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

Lawyers know other lawyers. The power of lawyer referrals is one of the strongest ways to find clients, but lawyers don't understand the practice. Kisha Brown created Justis Connection as a database of Black lawyers. As a Justis Connection member, a lawyer may offer their legal services to clients. As someone looking for legal representation, Justis Connection is a database of Black lawyers specializing in everything from bankruptcy to fertility to criminal law matters.

Kisha Brown explains how Justis Connection highlights Black lawyers and is the largest referral network in the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area.

In this episode, Kisha Brown, a Georgetown University Law Center graduate, explains her passion for civil rights and why she wants black lawyers to be prominent in the legal practice.

After being asked repeatedly if she knew a lawyer who did this, that or the other thing, Kisha Brown created Justis Connection to make it easier for Black lawyers to find clients and share their services with the community. Finding that Black lawyers had to work twice as hard to build a book of business, whether the lawyer was in an established firm or private practice, Kisha solved the problem of how to refer lawyers to the community. Justis Connection is a digital green book of lawyers.

After Kisha Brown worked at Cravath, Swain, and Moore as a paralegal and practiced in Baltimore, working with non-custodial parents and advocating for fair child support, Kisha saw the great need for a legal network in the "DMV" (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia). Kisha saw the law as an avenue to pursue her passions and know what the law says, use it, yield the law, and craft the law to assist others.

Although Justis Connection was initially created to spotlight Black lawyers, this company is a networking and referral service for all clients. Kisha hires interns to work with Justis Connection, where she can mentor them and teach them soft skills about timeliness, communications and how to become a better writer. In the future, Kisha Brown expects Justis Connection to be the premier referral resource in the country.

Kisha Brown is licensed in Maryland. Connect with Kisha Brown on Instagram @JustisConnection, Facebook "JustisConnection", LinkedIn and Twitter @JustisConnect.

Misty Leon didn't know that employee benefits law existed, but the practice perfectly suited her interests and skills. This specialty law practice allowed Misty to work for 19 years in private practice before moving in-house and working with Texas Instruments.

Misty Leon's Background As a first-generation lawyer, Misty didn't have much experience with lawyers and what they did daily, but she knew she wanted to study law.

During her 1L summer, Misty worked with a plaintiff litigation attorney specializing in disability benefits and ERISA. This internship was Misty's introduction to benefits law, but Misty wanted to avoid the litigation area. Misty was quickly recognized as a unicorn in this practice area because she enjoyed researching statutes, federal policy, and compliance.

Misty is collaborating with partners, and benefit plans, remaining vigilant about new laws and policies and how they impact benefits.

What You Can Do With Your Law Degree

Misty worked in private practice for 19 years before she began working in-house with Texas Instruments. Unlike most in-house legal jobs, Misty Leon works with various departments within Texas Instruments to ensure the company follows all federal and state benefit guidelines.

Misty considers her coworkers as internal clients because she is consulting with different departments and directors who would need guidance. As a team one, Misty is the only employee benefits lawyer at Texas Instruments, but Misty works as a consultant with various departments. Misty's days are spent interacting with "internal clients" people in human resources and the legal departments because of her experience with HIPAA and experience from almost two decades in private practice.

Contact Misty Leon

Misty Leon is licensed to practice law in Texas, Virginia, and D.C. Learn more about Misty Leon:

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/misty-a-leon

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Know any cool, courageous, or fun lawyers? Celebrate them with a gift! Visit SHOPyouarealawyer.com to buy a t-shirt, water bottle, or sweatshirt to celebrate the law graduate in your life.

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Krista Lynn Russell wears many hats: lawyer, mom, general counsel, wife, bonus mom, blogger, paid speaker and recovering superwoman. In this episode, Krist explains the power in admitting that she doesn't know it all and why lawyers should lean into the power of delegating.

As the creator and blogger of "Recovering Superwoman," Krista advocates for others who have faced any adversity in their lives.

Recovering Superwoman is a blog that was originally started from Krista's personal journal, where Krista discovered that there was strength in not having to do everything herself. People resonated with the vulnerability and authenticity of Krista's, which has led to Krista being a public speaker and coach.

As the Deputy General Counsel for Airbus OneWeb, Krista does not believe that law school prepared her to be an in-house lawyer. The pleading drafting, legal research, and archaic property law ideals did not serve her well as a business lawyer, even though Krista took a lot from her law school experience.

