Pioneers and Pathfinders

Seyfarth Shaw LLP
  • 4.9 (11)
  • Business
  • Updated Biweekly

Pioneers and Pathfinders is Seyfarth’s podcast about people driving change in the legal industry. Each episode features candid conversation with the people doing the work—lawyers, leaders, founders, teachers, and more. We will hear about their journeys—what they’re building, what they’re seeing, and what others can take from it. Co-hosted by Kevin Young, a Seyfarth partner and employment litigator who puts new tools and ideas to work in client service, and Zeynep Ersin, Seyfarth’s Chief Innovation & Strategic Design Officer, the podcast offers a front-line view into where the legal industry is headed Pioneers and Pathfinders was founded by J. Stephen Poor, Chair Emeritus of Seyfarth Shaw, a longtime industry leader who helped pioneer the application of Lean Six Sigma principles to legal service delivery.

  1. Charlotte Alexander

    5d ago

    Charlotte Alexander

    Today's guest is Professor Charlotte Alexander, a leading scholar whose work has focused on the efficiency, transparency, and openness of the court system, particularly in civil litigation. Charlotte is a Harvard Law-trained scholar whose research has been published in some of the most prestigious journals in the world, including Science, the NYU Law Review, and the Texas Law Review. Today, Charlotte leads the Law, Data, and Design Lab at Georgia Tech and is Professor of Law and Ethics at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business. Charlotte and her team at Georgia Tech use AI and machine learning to process massive amounts of court data and surface of patterns and disparities that have long been buried in millions of pages of legal text. Charlotte's work has attracted funding from the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Labor, and Google. She serves on the AI Committee for the Georgia Judiciary and was a Fulbright Scholar. Simply put, Charlotte has been doing this work long before AI and machine learning became mainstream, bringing a perspective that is both deeply technical and human-centered. In today’s conversation, we’ll explore the challenges hidden in court data, what AI can and can’t do for the justice system, and ethical questions that come with deploying these technologies at scale. Read the full transcript of today's episode here: https://www.seyfarth.com/dir_docs/podcast_transcripts/Pioneers_CharlotteAlexander.pdf

    33 min
  2. Dr. Larry Richard Returns

    May 21

    Dr. Larry Richard Returns

    Today's guest, Dr. Larry Richard, practiced as a trial attorney for 10 years before earning a PhD in organizational psychology. Today, he is a leading expert on why lawyers behave the way they do. For over 30 years, Dr. Richard has been researching how lawyers behave and why. He founded LawyerBrain LLC, which advises the leaders of major law firms on the human side of running a practice—things like culture, leadership, change management, resilience, and collaboration. Here are the 7 outlier personality traits that characterize lawyers, according to Dr. Richard's research: •    Much higher level of skepticism than the general public •    Much higher need for autonomy •    Higher level of abstract reasoning—lawyers like using their intellect to solve problems, but also like to argue •    Higher level of urgency—lawyers want closure, are impatient •    Lower level of empathy—less inclined to take the perspective of others •    Lower level of sociability—i.e., not very comfortable with emotional vulnerability, very private, guarded about personal issues •    And, the most important one—lawyers are dramatically and pervasively low in resilience (i.e., 20% lower average resilience score than the general public, and 90% of lawyers have a resilience score in the bottom half of the scale! That makes us thin-skinned, insecure, defensive, and easily wounded.) Dr. Richard and his wife, D'Arcy Lyness, PhD, also a psychologist, have just written a book entitled Thin-Skinned: Why Lawyers Are So Low in Resilience, and the New Science That Can Help. It will be published by the American Bar Association in July of 2026. The book explains why lawyers are so consistently low in resilience, and then offers over 50 different scientifically supported self-help practices that can help lawyers build resilience, manage stress, and improve overall well-being. Join us on this episode today to explore why lawyers, according to Dr. Richard, are among the least resilient professionals in the workplace. We talk about how the deeply ingrained skepticism of attorneys is colliding with the unprecedented pace of change brought on by AI and a rapidly evolving legal landscape. Read the full transcript of today's episode here: https://www.seyfarth.com/dir_docs/podcast_transcripts/Pioneers_Dr.-Larry-Richard-Returns.pdf

