Within hours of each other, two things happened that changed Coleman Cowan’s life. While waiting to take a deposition as a young associate, he realized that his reward for working hard would be more hard work. Hours later, while leaving that deposition, he was shot in a random mugging. Despite colleagues calling him “crazy,” Coleman left law to pursue journalism, eventually becoming an Emmy-winning producer for “60 Minutes.” In this conversation with host Amber Nimocks, he discusses his journey from North Carolina courtrooms to war zones around the world and back to North Carolina, where he now leads the litigation section at the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin. Coleman also previews his upcoming presentation at NCAJ's Strategy Summit. Called “To Live, Not Exist: What Our Experiences Can Teach Us About Managing Stress and Anxiety,” his program will be on Oct. 23, the first day of the two-day summit.

🎙️ Featured Guest 🎙️

Name: Coleman Cowan

Connect: LinkedIn 

💡 Episode Highlights 💡

[02:34 ] The Epiphany: Two seminal events, occurring just hours apart, changed the course of Coleman’s life.

[07:39 ] “Monumentally Foolish Decision”: Everyone from partners to judges to law professors told Coleman he was "crazy" for leaving his successful legal career.

[07:51 ] Two Important Voices: Coleman's parents and then-girlfriend (now wife) were the two voices that encouraged his dramatic career change.

[10:50 ] Testing the Waters: Coleman talked his way into “Business Week” magazine to test his journalism idea before committing to graduate school.

[11:00 ] Hurricane Katrina: Coleman's first assignment covering Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans confirmed that he was "onto something pretty special" with journalism.

[12:32 ] Breakthrough: “60 Minutes" picked up Coleman's Columbia master's project on NYPD evidence storage.

[16:06 ] Naive to the Danger: ”It was only when we extracted from the situation that I really dawned on me how dangerous some of these places were,” Coleman says about covering stories from locations like Afghanistan, Mexico, and Russia.

[17:07 ] FSB Surveillance: Coleman describes being followed by Russian intelligence while reporting on Alexei Navalny's presidential campaign.

[18:21 ] It’s All Relative: When “60 Minutes” staff were stressed about a story, Coleman told himself that “this is not stressful.” TV producers are surrounded by people who want the show to succeed – while lawyers face opposing counsel who are tearing them down.

[23:52 ] Strategy Summit Preview: In his presentation, Coleman will tell stories from his journalism career and how those stories inform his current litigation practice.

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Voices of NCAJ features members of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice talking about what it means to be a trial lawyer, what it takes to be great at the practice of law and how being a part of NCAJ enriches their lives and their careers.

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