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Personal Jurisdiction

Welcome to Personal Jurisdiction!

per·son·al ju·ris·dic·tion | \ ˈpər-sə-nəl \ˌju̇r-əs-ˈdik-shən

When you look up “Personal Jurisdiction” in Black’s Law Dictionary, it directs you to the entry for “Jurisdiction.” We won’t do that to you. We’re here because there’s not enough good information available for law students and new attorneys to make informed choices about their careers.

Join co-hosts Allison Freedman and Hallie Ritzu as we talk to a variety of people within the first 10ish years of practice to hear about their journeys to fulfilling careers and the advice they have for getting there. From government to start-ups; politics to academia; in-house to legal aid—we’ll get the scoop on what it’s really like to work in different areas of the law, so you can chart your own course for success.

Recent

April 2, 2024

Let's Get Personal about Success (Season 2)

We may have recorded Season 2 back in 2022 but our guests' answers about the meaning of success are just as fresh as they were two years ago. Even if you have been listening since the beginning, we're sure you'll enjoy heari…
March 5, 2024

Let's Get Personal about Success (Season 1)

Loyal friends of the pod know we end every episode with the same question: "What does success mean to you?" And now, to kick off Season 5 of Personal Jurisdiction, we are looking back at the first set of answers to that ques…
Feb. 20, 2024

Let's Get Personal about Season 4

Season 4 is a wrap! Join Hallie and Allison for their reflections on Season 4, including the best advice from Season 4 guests, and exciting news about what's next for Personal Jurisdiction.
Feb. 6, 2024

Let's Get Personal with Roshanna Toya, Attorney & Chief Justice of the Pueblo of Isleta Appellate Court

We're rounding out Season 4 with Roshanna Toya, Attorney & Chief Justice of the Pueblo of Isleta Appellate Court. This is a special episode because Roshanna is not only a tribal court Justice, but she has also clerked at bot…

Recent Blog Posts

Do It Yourself! Try the LawView, LifeView, and Journey Mapping Exercises from E43: Let's Get Personal about Designing Your Life in the Law with Bridgette Carr and Vivek Sankaran

We hope that you enjoyed our discussion with Professors Bridgette Carr and Vivek Sankaran. If you'd like to give the LawView, LifeView, and Journey Mapping exercises a try for yourself, the information for each of those exercises is included below. …

About the Hosts

Allison FreedmanProfile Photo

Allison Freedman

Co-Host

Allison Freedman is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of New Mexico School of Law in Albuquerque. Prior to her time at UNM Law, Allison was a Clinical Teaching Fellow in the Civil-Criminal Litigation Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School. She spent the first three years of her legal career at a big law firm in Chicago where she focused on white collar and financial services regulatory and litigation matters. She went on to clerk for the Honorable Joan H. Lefkow in the Northern District of Illinois. During the second year of her clerkship, she also became an adjunct professor of Advanced Trial Practice at Northwestern Law.

Allison graduated from Northwestern Law, where she was on the Bartlit Center National Trial Team and the comment editor of the Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights. She was also an avid clinic student, working in three different clinics on a wide variety of cases—primarily civil rights, death penalty, and criminal cases involving youth.

Prior to law school, Allison received a Fulbright Fellowship, during which she taught classes in politics, debate, and Spanish at a university in Hong Kong. She earned her B.A. in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania.

When she’s not lawyering, you’ll find Allison running, playing with her dog Ella, or trying new recipes.

Hallie RitzuProfile Photo

Hallie Ritzu

Co-Host

Hallie Ritzu is an attorney in Chicago, Illinois and is the owner of Olive Avenue LLC, an estate planning law firm. She spent the first seven years of her legal career at a big firm in Chicago where she focused on trust and estate litigation and estate planning. Hallie is also an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois Chicago Law School where she teaches Lawyering Skills, a course designed to immerse students in the art of legal writing and research.

Hallie graduated from Northwestern Law. She was an Articles Editor for the Northwestern University Law Review and served as a judicial extern at the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Hallie earned a B.A. in Political Science and Spanish from the College of Charleston and an M.A. in Spanish from Middlebury College.

When she’s not podcasting, Hallie enjoys playing tennis and reading mystery novels.