Best Legalassistant Podcasts (2025)

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069. Document Automation Secrets for Small Law Firms with Quinten Steenhuis 47:08

2d ago47:08

47:08

If you've ever tried to turn one of your documents or templates into something repeatable, you probably already know it is harder than it looks. Whether you're looking to streamline routine documents or create client-facing tools, this week's conversation will help you find the most effective and straightforward solution for your needs. I'm joined …

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068. Adaptability by Design: Building Law Practices That Respond to Change 29:42

9d ago29:42

29:42

It’s easy to say lawyers need to “be more adaptable” in today’s shifting tech and economic climate, but real adaptability isn’t about working harder or reacting faster. It’s about responding intelligently to change by staying grounded in your mission, your goals, and the strategies that support them. In this episode, I break down what intentional a…

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067. AI & Legal Writing: How to Use It Effectively with Jonah Perlin 45:54

16d ago45:54

45:54

What makes legal writing truly effective? It's not just about knowing the law—it's about knowing how to communicate it. In this episode, I'm joined by Professor Jonah Perlin from Georgetown Law School, where he teaches first-year legal practice and advanced legal writing courses. We explore how the process of putting ideas into words -wrestling wit…

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066. Build a Law Practice that Reflects Your Values, with Carolyn Elefant 50:06

23d ago50:06

50:06

There has never been a better time in the history of lawyers to start your own law practice. The tools, know-how, and access to support are better than ever before, and they keep improving every day. Whether you're facing job uncertainty, working at a firm with values that don't align with yours, or simply tired of working for someone else, going s…

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065. Scale Your Practice with a Mesh Management Approach 23:46

30d ago23:46

23:46

Most law firms start by building support structures around the expert (you), but eventually hit a ceiling where growth becomes limited by your personal capacity. No matter how efficient your team becomes at supporting you, the system can only move as fast as you can. In this episode, I explore how to transform your practice from an expert-dependent…

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064. The Dental Chair Theory of Lawyering 30:18

1M ago30:18

30:18

Ever feel like you're constantly juggling multiple client matters at once, switching between tasks, and never fully focusing on any single piece of work? This scattered way of working is more detrimental to your practice than you realize. One incredibly effective solution to this problem is understanding what call The Dental Chair Theory of Lawyeri…

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063. Legal Automation Pitfalls: Are You Meeting Client Needs? 34:12

1M ago34:12

34:12

Is your law practice suffering from too much automation? Today, I'm sharing how to recognize when automation is hurting rather than helping your practice. I'll explain why efficiency should never be your primary goal, how to avoid the "transactional trap" that alienates clients, and most importantly, how to design automations that enhance rather th…

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062. Delegation Pitfalls: When Legal Work Goes Too Deep or Too Wide 28:29

2M ago28:29

28:29

Have you ever delegated legal work to a colleague, only to get back something that completely misses the mark? Maybe they dove way too deep into the weeds, or perhaps they barely scratched the surface of what you needed. As a lawyer, calibrating expectations when delegating tasks can be a constant challenge. In this episode, I tackle a listener que…

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061. Delivering Your Legal Work: Direct Flight or Long Layover? 20:35

2M ago20:35

20:35

Does your firm have legal matters that are endlessly dragging on, frustrating both you and your clients? It may seem like investing in the latest AI tools is the obvious next step to speed up your firm's delivery, but the real solution lies in managing the flow of work across your entire system. This week, I share three powerful strategies for redu…

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060. Practical Uses for Legal AI - No Hype, No Fear with Damien Riehl 48:25

2M ago48:25

48:25

Have you been wondering how AI can help your law practice today? In this episode, I talk with Damien Riehl, a lawyer and legal technologist who has been at the forefront of AI in law for years. We skip past the usual AI ethics debates to focus on the most important question: how can small and mid-sized firms use AI right now to improve client servi…

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059. Stop Billing and Start Pricing with Jonathan Stark 45:52

2M ago45:52

45:52

Are you tired of the billable hour grind? Do you feel like it's creating a constant conflict of interest between you and your clients? I'm thrilled to have Jonathan Stark back on the show to dive deep into alternatives to hourly billing. Jonathan is a former software developer turned consultant who has been on a mission to rid the world of hourly b…

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058. The Key to Happier Lawyering with Brita Long 47:55

3M ago47:55

47:55

Are you drowning in an overwhelming caseload, struggling to keep up with the demands of clients and the court? This week, I speak with family law attorney and author Brita Long about how flat fee pricing can be a catalyst for creating a healthier, more balanced law practice. Whether you're curious about flat fees, feeling skeptical, or just looking…

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057. Is Your Engagement Agreement Scaring Your Clients? 33:18

