I Am The Law takes a deep dive into the various practice areas and settings of law. We interview law school graduates with thought-provoking questions for an insider look into the realities of a career in law, recipes for success, and the biggest challenges lawyers face today.
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Administrative Hearings and Human Stories: Social Security Disability on the Frontlines
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Through her social security disability practice, Asha Sharma represents clients who are often struggling with poverty, homelessness, and complex medical conditions. In this episode, she discusses the realities of building a practice around contingency fees from federal back pay, the challenge of working with vulnerable clients who lack proper medic…
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Trial by Algorithm: Helping Lawyers Navigate the AI Revolution
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Joe Stephens operates at the intersection of cutting-edge technology and traditional legal practice. As both a trial consultant and public defender, he helps lawyers harness AI to transform their litigation strategies and case preparation. Joe discusses how he guides other attorneys through AI integration, from analyzing mountains of depositions to…
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Law Firm to Law Professor: Tenure, Teaching, and Scholarship
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34:02
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Sudha Setty entered legal academia on a path less traveled—without a clerkship or teaching fellowship. While working as a litigation associate at an elite New York City firm, she prepared for the academic job market and charted her course into teaching and scholarship. In this episode, Sudha reflects on how she built a scholarly agenda, developed a…
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Breaking Up the Business: Conflict, Mediation, and Resolution
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Margeaux Thomas is the definition of lawyer meets entrepreneur. She specializes in business partnership disputes, landlord-tenant conflicts, and contract law. In this episode, Margeaux shares her journey from law school to working at a large firm, the challenges she faced navigating firm dynamics, and the personal experiences that led her to start …
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Leading with Vulnerability: From the Courtroom to the Community
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28:45
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Before becoming a judge, Alex Manning served in the military, worked undercover as a cop, and defended people in complex criminal cases. She was also a key spokesperson advocating against the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. In this episode, Judge Manning talks about what drew her from law enforcement to the law, the challenges of presidi…
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Second Chances: Rewriting Life Through Clemency
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Today, Venetia Mayhew is one of Oregon’s most well-known clemency and post-conviction lawyers, but her path to the law was anything but typical. She started college at 39 and law school at 43. Her prior experience? Working in film, catering, and truck driving. In this episode, she explains how her unconventional path shaped her work as a criminal d…
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From Clerkship to Private Practice: Research, Writing, and Challenging Assumptions
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34:57
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Alexis Taitel, a commercial litigator and fourth-year associate at a large firm, spent her first two years after law school clerking in federal district court. She explains what a federal clerkship really involves and how that experience helped her launch a litigation career in private practice. Alexis offers a window into her work on breach of con…
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Behind the Lease: Supporting Restaurant Expansion Through Real Estate Law
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Eric Bernheim works at the intersection of real estate transactions and land use law—two areas that are often siloed but deeply interconnected in his practice. We focus on his commercial real estate practice, highlighting how he supports restaurant clients through lease negotiations, why standardized provisions matter for growth and sale, and how s…
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Why They Chose Law: Family Ties, Media Influence, and Career Purpose
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What really draws people to become lawyers? In this special bonus episode, we draw on previously unpublished clips with recent guests. You'll hear from lawyers inspired by family members in the profession, those who found their calling through student government or workplace experiences, and others who were motivated by iconic legal dramas like Leg…
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When the Feds Knock: Big Stakes in White-Collar Cases
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Jaimie Nawaday is a former federal prosecutor and current white-collar defense and government investigations litigator. In this episode, she reflects on the skills and insights she brought from her time as a prosecutor, switching sides, and how real-world experience shapes confidence in the courtroom and at the negotiating table. Jamie also offers …
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Negotiating Stability: The Strategy and Strain of Eviction Defense
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In this episode, Ezra Lintner (they/she), a legal aid lawyer in San Francisco, discusses defending evicted tenants in a city on the forefront of a civil right to counsel. The conversation highlights the high-stakes reality of eviction defense work, the nuances of habitability, and the emotional challenge of helping clients through a fundamentally d…
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Moonlighting into M&A: Tradeoffs in Practice
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Mergers, acquisitions, hostile takeovers...if you've ever watched television lawyers arguing on the big screen, you’ll know these terms. For transactional lawyer Stephanie Hurst, these words are part of her daily diction. As an income partner at Mayer Brown, Stephanie has been negotiating cross-border transactions for years. In this episode, she hi…
