Season 4

Dec. 27, 2023

Katy Van Sant - Court Interpreter

Katy Van Sant is a bilingual forensic linguist, expert witness, and certified Spanish interpreter with 22 years of experience. In this episode, she explains what forensic linguists do and discusses the applications of forensic linguistics in court. Katy also talks about her passion for language, re…

Dec. 13, 2023

Hon. Tara Desautels (ACBA) - Alameda County Superior Court

In collaboration with the Alameda County Bar Association, Love Thy Lawyer presents an interview with: Hon. Tara Desautels Judge Tara Desautels has served as a Superior Court Judge for over 13 years. During this time, she presided over a thousand civil matters at all stages of proceedings, both as…

Nov. 29, 2023

Jodie Zerega - Legal Recruiting

Jodie Zerega is the founder and managing director of Zerega Consulting, a boutique legal recruiting and consulting company that specializes in placing attorneys in law firms. Jodie founded Zerega Consulting in 2003 and has filled hundreds of attorney positions in law firms, corporations, and non-pr…

Nov. 15, 2023

Peter Goodman - No Nepotism Involved

Peter Goodman (no relation) is a seasoned criminal defense lawyer with decades of experience handling court-appointed cases in both state and federal courts. Before establishing himself in private practice, he spent four years as an Alameda County Public Defender. In this interview, talks about his…

Nov. 1, 2023

Hon. Veronica Rios Reddick (ACBA) - Alameda County Superior Court

Judge Veronica Rios Reddick is an Alameda County Superior Court judge. Appointed by Governor Newsom in 2022, she is currently assigned to Department 702 in the East County Hall of Justice, where she handles felony arraignments and pretrials. Before taking the bench, she served as an Alameda County …

Oct. 18, 2023

Arya Firoozmand - Overture.Law (Getting the Most out of Referral Fees)

Arya Firoozmand is one of the co-founders of Overture.law, an attorney-to-attorney referral platform that enables attorneys to refer matters they cannot handle to one another and facilitates the monetization of these referrals through ethical referral fees. In this interview, he discusses how he an…

Oct. 11, 2023

Givelle Lamano - Golden Gate

Givelle Lamano has been practicing law for 12 years and runs her own law firm focused exclusively on criminal defense. Her philosophy on caring for people has resulted in stellar reviews from clients and helped her become a Super Lawyer Rising Star, and an Avvo Client’s Choice. In this interview sh…

Oct. 4, 2023

Nick Montano - Private Investigator

This week's guest isn't a lawyer, but rather a private investigator who works with attorneys. Nickolas Montano has plenty of experience in law enforcement and corporate loss prevention, as he was a sworn police officer with the Clayton Police Department and also provided security for Longs Drug Sto…

Sept. 27, 2023

Hon. JoLynne Lee - Alameda County Superior Court

Judge JoLynne Lee was the first Asian American female Superior Court judge in Alameda County. She embarked on her career as an Assistant District Attorney in Bronx County, New York, and held various positions, including roles at the San Francisco Office of the National Center for State Courts and t…

Sept. 20, 2023

Deputy District Attorney Leah Abraham - Former Public Defender

Daughter of Eritrean refugees and born in San Francisco, Leah Abraham has quite an impressive career both as a Public Defender and as a Prosecutor. She currently works at the Public Accountability Unit of the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, a unit responsible for reviewing officer-involv…

Sept. 6, 2023

Hon. Ruben Sundeen (ACBA) - Alameda County Superior Court

Judge Ruben Sundeen's career spans various roles, including his current position as a Superior Court Judge in Alameda County. Prior to this, he served as a Commissioner. Before entering the judiciary, he held the role of managing partner in an Oakland -based general civil litigation practice. This …

Aug. 28, 2023

Maui / What I Did Last Summer - Louis Goodman

lovethylawyer.com I went to Maui. This is what I saw, what I did, why I went, and what I think. I hope you'll take a listen. Louis Please subscribe and listen. Then tell us who you want to hear and what areas of interest you...