3M ago33:18

33:18

As attorneys, we often forget that our engagement letters occupy a unique space - they're not just contracts, but also the final step in our marketing cycle. So why do so many of these crucial documents end up feeling dense, overwhelming, and even off-putting to clients? Tune in this week to learn how to create engagement letters that not only prot…

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056. Less Is More: Why WIP Limits Boost Legal Productivity 27:13

3M ago27:13

27:13

Do you find yourself juggling too many tasks at once, struggling to make meaningful progress on any of them? In this episode, I dive deep into one of the core practices of the Kanban method: limiting work in progress, or WIP. We'll explore how taking on too many concurrent tasks can wreak havoc on your brain, your client experience, and your abilit…

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055. Fixing the Client Homework Bottleneck 37:31

3M ago37:31

37:31

Do you dread assigning client homework, knowing it will likely stall your case for weeks or even months? Chasing down questionnaires and documents from clients can feel like a never-ending battle, leaving you frustrated and resentful. After years of working with law firms to improve their workflows, I've discovered that the client homework bottlene…

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054. Action without Action with Tim Lennon 46:08

4M ago46:08

46:08

Today, I'm excited to welcome Tim Lennon back to the podcast to explore the Taoist concept of Wei Wu Wei, or "action without action." Tim and I dive into why understanding and navigating obstacles is more important than trying to bust through them, why feedback loops are essential to making progress (and how to make those feedback loops more effect…

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053. Time Management Strategies You Need: Calendar Blocking and Calendar Bucketing 29:33

4M ago29:33

29:33

Do you ever feel like there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done? You're not alone. As legal professionals, we often struggle to fit all our commitments into our finite capacity. Here's the thing: having a completely empty calendar isn't the productivity blessing you might think it is. Today, I share two powerful techniques - calen…

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052. Making Daily Standups Work in Your Law Practice 34:21

4M ago34:21

34:21

What if I told you that a simple 15-minute daily standup meeting could dramatically improve your team's performance and help everyone work more effectively and predictably within their actual capacity? In this episode, I share how implementing a daily standup can be a game-changer for your law practice. You'll learn the key elements of an effective…

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051. Matter Management Meetings Suck. Do This Instead. 28:41

4M ago28:41

28:41

You’ve probably already set your goals for 2025 in your law practice, but do you have a system for following through on your plans and goals week after week? Implementing a simple weekly planning and review habit could be the key to helping you and your team manage capacity and prioritize the right work, transforming your firm's productivity and pr…

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050. Flat Fee Pricing for Lawyers with Elise Buie and Emery Wager 54:12

4M ago54:12

54:12

How do you address the unpredictability of legal fees in your practice? In this episode, I talk with practicing attorney Elise Buie, founder of Elise Buie Family Law, about her journey implementing flat fee pricing in her practice. This was originally an interview conducted by Emery Wager for Confido Legal’s podcast Financially Legal, and Emery has…

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049. Lessons from Old Hollywood: Why Flat-Fee Legal Work Is Nothing New 19:03

5M ago19:03

19:03

Something I find fascinating is the extent to which the behaviors and practices of the legal profession have evolved over the years, and the extent to which they haven't. In this unique episode, I take a look at some intriguing insights from the legal files of my great-grandfather, Lloyd Wright Sr., a pioneering entertainment lawyer who represented…

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048. The Obvious Switch to Value Pricing with Jonathan Stark 49:18

5M ago49:18

49:18

As a lawyer, it's easy to fall into the trap of equating more hours with more revenue. But as Jonathan Stark points out, this mindset often leads to a vicious cycle of overwork and burnout, without necessarily translating into increased profitability or client satisfaction. The key to breaking free from this cycle lies in streamlining your processe…

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047. How Kanban Creates Capacity Liquidity in Your Law Firm with Richard Hoare 1:16:08

5M ago1:16:08

1:16:08

How do you build the systems, tools, and culture required to sustain and scale a law practice and deliver the results your clients need, even when you have non-standard working arrangements, or a fairly unique practice area? In this episode, I'm joined by Richard Hoare, owner of Hoare Associates, to discuss how he transformed his music-centric law …

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046. Improving Legal Workflows without New Technology 34:13

5M ago34:13

34:13

I walk you through the specific steps my client took to optimize their workflow, improve their client experience, and ultimately achieve remarkable results by embracing Kanban without implementing new software. Whether you're a solo practitioner or part of a larger organization, you'll learn valuable insights and actionable strategies to implement …

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045. Agile Access to Justice, Leveraging Process Improvement to Serve the Underserved 40:07

6M ago40:07

40:07

There are people all over the US who find themselves in legal binds, but are unable to get the legal help they need. As we enter this season of giving, this episode is here to highlight an Access to Justice success story that I've been fortunate enough to be a part of, albeit one that is still very much in its early chapters. I’m sharing this to sp…

