The Human Lawyer: Recent Episodes
The Human Lawyer
Amplifying human stories to explore how those stories inform people’s work as lawyers. Our mission: to expand the margin we have for other lawyers by focusing on that which makes us human to identify how the “human stuff” leads lawyers to a fulfilled career, whether in the law or something else. the human lawyer is a 501(c)(3) north carolina non-profit corporation. it is not a law firm. it will never be a law firm. it does not offer legal services. it never will. the lawyers featured are completely independent and unaffiliated. they always will be. we focus exclusively on human storytelling through a variety of different mediums. if you are compelled to support: first, thank you; and second, all contributions are tax-deductible in furtherance of our charitable purpose.
A trend-setter, a trend-challenger, and a trend-analyzer, Prof. Jen Leonard leads programs on innovation and the future of the profession at the University of Penn law school. Her work takes her to places like the renowned consulting firm McKinsey, where she has discussed topics such as: how great it could be to be a lawyer. […]
Ashley is a sharer, storyteller, and thinker. Founder and host of the no straight path podcast, Ashley’s podcast work focuses on highlighting the story behind success, believing that story is often shared too late, like at a eulogy or a memoir. It’s a podcast offering an evergreen snapshot of guests who are mid-journey. Ashley is […]
Nick Fogle is a story about higher education, student loans, switching careers, and paying off a quarter million dollars in debt. Hello, adulting. Today, you’ll find Nick as the founder and CEO of Churnkey: an integration with a SaaS company’s billing provider to save SaaS companies immediately. In short, Nick has a mousetrap helping reduce […]
For 16 years, Professor William Janssen was a litigation partner at a white shoe law firm, Saul Ewing, For the last 10, he has been a law professor at the Charleston School of Law. A cursory review of ratemyprofessors.com says Professor Janssen is caring, challenging, passionate, enthusiastic, and accessible. His subject matter expertise from an […]
Jim Buxton is the most well-known member of the Porter-Gaud chain gang. He’s certainly the most passionate. At least that’s our guess. To know Jim is to know unbridled passion whether it’s going all out for an office seasonal sweater party or berating a ref for a bad spot. Passion never sleeps. In life, Jim […]
The son of a public school teacher and the grandson of an entrepreneurial grandmother, Brian Collie is an old soul. A real estate lawyer in Charleston, South Carolina, commercial and residential, Brian’s life passions are his family, his friends, and Clemson football. As an attorney, Brian has done all the things: has his name on […]
Rob Harrington is Charlotte-famous. A lawyer at Robinson Bradshaw, you cannot be a lawyer in Charlotte and not know Rob. His colleague once remarked that as Jerry West is to the NBA logo so would Rob Harrington be to the human lawyer podcast. He’s not wrong. Rob’s awards and recognitions are too numerous to […]
Today we meet Sabrina Winters, an estate planning attorney in Charlotte, NC, and the person who goes to work with one mission: how can she make her clients smile today? Smiling can be tricky in her work as she helps people plan for the days when they’re no longer on this earth. To Sabrina’s clients, […]
Meet Jennee DeVore, a mom of three, and the head of legal at Inflammatix, a biotech research company reimagining diagnostics by reading the immune system. A quick survey of social media suggests that either her favorite, or her family’s favorite, pastime is America’s pastime, and in particular the San Francisco Giants. It’s been a good […]
Ann Groninger leads the Charlotte lawyer way in bike and outdoor enthusiasm. Her practice marries a passion for advocating for individuals and for bicycling culture, especially interested in representing victims of bicycle crashes. Ann is a trial attorney by experience which is owed, in part to her formative years at Cumberland County Public Defender’s Office. […]
Aliza Shatzman is accountable. An attorney and advocate based in Washington, DC, Aliza writes and speaks on judicial accountability. Her dream was to be a homicide prosecutor in the D.C. federal prosecutor’s office. Then life happened. Can’t plan it. Never predictable. In March 2022, Aliza submitted a Statement of the Record for a House of […]
