Lawyerist Podcast

When everything feels urgent, meaningful work rarely gets the attention it deserves. In episode 631 of the Lawyerist Podcast, Zack Glaser talks with leadership researcher and author Shawn Vanderhoven about how law firm leaders can create the clarity their teams need to focus and perform at their best.

Drawing from his book, Pause: How to Lead Brilliant Work in a Busy World, Shawn explains why effective leadership sometimes requires slowing down before moving forward. He shares what his research revealed about the behaviors that improve focus, the leadership habits that amplify distraction, and why teams struggle when every project is treated like a top priority.

Together, they explore how to make realistic tradeoffs, involve your team in prioritization, delegate without derailing someone’s entire day, and create systems that make difficult conversations easier. Shawn also explains why asking, “What will it take to do this well?” can lead to better decisions than simply asking whether the work can get done.

If your law firm is juggling too many priorities, this episode offers practical ways to reduce distraction, lead with greater clarity, and create space for work your team can be proud of.

Listen to our previous episodes on Law Firm Leadership & Building Stronger Teams.

#627: Building Stronger Law Firm Teams Through Better Communication, with Zeina Baydoun Apple | Spotify | LTN

#615: How to Stop Being the Bottleneck and Build Stronger Teams, with Debbie Foster and Stephanie Everett Apple | Spotify | LTN

#604: From Practice to Business: Scaling Beyond Yourself, with Andy Hays Apple | Spotify | LTN

#592: Client Care, Culture, and Character: A Framework for Great Leaders, with William O’Neal Apple | Spotify | LTN

#541: Why the Best Teams Have Keystone Conversations, with Michael Bungay Stanier Apple | Spotify | LTN

Links from the episode:

https://www.pausebook.co/

Have thoughts about today’s episode? Join the conversation on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X!

If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap Revisited yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Looking for help beyond the book? See if our coaching community is right for you.

Access more resources from Lawyerist at lawyerist.com.

Chapters / Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction

00:25 – A Different Kind of Law Firm Conference

03:10 – LabCon for Law Firm Leaders

07:05 – What Is Broken About Law Firm Intake

11:30 – How to Secret Shop Your Firm

15:15 – The Role of AI in Client Intake

20:45 – Why Clients Still Want Access to Humans

26:30 – Meet Shawn Vanderhoven

29:15 – Why Leaders Need to Pause

30:25 – How Leadership Can Improve Focus

33:25 – When Everything Feels Important

37:15 – Making Prioritization a Team Sport

40:20 – Choosing Your Majors and Minors

42:45 – A Better Way to Delegate Work

46:10 – Navigating Competing Priorities

49:10 – Making Difficult Conversations Easier

54:45 – Creating Clarity Around What Matters

56:10 – Pausing to Help Your Team Move Faster

59:05 – Closing Thoughts

Lawyers may soon spend less time opening applications, and more time simply telling AI what needs to happen next. In episode 630 of the Lawyerist Podcast, Zack Glaser talks with innovation strategist Sam Harden about the rise of agentic AI and how tools like ChatGPT Work and Claude Cowork could reshape the way legal professionals work.

Unlike a traditional chatbot, an agentic system can operate within a workspace, analyze groups of files, create and update documents, develop plans, and connect information from different sources. That could allow lawyers to access emails, calendars, case materials, research, and practice management information through a single working interface.

Zack and Sam discuss what this means for law firms filled with open Word documents, browser tabs, PDFs, research databases, and disconnected software. They also challenge the idea that AI should perform the most sophisticated legal reasoning while lawyers clean up the formatting. Instead, AI should take on the repetitive administrative work so lawyers can operate at the top of their licenses.

If you want to understand where legal AI is heading beyond prompting and summarization, this episode offers a grounded look at the tools, opportunities, risks, and experiments shaping the next phase of legal work.

Listen to our previous episodes on Agentic AI, Law Firm Workflows & the Future of Legal Work.

#620: What Claude Means for Law Firms, Part 2: Using AI to Practice at the Top of Your License, with Sam Harden Apple | Spotify | LTN

#619: What Claude Means for Law Firms: AI Skills, Connectors, and Workflow Strategy, with Sam Harden Apple | Spotify | LTN

#601: Beyond Chatbots: Using Agentic AI in Law Firm Intake, with Matt Spiegel Apple | Spotify | LTN

#581: Agentic AI for Lawyers: Moving Beyond Enhanced Search, with Drew Bloom Apple | Spotify | LTN

#577: Rethinking Law Firm Growth in the Age of AI, with Sam Harden Apple | Spotify | LTN

Have thoughts about today’s episode? Join the conversation on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X!