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044. Kanban Made Easy: A Lawyer's Guide to Visual Task Management 32:05

6M ago32:05

32:05

When you’re buried in work, your to-do list is flowing off the page, and you’re feeling totally overwhelmed in your day-to-day activities, I invite you to hit play on this episode. I go old school, describing how to build a very simple Kanban board on your wall, a whiteboard, or any simple Kanban system. Discover how using even the most basic Kanba…

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043. The Right Way to Incentivize Your Team 30:18

6M ago30:18

30:18

One of the biggest challenges law firms face when moving away from hourly billing and towards incorporating flat fees is motivating your team in a way that actually supports the new business model. Tune in this week as I challenge the conventional wisdom around using billable hours as a key performance metric, even for firms that bill by the hour. …

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042. Ditch Effective Hourly Rates: How to Calculate Matter-Level Profit 40:23

6M ago40:23

40:23

Do you know the most profitable parts of your law practice? If you're like most lawyers, the answer is probably no. But without a clear understanding of matter-level profitability, you could be making costly decisions about where to invest your limited time and resources. In this episode, I explain why the traditional approach of using effective ho…

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041. How to Transition From Hourly Billing To Flat Fees, One Phase at a Time 40:18

7M ago40:18

40:18

Transitioning away from the billable hour can feel daunting, but it doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing proposition. By taking an iterative, milestone-based approach to your matters, you can begin to identify which phases of work are ripe for flat fee billing, helping you increase your firm’s profitability. As I share more insights and takeaways f…

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040. Legal Workflow Management and Matter Management Are Not the Same Thing 26:23

7M ago26:23

26:23

Are you familiar with Clio's Kanban-inspired feature, Clio Matter Stages? It’s been around for a while now, but as a Kanban enthusiast, I was eager to check it out at this year's Clio Cloud Conference. While it's certainly a step in the right direction and an interesting tool for Clio users, how does it measure up when it comes to implementing some…

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039. Productive With Dollar Signs, with Clarke Ching 42:39

7M ago42:39

42:39

I’m a massive fan of Bottleneck Theory. This is the idea that you can make massive improvements to your legal workflows by finding and focusing on just one part of your overall system: the bottleneck. In this episode, I’m super excited to bring you an interview with The Bottleneck Guy himself, Clarke Ching. Tune in this week to explore where the bo…

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038. Delivering Effective Feedback to Legal Teams 27:40

7M ago27:40

27:40

Have you ever struggled with giving tough feedback to your team members? Do you find yourself resorting to the criticism sandwich approach, hoping to soften the blow by sandwiching negative comments between compliments? Tune in this week to discover why the criticism sandwich doesn’t work. I also discuss the importance of setting clear quality stan…

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037. Putting the ‘Flow’ Back into Workflow 28:02

7M ago28:02

28:02

Something I see with my lawyer clients is that they have so many different things on their plate that each piece of work looks like an object, like a static thing that we need to deal with, as opposed to a dynamic part of a bigger process. When you are overloaded, that is totally natural. But this phenomenon points to the importance of seeing work …

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036. What To Do When I’m the Bottleneck with Melissa Shanahan and Ben Hudson 58:17

8M ago58:17

58:17

Adding capacity to your law practice, whether through hiring new team members, outsourcing work, or using AI to help you with certain tasks does not always add up to overall workflow improvement. This can be really frustrating for law firm owners because you’ve spent time and money on these solutions, only for the work to continue getting stuck in …

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035. Two Heads Are Better: How Coworking Sessions Can Improve Law Firm Efficiency 26:54

8M ago26:54

26:54

Have you ever felt like certain tasks in your law practice are taking longer than they should? What if I told you that sometimes the key to efficiency is slowing down and working together? This is where a concept from the software development world called "paired programming" can help you create better outcomes in your legal practice. Tune in this …

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034. Short-Term Efficiency Can Hurt Long-Term Goals 24:30

8M ago24:30

24:30

One common anti-pattern I run into in working with lawyers and law practices is people who are constantly looking for little efficiencies to try to improve particular parts of their practice or their legal workflow. But sometimes, finding those short-term efficiencies, even if they work in the short term, can actually cut against the long-term prod…

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033. Connecting with Your Clients’ "Why" 20:30

8M ago20:30

20:30

As professionals, it's easy to jump to conclusions about what clients need based on our experience and the patterns we see emerging. But in making these assumptions, are we missing a critical opportunity to truly connect with them by not taking the time to understand their individual motivations and worries? Tune in this week as I explore why givin…

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032. Organize Your Law Practice for Business Success with Michael Clarke 41:50

