Distilling Lessons: From Whiskey-Making to Tax Law

Andy Stewart Affirms the Importance of Mental Health

Former Mayer Brown partner Andy Stewart joins Sally Davies for the next installment of Tools of the Trade's series on retirees. Andy, who retired in July 2025, reflects on his long legal career, which spanned more than 40 years. He began his journey with our legacy firm, Rowe & Maw, as an articled clerk in 1984 before becoming a Corporate & Securities partner in 1994. He also pioneered the London Corporate group's mentor scheme long before formal mentoring programs gained widespread acceptance. Tune in as Andy discusses his secondment experience (03:55), mental health in the legal industry (09:28) and advice for young professionals (14:02).

Why You Should Call a Lawyer After a Cyber Incident

Recognizing Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Jon welcomes Ana Bruder and Stephen Lilley, partners in Mayer Brown's Cybersecurity & Data Privacy practice, to the firm's Tools of the Trade podcast. The guests discuss why clients call Mayer Brown first after a cyber incident and the legal risks of breaches (2:05). Ana and Stephen outline regulatory reporting obligations and evolving regulator responses (5:54). The conversation shifts to law enforcement coordination and how companies engage the FBI or other authorities (9:24), before moving to the issue of responding to ransomware demands, legal considerations, and reputational impacts (11:45). The episode closes with advice on preventative steps such as spotting phishing emails and following internal security protocols (14:36).

How It Works: Legal Opportunities in Space

As world powers increasingly turn their attention to space, lawyers will be called upon to address an array of issues. London partner Rachael O'Grady reminds us that extraterrestrial legal matters will, in many respects, parallel what we're already doing on earth. Rachael is a co-leader of Mayer Brown's Space & Satellite practice—which launched in 2022—alongside partner Paul Whitfield-Jones. Rachael and Paul join us to discuss exciting opportunities around space exploration. Futurist Dr. Pippa Malmgren covered one of these areas at Mayer Brown's 2025 Global Partners Meeting: the potential for mining natural resources from asteroids in the very near future (04:08). Tune in as Rachael and Paul discuss the origins of their initial interest in space (01:46), how a global consensus is yet to be achieved in the evolving legal framework (05:36), clients seeking advice on space-related matters (07:55) and where legal work in the space industry could "lift off" in the future (10:17).

Distilling Lessons: From Whiskey-Making to Tax Law

Russell Nance joined Mayer Brown's New York office as a tax partner in 2006. In recent years, many colleagues and clients have come to know him also as the co-owner of a whiskey distillery nestled in the mountains of Virginia. Opening a farm-to-bottle distillery was no easy feat and quickly turned into a master class in the hospitality industry (02:21). After a lot of "learning as they went," Russell and his two co-founders can now proudly call Ragged Branch [https://raggedbranch.com/] a successful venture. Tune in as Russell reveals the steps behind making, and properly aging, whiskey (08:19), along with the business skills he's picked up along the way that can be applied to building a legal practice (16:53).

Five Questions with Legal Recruiter Patrick Tomic

A life-changing incident as a teenager didn't stop Patrick Tomic from playing sports (04:48). In fact, it only propelled his passion and ultimately led him to pursue a career in recruitment after taking a shine to recruiting student athletes at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (16:20). Outside of working for Mayer Brown's Chicago Human Resources team, Patrick is active in wheelchair basketball and has competed all over the US and beyond (07:01). Tune in as Patrick tells the story of how a rare staph infection transformed the course of his life and opened unexpected doors (06:08).