Deconstructing Harvey's $11 Billion Valuation and Navigating a Bar Grievance with Suzanne Thompson

Deconstructing Harvey's $11 Billion Valuation and Navigating a Bar Grievance with Suzanne Thompson

Is AI giant Harvey making a genius play or risking a catastrophic, public collapse? Host Jared Correia dissects the company’s high-stakes gamble to build its own frontier AI model to break free from outside vendors and control its own training data. Then, Chief Bar Counsel Suzanne Thompson steps into the studio to strip the fear away from bar grievances. From the strict rules governing non-refundable fees and bartering legal work to managing automated tech supervision and executing honest mistake remediation, Suzanne provides a clear roadmap for professional compliance. Stick around for the Counter Program to see if an outsider can decode authentic Maine slang. Learn more about Suzanne Thompson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-thompson-36a415180]. Check out our latest Spotify playlist [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/06q1kUzcEV7m0qIxr3LCpA?si=_kZzYIuhTfKgrGlUkEUoaQ]. We're grateful to be supported by Attorney at Work Today, and Lawyer 2 Lawyer. Subscribe to Attorney at Work Today [https://legalbroadcastingcompany.com/attorney-at-work-today/]. Subscribe to Lawyer 2 Lawyer [https://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/lawyer-2-lawyer/]. * (00:00) - Monologue: The 1950 Movie "Harvey" and Legal Tech AI Valuations * (02:03) - Deconstructing Harvey's OpenAI Reliance and the Frontier LLM Bet * (04:04) - Controlling Training Data and the Innovation Lag in Legal Software * (07:14) - Interview: Meet Suzanne Thompson of the Maine Board of Overseers * (08:57) - The Mechanics of Self-Regulation, Burnout, and Alternative Discipline * (13:14) - Trust Accounting, IOLTA Funds, and Insufficient Fund Notifications * (14:51) - Transitioning from Shakespeare Scholar to Family Law Practice * (21:01) - The Thorny Ethics of Non-Refundable Retainers and Reasonableness Rules * (25:07) - Bartering Legal Work: Trading Contracts for Goats and Valuing Input * (28:36) - AI Ethics: Disclaimers, Duty to Prospective Clients, and Supervision * (33:02) - Why the Core Ethics Rules Adequately Handle Modern Artificial Intelligence * (35:36) - The Power of Remediation: How to Properly Respond to a Bar Grievance * (39:03) - Counter Program: "Shit Real Mainers Say" Trivia Gauntlet * (47:41) - Unpacking "From Away" Status, Maine Maple Sunday, and Oyster Festivals * (51:26) - Outro: "Main Event" Spotify Playlist and Harvey Outtakes Click here to view the episode transcript. [https://share.transistor.fm/s/e37875fb/transcript]

