10 Questions

How Atlanta defense lawyer Brian Steel got namechecked by rapper Drake

Atlanta criminal defense lawyer Brian Steel made headlines during the YSL trial. In February, Drake released a song that name-checks YSL, trial judge Paige Reese Whitaker and celebrates freedom in general. Its title? “Brian Steel.”

Jun 1, 2025 1:30 AM CDT

Sound Decisions: Meet the retired bankruptcy judge who rules Seattle’s ambient electronic music scene

When federal bankruptcy judge Marc Barreca retired in 2024, he ended both his legal career and his double life. For years, Barreca had been dividing his time, spending weekdays presiding over a courtroom and evenings and weekends in his studio, composing and recording ambient electronic music.

Apr 1, 2025 1:10 AM CDT

This lawyer-turned-wrangler helped save 200 horses from a wildfire

In 2012, Ami Cullen left her job as a litigation associate with a Washington, D.C.-area law firm to become a horse wrangler on a Colorado dude ranch. Trading her heels for cowboy boots was easy. But adapting her East Coast hunter-jumper equestrian experience to working on a ranch way out West was pure culture shock.

Feb 1, 2025 1:15 AM CST

Class-action lawyer went from being 50 Cent’s roadie to taking on TikTok

Kelvin Goode always hoped he’d end up advocating for the kind of people he grew up with in New York City. Now, as CEO of Arizona-based ClaimsHero, he says he’s doing just that. It’s a quest—and a career—that Goode never could have imagined when, as a troubled teen, he left home to work for a hometown hero: rap legend Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.

Dec 1, 2024 1:30 AM CST

Corporate lawyer leaves BigLaw to grow diaper vending machine business

Diaper duty is a task that favors the prepared, especially when out in public. But there can be no diaper change without a clean, correctly sized diaper. And that was precisely what Erin England, a Dallas corporate finance lawyer, was missing back in 2016 when she faced her infant daughter’s “code brown” in a restaurant bathroom.

Oct 1, 2024 1:40 AM CDT

How Sweet It Is: Lawyer builds a business around her award-winning chocolate

In a criminal trial, there’s always the possibility of a sweet deal. And some of the sweetest have come from the Milwaukee County Courthouse, thanks to lawyer Syovata Edari and her delicious chocolate truffles. Edari is the owner of CocoVaa Chocolatier, and in January, she was named a James Beard Awards semifinalist.

Aug 1, 2024 1:20 AM CDT

LSAC president reflects on challenges facing legal ed as she shifts to lead Association of American Law Schools

As Kellye Testy of the Law School Admission Council prepares to leave her post June 30 and start the very next day as executive director and CEO of the Association of American Law Schools, she talked with the ABA Journal about the changes and the challenges facing legal education.

Jun 17, 2024 9:09 AM CDT

10 Questions: Entertainment lawyer and documentarian knows where the good bars are

As Sheppard Mullin’s LA-based head of global media, Robert Darwell makes deals for companies like Disney, Amazon MGM Studios, Nickelodeon and Meta, and he’s helped make hundreds of movies possible, including Brokeback Mountain and Selma. But it’s not just Darwell’s law practice that earns him attention—he’s also recognized for his work as a documentary filmmaker.

Jun 1, 2024 1:20 AM CDT

This Los Angeles lawyer found her calling as a death doula

Everyone is going to die, it’s just a matter of where, when and how. For those who happen to know the specifics of their situation, Alua Arthur, a former legal aid lawyer, can help. Arthur is a certified death doula, which means she provides emotional and organizational support for people who are nearing death, allowing them to embrace the end in a way that honors their wishes, customs and beliefs.

Apr 1, 2024 1:10 AM CDT

10 Questions: In crafting a new career, this Texas contracts attorney created a community

The brainchild of Laura Frederick, a former in-house lawyer for Tesla, ContractsCon debuted in 2022. Her path from law practice to entrepreneurship began during the pandemic, and she’s since built a global community of contract law professionals via LinkedIn and created How to Contract, a successful online legal education platform.

Feb 1, 2024 1:10 AM CST

As CEO of an air carrier, this lawyer steers the company and flies the planes

If Benjamin Klein isn’t in his office, there’s a chance he could be above it. That’s because Klein isn’t just the CEO of Aero, a San Francisco-based air carrier specializing in semiprivate air travel, he’s also a first officer. Which means he can—and does—fly planes for Aero.

Dec 1, 2023 1:20 AM CST

Former NSA and CIA general counsel has made it her mission to strengthen national security through civic education

Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker has spent decades dealing with national security. Today, Parker’s focus isn’t spies, surveillance or foreign governments. It’s education—specifically, inadequate civic education from elementary school to graduate school. When Americans don’t understand the foundations of their democracy, they are susceptible to misinformation and manipulation, she says. In her view, civic education is a national security imperative.

Oct 1, 2023 2:30 AM CDT

Septuagenarian lawyer can beat both his clients’ criminal charges and a drum set

There are generally two reasons why people go to see Dan Monnat: They’re facing criminal charges or they enjoy live music. Monnat, co-founder and president of Monnat & Spurrier Chartered, a five-lawyer firm in Wichita, Kansas, is both an accomplished criminal defense lawyer and a musician who sings and plays drums for an R&B group called The House Band. Across his 47-year career, Monnat has achieved courtroom victories in cases ranging from murder to money laundering. But initially, he was a musician.

Aug 1, 2023 1:40 AM CDT

Despite epic success and a legendary reputation, this BigLaw founder isn’t resting on his laurels

If John B. Quinn wasn’t a real person, Hollywood might have invented him. Quinn has been called a legal titan, and his firm, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, has been labeled one of the most feared litigation firms in the world.

Jun 1, 2023 1:20 AM CDT

Lawyer-turned-playwright celebrates Broadway debut with powerful legal drama

Prima Facie is a new one-woman play on Broadway, centered on an ambitious lawyer who, after building her reputation representing men accused of rape, must navigate the same legal system to seek justice for herself after her sexual assault.

Apr 26, 2023 8:26 AM CDT