Episodes

Our conversation with Jennifer Belmont Jennings is long overdue - she's the first estate planning attorney that we've had on the pod! Not only does Jennifer give great insight into why estate planning provides opportunities both in a law firm setting and in financial services, but she also shares advice from her career pivots that will be helpful to anyone facing uncertainty as a result of the challenging job market, a layoff, or a desire to make a change.

Episode 92 with Elissa Knoff, Patent Counseling and Prosecution Attorney and Partner at Bookoff McAndrews, PLLC, proves that following your curiosity — even when the path isn't obvious — can lead somewhere great. Before, during, and after law school, Elissa kept saying yes to new experiences, including a Federal Circuit clerkship that she still calls the best job she's ever had. This conversation is inspiring because Elissa is honest about the moments she took a chance, including briefly leaving her firm during the pandemic before realizing just how much she loved the work she'd built there. Elissa's career journey demonstrates that careers are resilient - and we know this conversation will resonate with anyone who hasn't found the right fit in the law yet, or who is considering making a change in their career.

Calling all interested in entertainment law, law teaching, and book writing! In Episode 91 we chat with Sherri Burr, the Dickason Chair and Regents Professor Emerita at the University of New Mexico School of Law. Sherri shares her journey to becoming a law professor and her love of entertainment and art law. She also dives into her writing process and what it means to be a sprinter vs. a marathon writer. She shares her love of people, human nature, and observing human experiences, and the way this curiosity inspires her writing. And she shares insights from her newest book: Living with Nephew: How I got Voted the Meanest Parent in the World, a moving and humorous memoir. The stories Sherri shares during the episode are as good as her 30+ books, so this is not one to miss!

The NextGen Bar Exam is coming! In Episode #90, we get the scoop on the NextGen Bar Exam from Sophie Dye Gayle, Director of Legal Education and Innovation at Themis Bar Review. In this episode, Sophie shares about her role at Themis, how the NextGen Bar Exam has been developed, and how it will be rolled out. In addition, Sophie shares advice that will resonate no matter which bar exam you take.

If you're interested in regulatory enforcement actions, are wondering what a monitorship really entails, or have ever wanted to take your legal practice abroad, this episode is for you! Episode 89 features Victoria Jepson--Global Government Enforcement Attorney at Trafigura in Geneva, Switzerland. We chat with Victoria about transferring law schools just before her 2L year and how she navigated the job market while making that transition. She shares how an opportunity to practice law in London led to her becoming qualified to practice law in the UK and to work for a number of multinational companies in both the regulatory and litigation spaces. And she gives us deep insights into what it's like to help a company that has been put under a court monitorship. Victoria is also one of our dear friends and gives fantastic advice about navigating job changes and making the most of each opportunity as it comes your way. Don't miss this one!

Early in his legal career, the unlikely pairing of a love for teaching and an economic downturn led Michael Bloom to identify unexplored opportunities to innovate in the legal industry. Michael is the founder and CEO of Praktio, an interactive online learning platform for training in contracts, transactional skills, and litigation skills. In this episode, we discuss Michael's willingness to step outside of the common legal career path, why academia can be entrepreneurial, and what it means to cultivate a beginner's mindset.

In this episode, we chat with Patrick Maillet--Government Relations Counsel at the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) in Washington, D.C. In addition to discussing his work at LSC, Patrick is our first guest who attended law school as a night student! This afforded Patrick the opportunity to learn from all-star adjuncts who only had availability to teach in the evenings, and helped him finance law school as he continued his day job on the hill working for U.S. House Representative Betty McCollum. Patrick also shares his journey to joining the Army Reserves as a Judge Advocate General in 2024, and the fulfilling work he does as a JAG. Don't miss out on Patrick's thoughts on coffee, his love of Bruce Springsteen, and why he thinks being hungry and trying new things is one of the keys to a successful career!

We're starting the new year with Christopher Bailey, a Judge Advocate in the United States Air Force and an Assistant Professor of Law at the United States Air Force Academy. Over Chris's 15 years in the Air Force, he has traveled across the country and around the world to advise on issues including international humanitarian law and the law of armed conflict. Chris shares how a passion for international relations that started in undergrad, coupled with an important mentorship in law school, inspired him to pursue a career in the Air Force JAG Corps. We learned so much throughout this conversation with Chris and have no doubt this episode will help you to start the new year feeling energized!

We wrap up 2025 with Diana Tafur, Human Rights Advocate and Senior Technical Advisor at the International Rescue Committee. Diana's legal career in immigration law has taken her across the world - from Washington, D.C. to Ecuador, Chicago, Texas, and Australia - and through several different roles - including advocating for children, supervising pro bono attorneys, and analyzing new immigration law guidance as quickly as it is released. In this episode, Diana shares amazing insight into both the personal and professional milestones that have shaped her career.