Landing Legal Speaking Gigs and Build Domain Authority | MCLE New England

In this special episode, host Jared Correia partners with MCLE New England to decode the exact strategy lawyers need to deploy to secure high-visibility speaking engagements, build domain authority, and generate massive referral networks. Bruce Richard, Director at MCLE New England, breaks down the inner workings of CLE selection, revealing that his organization coordinates over 360 programs annually and is constantly hunting for fresh educational curriculum and proactive legal voices. Bruce shares his direct access channel for any attorney ready to pitch a program topic. Stepping up to the microphone, an elite panel of veteran presenters share their diverse shortcuts and real-world execution strategies for commanding the legal stage: * Victoria Santoro (Santoro & Gray) reflects on the brutal workload of balancing a new law firm launch with serving as the immediate past President of the Massachusetts Bar Association. She reveals how her early marketing blog, "The Limber Lawyer," built an authentic brand identity, and emphasizes that joining volunteer bar section councils is the fastest track to getting noticed by major CLE decision-makers. * Pete Jamieson (Hastings, Jamieson Lipschutz Family Law Group) charts his unique path from a mailroom clerk to managing highly technical marital asset division and tax algorithms. Pete explains how his background in the performing arts shaped his courtroom delivery and details why attorneys must ditch text-heavy slide decks in favor of high-energy pacing, unique handouts, and well-placed engagement tools like GIFs. * Gabriel Cheong (Infinity Law Group) shares how he scaled his practice by transitioning fully to fixed-fee divorce litigation models and developing proprietary guideline apps for family court judges. Gabriel provides a brilliant masterclass in speaker positioning, explaining how he cornered the legal market early by establishing himself as an expert in tech-adjacent business frameworks rather than competing in crowded substantive fields. * Jennifer Mikels (Goulston & Storrs) pulls back the curtain on her high-stakes trial practice defending fellow lawyers in professional liability, ethics, and partnership conflicts. Jen shares a vital warning regarding a recent business litigation court ruling that denied a lawyer entry on a pro hac vice basis due to unvetted AI hallucinations. She outlines how to systematically collaborate with internal advisory committees to seamlessly refresh recurring CLE topics. The episode ends with a showdown in the Counter Program as Tori Santoro and Bruce Richard square off for a round of "How Broke Am I?". Interested in finding a speaking opportunity?  Reach out to MCLE New England [https://www.mcle.org], your local bar or local CLE organization. Check out our Spotify playlist [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5orHOdjpLpnt17Zb6bhqfU?si=jt0Ewk23TouIyiar4fPV3g]for this episode. We're grateful to be supported by Attorney at Work Today, and Lawyer 2 Lawyer. Subscribe to Attorney at Work Today [https://legalbroadcastingcompany.com/attorney-at-work-today/]. Subscribe to Lawyer 2 Lawyer [https://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/lawyer-2-lawyer/]. * (00:00) - Monologue: Partnering with MCLE New England to Land Legal Speaking Gigs * (01:29) - Bruce Richard on Coordinating 360 Annual Programs and Pitching CLE Ideas * (02:43) - Quebec Nordiques Hockey Logos and Powder Blue Jerseys * (04:30) - Victoria Santoro on Bar Association Leadership and "The Limber Lawyer" Blog * (11:07) - Utilizing Volunteer Organizations as a Springboard for Referral Networks * (16:40) - Pete Jamieson on Transitioning From Mailroom Clerk to Complex Asset Math * (21:35) - Ditching Boring PowerPoints and Injecting Personality into CLE Presentations * (28:53) - Old Old-Fashioned Drink Mixology and Silicone Cube Trays * (31:54) - Gabriel Cheong on Acquiring Practices and Transitioning to Fixed-Fee Litigation * (35:48) - Building Child Support Apps and Dominating Tech-Adjacent Speaking Niches * (46:44) - Jennifer Mikels on Legal Malpractice Defense and the "ER of Law" * (48:13) - Breaking Down AI Hallucination Punishments and Court Entry Denials * (52:04) - Collaborating with MCLE Advisory Committees to Get in the Speaker Rolodex * (01:01:08) - Counter Program: Tori Santoro vs. Bruce Richard on "How Broke Am I?" * (01:18:12) - Outro, Grillos Pickles, and the All-Bands Spotify Playlist Click here to view the episode transcript. [https://share.transistor.fm/s/dce768fe/transcript]

