Between the Briefs

Lawyers can (technically) be the superheroes society needs them to be but the legal system simply doesn’t allow it. With a broken system, flawed legal aid and crumbling structures, justice gets the short end of the stick - but can AI be part of the solution? In this episode of Between the Briefs, hosts Adrian Cea and Joe Stephens welcome Sateesh Nori, Chief Legal Futurist at LawDroid and Senior Research Fellow at NYU School of Law, to explore how justice can truly be democratized. What You’ll Learn:How to quantify the access to justice crisisWhy AI is uniqu...

The only thing more important than embracing AI transformation for legal teams today is being able to communicate the change and manage it. In this episode of Between the Briefs by Steno, hosts Adrian Cea and Joe Stephens sit down with Mike Russell, Head of Global Legal Operations at Expedia Group, to explore just how legal operations is spearheading this movement. What You’ll Learn:How to position change management as the most critical skill in legal operationsThe framework for evaluating AI tools in legal departmentsWhy measuring "lawyer hours saved" alone is an incomplete metricHow to structure listening tou...

Applying AI to an already bad process is just automating a bad process,” says Myah Bowermaster, Head of Legal Operations at Cvent, in this episode of Between the Briefs by Steno. Tune in as hosts Adrian Cea and Joe Stephens sit down with Myah to explore the truth behind AI adoption in the legal landscape. What You’ll Learn:How to position legal operations as strategic partnershipWhy waiting for AI maturity beats first-mover adoptionThe framework for assessing legal tech readiness How to build credibility as a non-lawyer legal operations leader The “help me help you” approach to process implementation Why contract...

You can know every detail of a case - the when, what and who - but if you miss out the why, you’re playing a losing game. In this episode of Between the Briefs by Steno, hosts Joe Stephens and Adrian Cea welcome Kaelyn Gustafson, Litigation Associate at Friedman, Kaplan, Seiler, Adleman and Robbins, to explore how genuine human connection, strategic preparation, and technological literacy are reshaping modern legal practice.What You’ll Learn:How service industry experience builds the foundational empathy lawyers need to understand client motivation and case strategyWhy authenticity is the primary credibility meter in liti...

What if legal professionals have been missing the key to responsible AI implementation this whole time? In this episode of Between the Briefs, hosts Adrian Cea and Joe Stephens welcome Matthew Krengel, eDiscovery Counsel and Director of Information Retention Counseling at Cooley LLP, to explore the real solution.What You’ll Learn:How to transition from viewing AI as a liability to recognizing it as a strategic assetWhy the "move fast and break things" ethos conflicts with legal practice, and how to implement a phased approach to AI governance The critical importance of client consent frameworks for AI usa...

What does it take to lead one of the world's most prestigious law firms through a global financial crisis, a pandemic, and now, a generative AI revolution? In this episode, Eric Friedman draws on his three decades of experience at Skadden to dissect the current "headwinds" impacting the legal landscape. Now an advisor to legal tech leaders like Litera and Ironclad, Eric explores why adoption remains the number one hurdle for innovation and how the "client voice" is finally forcing the hands of reluctant law firms. From the "crystal ball" question of the billable hour's future to the p...

What does it take to represent families facing the unthinkable? For Brian Shapiro, it starts with deep mentorship and a commitment to strategic precision. In this episode, Brian discusses his journey from a "family of law" to becoming a passionate advocate for individuals impacted by spinal and brain injuries. He pulls back the curtain on his firm’s meticulous intake process, explaining how he identifies red flags early and prepares clients for the psychological rigors of depositions from the very first meeting.Beyond the courtroom, Brian explores the intersection of technology and law, highlighting how tools like Steno’s Tr...

In these volatile and uncertain times, what does it really take to uphold peace? Someone like Judge Paul Raleeh, it would seem. In this episode of Between the Briefs, hosts Joe Stephens and Adrian Cea sit down with Judge Raleeh, Justice of the Peace for Precinct 1 in Collin County, Texas, to explore the critical yet often misunderstood role of justice courts in modernizing local litigation.What You’ll Learn:How to navigate pro se representation effectivelyThe critical distinction between bond-setting and punishmentWhy civil jurisdiction expansion matters for rural and urban pr...

What if the legal AI revolution is actually a good thing? In this episode of Between the Briefs by Steno, Adrian Cea and Joe Stephens welcome David Coale, partner and leader of the appellate practice at Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegman, to unpack how said revolution is transforming appellate law without replacing human judgment. What You’ll Learn:How to structure an appellate practice that balances deep legal writing with real-time courtroom advisory workWhy generative AI excels at document digestion, trial transcript summarization and sophisticated legal researchHow to draft appellate briefs by wri...

Corporate greed and care cannot exist together. The only way to win is if you play a different game altogether. In this episode of Between the Briefs by Steno, Victoria Schall, New Jersey Supreme Court certified civil trial attorney and Founder of Schall at Law, reveals her rule book for advocating against nursing home abuse and winning neglect litigation. What You’ll Learn:How to leverage the "dignity matters" framework in jury selection by asking jurors whether the manner of death matters to themWhy electronic health records (EHR) systems like PointClickCare require specialized litigation support...