9M ago41:50

41:50

As law practice owners, we can gain valuable insights by looking outside of the legal industry. Today, I'm excited to bring you an interview with Michael Clarke. Michael is the co-owner of the financial advisory firm Protection Point Advisors and co-author of the book A Firm Worth Building: Running a Better Professional Business. Tune in this week …

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031. Tech Improvement Should Be Step 3. Don’t Skip Steps 1 & 2. 26:31

9M ago26:31

26:31

Are you a struggling solo attorney trying to get more clients in the door? Before you turn to an expensive technology solution, it's important to take a step back and fully understand the nature of the problem you're trying to solve in your law practice. I'm all for utilizing tech, but it's dangerous to imbue technology with too many magical proper…

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030. From Solo to CEO: Lessons in Building a People-First Law Firm with Justie Nicol 45:11

9M ago45:11

45:11

Do you feel like you're stuck on the hamster wheel of your law practice, constantly working on being more productive as an individual, but never getting ahead? It's time to explore how shifting your mindset from individual excellence to team excellence can help you break free and build a thriving, sustainable firm. Tune in this week to discover cri…

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029. Getting Team Buy-in for Change 28:25

9M ago28:25

28:25

Engaging your team around process improvement is a vital part of successfully implementing changes in the way you work in your law practice. When everyone is on the same page, working toward the same goals while you empower each member of your team to demonstrate leadership in their field of expertise, process improvement becomes an easier proposit…

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028. 3 Signs Your Law Practice Is Over Capacity 19:46

10M ago19:46

19:46

Are you struggling to keep up with your law practice workload, like there's never enough time to get everything done? You may be operating at or over your practice's ideal effective capacity, meaning just one or two small tasks added to your team's workload could potentially grind everything to a halt. In this episode, you'll discover the three key…

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027. The Advantages of a First-In, First-Out Policy 22:40

10M ago22:40

22:40

A common piece of conventional wisdom around how law firms prioritize their work is that they should organize everything around deadlines and due dates. While deadline-driven prioritization does have a place, it's my experience that there's a better technique that law firms should be adopting as their default prioritization method: first-in first-o…

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026. Start with What You Do Now 16:59

10M ago16:59

16:59

Why is the concept of "start with what you do now" crucial for creating meaningful and durable change in your law practice? This principle helps you understand your current processes and the people involved in them, recognizing why you are where you are, so you can make more informed decisions about how to move forward. Tune in this week for a dive…

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025. Following Your Law Firm Strategic Plan with Melissa Shanahan 40:05

10M ago40:05

40:05

Melissa Shanahan, founder of Velocity Work and host of The Law Firm Owner Podcast, teaches her clients a planning and accountability method she calls Monday Map/Friday Wrap. This method highlights some vital parts of the Agile practices of weekly planning and weekly review meetings. Monday Map/Friday Wrap is about creating micro-feedback loops with…

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024. Sticking with Change When Change Gets Hard 16:31

11M ago16:31

16:31

Visualizing your work on a Kanban Board can be a life-changing improvement to your and your team's overall productivity. But adopting the board as a tool and the Kanban method more broadly can be a little uncomfortable at first, especially when you see all of your to-dos laid out in one place. So, how do you stick with change, like using a Kanban B…

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023. Roots of the Lawyer Shortage 22:15

11M ago22:15

22:15

The lawyer shortage is a complex issue with multiple factors at play, but the impacts are becoming apparent everywhere, from the public defender crisis to the civil access to justice gap, to the fierce competition for hiring and retaining mid-career associates. But what are the roots of this lawyer shortage? Tune in this week to discover what I bel…

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022. How to Write Effective Law Firm Policies 26:48

11M ago26:48

26:48

I've spoken before about the importance of making policies explicit. But what does it mean to draft an effective policy in your law firm? Tune in this week to discover what I believe are the elements that comprise a good policy, and learn how to get your team on board in implementing your policies. I share a template for writing effective policies …

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021. You Can't Scale Your Way Out of a Sustainability Problem 23:59

11M ago23:59

23:59

One of the features of modern business is that there's tons of pressure to grow, scale, and do more with less. Lawyers and their teams aren't exempt from this expectation. It makes sense to leverage our resources and our impact. However, growth for the sake of growth isn't necessarily the healthiest approach for your business, or for the people in …

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020. The “Really Check:” Fostering Accountability with Jess Birken & Meghan Heitkamp 27:51

11M ago27:51

27:51

In past episodes, I’ve talked in detail about individual practices and how the Kanban method has upleveled them, and today’s show provides living proof. That’s because I’m talking with two clients of mine, Jess Birkin and Megan Heitkamp, of the Birkin Law Office, about the start of their practice and how they’ve transformed their business with syst…

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