Unlocking the Legal Latent Market with Beau Atkins

Beau Atkins, CEO of Evolve Family Law, joins the program to share how his firm is completely disrupting the Canadian legal ecosystem from the province of Saskatchewan. Putting himself through law school working as a construction tile setter, Beau realized that the trade philosophy of quoting an exact price up front for a project was directly applicable to legal services. He details how his practice operates entirely on customized flat fees—even for highly volatile litigation—by quoting incrementally as far as the firm can see and transparently managing out-of-scope adjustments. Furthermore, Beau pulls back the curtain on how he captures the massive 80% legal latent market, why traditional firms charging standard billable hours for immediate AI workflows are bordering on fraud, and how his new AI virtual reception platform systematically eliminates inbound interruptions to preserve an attorney's peak flow state. * The Calzone Flight Crisis — Jared recounts the grueling structural failure of his digestive system after eating heavy dairy before boarding a cross-country flight. * The Tile-Setting Pricing Model — Beau breaks down why selling certainty and peace of mind means abandoning the billable hour in favor of predictable, upfront project pricing. * The Canadian Sandbox Advantage — How small-scale regulatory settings and regional mobility agreements allow midwestern Canadian firms to experiment heavily with alternative frameworks and document workflows. * Protecting the Dome of Concentration — The empirical data behind why every minor phone interruption costs an associate 22 minutes of productivity and how automation seals that drain. * The Wheel of Justice Canada Edition — A chaotic trivia gauntlet diving into Drake vs. Kendrick, strategic maple syrup reserves, regional anomalies in Alberta, and the culinary science of ketchup chips. Click here to learn more about Evolve Law [https://evolvelaw.ca]. And take a listen to this week's Spotify playlist [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2IKOO3L6cypXQpyTxNDOhh?si=mIRYIMuGQp2-wRGcUtY3sg]. Click here to watch a video of this episode. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h6Gbl08B6c] Follow more shows on Legal Broadcasting Company [https://legalbroadcastingcompany.com]. And be sure to follow on * Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/legal-late-night/id1809201251] * Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/0Rkik0LLMaU6u0e7AKfK9h]. * Jared's LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredcorreia] We're grateful to be supported by Attorney at Work Today, and Lawyer 2 Lawyer. Subscribe to Attorney at Work Today [https://legalbroadcastingcompany.com/attorney-at-work-today/]. Subscribe to Lawyer 2 Lawyer [https://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/lawyer-2-lawyer/]. * (00:00) - Monologue: Travels with Jared and the 2002 Las Vegas Travel Log * (01:44) - Southwest Airlines Seating and a Harrowing Calzone Flight Disaster * (04:15) - The 2002 San Diego World Cup and Fenton Marketplace Mark Twain Statue * (06:01) - Qualcomm Stadium Baseball Memories and the Drive to Vegas * (08:37) - New York, New York Rollercoasters and the Spearmint Rhino Trip * (12:05) - Kaleidoscope Conference and Meet Beau Atkins of Evolve Family Law * (15:29) - Saskatchewan Regulatory Sandboxes and Signing the Historical Book * (20:48) - Transitioning from Law School Tile Setter to Entrepreneurial Lawyer * (24:19) - The Tile-Setting Philosophy: Bringing Flat Fee Certainty to Family Law * (32:11) - Building Canada's First National Family Law Practice via Mobility Rules * (33:41) - Capturing the 80% Latent Legal Market and the Reality of AI Billing Fraud * (37:26) - Finding Family Law Associates and Segmenting Firm Production Roles * (41:43) - Simone Agentic: Building an AI Virtual Receptionist to Protect the Flow State * (44:57) - Escaping the Legal Tech Price Gouge and Managing a Firm Inside Claude * (46:58) - Counter Program: Wheel of Justice Canada Edition Trivia Game * (01:02:34) - Outro and the Viva Las Vegas Spotify Playlist Outtake Click here to view the episode transcript. [https://share.transistor.fm/s/fec1b458/transcript]

Fixing Legal Time Tracking Mistakes and the Real Role of a Fractional CFO with Leah Miller

Jared tackles the absolute mortal enemy of modern law firm revenue: time lag. Most law practices operate under a withered leak of unrecorded hours, improper invoice structures, and delayed payment processing workflows that effectively shrink their overall pocketbooks. Jared maps out the exact electronic infrastructures, cloud-based applications, and KPI metrics managers need to systematically deploy to ensure every fraction of an hour is recorded contemporaneously. Stepping into the financial studio, Leah Miller, Founder and CEO of Firmly Profits, joins the conversation to bridge the massive gap between pure legal chaos and forward-looking data models. Climbing the ranks from a trial paralegal to running a multi-million-dollar firm's infrastructure at just 26 years old, Leah exposes the danger of making operational decisions based purely on gut reactions or checking a checking account balance. She highlights the core functional differences between a basic bookkeeper, a corporate CPA, and a forward-looking fractional CFO, mapping out how personal injury and litigation firms can successfully iron out wild revenue volatility using historical averages, "time on desk" pipelines, and meticulous three-way trust reconciliations. * The Time Capture Drain — Why relying on paper logs completely tanks law firm realization rates and how to design explicit tech policies to stabilize tracking. * Forward-Looking Legal Strategy — The strategic blueprint behind fractional CFO consulting and why firms pulling in $2M to $20M shouldn't let cash-hoarding anxiety hold back scaling hires. * Trust Ledger Realities — Leah delivers a stern warning about compliance: if you cannot instantly pull clean three-way reconciliations and client ledger records, your firm has a major systemic vulnerability. * The "Horse Feathers" Battle — A high-stakes trivia showdown parsing pop culture anomalies, historical financial legends, and weird animal facts. Learn more about Leah and Firmly Profits [https://firmlyprofits.com]. Check out this week's Spotify playlist [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3mCSkMlskxqKx54jWagZIb?si=v34wAPOXQ2ufy9jBw6gZtw&nd=1&dlsi=a4d0ee0e72fa4834]. We're grateful to be supported by Attorney at Work Today, and Lawyer 2 Lawyer. Subscribe to Attorney at Work Today [https://legalbroadcastingcompany.com/attorney-at-work-today/]. Subscribe to Lawyer 2 Lawyer [https://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/lawyer-2-lawyer/]. Check out the new Legal Broadcasting Company: https://legalbroadcastingcompany.com [https://legalbroadcastingcompany.com/] And be sure to subscribe: * Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/legal-late-night/id1809201251 [https://www.google.com/search?q=https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/legal-late-night/id1809201251&authuser=1] * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Rkik0LLMaU6u0e7AKfK9h [https://open.spotify.com/show/0Rkik0LLMaU6u0e7AKfK9h] * Jared's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredcorreia [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredcorreia] * (00:00) - Monologue: Time Capture Siphons and Billable Hours * (02:55) - Agnostic Cloud Tracking and Automated AI Logs * (03:47) - Overcoming Time Lag and Shifting Away From Paper * (04:46) - Building In-Office Timekeeping Policies and KPI Management * (07:07) - Interview: Meet Leah Miller, Founder of Firmly Profits * (09:10) - Equestrian Passions and "Diamond Sparkles" the Pony * (10:47) - Chaos Management: Climbing From Paralegal to CFO at Age 26 * (16:41) - Bet On Yourself: The Pivot to Founding Firmly Profits * (19:45) - Breaking Down Bookkeepers vs CPAs vs CFOs * (22:01) - Cashflow Forecasting and Metrics for Personal Injury Firms * (25:24) - Red Flags: Bank Account Decision-Making and Founder Structures * (27:56) - Navigating Profit & Loss Buckets and Baseline Expenses * (29:44) - The Hard Truth About Trust Accounting & Three-Way Reconciliations * (34:25) - Understanding "Time on Desk" Metrics Across Firm Models * (35:44) - The Flat Fee vs. Hourly Billing Battleground * (40:21) - Counter Program: The "Horse Feathers" Two Truths and a Lie Game * (50:53) - Outro and the "True Tunes" Spotify Playlist Outtake Click here to view the episode transcript. [https://share.transistor.fm/s/b289ef98/transcript]

