Episodes

In the final episode of our Student Clinic Spotlight Series, we speak with Analy Ayala. Analy is a rising 3L at the University of Illinois College of Law and a student attorney in the Immigration Law Clinic. Analy shares why she knew she wanted to be a lawyer from an early age, how she has developed her lawyer persona through her experience in the Immigration Law Clinic, and what she has done to continue to help other LatinX, First Generation law students find success in law school.

In this third episode of our Student Clinic Spotlight Series, we talk with Francisco Maldonado Andreu, a 2022 graduate from The George Washington University Law School. Francisco participated in the Civil and Human Rights Law Clinic, gaining experience with both international and US domestic clients while working on a wide variety of cases. Francisco was also the Co-President of the Latin American Law Student Association, and he was active in Lambda Law. Francisco shares details about his clinic experience, provides helpful advice for law students, and speaks about his perspective on what success means at this early stage in his career.

In this second episode of our Student Clinic Spotlight Series, we talk with Jessica Paduganan, a 2022 graduate from the University of Michigan Law School. Jessica participated in a clinic almost every semester during law school! She was a student-attorney in the Workers' Rights Clinic during the second semester of her 1L year and student-attorney in the Civil-Criminal Litigation Clinic during her 2L and 3L years. Jessica shares how participating in the clinic helped her to develop her lawyer persona, why she was intentional in seeking a position on the Michigan Law Review and how she found a supportive, authentic community in the First Generation Law Students group.

Join us for the first episode in our Student Clinic Spotlight Series! During this episode, we chat with Derick Wallace who just graduated from The George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. During law school Derick participated in the Small Business & Community Economic Development Clinic. Derick shares details about his transactional clinic work, the skills he learned from clinic, the impact that the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) had on his law school experience, and advice he has for law students.

In the final episode of our Mental Health Awareness Month collaboration with Jonah Perlin and the How I Lawyer podcast, Jonah speaks with Doron Gold, a psychotherapist and former practicing lawyer (primarily in the area of family law) from Toronto, Canada. Doron works primarily with lawyers, law students, and judges as well as other professionals. His personal experience working in the legal profession, coupled with his many years of experiences working with lawyers in distress at the Ontario Lawyers' Assistance Program (OLAP) give him a unique and valuable perspective on the challenges faced by these individuals. In addition to treating lawyers, Doron presents regularly on issues related to mental health for lawyers. Thank you so much to Jonah Perlin for collaborating with us for #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth and for his efforts in helping us to contribute to the goal of destigmitizing mental health challenges in the legal profession.

Dr. Diana Uchiyama is a lawyer and psychologist helping people struggling with mental health and substance use issues as Executive Director of the Illinois Lawyers' Assistance Program. In this special conversation with Hallie and Allison, Dr. Diana shares her personal journey from public defender to clinical psychologist and provides insight into how we can build healthy mental health habits for ourselves and those in our communities.

**Please note this episode covers several topics that some might find disturbing including substance abuse, eating disorders, and suicide.**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 third episode of our series, #HowILawyer Host Jonah Perlin speaks with Brian Cuban. Brian is a Dallas-based attorney, keynote speaker, writer, and addiction recovery advocate. Brian has been in long-term recovery from alcohol, cocaine and bulimia since April of 2007. Brian is well known and speaks across the country at law schools & law firms both to tell his story and to offer advice on how our profession can better improve mental health awareness, awareness of substance abuse problems, and building more compassionate communities. He is the author of three books: Shattered Image, the Addicted Lawyer, and most recently his debut novel: The Ambulance Chaser.B…

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…

What does it mean to practice international law? Join us for a conversation with Juan Perla, Partner at the law firm of Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP in New York and an appellate and international disputes attorney. Juan discusses the mentorship that changed the path of his legal career, what it means to represent foreign governments in different forums around the world, the pre-law career that gave him a leg up in his role as a new law firm partner, and his involvement in United States v. Vaello-Madero, which is currently pending before SCOTUS.

What song describes your career? On Episode 22, we chat with David Dormon, General Counsel at Downtown Music Holdings. David takes us through his journey from corporate associate at two large law firms to the creative ways he was able to discover a career that combined his expertise in transactional work with his love of music.

Lindsay Dubin developed the courage early on to push back against other people's expectations. Join us for Episode 21 and hear from Lindsay about her experience as an environmental law litigator, what made her say "No Thanks" to OCI, and her essential tips for students interested in public interest careers. We also talk about some fascinating environmental protection cases, including the story behind a current case involving horseshoe crabs (and their blue blood!) and red knots (a type of bird). Don't miss our conversation with Lindsay Dubin!

Leaning into Liens? Join us for Episode 20(!) and our conversation with Emily Thomas, Senior Counsel at Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Emily shares how she decided that a transactional practice focused on real estate was the path for her, tells us about some of the interesting (and sometimes wonky) issues that come up in real estate deals, and offers insight into the importance of learning the hospitality industry once she went in-house at Hyatt. Join us for this discussion about another area of transactional law (and a few great property-related law jokes).

Delegate Suhas Subramanyam's first call to public service came when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans while he was in college at Tulane. Since that time, Delegate Subramanyam has dedicated himself to public service in a number of ways, including as a campaign volunteer, a legislative assistant, a White House advisor, and now, as an elected official in Virginia. Join us for Episode 19 to hear more about Delegate Subramanyam's journey and how law school impacted his career.

On Episode 18, we chat with Jonathan Jacobson, a Trial Attorney in the Public Integrity Section at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Jonathan shares the story of how he charted his own course to law school, provides his candid take about government service through the DOJ Honors Program, and discusses his transition from civil to criminal practice, including a year as an AUSA in Puerto Rico. Stay tuned for the entire episode to hear about Jonathan's advice for a balanced life and legal practice (hint: it relates to a beagle named Teddy).

On Episode 17, we are joined by Chloe Rossen, Senior Counsel at Longroad Energy in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to her job at Longroad, Chloe was an associate at Mayer Brown in Chicago. On this episode, we chat with Chloe about how she decided to go into transactional work, why she decided to make the move from a large law firm to in-house counsel, why she is passionate about being a renewable energy lawyer, and more. Chloe is one of the first transactional lawyers we have had on the podcast, so we’re particularly excited to welcome her to the show!

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.

If you're interested in clerking, this episode is for you! During Episode 15, we chat with Donya Khadem, a University of Michigan Law School graduate who embarked on two clerkships right after graduation. She first clerked on the Eastern District of Michigan and is currently a judicial law clerk on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Donya shares her perspective on clerking for two different federal courts, including what she learned from each clerkship, the differences between a district court and an appellate court clerkship, and how the stereotypes about different types of clerkships may not tell the whole story. Enjoy the show!

In Episode 14, we welcome Todd Belcore to Personal Jurisdiction. Todd is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Social Change, a national nonprofit organization committed to liberation and amplifying community voices through storytelling, organizing, and direct action. We talk to Todd about how and why he started Social Change, his views on abolition and liberation work, how the nonprofit responds to community needs in real time, and his team's work in policy advocacy, direct services, storytelling, and so much more. Enjoy!

In the first episode of Season 2 (!), we speak with labor lawyer Katherine Leung. Katherine is a graduate of Wellesley College and Harvard Law School, and currently works as a Field Attorney at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, D.C. Katherine chats with us about her path to law school, including her experience as a transfer student, her view of employment issues as feminist issues, and the many facets of her job at the NLRB. Celebrate Personal Jurisdiction's Season 2 and listen now!