In this episode of This Legal Life, host Ben Chiriboga talks with Katie Vickery, Partner and Head of Regulatory at Osborne Clarke, to explore what it takes to build a lasting and fulfilling legal career. From the early jolt of the Enron collapse to becoming a leader in product regulation and sustainability law, Katie shares how reinvention, mentorship, and curiosity shaped her 24+ year journey in the profession.

Listeners will learn how to spot emerging client needs, why building and handing off practices is an act of leadership, and how personal and professional alignment creates long-term career satisfaction. Katie’s story is a blueprint for anyone looking to lead with purpose—and leave a legacy worth sharing.

Meet Our Guest:

Katie Vickery, a UK partner at the international legal practice Osborne Clarke, provides clients with solutions to legal regulatory problems across the world. She works with many household names providing advice on how to manage regulatory compliance, risk and enforcement, particularly in the fields of product safety, circular economy, sustainability and consumer law.

She leads a specialist team of product and sustainability lawyers and co-heads Osborne Clarke’s International ESG & Sustainability service line.

Both an advisory lawyer and a litigator, Katie provides pragmatic and risk-based advice on regulatory interpretation and liaising with regulators. She helps businesses facing "bet the farm" regulatory investigations—managing global product recalls, major safety and environmental incidents, and imposing regulatory burdens and restrictions.

Katie has built and adapted several practices throughout her career, adapting to market changes and opportunities. She is recognised as a leader in business development and in developing people to achieve their own practice ambitions.

Links:

What Today’s Rainmakers Do Differently

Global Compliance | Osborne Clarke

In this episode of This Legal Life, host Ben Chiriboga sits down with Mbula Nzuki, an inspiring lawyer, entrepreneur, and co-founder of a fintech company, to discuss her remarkable journey from a traditional legal career to leading a tech-driven law firm and fintech venture. Mbula shares insights on overcoming challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, her passion for financial inclusion, and how embracing flexibility has driven her success. Discover how Mbula’s multidisciplinary approach and adaptability are reshaping the perception of legal practice in Kenya and beyond.

Meet Our Guest:

Mbula Nzuki is a multi-faceted Legal Practitioner, Ecosystem Builder, Sustainability Champion, Deal Maker, Innovator, Serial Entrepreneur, Global Host, and Moderator curating a vibrant international career at the intersection of Law, Technology, Sustainability, and Finance.

She is the Founder and Principal Attorney at MN Legal, a boutique law firm serving the legal and strategic needs of startups, high-growth and emerging companies, multinationals, international NGOs, and government agencies across diverse sectors—including finance and investment, logistics, software and tech, infrastructure, clean energy, AI, and more.

Mbula holds a Master of Laws (LL.M) in Public International Law, is an active Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCIArb) – London, Co-Founder of The Cyber Society (Geneva), and President of the Environmental & Energy Law Commission at AIJA – International Association of Young Lawyers.

Outside the legal field, she is a serial entrepreneur with interests in artificial intelligence for legal innovation, fintech, construction, real estate, and jewelry. A spirited conversationalist with great analytical skills, she is often invited to host high-powered events, moderate global panel discussions, and lead fireside chats with ease and impact.

Mbula is passionate about preserving the nobility of the legal profession while redefining success through a multi-disciplinary, purpose-driven approach. She embraces the philosophy of “business as a force for good.”

Her mantra: “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”

Connect with Mbula on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mbulanzuki

In this episode of This Legal Life, host Ben Chiriboga sits down with Drew Amoroso — lawyer, entrepreneur, and founder of DueCourse — to talk about creating a better workday for lawyers. Drew shares his journey from Big Law associate to coaching thousands of lawyers through mindset, routines, and professional identity shifts.

Along the way, he unpacks what’s broken about traditional legal culture, how coaching at scale is changing the game, and why intentionality might be the most important legal skill of the future. From launching a solo fitness law firm to building the industry’s first AI coach, Drew’s story is a masterclass in purpose-driven innovation.

Meet Our Guest:

Drew Amoroso is a former lawyer and the Founder and CEO of DueCourse. Prior to DueCourse, Drew was a senior litigation associate at Reed Smith LLP and the Founder of Move Legal, a law firm focused on counseling clients in the fitness and health and wellness industries.

Drew is a visiting lecturer at UC Davis School of Law, the University of San Francisco School of Law, and Golden Gate University School of Law, where he teaches a Practice Ready Seminar designed to prepare law students to make the transition from students to practice-ready lawyers. He’s also the president of StandUpKids, a non-profit whose mission is to give every public school child access to a standing desk in the next 10 years.

Links:

www.duecourse.coach

https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewamoroso/

In this episode of This Legal Life, host Ben Chiriboga chats with Paul Sams, Managing Partner of Dutton Gregory Solicitors, about his unconventional path from biller to builder — and how leadership in law firms is evolving. Paul brings his trademark wit and authenticity to a wide-ranging conversation on firm culture, intergenerational leadership, communication, AI, and yes — even his famous Lego LinkedIn avatar. With refreshing candor, Paul shares the personal growth, mindset shifts, and management lessons that come with guiding a modern legal organization through change, complexity, and opportunity.