If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap Revisited yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Looking for help beyond the book? See if our coaching community is right for you.

Access more resources from Lawyerist at lawyerist.com.

Chapters / Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction

00:18 – What the World Cup Teaches About Professionalism

05:19 – Meet Sam Harden

06:25 – The “Claudification” of ChatGPT

08:15 – From Chatbot to Agentic Workspace

10:35 – Why ChatGPT Is Following Claude

13:00 – The Shift from Asking to Delegating

14:00 – What Agentic AI Actually Means for Lawyers

17:40 – Making AI the Interface for Legal Work

19:10 – The Future Surface of Work

23:30 – When Your Phone Becomes Your Workspace

25:35 – How Agentic AI Could Transform Law Firms

26:45 – Letting AI Handle the Legal Busywork

29:20 – Operating at the Top of Your License

31:15 – AI Should Format the Work, Not Make the Judgment

34:30 – How Lawyers Can Start Experimenting Safely

37:25 – Closing Thoughts

Privacy is not just about keeping secrets. It is about protecting your power. In episode 629 of the Lawyerist Podcast, Zack Glaser talks with Oxford professor and author Carissa Véliz about how personal data gives companies, governments, and technology platforms the ability to influence our choices and shape our lives.

Carissa explains why seemingly harmless information, from the music you enjoy to the way your phone battery drains, can be used to identify, categorize, and predict you. They explore how AI has made surveillance cheaper and more powerful, why predictions should never be treated as facts, and how automated scores can affect important decisions without giving people a meaningful way to challenge them.

The conversation also offers practical ways to reclaim control without abandoning technology entirely. From choosing more private digital tools to questioning the predictions presented as inevitable, Carissa shows why every decision to protect your privacy matters.

If you have ever clicked “accept” without thinking about what happens next, this episode will change the way you think about your data, your autonomy, and who gets to shape your future.

Listen to our previous episodes on AI, Privacy & Legal Ethics.

#618: AI and Legal Ethics: Protecting Client Privacy in a Changing Legal System, with Sunny Eaton Apple | Spotify | LTN

#612: AI for Lawyers: What You Need to Know Before Your Clients Do, with Cat Casey Apple | Spotify | LTN

#582: Deepfakes, Data, and Duty: Navigating AI Ethics in Law, with Merisa Bowers Apple | Spotify | LTN

#543: What Lawyers Need to Know About the Ethics of Using AI, with Hilary Gerzhoy Apple | Spotify | LTN

#486: How to Safely Include AI in Your Legal Tech Stack, with Will Anoh Apple | Spotify | LTN

Have thoughts about today’s episode? Join the conversation on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X!

If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap Revisited yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Looking for help beyond the book? See if our coaching community is right for you.

Access more resources from Lawyerist at lawyerist.com.

Chapters / Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction

00:55 – The Future of Law Firm Leadership

05:00 – The Four Cornerstones of Leadership

09:00 – Be a Next Level Leader

10:45 – Meet Carissa Véliz

11:45 – Why Privacy Is Power

13:30 – How Personal Data Limits Your Autonomy

15:50 – Who Decides What Your Data Says About You?

17:50 – How Companies Exploit Personal Vulnerabilities

20:10 – The Data You Never Realized Was Personal

21:15 – The Connection Between Surveillance and Prediction

22:30 – Applying Fiduciary Duties to Personal Data

24:15 – Why You Cannot Contest a Prediction

26:20 – Banning the Sale of Personal Data

28:25 – Predictions Are Power Plays, Not Facts

30:30 – AI and the Expansion of Digital Surveillance

33:25 – How to Take Back Your Digital Privacy

37:30 – Why Every Privacy Choice Matters

40:00 – The Future Is Not Predetermined

41:25 – The Most Private Way to Read a Book

Law firm marketing does not have to mean paid ads, aggressive sales tactics, or posting constantly online.

In episode 628 of the Lawyerist Podcast, Chad Fox talks with Aaron Thomas about marketing for lawyers who do not think of themselves as marketers. Aaron shares how he went from relying almost entirely on referrals to building a more intentional approach that helped grow his firm and bring in better-fit clients.

They explore why referral marketing is still marketing, how newsletters can keep firms visible, and why useful content often works better than a direct sales pitch. Aaron also explains how lawyers can build stronger referral networks, make their expertise easier to find, and outsource repetitive marketing tasks without hiring a full-time employee.

If you want to grow your firm without sounding salesy or turning marketing into a second job, this episode provides simple strategies you can begin using right away.

