You Are A Lawyer: Take Risks and Change Careers in Law

Luis Scott, managing partner of Bader Scott Injury Lawyers, an eight-figure law firm based in Atlanta, Georgia, shares his journey from growing up in a poor family to becoming a successful lawyer and business owner. He discusses the importance of making a massive contribution to his family and how his firm's commitment to excellence has led to its success. Tune in to hear more about his story and his unique perspective on life.

From Riches to Generosity: Using Wealth to Make a Difference

Growing up in a financially disadvantaged family, Luis felt a deep sense of responsibility to rewrite the legacy of his family and provide for their needs. This drove him to pursue success and become rich, initially through the path of professional baseball, which was cut short due to injuries. However, he found another avenue to achieve his goal by becoming a business owner and growing a successful law firm. His motivation to accumulate wealth was not rooted in selfishness, but rather in the desire to support and uplift his family.

"I had this incredible burden to bear the responsibility of my family. And the only way I knew to do that was to become rich. How am I going to become rich? Originally, I thought coming from Puerto Rico, I played baseball. I was going to go into the pros, but I kept getting injured. So that was kind of foreclosed. And so then my second plan B became becoming a business owner and trying to grow an organization as big as I could," shared Luis Scott on episode 97 of You Are A Lawyer.

Luis's story highlights the transformative power of wealth when used to benefit others. As the managing partner of an eight-figure law firm, he has been able to create a work environment that offers top-tier compensation, generous benefits, and opportunities for personal growth to his employees. By providing excellent resources and support, he fosters a culture of excellence and inspires his team to deliver exceptional service to their clients. Moreover, the success of his firm enables him to make a significant impact in the community through charitable initiatives and investments in cases that require attention. Luis's journey serves as a reminder that wealth, when coupled with a genuine desire to help others, can be a powerful tool for positive change.

LISTEN TO LEARN

• The importance of making a contribution beyond our own benefit
• Insight into the role of a managing partner
• About the principle of excellence

WE ALSO DISCUSS

• The benefits of a successful firm
• Maintaining good relationships with former employees
• The value of excellence in all aspects of life

Join the FREE mailing list! Get behind-the-scenes content from You Are A Lawyer.

1) Visit www.youarealawyer.com

2) Add your email address to the Subscribe pop-up box OR

3) Enter your email address on the right side of the screen

4) Get emails from me (I won't fill your inbox with junk)!

Interact with You Are A Lawyer

Kyla Denanyoh hosts the You Are A Lawyer podcast.

Follow the podcast:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@youarealawyer

Website: https://www.youarealawyer.com

Aliza Shatzman is a judicial clerkship advocate. After a poor clerkship experience, Aliza created the Legal Accountability Project to bring transparency and accountability to the federal clerkship process. Find out how this pioneer and founder ensures the next generation of clerks is protected from bad judges.

The Power of Judicial Clerkships

Clerkships are an important tool for lawyers interested in working in academia, trial lawyers, and Big Law associates, and they are a great way to hone your legal writing and reading skills. During the spring semester of 1L year, many law students participate in on-campus interviewing to work for large law firms or with governmental agencies. Kyla Denanyoh was surprised to learn that judicial clerkships are not "pitched" or hold job fair-type events at law schools to find law students.

Whistleblowing in the Judiciary

Aliza told the HR department about the harassment and gender-based discrimination she faced during her judicial clerkship. The HR department didn't do anything. Then Aliza contacted her law school and was informed that the judge's conduct had not raised any flags or concerns.

There are multiple levels of harassment - Aliza received harassment and a poor reputation with a job revoked. But there are also issues that a lawyer would face when they appear before a judge. Judges have enormous power, and judiciary workplaces are exempt from Title VII of the Fair Employment practices that regulate workplace conduct, which is backward and impractical. There are state and federal bar rules and judicial rules of conduct, but other judges need to enforce these rules.

Despite her experiences, Aliza wants to maintain judicial clerkships. Aliza created the Clerkships Database, which allows law schools to pay to have their law school participate in the database and leave true and honest references about

What Can You Do with a Law Degree

Aliza Shatzman did not have a positive judicial clerkship experience. Aliza received negative references when her clerkship ended, and her employment position was revoked. However, Aliza took the unfair situation and decided to rally for every future judicial clerk.

