Lawyers Who Learn

David Schnurman
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Lawyers Who Learn, explores how attorneys’ engagement in lifelong learning fuels their growth. Join us to uncover these journeys and gain insights for your legal career.

  1. 5D AGO

    #129 The Lawyer Who Refused to Choose Between the Courtroom and the Studio

    What happens when a lawyer stops hiding the best parts of himself and starts treating his own life with the same strategic intentionality he'd bring to representing Beyoncé? For Khasim Lockhart, that mindset shift didn't just change his outlook, it unlocked a career that most attorneys wouldn't believe was possible. In this episode of Lawyers Who Learn, host David Schnurman, CEO of Lawline, sits down with Khasim Lockhart, Entertainment &IP / Legal Ethics attorney at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, Adjunct Professor at Fordham Law, and recording artist, all at once. Raised in Dominica before moving to Queens at age seven, Khasim built his identity around mentorship from an early age, launching a college prep program for high school athletes and eventually interning at Beyoncé's Parkwood Entertainment during law school. That experience gave him a framework he still uses today: manage your life the way you'd manage a global icon's career with intention, strategy, and no apologies. Khasim walks through the daily practices that keep him grounded across three demanding roles, morning self-assessments modeled after hedge fund meetings, weekly calendar planning that blocks studio time alongside court deadlines, and a teaching philosophy rooted in vulnerability and empathy. His course at Fordham, focused on peer mentoring and leadership, grew directly from a handshake after a first-year contracts class, a reminder that small, intentional moments compound into defining opportunities. What makes this conversation stand out is Khasim's honest reckoning with what it costs to suppress your creative identity in pursuit of professional credibility — and what becomes possible when you stop. For any lawyer feeling like they're leaving the best parts of themselves on the shelf, this episode is a blueprint for building something more whole.

    38 min

  2. MAY 18

    #128 When Your Wardrobe Becomes Your Leadership Strategy

    Before you speak, you are seen. Before your expertise is evaluated, your presence is assessed. At the highest levels of the legal profession, that assessment is not casual. It’s decisive. In this episode of Lawyers Who Learn, host David Schnurman sits down with Estelle Winsett, a former litigator and AmLaw 200 Director of Professional Development who now works at the intersection of style, strategy, and leadership for women in law. Estelle spent 20 years inside law firms. She saw a pattern no one was willing to name: the one thing women lawyers were quietly struggling with was something almost no one in the industry was addressing. How to dress with purpose and confidence in an increasingly informal, high-stakes profession. Brilliant women were doing exceptional work, yet being experienced in ways that diluted their authority. Not because of what they delivered. Because of how they were perceived delivering it. There is no formal dress code in law. But there is a standard. Unspoken, constantly evaluated, and quietly consequential. And as the profession has gotten more casual, the challenge has gotten harder, not easier. Business casual removed the old guardrails without replacing them, and the women navigating client-facing roles and firm leadership are the ones absorbing that uncertainty every morning. In a profession where women partners are already scrutinized more than their peers, visual strategy is not a nice-to-have. It is a professional discipline as critical as business development or client management. Estelle introduces her signature three-month transformation process, built on a precise methodology: body architecture, color strategy, and aesthetic clarity before any purchasing decisions are made. She unpacks her Rule of Three framework and delivers a truth most overlook: fit carries more authority than price. The conversation also draws on Gay Hendricks' The Big Leap, exploring the difference between a zone of excellence and a zone of genius, and the courage it takes to leave what is successful in pursuit of what is true. At the partner level, competence is assumed. What separates you is how that competence is experienced. And that experience begins the moment you are seen. For any woman attorney who has wondered whether how she shows up visually is helping or holding her back: this conversation will make the answer unmistakable.

