Legal Talk Network - Law News and Legal Topics

​​New Texas AI legislation will take effect January 1, 2026. What will this mean for your legal practice? The Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act (TRAIGA) aims to regulate the development and deployment of artificial intelligence systems in the state to address issues such as discrimination, intentional harm, illegal sexual content, and the use of biometric data. Rocky Dhir welcomes Chris Schwegmann to help us unpack the nuances of TRAIGA legislation and understand its implications for the practice of law.

The discussion later shifts to the effective and ethical deployment of AI within legal practice. Chris highlights its capabilities by detailing his firm’s approach to AI tools. With proper use, AI has the potential to enhance your legal work and streamline processes to allow for greater attention to high-level tasks.

Chris Schwegmann is managing partner at Lynn, Pinker, Hurst & Schwegmann in Dallas, Texas. 

The idea that prisoners should be treated humanely was discussed by Enlightenment Era aristocrats, "but the idea that they are people who are peers is new," says Yale Law professor Judith Resnik.

"As Democratic norms turned us all into equal citizens, equal persons in a jurisdiction, the question of government's relationships in courts, policing, schools and prisons changed over the last hundred years," says Resnik, author of Impermissible Punishments: How Prison Became a Problem for Democracy.

In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Resnik walks host Lee Rawles through centuries of discussion about how punishments are deemed to be permissible, from a trial about whipping prisoners in Arkansas to the League of Nations' effort to develop minimum standards of treatment in prisons worldwide.

"People who run prisons have a very challenging time, and there's a body of data growing that people who work in prisons, like people who live in them, have higher stress, heart attacks, blood pressure, suicide rates," Resnik tells Rawles. "These are terrible environments of concrete and metal and noise and often dirt and violence. In the United States, many people who are in detention have had mental health issues and behavioral issues of significant kinds. And when you take people with limited training, often with staffs that are too thin, interacting with overcrowded facilities of metal and concrete, with limited resources, you end up generating scary places for everybody.

"So one of the kind of puzzles, if you step back, is how a thing called corrections, that promises safety, has generated institutions that are deeply unsafe for the people who live and work in them."

High performance in law requires more than technical skill—it requires the right mindset. In episode #596 of the Lawyerist Podcast, Zack Glaser talks with Jess Sargus about applying an athlete’s mindset to leadership, performance, and growth in legal practice. 

Jess breaks down the core pillars of athletic thinking. From growth mindset and action orientation to process focus and purpose, and explains how lawyers can apply these principles to become better leaders and perform at their best under pressure. 

If you want to hear more from Jess, check her out at: https://www.thelegalathlete.com/ 

Listen to our other episodes on Mindset & Performance: 

Have thoughts about today’s episode? Join the conversation on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X! 

If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap Revisited yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Looking for help beyond the book? See if our coaching community is right for you. 

Access more resources from Lawyerist at lawyerist.com. 

Chapters / Timestamps:  

00:00 – Introduction 

03:12 – Meet Jess Sargus 

04:02 – From Law to Combat Sports 

08:06 – Competition, Business, and Leadership 

11:15 – Why Mindset Matters 

15:12 – The Athlete’s Mindset Defined 

17:01 – Action Orientation and Elite Performance 

19:30 – Getting Comfortable with Failure 

22:05 – Growth Mindset and Competitiveness 

26:03 – The Five Pillars of Fierce Agency 

29:21 – Process Over Outcome 

34:46 – Purpose and Mission Alignment 

39:48 – Where to Find Jess 

40:53 – Closing Thoughts 

When family lawyer and podcaster Lee Rosen talks about referrals, he doesn’t call them a network. He calls them friends. He explains why you only need about 20 trusted relationships to sustain a thriving practice, how genuine curiosity and consistency outperform traditional “networking,” and why lawyers make some of the most powerful referral partners across practice areas. Lee also shares how thoughtful gestures, not referral fees, build long-term goodwill and how social media can strengthen real-world connections when used with intention. Then, ALPS Insurance’s Rio Laine joins host Adriana Linares to cover the risk-management side of referrals, including documentation best practices, appropriate thank-you gifts, when to decline referrals, and why every solo should have a backup attorney and succession plan in place.

Hear the original episode with Lee Rosen

Learn more about ALPS Insurance. 