When Aliza Shatzman created the Legal Accountability Project, she wanted to ensure that other clerks would learn from her terrible clerkship experience. Aliza is frequently contacted by members from affinity student bar associations, for example, LGBT, Haitian-American, Arab-American, Deaf, and Hard of Hearing, Japanese-American, and Black American bar members.

Lawyer Side Hustles

Although Aliza Shatzman has always enjoyed public speaking and writing, traveling to law schools, teaching CLEs, and sharing her experiences are valuable assets to revolutionizing the clerkship process. There have been a few bumps and pivots in the entrepreneurship process. Still, Aliza is grounded in reaching every regional or top 5 law school to ensure that every law student understands the clerkship process.

As Aliza tours different law schools and talks to students about their experiences and the availability of clerkships, she finds that the process varies wildly based on the law school's resources.

Join the FREE mailing list!

Get behind-the-scenes content from You Are A Lawyer.

1) Visit www.youarealawyer.com

2) Add your email address to the Subscribe pop-up box OR

3) Enter your email address on the right side of the screen

4) Get emails from me (I won't fill your inbox with junk)!

Interact with You Are A Lawyer

Kyla Denanyoh hosts the You Are A Lawyer podcast.

Follow the podcast:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@youarealawyer

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youarealawyer/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/YouAreA_Lawyer

Website: https://www.youarealawyer.com

What happens when two people nudge you to leave your job and you get approval from a respected colleague to do something else? Emily Hirsekorn ran with these hints for her to pursue something else and Emily has created a career of encouraging others to challenge themselves.

Emily Hirsekorn was a corporate lawyer turned volunteer turned law school career coach turned energy coach. Currently, Emily Hirsekorn offers weekly or biweekly sessions in energy support to assist emerging lawyers with their careers. Emily explains that there is energy in how we show up and the things we are doing.

Emily specifically works with entry level and new(er) lawyers, to address any workplace and career confidence issues before burnout can occur. Emily has experienced being an overworked and stressed associate and Emily is resolute about preventing the experiences that she encountered from occurring with other lawyers.

Emily is certified with IPEC (Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching), which identifies Emily Hirsekorn as an expert in the coaching space. As an energy coach, Emily offers energy leadership index assessments, which walk lawyers through the seven levels of energy. In this time of finding your purpose and living authentically, Emily wants to challenge this notion and teach others to intentionally show up at work and in her career in a very specific manner.

Emily is excited to show lawyers that energy coaching is not about fantastical ideas of life or the "woo woo", but to find your optimal self and acknowledge your energy throughout the day.

Emily Hirsekorn has an inactive license in California. Connect with Emily Hirsekorn on LinkedIn, on her website Hirsekorncoaching.com and on Instagram @hirsekorn_coaching.

Follow the You Are A Lawyer podcast on Twitter @YouAreA_Lawyer, Instagram @youarealawyer, Clubhouse @youarealawyer, and on LinkedIn. Follow the podcast host, Kyla Denanyoh, on Instagram @mrsdenanyoh. Kyla Denanyoh is a 2015 graduate of Southern University Law Center (SULC) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

"Trial Bill" or Bill Mitchell turned a $66,000 decision into a million-dollar law firm. Experience indeed makes the best teacher because Bill Mitchell didn't know anything about evaluating cases when he accepted a $75,000 trial case. With one goal, to exit the case before years were spent on litigation, Bill earned a grand $66,000 for this case.

The referring attorney rewarded Bill with so much work that Bill eventually founded the law firm Cruser Mitchell and began teaching others how to negotiate.

Contact Kyla Denanyoh ([email protected]) for a copy of Bill's book, The Disruptive Lawyer's Guide to Litigation Management.

How to Disrupt the Legal Practice

Once Bill appreciated the value of becoming a master deal maker, he became an unintentional litigation disruptor. While wearing a Chicago Bulls jersey with Michael Jordan's name on the back, Bill began to give speeches about how litigators should adjust their mindsets and disrupt the legal practice. As a self-proclaimed Pistons fan, Bill Mitchell couldn't deny the lessons that he learned from watching Jordan.

With more research and time, Bill developed this speech into the book that he co-authored with J. Robb Cruser, another named partner of Cruser Mitchell. In the book, The Disruptive Lawyer's Little Black Book of Litigation Management, Bill explains how lawyers must change their mindset and skillset to disrupt the legal practice and become better litigators.

"I used to give this book away because I can give you the plan, but you must also have the skill set to complete it," explains Bill Mitchell in Episode 96 of You Are A Lawyer.

Join the FREE mailing list!

