JDHD | A Podcast for Lawyers with ADHD Marshall Lichty

Christina Scalera is a lawyer and serial entrepreneur. They call her "The Queen of Black Friday."

Christina has several incredible businesses under her belt, including an award-winning Shopify store. She founded and ran a successful intellectual property law firm in Georgia and Colorado. She created and co-hosted a brilliant podcast ("The Creative Empire Podcast") and now helps lawyers turn their services into products at ChristinaScalera.com.

The secret underbelly of her "overnight" success, though, is that she tried (and failed) several times to build her dream life. Standing in her way was crippling credit card debt ($78,982, if I'm not mistaken), self-doubt, anxiety, depression, and trouble with grocery shopping (among other things).

She also has ADHD. This is her story.

Learn More About Christina Scalera
ChristinaScalera.comInstagramFacebookPinterestLinkedInTheContractShop.com ("What if legal stuff didn't suck?")Two Quotes from Christina Scalera
"If you want to have a successful life or business, you have to automate everything."

"ADHD medication broke the pattern of me feeling like I was a piece of crap. It broke the cycle and the pattern."

Resources Christina Scalera Mentions in this Episode
Kelly Newsome GeorgesThe Rising Tide SocietyPerennial Seller by Ryan HollidayDr. Daniel Amen's "7 Types of ADHD"Cognitive-behavioral therapy for ADHDADHD medicationClickfunnels, Russell Brunson, and Julie Stoian.“Soap Opera Sequence”The Tile App JDHD | For Lawyers with ADHD
Are you looking for 1:1 coaching for your life as a lawyer with ADHD? Let's talk! You can book a time right here.You can learn more, read the transcript & view the show notes, and much more right here.Join the JDHD mailing list.Sign up for my free 10-Day email course, "An Introduction to ADHD for Lawyers."Follow JDHD (and Marshall Lichty) on your favorite social channels!  Twitter (JDHD)Twitter (Marshall)FacebookInstagramSubscribe to our YouTube channel.

Erin Keyes is a lawyer and the Dean of Students at the University of Minnesota Law School.

In this first episode since before the world shut down, we talk about what it means for law students and lawyers with ADHD to keep themselves healthy. We talk about why ADHD can make law school harder, how law schools can support ADHD law students, and the well-known pattern of ADHD law students falling behind and struggling to get caught back up.

We talk about how ADHD looks different in women, the panic monster and negative feedback loops, and how students are helping one another with ADHD and other mental wellness issues.

And we talk about how you slay the ADHD panic monster. Just start. Start the process of figuring out a way to figure out a way.

Learn More about Erin Keyes, JD
The University of Minnesota Law SchoolTwitterEmail Dean KeyesTwo Quotes
"Some students struggle with how to build meaning over the course of a semester and give themselves lots of opportunities to test their understanding of information. Because you can't cram in law school."

"There is so much shame around the manifestation of ADHD in terms of the things that are left undone. The things that were started but not finished. There's a good reason why ADHD is so highly correlated with anxiety and depression. It is not just a function issue. It's also an emotional issue."

ADHD Resources in this Episode
Professor Fred MorrisonDavid JaffeJerry OrganOrgan, Jerome M. and Jaffe, David and Bender, Katherine, "Suffering in Silence: The Survey of Law Student Well-Being and the Reluctance of Law Students to Seek Help for Substance Use and Mental Health Concerns" (September 13, 2016). Journal of Legal Education.Krill, Patrick R. JD, LLM; Johnson, Ryan MA; Albert, Linda MSSW, "The Prevalence of Substance Use and Other Mental Health Concerns Among American Attorneys," Journal of Addiction Medicine.National Task Force on Lawyer WellbeingThe Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive ChangeMinnesota Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers ADHD Support Group JDHD | For Lawyers with ADHD
You can learn more, read the transcript & view the show notes, and much more right here.Join the JDHD mailing list.Sign up for my free 10-Day email course, "An Introduction to ADHD for Lawyers."Follow JDHD (and Marshall Lichty) on your favorite social channels!  Twitter (JDHD)Twitter (Marshall)FacebookInstagramSubscribe to our YouTube channel.

Show notes are coming, I promise!!!

Magically, Shawn Healy and I weave together Muggsy Bogues, the itty-bitty shitty committee, the evil New York Yankees, and spot-on practical tips for lawyers with ADHD.

He's charming, insightful, calming, and brilliant, and he talked for more than an hour about how to make meaningful progress building a better life and a better law practice as a lawyer with ADHD.


Learn More about Shawn Healy, PhD

Dr. Shawn Healy is Clinical Psychologist and a member of the clinical staff at Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers in Massachusetts where he provides individual clinical consultations, groups, and workshops to law students, lawyers, and judges. He regularly presents and publishes on all manner of mental health topics germane to the legal community. Over the past year, Dr. Healy has run several workshops on Practicing Law with ADHD and runs an ongoing monthly support group for law students and lawyers with ADHD. Dr. Healy is also the coauthor of the book The Full Weight of the Law: How Legal Professionals Can Recognize and Rebound from Depression (ABA Publication, 2017).
Facebook (Massachusetts Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers)Twitter (Shawn Healy)Twitter (LCL-Massachusetts)https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-healy-phd-704b6b3/YouTube (LCL-Massachusetts)LCL-Massachusetts Website
Two Quotes
"ADHD and ADD can look like something as simple as difficulty reading material and focusing on it. It can be something as difficult as having their mind wander during classes, during meetings, trying to get stuff done and struggling to focus enough to get important stuff done, feeling the pressure of a deadline bearing down, but just feeling totally powerless in their ability to focus and get the work product done."

