Heels In The Courtroom

In this episode, first-time host Sydney Marino marks her upcoming one-year anniversary as a licensed attorney by leading a candid roundtable with colleagues Liz Lenivy, Elizabeth McNulty, Katie St. John, and Mary Simon. The conversation unpacks the gap between what law school teaches and what the actual practice of law demands. The group agrees law school builds legal theory and a basic "muscle" for argument, but does little to prepare new lawyers for the on-the-ground realities of the job, including arguing face-to-face with opposing counsel, handling losses, and making hundreds of small judgment calls every day.

What did it really take for Florence Allen to stay steady while being underestimated, mislabeled, and passed over? Professor and author Tracy Thomas shares the first woman judge’s own advice to younger women attorneys: work harder, let it roll off your back, prove yourself through the work and the toll that strategy took over a lifetime. The conversation also unpacks Allen's heartbreak after coming agonizingly close to a U.S. Supreme Court seat 12 times, including one moment when Chief Justice Fred Vinson quietly told President Truman the all-male Court simply didn't want her. Thomas also shares a deeply personal moment on who the book is dedicated to and why recovering women's history is also, in its own way, about recovering our own.

Long before "first woman" headlines became familiar, Florence Allen was breaking barriers no one had broken before her. She was the first woman on a state Supreme Court. The first woman on a federal appellate court. And a 12-time U.S. Supreme Court shortlist finalist across four presidential administrations who never got the nod. In this episode, Professor Tracy Thomas, Director of the Center for Constitutional Law at the University of Akron School of Law discusses her new book, The First Woman Judge: The Life and Legacy of Florence Allen(University of California Press, September 2026).

She’s an employment attorney, founder of Sparks Legal and one of the most recognizable online legal creators. And, in this episode of Heels in the Courtroom, Paige Sparks goes past the highlight reel and into what it actually costs to build a public legal brand. Paige gets real about the trolls, the death threats, and the strangers who feel entitled to an opinion on her face and how therapy, boundaries, and a well-placed comeback have helped her stop internalizing any of it. She also pulls back the curtain on the business side of virality: how 85-90% of her clients find her through social media before they ever speak to her, why she partners with a referral network instead of chasing every lead herself, and how a strict daily routine keeps her from drowning in content, casework, and a full-time law practice all at once.

She's been watched by 30 million people making her morning coffee and explaining wrongful termination in the same breath. In this episode of Heels in the Courtroom, Elizabeth McNulty, Sydney Marino, and Mary Simon sit down with Paige Sparks, employment attorney, founder of Sparks Legal, and one of the most recognizable legal creators online to talk about what it actually takes to build a personal brand as a lawyer. Paige gets candid about the accidental path that led her to employment law, the viral video she almost didn't post, and why "going viral" is actually the last thing a content creator should want. For any attorney who's ever wondered whether marketing themselves online is worth the risk, this conversation is proof that showing up consistently, even when it's uncomfortable, can level the playing field against firms with far bigger budgets. Catch part two in two weeks, where Paige dives into handling criticism, internet trolls, and where legal marketing is headed next.

Part two of the ego discussion turns to when confidence curdles into a problem. Mary Simon opens with a story about two rival attorneys sniping at each other in a pretrial conference until the judge shut it down, refusing to referee an "ego measuring contest." Liz Lenivy points out that judges punish cockiness the way juries punish a lack of confidence and shares a case where a co-counsel's cocky, nonchalant attitude pushed a client to seek her out instead as proof that ego can quietly damage client trust. The episode closes on humility, with Mary recalling a moment her dad, who built their firm from nothing, brushed off her attempt to celebrate his success: "the firm is just the people."

The hosts unpack what ego really means in the legal profession and why female attorneys especially need a healthy dose of it. They trace the word's negative connotations alongside its necessary flip side: the confidence to stand in front of a jury and believe what you're arguing whether that's a damages number or a case strategy. Stories range from convincing a jury of a dollar amount you have to actually believe, to colleagues questioning why you're on a case, to the TikTok-fueled discourse about young female attorneys feeling embarrassed to even say "I'm a lawyer" out loud. The throughline: ego isn't about arrogance, it's competence-backed confidence and it's something you build over time.

In this episode, the conversation gets candid about the toll this work takes on lawyers themselves. Sara Marler of Marler Law Partners challenges the myth of "compassion fatigue," explaining that what attorneys are really experiencing is empathetic distress, carrying burdens that aren't theirs to carry. Brittany Graham offers a reframe that often stops attorneys in their tracks: trauma explains behavior but does not excuse it.

An unconventional addition to the staff at a female-led family law firm has revolutionized how the firm operates as well as renamed its approach to lawyering. In this episode, Sara Marler and Ramona Gau explain how the addition of dedicated mental health specialist Brittany Graham at Marlar Law Partners has helped them define what trauma-informed lawyering looks like in practice and why it matters for both clients and attorneys. Whether you have a "Brittany" on your team or not, this episode is full of practical takeaways for any attorney looking to show up better for their clients without losing themselves in the process.

“Feared in corporate board rooms” is how the St. Louis Business Journal describes attorney Mary Anne Sedey. In Part Two of Heels in the Courtroom, this legendary trial lawyer shares more powerful stories from her career, including high-stakes discrimination cases, multimillion-dollar verdicts, and hard-learned courtroom strategies. From exposing systemic racism at a major hotel to winning big against a Mercedes-Benz dealership, Mary Anne walks through the facts, the fight, and the lessons behind each case. She also delivers candid, practical advice for young attorneys: embrace risk, be persistent, pick your cases wisely, and don’t chase perfection at the expense of progress. It’s a masterclass in advocacy, resilience, and building a meaningful legal career.