The following article first appeared in the Maryland Daily Record – which is a trusted source of legal, government, and business information here in Maryland. It is reprinted here with permission.
It’s the law: Legal podcasters seek the ear of their industry
By: Special to The Daily Record Julia Arbutus August 2, 2019
The legal industry has spawned hundreds of podcasts, covering everything from legal news to law firm marketing to legal ethics, according to Lawyerist.com. In the Baltimore area, attorneys have created podcasts of their own. Here’s a look at four of them.
‘Ultimate Planning’
The newest addition to the Maryland legal podcast world is “Ultimate Planning,” created by two attorneys at Pessin Katz Law who seek to spread the word about the importance of estate planning.
“Other law firms are not using this type of technology to market or to get information out to clients,” said Ashley N. Nelson-Raut, an associate at PK Law and one-half of the podcast team. Nelson-Raut, a podcast devotee, proposed the creation of “Ultimate Planning.”
Her co-host, Kevin F. Bress, came up with the name. “The word ‘ultimate’ gives the connotation of death, or the ultimate issue of addressing assets and care,” said Bress, a member at PK Law.
Estate planning involves “every aspect of people’s lives,” Bress said, explaining that estate planning typically involves advanced health care directives, financial power of attorney documents and wills. But Bress and Nelson-Raut want to go beyond discussions of these staple planning tools and focus on real-world situations that people encounter every day.
Their first podcast featured Jeff Zucker, the founder of ADVault, a digital advance-care planning service.
Nelson-Raut finds it “groundbreaking” that, as a second-year associate, she is able to work on a podcast with an established firm member.
Said Bress: “We’re open to this generation bringing in media ideas that we’ve never considered before. The members of our law firm care about keeping our clients happy through the next generation.”
‘Everyday Law’
In one of Robert V. Clark’s favorite episodes on his podcast, “Everyday Law,” he interviewed former Maryland Court of Appeals Judge Lynne A. Battaglia, who discussed the unconventional educational background that led her to law school. But it was her off-air presence that most impressed Clark.
“She is such a good, friendly, loving person,” Clark said. “She just ran around the studio, hugging everyone.”
These kinds of interactions are what make “Everyday Law” – which just celebrated its 50thepisode — rewarding for Clark, who said he strives to make his podcast “informative and uplifting.”
Clark, a managing partner at Clark & Steinhorn LLC in South Laurel, started “Everyday Law” in March 2017 to educate the Howard County community about areas of the law that affect students. The show is hosted by the Howard County Community College radio station, Dragon Digital Media.
Over the years, Clark has interviewed numerous state judges, Howard county officials and even Jerry Buting, a lawyer who appeared on the Netflix docuseries “Making a Murderer.”
Looking ahead, Clark has reached out to Republican Gov. Larry Hogan to ask if he’s available to take part in a podcast this fall.
‘The Law Entrepreneur’
“Time well spent” is how Neil W. Tyra wants his podcast, “The Law Entrepreneur,” to be described.
A former karate teacher, Tyra came to law school later in life, graduating from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America at age 45.
Immediately following graduation, Tyra said, he saw many of his classmates struggle to start and sustain solo practices. They were “woefully unprepared,” Tyra said, adding that law school does not teach students how to found and maintain a law firm.
Tyra, of the Tyra Firm LLC in Rockville, launched “The Law Entrepreneur” in 2016.
Today he has published more than 170 podcasts, which explore everything from personal injury cases to social media. The podcast has been named one of Lawyerist.com’s best legal podcasts of 2019.
Christy Zlatkus, a guest on Episode 168, said Tyra’s podcast helped prepare her to start her own family law practice, Z Family Law LLC in Rockville.
Zlatkus said that a lot of legal podcasts are tedious – “it’s like eating your vegetables” – but that “The Law Entrepreneur” was anything but.
“Neil’s podcasts are amazing,” Zlatkus said. “I am never bored.”
‘The Annapolis Podcast’
Scott MacMullan started “The Annapolis Podcast” in 2015. The driving force behind the Annapolis podcast scene, MacMullan, a personal injury and criminal defense lawyer at
Scott MacMullan Law LLC, found himself wondering how he could get to know his hometown better, while also “giving back to the community,” he said.
MacMullan, an Annapolis native, said he uses his podcast as a “way to meet people I wouldn’t normally meet,” he said.
“The Annapolis Podcast,” however, was not originally meant to be a podcast. It started out as a YouTube channel. A friend with a background in radio introduced him to the idea of podcasting.
Today MacMullan plans to expand his historical coverage. He’s even thought about starting a sailing podcast but worries it would cut into his full-time job.
“My main (goal) is to keep doing it and don’t stop,” MacMullan said.
