throughline is simple: create your own reps, make bounded adjacent bets, and let the learning compound.About the host:Khurram Naik is a partner at Freshwater Counsel, a boutique recruiting agency focused on patent litigators. Before founding the agency, he practiced patent litigation at Goodwin. Khurram hosts Khurram’s Quorum, a podcast with in-depth conversations with federal judges, first-chair trial lawyers, and chief legal officers on their career challenges and successes. Khurram also shares insights on LinkedIn.

Neel Chatterjee has been testing some assumptions. In Neel's return to the podcast, we discuss what's changed in how he works.The recurring theme of this episode was testing assumptions. That includes:testing what jurors really think about "big tech companies"building consensus through a new model of a professional association of lawyers, Law Firm Partners Unitedchanging his belief of how to go to trial based on what he learned from fifth-graders.We also talk about specific techniques to use to invest in your network, like looking for the "twofer".About the host:Khurram Naik is a partner at Freshwater Counsel, a boutique recruiting agency focused on patent litigators. Before founding the agency, he practiced patent litigation at Goodwin. Khurram hosts Khurram’s Quorum, a podcast with in-depth conversations with federal judges, first-chair trial lawyers, and chief legal officers on their career challenges and successes. Khurram also shares insights on LinkedIn.

Timothy Yoo is a first-chair trial lawyer who treats litigation like sport. Tim models his preparation and execution based on principles elite performers use:Prepare your physiology. Cortisol and adrenaline are part of the job; rehearsal is how you meet the moment.Pre-commit decisions. Use decision trees in outlines so you avoid reactivity under pressure.Credibility isn't just what, it's also how. Factfinders and clients read conviction, nuance, and authenticity through delivery.Be a reliable narrator. Your job is to help factfinders see the other side and draw their own conclusions.Adversaries are opportunities. Opposing counsel is your foil/dance partner, then you shake hands at the net.You'll use everything. Variety across matters compounds into mastery for the next big stage.About the host:Khurram Naik is a partner at Freshwater Counsel, a boutique recruiting agency focused on patent litigators. Before founding the agency, he practiced patent litigation at Goodwin. Khurram hosts Khurram’s Quorum, a podcast with in-depth conversations with federal judges, first-chair trial lawyers, and chief legal officers on their career challenges and successes. Khurram also shares insights on LinkedIn.

When Mani was an associate at Susman Godfrey, he took a new colleague out for lunch for a vulnerable conversation about the demands of elite practice.A decade later, Mani's lunch friend was now a rainmaker - and Mani was who he called for funding.In this episode, we explore how Mani has used principles of trust, focus, and alignment to go from trial lawyer to GC of a multi-strategy fund to launching a litigation fund:Trustbeing trusted as a peer trial lawyer created the relationships that led to the fundthe intangibles become the tangiblesFocusfocusing on Texas trial lawyers creates operational excellenceit also enables them to act faster on decaying assets using limited informationAlignmentaligning upside and downside with firms creates a flywheel for trust and repeatabilityit also allows them to take risks others shy fromAbout the host:Khurram Naik is a partner at Freshwater Counsel, a boutique recruiting agency focused on patent litigators. Before founding the agency, he practiced patent litigation at Goodwin. Khurram hosts Khurram’s Quorum, a podcast with in-depth conversations with federal judges, first-chair trial lawyers, and chief legal officers on their career challenges and successes. Khurram also shares insights on LinkedIn.

Joe Ahmad is a trial lawyer who’s tried 100+ cases and built his entire approach around a simple premise: trials are a risk sport. If you need certainty, don’t go to trial. In this conversation, Joe breaks down what separates persuasive advocates from “polished” advocates, and why the jury can sense the difference immediately. He shares specific stories (including a New Year’s Eve mistrial decision he’d never repeat) and practical techniques for dealing with bad facts, corporate narratives, and the emotional game of the courtroom.About the host:Khurram Naik is a partner at Freshwater Counsel, a boutique recruiting agency focused on patent litigators. Before founding the agency, he practiced patent litigation at Goodwin. Khurram hosts Khurram’s Quorum, a podcast with in-depth conversations with federal judges, first-chair trial lawyers, and chief legal officers on their career challenges and successes. Khurram also shares insights on LinkedIn.

Patti Burris had two kids and an associate's degree when she started her path towards law school. Yet she made her way to the top of her class by building systems to succeed even when there wasn't a safety net. And she's reframing her biglaw path from a necessary drudge to an opportunity to build a rewarding life. Patti's law school story begins with walking into the wrong job interview, which led to a life-changing mentorship. She shares the principles she used to call her shot in law school and end up at the top of the class through relationships with peers and professors, systems for learning, and cycles of sprints and rest. Now, as a driven biglaw funds lawyers, Patti shares the formula she uses to ensure she's investing in herself every week. Patti also shares how she stacks goals (social, academic, professional) for exponential returns.This episode is special because it's both incredibly inspirational and full of practical techniques to achieve more with limited time. Patti has challenged me to make the most out of my time to ensure I'm living in line with my values and ambitions. About the host:Khurram Naik is a partner at Freshwater Counsel, a boutique recruiting agency focused on patent litigators. Before founding the agency, he practiced patent litigation at Goodwin. Khurram hosts Khurram’s Quorum, a podcast with in-depth conversations with federal judges, first-chair trial lawyers, and chief legal officers on their career challenges and successes. Khurram also shares insights on LinkedIn.