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Once you’ve landed your first job as a paralegal professional, what next? How do you build your career, advance into management, and leverage affiliations and activities within local and national associations as you pursue your goals? 

Guest Angela King is a successful paralegal manager at the national law firm of Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP. Over more than two decades, she has advanced from a law firm volunteer to a file clerk to legal assistant, then paralegal professional, and now paralegal manager at a national law firm overseeing dozens of paralegal professionals. 

At each step, being active with paralegal associations helped her advance her skills and network. It starts with learning, and it extends to helping and mentoring. King explores how a conscious push to improve and learn at every stage built her career and how you can create your own path to professional success.

Mentioned in This Episode:

National Capital Area Paralegals Association

National Federal of Paralegal Association

IPMA, International Practice Management Association

IPMA Conference and Expo

Los Angeles Paralegal Association

NALA, The Paralegal Association

NALA Conference & Expo 2026

Welcome to another dumpster fire of a year.

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We begin the year by peering into our crystal balls and issuing some predictions for 2026. Who will be fired? What's going to happen with law schools? Is a big change on the horizon for Biglaw? Our predictions will inevitably be wrong, but we'll offer them with a lot of confidence -- just like AI would.

Also a whole lot of sports talk for a law podcast.

Attorney Peter Dunne shares stories about other legendary St. Louis lawyers and the entertaining ways they handled paper correspondence in the days before email.

The Case Doctors explore what legal recourse Taylor Swift fans might have when the tickets they bought for $14,000 didn’t turn out to be what they paid for. Plus, John Simon and Alvin Wolff discuss strategies for an attorney contemplating how to handle a case involving 200 garden gnomes that allegedly violated Homeowners’ Association rules.

Leadership doesn’t always come naturally; it is a skill developed through service, mentorship, and a deep commitment to others. In this episode, Amanda Arriaga and Patrick Palace welcome Nate Alder, a longtime leader in multiple associations, including the NCBP. Drawing on his many years of service, Nate shares insights that deepen our understanding of how to lead with humility and a genuine commitment to stewarding and elevating the next generation of leaders in the legal profession.

Nate Alder is a shareholder at Christensen & Jensen, where he litigates, tries, and resolves complex civil cases.

In episode 595 of the Lawyerist Podcast, we’re revisiting Stephanie’s conversation with Lawyerist financial coach Bernadette L. Harris about the financial KPIs every law firm owner should understand as a new year begins. We’re bringing this episode back because it’s especially timely for firms setting their strategy, goals, and financial benchmarks for the year ahead. It’s important to continue finding a clear, practical approach to understanding the numbers that drive a healthy firm. 

Unlock a clearer view of your law firm's financial health in the latest Lawyerist Podcast. Join host Stephanie Everett as she dives into the essential key performance indicators (KPIs) that can transform how you understand your practice, guided by the expert insights of Bernadette Harris, Lawyerist Lab's finance coach. 

You'll gain practical knowledge about five crucial areas that directly impact your firm's success. Understand your net profit margin like never before – not just the surface numbers, but the true profitability that informs your strategic decisions. Explore utilization rate and discover how to optimize your team's time for maximum productivity. Learn the critical importance of your realization rate and practical steps to ensure you're capturing the revenue you've earned. See how mastering AR aging can directly impact your cash flow and create financial stability. Plus, uncover the strategic advantage of understanding your revenue by practice area, empowering you to make smarter choices about your firm's financial future. 

For straightforward, actionable insights into these vital financial indicators – the kind that can immediately help you manage your law firm more effectively – tune in to hear Bernadette Harris share her expertise. 

Listen to our other episode with Bernadette Harris: 

Have thoughts about today’s episode? Join the conversation on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X! 

If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap Revisited yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Looking for help beyond the book? See if our coaching community is right for you. 

Access more resources from Lawyerist at lawyerist.com. 

Chapters: 

00:00 Why We’re Remastering This Episode for the New Year
02:55 Law Firm KPIs and Financial Health
05:21 Net Profit Margin for Law Firms
09:38 Utilization Rate and Team Capacity
14:35 Realization Rate and Getting Paid
20:05 Accounts Receivable and Cash Flow
24:19 Revenue by Practice Area
27:16 Using Financial Metrics to Set Strategy