Maureen Frangopoulos (Moe as she’s known on the socials) is a lawyer and leader at Uber. Her colloquial explanation of her work is informed by Downton Abbey’s Lady Grantham: she doesn’t argue; she explains. She’s a leader at Uber because of her investment in her team. During peak pandemic times, Maureen leaned into taking […]
Today, we meet the world’s best fighter pilot, who’s also a lawyer, General Mike Wholley. The journey to being a fighter pilot, a Vietnam war veteran, then becoming General Counsel at NASA is winding, as one might expect. But the briefest of conversations with Mike begin to shed light on how that might have been […]
Christine Uri’s current journey started with an ending, leaving a law firm she had been a part of for eight years in search of a greater purpose. After 5 months of soul-searching, 125+ coffees with government, education, non-profit, and business leaders, she found Engie Impact–a global consulting sustainability company. Christine is on the ESG frontier. […]
Asma Makni is a lawyer in Paris, France who leads the legal function at Equify, a company on a mission to fix how European enterprises manage equity and stockholders. Asma and her company are enablers in today’s digital age helping people and companies implement better alternatives. Asma’s prior experience includes working as legal counsel for […]
Dancing in the rain with Ryan Alshak, the CEO and founder of Time by Ping. Preparing for this episode brings this truth to life: we all have a superpower. What’s yours? Ryan’s is his mom, who’s now his guardian angel. She ascended into guardian status right after he achieved a monumental professional feat: closing his […]
Zebras don’t change their stripes, or do they? Terry Falk identifies himself as an ex-lawyer, but that’s not really true. At least we don’t think so. You’ll find Terry at My Case and Law Pay’s parent company, AffiniPay. Law Pay is the ubiquitous payment processing company for law firms and law businesses. That’s probably a […]
Patricia Prato-Casado is a corporate lawyer with an MBA whose experience, tenacity, and diligence have led her to ClearEstate, a company democratizing estate administration in North America. For those who’ve dealt with estate administration, you know the process can feel inhumane. Unwinding the affairs of a person feels so transactional. Perhaps the transient nature […]
Jason Jones is the founder of a pioneer law firm where he focuses on reducing lawsuits with proactive trust and estate planning and thoughtful trust and estate administration. If a dispute does arise, Jason practices exclusively collaborative law methods for resolving trust, estate, and power of attorney disputes outside the courtroom in order to control […]
It’s Matts’s law: meet Matt Margolis, head of community at Lawtrades and a member of the blue check brigade. If not, he’s close. How’d he get his blue check? Here are a few examples: Lawyers are going to be replaced by computers? Computers can’t go golfing with a judge. Per my last email . . […]
Ann Thayer is there and here as a guest on this podcast. She’s the co-host of the podcast Crime Time, where she pontificates about legal issues attendant to the criminal justice system with a group of friends. Listen to her podcast, and you’ll hear her disclaimer, a portion of which says: “If you were bleeding […]
The US Marshall’s office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Federal Labor Relations Authority: if there’s a government acronym, Ann Boehm knows it. Her career has taken her from serving as a law clerk at the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeal, to serving as Chief of Communications in the US Marshalls […]
Some people run marathons; others run 42 of them (and counting). Meet John Strohmeyer, a zookeeper turned estate planning attorney in Houston, Texas. Disclaimer: John wasn’t really a zookeeper, although he did earn a bachelor of science degree from UT-Austin in Zoology and went on to manage a human zoo at the Four Seasons Hotel […]
A traveler and father of two boys, Parker Moore has a head of lettuce (hair) that would make Instagram jealous. For a man with such a coif, you wonder how he has time to practice law. Clearly, he has enough time to make partner at one of Charlotte’s most respected law firms, Johnston Allison & […]
Kristen Gyolai is a lawyer in Minnesota who recently founded her own law firm, and through that experience, mentors others as they wade into starting their own. The lure of law is a lot easier with Kristin. To her, the best-kept secret in law is being a solo practitioner. Solo by choice as they say. […]