Why 60 Percent of Law Firm Phone Calls Fail and the History of Weird Jobs | with Tony Prieto

Jared kicks things off with a deep-dive monologue into Michael Penn's brilliant but highly obscure 1989 power-pop album, March. From navigating life as Sean Penn's brother to winning an MTV Video Music Award, Michael Penn briefly captured a flawless sonic time capsule right before Nirvana's grunge revolution shifted consumer tastes forever. Jared breaks down why this quirky, instrumentation-heavy record remains a perfect alternative pop artifact of a bygone musical era. Transitioning from pop history to the frontline mechanics of law firm revenue, Tony Prieto, Marketing Strategist at Answering Legal, joins the show to expose the multi-million dollar mistakes holding modern firms back. Shockingly, industry data reveals that up to 60% of legal phone calls go completely unanswered, and a vast majority of practices lack any structured follow-up architecture to secure high-value personal injury and litigation leads within the vital 24-hour window. Tony maps out why relying strictly on fully automated AI answering services leaves vulnerable clients stranded in the "uncanny valley" and outlines how treating front-desk staff as "first impression officers" radically transforms conversion rates. Learn more about Tony Prieto and Answering Legal [https://www.answeringlegal.com]. Check out this week's Spotify Playlist [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7pW9hviW2Fdqi5nVrzmE98?si=r6dhhs1LSuy-AA-DU5GeoA]. We're grateful to be supported by Attorney at Work Today, and Lawyer 2 Lawyer. Subscribe to Attorney at Work Today [https://legalbroadcastingcompany.com/attorney-at-work-today/]. Subscribe to Lawyer 2 Lawyer [https://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/lawyer-2-lawyer/]. * (00:00) - Monologue: Michael Penn's March and Obscure Perfect Albums * (03:01) - Music Videos, Seinfeld Shirts, and Alternative Pop Outliers * (14:35) - Smells Like Teen Spirit and the Demise of Traditional Pop Output * (18:14) - Interview: Tony Prieto on Avoiding the Law School Track * (21:59) - Econ Majors, Japanese Literature, and Joining Answering Legal * (26:59) - The Real Cost of Missed Inbound Calls for Personal Injury Lawyers * (28:36) - Vetting the AI "Uncanny Valley" in Virtual Legal Reception * (30:09) - Exposing the Two Biggest Mistakes in Law Firm Intake * (32:20) - Avoiding LinkedIn and the Struggle of Social Media Self-Promotion * (34:48) - New-Wave Horror Cinema and The Legal Intake Experts Podcast * (43:18) - Transforming Front-Desk Staff into First Impression Officers * (48:32) - Counter Program: The Historical "Take This Job" Trivia Game * (01:01:04) - Outro and the Michael Penn All-Star Spotify Playlist Click here to view the episode transcript. [https://share.transistor.fm/s/08d9a4ca/transcript]