Episodes

In today's episode I speak with Paresh Patel who is currently the Chief of Appeals at the Office of the Federal Defender for the District of Maryland where he has worked for the past 18 years. In this role he represents clients on post conviction matters including direct appeal and federal habeas. He also assists trial attorneys on complex legal issues that arise in their cases. In our conversation we discuss his path to becoming a public defender, the unique role of an appellate lawyer in the ...

In today’s episode I speak with my dear friend Micah Gibson who is an International Tax Director at Big 4 accounting firm PWC based in Washington, D.C. In this role, Micah helps global businesses structure their tax arrangements to support their strategic goals. He joined PWC more than 8 years ago after completing his JD and LLM in Tax from Georgetown Law. During his time at Georgetown he was an extern for Judge Albert G. Lauber on the United States Tax Court. In our conversation we talk about ...

In today’s episode I speak with Alé Dalton who is an associate at Bradley LLP’s Nashville Office. Her practice focuses on healthcare transactional work where she provides counsel during mergers and acquisitions, as well as guiding clients through issues that arise from the complex nature of operating in a highly regulated industry. She also advises clients in matters involving clinical research and telemedicine. Beyond her healthcare industry work she is committed to doing pro bono and helping t...

In today’s episode I speak with Christine E. Webber who is a leading plaintiff-side class-action civil rights & employment attorney. Christine is a Partner and Co-Chair of the Civil Rights & Employment practice group at Cohen Milstein. In this role, she represents victims of discrimination and wage and hour violations in class and collective actions. She has represented clients in some of the largest, groundbreaking discrimination and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) class and collective actions ...

In today’s episode I speak with civil rights and criminal defense lawyer Kobie Flowers, who represents the wrongly accused and the wrongly convicted. He is a Partner at Brown, Goldstein & Levy in Washington, D.C. Kobie is a trial lawyer’s trial lawyer. He started his career in the Attorney General’s Honors Program where he worked as civil rights prosecutor at the United States Department of Justice with a focus on prosecution of police brutality. After he completed his time at DOJ, Kobie worked...

In today’s episode I speak with experienced privacy and cybersecurity lawyer Kirk Nahra. Kirk is a Partner at WilmerHale in Washington, D.C. where he chairs the firm’s Big Data and Cybersecurity & Privacy Practices. He has been a leading authority on privacy and cybersecurity matters for more than two decades and is ranked in Band 1 by Chambers in both privacy and data security. In 2021, he received the Vanguard Award from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) for his exc...

In this week's episode I speak with Evan Rothstein who is an intellectual property and trade secrets attorney in Arnold & Porter’s Denver Office. Evan maintains both an active trial practice as well as providing strategic advice guiding companies on the development, protection, and enforcement of intellectual property assets. He has experience across a broad range of technologies and recently has gained significant experience guiding clients on cutting-edge matters involving cryptocurrency and N...

In this week's episode I speak with Vivek Jayaram who is an attorney, entrepreneur, and founder of Jayaram Law which has the tagline of "lawyers for innovators." Vivek and his team work with creatives, brands, venture-backed companies, and entrepreneurs on new and cutting edge projects. Specifically he advise companies, creatives, and entrepreneurs around the world on IP and corporate law issues & disputes, with an emphasis on new technology, Web3, NFTs, art, fashion, and other cool and interest...

In today’s episode I speak with not one but two Texas appellate lawyers, Jody Sanders and D. Todd Smith. You may know them as the co-hosts of the Texas Appellate Law Podcast which is a weekly podcast dedicated to demystifying the appellate process and encourage best practices in litigation and appeals. But that is just their side hustle. In his day job, Jody Sanders is a Partner at Kelly Hart where he represents clients at all stages of litigation in trial courts throughout Texas, as well as ap...

In today’s episode I speak with Helam Gebremariam who is a Litigation Partner at Cravath, Swain, & Moore in New York City where her practice focuses on antitrust litigation, contractual disputes, securities and shareholder derivative suits, and investigations. She is also deeply committed to doing pro bono work and serves as an Executive Board Member of the New York University Law Alumni of Color Association, as a member of the Board of Directors of the Immigrant Justice Corps, and on the Board ...

In this episode I speak with Bradford Hardin who chairs Davis Wright Tremaine’s national banking and financial services practice where he frequently supports banks, credit unions, and innovative FinTech companies through high-risk examinations and enforcement investigations at the state and federal levels. Bradford also advises on regulatory compliance and new product development. In his career, he has worked with large banks and fast-moving challengers alike in developing innovative new product...

In this episode I speak with David Sparks who is known in internet circles as MacSparky. For more than 28 years, David was a business law attorney first at George & Shields, LLP and then more recently at his own law firm called Sparks Law based in Irvine, California. But in perhaps a first for the How I Lawyer podcast, I invited David on the show knowing full well that he recently left the practice of law altogether. In addition to being a lawyer, over the past fifteen years David has also becom...