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Samm Tillotson is a commercial litigator at an elite law firm, where she spends a lot of time defending class action lawsuits for insurance clients. While she doesn't go to trial often, she spends a lot of time in court, preparing for court, and negotiating. Despite the firm's size, Samm's cases are leanly staffed, which means she works a case from…
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From Prosecution to Campus Policy: Following the Investigative Thread
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For Katie King, investigations have always been at the center of her work. As a federal prosecutor turned Title IX and institutional equity expert, she’s spent her legal career tasked with piecing together the truth. Katie now serves as a senior administrator at Cornell University – a job that does not require a law degree or license. In this episo…
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Untangling Messy Records: The Defense Process in Securities Litigation
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Tijana Brien, a partner at the elite law firm Cooley, specializes in high-stakes securities litigation. In this episode, she unpacks the complexities of defending major corporations, discussing the importance of motions to dismiss, investigation, and focusing on the elements of a case. She shares how she navigates the challenge of translating compl…
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Dirt Law: Real Estate and Land Use Litigation
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As a “dirt lawyer,” Don Pinto’s cases typically involve one party that wants to do something in real estate, and another party trying to stop it. Whether coastal erosion or view obstruction with residential homeowners, or developers seeking to build new commercial or residential property, disputes end up in court if he can’t help his clients come t…
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Lynette Paczkowski is a litigator at heart, and her career journey has taken her to the world of probate litigation. When a will is contested, the legal battle is rarely just about money—it’s about trust, family dynamics, and sometimes the question of whether someone "pulled a fast one." In this episode, Lynette walks us through the complexities of…
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Medical Malpractice: From Error to Judgment
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29:31
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Adam Deutsch is a personal injury lawyer who litigates medical malpractice claims...and he loves what he does. Although he opted for lawyer rather than doctor, he spends his days researching areas of medicine and consulting with experts before negotiating settlements and arguing in court. In this episode, Adam talks about medical rabbit holes, his …
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Former Biglaw attorney Cece Xie shares her unconventional journey from practicing law to building a portfolio career. After graduating law school, she embarked on a well-traveled road to a large law firm with a shiny name. Though she has many positive things to say about her two firms, she ultimately stepped away from it all. In this episode, Cece …
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Adapting to Biglaw: Getting Plugged into the Energy Sector
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Juan Dawson is a junior associate at a newly merged megafirm. He’s one of the firm’s many energy industry lawyers – or, as he puts it, a "lawyer for electrons." In this episode, Juan shares how he pivoted to a niche, multi-faceted field involving regulatory compliance and interaction with government agencies. Juan discusses how he reconciles his in…
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Passion Over Paychecks: Starting Strong in Public Defense
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Victoria Nauman is a very recent law school graduate and state public defender. Like many law students, she entered law school intending to do some sort of public service, but lacking specificity. This episode focuses on her transition to practice. Victoria discusses some early career challenges, including imposter syndrome, building trust with cli…
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Navigating Legal Career Crossroads: A Journey Through Law Firm Transitions
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In this episode, Josh Offenhartz takes us through his career journey, marked by numerous transitions between law firms, sometimes sooner than he anticipated. From navigating generational differences in firm cultures to managing the evolving dynamics of career progression, client relationships, and work-life balance, Josh shares how his ability to a…
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Paige Sparks is an employee rights lawyer who specializes in discrimination claims. In this episode, Paige talks navigating the EEOC process for aggrieved current and former employees, generating clients through social media, and how she navigates her ADHD, a diagnosis she received a few years into practice. Through informational law videos and tra…
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Brick by Brick: Building an Idea into a Movement
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27:35
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Starting a nonprofit often sounds like a great idea, but execution requires vision, commitment, and grit. Laurie Robinson Hayden shares how she transitioned from informal networking among peers to establishing an organization that supports professional development for women of color lawyers. Laurie discusses how she built a mission-driven board, de…
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Happy Thanksgiving! What are lawyers thankful for?
22:18
22:18
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Happy Thanksgiving! What are lawyers thankful for? The answers may surprise you. In this special episode, we share some previously-unreleased clips of recent I Am The Law guests with their answer to everyone's least favorite Thanksgiving question. Hosts Katya Valasek and Kyle McEntee intersperse commentary throughout our lawyer guests talking about…
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