Lawyerist Podcast

In this episode, we talk with Lori Gonzalez about how to improve your law firm with the simplest of legal technology tools. We cover Lori's approach to using documentation processes, mailing resources, password managers, and different communication channels to boost productivity and efficiency.

Ryan Holiday joins us this week to talk about the big takeaways for lawyers from the Gawker-Hulk Hogan lawsuit and how lawyers can learn resilience from modern stoicism.

This week Jennifer Gerstenzang joins us to talk about her innovative legal coaching and family advocacy services. Surrounded by stellar ​criminal defense ​attorneys as a child, ​Jennifer ha​s​ always respected and understood the value of personal freedom and the Constitution's protections​. After her time at the San Diego Public Defender's Office, where she worked with people struggling to navigate the criminal justice system, she opened her own boutique criminal defense firm, Gerstenzang Law, in Encinitas, CA.

This week, Megan Zavieh joins us to discuss the byzantine advertising rules imposed on lawyers. Plus, we also talk about her new chatbot and podcast, Lawyers Gone Ethical. Megan is a lawyer for lawyers—she represents California attorneys facing ethics investigations and prosecutions. She also writes, speaks, and now hosts a podcast on legal ethics issues, as well as advises lawyers who want to incorporate into their practice new methods of delivering legal services.

This week, we discuss subscription fees with Kim Bennett, including her process for designing her fee options and responding to clients’ needs. Kimberly is an avid traveler, lover of technology, legal industry disruptor and an attorney who runs K Bennett Law LLC, a boutique virtual general counsel law practice offering on-demand and subscription operations and legal services.

In this episode with Joey Coleman, we talk about what client experience really is and why it’s important—especially during the first 100 days. Joey Coleman helps companies keep their customers. An award-winning speaker, he shares his First 100 Days® methodology for improving customer experience/retention with organizations around the world (e.g., Whirlpool, NASA, and Zappos). His book Never Lose a Customer Again shows how to turn any sale into a lifelong customer.

In this episode with Conor Malloy, we talk about some of the technologies Conor has built into his firm, and how those tools have changed the structure of his law practice. Conor Malloy is a partner at Chi City Legal, a law firm dedicated to serving small and medium sized landlords in Chicago. He merges his knowledge of technology and legal processes in order to reduce friction between his clients and the court system.

In this episode with Paul Spiegelman, we talk about what culture in your law firm means, why it is important, and how to create culture deliberately and intentionally. Paul Spiegelman is the co-founder of the Small Giants Community, a peer-group of purpose-driven business leaders.

In this episode Mitch Jackson joins us to talk about augmented reality, including what it is and how it can be useful in the courtroom. Mitch Jackson is a California personal injury lawyer. He enjoys combining law, social media and technology to disrupt, hack, and improve his clients' companies, causes, and professional relationships.

In this week's episode, we talk with Ashley Cox about what you need to do to prepare to hire, how to find the best applicants for your firm, and how to set up a new employee or independent contractor for success. Ashley Cox is the founder of SproutHR, where she helps hire, train, and lead happy, productive, and profitable teams. After a decade in the corporate world, she kicked off her heels and burst through layers of red tape to venture out and help small businesses and startups with their HR needs.

In this episode Shannon Salter breaks down the technology behind British Columbia’s Online Civil Resolution Tribunal including what it is, its successes and failures, and why designing for the public is different than designing for customers. Shannon Salter is the Chair of the Civil Resolution Tribunal, Canada’s first online tribunal resolving small claims and condominium disputes. She is also an adjunct professor at the UBC Allard School of Law, teaching administrative law and legal ethics and professional regulation.

In this episode, Gyi Tsakalakis and Kelly Street identify two things lawyers should do in 2018 to make a big improvement in their online presence. Gyi Tsakalakis is the Director at AttorneySync, where he helps lawyers earn meaningful attention online because that’s where clients are looking. Kelly Street is the Marketing Director at AttorneySync. She is passionate about all things marketing and small business but is recently focused on content creation and social media advertising.

In this episode, Billie Tarascio explains why intake is the key to her firm's success, and how her firm uses empathy and data to strategically optimize the intake process. Billie Tarascio is the principal attorney at Modern Law, a family law firm in greater Phoenix, and Access Legal, a legal technology company providing do it yourself resources for self-representing family law litigants.

