Senior Assistant Orange County Public Defender, Tracy LeSage, talks to M.C. Sungaila about her experience defending those accused of crimes, from misdemeanors to serious felonies. She provides insights into the value of a judicial clerkship, and the very personal rewards of representing the vulnerable and helping them recover their future.

We’re in for a treat as MC Sungaila dabbles a little bit more into legal academia as a career option for lawyers and law students. Joining her is Professor Rebecca A. Delfino of the Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Professor Delfino wears many hats in the school, most notably as a Professor of Law and Faculty Adviser of the Moot Court program. She takes us back into her storied journey from law school to law firm, the Court of Appeal, and eventually, back to law school where she’s now busy molding a new generation of law professionals. Listen in and take a peek at the career path of an amazing woman who has an impressive resume of experiences both in academia and in the courts.

Host M.C. Sungaila sits down with Jane Bland, a Justice on the Texas Supreme Court. Learn how Justice Bland got into law and moved from BigLaw practice to the bench. Discover what it takes to be elected to the bench, and serve the community in a myriad of ways. (And for you litigators, hear some tips on succeeding as an advocate in court.)

Host M.C. Sungaila sits down with Lyrissa Lidsky, Dean of the University of Missouri School of Law. Lyrissa discusses her passion for teaching and her career journey from a small town in Texas to leading a major law school. Listen as she shares the challenges and rewards her academic career has brought her -- and how surviving breast cancer while serving as Dean impacted her, her family, and her academic community.

Harmeet Dhillon, the founder of Dhillon Law Group and the Center for American Liberty, is a nationally recognized lawyer, trusted boardroom advisor, and passionate advocate for individual, corporate and institutional clients across numerous industries and walks of life.

Harmeet describes her family's journey to the United States, her time at UVA Law School, a stint at the Department of Justice, a federal appeals court clerkship, a decade of practice at prestigious international law firms, and how she came to found her own litigation boutique and then a nonprofit legal center. She provides tips on navigating BigLaw and founding a law firm. This is a dynamic and independent-minded guest you do not want to miss.

Arizona trial court Judge Danielle Viola joins M.C. Sungaila to discuss how her policy work with the Arizona state government and law practice at the venerable Phoenix-based firm Snell & Wilmer collectively inform her approach to problem solving and decision making on the bench. She also provides some solid advice for litigators in the trial court.

Some of us are satisfied with where our professional careers are. But for those who wish to push their boundaries, career development is an option to get where they want to go. MC Sungaila discusses the ins and outs of improving and developing your skills with President, CEO and General Counsel of Focus Forward Consulting, Sheila Murphy. As a certified coach and career and business consultant, Sheila Murphy helps lawyers, leaders and legal organizations build fulfilling and thriving careers, practices and businesses by helping them develop skills that bring their game to the next level. Tune in and learn more as Sheila Murphy lays out the things you need to develop if you want to chase success.

Join Orange County Supervisor, Attorney Katrina Foley, as she shares why it's important to build long-lasting relationships by serving your community.

Lisa Lang describes her journey from serving in the military as a paralegal to becoming general counsel at Kentucky State University, a public historically black land-grant university. She also describes how embracing social media, and establishing her network and brand through it, impacted her career.

Antoinette Balta, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the legal nonprofit Veterans Legal Institute®, discusses her nonprofit career, how her military experience and her immigrant family impacted the direction of her career, and her prestigious role as a Presidential Leadership Scholar. This episode is a must-listen for those interested in public interest law, or those who would like to understand the significant role legal nonprofits play in the justice system.

Michelle Hanlon is a maven of all things involving space law. She is Co-Director of the Center for Air and Space Law at Ole Miss and an instructor of aviation and space law. She is also a co-founder and the President of For All Moonkind, Inc., a nonprofit corporation that is the only organization in the world focused on protecting human cultural heritage in outer space. Prior to space law, she conducted complex international transactions, including the restructuring of sovereign debt for a number of South and Latin American countries and evolved into the negotiation and implementation of cross-border technology mergers and acquisitions.

Listen in as Michelle Hanlon describes what is so exciting about space law, the importance of maintaining space history and cultural property, and the impact of New Space on the legal landscape.

Legal thriller author Patricia Hunt Holmes spent 30 years as a public finance attorney with a large international law firm specializing in nonprofit healthcare finance and rural electric cooperative finance. She sits down with M.C. Sungaila to discuss what it was like to be one of the first women partners at her law firm, her journey from a Ph.D. to paralegal and then lawyer, and her current career as an author of legal thrillers that expose readers to real life issues, such as human trafficking. There is power in storytelling, especially in addressing contemporary social issues.

Therese M. Stewart, Associate Justice of the California First District Court of Appeal, Division Two, chats with MC Sungaila about moving from a high-profile advocacy career to the bench, efforts to diversify the courts, and collaborating with her judicial colleagues. She provides an in-depth exploration of her work prior to the bench in the area of LGBT rights, both in private practice and at the City Attorney's Office. Tune in for and enlightening and inspiring with valuable insights you can use in your practice.

Annaliese Fleming, Senior Associate Executive Director and General Counsel for the American Bar Association, joins M.C. Sungaila to talk about her experience leading the ABA's legal function. Listen in as Annaliese touches on her wide-ranging legal expertise from private practice to teaching and now as a trusted in-house advisor.

Lynn Hecht Schafran, the Senior Vice President and Legal Director of the National Judicial Education Program at Legal Momentum, has played a leading role in the advancement of women's rights. Introduced to legal efforts to advance the rights of women by Ruth Bader Ginsburg herself, who was one of Lynn's law professors, Lynn is internationally recognized for her work on gender discrimination and has been active in prompting courts across the country to establish gender bias task forces.

Vice-Chief Justice of Arizona's Supreme Court, Ann Scott Timmer, shares her tips on brief writing and oral argument, and discusses her path to the bench and role on her state's supreme court.

Justice Adrienne Grover of the California Court of Appeal, Sixth District, discusses her path to the bench and her views on the justice system and gives sound advice for both advocates and lawyers aspiring to become judges.

Leah Ward Sears was the first African-American female chief justice of a state supreme court in the United States. When she was first appointed as a justice in 1992, she became the first woman and youngest person to sit on Georgia's Supreme Court. She is now in private practice at a major law firm. Justice Sears shares her path to the bench, and the importance of mentors in her career journey, as well as tips for newer lawyers and advocates.

Judge Joanne Motoike serves as the Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court in Orange County, California. She discusses her time on the bench and her remarkable career prior to the bench serving as a senior deputy public defender at the Orange County Public Defender’s Office, and as a trial attorney in the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia at the Hague.

Justice Eileen C. Moore of the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Three, joins us today to provide a historical perspective on the challenges women faced in becoming lawyers in the 1970s, and how far both she and other women lawyers have come in their legal careers. She also discusses the long-lasting impact of her service in the Vietnam War, and her commitment to military veterans.