Brett Hubler is a Charleston aficionado first; corporate lawyer second. There may be other things ahead of Charleston, and today we learn what those may be. However, Brett’s love for Charleston can be traced back, at least in part, to his service to Senator Chip Campsen. Before ascending to partner as a corporate lawyer at […]
There’s Charlotte famous, and then there’s Dianne Chipps Bailey. You cannot be a lawyer in Charlotte without at least knowing the name, Dianne Chipps Bailey. How providential to have Dianne as a guest in March, known as women’s history month. To say the timing was intentional or anything other than an accident would be a […]
Dr. Idara Bassey is the secret weapon; the person who helps others get unstuck. She values joy, change making, and fulfillment. Before helping others get unstuck, Dr. Bassey became one of the youngest executives at Africare, the largest African-American operated nonprofit in the United States doing work on the African continent. She directed a support […]
Meet Tony Albrecht, the founder of The Rowdy Creative and a reluctant guest on this podcast. He tried to back out at least once, in a passive-aggressive way, claiming he wasn’t the right fit because he wasn’t really a lawyer. I guess he listened to the wrong episode. Or maybe we’re focusing on the wrong […]
Is there anything more exciting than starting a software company with your brother? Maybe. Try doing it with your dad. That’s what Scott and Digby Jr. have done in finding AltFee, a tool helping law firms and legal professionals evaluate alternative fee arrangements. Scott is the Candian lawyer, the diligent son following the path of […]
Some intros write themselves. Others are written for you. This one is the latter. We can’t tell Marty Finestone’s story any better than he has. Want some creative juju in your life, check out www.legaladjacency.com. Marty is a lawyer, legal designer, artist, playlist-maker, husband, and dad. His work combines fifteen-plus years of legal practice together […]
AmWins lives at the intersection of market intelligence and broker expertise. Molly Shah lives at the intersection of employment law and boy mom. A competitor and leader, Molly’s life as an in-house counsel is characterized by the typical challenges an employer lawyer might face when advising a dynamic, entrepreneurial, growth-minded enterprise. Her challenges are varied […]
As a Director of Legal affairs at Gartner, Yosr Hamza leads a legal team in the Middle East where she tracks sales growth by maintaining a culture of high performance and accountability. An award-winning bilingual legal counsel who was Gartner’s first locally hired lawyer in the Middle East: that’s only a part of the story. […]
Today, we are joined by Ketan Soni and Heidi Brown, each lawyer famous in their own right. Heidi, the author and Brooklyn law professor everyone knows and loves; Ketan, the family law attorney who was the tech-forward outlier before online scheduling was ubiquitous. Both disrupt the status quo with empathy. Today, Ketan and Heidi talk […]
Those in SEARCH find Doug Thie: a man who helps people secure their lawful status in the United States and, once their lawful status is secured, helps them identify meaning in their life. Faith is important to Doug, and it informs everything about him, his choices, and how he seeks to impact the lives of […]
A scuba diver, a photographer, a dog mom, a Cajun, a lawyer: probably in that order. Meet Kate Kiebert. The T is silent. Get it right. Her law practice focuses on data, privacy, and security, whether from a proactive or reactive perspective. From a proactive perspective, Kate acts like an outside general counsel, negotiating and […]
The daughter of an HVAC technician and a legal secretary, Annemarie Pantazis knows the value of, and believes in, good old-fashioned hard work. Just ask her about the time she volunteered herself to serve as GC of a commercial real estate development project. Annemarie is simply not afraid to roll up her sleeves. She’s also […]
AMPLIFY. If I could only use one word to introduce you to Kevin Pratt it would be AMPLIFY.
Kevin has a knack for tirelessly building a platform and then generously sharing it with others so that he can amplify their voices and their missions. I’ve personally seen him do it over and over, whether it’s with this podcast, housing initiatives, equity issues, lawyer wellbeing, or collaborative law.
Kevin is a true champion of others.
He and John Mayer seem to agree that “Love is a verb.”
There’s no sitting on the sidelines where Kevin is concerned. He has a bias towards action. He’s compelled to innovate. To develop. To challenge the status quo for the purpose of improving it.
