Mike Spivey Spivey Consulting Group

Greg Aycock, a graduate of Washington University School of Law, shares how he transitioned from representing defendants to representing plaintiffs. He left his insurance defense practice on a leap of faith and discusses the struggles of being your own boss and getting a firm off the ground. Until Greg gets his medical malpractice practice off the ground, he pays the rent with divorces and child custody work. For either practice, Greg spends considerable time explaining the legal process and law to clients, while keeping them under control so that he can present their best case possible.

Rachel Spears, a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, is the executive director of Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta (PBP-ATL) that organizes local volunteer lawyers to meet the non-litigation needs of nonprofit clients. She shares how organizations like PBP-ATL are rare and small but keep nonprofits within the law by leveraging the generosity of members of the legal profession. Not only does Rachel need vast legal knowledge to see what her clients don't, but she also needs to manage her board of directors and staff, develop a budget, do the books, fundraise, and more.

Carlos Rosario, a graduate of Santa Clara University School of Law, is a patent lawyer who has twice switched law firms in Silicon Valley to strike his ideal balance between patent prosecution and patent litigation. Today, Carlos works for one of the largest intellectual property (IP) firms in the world. This interview illustrates the IP world to listeners generally—including whether certain IP lawyers need special credentials—before diving into the particulars of day-to-day practice.