Krista Lynn was persistent that she would not become a lawyer, until she became competitive with her college boyfriend while he studied for the LSAT. That experience coupled with Krista's passion for business led Krista to attend law school. Krista began and left law school knowing that she wanted to be a business lawyer and work in-house at a corporation or organization. Krista knew what she wanted to do and she took a different path to get there.

As a mother, Krista finds that although her days are busy, she is immensely proud of her family and the strength they've exerted when tested. Krista has removed the necessity to perform for coworkers, family members, her children, parents, etc. Although Krista believes that she can do anything, Krista learned that she doesn't have to handle everything herself.

Krista Lynn is licensed in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, D.C. and Florida. Connect with Krista on her blog, recoveringsuperwoman.com.

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Ready to clear your to-do list? Skip the boring stuff and stop editing your podcast, uploading content at the last minute, and sitting on content. Work with KD Creative to hire a podcast manager so you can create faster and skip the boring stuff. Visit skiptheboringstuff.com for more details.

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About the Episode

You Are A Lawyer helps new lawyers and law students discover non-traditional and unique jobs, career changes, and interests. Kyla Denanyoh began You Are A Lawyer in April 2020, and this bonus episode commemorates three years of hard work, fun, and meeting new lawyers.

Podcasting has awakened an entrepreneurial spirit in Kyla Denanyoh. Out of fear that she would stop podcasting at the dreaded seven-episode challenge, Kyla recorded eight episodes before launching You Are A Lawyer. Now, 85 interviews and three years later, podcasting has turned Kyla into an entrepreneur.

In addition to offering sponsorship opportunities on the podcast episodes, Kyla created KD Creative LLC, an agency that helps small business owners launch podcasts and expand brand visibility through podcasting. Most businesses are looking for new marketing channels and podcasting is the channel or choice for Kyla Denanyoh.

Kyla has also created Skip The Boring Stuff, a division of KD Creative LLC featuring podcast managers who will edit, upload, schedule, write show notes, manage guest communications, and be your #1 podcasting cheerleader.

Join the FREE mailing list!

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

1) Visit www.youarealawyer.com

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Connect with Kyla DenanyohKyla Denanyoh is not licensed to practice law and loves being a lawyer. Learn more about Kyla Denanyoh:

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

Website:https://www.kyladenanyoh.com

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Sara Ellis, a Lawyers Depression Project board member and social work student, explains why the legal community must create better messaging and more empathy for mental health issues.

After attending law school at the University of Tennesee, Sara thought it was a natural progression to earn her Master's Degree at the University of Tennessee. Because Sara enjoyed her copyright course while an undergrad, she wanted to continue focusing on musicians and working in IP law. Sara practiced music copyright litigation for ten years and left this practice because of the long work hours, which often included working all seven days a week.

Founded in 2019, the Lawyers Depression Project is a peer support group for legal professionals. Sara Ellis discovered the project in 2022 and began working with the project as a board member and later joined the executive committee.

"Lawyers, judges, paralegals, legal admins, if you're in the legal space, the Lawyers Depression Project can provide support. And it's not just about depression," explains Sara Ellis.

The Lawyers Depression Project offers a safe space for legal professionals to gain resources and share their mental health issues. Sara explains that many lawyers were expected to deal with and never mention issues, but the conversation is becoming more visible and inclusive.

LISTEN TO LEARN

• Leaving an IP litigation role to become a social worker
• Free resources for every member of the legal community: lawyers, judges, law office staff, paralegals, and law administrators
• How to protect your mental health

WE ALSO DISCUSS

• Why the Lawyers Depression Project was created
• Moving to South Florida as a graduate student
• Music business undergrad degrees and copyright law

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Connect with Sara Ellis

Sara Ellis is licensed to practice law in Tennessee. Learn more about Sara Ellis:

Lawyers Depression Project: www.lawyersdepressionproject.org

Sara's work with the Lawyers Depression Project: https://www.lawyersdepressionproject.org/515-2/

Interact with You Are A Lawyer

You Are A Lawyer is hosted by Kyla Denanyoh. 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

After working in entrepreneurial finance and Big Law for over 20 years, Becky Morrison asked herself what would make her truly happy. Becky worked as a litigator before moving into a management role where she oversaw attorneys, litigation support staff, and non-attorney professionals. This role reminded Becky that she really enjoyed managing people.