Priyanka Timblo left the comfort of Paul Weiss to join a five-year-old litigation boutique, betting on a place where she could practice the skill she knew she was best at: being on her feet in court. That calculated risk paid off spectacularly, culminating in a $101 million jury verdict against Walmart in Arkansas, one of the largest verdicts in the state's history.Her path wasn't conventional. A Canadian law school graduate who was told by recruiters to pursue business development instead of litigation, Priyanka has built her career on being underestimated and using it as fuel. Priyanka lays out how starting as an associate, she leveraged being underestimated to prevail in overlooked opportunities. We also explore the anti-optionality path in law — the competitive advantage in getting good at one thing and sticking with it. Priyanka talks about what it takes to continue down this path: the sacrifices in her personal life and the challenging and rewarding inner-game of skill mastery. About the host:Khurram Naik is a partner at Freshwater Counsel, a boutique recruiting agency focused on patent litigators. Before founding the agency, he practiced patent litigation at Goodwin. Khurram hosts Khurram’s Quorum, a podcast with in-depth conversations with federal judges, first-chair trial lawyers, and chief legal officers on their career challenges and successes. Khurram also shares insights on LinkedIn.

Judge Vince Chhabria is a district court judge in the Northern District of California. When I shared with previous podcast guests I was interviewing Judge Chhabria, the excitement was palpable - these experienced litigators think of Judge Chhabria as "insightful", "focused", and "sharp", and this is a rare opportunity to learn how an influential judge thinks.Judge Chhabria and I talked about:- his unexpected path from the office of the San Francisco City Attorney's Office to the bench, any why city attorney roles are so valuable. - the surprising impact of case management on justice, and how few motions are decided by precedent- what keeps the job interesting 11 years into the role- why moving cases forward is an underrated part of public service- the "memdispo" technique that efficiently allocates judicial resources to opinions - what he misses most about not being a federal judge- his most important career advice for his clerksWe also discuss how he researched and considered precedent for the recent Kadrey v. Meta decision on fair use in generative AI. Any lawyer looking for an original approach to career decisions and how they practice should listen to this episode. About the host:Khurram Naik is a partner at Freshwater Counsel, a boutique recruiting agency focused on patent litigators. Before founding the agency, he practiced patent litigation at Goodwin. Khurram hosts Khurram’s Quorum, a podcast with in-depth conversations with federal judges, first-chair trial lawyers, and chief legal officers on their career challenges and successes. Khurram also shares insights on LinkedIn.

Rakesh Kilaru is a partner at Wilkinson Stekloff. In a few years, Rakesh has resolved headline-making disputes, including defeating a $21 billion challenge to the NFL’s media model, defeating the FTC’s challenge to Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and negotiating an innovative settlement over the NCAA’s compensation rules. And he's barely over 40. I reached out to Rakesh to learn more about his practice, and the conversation flowed. For someone of his accomplishments, Rakesh is remarkably humble. He's driven by excellence and impact. We could easily have recorded a much longer episode. In this episode we discuss these frame-shifting principles:- Practice making decisions under uncertainty. From his time at the White House, Rakesh learned to map the real stakeholders, build trust as an honest broker, and make sure everyone who needs a say is actually in the loop before deciding- Choose environments that improve decisions. A fixed-fee model removes distortions, encourages collaboration, and lets teams right-size effort to outcomes.- Focus. Work out from first-principles what is helpful to a jury or judge, and continually ask what are the 1-3 issues that matter. - Challenge assumptions. Don't rely on conventions from the practice area, but identify your own solutions. - Develop a generalist mindset. You can settle cases, you can try them. You can take principles learned in products liability to antitrust cases and beyond. About the host:Khurram Naik is a partner at Freshwater Counsel, a boutique recruiting agency focused on patent litigators. Before founding the agency, he practiced patent litigation at Goodwin. Khurram hosts Khurram’s Quorum, a podcast with in-depth conversations with federal judges, first-chair trial lawyers, and chief legal officers on their career challenges and successes. Khurram also shares insights on LinkedIn.