Get behind-the-scenes content from You Are A Lawyer.

1) Visit www.youarealawyer.com

2) Add your email address to the Subscribe pop-up box OR

3) Enter your email address on the right side of the screen

4) Get emails from me (I won't fill your inbox with junk)!

Listen as Kyla Denanyoh, a podcast launch coach, media agency owner, and podcast host answers frequently asked questions from the podcast audience and social media. Questions include topics like:

• Is Kyla married to a lawyer?
• Can podcasting be a full-time job?
• How does Kyla choose guests for the You Are A Lawyer podcast?

Together with her best friend Lauren, Kyla answers frequently asked questions and gets vulnerable about her life behind the microphone.

Join the FREE mailing list and get behind-the-scenes content from Kyla.

1) Visit www.youarealawyer.com

2) Add your email address to the Subscribe pop-up box OR

3) Enter your email address on the right side of the screen

4) Get emails from me (I won't fill your inbox with junk)!

Marco Brown earns a lot of money and enjoys being a lawyer. But the truth is, Marco didn't become an exceptional lawyer until he forced clients to pay for the exceptional work completed by his law firm. In Episode 92, Marco Brown discusses the power of communication and why he uses money to create an exceptional law firm.

What Can You Do With a Law Degree

Young lawyers need to understand that the most important people you will ever have in your legal practice are not the judges; they're not the partner who are over you. No, it's your paralegal. They're the people below you on the ladder, right? So you're a paralegal. You take care of your paralegal before you take care of anybody else because your paralegal makes your life 10 times easier or 10 times harder.

‍The Power of Being a Lawyer

And people will say, child alienation does not exist. I'm like, no, child alienation exists in literally every divorce because you are alienating the child from the other parent, one, by divorcing them, and then two, by your attitude toward that parent.

It just happens. It's the minimization of the alienation that's important. You wanna minimize that as much as humanly possible. So that's on the parent side. But there's only so much we can do as attorneys, but we can do a lot. So when we get into a case and decide, we have this culture as a firm. We get into a case, and we are going to go to mediation, we are gonna go to negotiation, we are gonna get these things done with a minimum amount of litigiousness possible.

The minimum amount of animosity and fighting as we can. Now if we have to, if we are forced to go to court and put boxing gloves on and punch people in the face, that is exactly what we will do because we are paid to do that thing and it is necessary in about 5%, maybe 10% of cases. But it is not in a vast majority of cases. So what we can do as attorneys is really lower that temperature, lower the animosity, not be litigious.

Lawyers Getting Paid for Being Exceptional

They're projecting themselves out there. They're projecting their inability to be good with money and make money onto others. I can tell you as somebody that does very well in family law by serving their clients exceptionally well; there's a lot of money to be made and a lot of satisfaction in helping people through the hardest time in their life. Now, the other portion of this is to give it a chance. That's really what I'm saying.

But the other portion is you must have the right attitude. You have to be able to disconnect yourself emotionally from your clients and their problems, okay? Not my circus, not my monkeys. We say it all the time here in the office. You have to be able to do that. If you cannot do that as a human being on a general level, then please do not go into family law because it will tear your soul up inside. You will never be able to go home and put it in the box.

‍

Join the FREE mailing list!

Get behind-the-scenes content from You Are A Lawyer.

1) Visit www.youarealawyer.com

2) Add your email address to the Subscribe pop-up box OR

3) Enter your email address on the right side of the screen

4) Get emails from me (I won't fill your inbox with junk)!

‍

Contact Marco Brown

Marco Brown is licensed to practice law in Utah. Learn more about Marco Brown:

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@divorceattorney

Website: https://www.brownfamilylaw.com/

‍

Interact with You Are A Lawyer

Kyla Denanyoh hosts the You Are A Lawyer podcast.

Follow the podcast:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@youarealawyer

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youarealawyer/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/YouAreA_Lawyer

Website: https://www.youarealawyer.com

Irnise Williams is a registered nurse, travel nurse, and practicing attorney. Originally from Connecticut, Irnise attended Howard University for her undergraduate degree and nursing school, then worked as a trauma nurse. Irnise was inspired to become a nurse after multiple positive interactions with the nurses who cared for her grandparents' nurses and seeing what an impact those nurses made.

After living in Washington D.C. while the Affordable Care Act was being drafted and discussed, D.C. was abuzz with all things healthcare policy, and Irnise could not look the other way.