    41 min

  3. MAY 14

    #127 Escaping Big Law to Discover a Family Legacy in Elder Law

    What do you do when you're a lawyer making great money but feel completely miserable? Scott Solkoff walked away from a prestigious securities litigation firm, complete with a corner office overlooking Tampa Bay, and spent his two-week vacation at his father's small community law firm. But what he found was far from defeat. His father was one of the founding fathers of elder law itself. In this episode of Lawyers Who Learn, host David Schnurman, CEO of Lawline, sits down with Scott Solkoff, elder law attorney, Lawline faculty member, and founder of Elder Law College, to trace a career shaped by serendipity, personal crisis, and a calling to help families navigate life's hardest moments. Scott unpacks the distinction between estate planning and elder law: while estate planning focuses on what happens after death, elder law focuses on quality of life before it. From protecting assets against long-term care costs to planning for incapacity, Scott explains why most families wait too long and what's at stake when they do. The conversation takes unexpected turns: a teenage venture selling microwave radiation inspections, a midlife crisis that sparked Elder Law College, a heart attack at 43, and a phone call that arrived at exactly the right moment. Scott reflects on the adult learning curve and how the phrase engraved on his father's tombstone, "do well by doing good," became his professional north star.

    36 min

  4. MAY 11

    #126 How a Bottle of Wine Started a Big Law Litigator's Career Pivot

    What happens when a test you take over a bottle of wine on a Thursday night ends up rewriting your entire career? For Kyle Robisch, founding partner of Latitude Legal's Tampa office, discovering that his number one strength was "Woo" — the drive to win others over and forge genuine connections — hit like a revelation. He was a Big Law litigator spending his days in conflict and argument, and here was hard evidence pointing him somewhere entirely different. In this episode of Lawyers Who Learn, host David Schnurman, CEO of Lawline, sits down with Kyle to unpack what the CliftonStrengths assessment revealed about his true superpower — and how that self-knowledge eventually powered a leap from senior associate to legal talent entrepreneur. Kyle explains why seeing three people-focused traits at the top of his results felt jarring for someone whose job was to argue and fight. That jarring feeling became an inflection point. The heaviness he felt in litigation wasn't weakness — it was misalignment. David shares his own results and together they explore what it means to stop performing someone else's version of success and start living inside your zone of genius. He also reflects on Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People and its core lesson: give freely, build genuinely, and good things follow. It's a philosophy he now lives daily at Latitude, where his job is the connection — helping high-caliber lawyers find flexible, fulfilling ways to practice. The takeaway is simple but hard-won: find the work that doesn't just use your skills, but gives you energy.

    22 min

  5. MAY 7

    #125 From Yale Law to Legal Tech Startup: A Philosopher's Bet on Someday

    Sam Davidoff spent twenty years mastering the art of litigation at one of Washington D.C.'s most elite firms — but the kid who taught himself to program at 15 never fully let go of his first love. When he finally told his wife, she'd seen it coming long before he had, and that was all he needed. That conversation became the catalyst for Align, a digital binder platform built to move trial lawyers off paper and onto their iPads. In this episode of Lawyers Who Learn, host David Schnurman, CEO of Lawline, traces Sam's unlikely path from St. John's College, where he spent four years wrestling with Plato and Aristotle around a seminar table, to Yale Law, to a partnership at Williams & Connolly, to first-time founder. That unconventional philosophical education gave him something most lawyers never develop: the habit of stopping to examine how he works, not just what he's working on. Sam opens up about the brutal realities of legal tech sales, how convincing a partner isn't enough, how institutional inertia can bury even an obvious product, and why building a startup feels exactly like a home renovation that costs twice what you budgeted. He also shares the practice that keeps his small team sharp: every other Friday is a mandatory no-product professional development day, where learning anything — watercolor painting included — is fair game. For lawyers and entrepreneurs alike, Sam's story is a reminder that "someday" has an expiration date, and that the examined life doesn't just make for good philosophy — it makes for better decisions.