    34 min
  3. Zeynep Ersin and Kevin Young

    May 7

    Zeynep Ersin and Kevin Young

    Today, we meet our new co-hosts, Kevin Young and Zeynep Ersin. Kevin is a Seyfarth partner and employment litigator who puts new tools and ideas to work in client service, and Zeynep is Seyfarth’s Chief Innovation & Strategic Design Officer, focused on embedding a culture of innovation across the firm. As we launch the next chapter of the podcast, Zeynep and Kevin sit down with the person who built and led this podcast from the very beginning: Steve Poor, Chair Emeritus of Seyfarth and a longtime industry leader who helped pioneer the application of Lean Six Sigma principles to legal service delivery. In today's conversation, Kevin, Zeynep, and Steve discuss the evolution of the legal profession and legal tech, how to define "innovation," and the way podcasts promote learning and innovation, among many topics. Read the full transcript of today's episode here: https://www.seyfarth.com/dir_docs/podcast_transcripts/Pioneers_Zeynep-Ersin-and-Kevin-Young.pdf

    28 min
  4. Fifth Anniversary, Part II

    Apr 8

    Fifth Anniversary, Part II

    This episode brings Steve Poor's role as host of Pioneers and Pathfinders to a close. It has been a wonderful five-year ride with fascinating guests sharing intriguing insights on the past and future of the profession. We've learned an enormous amount from each of them, and we appreciate their contribution to what are important dialogues about the future of the profession. To everyone who has listened in to the conversations, thank you. We know the demands on your time, and to think you would make space for this podcast is humbling. Steve wishes all of you peace and serenity as you navigate a rapidly changing, chaotic world. Our listeners should know: Pioneers and Pathfinders will continue with Seyfarth’s Zeynep Ersin and Kevin Young taking over as hosts. Stay tuned—an announcement about their first episode is coming in the weeks ahead. And now, we wrap up with the second part of Steve's conversation with Lorie Almon, Seyfarth's Chair and Managing Partner. Stay strong, and as always, thanks for listening. Read the full transcript of today's episode here: https://www.seyfarth.com/dir_docs/podcast_transcripts/Pioneers_Fifth-Anniversary-Part-2.pdf

    26 min
  5. Fifth Anniversary, Part I

    Apr 1

    Fifth Anniversary, Part I

    Today we recognize two milestones for this podcast, and thus, we have a special two-part discussion. With this episode, we celebrate five years of over 200 individual guests drawn from all corners of the legal profession. Each guest has been incredibly generous with their time and ideas, and we have learned an enormous amount from them. It has been a wonderful experience. Additionally, these episodes mark the conclusion of Steve Poor's role as host of the podcast. Steve appreciates all our listeners who have gone on this journey with him. These two concluding episodes contain our conversation with Seyfarth's Chair and Managing Partner, Lorie Almon. In part one, Lorie and Steve reflect on the history of innovation in the profession—and at Seyfarth specifically. Next week, we end with a discussion of the current and future state of Big Law, from Lorie's perspective as someone running a Big Law firm. Thanks to Lorie for making the time to join us. We hope you enjoy listening to the conversation. As always, thanks for sharing your time with us. Read the full transcript of today's episode here: https://www.seyfarth.com/dir_docs/podcast_transcripts/Pioneers_Fifth-Anniversary-Part-1.pdf