"Everybody needs to feel like they have some control over when they work and when they stop working..."

ADHD Resources in this Episode
The Full Weight of the Law: How Legal Professionals Can Recognize and Rebound from Depression, by Jeffrey Fortgang and Shawn HealyLCL-MA ADHD ResourcesDavid & Goliath, by Malcolm GladwellThe Small Firm Roadmap, by Aaron Street, Sam Glover, Stephanie Everett, and Marshall LichtyQuiet, by Susan CainSpark, by John Ratey, MDAcuity SchedulingTransforming ADHD, by Greg Crosby and Tonya LippertJDHD | For Lawyers with ADHD
You can learn lots more, read the show notes, and much, more by visiting TheJDHD.com/9.Join the JDHD mailing list.Leave Marshall a voice note at Speakpipe.com/JDHDSign up for my totally free 10-Day email course, "An Introduction to ADHD for Lawyers."Sign up for our text newsletter— Text “JDHD” to (551) 212-8883 to join!Follow JDHD (and Marshall Lichty) on your favorite social channels!

David Seah is possibly the most interesting man in the world. Growing up in a seminary on the top of a mountain, he has evolved from video game designer to JavaScript developer to cult productivity internet superhero.

His carefully-crafted, user-focused productivity tools help ADHD lawyers and non-ADHD lawyers alike grapple with their most important priorities and vanquish their most challenging struggles.

Learn More about David Seah
FacebookTwitterPatreonDiscord ServerInstagramDavidSeah.comKo-FiGitHubPinterestYouTubeShopifyTwo Quotes
“The big secret with productivity systems is you can follow any of them and they work... so long as you keep following them."

"A Gantt chart is a way of visualizing how much time a set of tasks will take to complete a project... It's great at Thanksgiving when you're cooking all these things at the same time and only have four burners on your oven. So I actually make a Gantt chart every year for my Thanksgiving dinner. That's how nerdy I am."
ADHD Resources in this Episode
The JDHD Landing Page at DavidSeah.com!All of Dave's productivity tools in one place!The Emergent Task Planner StickyPad on AmazonThe Emergent Task PlannerThe Emergent Task TimerManual Gantt Charting in ExcelThe Concrete Goals TrackerThe Task Progress TrackerThe Day Grid BalancerThe Task Order Up!Time Tracking in ExcelChecklist Manifesto, by Atul Gawande JDHD | For Lawyers with ADHD
You can learn lots more, read the show notes, and much, more by visiting TheJDHD.com/8.Join the JDHD mailing list.Leave Marshall a voice note at Speakpipe.com/JDHDSign up for my totally free 10-Day email course, "An Introduction to ADHD for Lawyers."Sign up for our text newsletter— Text “JDHD” to (551) 212-8883 to join!Follow JDHD (and Marshall Lichty) on your favorite social channels!  Twitter (JDHD)Twitter (Marshall)FacebookInstagramSubscribe to our YouTube channel.

Liz Vennum is hilarious and compassionate and crushing it as a law firm owner with ADHD. Her vulnerability and her (gentle but persistent and swift) kicks in my ass have inspired me and—in many ways—are responsible for helping me get over my own imposter syndrome and perfectionism to launch this podcast and the website that goes with it.

As the Managing Attorney at Vennum PLLC in North Carolina, Liz opens up about her life as a mom with ADHD, a business owner, a spouse, and a bleeding heart.

We talk about growing up as a girl with undiagnosed ADHD (inattentive, not hyperactive), Facebook groups, ADHD in the workplace, why JDHDs make great litigators, and Liz's approach to people and talent and management and serving her clients.

Learn More about Liz Vennum
FacebookTwitterLinkedInInstagramVennumLaw.comTwo Quotes
“It was just a relief at that point. Like, 'Oh. Thank God. This is why.' This is why I always think 'Well, you could be first in your class if you tried a little harder. You could keep your stuff organized if you were just more disciplined... Just to be able to let that GO..."

"We all had these two things in common: We were lawyer moms and we had ADHD. So the other moms who have coordinated birthday parties for their well-dressed children in matching socks, they just don't understand about the rest of our lives."
ADHD Resources in this Episode
Law Mamas Facebook GroupLaw Moms Focus Facebook Group (for law moms with ADHD)ADDitude MagazineChecklist Manifesto, by Atul GawandeDavid SeahManager READMEs (blog post) (video)Good Boss, Bad Boss, by Robert Sutton JDHD | For Lawyers with ADHD
You can learn lots more, read the show notes, and much, more by visiting TheJDHD.com/7.Join the JDHD mailing list.Sign up for my totally free 10-Day email course, "An Introduction to ADHD for Lawyers."Sign up for our text newsletter— Text “JDHD” to (551) 212-8883 to join!Follow JDHD (and Marshall Lichty) on your favorite social channels!  Twitter (JDHD)Twitter (Marshall)FacebookInstagramSubscribe to our YouTube channel.