Brian LaBovick is a lawyer and entrepreneur who has earned more than $400 million for his personal injury clients since establishing his injury law practice in 1991. In this podcast, you’ll learn about how Brian made his way from Ohio down to South Florida. Brian is the CEO of the LaBovick Law Group and he is a past president of the North Palm Beach County Bar Association. I found Brian to be engaging and enthusiastic and someone who clearly doesn’t take much down time for himself! In fact, he used this past year’s nationwide lockdown to put out a book, Not a Good Neighbor, that helps people learn how to navigate the paperwork and pitfalls of an automobile accident case. I enjoyed getting to know him on this podcast and I think you will enjoy hearing his story.
This episode of the Next Lawyer Up podcast features retired bankruptcy judge, the Honorable Keith Lundin. For those of us who practice in the bankruptcy world, Judge Lundin is a universally known name. Judge (Ret) Lundin sat on the bench for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville for 34 years. Before that, he served as the chapter 13 bankruptcy trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee. What I found interesting, and did not realize, is that Henry (Hank) Hildebrand became the chapter 13 trustee one day before Judge Lundin took the bench. Judge Lundin and Hank are also renowned for putting on their CLE bankruptcy “road show” several times each year, which is a “must-attend” continuing legal education for bankruptcy practitioners. Judge Lundin has authored and co-authored several books and keeps his hands involved in bankruptcy on a daily basis as reflected by his website, LundinonChapter13.com. Judge Lundin also serves as the Managing Editor of the Norton Bankruptcy Law Adviser (Thomson Reuters). I enjoyed talking to Judge Lundin and getting to know his career path on this episode of the podcast.
Student loan debt in our country is at an alarming and disturbing level. Of the approximately 1.6 trillion dollars of student loan debt, approximately 6% of the total is 90 days past due or in default with the average student loan debt at approximately $37,000 per borrower. For many consumers in our country, this feels like an albatross that will never go away in their lifetime. On top of that, if someone is behind on student loan debt, there is the overwhelming worry if the debt is in some various stage of collections. Fortunately, there is a great resource for people in trouble or concerned with their student loans. This episode of the Next Lawyer Up podcast features attorney Joshua Cohen. Josh is The Student Loan Lawyer. If you have trouble, concerns or questions regarding your student loans, go to Josh’s website and see how he can help and assist you. You’ll find Josh engaging on this podcast and you’ll hear his wealth of knowledge regarding everything student loan related. I enjoyed catching up with Josh on this podcast and I think you’ll enjoy hearing about his life and his exclusive work in the area of student loans.
This episode of the Next Lawyer Up podcast features Joey Jackson. If his name sounds familiar to you, it is probably because you have seen him on TV for several years as a legal commentator on various cases of importance in our country. Joey currently serves in that role for CNN and HLN. In his daily work, Joey is a trial lawyer and he manages his own law firm in New York City, JOEY JACKSON LAW, PLLC. As you’ll hear on the podcast, Joey started his legal career as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan under noted Manhattan District Attorney, Robert Morgenthau. Joey’s law practice and his law firm now focuses on labor law and criminal defense matters. As you’ll hear, Joey is not any different than how he appears on TV. He is engaging, humble and smart with an ability to explain complicated legal scenarios in a simple and understandable way so it is no wonder he appears regularly on CNN! I enjoyed getting to know Joey on this podcast and I think you will enjoy hearing his story.
This episode of the Next Lawyer Up podcast features Bart Stichman. There has been a lot of discussion in our country over the last couple of decades about how we, as a nation, need to do more for our veterans. To that end, I can’t imagine that there are many individuals who have done more for veterans, whether they know it or not, than attorney Bart Stichman. Even with high-flying degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, New York University School of Law and Georgetown University Law Center, Bart has kept a singular focus on doing public interest law for his life’s work. Beyond that, he has focused his entire forty plus year legal career devoted to helping veterans get their benefits from the VA. Bart is the co-founder and current executive director of the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP). Bart’s litigation efforts through NVLSP have resulted in payment of more than six billion dollars in disability and healthcare benefits to hundreds of thousands of disabled veterans and their families. Additionally, Bart helped organize and currently serves as a trainer for the Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program, which has recruited and trained more than 2,000 volunteer attorneys over the last 25 years to represent those who have appealed to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims without a representative. Bart is also a co-author of The Veterans Benefits Manual, a 2200 hundred page treatise published by Lexis. This masterwork is a must-have for any attorney practicing in the area of veteran’s law. I enjoyed getting to know Bart on this podcast and I think you will too.