Kevin is a disruptor – not just naming what isn’t working but also rolling up his sleeves, getting dirty and doing the work to be part of the change that he is driving.
Kevin serves as in-house counsel at Oyster, but more importantly, he’s a husband to Elizabeth (who is also a human lawyer) and he’s a dad to their son, George.
A former federal prosecutor, a current Federal judge, and an author: meet Judge Robert Conrad, United States District Judge in the Western District of North Carolina. The starting point guard on Clemson’s winningest basketball team, Judge Conrad may say that his greatest accomplishment is his children and, by extension, his grandchildren. When you talk to him, you see it. A different twinkle in his eye when the topic arises.
And that brings us to his book: John Fisher and Thomas More, Keeping Their Souls While Losing Their Heads. Judge Conrad’s book parallels the pre-industrial sixteenth century and the tech-centered modern era. For Thomas More, he died the king’s good servant and God’s first. For John Fisher, he approached execution with joy befit for a wedding. It’s a book for the next generation, especially his children and grandchildren, as we navigate a complex world where conviction and courage seem devalued.
Judge Conrad tells the story of two saints whose lives were models of courage and, in that story, calls out the importance of faith and everyone’s unique vocational calling. From the serpent of ambition to an attitude of gratitude, Judge Conrad explains what makes a lawyer human.
In 2020, the Charlotte Business Journal recognized Tyler Wichmann as an Outstanding Corporate Counsel for his work at Movement Mortgage. From a legal perspective, Tyler is nearly an OG in Movement terms. The second lawyer in the door, Tyler has helped facilitate Movement’s meteoric rise as a mortgage lender and a force for community impact.
In life, Tyler is a son, brother, husband, and girl dad. To know Tyler is to know generosity and caring. His daughter is a lucky lady. Tyler also loves adventure. He’s the type who will do the things, but he’ll do them undercover. Whether it’s an ironman, a marathon, an epic hike, or some other activity testing the outer boundaries of physical capacity, Tyler is in. You just won’t know about it.
Tyler loves nothing more than his family. So to understand Tyler’s success would be to appreciate intentionality, discipline, and conviction. Let’s talk about that.
Caleb Holloway is not the man who survived the Deepwater Horizon fatal blowout. Well, maybe he is. But that’s not this Caleb. This is the Caleb: a lawyer at Atrium Health who serves on the Board of Directors at Brave Step, a non-profit empowering individuals who have been impacted by sexual abuse. Caleb helps shape a strong, supportive community through a reclamation project that starts with just one brave step. He’s a hand holder to and for others so they feel safe to take that step.
Caleb’s service to others, expanding the margin we have for one another extends to his work as Co-Chair of the Mecklenburg County Bar’s Charlotte Legal Diversity Clerkship. His work focuses on improving diversity in the Bar by attracting top first-year law students with diverse backgrounds to the Queen City through corporate and law firm summer internships. So, easy to see how one could be inspired by Caleb and his bias for impact.
But, a casual follow of Caleb on the socials would give you one more reason for inspiration. Caleb is an out-of-office automatic reply champion. Every time he unplugs, he includes a personal message about what he’s doing with his unplugged time and why it matters to him. They say the greatest form of flattery is imitation. And that’s been true for Caleb. If there were a theme to all this, it’s courage. Let’s talk about that. Welcome to the human lawyer podcast, Caleb.
Trying to make sense of the state court trial system in the United States, two words: Good Luck. Meet Nicole Clark, co-founder and CEO at Trellis, a comprehensive AI-powered state court research and analytics platform built by litigators for litigators. Trellis boasts some of the country’s largest law firms as customers: Ogletree; Seyfarth; Dentons; Fisher Phillips; and Kirkland & Ellis to name a few.
Nicole founded Trellis because she was frustrated that she had to send one-off emails internally and externally to receive anecdotes about judges and attorneys. The anecdotes were relaying objectively true, verifiable, ostensibly public information: what happened in a casse. And while the public’s confidence in the American judicial system rests on transparency, the reality is technology has outpaced day-to-day operations in state courts. And that latency indirectly erodes public confidence.
