I Am The Law

Judge Elizabeth Stong calls bankruptcy court a "second chance court," a forum where companies in financial distress and individuals buried in debt can find a path forward, even if it's rarely the one they hoped for. She serves on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York, sitting in Brooklyn.
Becoming a judge was never on Judge Stong's radar — she was a happy litigation partner with no bankruptcy background when a job announcement caught her eye. In this episode, Judge Stong describes managing more than 300 active Chapter 11 cases alongside individual filings, the rhythm of case management conferences, and how she works with law clerks to prepare for hundreds of orders each week. She unpacks the structure of Article I bankruptcy judgeships and the Second Circuit's appointment process, and reflects on the weight of decisions that shape whether a family keeps its home or thousands of employees keep their jobs. The Honorable Elizabeth Stong is a graduate of Harvard Law School.
This episode is hosted by Kyle McEntee.
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Haynes Boone LLP
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As an international student graduating from a U.S. law school, Jimmy Lai struggled to find employers willing to sponsor him. Rather than leave the U.S., he chose to build something from scratch. In this episode, Jimmy talks about how his visa barriers pushed him to co-found an immigration law firm. Jimmy reflects on failing the bar exam three times before passing, navigating the financial and legal risks of starting a firm, and learning to think like a business owner rather than a lawyer. He also talks about doing all of this as a self-described introvert — someone who once avoided grocery store aisles to dodge small talk — and how he forced himself into networking and sales before eventually delegating those roles to more extroverted team members. Jimmy is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma College of Law.
This episode is hosted by Katya Valasek.
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Deepan Patel explains his role at the IRS. While the IRS has many types of lawyers, he focuses on business taxpayer guidance, which ensures certainty for businesses making major decisions. He describes how he got into tax, where his career might go, and trade-offs between government and private practice. Deepan is a graduate of Florida State University College of Law.
This episode is hosted by Kyle McEntee.
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Michelle Hanlon spent 25 years as a cross-border M&A lawyer before earning an LLM in space law and reinventing her practice around an environment that nobody quite controls but many want to. Space law is barely developed, but much of the daily work looks like any other industry: contracts, regulatory compliance, and drafting provisions that account for risks nobody else is thinking about yet. Michelle holds a permanent observer seat at the UN committee where international space law is written, and in this episode she breaks down the craft of persuading legislators and diplomats, why industries often write the standards Congress later codifies, and how deep subject-matter fluency reshapes even conventional legal work. Michelle Hanlon is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center.
This episode is hosted by Kyle McEntee.
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Yuliya Flynn is a partner at a small business law firm where she acts as concierge legal counsel for small and mid-size companies — handling the kind and breadth of work an in-house lawyer would, but for multiple clients at once. In this episode, she walks through what that role looks like day to day, from drafting employment agreements and reviewing leases to fielding emergency calls about severance. Yuliya explains how she audits new clients for compliance gaps, why she treats compliance as preventative medicine, and how those gaps can tank a purchase when it's time to sell. She also digs into the complexity of structuring employee compensation and retention plans, where equity participation sounds simple but quickly intersects with succession planning and corporate governance. Yuliya Flynn is a graduate of Kostanay State University in Kazakhstan and also earned her Master of Laws from American University with a specialization in International Business and Trade Law.
This episode is hosted by Katya Valasek.
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Loyola Law School
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