Avoiding Burnout: Building a Sustainable Legal Career

Staying Irreplaceable in the Age of AI

On the Law Practice Podcast, Terrell and guest Rachel Clar discuss whether AI is “breaking” the legal industry and how it is compressing the timeline for lawyers, especially women in Big Law, to become irreplaceable and reach income or equity partnership. Rachel, an attorney and founder of Interconnected Us, argues that protecting career trajectory increasingly requires building a book of business, noting a Major, Lindsey & Africa study showing average rainmaking gaps (men $3.9M vs women $2.4M) that affect compensation. She shares her trademarked BNRI framework: Branding (self-awareness and a clear niche beyond practice area), Networking (identifying where target clients and decision-makers gather, using AI and LinkedIn research), Rainmaking/relational selling (making the ask and handling rejection), and Influence (amplifying value and building internal allies for partnership). She also offers resources via LinkedIn and interconnectedus.com, including a legal conference cheat sheet. 00:00 AI Compresses Partnership 00:34 Is AI Breaking the Law 01:08 Meet Rachel Claire 02:25 Women Leadership Pressure 03:16 Origination Gap Numbers 04:18 Timeline Before AI 05:42 Dinner Party Advice 07:17 BNRI Branding First 08:50 Networking With AI 10:15 Relational Selling Ask 11:43 Influence Inside Firm 13:10 How To Connect 13:58 Free Conference Cheat Sheet 14:39 Why This Work Matters 16:50 Closing Thanks

Rethinking Business Development: Small Actions, Stronger Relationships

On the Law Practice podcast, host Terrell Turner welcomes back Deb Feder, a former big law and in-house lawyer turned consultant, to discuss practical business development and client relationship strategies for lawyers. Feder explains her approach to business development as three parts: growing your network, nurturing relationships, and sharing expertise, emphasizing that it’s often overcomplicated and can be done in small daily actions. She encourages simple, human connections (starting with “hello”), asking better client-focused questions, and avoiding assumptions, such as making AI the center of every client conversation; instead, lawyers should gauge clients’ interest and use AI tools thoughtfully without sacrificing trust. Feder advises building habits early and shares quick examples like check-ins, follow-ups after conferences, and keeping topic lists, along with a monthly calendar of five-minute tasks available on her website. 00:00 Five Minute Business Development 00:23 Podcast Welcome and Disclaimer 01:01 Meet Deb Feder 01:33 From Lawyer to Consultant 03:11 Why Client Questions Matter 05:00 Business Development Basics 07:12 Stop Overcomplicating Networking 10:29 AI in Client Conversations 15:16 Build the Daily Habit 16:38 Five Minute Task Ideas 18:06 Resources and Wrap Up

Avoiding Burnout: Building a Sustainable Legal Career

On the Law Practice podcast, host Terrell interviews career coach and former attorney Dena Lefkowitz about navigating a legal career without burning out. Dena shares how, after over 20 years practicing law, she realized law school didn’t prepare lawyers for the business of law—networking, marketing, and sales—and that lawyers themselves must generate business. She describes feeling embarrassed after discovering that litigation was a poor fit for her personality and values, and warns against “doubling down” on past decisions when a role harms your health or life. Dena explains using values and the five-factor personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extroversion/introversion, agreeableness, neuroticism) to evaluate fit, and discusses finding outlets or pivots when misaligned. She recounts a back injury that prompted a change to in-house counsel work aligned with her values, and highlights her book, "Winning in Your Own Court." 00:00 Lawyers Are Miserable 00:12 Podcast Intro Disclaimer 00:50 Meet Dena Lefkowitz 01:33 Two Things Law School Missed 02:23 Wrong Practice Area Realization 04:20 Embarrassment And Sunk Costs 06:17 Trapped By Lifestyle Choices 07:50 Values Driven Career Pivot 08:50 Big Five Personality Factors 10:32 Misalignment And Mental Health 13:00 Injury Forced A Change 14:24 Book Title And Key Laws 15:44 How To Contact Dena 16:15 Final Thanks And Outro

A Practical Guide for Lawyers When Choosing the Right Legal Tech

Live at the ABA TECHSHOW, host Terrell interviews Jay McAllister of Paragon Tech about how law firms should evaluate legal technology, especially AI, with a skeptical, results-driven approach. Jay explains that marketing hype often overstates capabilities, using software “integrations” as an example, where firms must check whether syncing is unidirectional or bidirectional. He ties vendor due diligence to lawyers’ duty of competence, urging firms to understand the benefits and risks of new tech and to ask what large language model powers a tool and, more importantly, what primary legal data sources it uses to reduce hallucinations. Jay describes Paragon’s “Leverage AI” framework, starting with identifying a firm’s limiting operational constraint, and shares a case where a custom GPT cut discovery chronology work from over an hour to five minutes with human verification. 00:00 Live From TECHSHOW 00:20 Meet Jay And Paragon 00:58 Why Stay Skeptical 01:24 Integration Claims Explained 02:57 Vendor Due Diligence 03:35 Ai Model Hype Check 05:59 Ask About Data Sources 08:45 Leverage AI Framework 09:14 Case Study Discovery Timeline 10:49 Human In The Loop 11:51 Pick The Right Tool 12:50 Show Floor Wrap Up 13:36 Closing Thanks

Disaster Planning for Law Firms

In this episode of the Law Practice Podcast, the host interviews Shawn L. Holahan about disaster planning for law firms, drawing on her experience as a New Orleans litigator displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Holahan explains how a simple laminated wallet card with key phone numbers helped him reconnect with her firm when power and communications failed, underscoring that low-tech tools can be critical when “the power’s out.” She outlines a practical disaster recovery approach centered on a low-tech critical information binder containing family and staff contact details, bank account information, and password references listed in a non-identifying way, plus guidance on posting calm, redundant client-facing messages with updated contact information. Holahan emphasizes that lawyers’ ethical obligations to clients are not suspended during disasters, and encourages broadening the definition of “disaster” beyond hurricanes. 00:00 Low Tech After Disaster 00:20 Meet Shawn L. Holahan 00:39 Katrina Changed Everything 01:34 The Laminated Card Lesson 03:20 Critical Info Binder Basics 04:26 Ethics Don't Pause 06:53 Client Communication Playbook 08:12 Why Attend TECHSHOW 09:37 Closing Thanks