The Legal Department

Curious about a career in (legal) media? You have a voice and something to say, but not sure if you should put yourself out there? In this episode, Stacy talks with two lawyers who left the law for writing careers and haven't looked back.

David Lat, founder of Above the Law and Original Jurisdiction shares how he moved from a career as a federal prosecutor to founding the "US Weekly" of legal news. He shares how he sold Above the Law and started a new legal media business.

Zach Shemtob, a former white collar defense lawyer and lover of death metal music, shares his experience leading the SCOTUS blog.

If you've ever considered a career as a writer/editor, this episode is for you.

Feeling like you've hit a compensation ceiling? Not sure how to approach a money conversation at work? In this Office Hours episode, HR professional Patty Carl answers a listener's question about whether a colleague's recent retention bonus opens the door for her.

Patty spent most of her career leading HR at public and equity backed companies. Now leading an organizational consulting firm focused on maximizing people, Patty shares her insights on the taboo topic of compensation.

She shares her tips for negotiating a compensation offer during a recruitment, how to position yourself for the next rung at your current organization and best practices for handling the touchy money conversation in almost any situation.

We've all heard about AI's power to scale many "routine" business functions, but the lawyers are skeptical. In this episode, Kiteworks Chief Legal Officer Camilo Artiga-Purcell describes how his team has used AI to in-source most legal work, including M&A and some litigation. Working with a lean legal team across the globe, Camilo has embraced technology as an essential partner to help his company grow. We talk about how his close and transparent relationships with the board and company leadership gave him the confidence to handle a trial in-house. An unimaginable feat for most in-house departments.

Not sure what you should be doing with your life? Are you where you're supposed to be? Have you hit a career speedbump and not sure what's next? In this episode, executive coach and former CHRO and military pilot Jim Reid is in The Legal Department to help you chart your next move. Jim contributed to Jim Collins new bestselling book, "What to Make of a Life." He advises that to move forward past a career cliff, we should get clear about what we are "genetically encoded to do." By anchoring to what's important to you and what you deeply enjoy, you can have the life (and career) you really want.

Feeling unsettled at work? Things are "good enough" but not quite right... You have a nagging feeling that there's something different out there for you, but you're not sure what it is or how to find it.

Or maybe, you know what you want to do, but you feel like you can't make a change. You've invested years working towards the career you have, can you pivot into something else?

In this #GoalGetter episode, executive coach Shayna Bergman shares her story of how she pivoted from an executive career at a major consulting firm to start her coaching practice. She knows first hand what it takes to shift away from a job that seems to "check all the boxes" into something new and unknown. Shayna shares key questions to help you figure out if you're ready to make a career pivot.

We also talk about the unique challenges of working parents and how Shayna supports this special group of professionals.

Thanks to StreamlineAi for sponsoring the Goal Getters series.

Tariffs have been front page news since the 2024 presidential campaign. In February 2025 (and again in April 2025), President Donald Trump issued executive orders levying tariffs that threatened small and large businesses alike. But only one CEO of a small family business stepped forward...with only one major law firm.

In this episode, Rick Woldenberg, CEO of Learning Resources, Inc. and Hand2Mind, and his counsel, Pratik Shah, Head of the Supreme Court and Appellate Practice at Akin Gump tell the impossible story of how they  overturned the Trump tariffs in less than a year.

Woldenberg and Shah met on Good Friday in April 2025 and by Tuesday after Easter weekend, filed a complaint in District Court challenging the tariffs, having never met each other in person. This is a story about how aligning on goals, committing to clear and honest feedback, and being engaged and open to other opinions can be rocket fuel for a successful client relationship (and result).

Ever feel like you’re stuck in place? You have excellent technical skills, get the job done and do excellent work. So why aren’t you progressing? In this Goal Getter episode, executive coach and former GC Sheila Murphy is in The Legal Department to show you how to get noticed as “high potential.” Spoiler alert: no one hands you a promotion, you have to raise your hand. Sheila shares how stepping forward, seeking out feedback and adopting clear, business-focused communication style can help you level up.

Thanks to StreamlineAi for supporting Goal Getters!

Join the Goal Getter community and subscribe to the companion newsletter on Substack to receive actionable career frameworks, diagnostic templates, and professional development tools directly in your inbox. Destination: http://legaldepartmentpod.com/

In this Office Hours episode, Deborah Solmor, founder of GC development program "Ready Set GC" is in The Legal Department to answer questions from aspiring general counsel.

Tough questions include:

• How to show that you're a "strategic advisor"
• How your organizational skills change when you become general counsel
• How to keep your confidence up when you don't get a job you really want
• How and why you need to dedicate time to "extracurriculars"

Stacy and Deborah also chat about the Ready Set GC Ascend program, which helps deputy GCs and other aspiring legal leaders get ready for their next big role.

Have you ever thought about a career in academics? You've learned a lot from practicing law in the "real world," but do these skills translate into the classroom? And without an academic pedigree, can a practicing lawyer even break into the ivory tower?

Dean Parrish believes that lawyers (especially in-house counsel) can be great teachers. Parrish says that legal skills are academic skills--writing, public speaking and the ability to distill complex topics make lawyers the best teachers.

In this episode, Parrish shares how he pivoted from a career in Big Law into academics, eventually landing leadership positions in top law schools including serving as dean of three different law schools.  He says that teaching can be a natural progression for practicing lawyers.

He believes this so strongly that he invited Stacy and other in-house lawyers to develop a certificate program for aspiring general counsel at UCI School of Law.  Learn more about the program called, "From Lawyer to Leader, the Road to the General Counsel Seat," in this episode.

Are the bots coming for our jobs?  Will law firms crate when AI erodes the leverage model? Law professor Jonah Perlin advises us to keep calm and bill hours: AI is but another technology to add to the legal toolbox. In this episode, Perlin explains that time is but one element of the billing ecosystem. In this episode, we talk about the value of legal services and how lawyers and law firms can demonstrate value (and adjust fee models) in the AI age. Perlin also hosts the incredibly popular How I Lawyer podcast and supports law students and early career lawyers to find career fulfillment.