In episode 84, we chat with Clare Diegel, who is currently Director of the Professional Standards Division at the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office in Minnesota. Clare shares how her LLM in International Human Rights, experience in big law, and Ninth Circuit clerkship, while all incredible opportunities, actually made getting a state-level public defender job quite difficult! She also discusses how she managed burnout when she eventually did become a public defender, and how starting a family played a role in her career trajectory, as well. We thoroughly enjoyed learning from Clare (you will hear a lot of laughter!), and we hope you will, too.

Not only do we have an excellent new episode for you this month, but we're also thrilled to launch our brand refresh! Personal Jurisdiction has a new look! Check our website, LinkedIn, and Substack to see what's new at Personal Jurisdiction. We can't think of a better episode to accompany our brand refresh than #84 with Tamany Vinson Bentz! Tamany Vinson Bentz is the founding partner of California IP Law, a boutique law firm in Manhattan Beach, California dedicated to helping small and growing businesses establish and protect their intellectual property. In this conversation, Tamany shares how she navigated a pivot early on in her legal education, why she earned both a law degree and a Master's in Bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania, how she created her own niche IP practice in the early days of social media, and what led her to found her own IP firm.

Calling all interested in clerkships and the federal court system! We are thrilled to share our first episode featuring both a circuit court judge and one of his current law clerks. In Episode 82, we chat with the Honorable Kevin Newsom of the Eleventh Circuit and his current clerk, Karissa Kang. We discuss Judge Newsom's path to the federal bench as well as how Karissa landed a clerkship with Judge Newsom, what the day-to-day looks like in Judge Newsom's chambers from both the judge and clerk perspective, the three main things Judge Newsom looks for when selecting his clerks, and so much more. We had a blast chatting with both Judge Newsom and Karissa, so we hope you enjoy the conversation!

In Episode 81, we chat with Tom Peabody, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. In this episode, Tom shares his journey from law school to becoming a federal prosecutor, emphasizing the importance of "finding your people" and building a supportive network of both colleagues and friends. He also discusses highlights from his unique clerkship experience--he clerked for the same judge at both the district and circuit court levels!--as well as how he navigated being a young associate at a large law firm in Chicago.

Why have a podcast if you don't interview all of your friends? We celebrate Episode 80 with Christina Otero Geeza - one of our very best friends and an absolute powerhouse attorney based in Miami, Florida. Episode 80 is packed with great advice about approaching law school as an opportunity to try new things, maintaining important relationships throughout your career, and focusing on all of the things that make you happy and fulfilled outside of your career.

In this episode we chat with Zac Byer about his journey to Director of Litigation and Intellectual Property at Activision Blizzard (shout out to Candy Crush)! Although Zac's resume includes working in big law as both an associate and partner, his journey to an in-house role involved a number of twists and turns. Zac shares his decision to take a year off during law school to pursue a role at Luntz Global, a political and communications consulting firm, and his decision to clerk after several years at a firm. He also gives us a detailed look into what being a litigator in-house really looks like, and how it differs from working at a firm. Although going in-house is a less common path for a litigator, Zac paints a helpful picture of how one might forge this path!

Is the July 2025 bar exam already stressing you out? Are you thinking about adding another jurisdiction to your practice? If you're taking the bar exam, this episode is for you! We chat with Rebecca Petrilli, the bar exam expert from Themis Bar Review, about the top 5 tips for bar exam study, common roadblocks in studying, how to personalize your bar exam studying to work best for you, strategies for the final week before the exam, and exam day advice.

Chris Louis-Jacques is a 3L at the University of Georgia School of Law in Athens, Georgia. Chris joins Personal Jurisdiction for Episode 77 to discuss his journey to law school, including how his family is at the center of his life and work, why teachers along the way have had an impact on his career path, how he uses LinkedIn and other tools to learn about different areas of legal practice and to build his network, and how he came excel in legal writing. Chris explains how an in-person experience during his 1L and 2L law firm summers helped him to identify his next steps and how law students are learning about and using AI.

In Episode 76, we chat with Alicia Ulibarri, a third-year law student at the University of New Mexico School of Law. Alicia shares her journey into public interest law, motivated by personal experiences of injustice experienced by her family. She discusses her fellowship at the Southwest Women's Law Center, where she worked on issues related to domestic violence and economic security, particularly for Native women. She also highlights her work with land grant and acequia communities through her work at New Mexico Legal Aid, where she will return after graduation. Alicia emphasizes the significance of building connections and the impact of passion in pursuing a fulfilling legal career. She also touches on the importance of storytelling and understanding the rich histories of the communities she serves, ultimately defining success as the ability to explore and engage in meaningful work.

In Episode 75, Northwestern Law alumna Yvette Diaz, a personal injury attorney at Freese & Goss, PLLC in Dallas, Texas, shares her inspiring journey from legal assistant to trial attorney, and highlights the challenges and triumphs that shaped her path. Yvette emphasizes the importance of community in law school, shares her passion for trial preparation, and explains why she has dedicated her career to personal injury and mass tort law. Yvette also discusses how she has developed her lawyer persona and the significance of small wins in her legal practice.

Happy New Year! We're starting 2025 by reflecting on perspectives on success from our Season 3 guests. We hope this episode inspires you to consider what success means to you this year. Cheers!