In this episode, we have a conversation with Nicole Bradick, our first three-peat guest on the show, about some of the systemic issues in the legal system. Nicole walks us through how she is using technology and the design process to approach those problems, and what needs to happen in order for justice to be accessible for everyone. Nicole is a former lawyer and the founder and CEO of Theory and Principle, a legal technology product development firm. Whether it is improving the delivery of legal services, the justice system, lawyer efficiency, legal education, or access to justice for all, Theory and Principle works with clients who are moved to innovate and build to create a better system.

In this episode, we're joined by Peter Aprile and Natalie Worsfold to talk about the way they think differently about building Counter Tax. Learn how they use a long view, process, and firm culture to make big bets on the future. Peter Aprile is a tax controversy and litigation lawyer and the founder of Counter Tax Lawyers, a Toronto-based firm that develops innovative strategies for resolving tax disputes. Peter is also the co-host of the podcast Building NewLaw, along with fellow (cult member) Counter lawyer Natalie Worsfold. A somewhat unconventional lawyer, Natalie spends her days turning the firm into the well-oiled machine of the future, usually by optimizing and building technology that eliminates inefficiency. She's the co-architect behind many of Counter's process workflows and their comprehensive knowledge-base, lovingly named Hank.

In this episode Erin Levine explains how her experience as a divorce lawyer led her to build Hello Divorce, a web-based DIY divorce portal that earned Erin a nomination for the ABA's Louis M. Brown Award for Legal Access. Erin Levine is a certified family law specialist, and owner of Oakland’s Levine Family Law Group. In 2016 she launched Hello Divorce, a “modern breakup service” that empowers users to manage the complicated divorce process online with easy to follow, step by step guidance and affordable, fixed fee access to top notch lawyers.

In this episode we're joined by Alan Sugarman to talk about the landmark case that opened up access to law and ultimately resulted in more options for online legal research today. Alan Sugarman founded HyperLaw in 1991 to publish electronic law treatises linked to case law. HyperLaw successfully challenged Westlaw’s copyright claims to the text and citations of court opinions

Dean Cardinale is no lawyer, but he knows a thing or two about taking informed risks. In this episode, we talk with a professional "adventurer" about achieving big goals, and how you can apply the same knowledge to leverage your own business aspirations. Dean is an avid mountain climber, outdoors enthusiast, and adventure lover, the founder of World Wide Trekking, and the President and Founder of Human Outreach Project.

In this week’s episode, we talk with attorney branding specialist, Nicole Abboud, about the benefits of tailoring your firm to meet the demands of a growing millennial clientele. Nicole Abboud is the Founder of Abboud Media - a modern video branding and podcasting agency for lawyers. She is a Millennial speaker, former practicing attorney, and producer and host of two podcasts – Leaders Love Company and The Gen Why Lawyer Podcast. The internet is the best thing that happened to Nicole as she has been able to build a strong personal brand and business using digital platforms like social media and her podcast. Now she assists lawyers in doing the same by helping them tell their brand stories and connect with the right clients using videos and podcasts.

In this episode we speak with the co-author of "Rebooting Justice," Ben Barton, about how making legal technology and innovation a priority in law schools can help shape a market that benefits both lawyers and their potential clients. Professor Ben Barton is also the author of "Glass Half Full: The Decline and Rebirth of the Legal Profession" (Cambridge) and "The Lawyer-Judge Bias in the American Courts" (Cambridge) and a Professor of Law at the University of Tennessee.

In this episode, we talk with deaf-blind civil rights lawyer and accessibility advocate Haben Girma about accessible justice and how designing courts, law firms, and the attorney-client relationship for people with disabilities can increase access to justice for everyone. The first deaf-blind person to graduate from Harvard Law School, Haben Girma is a civil rights lawyer and she advocates for equal opportunities for people with disabilities. President Obama named her a White House Champion of Change, and Forbes recognized her in its *30 Under 30* list. Haben travels the world consulting and public speaking, teaching clients the benefits of fully accessible products and services. She is a talented storyteller who helps people frame difference as an asset.

