The Portia Project™ Podcast seeks to inspire the next generation of women lawyers and law students by sharing the stories of high achieving women in the law – their paths to the bench, the bar, and beyond. Their personal histories, spanning the 1960’s to today, chronicle women’s progress in the legal profession and business world, and serve as powerful reminders that there are many individual paths to success.
As master storyteller Bobette Buster puts it: “Stories, told well and acted upon by one generation, ignite the next generation to greatness; because they have heard with their own ears, and seen with their own eyes, what courage can achieve.”
Guests stepping into the spotlight to share their career stories include federal judges, state supreme court justices, and state trial judges from across the country, as well as leading trial lawyers, general counsel, law professors, business and nonprofit executives, and founders. They provide tips on effective lawyering and reveal the array of meaningful careers possible with a law degree, in a format that is a far cry from formal judicial or lawyer profiles in traditional legal publications – one that brings out the interviewees’ human side and lets their personality shine through.
By listening to the lives of these lawyers and judges, you will gain a clearer idea of how they built their careers and may be inspired to follow in their footsteps. Who knows, maybe the next woman to revolutionize law, business, or the judiciary will be you!
Hosting the podcast is M.C. Sungaila, a practicing lawyer for more than 30 years, who has consistently been named one of the Top 100 Women Lawyers in California by the legal newspaper The Daily Journal. She focuses on civil appeals, writs, and related trial strategy and consulting. M.C. received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for her combined professional achievements in humanitarian and pro bono work. She shares this recognition with seven U.S. Presidents, Nobel Prize winners, athletes, artists, and industry leaders who made a significant contribution to humanity.
M.C. invites amazing judges and lawyers to the podcast to share their valuable, inspiring legal advice. With each guest, you receive the best of both worlds: tips to improve your law practice and insights to enhance your career trajectory.
Join M.C. Sungaila in this meaningful journey to elevate your legal career and forge the path to becoming the lawyer of your dreams.
Listen to The Portia Project™ Podcast today at theportiaprojectpodcast.com
M.C. Sungaila sits down with Justice Rhonda K. Wood, an Associate Justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court and co-host of the Lady Justice podcast, to hear her path to the bench in a state where judges …
Justice Sarah Beth Landau is the first public defender elected to the First Court of Appeals in Texas. With host M.C. Sungaila she shares insights from her journey, including becoming a judge through…
Jennifer L. Keller is one of America’s most successful trial attorneys. Ranked among the top commercial litigators in the nation, people describe Jennifer as “one of the best trial lawyers in Califor…
M.C. Sungaila sits down with Cyndie M. Chang, the Los Angeles Office Managing Partner at Duane Morris. Cyndie discusses the importance of cultural fit in choosing a law firm -- and how that can lead …
In this episode, host MC Sungaila chats with Chief Deputy Clerk Dawn Du Verney of the Western District of Tennessee to uncover how her current role combines her degree in law and her skills on the ad…
In her role as Chief Program Officer for the nonprofit Girls, Inc. in Orange County, California, Jessica Hubbard combines her experience as an educator with her legal training to help girls become st…
MC Sungaila sits down with Hillary H. Holmes, co-chair of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Capital Markets practice. She emphasizes the importance of clear and candid communication when dealing with clients…
The path to success is rarely a straight one. Paula Hinton shares her journey from watching her trial lawyer father in court to trying cases herself. Paula is a Complex Commercial Litigator and Partn…
Diane P. Wood is a Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and a Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School. She joins MC Sungaila to share how…
In this episode, host M.C. Sungaila is joined by General Counsel and Vice-Chair for the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, L. Rachel Lerman. She shares her journey from art to the l…
Justice Joan K. Irion of the California Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One, shares how her seemingly unconventional background and experience in tax law led to her appointment to the bench…
Hillary Grosberg has been a litigator and trial attorney for more than 40 years, almost 30 of them as a sole practitioner. Inspired by the show Perry Mason, she wanted to be a lawyer at a young age. …
M.C. Sungaila sits with Larisa Dinsmoor, a Public Defender for the Orange County Public Defender’s Office and Past President of the Orange County Bar Association, one of California's largest bar orga…
Joanne Caruso, EVP and Chief Legal and Administrative Officer of Jacobs Engineering, describes her journey from BigLaw to in-house leadership. She explains how she leads and builds teams and fosters …
Skirball Cultural Center CEO Jessie Kornberg - who set the leadership framework for Ms. J.D. and led public interest organization Bet Tzedek in Los Angeles- brings two decades of civil rights work to…
Immigration law is an important yet often overlooked area of law, but it is one that affects a significant population in the country. Here to discuss the ins and outs of practicing immigration law in…
M.C. Sungaila sits down with Kalpana Srinivasan, co-managing partner of one of the U.S.'s leading boutique litigation firms, Susman Godfrey. She discusses her path from journalism to the law, from a …
Justice Debra H. Lehrmann is a senior Justice on the Supreme Court of Texas and the Court’s longest-serving woman justice in Texas history. She joins MC Sungaila to share her journey to the Supreme C…
Today’s guest is Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack of the Michigan Supreme Court, one of the cohosts of the Lady Justice podcast. She sits down with M.C. Sungaila to talk about how being Chief Jus…
As part of a Girls Inc. Of Orange County "Girls Meet the Workforce" job readiness And Externship program, about 100 11thgrade girls from Orange County gathered at Santa Ana College for a live recordi…