Meet Paul Sams:

Paul decided he wanted to be a solicitor at seven years old. Since then, he has become an award-winning, nationally recognised expert in the field of residential property, having been asked to lecture other lawyers across the country.

Paul has also been invited to speak on more than one occasion for Housing Associations and the RICS. Paul also deals with residential development work from site acquisition through to plot sales.

Paul was elected Managing Partner by his fellow Partners and stepped up to the role in April 2024. He proactively manages the firm alongside his fellow Partners and Senior Managers, always with a view to making sure both everyone within the firm and those who the firm interacts with have the most positive experience that they can. Paul strives to improve his abilities to aid his clients each day that he is alive. Known for disruption, Paul is not afraid to try something new.

In this episode of This Legal Life, host Ben Chiriboga sits down with Owen McGrann — lawyer, founder, writer, and creative legal thinker — to explore how legal practice can be rebuilt from the inside out. Owen shares his deeply personal journey from burnout in Big Law and a life-threatening medical crisis to launching a solo firm driven by flat fees, client alignment, and productized legal services. Together, they unpack the intersection of philosophy, pricing, community, and identity — and why sometimes the most powerful shift in law isn’t external innovation, but internal transformation.

Meet Our Guest:

Owen McGrann runs a boutique law firm for startups and small businesses by day, and writes emotionally ruinous novels by night. He enjoys making things, breaking them in slow motion, and calling it a performance—an approach surprisingly well-suited to both fiction and modern law practice.

Learn more:

https://www.mcgrannlaw.com

https://www.seedcounsel.io

https://www.owenmcgrann.com

In this episode of This Legal Life, host Ben Chiriboga sits down with Gary Miles — former trial lawyer turned wellness coach — to explore the mind traps that hold legal professionals back. Drawing on 40+ years of experience and a powerful personal transformation, Gary opens up about the silent challenges many lawyers face, including perfectionism, isolation, and burnout. From his journey into sobriety to launching a podcast at 66, Gary’s story is a testament to resilience, reinvention, and the importance of redefining success on your own terms. He also shares practical insights on coaching, mindset shifts, and building a legal career that’s both meaningful and sustainable.

Meet Our Guest:

Gary Miles, a seasoned law practitioner for over four decades, has dedicated his career to litigation and, more recently, family law. As the managing member of Huesman, Jones, and Miles in Maryland for over three decades and now of counsel to the firm, his diverse experience includes being a trial lawyer, managing partner, author, leader, podcaster, coach, and entrepreneur.

His true passion lies in helping people solve their problems and guiding them toward liberation from the prisons that hold them back. Having experienced the pressures inherent in the legal profession, Gary is deeply committed to helping his clients find fulfillment in their practice. He equips them with practical tools to overcome obstacles, thereby enabling them to achieve the success and freedom they aspire to. He loves supporting lawyers and lifting the legal profession.

He enjoys his Pinehurst, NC, home with his wife, Brenda, and their two beautiful English Goldens. They have five children and six grandchildren (so far!).

Learn more: www.garymiles.net

In this episode of This Legal Life, host Ben Chiriboga sits down with Rachel Clar, founder of Interconnected Us, to explore how women in Big Law are transforming their careers through the power of community. Rachel shares her personal journey—leaving law, building a career in real estate, discovering peer learning, and ultimately returning to law to create space for women lawyers to connect, collaborate, and thrive.

Rooted in a philosophy of non-binary thinking and spiritual leadership, Rachel’s work is redefining professional growth—not through competition, but through connection. From early struggles with belonging to launching cohort-based programs that drive real economic and career impact, this episode is a powerful conversation about creating change from the inside out.

Guest Bio:

Rachel Clar, Esq. is a strategic networking and confidence-building expert and the Founder of Interconnected Us, where BigLaw women lawyers gain the clarity they need to land the clients they deserve. Result? Clout.

Through her three-part framework, Rachel guides women lawyers in mastering strategic networking, communicating with power, and using their unique qualities to confidently win more business. Interconnected Us members skip the guesswork by gaining access to shortcut knowledge from successful women rainmakers who’ve done it before. Additionally, private conversations with peers, regular office hours, and private coaching empower members to land high-value clients that grow their pay, put them in control over their careers, and grow their influence.

Before founding Interconnected Us, Rachel built a career in business strategy and persuasive communication by developing affordable housing, urban infill neighborhoods and commercial-scale solar arrays in the real estate and clean energy sectors. Working in male-dominated fields, Rachel honed her strategic networking and influence building skills until they became razor sharp. Now, she guides powerful women lawyers to understand and leverage their unique strengths to grow their book of business - supporting them in confidently being their full selves is her edge.

Rachel is dedicated to shifting the status quo in BigLaw by building generational wealth and influence within a new tranche of women lawyers, calling herself a “compassionate disruptor.” In 2022, in furtherance of her mission to empower 1000 BigLaw women to grow their pay and influence (so that they can lift up others), she joined the ABA Law Practice Division’s Women Rainmakers Committee, where she has served ever since.

Connect with Rachel through LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelclar/

Subscribe to the newsletter at https://www.interconnectedus.com/newsletter.

