In this episode I speak with Jeremy Siegel who is the Vice President for Compliance & Legal Risk at Eaze which is one of the largest cannabis delivery services in the country. Prior to joining Eaze, Jeremy worked as a litigation attorney, e-discovery project manager, and law clerk to Magistrate Judge John Facciola on the District Court for the District of Columbia and for Judge Richard Eaton on the United States Court of International Trade. 

In our conversation we discuss his twisting and turning path to working in the cannabis industry, graduating law school in the middle of the financial crisis and finding a fulfilling career, the exciting part of working in an industry where the law is being written every single day, the connections between lawyering and lobbying in this highly regulated space, the joys (and challenges) of being a lawyer in a start up environment, finding ways to support not just the industry but also respond to the historical responses to cannabis including the war on drugs, the future of lawyers in the fast-growing cannabis community, and the importance of connecting to people in any work that you do. 

If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this week's special mini-episode I speak with Chrystal Mauro about the newly founded Legal Mentor Network where she serves as Executive Director. The Legal Mentor Network (full disclosure: I sit on the Board of Directors) is a new, non-profit, FREE mentorship program connecting law students and recently barred attorneys to more senior members of our profession. Like the How I Lawyer Podcast, the Legal Mentor Network seeks to provide alternative channels for the informal networking that we know is so important to the future of our profession especially during such challenging times. 

The brain child of Brian Potts (Episode 38) and several others, the program has already matched over 1,000 law students and newly admitted attorneys with mentors in their preferred localities and fields of legal practice. Mentors love it. Mentees need it. And it has led to hundreds of new relationships, not to mention the dozens of young professionals who have landed jobs they otherwise would not have obtained. Operating informally since 2020, with the generous support and contribution of founding sponsor DLA Piper LLP, the informal network has been able to form a new non-profit organization, build a website, recruit an amazing executive board, and now the Network can begin implementing a larger, more formal (but still free!) nationwide mentoring program for years to come.

If you want to learn more please read the press release available here.

Most of all, I hope you enjoy the episode and consider signing up as a mentor or mentee at http://www.legalmentornetwork.org.

In this episode I speak with Suzanne Levy Friedman who is a Senior Associate in the Medical Devices and Technology Regulatory Group at Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C.. In that role, Suzanne assists device companies in a wide range of activities across the life cycle of their products, including preparing regulatory submissions for clearance or approval of new devices, advising manufacturers on the lawful promotion and advertising of their devices, and addressing post-market enforcement issues. 

She has a particular specialty in dealing with the FDA's evolving paradigm for software and digital health products, and she has helped clients determine the appropriate regulatory pathway for various products in this space and bring them to market. In law school, Suzanne interned at the FDA's Office of Chief Counsel, where she learned firsthand about the range of legal and regulatory issues addressed by the agency's Food, Drug, Device, Veterinary, and Tobacco centers and spent two years before law school working for a health policy consulting firm advising clients on the business impact of FDA actions and related legislation.

We live in a world where consumer health products and even software can serve an important role in keeping us healthy. As a result we discuss the fast-moving and ever-growing practice area of medical device law where Suzanne regularly practices before the FDA. We also discuss Suzanne's path, the mindsets and skills necessary to succeed in a scientific practice area (even if you are not a trained scientist), the varied toolbox of experience necessary to work in a heavily regulated area, how to communicate with in-house partners to succeed as outside counsel, and the importance of project management skills to young lawyers.  

If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Jared Knicley who is a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in Washington, DC. Jared's practice focuses on defending imperiled species, protecting communities from chemical spills, ensuring public access to government records, and enforcing federal environmental laws in courts across the country. Jared first joined NRDC as a Beagle Litigation Fellow after clerking for Judge Diana Gribbon Motz of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Baltimore and Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia where we were co-clerks. Jared is a graduate of the University of Virginia where he studied Urban Planning and Harvard Law where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Environmental Law Review.

In our conversation we discuss different ways to work at the intersection of law and the environment, his path from urban planning to environmental litigator, techniques for crafting effective complaints in civil cases, and the importance of finding and cultivating not just mentors but also champions in the early years of a lawyer's career. 

If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Russ Feingold who is currently the President of the American Constitution Society, the country’s leading progressive legal organization. He previously served as a United States Senator for the state of Wisconsin for eighteen years and for ten years before that as State Senator in Wisconsin. He also served as the Special Envoy for the African Great Lakes and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and as a professor at several colleges and law schools. Russ is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Oxford University where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar, and Harvard Law School.

