Academia Episodes

Curious what it's like to be a law professor? Want to know what it's like to be an international bestselling author? Interested in learning why perseverance and tuning into your internal compass may be key to finding job satisfaction? Check out this episode! In our 70th Episode (!), we chat with Amy Chua about her non-linear path to academia, why something that may be perceived to be a failure may actually be the best thing that happens to you, and how Amy's background and upbringing helped shape her career trajectory. We also dig into Amy's teaching style (spoiler, it's not the traditional Socratic method), her internationally bestselling memoir, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, and her recent historical murder thriller, The Golden Gate. Enjoy!

If you're interested in hearing from longtime practitioners turned law professors, this episode is for you! In Episode 59, Elizabeth Elia and Serge Martinez share how the many different jobs they had before becoming professors shaped who they are, their legal practice, and how they approach teaching. Elizabeth discusses the importance of not losing track of your passions in the early years of practice, and Serge highlights the fact that there are an infinite number of ways to be a lawyer. Serge and Elizabeth also discuss the awesome and varied types of housing work they did prior to academia, and how they are continuing that work today. We also flip the mic, and chat with Serge, Elizabeth, and Allison (PJx co-host) about their recently founded nonprofit--the New Mexico Center for Housing Law (also known as NMCHL or CHL), which is dedicated to promoting housing stability and justice for people of the state of New Mexico. During this episode, they share why they started the Center, wh…

Welcome back! We're thrilled to begin Season 4 of Personal Jurisdiction with Sara Coulter. Sara is a First Amendment Fellow at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. In this episode, Sara tells us about the "Rory Gilmore" generation, how traveling abroad to Oxford was one of the most memorable experiences of her law school years, why her experience in her law school legal clinic informed her view of the fairness of the law, and how diving deep into e-discovery helped her to gain the skills necessary to apply for a position in her dream area of First Amendment Law. We're so glad to be back for Season 4!

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" You may remember Bridgette Carr and Vivek Sankaran from our Mental Health Awareness Series last spring. Bridgette and Vivek are both clinical professors of law at the University of Michigan Law School where they teach a course called Designing a Fulfilling Life in the Law. Our conversation with Bridgette and Vivek last spring was one of our most popular episodes! So we decided to ask them back and try something different. In this episode, we flip the mic and let Bridgette and Vivek guide us through a few of the exercises that they use with their students and clients. We talk about what is important to us in life, what work means to us, what we see ourselves doing in the future, and what we would do if we could do anything.

For our 40th Episode (!), we asked Jonah Perlin, Georgetown Law Professor and host of the #HowILawyer Podcast, to switch roles and let us interview him about his journey to law school, what lights his fire about teaching legal writing, and why he decided to challenge himself to publish one podcast interview per week for his popular podcast about the legal profession. Join us for this thoughtful and fun conversation as we catch up with Jonah Perlin and learn more about what he does, why he does it, and how he does it well.

Are you pursuing a particular career path simply because you feel like you should? If so, it might be time to pause and listen to this conversation with University of Michigan Law School Professors Bridgette Carr and Vivek Sankaran about why being curious, trying new things, and staying connected to people you care about can help you to design a fulfilling life in the law. There is no yellow brick road, there is no checklist - but Bridgette and Vivek share many pieces of advice and personal reflections for anyone who is not quite fulfilled in their career. We hope you enjoy this special episode in the Mental Health Awareness Month series!

This month, May 2022, Personal Jurisdiction and the How I Lawyer Podcast are teaming up to feature five interviews on the important topic of mental health in the legal profession. In the first episode of our series, #HowILawyer Host Jonah Perlin speaks with Professor Heidi Brown who is the Director of the Legal Writing Program at Brooklyn Law School. Having grappled with extreme performance anxiety as a law student, attorney, and new law professor, Heidi ultimately untangled her fears, and embraced authenticity as a powerful asset in teaching and practicing law. She is the author of two fantastic books on the subject, The Introverted Lawyer: A Seven-Step Journey Toward Authentically Empowered Advocacy, and Untangling Fear in Lawyering: A Four-Step Journey Toward Powerful Advocacy. Professor Brown’s brand new book, The Flourishing Lawyer, analogizes law students and lawyers to athletes and performers & offers a fresh lens through which to view the palpable challenge of enriching an…

Join us for the last episode of Season 2 as we chat with Ally Coll, President and Co-Founder of The Purple Campaign. Ally shares how she became interested in politics and saw the power of grassroots organizing before law school (hint: Ally worked for Obama before he was President Obama), why she chose not to write on to law review or apply to clerkships during law school (hint: upon graduation she went to work for Hillary Clinton's legal team), why she chose to share her #MeToo story in the Washington Post, and how this ultimately led her to found the Purple Campaign, a non-profit organization whose mission is to address workplace harassment. Ally also discusses her recent testimony on Capitol Hill in support of the Judiciary Accountability Act, which would apply certain civil rights and employee protection laws to judicial branch employees. Although this concludes Season 2, we're not going far. Stay tuned for our mental health awareness collaboration, which will be released as a ser…

On Episode 16 we chat with Leah Litman (@LeahLitman). Leah is a Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School. She is the Co-Host of the Strict Scrutiny Podcast (@StrictScrutiny_) and Co-Founder of Women Also Know Law (@WomenKnowLaw). We chat with Leah about her path to legal academia, including her SCOTUS clerkship, her time in private practice, her commitment to gender equity, how she deals with criticism, and her adorable dog, Stevie Nicks.

On Episode 3 of Personal Jurisdiction, we speak with Anna Fodor about finding purpose in law school and beyond. Anna shares the three pieces of advice she and her colleagues at Marquette gave law students during orientation, and reminds us that it is okay to go your own way!