Learn more about how Interconnected Us is helping BigLaw women rise at https://www.interconnectedus.com/inner circles.

In this episode of This Legal Life, host Ben Chiriboga speaks with Karina DuQuesne—lawyer, investor, operator, and now legal tech founder—about her extraordinary career journey from Goldman Sachs to Big Law, and ultimately to launching a legal tech startup designed to empower underserved entrepreneurs. Karina opens up about the challenges of navigating motherhood in a demanding legal career, the mindset shift from employee to founder, and why she believes general counsel roles are on a natural trajectory toward CEO. Her story is an inspiring blueprint for redefining success in the modern legal landscape.

Guest Bio:

Karina DuQuesne is the CEO and Co-Founder of Encore, a first-of-its-kind legal intelligence platform built specifically for entrepreneurs. Drawing from her deep experience in both high-stakes corporate law and tech innovation, Karina has steered Encore to deliver legal solutions that are timely, efficient, and cost-effective—helping founders stay focused on building their businesses instead of wrestling with outdated legal processes.

Before co-founding Encore, Karina practiced at top-tier law firms, including Saul Ewing and DLA Piper LLP, advising fast-growth tech companies and investment funds on mergers, acquisitions, and strategic transactions. She later established the Technology and Innovation Practice at Caldera Law, shaping legal strategies for venture-backed startups, and remains a Partner there, guiding founders from seed to scale.

Karina’s passion for high-impact ventures led her to serve as Chief People Officer, General Counsel, and Interim GM (U.S.) at Ironhack, a global edtech company where she championed rapid expansion and nurtured the next generation of tech leaders. She also played a pivotal role on the executive team of a global enterprise SaaS firm, driving a merger of equals that spanned six countries. Over the course of her career, she has been involved in more than 15 leveraged buyout transactions worth over $2 billion across multiple sectors.

A Miami native who began her career as an analyst at Goldman Sachs in New York, Karina returned to her hometown to blend her expertise in finance, law, and technology. Committed to elevating underrepresented voices in the tech sector, she founded the Ironhack Women in Tech Collective and actively invests in diverse early-stage founders.

Karina earned her Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School and her Juris Doctor from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, along with a Certificate in Dispute Resolution. Recognized as “Counsel on the Rise” by the Daily Business Review, she continues to shape a more inclusive, forward-thinking startup community—one founder at a time.

In this episode of This Legal Life, host Ben Chiriboga sits down with Hannah Beko — lawyer, coach, author, and mental health advocate — to explore her journey from commercial real estate partner to a purpose-driven legal entrepreneur. Hannah shares how a life-altering moment with her father’s health catalyzed her pivot toward coaching, wellness, and redefining success in law. With honesty and warmth, she unpacks the challenges of running multiple businesses, confronting imposter syndrome, and building a legal life anchored in authenticity. This episode is a powerful look at the intersection of legal leadership, resilience, and humanity.

Guest Bio:

Hannah Beko is a trauma-informed coach, commercial real estate lawyer, and founder of Authentically Speaking, a coaching and training consultancy supporting legal professionals in creating more sustainable, fulfilling careers.

Drawing on her own experience as a practicing lawyer, business owner, and parent, Hannah understands the unique pressures faced by those in the legal profession—constant demands, high stakes, and the challenge of maintaining personal wellbeing in a high-performance culture.

Since 2016, she’s been helping legal professionals across the world move beyond burnout and disconnection. Her nervous system-aware approach combines coaching, mentoring, and practical tools to support clients in reconnecting with themselves, navigating stress, and realigning their professional lives with their personal values.

Whether working with firm leaders, junior or senior lawyers, or legal entrepreneurs, Hannah creates a compassionate space for reflection, growth, and meaningful change. Her work is grounded in the belief that law doesn't have to come at the cost of health, family, or authenticity.

Links:

www.authenticallyspeaking.co.uk

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Authentic-Lawyer-Hannah-Beko-ebook/dp/B0B1JPNRTS

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannahbeko/

In this episode of This Legal Life, host Ben Chiriboga sits down with Shane Percival — a lawyer, engineer, and partner at NOD Law. Shane shares his unique journey from an engineering career during the dot-com era to becoming a leader in intellectual property law. They explore how his technical background and project management skills influenced his legal practice, his path from associate to partner, and the development of a dynamic, hybrid work culture. Shane also discusses the future of boutique law firms, the integration of AI, and how building meaningful client relationships remains central to success.

Guest Bio:

A problem-solver by nature, Shane frequently organizes cross-disciplinary actions in providing clients innovative legal solutions. As a former project manager tasked with the timely resolution of client issues while operating independently within a client location, Shane translates those previously honed organizational and managerial skills to apply intricate legal frameworks to cutting-edge technology and novel business models. Whether he is providing a client with patent, trademark, transactional due diligence, litigation support, or licensing/commercial agreement work, Shane ensures all firm work product is aligned with the client’s vision and needs. As an engineer, Shane was previously based in London, UK, and frequently worked with customers while stationed in Hong Kong. He is now able to rely on the skills honed during this time when managing clients’ global legal issues to fortify their market position and secure their commercial success.