Aug. 23, 2023

Emilie Raguso - Berkeley Scanner

Emilie Raguso is a journalist and the founder of The Berkeley Scanner, an independent online news outlet that covers public safety in Berkeley as well as the District Attorney’s Office. Prior to founding The Berkeley Scanner, Emilie worked at The Berkeleyside, The Albany Patch, and The Modesto Bee.…

Aug. 9, 2023

Joe Penrod - Alameda County Assistant Public Defender

Joe Penrod is a career Public Defender. He has been at the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office since passing the bar in 2005. He is currently part of the Civil Commitment Unit, handling NGRI, MDO, and SVP commitments. Prior to juggling an alphabet soup of assignments, he was on the Homicide Tea…

July 26, 2023

Emily Dahm (ACBA) - Berkeley Law

Emily Dahm is a partner at Bonjour, Thorman, Burns, and Dahm, a Bay Area criminal defense and personal injury firm. Prior to entering private practice, she gained extensive experience with felony and misdemeanor trials as a San Francisco Public Defender. Furthermore, Emily is well-versed in civil l…

July 12, 2023

Dale Minami - Korematsu v. United States

Dale Minami has had a fascinating career as a lawyer. He is currently one of the top personal injury lawyers in the Bay Area. He was involved in the creation of the Asian Law Caucus and served as its first director. Dale was also part of the legal team that successfully overturned Fred Korematsu’s …

June 28, 2023

Marco Brown - BYU

Marco Brown runs a successful family law firm in Utah. He is the managing partner of Brown Family Law in Salt Lake City and oversees the business administration of the company. His firm handles divorce and child custody cases and has been operating since 2010. In this interview, Marco talks about w…

June 21, 2023

Del Bahner - Hastings

Del Bahner runs his own criminal defense practice in Pleasanton. Working with private as well as indigent clients through the Court Appointed Attorneys Program, he handles everything from DUIs to robberies and murders. After clerking in the Sacramento and San Mateo DA's Offices and working for the …

June 14, 2023

Smartest Kid in the Class - Lori Mihalich-Levin / Princeton

In collaboration with the Alameda County Bar Association, Love Thy Lawyer presents an interview with: Lori Mihalich-Levin Lori Mihalich-Levin helps new parents transition back to the workplace and learn the best practices of being working parents through her special program, Mindful Return, of wh…

June 7, 2023

Kickboxing Champ James Cook - Howard

James Cook boasts a diverse professional background spanning various fields. He has excelled as a professional athlete, a college-level teacher, and a writer. Presently, he serves as an attorney, primarily focusing on cases involving police excessive force at the John Burris law firm. James is an a…

May 24, 2023

Samer Habbas - Personal Injury Pro

https://www.habbaspilaw.com/attorney/samer-habbas/ Samer Habbas runs his own law firm specializing in all sorts of personal injury cases. He opened his firm fresh out of law school and in the 17 years since it has grown to have more than 55 employees across several offices throughout California.…

May 17, 2023

James Rodriguez - Alameda County Assistant Public Defender

James Rodriguez is a highly accomplished Alameda County Public Defender, boasting an impressive track record of over 20 years. Throughout his extensive career, he has adeptly handled a diverse range of cases, ranging from misdemeanors to high-stakes felony offenses, including assault, attempted mur…

May 10, 2023

Burning Woman: Laura Robinson - UC Law / San Francisco

Throughout her 34-year career, Laura Robinson has tried over 78 cases, with the majority resulting in jury verdicts. As a Contra Costa County Public Defender for over 15 years, she has handled a considerable number of felony matters, including rape, kidnapping, and murder. Since 2004, she has been …

May 3, 2023

The Client - Tom Silva / San Leandro

Tom Silva is a businessperson who has been in the real estate business since 1980. He owns Eden Realty in San Lorenzo, California, and routinely deals with lawyers and the legal system when developing, rehabilitating, and managing residential and commercial property. In this interview Tom talks abo…