Dai Wei Chin Feman is Managing Director and Corporate Counsel at Parabellum Capital, a litigation funder. This conversation gets practical in breaking down the system Dai Wai has built for career success: a diversified portfolio of relationships, skills, and value-creation mechanisms. Business development creates differentiation when technical skills are commoditized. Optionality multiplies this by developing multiple career paths simultaneously. Affinity networks become firm-wide value platforms, not just personal networking.Deliberate generosity treats relationships like portfolio diversification - invest broadly since you can't predict which connections matter. Policy expertise becomes a defensive moat in niche industries.Progress from "say yes" to strategic "no" to protect your systems while preserving ability to seize high-value opportunities.Daily habits (20-minute social support + real-time alerts) create information arbitrage at scale.Raw talent isn't sufficient. These strategies build transferable assets that maintain value across market conditions.About the host:Khurram Naik is a partner at Freshwater Counsel, a boutique recruiting agency focused on patent litigators. Before founding the agency, he practiced patent litigation at Goodwin. Khurram hosts Khurram’s Quorum, a podcast with in-depth conversations with federal judges, first-chair trial lawyers, and chief legal officers on their career challenges and successes. Khurram also shares insights on LinkedIn.

When tech platforms face “bet-the-company” speech fights, they call Ambika Kumar. We dig into how Ambika built a First Amendment practice from Seattle, argued a 7:30 a.m. TRO that blocked the first TikTok ban, and balances high-stakes litigation with raising two kids.Ambika explains why eagerness is an asymmetric bet, how concise emails and phone calls keep clients calm, and what Section 230’s future means for AI. She also opens up about career inflection points, from early mentor hacks to leading headline-grabbing cases.About the host:Khurram Naik is a partner at Freshwater Counsel, a boutique recruiting agency focused on patent litigators. Before founding the agency, he practiced patent litigation at Goodwin. Khurram hosts Khurram’s Quorum, a podcast with in-depth conversations with federal judges, first-chair trial lawyers, and chief legal officers on their career challenges and successes. Khurram also shares insights on LinkedIn.

Quinn Emanuel partner Manisha Sheth has moved twice between elite private practice and high-stakes public enforcement. In this wide-ranging conversation we discuss:how to bet on yourself to cultivate new skillshow she ran 250 lawyers at the N.Y. Attorney General’s office and sped up investigations with two simple process tweaksthe hottest state-level enforcement trends in climate, consumer finance, and AIdangling from an ice face at 19,000 ftListen for practical insights on career strategy, process and delegation as competitive advantages, and a couple mountaineering stories that will make your palms sweat.About the host:Khurram Naik is a partner at Freshwater Counsel, a boutique recruiting agency focused on patent litigators. Before founding the agency, he practiced patent litigation at Goodwin. Khurram hosts Khurram’s Quorum, a podcast with in-depth conversations with federal judges, first-chair trial lawyers, and chief legal officers on their career challenges and successes. Khurram also shares insights on LinkedIn.

Want a 20-minute bootcamp for your LinkedIn presence? Episode 037 for Khurram's Quorum is a little different. My guest is Sunny Kim, who went from biglaw to make a big reset for her career helping lawyers find their voice in social media. We cover how Sunny tinkered her way into discovering some of the best ways for lawyers to share their stories to build trust and authority with peers and clients, and get into brass tacks about how to position yourself on LinkedIn through your profile and posts. At the end of this 50 minute episode, you'll understand why you should bother sharing your ideas on LinkedIn, and have an easy playbook for getting started.

Randy Gaw is the co-founder of Gaw Poe LLP. Randy left biglaw for a more direct path to first-chair trial work and strategic autonomy. At his boutique, Randy focuses on complex business litigation and high-value contingency work. We discuss:why case selection is about narrative, not just legal theoryhow poker and parenting made him a better litigatorwhat he learned from jury consultants that changed how he prepares for trial

As a partner at HWG, Hilary Gerzhoy advises law firms, partners, and GCs on the messiest, most human decisions lawyers make. In this episode, Hilary and I talk about why most ethics violations are rooted in fear, not greed, what really motivates risky behavior during lateral moves, and why great lawyers lead with empathy - and still set boundaries.

Jamie Nawaday is Head of Seward & Kissel's Government Enforcement and Internal Investigations Practice and the founder of Disrupting Drinking, where she speaks on personal change and cultural change to disrupt the corporate cocktail culture. Jamie has the unique insight that drinking isn't just about wellness - it reflects how the legal profession handles stress, bonding, and belonging. We explore how storytelling and authenticity are not side skill, they’re core to both legal persuasion and personal transformation. That change doesn't have to come from quitting your job and going all in - you can start a courageous conversation from within.

Vishal Shah is the founder of Shah Litigation, a high-stake employment litigation firm. This is a unique opportunity to examine the strategy and values a biglaw associate used to launch and grow a successful law firm. We talk about the decision to switch to the other side of the v., how he researched the opportunity to identify his niche, his approach to a national trial practice, the unique dynamics of the plaintiffs' bar, and business development strategy.(01:30) - from small-town Alabama to big-city biglaw(15:35) - how personal tragedies and a desire for control over Vishal's career motivated his move to launch his own firm(19:05) - key insights from successful law firm founders(21:31) - how Vishal leverages his network, LinkedIn, and relationship-building for client development(33:21) - case selection philosophy(38:46) - litigation approach and pre-trial blueprint(01:04:49) - the impact of the unique collegiality of the plaintiff's bar(01:19:39) - advice for rising biglaw associates