Bottom Up  By  cover art

Bottom Up

By: WisLawNOW
  • Summary

  • What issues matter most to young lawyers? Where can new lawyers go to find career advice, professional insights, practice tips, and more? Bottom Up is a podcast dedicated to examining today’s legal challenges. Produced by the State Bar of Wisconsin and hosted by Emil Ovbiagele, a young lawyer and founder of a small law firm based in Milwaukee, each episode features frank discussions and relatable stories that highlight the interests and opportunities for attorneys working to establish their practice their way.
    2023
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Episodes
  • Episode 17: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome with Samantha Huddleston Baker
    Mar 26 2024

    Ever heard of imposter syndrome? In this episode of the Bottom Up podcast, produced by the State Bar of Wisconsin, co-host Emil Ovbiagele and guest host Joe Forward interview Samantha Huddleston Baker, a partner at OVB Law and Consulting S.C. in Milwaukee. They discuss impostor syndrome and carving out paths in the early years of a legal career.

    Samantha shares her background and journey to law school, as well as her experience joining the law firm and overcoming impostor syndrome. She also talks about finding her path in business and real estate law. The conversation concludes with a discussion on the dynamic between partners and associates. In this episode, the hosts discuss the challenges faced by young attorneys in the early years of their careers. They advise navigating these challenges, including how to effectively use support staff, deal with imposter syndrome, cultivate trust with clients, and handle difficult feedback. They emphasize the importance of confidence, communication, and continuous learning in building a successful legal career.

    Takeaways

    • Impostor syndrome is common among young lawyers and can make them feel inadequate or like they are pretending to be something they're not.
    • Overcoming impostor syndrome requires preparation, hard work, and a willingness to ask for help and seek guidance from more experienced attorneys.
    • Finding a path in a specific area of law often comes through experience and working with clients who give opportunities to learn and grow.
    • The dynamic between partners and associates can sometimes create a fear of bothering the partner with questions, but it's important for associates to ask for help and not spend unnecessary time on tasks that could be resolved quickly with guidance. Do initial work to understand the subject matter before asking questions.
    • Be persistent and confident in asking for help.
    • Don't be afraid to challenge more experienced attorneys respectfully.
    • Build a network of mentors and peers for support and guidance.
    • Avoid comparing yourself to others and focus on your own progress

    Chapters

    00:00 Introduction

    02:24 Impostor Syndrome and Carving Out Paths in Early Years of a Legal Career

    08:10 Background and Journey to Law School

    13:17 Joining the Law Firm and Overcoming Impostor Syndrome

    23:37 Dealing with Impostor Syndrome and Fear

    30:09 Defining Impostor Syndrome and Overcoming It

    33:32 Dynamic Between Partners and Associates

    34:58 Navigating the Early Years as a Young Attorney

    46:08 Challenges Faced as a New Attorney

    55:55 Using Support Staff Effectively

    58:08 Dealing with Imposter Syndrome

    01:00:05 Cultivating Trust with Clients

    01:02:37 Comparing Career Progress with Peers

    01:05:52 Handling Difficult Feedback

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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • Episode 16: Helping Victims of Human Trafficking, a Hidden Crime, with Erika Petty
    Jan 31 2024

    Simply defined, human trafficking is the exploitation of human beings for someone else's gain, according to Erika Petty, executive director at Milwaukee-based Lotus Legal Clinic, a nonprofit that provides free legal services exclusively to victims of human trafficking. 

    As you'll discover in Episode 16 of the Bottom Up podcast, produced by the State Bar of Wisconsin, while human trafficking can be simply defined, the complexity of the issue spans the nation and the globe, and hits home right here in Wisconsin. 

    To close out January, which is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, Bottom Up co-host Kristen Hardy sat down with Petty to discuss the complexities of the human trafficking problem.

    Along the way, we hear about the different ways in which human traffickers identify vulnerable people or populations and use that to exploit them for financial and other gain.

    We hear how victims are forced and coerced to commit crimes and give up all autonomy, making it difficult or impossible to escape, as the victim often depends on their traffickers for survival. We hear how victims are lured with promises into isolated situations, and forced into unpaid labor.

    "Trafficking is definitely a hidden crime and there can be red flags, but those red flags are only going to be visible if the victim is engaging in society in a way in which people are looking out for that person," said Petty, noting that traffickers know how to keep victims isolated. 

    But Petty also provides hope, and pathways for lawyers and others to help, through the donation of time or resources. Her work and the work of Lotus Legal Clinic involves the enforcement of crime victims' rights, criminal record relief, civil legal services involving housing, credit repair, workplace protections, and other issues. The clinic also helps victims on a pathway to healing. 

     

     

     

     

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    51 mins
  • Episode 15: Hustle, Humility and 63 years in Law Practice with Litigator Frank Gimbel
    Dec 29 2023

    In 1963, Frank Gimbel was just three years out of law school when he became an assistant U.S. attorney, serving five years before switching to defense counsel. Gimbel's career as a trial lawyer, spanning six decades, has been chronicled extensively, with many awards to his name.

    But the early days were no walk in the park. Gimbel worked as a tax return preparer, a clothes salesman, and held other side jobs to keep food on the table. These experiences required hustle and humility as Gimbel seasoned himself into one of Wisconsin's most recognized trial lawyers.

    In this episode of Bottom Up, co-hosts Emil Ovbiagele and Kristen Hardy dig deeper into Gimbel's career, which includes a successful prosecution of former Milwaukee organized crime boss Frank Balistrieri and other high-profile cases as a litigator in private practice.

    Gimbel, former president of the State Bar of Wisconsin (1986-87) and founder of what is now Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown LLP, unveils many qualities and strategies that led to his trial successes. He also discusses how politics and hustle helped forge his path, the conflicts he encountered, the value of respect, and how getting involved can help lawyers build a practice. 

    "You generate business by being in the community," Gimbel says. "While the numbers change, the formula for surviving as a lawyer after law school is not different."

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    59 mins

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