This month, May 2022, How I Lawyer is teaming up with the Personal Jurisdiction Podcast (https://www.personaljxpod.com/) to feature five interviews on the important topic of mental health in the legal profession. This is the final episode in this series. Thanks to the Personal Jurisdiction team for joining me in this important work. In this week's episode I speak with Doron Gold who is a psychotherapist and former practicing lawyer (primarily in the area of family law) from Toronto, Canada. Doro...

**This month, May 2022, How I Lawyer is teaming up with the Personal Jurisdiction Podcast (https://www.personaljxpod.com/) to feature five interviews on the important topic of mental health in the legal profession. This is episode #4 in this collaboration. Learn more here.** In today’s episode, Personal Jurisdiction hosts Hallie Ritzu and Allison Freedman speak with Dr. Diana Uchiyama who is a lawyer & psychologist helping people struggling with mental health and substance use issues as the the...

**This month, May 2022, How I Lawyer is teaming up with the Personal Jurisdiction Podcast (https://www.personaljxpod.com/) to feature five interviews on the important topic of mental health in the legal profession. Learn more here.** In today’s episode I speak with Brian Cuban. Brian is a Dallas-based attorney, keynote speaker, writer, and addiction recovery advocate. Brian has been in long-term recovery from alcohol, cocaine and bulimia since April of 2007. Brian is well known and speaks acros...

**This month, May 2022, How I Lawyer is teaming up with the Personal Jurisdiction Podcast (https://www.personaljxpod.com/) to feature five interviews on the important topic of mental health in the legal profession. Learn more here.** In today’s episode Personal Jurisdiction hosts Hallie Ritzu and Allison Freedman speak with University of Michigan Law Professors Bridgette Carr and Vivek Sankaran. Bridgette Carr is a Clinical Professor of Law and the Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives at th...

**This month, May 2022, How I Lawyer is teaming up with the Personal Jurisdiction Podcast (https://www.personaljxpod.com/) to feature five interviews on the important topic of mental health in the legal profession. Learn more here.** In today’s episode I speak with Professor Heidi Brown who is the Director of the Legal Writing Program at Brooklyn Law School. Having grappled with extreme performance anxiety as a law student, attorney, and new law professor, Heidi ultimately untangled her fears, a...

In this episode I speak with Fabio Bertoni who is the General Counsel at The New Yorker Magazine and an experienced media lawyer. Previously he served as an Assistant General Counsel at HarperCollins, a Deputy General Counsel at ALM Media, and as an associate at two different New York City law firms. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Fordham Law School and at NYU. In our conversation we discussed his path from journalist to a lawyer who works with journalists; the process, decision, and...

In this episode I speak with Professor Danielle Citron who is the Jefferson Scholars Foundation Schenck Distinguished Professor in Law and Caddell and Chapman Professor of Law at the University of Virginia Law School, where she writes and teaches about privacy, free expression, and civil rights. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the MacArthur Genius Grant in 2019 for her work on cyberstalking and intimate privacy. She also serves as the inaugural director of the school’s LawTech ...

In this episode I speak with Sara Y. Razi who is the Global Co-Chair of the Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice at Simpson Thacher. She joined the firm's Washington D.C. office in 2013 after serving as a senior official at the Federal Trade Commission for nearly a decade. Sara has been recognized as a Leading Lawyer by the Legal 500 and was ranked one of the Top 250 Women in Litigation in the United States by Benchmark Litigation. In addition to advising clients in antitrust investigations a...

In this episode I speak with Jay Harrington who is one of the country’s leading consultants and strategists in the areas of legal marketing, PR, and business development. His consulting work includes helping clients define strong market positioning, develop effective thought-leadership strategies, gain visibility through public relations, and generate new business through the execution of marketing tactics. In addition to running his own agency, he is the author of three books (The Productivity ...

In this episode I speak with Jean Lee who is the President and CEO of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA), the nation's leading organization focused on hiring, promoting and retaining women and diverse attorneys by providing cutting-edge research, best practices, and training. Prior to joining MCCA, Jean served as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at JP Morgan Chase & Co. where she worked on consumer litigation and regulatory matters. Before joining JP Morgan Chase & Co...

In this episode I speak with Abigail Kohlman who is a Counsel at Akin Gump in its Washington D.C. Office. Abby’s practice focuses on representing corporate and individual clients in internal and government-facing investigations including criminal, congressional, and regulatory proceedings. She also has experience counseling clients in a variety of white collar defense matters, representing companies and individuals in a broad range of congressional inquiries, and trial experience in federal and ...

In this episode I speak with Jesse Mosier who is currently the General Counsel at Migo, a financial technology company that offers embedded lending and credit solutions in emerging markets. He spoke with me in his personal capacity about his career path and what he has learned along the way. Prior to joining Migo, Jesse was a corporate and financial transaction attorneys focused on Latin American startups and venture capital at Gunderson Dettmer in San Francisco and an associate at Cleary Gottli...