Leveraging Latitude: Cultivating a Full Life in the Law

Candice Reed, Tim Haley, and Alex Su share the diverse career journeys that brought them to Latitude and the opportunities that shaped their paths. The conversation highlights the rising trend of flexible legal talent. Tim and Candice dive into how law firms and in-house teams are leveraging flexible talent to optimize workflows, manage costs, and mitigate team burnout. This strategy not only enhances productivity but also supports a healthy work environment, demonstrating that innovative solutions in legal staffing are more important than ever. 

A podcast by Latitude Legal - Flexible Legal Talent.

The Legal Influencers series continues as Tim Haley sits down for a conversation with William Henderson, professor and Stephen F. Burns Chair on the Legal Profession at Indiana University Maurer School of Law. 

William is the founder and principal editor of Legal Evolution, an online publication that blends theory, data, and detailed examples of successful legal industry innovation. This publication is a dynamic hub of research spanning a range of topics, including the business of law, leadership in the law, and the economics shaping the legal profession.

William sheds light on several fascinating aspects of his work, including: 

• The pressing business challenges faced by the legal industry today, from providing corporate clients with cost-effective legal services to ensuring access to representation for individuals;
• How Legal Evolution began and how applied research and meaningful dialogue can address issues within the legal space;
• William’s own law career story, which began after he realized his passion for negotiating contracts in his role as a firefighter paramedic union representative; and
• A sneak peek at his upcoming book which presents case studies of law firms as modern business organizations.

We dedicate this episode to the memory of Sergio Agustín Castillo Hernández, our talented producer who passed away unexpectedly over the summer. Sergio’s invaluable contributions to our podcast remain etched in Leveraging Latitude’s journey, and his enduring enthusiasm and consummate professionalism continue to inspire us.

A podcast by Latitude Legal - Flexible Legal Talent.

In the second installment of Latitude’s Legal Influencers series, Candice Reed speaks with Brittany Leonard, general counsel at Civix, a multinational technology company that provides services and software solutions to over 100 airports, 90 percent of U.S. nuclear power plants, and nearly half of the country’s secretaries of state.

Candice and Brittany discuss Brittany’s inspiration for her creative, authentic, no-holds-barred posts providing strategic business leadership and pragmatic career advice to her online community of thousands of attorneys and legal operations professionals. They discuss:

• Brittany’s unique path from contemplating leaving the practice of law to becoming General Counsel;
• Hot topics among the legal industry, including the impact of AI, the growth and significance of legal operations, and the pursuit of healthier work environments;
• Conquering self-censorship and fear that may hinder active participation in these conversations on social media and elsewhere, empowering attorneys to engage in meaningful dialogue;
• Tackling imposter syndrome by reflecting upon past accomplishments; and
• Brittany’s advice for not performing within other people’s framework and showing up as your authentic self in the practice of law.

A podcast by Latitude Legal - Flexible Legal Talent.

In the first podcast in Latitude’s Legal Influencers series, Candice Reed speaks with Alex Su, head of community development at Ironclad, a contract lifecycle management platform. Best known for his TikTok videos satirizing the legal profession, Alex is the author of “The Unauthorized Guide To Getting Into Law School With Bad Grades” and the popular newsletter, “Off The Record”. 

Candice and Alex discuss Alex’s fascinating career journey and the legal trends he’s identified using his own experience and by staying close to the people on the front lines of the legal industry.

• Alex’s journey from global law firm attorney to legal influencer with viral TikTok videos and a newsletter with over 5,000 subscribers.
• How career setbacks and embracing authenticity can lead to new paths to success for legal professionals.
• To be a successful lawyer today requires a diverse set of skills, including building relationships with mentors and sponsors and developing a book of business earlier than traditionally expected.
• How AI and a new generation of lawyers will impact how legal work gets done for both legal departments and law firms.

A podcast by Latitude Legal - Flexible Legal Talent.