This episode is sponsored by Posh Virtual Receptionists. As Aaron explains, effective marketing is often less about selling and more about making it easier for the right clients to find, trust, and connect with your firm. Posh helps support that experience by answering calls, improving responsiveness, and helping law firms maintain consistent communication with prospective and current clients.

Learn more at https://posh.com/lawyerist/.

Listen to our previous episodes on Law Firm Marketing & Building Client Relationships.

#608: Business Development for Lawyers: Building Real Relationships That Lead to Clients, with Megan Senese Apple | Spotify | LTN

#603: Turn Expertise into Clients: Building Authority That AI Recognizes, with Karin Conroy Apple | Spotify | LTN

#546: Unlock Law Firm Growth: AI Marketing Secrets, with Karin Conroy Apple | Spotify | LTN

#526: LinkedIn Mastery: Grow Your Law Firm NOW!, with Matthew Hunt Apple | Spotify | LTN

#515: Simple Marketing Hacks Lawyers Swear By, with Gyi Tsakalakis Apple | Spotify | LTN

Have thoughts about today’s episode? Join the conversation on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X!

If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap Revisited yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Looking for help beyond the book? See if our coaching community is right for you.

Access more resources from Lawyerist at lawyerist.com.

Chapters / Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction

00:25 – What Happens When a Business Fully Unplugs

02:05 – Why Rest Belongs in Your Business Plan

12:15 – Meet Aaron Thomas

13:05 – Every Law Firm Is Already Marketing

15:05 – Finding More of the Right Clients

16:20 – Why Advertising Should Not Be Your First Move

17:40 – Marketing to Your Existing Network First

18:50 – Newsletters That Clients Want to Read

21:05 – Networking Without the Sales Pitch

21:55 – Creating Referral Partnerships with Other Lawyers

23:50 – Using Helpful Content to Build Authority

25:10 – Let Your Expertise Do the Selling

26:25 – Why Free Information Still Leads to Paid Work

28:30 – A Practical Starting Point for Overwhelmed Firms

29:50 – Outsourcing the Work That Never Gets Done

31:20 – How Basic Marketing Created Rapid Growth

32:55 – Closing Thoughts

Knowing your communication style is useful. Knowing when to move beyond it is what creates growth. In episode 627 of the Lawyerist Podcast, Zack Glaser talks with Zeina Baydoun about how law firm leaders and teams can use DISC to better understand themselves, communicate more effectively, and respond with greater intention.

Zeina breaks down why DISC is not a personality test or a permanent label. It is a starting point for recognizing the behaviors that come most naturally, the blind spots those tendencies can create, and the ways stress may amplify them. Rather than using a profile to say, “That is just how I am,” she encourages leaders to ask whether their default response is actually what the person or situation needs.

They discuss how different communication styles can create friction inside law firms, why understanding behavior can replace judgment with curiosity, and how teams can better support one another without lowering expectations for growth.

If you want to improve communication without forcing everyone to think and work the same way, this episode offers a thoughtful framework for building more adaptable leaders and more connected teams.

Listen to our previous episodes on Leadership, Communication & Building Stronger Law Firm Teams.

#615: How to Stop Being the Bottleneck and Build Stronger Teams, with Debbie Foster and Stephanie Everett Apple | Spotify | LTN

#596: The Athlete’s Mindset for Lawyers, with Jess Sargus Apple | Spotify | LTN

#592: Client Care, Culture, and Character: A Framework for Great Leaders, with William O’Neal Apple | Spotify | LTN

#527: Casting Your Vision and Leading Your Firm, with Kevin DeShazo Apple | Spotify | LTN

Have thoughts about today’s episode? Join the conversation on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X!

If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap Revisited yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Looking for help beyond the book? See if our coaching community is right for you.

Access more resources from Lawyerist at lawyerist.com.

Chapters / Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction01:25 – Using DISC as an Active Leadership Tool04:10 – Meet Zeina Baydoun05:45 – What DISC Reveals About Communication08:35 – Understanding Behavioral Preferences12:00 – How Self-Awareness Changes Team Dynamics14:40 – The Problem with Personality Labels16:20 – Why Leaders Cannot Hide Behind Their Style17:40 – Developing Skills Outside Your Comfort Zone18:55 – Adapting Your Communication to the Situation21:55 – Leadership and Communication Under Pressure25:25 – Supporting Strengths and Managing Blind Spots28:50 – Creating Space for Other People to Lead31:05 – Moving Beyond Fixed Leadership Styles32:10 – Building New Behavioral Habits33:05 – Choice, Growth and Intentional Leadership35:05 – Closing Thoughts