In this episode, we talk with Laura Genoves and her experiences as one of the first Limited Licensed Legal Technicians in Washington State. We also discuss the differences between a legal technician and a practicing attorney, including everything from education costs to how each can practice. Laura is one of Washington State’s newest form of Legal Professionals, a Limited License Legal Technician and has a solo family law practice in Seattle. Laura is excited to be on the cutting edge of providing affordable legal services to those who otherwise might not seek out legal assistance.

In this podcast, we ask Brad Johnson why financial advisors find it so difficult to build referral networks with lawyers. We also discovered some interesting parallels between financial advising firms and small law firms. Brad Johnson is VP of Advisor Development at Advisors Excel and mentors a small group of the country’s most elite financial advisors, teaching them to maximize their marketing ROI, streamline their client acquisition process, and run their business like a CEO not a salesperson.

In this episode we talk with Nika Kabiri about the ways stress may be sabotaging your clients and getting in the way of your ability to represent them. You’ll also learn how to empathize with your clients the way lawyers who are building truly client-centered law firms must do. Nika Kabiri is a sociologist who conducts research and leverages learnings from political science, economics, psychology, and sociology to understand what people go through as they navigate their legal issues.

In this episode, the "Father of Unbundling," Forrest ("Woody") Mosten explains how unbundled services came to law practice, discusses the future of unbundling and its potential for closing the access-to-justice gap, and lays out some best practices for lawyers who want to offer unbundled services. Forrest (“Woody”) Mosten is internationally recognized as the “Father of Unbundling” for his pioneering work in limited scope representation to provide affordable and understandable legal services to the underserved members of our society. He is in solo private practice as a family lawyer and mediator in Los Angeles in which unbundling, collaborative practice, representing clients in mediation, and other non-litigation conflict prevention activities are the foundation of his work with clients.

In this episode, Pete Vargas explains how lawyers can use speaking engagements to generate new clients and referrals. Plus, Pete outlines a three-part presentation outline (heart, head, and hands) designed to get the audience to take action. Pete Vargas has been educating speakers for over a decade, helping speakers, entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and small business owners land speaking engagements and leverage the stage to grow their businesses. Also, we've got a special offer from Westlaw: a free webinar on cybersecurity for small law firms. If you can attend on Wednesday, November 8th, at 12pm Central, email [email protected] to register.

In this episode Christina Scalera explains why Pinterest really is a great place for lawyers to build business, and how to approach it. The gist of it is this: people go to Pinterest to find things, which presents an opportunity to get yourself in front of your potential clients. Learn more on the podcast, but you should also download Christina's Pinterest for Lawyers guide. Christina Scalera is the attorney + millennial behind the Contract Shop for creative entrepreneurs, and Ruckus, which explains how she built her IP practice and become an influencer in the creative community.

In this episode, Melissa Hall argues that lawyers can learn from healthcare, where a primary care doctor diagnoses and treats common health problems and sends patients to specialists as necessary. As with doctors, primary care lawyers could be the primary user interface for law. It's the approach Melissa has taken with her own practice, Smol Law. Melissa Hall is a general practice, "primary care" attorney who helps clients navigate the legal system by solving legal problems, helping clients solve their legal problems, or helping them find someone who can.

In this episode, Jeff Skrysak lists 14 things you can do to improve your SEO profile that don’t cost much money. (They do require a bit of effort, though.) Give each page a good, relevant title (HTML tag). Write good content for each page, and give each a good meta description. If you use Wordpress, install the Yoast SEO plugin. Create a directory structure for your pages that is descriptive and makes sense. Get listed on Google Maps for better local search. Ask your clients to leave a review on your Google listing (need a Google+ account). Match your Google+ account to your website. Create content around topics that are rarely discussed on other websites about your practice area. Create Facebook and LinkedIn pages for your law firm, and update them regularly, including with links back to your website. Write blog posts. Link to other websites. Use photos on every page and post. Do not make your law firm website all about you. Use headings in your pages and posts! Jeff is a former IT professional who practices in estate planning and business law in Oregon. He is both an attorney and legal solutions architect, which means he uses his software engineering skills to automate and improve all aspects of a lawyers's business.

