πHow I Lawyer #143: Woodrow Hartzog - Law Professor and Privacy & Technology Law Expert
Welcome back to another episode of How I Lawyer!
Today's guest is Woodrow Hartzog, an internationally recognized expert in privacy and technology law whose work has been published in numerous top journals and books. Before becoming a law professor, Woodrow followed a nontraditional path that included earning his JD/MBA from Samford University, practicing at the regional law firm Burr and Forman, earning an LLM from George Washington University Law School, working as a trademark attorney at the US Patent and Trademark Office, and ultimately earning a PhD in mass communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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In this episode, Professor Hartzog shares valuable insights about privacy, technology law, and career development including:
πβοΈ How his undergraduate journalism class sparked his interest in technology law when his professor admitted "nobody knows what the law of the Internet's going to be" [3:24]
π΅πΏ How writing about Napster for his college newspaper and receiving feedback about copyright infringement further pushed him toward law school [4:11]
ππ± How the events of September 11, 2001 and the subsequent USA Patriot Act made him think seriously about privacy issues for the first time [5:04]
πβοΈ How he discovered his passion for academia when he realized he was writing law review articles about privacy "for fun" while working as a trademark attorney [11:29]
ππ How his mentor Dan Solove told him being a "privacy attorney" wasn't yet a real career path in the early 2000sβa reality that has dramatically changed [10:26]
ππ£ How sometimes you need to "feel where the river is taking you" in your career while still making intentional choices [13:16]
π―π How the most important writing advice he received was that readers will only remember one thing from anything you writeβso make that one thing count [32:51]
ππ§ How his writing process often starts with "white hot rage" about something wrong that needs fixing, then breaking complex concepts into simpler parts [32:21]
ππͺ How reaching out to professors and mentors is crucial for successβ"people are kind and want you to succeed" [40:18]
βπ§ How asking questions, even when afraid of looking foolish, is essential because "real wisdom is understanding what you don't know" [41:31]
This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.
Have a great week,
Jonah