With her background in nursing, Irnise wanted to explore the intersection of law and healthcare. After weighing the options of an advanced degree in policy or a law degree, Irnise was certain that she would have more opportunities with a J.D.

Irnise is passionate about maternal and reproductive rights and ensuring people understand what health care is and what it can be. Irnise believes that when people understand what healthcare can be, they can advocate for themselves within the healthcare system. Irnise Williams is the managing attorney of her own practice and continues to work as a travel nurse.

Irnise Williams is licensed in Maryland. Connect with Irnise Williams on Instagram @yournurselawyer and through her website, IWilliamsLaw.com.

Join the FREE mailing list!

Get behind-the-scenes content from You Are A Lawyer.

1) Visit www.youarealawyer.com

2) Add your email address to the Subscribe pop-up box OR

3) Enter your email address on the right side of the screen

4) Get emails from me (I won't fill your inbox with junk)!

Whitney Harvey worked for over a decade in personal injury law before becoming an entrepreneur and running her career coaching business. But unlike your typical lawyers, Whitney wants women lawyers to STAY in the law by considering different practice areas, editing their resumes, and improving their soft skills to create their own success.

This podcast is available on YouTube podcasts, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and more. You may also watch the episode on YouTube.

Welcome to the You Are A Lawyer podcast! Founded in 2020, this podcast promotes lawyers with side hustles, cool ambitions, and incredible career changes. Hosted by Kyla Denanyoh.

Join the FREE mailing list!

Get behind-the-scenes content from You Are A Lawyer.

1) Visit www.youarealawyer.com

2) Add your email address to the Subscribe pop-up box OR

3) Enter your email address on the right side of the screen

4) Get emails from me (I won't fill your inbox with junk)!

Whitney Harvey is licensed to practice law in Arizona. Connect with Whitney Harvey at theselfcoachedlawyer.com

Ali Awad became a social media mogul and edutains (educates and entertainers) others about personal injury law and how to excel with social media. After realizing that Ali Awad was a natural salesman, Ali Awad found that his authenticity and natural acting skills attracted millions of social media followers. Now, Ali Awad teaches others to build a brand online and Ali Awad manages a multi-million dollar personal injury law practice.

Listen to learn:

• How to attract clients from social media
• The importance of having a hustler mentality
• How to build a business with nothing

We also discuss:

• Being Muslim and a lawyer
• How to get a job with your JD and interest in acting
• Why Ali Awad wants to have the biggest law firm in the United States
• The CEOLawyer Media Summit

Ali Awad is licensed to practice law in Georgia. Learn more about You Are A Lawyer guest Ali Awad:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ceolawyer/?hl=en

Website: https://ceolawyer.com

*

You Are A Lawyer is hosted by Kyla Denanyoh. Follow the podcast:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youarealawyer/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/YouAreA_Lawyer

Website: https://www.youarealawyer.com

Samora Legros sits on the Board of the Max Cadet Foundation, an organization created to celebrate his grandfather, a lawyer, judge, and dentist. Created with a dental clinic based in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the Max Cadet Foundation serves children and adults living n Haiti by providing them with better dental care access.

Samoa Legros had the opportunity to work at a law firm during summers and breaks. As he took on more challenging tasks, he succeeded and received more responsibility. Given his grandmother's age, Samora knew that his analytical skills and empathy would make him a wonderful lawyer. After graduating in 2007, Samoa worked full-time at the law firm and had another striking experience in law. He worked with a client facing eviction who could not work and needed guidance and mentorship. Recognizing the potential of the sword and shield, he understood how the law and policy could be used to assist and protect people.

Samoa Legros highlights the significance of classes like trial advocacy, mediation, and effective communication in advocating for others. Professor Alvin Washington's teaching and problem analysis skills have empowered Samoa to confidently discuss and address the root causes of problems, enabling effective solutions, particularly in cases where individuals require urgent medical procedures.

Connect with Samora Legros

Samora Legros is not licensed to practice law. Connect with Samora Legros at [email protected]

Engage with the Max Cadet Foundation at www.cadetdentalfund.com.

Grab the book, A Long Walk Home, mentioned in the podcast: https://amzn.to/42K4z5b

Join the FREE mailing list!

Get behind-the-scenes content from You Are A Lawyer.

‍

1) Visit www.youarealawyer.com

2) Add your email address to the Subscribe pop-up box OR

3) Enter your email address on the right side of the screen

4) Get emails from me (I won't fill your inbox with junk)!