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Law school teaches you the law. This podcast teaches you how to succeed inside a law firm.
Lawyer Launcher – Behind the Bar is for law students and newly called lawyers who want to thrive and build confidence when they start practice. Hosted by Susan Van Dyke, a trusted advisor to law firms and a guide for new lawyers navigating their first year, this show offers an insider perspective from the other side of the hiring table.
With over 30 years of experience working with law firms and their leadership teams, Susan knows exactly what firms expect from new hires—and what they rarely explain. This podcast fills that gap, with practical advice, candid conversations, and tools to help you build confidence, credibility, and competence from day one.
New episodes drop every two weeks. Because landing the job is just the beginning.
10 Episodes
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This episode is not about résumés. It’s about how you run your job search — and who you become in the process. In this solo episode of Lawyer Launcher - Behind the Bar, I’m speaking directly to law students and junior lawyers navigating the transition from law school to their first firm role. After decades working inside and alongside law firms, advising leadership teams, recruiting lawyers, and mentoring students, I’ve seen one consistent truth: Careers don’t happen by accident. They’re buil...
In this episode of the Lawyer Launcher podcast, Susan Van Dyke and Johanna Mills sit down with Marketta Jokinen, former national-firm lawyer, law firm recruiter, and career coach, to unpack what law students really need to know about law firm recruitment. Marketta is the Founder of Legal Talent Consultant and Career Coach at Current Talent. With experience spanning private practice, a labour relations board, and national-firm recruitment and talent management, Marketta brings a rare 360-degre...
Behind the Bar with David Brown — Ascent Employment Law In this episode, Susan sits down with employment lawyer and Ascent Employment Law co-founder David Brown for an honest, grounded, and deeply practical conversation about building your legal career with intention. David shares his unconventional articling story, the power of relationships, how to navigate discomfort, and why young lawyers should be both “house cats” and “alley cats” in their early years. Whether you’re a law student...
In this episode of Behind the Bar, I sit down with litigator, Mark Virgin, who brings more than 30 years of practice experience—and an extraordinary level of candor—to a conversation every law student and junior lawyer needs to hear. Mark shares the lessons he wishes he knew as an articling student, including why you should always ask the “stupid” question, how to find the right mentors inside a firm, and what it actually means to “reach up” when you need help. He also speaks openly about his...
Behind the Bar – Lawyer Launcher Real advice from real experience — the things law school never told you. In this episode, Susan sits down with retired business lawyer and former managing partner Murray Gottheil, known for his frank, funny, and refreshingly honest insights about the legal profession. From the “safety of retirement,” Murray shares the truths he wishes he’d known earlier — and the hard lessons he believes every law student, summer student, and new associate needs to...
In this episode, I’m joined by Linda Lucas—a longtime law firm and professional services executive and now a sought-after leadership coach and trainer. With 25+ years of strategic, operational, and financial leadership experience, Linda shares practical insights every law student, summer/articling student, and new lawyer needs to hear. Her core message: leadership starts on day one, not when you get a title. What you’ll learn (and why it matters early in your career): • How to be a leader at ...
How do you come back from a setback? Most of us have experienced a setback - at work, in sport or our personal life. How do you regain confidence and develop resiliency when you’ve been knocked off your path? High achieving law students, and other new professionals, often have unique challenges when expectations are not met. Jayne Rossworn is a Registered Clinical Counsellor with The Lawyer Mindset takes us through a four-step framework that will help you recover and rebu...
Colin Cameron, CPA, CA, takes us through the basics of law firm compensation and profitability and why it's important for law students and new lawyers to understand how billing rates and recording time tie into profits. We discuss the evolution of the business of law, the emergence of law firm business professionals, and how new lawyers can learn from them. Colin Cameron is the founder of Profits for Partners, Management Consulting Inc. Colin has been advising professional service firms for...
Kimberly Rice joins us to discuss how law students and new lawyers can learn how to become firm rainmakers. Legal competence is the price of admission to law firms these days. To succeed you must set yourself apart, and Kimberly has amazing tips to get you started. Takeaways from this episode include: - Understand the governance & power structure of your new firm and befriend the power players - Visibility matters. Seek out opportunities to be seen by those in power, push past self-doubt,...
Bena Stock spent over 24 years as a litigator before turning her talents to counselling others. In this episode she draws upon her personal experience, sharing tools that new and aspiring lawyers can use to quiet anxiety, grow confidence, and build a happier and more successful practice. She also addresses common career saboteurs such as imposter syndrome, perfectionism (yes, it's a problem), and the paralysis resulting from fear of failure. You will also learn the significance of "cow paths"...
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