This podcast features attorney Ron Burdge. I always think of Ron as a “lawyer’s lawyer.” He is one of the preeminent experts in our country on consumer lemon law and auto fraud. Ron’s law firm, Burdge Law Office Co., LPA, is based in Dayton, Ohio but Ron handles these cases nationwide. He also has a unique sub-specialty in the area of RV lemon law. Ron is a great teacher and devotes a good portion of his professional life teaching and mentoring other consumer lawyers nationwide. There is not a consumer law auto fraud conference put on by NCLC or NACA that doesn’t have Ron as a featured presenter. He has a way of teaching that is both interesting and understandable and allows a student to figure out how to create a path forward with this type of law. Highly respected by his peers, Ron was named as the 2004 Consumer Trial Lawyer of the Year by NACA. On top of his work and mentorship, Ron has also devoted a substantial amount of his time to helping consumer lawyers in another important way, namely getting paid what they are worth! Ron is the author and publisher of the United States Consumer Law Attorney Fee Survey Report and the United States Consumer Law Attorney Fee Survey Report. He has done this important work for the past twenty three years or so. Ron has graciously agreed to allow listeners of the Next Lawyer Up podcast to download a free copy of the 279 page United States Consumer Bankruptcy Law Attorney Fee Survey Report and the 598 page United States Consumer Law Attorney Fee Survey Report from the download link at this website www.AttorneyFeeStudy.com Consumers in our country, along with their consumer lawyers, are fortunate to have Ron Burdge as an invaluable resource and advocate. As you’ll hear, all of this almost didn’t happen if Ron had followed through with his radio disc jockey dreams from early on in his life!
Brett Weiss practices bankruptcy law in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and various bankruptcy courts throughout the country. He serves as the managing member of the Weiss Law Group. Brett is a nationally known bankruptcy lawyer and he handles individual and small business cases under Chapters 7, 11, 12, and 13. Brett is the co-author with his friend and colleague, Dan Press, of a bankruptcy treatise titled “Chapter 11 for Individual Debtors” published by Lexis-Nexis. While not practicing law, Brett enjoys singing and all things Disney. I have known of Brett by his reputation but I have never had a chance to talk to him prior to this podcast. I enjoyed getting to know him and I think you will as well on this episode of the Next Lawyer Up podcast.
Penny Hays Cauley is the founder and principal of the Hays Cauley, P.C. law firm located in Florence, South Carolina. Penny first formed her law firm years ago in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and subsequently moved to South Carolina when her husband took over as pastor of a church in South Carolina. That, as you’ll hear, unfortunately required Penny to take another bar exam several years removed from law school! Penny is originally from Florida but a fortuitous scholarship brought her to Alabama. Piano performance and business degrees then started her on a career to become a consumer trial lawyer. Penny is an exceptional lawyer and one of the top consumer advocates in the country. I don’t make that statement lightly. I have worked with her on many consumer cases over the years, fifteen or so as she reminds me, and I have seen first hand her compassion, knowledge and desire to help her clients with a legal dexterity that few lawyers possess. It was good to catch up with Penny on this podcast and I think you’ll enjoy hearing her story.
For this 100th episode of the Next Lawyer Up podcast, I was fortunate to have attorney Ben Meiselas from Los Angeles join me. What I discovered on this podcast is that Ben has done a lot of notable work in our country in a very short period of time, as he is only in his mid-thirties! Ben is a law partner with famed attorney Mark Geragos of the Geragos and Geragos law firm where he heads up the firm’s civil law practice. Among his notable clients and cases, Ben has represented quarterback Colin Kaepernick and also serves as lead counsel in the Fyre Festival class action case. As if his legal work wasn’t enough to keep him busy, you may have heard of Ben’s “part time job” as founder of the Meidas Touch PAC, which he formed with his brothers at the start of the pandemic. Ben, as you’ll hear, is energetic, humble and gracious and he was also awarded the 2019 Variety Impact Lawyer of the Year award. I think you’ll enjoy hearing his story on this 100th episode of the Next Lawyer Up podcast.
Coby Boswell is one of the founding partners of the NxStep Family Law firm located in Huntsville, Alabama. With a bachelors and masters degree in economics, Coby and his firm diversified awhile back and now run a criminal defense practice as well. Coby comes from a long line of lawyers covering at least 100 years of practicing law in Alabama. I learned on this podcast that Coby started his career out of college as a real estate agent and then diverted to law school when the great recession occurred in our country. Coby is very active performing pro bono legal work in our community and is an avid participant with the Madison County Volunteer Lawyers Program where he also serves as a board member of the organization. It was good to get to know him better on this podcast.