Khurram's Quorum

Want a 20-minute bootcamp for your LinkedIn presence? Episode 037 for Khurram's Quorum is a little different. My guest is Sunny Kim, who went from biglaw to make a big reset for her career helping lawyers find their voice in social media. We cover how Sunny tinkered her way into discovering some of the best ways for lawyers to share their stories to build trust and authority with peers and clients, and get into brass tacks about how to position yourself on LinkedIn through your profile and posts. At the end of this 50 minute episode, you'll understand why you should bother sharing your ideas on LinkedIn, and have an easy playbook for getting started.

As a partner at HWG, Hilary Gerzhoy advises law firms, partners, and GCs on the messiest, most human decisions lawyers make. In this episode, Hilary and I talk about why most ethics violations are rooted in fear, not greed, what really motivates risky behavior during lateral moves, and why great lawyers lead with empathy - and still set boundaries.

Vishal Shah is the founder of Shah Litigation, a high-stake employment litigation firm. This is a unique opportunity to examine the strategy and values a biglaw associate used to launch and grow a successful law firm. We talk about the decision to switch to the other side of the v., how he researched the opportunity to identify his niche, his approach to a national trial practice, the unique dynamics of the plaintiffs' bar, and business development strategy.(01:30) - from small-town Alabama to big-city biglaw(15:35) - how personal tragedies and a desire for control over Vishal's career motivated his move to launch his own firm(19:05) - key insights from successful law firm founders(21:31) - how Vishal leverages his network, LinkedIn, and relationship-building for client development(33:21) - case selection philosophy(38:46) - litigation approach and pre-trial blueprint(01:04:49) - the impact of the unique collegiality of the plaintiff's bar(01:19:39) - advice for rising biglaw associates

Ryan McCarl is a founding partner at Rushing McCarl LLP and author of Elegant Legal Writing. I was intrigued by the practicality and the eclectic range of influences Ryan draws on for this latest contribution to the pantheon of legal writing books. Ryan pulls ideas from disciplines like graphic design and marketing and from authors in nonfiction and fiction alike. The result is clear guidance on how to write to be helpful, enjoyable, and original.

As the CEO of Litera, Avaneesh Marwaha is responsible for setting the pace of innovation at a leading legaltech company. So when Avaneesh shared some of the goals he set for himself at 25 that he's still carrying out at 40, I had to dig in to learn more. A company like Litera has a powerful lens on the legal industry and where it's headed. So we spent a lot of time talking about core insights like what makes clients stick with law firms. We also discuss the three areas Avaneesh sees opportunities for lawyers to move into legaltech, and the #1 skill lawyers need to develop now to advance their practice. This conversation is for anyone interested in learning what it feels like to bet on yourself and to move into a growing frontier.

It's hard to picture a better time to grow a cold chain technology company like Therma, and it's even harder to picture the legal clinic origins of the business. Manik Suri has made a career out of synthesizing surprising insights and finding talent to partner with. In this episode we discuss what Manik learned from a friend that ended up as a presidential candidate on how to channel your inner confidence. You'll learn a new question to ask yourself "what kind of energy am I burning?" And we talk about how to manage downside risk by getting over the fear of failure.

Kunal Patel and I something less of a conversation and more of a jam session. We explored his career as a creative and a lawyer to creatives and the multi-year grit it took to land the roles he took on. I don't know how many lawyers once drove for Uber or took a paralegal role to get a foot in the door at the right company. We also explored his ambitions for South Asian creatives and why representation in media really matters. One quote from Kunal has stayed with me: "there can't be a first unless there's a second and a third and a fourth." This interview was a first.

Sachin Shivaram is CEO of Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry Co. I was fascinated with Sachin's journey that started with every credential imaginable and led him to running an aluminum foundry in Manitowoc, WI. We talked about the surprising revelation he had from reading Atlas Shrugged that led him to the steel industry, a panic moment when hosting Joe Biden, and what's special about Wisconsin.