During a time of transition, Becky worked with a career coach to narrow down her interests. Her experiences with this coach motivated Becky to become an executive coach. Becky is adamant that coaching is not being a therapist but analyzing in a similar way that a lawyer would review facts.

Becky's skills honed in law school, such as analyzing case law, researching, and issue spotting, were a wonderful foundation for working as an executive coach. In this role, Becky works with legal and non-legal professionals to bring ideas to action, focus on a participant's life, and address work-life integration issues. Becky teaches her coaching participants that life is more than chasing the next thing.

Currently earning an LLM in taxation, Becky finds that being a law school graduate makes her confident in creating Grantley Coaching and becoming an entrepreneur because her legal background offers her familiarity with business formation activities.

Becky Morrison is licensed in Virginia and Washington D.C.

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

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What Can You Do With a Law Degree?

Joshua Schwadron became a legal tech founder and CEO because he wanted to improve the lives of people affected by accidents. Traditionally personal injury law firms are all about settling a case and minimal client involvement while they work on the issues. Mighty develops products that will aid the client, like interest-free friends and family loans, which allow the client to get money to handle their bills without dealing with that issue themselves and adding chaos to a relationship.

While Joshua Schwadron believes that many areas of law will be impacted by technology, students can find ways to make technology work within the practice group and "be happy and make a lot of money."

"I recommend that students develop an expertise that cannot be disrupted by artificial intelligence (AI) or technology," shared Joshua Schwadron on the You Are A Lawyer podcast.

A law degree will take you anywhere. While Josh sees the impact of his law degree in his life, he cautions students to think about why they are going to law school before they take the giant leap because of the exorbitant costs of legal education.

Lawyer Side Hustles

Josh used his law degree to become the CEO of Mighty, which was created to benefit accident victims and bring equity to the personal injury and insurance industry.

"Mighty was founded to give the consumer more power and benefits and help to root out some of the bad practices that many people in personal injury have," explains Joshua Schwadron in Episode 82 of You Are A Lawyer.

Mighty is concerned with:

• How the consumer is feeling
• Is the consumer able to pay their bills?
• Has the client's car been fixed?
• How can mighty help you get back to your new normal?

Mighty is a nationwide service that allows accident victims to get better service. If you live in a smaller or remote area, Mighty can refer you to someone who can assist you after your accident.

‍ Join the FREE mailing list!

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)!

Contact Joshua Schwadron

Joshua Schwadron is licensed to practice law in New York, New Jersey, and Florida.

Learn more about Mighty: www.mighty.com

Read more about Joshua Schwadron here

Connect with Mighty Law: www.mightylaw.com

Review Kyla's favorite books here: https://amzn.to/3OTfrrZ As an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases.

‍

Engage with You Are a Lawyer

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

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_eB5OebHvATnld4TFekX1g

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/YouAreA_Lawyer

Website: https://www.youarealawyer.com

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Brandi Mowles teaches entrepreneurs to organize their businesses and streamline their onboarding processes to ensure that clients are impressed, retained, and know what to expect. Whether you manage a podcast, YouTube channel, or virtual assistant company, Brandi Mowles has trainings to get your books in order.

Brandi Mowles transitioned from working in sales to founding a multi-million dollar business. She uses her experiences and knowledge to mentor other business owners and assist them in stabilizing their businesses.

What Can You Do With a Law Degree?

Brandi Mowles explains that law school instructed her on owning a business, business formation, and contracts. But everything about scaling businesses and running a million-dollar business was learned through hard work and mistakes.

Lawyer Side Hustles

Brandi Mowles created Serve Scale Soar, an education and marketing business to assist other entrepreneurs in succeeding. Early in her career, Brandi tried to find ways to earn money while staying home with her daughter. Branid tried Pinterest ads but didn't stick with them. Brandi looked at blogging, but that didn't last.

Side Hustle Turned Main HustleSlowly Brandi started running Facebook ads and found great success with them. The confidence from being successful with Facebook led Brandi to look at Instagram ads. Soon, Brandi's ad strategy business made more than $400,000 yearly, AND Brandi was enjoying the work. Most fascinating is that Brandi used her experience to train others to scale their businesses.

