ABA Journal: Legal Rebels

The ABA Journal Legal Rebels Podcast features men and women who are remaking the legal profession and highlights the pioneers who are changing the way law is practiced and setting the standards that will guide the profession in the future.

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26
How one firm is trying to convince technology c...
Joyce Tong Oelrich and Zohra Tejani, the founders of Tong Tejani, which specializes in government contracts and has mainly technology-sector clients, kept initial client feedback about subscription pricing in mind when they formally launched their...
31 min
27
Experienced cloud-based law firm thrives during...
When the spread of the novel coronavirus last spring prompted traditional law firms across the country to shutter their physical offices amid much economic uncertainty, the management team at cloud-based law firm FisherBroyles had very different...
28 min
28
Virtual onboarding has provided some unexpected...
Virtual trivia nights and happy hours are among the activities that Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks has hosted in recent months to help welcome new hires into the fold amid a remote working environment. John Van Amsterdam, a shareholder at the...
27 min
29
Law firms should not rush lateral hiring, due d...
With the shift to virtual recruitment amid the COVID-19 crisis, the speed at which law firms vet and hire lateral partners has increased, according to Michael Ellenhorn, the founder and CEO of Decipher. But Ellenhorn, whose company helps legal...
30 min
30
Deloitte is monitoring regulatory reforms but i...
Don Fancher, a principal in Deloitte’s legal business services practice in the United States, acknowledges that his firm has been monitoring the regulatory reform developments taking place in several states. But he says Deloitte has no current plans...
32 min
31
Constant communication has been key amid COVID-...
Just before students at the University of California at Irvine School of Law were set to return from spring break in March, the university decided that all classes would be moved online because of the spread of COVID-19. L. Song Richardson, the law...
21 min
32
Firms of the future: COVID-19 prompts more law ...
In recent years, a growing number of law firms reduced their brick-and-mortar office space as a way to cut costs and also better meet the changing workplace needs of their attorneys. Sherry Cushman says the COVID-19 pandemic has further enhanced the...
32 min
33
This Louisiana judge continues to innovate duri...
Judge Scott Schlegel’s history of utilizing technology in his Louisiana courtroom to make life easier for attorneys and members of the public has come in very handy during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the public health crisis forced the closure of...
23 min
34
Bench trial by video? This lawyer says it went ...
Chicago lawyer Kathy Ehrhart and her firm represented two of the three defendants in a civil case focused on alleged breach of contract concerning a real estate transaction. Though the video proceedings were not without some technical challenges,...
23 min
35
Legal reform advocates need to more actively en...
Supporters of broad reforms to how the legal profession is regulated must do a better job drawing the public into ongoing conversations in several states about such issues, says Paula Littlewood, the former longtime executive director of the...
31 min
36
BigLaw firm’s legal tech subsidiary has launche...
When the novel coronavirus began rapidly spreading across the United States earlier this year, Kimball Dean Parker says he felt a strong desire to help consumers and businesses in need. Utah-based SixFifty set out to do what it does best: develop...
27 min
37
How hosting a national pandemic summit aided Ne...
When the novel coronavirus began sweeping across the U.S. earlier this year, Nebraska’s courts system was better prepared to rapidly adjust its operations than some of its counterparts in other states. Michael G. Heavican, the chief justice of the...
23 min
38
Online estate planning sees surge during corona...
The online estate-planning platform Trust & Will saw at least a 100% increase in business in March amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Cody Barbo, the company’s CEO and co-founder. “I think that everybody has a family member who is...
28 min
39
President of the Legal Services Corp. reflects ...
Asked to reflect on his nine-year tenure as president of the Legal Services Corp., Jim Sandman says he is proud of many things that he and his team accomplished. Under Sandman’s leadership, the LSC produced its seminal work, which found that 86% of...
21 min
40
How 2 Texas lawyers are marketing their practic...
Thanks to social media and the internet, it’s never been easier—or more affordable—for lawyers to advertise. On the other hand, having so many avenues available to lawyers makes it more difficult for anyone to stand out from the crowd. So when...
17 min
41
Reinventing the staid field of legal academic w...
Legal academic publishing isn't synonymous with innovation. The mere mention of it can, for some, bring up repressed memories of the most banal and stuffy aspects of law school. But the Massachusetts Institute of Technology wants to change that. In...
27 min
42
How one lawyer built a practice by defending a ...
Leaving BigLaw to start his own firm in 2011, Tor Ekeland quickly learned that his legal education was insufficient for the task at hand. To Ekeland, the edited cases law students spend three years reading don’t help graduates prepare for practice,...
31 min
43
Diversity in the legal tech community
The year 2017 was hailed as the "Year of Women in Legal Tech" based on a few high-profile acquisitions and hires. Kristen Sonday, the co-founder of Paladin, a pro bono management platform, however, took a look around and noticed that there were few...
31 min
44
Criminal justice experts hope tech can more eas...
In the United States, an estimated 70 million people have a criminal record. Being tagged with this scarlet letter can affect a person’s ability to find employment, housing and even potential relationships. Meanwhile, the expansion of freedom of...
29 min
45
Exploring new frontiers in research for the leg...
In the latest episode of the Legal Rebels Podcast, ABA Journal Legal Affairs Writer Jason Tashea talks to legal tech blogger Bob Ambrogi and Andrew Arruda, CEO of artificial intelligence company Ross Intelligence, about what new...
34 min
46
How experiential learning became the norm
Ten years ago, Rodney Smolla was featured as a Legal Rebel for leading an innovative plan at Washington and Lee University School of Law to eliminate traditional third-year coursework and replace it with experiential learning. Many law schools opened...
17 min
47
What's your brand? Max Miller has some thoughts
It's good to be seen as a "thought leader," but don't call yourself that in marketing materials, says lawyer, professor and small business owner Max Miller. "It should be evident," Miller told the ABA Journal's Stephanie Francis Ward in this episode...
26 min
48
Avvo founder Mark Britton unwinds as he thinks ...
Mark Britton, who founded and sold the online attorney ratings site Avvo, is taking a break. This helps with creativity but does cause him some discomfort. After his years of making money from attorneys on his site, he has some business development...
28 min
49
David Van Zandt has made a career out of touchi...
When David Van Zandt became dean of what is now Northwestern University's Pritzker School of Law in 1995, he faced a steep learning curve, he tells the ABA Journal's Jason Tashea. But he had a good sense of the demands on recent graduates and lawyers....
27 min
50
Nonprofit law pioneer applauds 'low bono' growth
Before they were buzzwords, Luz Herrera was a pioneer in the world of "low bono" practice, nonprofit law firms and legal incubators. In this episode of the ABA Journal's Legal Rebels Podcast, Herrera speaks with Angela Morris about how a low-bono...
18 min