Royalty visits Leveraging Latitude as the reigning Mrs. Universe catches up with Candice Reed. Juanita Ingram is an attorney, author, award-winning actress and filmmaker, and she is also the first black woman to be crowned Mrs. Universe. Juanita speaks about her unique career path and the life lessons she’s learned along the way. With her characteristic charm, wit, and vulnerability, she shares how she came to embrace her full self and the opportunity to be found in stepping outside the confines of established expectations. She discusses:

• Why, in the midst of a successful legal career, she began competing in pageants;
• The challenges she faced as a “trailing spouse” after leaving her in-house position with Rolls-Royce to move to London for her husband’s job;
• The advice from her life coach that helped her to embrace the possibility and value of a successful and meaningful nontraditional legal career;
• How a backyard BBQ gave her the idea for the award-winning docuseries, The Expats International Ingrams;
• Why she believes it is critical to tell a variety of black stories in film and television; and
• How she found her purpose by charting her own path.

A podcast by Latitude Legal - Flexible Legal Talent.

Tim and guest host Michelle Culligan speak with Lisa Ann Cooney, Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and Corporate Secretary at Day & Zimmermann, listed by Forbes as one of America's Largest Private Companies. For Lisa, leadership and business are personal, and she shares the lessons she’s learned about advocating for herself and her career goals, inviting and responding to constructive criticism, adapting leadership styles to varying situations, and giving back through coaching and mentoring.

A podcast by Latitude Legal - Flexible Legal Talent.

Conference season is in full swing! On this episode of Leveraging Latitude, Candice Reed and Tim Haley speak with special guest Alexandra Guajardo, Conference Director for Legal Value Network’s LVNx Conference taking place September 21-23 in Chicago. Alexandra shares an exciting preview of the conference and Legal Value Network’s unique approach to accelerating evolution in the legal industry. From her experience serving as Pricing & Analytics Officer at Shell, Alexandra also shares her insights on the growth and trajectory of legal operations in supporting the people and the business of law.

A podcast by Latitude Legal - Flexible Legal Talent.

Special guest Michelle Browning Coughlin, Founder and President of MothersEsquire®, joins Candice and Tim in examining systemic gender biases in the legal profession and how they hurt both men and women. Michelle sheds light on “the motherhood penalty” across professions and suggests big and small pragmatic changes that legal institutions and employers can make to help support women and parents. Exchanging personal parenting and professional anecdotes, Michelle, Candice and Tim discuss what it means to “parent out loud” in the workplace.  

A podcast by Latitude Legal - Flexible Legal Talent.

Lawyers are the last ones to give themselves permission to step back and think, “Am I happy, should I do something else?” We often are tasked with solving everyone else’s problems, but are reluctant to ask ourselves if what we’re doing is helping us meet our own career goals or priorities.

Cynthia Moon and Joan Blackwell, Directors of Legal Recruiting and Placement at Latitude, share their personal experiences as attorneys who chose to pivot their legal careers into law-adjacent recruiting positions. They take us through their decision-making process when considering whether to leave the daily practice of law and the value of choosing work you love (over what is expected). In this episode, we talk about looking forward to Monday mornings, finding meaningful work slightly outside the practice of law, and asking ourselves the important questions, “Is the work I’m doing now fulfilling? Is it helping me achieve my current professional and personal goals? Can I leverage my legal experience to do something else I might enjoy more?”

A podcast by Latitude Legal - Flexible Legal Talent.

All eyes will be on Indianapolis as the College Football Playoff National Championship Game is scheduled for Jan. 10, at Lucas Oil Stadium. On this Leveraging Latitude episode, Tim Haley talks to Kobi Wright, Chief Legal Officer & Business Operations Director for the Capital Improvements Board of Managers (CIB), and Eric Neuburger, Attorney & Stadium Director for Lucas Oil Stadium, about their unexpected career paths and their work to bring this game (and other high profile events) to the city of Indianapolis. They also talk about remaining open to opportunities that may come into your life as you never know where they will take you.

A podcast by Latitude Legal - Flexible Legal Talent.