Law firm operations are undergoing a massive overhaul - as they should, in the age of AI. In this episode of Between the Briefs, hosts Adrian Cea and Joe Stephens sit down with Bill Ryan, Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer at AT&T, to explore how enterprise legal departments can harness AI to disrupt traditional workflows and what this means for enterprise compliance. What You’ll Learn:How to build organizational trust as the foundation for technological changeWhy dedicated teams outperform wide AI operation Why “vision without execution is just hallucination” How to ap...

Can legal technology be a catalyst for access to justice while preserving what makes legal work meaningful in the first place? That depends on how you use it. In this episode of Between the Briefs by Steno, hosts Adrian Cea and Joe Stephens sit down with David Cowen, Founder of the Solid Legal Summit and President of the Cowen Group, to explore why the legal industry stands at an unprecedented inflection point. What You’ll Learn:Why the dinner table remains the most powerful predictor of professional successHow to identify and invest in the radically curious 20%The art...

Everyone’s worried that AI will take their job. But what they should be worried about is AI exposing how bad some people have been at their jobs. In this episode of Between the Briefs, hosts Adrian Cea and Joe Stephens welcome Nicole Black, Principal Legal Insight Strategist at 8AM, for an eye-opening discussion on how AI is really shaping the ground reality of law today. What You’ll Learn:Why hallucinated case citations and fabricated legal propositions represent a systemic competence crisisHow to build internal AI governance policies and training frameworks that protect your...

Three sisters, Lauren, Erica and Gianna Kelly, switch sides, from being defense lawyers to giving a voice to plaintiffs. The result? The creation of The Kelly Firm, LLC and a transformation of the medical malpractice space. In this episode of Between the Briefs by Steno, the trio joins hosts Adrian Cea and Joe Stephens to explore the full story. What You’ll Learn:How to leverage defense litigation experience on the plaintiff sideThe optimal case vetting framework for medical malpractice litigationWhy pre-suit negotiation timelines differ between practice areas How to scal...

Lawyers are always going to be important. What makes them relevant, however, is another question altogether. In the latest episode of Between the Briefs by Steno as hosts, Adrian Cea and Joe Stephens, sit down with Kyle Poe, Vice President of Legal Innovation Strategy at Legora, to explore the balance of traditional legal skills and legal services evolution in the age of AI. What You’ll Learn:How to build organizational AI literacy without disrupting existing revenue streamsThe data moat as the new competitive advantageHow to reprice fixed-fee work int...

AI has taken over legal  in a way lawyers didn’t expect. But what if lawyers and AI could evolve alongside each other? In this episode of Between the Briefs by Steno, hosts Joe Stephens and Adrian Cea sit down with Steve Embry of embryLaw LLC, national litigator and renowned legal tech writer, to explore the collision between artificial intelligence and traditional legal practice.What You’ll Learn:The Verification Paradox: How the time saved using generative AI tools may be offset or entirely negated by the time required to verify outputsWhy senio...

The fabric of American law is changing - courts are in crisis, judges are under threat - and something needs to change. This episode of Between the Briefs by Steno reveals the ‘what’ as hosts Adrian Cea and Joe Stephens sit down with Eric Weitz, Founder of the Weitz Law Firm and President of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice. What You’ll Learn:Leveraging authenticity to build courtroom credibility, instead of performanceThe critical gap between law school education and trial practice reality Why non-economic settlements matter more than transactional case resolutionHow t...

Change is always uncomfortable. But in today’s tech-driven world, it is necessary. In this episode of Between the Briefs by Steno, hosts Joe Stephens and Adrian Cea welcome Carolyn Humpherys, Senior Consultant at Traveling Coaches, to explore the critical gap between implementing new technology and achieving genuine organizational adoption.What You’ll Learn:Why change management and strategic training are the secret weapons behind successful AI adoption in law firmsHow to overcome the resistance that derails most digital transformation initiativesHow to identify and remove adoption barriers within your organizationT...

Retaining top legal talent often feels like an uphill climb. Unless you have Karen Mesmer’s playbook. In this episode of Between the Briefs, Karen, Legal Services Manager at Shook, Hardy and Bacon, joins hosts Adrian Cea and Joe Stephens to explore how premier litigation firms are evolving their operations in the face of technological disruption.What You’ll Learn:How to evaluate AI tools without replacing institutional knowledgeThe essential soft skills that no technology can replicateWhy technical fluency in platforms like Excel and document management systems is now table stak...

What’s it going to take for legal companies to wholeheartedly embrace legal technology? Social proof, as Ted Theodoropoulos, CEO of Infodash, puts it. In this episode of Between the Briefs by Steno, hosts Adrian Cea and Joe Stephens, pick Ted’s brain about the tech reckoning the legal landscape is confronted with, today. What You’ll Learn:Why "Innovation Theater" still dominates big law and why that’s dangerousWhy change management is critical to successful AI adoption, not the toolsHow Gen AI is forcing conversations about business models that should ha...