In our conversation we discuss his path to politics, how becoming a lawyer allowed him to have both an impactful and varied career, the role of thinking big and taking chances in creating social change, the problems of today's political climate, ACS's new podcast "Broken Law," and his thoughts on the future of the federal judiciary and the United States Supreme Court.

**PERSONAL NOTE: My wife is a Director of Policy and Program at the American Constitution Society** 

If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Brian Potts. Brian is a Partner at Perkins Coie based in Madison, Wisconsin. He is an environment and energy lawyer with an active pro bono practice but is also an active speaker, writer, and serial entrepreneur (including inventing the LegalBoard (legalkeyboards.com), the world's first computer keyboard made just for lawyers). He is also deeply committed to demystifying the process of getting a legal job and helping young lawyers find their legal path. During the pandemic he has personally mentored hundreds of lawyers he met on LinkedIn and has started an informal lawyer mentorship network. His book, The Jobless Lawyer's Handbook (https://www.brianhpotts.com/), is scheduled to come out very soon. 

Brian's professional story is one of patience and persistence. His firm bio includes the following anecdote about his own path his current position:

 "In 2002, as a second-year law student, Brian applied to work at every one of the Top 100 law firms in the country. He received form rejection letters from all of them. Less than a decade later, Brian was among the youngest to make equity partner at one of those firms. And today, he’s an equity partner at Perkins Coie―where his form rejection letter from the firm in 2002 hangs on his office wall." 

In our conversation we discuss his path from rejection letters to law firm partnership, how investing in yourself is one of the highest leverage things you can do as a young lawyer, techniques for more senior lawyers to serve as more effective mentors, finding joy and entrepreneurial success in his side hustles, and tips and techniques for standing out and getting hired in today's job market. 

If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with Alex Su. Alex is currently the Head of Community Development at Ironclad, a digital contract management company. Before working at Ironclad, Alex was a Sales Team Lead and Director of Business Development at several other legal tech startups and before transitioning to the world of legal tech, Alex was an Associate at the New York law firm Sullivan and Cromwell and a law clerk in Chicago to federal district court Judge Edmond Chang.

In addition to Alex's work in the legal tech space he is perhaps most well known on TikTok (where you can find him @legaltechbro) where his comedic videos about the legal industry get an incredible 3-4 million monthly views. He is also on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn where he shares his personal story and social commentary on the legal industry.

In our conversation we discuss his path to legal tech, how to find the best legal career for you (even if the path is not as traditional), how being authentic on social media allows him to lead conversations about the future of the legal profession, the valuable skill of cold calling (and how to do it better), and advice for consumers of legal tech as well as those who want to enter the space. 

If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with appellate lawyer Carl Cecere who owns his own firm in Dallas, Texas. Carl handles cases in state courts (including the Texas Supreme Court) as well as in federal courts of appeal and the United States Supreme Court. He represents clients at the certiorari stage, at the merits stage, as well as in filing amicus briefs.

Before opening his own firm seven years ago, Carl practiced appellate advocacy at Akin Gump in Washington, D.C. and Hankinson LLP in Texas. He began his career as a law clerk to Judge Mary Lou Robinson in the Northern District of Texas.  

In our conversation we discuss his path from DC Big Law litigator to solo appellate practitioner in Texas, the business side of being an appellate lawyer, why young lawyers should always have a business plan and can use social media as a professional tool, the importance of networking (even without going to cocktail parties or a website), how a major health scare required him to step back but also allowed him to build a new practice and step up years later, how to become a better writer, the unique skill of writing effective amicus briefs, and the importance of carving out time for family especially as a solo practitioner. 

If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode I speak with EJ Lee who runs her own entertainment, copyright, and trademark law firm based in Atlanta, Georgia which services clients across the country. EJ has described her practice as where "creativity and legal protection collide" and her firm's motto is "be creatively legal." In addition to her client work, EJ also creates online courses in the area of trademark and copyright protection for those who need only limited legal assistance. She is active on social media (@EJLeeLaw on Twitter) and is famous for her "Referee With a Whistle" uniform. EJ is a graduate of Kaplan University and the Thomas Cooley School of Law of Western Michigan University.

In our conversation we discuss her path to entertainment and intellectual property law, the benefits of running her own law firm, why she builds information products as well as representing clients directly, the importance of the state bar for a solo practitioner, and the value of having a brand as a lawyer dedicated to protecting client's brands. 

If you enjoy this episode, make sure to sign up for future episodes at www.howilawyer.com or to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.