Mid-Career Lawyer

Jon Holscher, a 2011 graduate of Drake Law School, prosecutes crime for the state in Iowa. While the facts differ among cases, they have to all add up to the elements of a crime to get a convinction.

Jeremy Evans, a 2011 graduate of Thomas Jefferson School of Law, managed to outlast hundreds who started law school hoping to do sports and entertainment law. He talks about the struggle to start his own firm, and why he thinks he was among the last standing.

Alan Fowler, a 2006 graduate of Mercer University School of Law, primarily represents tourists who got in trouble while on vacation. He talks about finding clients, their urgency in resolving their legal trouble, and how he learns about what they really want. Alan reminds us that solo practitioners are small business owners who happen to provide legal services.

Matt Hoisington, a 2009 graduate of Boston College Law School, explains his path to and through the United Nations. He talks about how he managed to obtain one of the most sought after jobs in the law as an international human rights lawyer. He discusses his time doing law and policy at UN headquarters in New York City, and time abroad in Abyei and Darfur, Sudan.

Deepan Patel, a 2013 graduate of FSU College of Law, explains his role at the IRS. While the IRS has many types of lawyers, he focuses on business taxpayer guidance, which ensures certainty for businesses making major decisions. He describes how he got into tax, where his career might go, and trade-offs between government and private practice.

Because all parties must have legal representation in criminal cases, underfunded public defender offices raise serious constitutional questions. In this episode, Candace Hom, an alum of Georgetown University Law Center, discusses working at the federal public defender office, how she builds trust with clients, and the challenges of dealing with prosecutors.

Solo practitioners are small business owners who happen to provide legal services. Matt Swain started his own criminal defense practice after graduating from University of Oklahoma College of Law. In this episode, Matt describes the importance of knowing your business inside and out, and techniques that make him more likely to notice opportunities to help his clients move forward with their lives.

After someone leaves prison, limited employment options can lead to a cycle of crime. Kimberley Baker Guillemet, an alum of the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, helped form the Los Angeles Office of Reentry to fix this. Kimberly discusses her work helping the formerly incarcerated rejoin society, and altering conditions leading to initial jailings.

Justin Bloom went to Tulane University School of Law to right environmental wrongs. While his first job was defending environmental takings cases, his career has taken a winding path from tort litigation to immigration. He even quit a job after a boss asked him to coach clients to lie. Today Justin runs a nonprofit that uses different strategies to protect Florida coastal areas.

In the U.S. federal courts, there are too many cases and too few judges. To this end, attorneys can serve as law clerks for the court. Vail Gardner, an alum of the University of Florida Levin College of Law, served North Carolina for six years as a law clerk. In this episode, she describes the types of federal law clerks, including each position's pros and cons.

You owe a lot of money and don’t know what to do. This is where Cristina Perez Hesano, an alum of Arizona State University, comes in to help individuals struggling with debt to file for bankruptcy. In this episode, she takes us through a chapter 7 bankruptcy from prep to discharge, and why decided to leave her first bankruptcy firm to go out on her own.

3.5 years after Jaye Lindsay graduated from Southern Illinois University School of Law, he longed for a better standard of living and work-life balance. After going solo and finding it impossible to manage debt, he decided to become a teacher and practice law on the side. This episode looks into the economics of small law firms and the evaluation of life priorities.

Each of the U.S. military branches has a large legal staff which is run by the Judge Advocate General's Corp (JAG). Captain Megan Mallone is a JAG officer who joined the Air Force right after graduating from the University of Toledo College of Law. While she’s not involved in combat, she does provide legal counsel to warfighters.

In this episode, Assistant U.S. Attorney and Cleveland-Marshall College of Law alumnus Mike Hunter details his role in the criminal justice system. From 4th Amendment advice for federal agents making a bust to deciding which cases to take, when to seek indictments, and who to make plea agreements with, Mike tells us how he makes choices in pursuit of justice.

At a large law firm, the hours, pay, and exit opportunities are among the tradeoffs associates continuously negotiate–if they get the job in the first place. This week Holly Carnell, a 2009 graduate of Loyola University Chicago School of Law, describes her challenge of getting her corporate healthcare biglaw job at McGuireWoods from a non-elite law school.

The integrity of the criminal justice system hinges on every individual receiving quality legal counsel—even if guilty. In this episode, Vermont criminal defense lawyer and Washington & Lee College of Law alumna Jessica Burke details how expanding the geography she covers, rather than the scope of practice, allowed her firm to grow in a saturated legal market.

Patent attorney Carlos Rosario, graduate of Santa Clara University School of Law, was first attracted to intellectual property in law school because he found technology exciting. Though he graduated 3.5 years ago, he has twice switched firms in Silicon Valley to strike an ideal balance between patent prosecution and patent litigation. Today, Carlos works for one of the largest global intellectual property firms.

When Gabriel Cheong—owner of a small family law firm in Boston—graduated from Northeastern Law School at the start of the Great Recession, his back was against the wall. Today he's proven that putting client needs first can help build a sustainable business. Gabriel explains how his use of technology and fixed fees maximizes time spent on clients. After all, his job is to help clients whose lives are being torn apart.