Brandi Mowles hosts the podcast, Serve Scale Soar, where Brandi makes it easy for freelancers and business owners to scale their businesses. The one thing that freelancers need is more time to research, find, and decide what information is valuable or useless for their business. Brandi Mowles shares information, systems, marketing, and how to choose a client. These lessons are mandatory listening and will inspire any freelancer or entrepreneur to tune in.

Join the FREE mailing list! Get behind-the-scenes content from Kyla.

1) Visit www.youarealawyer.com

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

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Brandi Mowles is not licensed to practice law. Learn more about Brandi Mowles:

Website: https://brandimowles.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandimowles/ Watch Brandi Mowles discuss Serve Scale Soar: https://youtu.be/FNU61Uilg-4

Listen to Serve Scale Soar with Brandi Mowles on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Grab Kyla's favorite books here: https://amzn.to/3FpCo2K

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Michael (Mike) Chastaine is a criminal defense lawyer in New Mexico, US, and believes lawyers are notoriously bad at estimating how long it takes them to complete a task. In fact, Mike is a business consultant for law firms because he knows lawyers are bad at getting client feedback and often complete tasks that should be delegated.

Get a copy of Mike Chastaine's bool, LegalEase: https://amzn.to/3ymEXhV

Get apparel for your next event or race: https://barkingfrogs.me/shop/

‍Watch Kyla's Book Reviews: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_eB5OebHvATnld4TFekX1g

Join the FREE mailing list!

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)!

Laurie Pascoe practiced law for 40 years while writing more than 50 law articles and working with countless clients. Laurie's current passion is inspiring lawyers to innovate their law practices with legal service applications. In this episode, Laurie explains the value of thinking like a client and learning to analyze everything.

Advertiser: Journey and Practice offers The Heart-Centered Lawyers Membership, a community of law students, grads, and lawyers who participate in self-care activities to improve their legal journey and practice. Visit https://journeyandpractice.com/services and enroll with code "podcast" for a special rate.

Lawrence "Laurie" Pascoe wanted to be a dentist for a long time. His family was full of doctors, dentists, and nurses, so working in medicine seemed like a natural fit for Laurie until Laurie took a business course in undergraduate school, where he became deeply interested in how the law touched every aspect of life.

Why Law School?

Laurie Pascoe attended the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University. After living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and meeting his wife, Laurie moved to Ottawa with plans to move back to Halifax, but "the rest is history." Laurie and a law school classmate opened a law firm in Ottawa and thrived in their legal profession for 40 years.

When a client works with Laurie, they will 'Discover the Pascoe Way,' which was the slogan of Laurie's law firm. Lawyers frequently communicate with clients and focus on the three most important periods of working with a client:

1. Before the client signs a retainer,
2. During the attorney-client relationship, and
3. After services are completed.

How to Think Like a ClientThere is no time when a client's opinion or experience should not be sought out or considered. From finding out where the client found Laurie (15-25% of Laurie's clients found him from the website) or determining what Laurie could do to improve his legal services.

Laurie believes that the best lawyers know the "think like a client." Laurie continues to explain that clients do not care about fancy offices or the famous pictures on the walls, except to wonder if they are paying for those furnishings. Clients are concerned with results; anything else is added for the lawyer's benefit.

Lawyers have Cool Interests

Laurie Pascoe is the author of Innovative Legal Services Applications: A Guide to Improved Client Services. Laurie defines legal service applications as any physical item or file that helps you better serve the client. Multiple computer monitors, manuals, receiving client feedback, etc., is a legal service application. The benefits of legal service applications began as marketing tools.

Laurie Pascoe is licensed to practice law in Canada. Buy a copy of Laurie's book: bit.ly/3ya2oup Use code ILSAGICS23 to save 25% off the purchase of the book.

Join the FREE mailing list!

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)!

Engage with You Are a Lawyer

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

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_eB5OebHvATnld4TFekX1g

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/YouAreA_Lawyer

Website: https://www.youarealawyer.com

Notes and LinksBuy a copy of Laurie's book, Innovative Legal Service Applications here: bit.ly/3ya2oup

Use code ILSAGICS23 to save 25% off the purchase of the book

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Review Kyla's favorite books here: https://amzn.to/3OTfrrZ

Advertiser: Journey and Practice offers The Heart-Centered Lawyers Membership, a community of law students, grads, and lawyers who participate in self-care activities to improve their legal journey and practice. Visit https://journeyandpractice.com/services and enroll with code "podcast" for a special rate.

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