    45 min

  6. MAY 4

    #124 How a Wake-Up Call at age 43 Sparked 25 Years of Reinvention

    Barry Seidel was at the peak of his success—running a thriving personal injury practice while building a lucrative per diem business, which was featured on the cover of the New York Law Journal. Then, at 43 years old, he had a heart attack—one his doctors called a "no-risk-factor" event, apparently triggered by anger and stress. What followed was a complete reimagining of how he approached law and life. In this episode of Lawyers Who Learn, host David Schnurman explores Barry's transformation from an angry, stressed attorney to someone who has embraced the ongoing process of learning to manage the emotional aspects of law practice and life. After a year away from practice, Barry pivoted from personal injury law to probate and estate administration, continuing to practice for another 25 years while developing new skills for handling stress. Barry's journey includes starting his own practice straight out of law school. His recent book, "Evolutions of a Law Practice, How I Opened My Own Practice Right Out of Law School….and lived to tell about it" captures his non-traditional path through multiple career evolutions. In this episode, Barry discusses how staying curious and adaptable can transform adversity into opportunity. Now at 69 and transforming his practice to semi-retirement mode, he's focused on writing, speaking, and helping others navigate legal practice challenges—proof that even the most difficult moments can become the foundation for a life without regrets.

    30 min

  7. APR 30

    #123 The Power of Mastering One Niche: Built by Saying No

    Most lawyers chase growth through more clients and more cases. Michelle Itkowitz built her practice by doing the opposite. After her first five years as a lawyer, Michelle realized that saying yes to everything was burnout waiting to happen. She narrowed her focus to landlord-tenant law in New York City, committed to mastering the niche, and built a boutique practice rooted in intentional selectivity. Today, she fields hundreds of inquiries each year and accepts only about 20 cases, guided by three non-negotiables: she must add real value, the client must be able to pay her rate, and the relationship must work. In this episode of Lawyers Who Learn, host David Schnurman explores how Michelle transformed deep subject-matter expertise into authority and impact. For decades, she has read the appellate decisions in her field, taught extensively, and created content that sharpens her thinking. Her podcast, Learn to Live Better: A Housing Law Podcast, serves New York’s vanishing middle class, people who fall between legal aid and high-end representation. In each episode, she distills complex cases into practical takeaways, then makes something clear: the show is not a funnel, and listeners shouldn’t call her for representation. Drawing on Essentialism and legal project management principles, Michelle front-loads every engagement with a detailed written analysis outlining options, costs, timelines, and likelihood of success. The result is clarity, aligned expectations, and virtually no unhappy clients. Her story is a reminder that real growth in law isn’t about expansion, it’s about refinement.

    53 min

  8. APR 27

    #122 Why Teaching What You Learn is the Ultimate Law Practice Growth Engine

    Patrick McCormick didn’t start his career as a renowned international tax expert; he built that reputation by systematically teaching every complex concept he encountered. From nearly dropping out of law school after a grueling first year to authoring a treatise for Thomson Reuters, Patrick discovered that the fastest way to master a niche is to explain it to others. Today, he manages a high-level book of business at a multinational firm, proving that visibility is the byproduct of continuous, public learning. In this episode of Lawyers Who Learn, host David Schnurman sits down with Patrick to explore the "market what you learn" strategy that transformed his practice. They discuss Patrick’s journey from a suburban New Jersey boutique to Ramon Law, a firm spanning 12 countries, and how he uses speaking engagements at Lawline and other providers to stay ahead of seismic shifts in tax law. Patrick reveals the "small but significant" changes in the latest tax legislation and why he still reads hundred-page bills from cover to cover to maintain his edge. The conversation highlights why specialization, particularly in underserved areas like international and state-and-local tax, is the key to long-term security in an evolving legal market. Patrick offers a roadmap for attorneys looking to transition from "backroom work" to industry leadership through publishing and mentorship. As the legal landscape becomes more complex, Patrick’s story serves as a masterclass in turning specialized knowledge into a scalable professional brand.

    26 min
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About

Lawyers Who Learn, explores how attorneys’ engagement in lifelong learning fuels their growth. Join us to uncover these journeys and gain insights for your legal career.

Information

  • Creator
    David Schnurman
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2024 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Lawyers Who Learn