LawHub Presents I Am The Law Podcast
171 Episodes
Translating Engineers’ Needs into Airtight Agreements
When the Navy’s research and development arm needs to buy equipment or services, Marta Rajchel helps decide how. As a procurement lawyer for the Department of Defense, she works with contracting staff and the scientists and engineers who define what the government needs. In this episode, Marta walks through a purchase from start to finish: choosing a contract structure, reviewing solicitations for ambiguity, checking bid evaluations, and representing the agency when a losing bidder files a protest. She explains why ending a contract with a poorly performing contractor can still mean paying them, and how she contracts with smaller companies outside the standard federal rules. Marta also discusses learning a dense body of regulations and how federal culture compares to private practice.
Marta is a graduate of Wayne State University Law School.
This episode is hosted by Kyle McEntee.
Mentioned in this episode:
Episodes
Rules From 1940: Advising Investment Funds in a Modern Market
35 minutes 34 secondsMutual funds and exchange-traded funds are a staple of retirement accounts, and federal law tightly controls how they operate. Abigail Hemnes, a partner at a large firm, advises these funds and the companies that manage them. In this episode, she explains how a fund with no employees gets work done and how her role differs from that of the portfolio managers who decide what to buy. She discusses rules written in 1940, shifting SEC priorities across administrations, and how she works with associates to answer client questions. Abigail also reflects on the steady pace that drew her to the practice and why the line between partners who bring in clients and those who serve them blurs when clients stay with a firm for years. Abigail Hemnes is a graduate of Northeastern University School of Law.
A Young Associate's Story: Navigating the Transition from Law School to Lawyer (replay)
29 minutes 5 secondsAllan Carlsen is fresh out of law school and just over a year into practice as a patent litigator at an elite boutique law firm. Unlike our typical episodes, the conversation with Allan focuses on how he found his job and decided on his firm, how school and practice differ, and how he navigates new situations. He talks about his experiences with the on-campus interview process, the Loyola Patent Fair, and the important difference between producing the right work product and producing a perfect work product. Allan is a graduate of Temple University Beasley School of Law.
Translating Engineers’ Needs into Airtight Agreements
32 minutes 28 secondsWhen the Navy’s research and development arm needs to buy equipment or services, Marta Rajchel helps decide how. As a procurement lawyer for the Department of Defense, she works with contracting staff and the scientists and engineers who define what the government needs. In this episode, Marta walks through a purchase from start to finish: choosing a contract structure, reviewing solicitations for ambiguity, checking bid evaluations, and representing the agency when a losing bidder files a protest. She explains why ending a contract with a poorly performing contractor can still mean paying them, and how she contracts with smaller companies outside the standard federal rules. Marta also discusses learning a dense body of regulations and how federal culture compares to private practice.
Liability Detour: Litigating Against Bankruptcy as Strategy
30 minutes 44 secondsWhen thousands of people sue a company over a harmful product, the company may create a new entity, load it with that liability, and file for bankruptcy, pausing the lawsuits and taking them away from juries. Adam Silverstein, a partner at a midsize New York firm, represents plaintiffs’ lawyers trying to get these cases thrown out of bankruptcy court. In this episode, Adam explains how he learned a new area of law after Johnson & Johnson’s first talc bankruptcy filing and what the early weeks demanded, from emergency hearings without depositions to forensic work tracing the company’s path to North Carolina. He also discusses why circuit law shapes venue fights, coordinating with co-counsel, and working opposite former allies. Adam is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.
Inside Big Law
37 minutes 6 secondsBig Law recruiting now starts earlier than ever, often during the first semester of law school and increasingly outside traditional campus interviews. That leaves law students making consequential career decisions before they’ve had much time to understand what working at a large law firm entails. In this special episode, Kyle and Katya draw on a dozen conversations with Big Law lawyers to show what the work looks like from the inside.
Arriving Alone: Legal Aid for Detained Immigrant Children
25 minutes 47 secondsAngelique Torres is a legal aid lawyer who represents children navigating the U.S. immigration system. Her clients arrive at the border without a parent or legal guardian and are placed in government custody. In this episode, Angelique explains the forms of immigration relief available to her clients, including Special Immigrant Juvenile status and asylum, and how she builds trust with children as they share the difficult experiences that can shape their cases. Each case requires advocacy on several fronts: preparing clients for asylum interviews, working with parents and child advocates, challenging prolonged detention through habeas petitions, and representing a child’s expressed wishes even when others may believe a different outcome is in their best interest. She explains how changes in funding can reshape the course of legal aid work, from the services organizations can provide to the cases they can take on, and why success ultimately depends on what each child wants from their case. Angelique is a graduate of Quinnipiac University School of Law.
What Lawyers Think Pop Culture Gets Right, and Wrong, About Their Profession
27 minutes 20 secondsIf you've listened to I Am the Law for any length of time, you know the practice of law rarely looks the way it does on screen. Hours of preparation, client calls, problem solving, and stress don’t exactly make for catchy courtroom stories. But for many lawyers, those fictional portrayals were our guests' first introduction to the profession. In this special episode, Kyle and Katya ask their guests two questions: Who is your favorite lawyer from pop culture, and what does pop culture get right or wrong about being a lawyer?
- Doron Gold, Episode 143, The Therapist Who Left Law: Treating Perfectionism in Lawyers
- Jimmy Lai, Episode 151, An Introvert's Path to Running an Immigration Law Firm
- Devin Morse, Episode 144, Public Defender to Private Practice: Criminal Defense From Scratch
- Vineet Dubey, Episode 146, Poisoned Goods: Suing to Clean Up Consumer Products
- Mark Purpura, Episode 153, Building a Practice Around Delaware's Corporate Code
- Randy Prebula, Episode 142, Scientist to Regulatory Lawyer: Getting Medical Devices to Market
- Storm Lineberger, Episode 158, Fine Print, Big Money: Making Insurers Pay Up
- Richard Hy, Episode 155, After the Headlines: Lawsuits in the Wake of Disaster
- Jonathan Merel, Episode 154, More Than Legal Advice: Building a Firm for High-Conflict Divorce
- Jennifer Long, Episode 156, Sharpening the Craft of Special Victims Prosecution
- Charles Star, Episode 157, One Career in Three Acts: Big Law, Contract Work, Plaintiff Firm
- Yuliya Flynn, Episode 148, Concierge Outside Counsel: Compliance, Contracts, and Keeping Clients Deal-Ready
- Michelle Hanlon, Episode 149, Space Law: The Work Behind an Emerging Practice
- Elizabeth Stong, Episode 152, Federal Bankruptcy Judge: Running a Second Chance Court