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.