Lawyerist Podcast

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:

In this episode we talk to Erin Gerstenzang about her solo criminal defense practice and the challenges of going solo, especially for newer lawyers. We also address the importance of tech competence and the role minimalism plays in Erin's personal life and law practice.

Erin Gerstenzang is a criminal defense attorney in Atlanta, Georgia. She primarily handles DUI and other drug- and alcohol-related offenses.

In this episode, Douglas Sorocco explains why his law firm built a free public event space next door, and why it wound up being a good investment. Before or after you listen, you should watch this video to see how the space gets used:

https://vimeo.com/152494352

Doug is an Oklahoma intellectual property lawyer, focused on biotechnology, life sciences, chemistry, and chemical engineering.

In this episode, Josie Beets explains why military spouses who are lawyers should be able to get a license to practice law without taking the bar exam over and over again.

Josie Beets is President of the Military Spouse JD Network (MSJDN), a bar association for military spouses who are lawyers.

In this episode we learn from Ansel Halliburton how technologists have come together in solidarity against data collection and surveillance, and consider what level of paranoia is appropriate (more paranoid than you are now, but probably not as paranoid as you think). We also talk about a promising, open-source document assembly tool, Common Form.

Ansel Halliburton is a startup lawyer and intellectual property litigator in San Francisco. He is also involved in advancing technology for the practice of law, free access to the law, and open source software.

In this episode, MothersEsquire founder Michelle Browning Coughlin talks about how being a parent—especially a mom—can make it harder to practice law, and what firms can do do be more parent-friendly, from paid paternity leave and flexible working arrangements to breastfeeding accommodations and playing the HR long-game.

Michelle Browning Coughlin is a Kentucky intellectual property lawyer.