🎙Two New Episodes of How I Lawyer!

Enjoy Interviews with Nick Boyle (Accomplished International Litigator, Latham & Watkins LLP) and Jay Hyne (Director of Regulatory Relations, American Express)

Greetings from Washington, D.C.

It has certainly been a challenging week for our nation (and in the nation’s capital in particular) after an already challenging year. But part of the reason I started the podcast is because I believe that lawyers play an essential role in protecting our democracy and as a profession we can learn from the stories and experiences of one another. I hope that no matter what role you play in the legal system (or will play in the system) that you will learn important lessons from these interviews.

I also wanted to give you a quick update on How I Lawyer. Since launching the podcast last Sunday it already has more than 1,300 plays including almost 850 listeners (and almost 300 subscribers on this list alone).

The podcast was also picked up by the How Appealing Blog and was promoted by many on social media including Professor Orin Kerr.

All of this early success is because of you. Thank you for listening and for sharing the podcast with family, friends, colleagues, and on social media. I also want to thank my first two guests Andrea Stagg and Raffi Melkonian for such inspiring interviews (listen here and here if you have not yet had a chance).

As with any new creative project, the time required to produce the episodes is exponentially greater than I expected. But it is all worth it when I receive comments like this.

If you are enjoying the podcast and think others would find it valuable, please share it on social media or leave a rating and write a review on Apple Podcasts so that I can reach as many lawyers, law students, and future law students as possible.

And with that, here are this week’s episodes:

• In Episode #004, I speak with my dear friend Jay Hyne who is a Director of U.S. Regulatory Relations at American Express. Before transitioning to regulatory work at Amex, Jay worked in the Financial Intelligence Unit where he conducted anti-money laundering investigations. He started his career as a law clerk to Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith in Hartford, Connecticut and then worked a litigation associate at an AmLaw 200 firm in New York City. Jay is a graduate of Brandies University and the University of Connecticut Law School.

  In the conversation we discuss his path from litigation to investigations to regulatory work, the importance of emotional intelligence and reputation in the life of a lawyer, the power of taking parental leave when it is offered, and the ways that a legal skillset can extend from the courtroom to the boardroom. 

• In Episode #005, I speak with Nick Boyle who is one of my mentors and a litigation partner at Latham & Watkin’s Washington D.C. Office. Before that he was a litigator at Williams & Connolly LLP for almost twenty years.

  Nick hails from Scotland and came to America after completing degrees at King's College and Cambridge to study at Harvard where he earned an LLM. As I explain in the show, he may not be the most interesting man in the world but he may be the most interesting litigator. His international practice focuses on commercial litigation where he has represented business to business data providers, software companies, movie studios, investment banks, private equity funds, and even a Hall of Fame NBA basketball coach. In an age of specialization and silos, Nick has done it all: corporate work, arbitrations, trials, appeals, and strategic advising for individuals and institutions. But what makes Nick standout in a world of excellent civil litigators is not just the breadth and depth of his practice but also his focus on mentoring and developing junior associates.

  In our conversation we talk about the nature of his Big Law civil litigation practice, how a kid from Scotland became an American litigator, the importance of learning from experience, the central role of networking and getting to know people as a lawyer, best practices for how to mentor younger lawyers, how younger lawyers can stand out by taking ownership of their cases, and the importance of law at this moment of national challenges. (Seriously don’t miss the end of this episode.) 

As always if you have any recommendations, questions, or comments about the podcast please do not hesitate to respond to this e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you.

Until next week,

Jonah