Enter Nicole, her co-founder Alon Shwartz, and Trellis: a product designed to equip others with information so trust can be restored in the foundational principles of the American judicial system. If information is power, Trellis empowers. Let’s explore what’s empowering to Nicole and how empowerment has shown up in her life. Welcome to the human lawyer podcast, Nicole.
From a white-shoe lawyer to helping a startup IPO; aka from a submarine to a rocketship: that’s Jason Idilbi’s professional life in a comparative sense. Two seemingly very different experiences; connected nevertheless. Jason’s current role as the Deputy General Counsel at AvidXchange marks, and his work helping Charlotte’s startup baby go public, marks the latest step in a journey of accomplishment.
Jason leverages the power and influence he has as an attorney at a company with a $2 billion valuation to make the world a better place. He chairs the Corporate Counsel Section at the Mecklenburg County Bar and hosts conversations focused on how in-house counsel can advance diversity within law firms. Jason believes his pedigree can be used as a fulcrum to open doors for others who may not enjoy the same pedigree.
Connecting the virtual dots, Jason appears to be the quiet disruptor. The person in high school who always got the highest grade but would go to all the parties. He can wear either hat, but the hat he seems to enjoy wearing most: respectful disruption. Did we nail it? Or not? Welcome to the human lawyer podcast, Jason.
Why this, not that? As General Counsel at a public HBCU, Lisa Lang has learned that becoming a part of your community is the fastest way to propel you toward achieving your purpose.
Lisa’s website “Why this, not that” explores the intersection between law and business, advocating for the value of a personal, professional brand. As Lisa would describe, your brand showcases unique skills, abilities, experiences, and personality traits for prospective clients and industry professionals to see.
However, in the process of creating her own personal brand (which you’ll find at LawyerLisaLang), how did Lisa identify the things that make her different? When did she become OK with her differentness? And how did Lisa resist the urge to assimilate? Finally, what do lawyers get wrong when they view the world from the perspective of: if this, then that?
Let’s go. Welcome to the human lawyer podcast, Lisa.
Tamla Beverly, the lawyer, practices family law in the Raleigh-Durham area. She has her own firm: Tymus Beverly. Cheers to the hustle. Tamla the lawyer hasn’t always practiced law. This one time, in 2014, she was the President of a consulting firm advising clients on homeland security and privacy matters. She was even a professor on matters pertaining to national security law. She tackles the big stuff: from families to freedom.
Tamla the human cares deeply for supporting black businesses and black lawyers. She’s proud of who she is; where she’s come from; and why that matters. She’s also not afraid to share her voice and platform to encourage men to be their brother’s keeper. As she would say, “call your boy and check on him.” Sucking it up is not always (maybe never?) a solution. Because as Tamla says: hurt people, hurt people. So if you don’t heal, you’ll still hurt: yourself and others.
Today, Tamla is on her own in the professional sense. What has she learned about herself and others on her journey? And does she miss her life in politics? A lawyer, mom, step-mom, wife, and interior designer. Today we share Tamla’s story. Welcome to the human lawyer podcast.
A father, a lawyer, a bar exam advisor, and a financial coach: Trent Womble wears many hats. Whichever hat he wears, Trent would tell you the hat fits only because of his reps as a father, lawyer, advisor, and coach. Those reps equip him with the tools to deliver value, whether to his three boys or a young law student burdened by the weight of student debt.
Trent’s day job finds him practicing real estate law. He helps individuals realize the American dream: owning a home. Before that, he advocated for legislative changes to North Carolina’s Medicaid program, Child Support Enforcement Agency, and Public Health. Trent’s greatest work is his work as the father of three boys. A cursory glance of his online presence makes that point clear.
So what has fatherhood taught him about being a lawyer? Has it changed his perspective? If so, how? And if his boys wanted to be lawyers, what would he tell them? There’s no greater privilege than being a parent. Practicing law is also a privilege. Today we talk about the convergence of privilege. Welcome to the human lawyer podcast, Trent.