    25 min
  6. Michele DeStefano Returns

    Mar 25

    Michele DeStefano Returns

    As we close out our fifth year, we welcome back one of our early guests, Michele DeStefano, for a fascinating return conversation. Michele is a professor at the University of Miami School of Law, a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, and the founder of LawWithoutWalls. Her work sits at the intersection of leadership, collaboration, and innovation in professional services. In this episode, we explore how artificial intelligence may reshape collaboration, training, and legal education. Michele also discusses the importance of integrating human elements into AI applications, the challenges of adapting legal training to meet modern demands, and the kinds of new roles that may emerge as the profession continues to evolve. As always, Michele brings energy, insight, and a deep commitment to helping the legal profession rethink how it learns, collaborates, and leads in a rapidly changing world. It was great to have one of our old friends back, and we hope you enjoy the conversation. Read the full transcript of today's episode here: https://www.seyfarth.com/dir_docs/podcast_transcripts/Pioneers_Michele-DeStefano-Returns.pdf

    30 min
  7. Joanna Goodman

    Mar 18

    Joanna Goodman

    Today we’re joined by Joanna Goodman, a freelance journalist, writer, and author covering technology, business, and media for national publications and major corporate clients. Joanna focuses much of her work on how emerging technologies, especially AI, are reshaping the legal profession. She writes the IT column for The Law Society Gazette and contributes regularly to the Legal Geek newsletter. She is also a frequent keynote speaker, panel moderator, and podcast host. In fact, back in 2016, she published one of the earliest books examining AI in legal services, entitled Robots in Law: How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming Legal Services. In our discussion, Joanna reflects on what it was like writing about legal AI long before generative AI entered the mainstream. We talk about separating hype from reality in legal tech, the challenges organizations face when trying to adopt new technologies, and why change management and training are often the hardest parts of transformation. Read the full transcript of today's episode here: https://www.seyfarth.com/dir_docs/podcast_transcripts/Pioneers_Joanna-Goodman.pdf

    30 min
  8. Dr. Eva Bruch

    Mar 11

    Dr. Eva Bruch

    This week, we’re joined by Dr. Eva Bruch. Based in Spain, Dr. Bruch is a lawyer, strategic consultant, and partner at LOIS—a consultancy focused on legal operations and the digital transformation of corporate legal departments and law firms. For more than two decades, Dr. Buch has been working at the intersection of strategy, technology, and the legal profession. At LOIS, she helps organizations adopt technology and AI in ways that are practical and tailored to their specific needs, rather than relying on one-size-fits all solutions. She is also a faculty advisor at the Digital Legal Exchange, a global nonprofit that brings together general counsel, legal professionals, and business leaders to learn and collaborate on digital transformation. Additionally, she serves on the Mutuality Foundation's Youth Council, a think tank focused on entrepreneurship and talent development within the legal profession. In our conversation, Dr. Bruch shares the moment she decided to leave traditional legal practice and focus on digital transformation, what legal professionals should be thinking about as they integrate AI into their work, and the critical role senior leadership plays in driving meaningful change. She also offers thoughtful perspectives on how AI should be regulated within the legal profession.  Read the full transcript of today's episode here: https://www.seyfarth.com/dir_docs/podcast_transcripts/Pioneers_Dr.-Eva-Bruch.pdf

    29 min
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4.9
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

Pioneers and Pathfinders is Seyfarth’s podcast about people driving change in the legal industry. Each episode features candid conversation with the people doing the work—lawyers, leaders, founders, teachers, and more. We will hear about their journeys—what they’re building, what they’re seeing, and what others can take from it. Co-hosted by Kevin Young, a Seyfarth partner and employment litigator who puts new tools and ideas to work in client service, and Zeynep Ersin, Seyfarth’s Chief Innovation & Strategic Design Officer, the podcast offers a front-line view into where the legal industry is headed Pioneers and Pathfinders was founded by J. Stephen Poor, Chair Emeritus of Seyfarth Shaw, a longtime industry leader who helped pioneer the application of Lean Six Sigma principles to legal service delivery.

Information

  • Creator
    Seyfarth Shaw LLP
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    245
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    Pioneers and Pathfinders

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