In this episode Joyce Tischler discusses lessons learned from the founding of Animal Legal Defense Fund, which she founded in 1979. Today its annual budget is nearly $13 million and it has over 200,000 members and supporters. Joyce explains how she founded ALDF, what she learned, and gives some tips to anyone interested in starting a legal nonprofit today. As founder of the Animal Legal Defense Fund in 1979, Joyce Tischler has helped create and shape the emerging field of animal law. Joyce was the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s first executive director for twenty-five years, and now serves as the agency's general counsel.

In this episode, Rikke Hansen explains how lawyers should think about career change—including when to leave the profession or start their own firm. She also explains the ways in which lawyers tend to overthink their career paths and self-sabotage, and how to overcome those blockers. Rikke Hansen helps smart professionals in their 30s and 40s change careers or start their own business by sharing her proven framework for figuring out what you really want to do next.

In this episode, Doug Brackmann explains why traditional meditation may not work for innovators, entrepreneurs, and other highly driven individuals. Instead he proposes an alternative meditation style and productivity tools better suited to the "Driven" brain. To find out if you are Driven, take the assessment at HighlyDriven.Life. If you want to learn more, pick up Doug's book, Driven: Understanding and Harnessing the Genetic Gifts Shared by Entrepreneurs, Navy SEALs, Pro Athletes, and Maybe YOU. Dr. Doug Brackmann is a dual Ph.D. in both clinical and organizational psychology. Over the last 30 years he has developed expertise in Driven individuals, roughly 10% of the population. The Driven exhibit a highly competitive and driven nature, are not averse to risk-taking and may struggle with finding balance in their lives.

In this episode, Legal Malpractice Insurance in One Hour for Lawyers author JoAnn Hathaway explains why you need malpractice insurance and how to shop for it. JoAnn L. Hathaway is a practice management advisor for the State Bar of Michigan. She previously worked as a legal liability claims director and risk manager, paralegal, and legal administrator.

On this episode, we discuss the civil right to counsel (sometimes called "civil Gideon") movement with John Pollock. The American Bar Association has endorsed a right to counsel whenever basic needs are threatened, and Pollock leads a national coalition seeking to bring the civil right to counsel to all US jurisdictions. "It's not about winning or losing. It's about not losing everything." John Pollock is a Staff Attorney for the Public Justice Center and the Coordinator of the National Coalition for the Civil Right to Counsel. He works to establish the right to counsel for low-income individuals in civil cases involving basic human needs such as child custody, housing, safety, and public benefits.

In this episode, Alix Devendra explains why lawyers need to learn and apply design thinking in their law practices. Design is just a process for creative problem solving, and lawyers building client-centered law practices need design thinking as well as legal thinking to build successful client-service models. Alix Devendra is a co-founder and design strategist at Start Here HQ, a purpose-driven consultancy that helps lawyers harness the tools of modern entrepreneurship to build more scalable and sustainable law practices.

In this episode, in-house lawyer Elliot Miller and outside litigation counsel Adam Losey discuss the different perspectives they have in their respective roles, the realities of traditional v. alternative billing structures, the importance of trust, and more. Adam Losey represents companies and individuals in high-stakes litigation across the country and advises clients on a variety of information security, privacy, electronic discovery, technology contracting, social media, and internet-related matters. Elliot Miller is General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Wowza Media Systems, a global leader in streaming video software and services.

In this episode, Jess Birken, whose solo-practice website stands out among the top ten law firm website of 2017, explains how she got that website built while keeping costs low. Jess Birken focuses on helping nonprofits solve problems and get back to their mission.

In this episode, Gyi Tsakalakis explains why local marketing matters online (spoiler alert: “[those] earning more than $150,000 per year were more likely to choose an attorney based on an internet search than via a friend”) and how to do it effectively. Gyi Tsakalakis helps lawyers earn meaningful attention online because that's where clients are looking. On Lawyerist and elsewhere, he writes and speaks about legal marketing and technology.

In this episode, we discuss the business of public access to law with one of its pioneers, Tim Stanley, and wonder why it's taking so long for courts and legislatures to get on board. Plus, a little karma.

In this episode we check in with Katie Floyd, co-host of the Mac Power Users podcast, about her experience setting up her solo practice and the tools she uses to run it. Katie Floyd is a Florida estate planning and landlord-tenant lawyer who believes that technology is the great equalizer for the small firm and solo practitioner. She is nationally recognized for helping individuals and small businesses make the most out of their technology and speaks regularly on the use of technology and the practice of law for the American Bar Association and others.