From class president at East Mecklenburg High School to English teacher at Butler High School. It sounds like a linear story, until it isn’t. In between Grant Dunham was a JAG lawyer and a prosecutor. He’s still a lawyer, devoting his time, skills, and energy to expanding the world of possibilities through education, demonstrating to high school kids that anything is possible, just look only at his life and his choices.
Grant’s path to high school teacher is made more remarkable by its timing. Last year, after serving 10 years as a JAG lawyer, with stints as a District Attorney interspersed between, Grant thought about doing something different. As public education became polarized due, in part, to the debate surrounding its response to Covid-19, Grant decided that rather than talk about the problem, or file a lawsuit to reopen the schools, he would take it upon himself to run to the fire. As teachers and families left CMS, Grant ran to them.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that a person who would die for his country would run to kids in need. What drove the decision to be a high school English teacher? What have you learned about yourself during that process? What do you learn from the kids? Let’s start there and see where this goes. Welcome to the human lawyer podcast, Grant.
Grant is speaking in his personal capacity. The views expressed are personal views and not necessarily those of CMS, DoD, or their components.
First-degree sex offense, drug trafficking, statutory rape, felony assault, and first-degree murder: that’s part of Christon Halkiotis’s professional life. A heavy burden in our eyes.
From Junior League to writing a book, Christon finds meaning outside of work. She also finds meaning with work: like wearing pink on purpose to dismantle the State’s case, as she would say. For fifteen years, Christon was a district attorney, then everything changed. Why? How? And for what?
Today, you’ll find Christon as the owner of her law firm, representing people accused of violating law and, more specifically, helping those get out of jail whose rights have been violated.
She’s also a mountain climber and supporter of her mother who, in 2013, was diagnosed with incurable blood cancer. For a person who carries such heavy burdens, whether for herself or for others, how does Christon keep life light? Let’s see what she has to say about that. Welcome to the human lawyer podcast, Christon.
Miranda would tell you she has a passion for helping enable others do what they love. In a stroke of serendipity, her passion led her to Oyster–a platform making it easier for talented workers and expanding companies to succeed together by unlocking the employment laws of the world. Those are Her words.
Miranda’s journey would make every Pollyanna proud. She has demonstrated courage in following her passions (or husband) around the world, even when that journey may have, in the moment, seemed to fragment her professional arc. That never seemed to faze Miranda. As most Pollyannas would, she took in stride, believing that opportunities will always present themselves and perhaps everyone is uniquely suited to take advantage of those opportunities if they’re in the right headspace.
Miranda found herself in a new headspace upon her entry to Oyster. And that space has led to providential success where she combines her institutional employment law knowledge with a magnetic creative spirit. Looking back, what surprised her? Looking ahead, what gives her hope? Welcome to the human lawyer podcast, Miranda.
Two lawyers, husband and wife, mother and father, public servant and private enterpriser: it’s not an uncommon story on its face, but like most things, the on-the-face appraisal does a disservice to the protagonists in the story, which undermines the depth of our understanding.
Ann and Blaine Sanders are lawyers in Charlotte. Well-known, perhaps for very different reasons. Ann has dedicated her life to public service, more specifically serving children and families through her work at the Council for Children’s Rights. Blaine is known for his acumen and reputation, recognized for the last 17 years as one of the best lawyers in the country. His work has led him to the racetrack, and more specifically, to NASCAR. As Dale might’ve said, rubbins racin’ even if we’re talking about the intellectual jousting associated with resolving commercial disputes. Perhaps, Ann and Blaine are the intellectual embodiment of Shake and Bake from Talledega Nights. Blaine is to Ricky Bobby as Ann is to Cal Naughton Jr.
Attenuated analogies aside, Ann and Blaine represent our first husband/wife guest. Raising a family, finding fulfillment, and discerning value alignment are all human things that could show up for them. We wonder how that manifests. Let’s see what we can learn. Welcome to the human lawyer podcast, Ann and Blaine.