In this episode, we talk to Joshua Browder about how he built his DoNotPay chatbot—which has already helped thousands an is about to grow into 300+ robot lawyers—has made robot lawyers a reality. The BBC has called Joshua Browder's DoNotPay robot lawyer the Robin Hood of the internet. Border himself is one of Forbes' 30 under 30 for 2017.

In this episode, Megan Zavieh explains what it takes to reinvent your law practice when you're feeling stuck, and how TBD Law inspired her and gave her the confidence to reinvent her own practice with a new business model for helping self-represented litigants in ethics cases.

In this podcast, we talk to Carl Malamud about public access to law and how it is threatened. We discuss how lawyers benefit from public access to law and how they can help increase it. https://youtu.be/2tOJdGaMvVw Carl Malamud is an American technologist, author, and public domain advocate, known for his foundation Public.Resource.Org.

In this episode Jordan Furlong explains why law has become a "buyers market" and how lawyers can take advantage of the opportunities presented by that market by becoming client-centered law practices. You can read more in Jordan's book, Law Is a Buyer's Market: Building A Client-First Law Firm, available as a paperback and for Kindle. Jordan Furlong is a leading analyst of the global legal market and forecaster of its future development. He helps law firms and legal organizations understand why the legal services environment is undergoing radical change and how to build sustainable and competitive legal enterprises that can dominate the new market for legal services.

In this episode, Minnesota lawyer Marshall Lichty explains why mentoring is important, how lawyers can find a mentor, and how experienced lawyers can find a mentee. Marshall Lichty is an advisor to Minnesota entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses. He also loves sharing everything he knows about law practice with students and young lawyers to help them meet their people, find their thing, and love their job. Mentioned in this episode is Contactually and Marshall Lichty's Double Loop.

In this episode we learn more about Daniel Bramzon's aggressive tenant-advocacy non-profit, BASTA, and learn how it has changed evictions in LA by demanding a jury trial in every case. Also, our Deputy Editor, Lisa Needham makes her podcast debut in the intro while we try to figure out what's behind the wave of new legal research platforms.

In this episode Wendy Calvert discusses what it means to have a "crossover" practice as a corporate consultant, real estate lawyer, and realtor. She explains where her clients come from, how she juggles her various roles, and how access to justice can still come into play for middle-class clients. Wendy Calvert is a real estate attorney, business development consultant and realtor in Wisconsin and Illinois.

In this episode, former public defender Brad Clark explains how he started his own firm, powered by a criminal expungement web app that lets him start helping people before they even contact him. He also talked about his access-to-justice efforts, from mobile legal clinics to financial aid for criminal expungements. Brad Clark created Unconvicted to help Kentuckians figure out whether they qualify for an expungement, and Driven Law Group to help those charged with DUIs and traffic offenses learn what options they have. A former public defender, Brad measures his firms success by the number of people he helps, not just by its revenue.

In this episode we talk to Nika Kabiri about how your clients' stress makes it hard for them to make good decisions, and how you can help them work around it. Nika Kabiri is Director of Strategic Insights at Avvo, where she works alongside law and technology experts to make legal solutions more accessible to the public. A sociologist by training, Nika conducts research as well as leverages learnings from political science, economics, psychology, and sociology to understand what people go through as they navigate their legal issues.

In this episode we talk to Scott Bassett, who had a virtual law practice before anyone thought in those terms. We discuss the challenges he had to overcome, like getting insurance, dealing with bona fide office requirements, and what clients think. We also talk about e-briefing—what it is and how a digital brief might differ from the paper briefs (or PDF facsimiles of paper briefs) that lawyers file now. Scott Bassett is a lawyer, professor, musician, and tech enthusiast. He is in his 36th year of practicing law, the last 15 as a virtual lawyer handling Michigan family law appeals while residing in Florida. Episode Notes: iPad apps. Oral Argument (no longer available), AnyFont. Word extensions. WordRake, PerfectIt. Windows apps. Word and OneDrive (Office 365), PCLaw. Chromebook. Asus Flip. Fonts. Charter, Cooper Hewitt.