The Practice Room with Hannah Beko

When did you last hear a law firm leader say something genuinely honest about how hard this is?
 
That's what The Practice Room is for.
 
Ian Alexander has been a trial lawyer in Chicago for over 30 years. He has secured hundreds of millions of dollars for injured clients, from birth injuries and medical malpractice to aviation disasters and sexual abuse survivors.
 
He is Managing Partner of Goldberg & Goldberg, a firm that has been in business for 60 years. And he runs it on three principles: fearlessness, brutal honesty, and tender loving care.
 
In this conversation, Hannah and Ian explore what it really takes to build and lead a plaintiff's trial firm, the business development nobody teaches you in law school, the emotional weight of carrying clients through their worst moments, and why Ian believes that if you can't make brutal honesty and tender loving care coexist, you probably shouldn't be in this profession.
 
In this episode, they discuss:
Why "ask for it" is the only real advice for building a client base and why even Ian had to get over feeling braggy
The toll of 30 years in catastrophic injury and sexual abuse cases and why compartmentalising is the only answer he has
A client who has been in his life for nearly 30 years and what that kind of relationship costs
The two biggest challenges facing US personal injury firms right now: AI and private equity
Why trial lawyers are the last line of defence against unchecked corporate greed
What "all for nothing" means and why family, golf, and a 19-year-old sleeping upstairs matter more than any verdict
"I tell every single client the day they meet me they're gonna get two things from me: brutal honesty and tender loving care. And every one of them says that's what they want."
 
This is a conversation about what it means to fight for people in the courtroom, and in life.
 
Connect with Ian:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ian-alexander-b637738/
Goldberg & Goldberg: www.chicagomedicalmalpracticefirm.com
 
Connect with Hannah:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/hannahbeko
www.authenticallyspeaking.co.uk
 
The Practice Room. Real conversations. Real leaders. Real law.

When did you last hear a law firm leader say something genuinely honest about how hard this is?
 
That's what The Practice Room is for.
 
Joe Bugni nearly became a Catholic priest and instead he spent 13 years as a Federal Defender in Wisconsin, handling over 600 federal cases, representing people with nothing, against the full power of the state.
 
Until five years ago, when he had a breakdown. Joe now gives a lecture about it at law school and it's always the best-received talk he gives.
 
In this conversation, Hannah and Joe explore what it actually takes to sustain a legal career, not just technically, but as a human being. They talk about the weight of representing innocent people, the moment the dam breaks, and why Joe believes that purpose and meaning are not soft extras in a legal career, they are the only thing that keeps you going.
 
In this episode, they discuss:
Why Joe went from discerning the priesthood to becoming a criminal defence attorney and what that journey taught him about service
The nervous breakdown, and what he learned coming out the other side
Why burnout is not just exhaustion it is a spiritual disconnection from why you chose this work
The practice of dedicating each hour of work to a specific person and why it changes everything
What 2,000 billable hours a year actually does to a person over time
AI as an enhancer of great work, not a replacement for it
Why Joe thinks sustainable practice should be a required course in every law school
 
This is a conversation about what the legal profession costs people, and what it takes to keep going with your soul intact.
 
Connect with Joe:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-bugni-709274a4/
Hurley Burish: www.hurleyburish.com
 
Connect with Hannah:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/hannahbeko
www.authenticallyspeaking.co.uk
 
The Practice Room. Real conversations. Real leaders. Real law.

When did you last hear a law firm leader say something genuinely honest about how hard this is?
 
That's what The Practice Room is for.
 
Trevor Sterling’s path to the top of the legal profession is extraordinary.
Beginning at 16 as an outdoor clerk delivering legal papers, he had four GCSEs, no idea what a solicitor actually did, and was told his career options were "tennis racket stringer, warehouseman, or clerk."
 
By 28, he was a partner and in 2021, made history by becoming the first Black Senior Partner of a top 100 UK law firm.
 
But this episode is not just about his highlights reel. It is a deeply honest conversation about the emotional cost of that journey, the "mask" that lawyers are forced to wear, and why reaching the top means nothing if you don't turn around and help the next person up.
 
In this conversation, Hannah and Trevor explore:
 
• The "self-fulfilling prophecy of underachieving" and how Trevor broke it
• Why the legal profession still forces people to wear a mask, and the toll that takes on individuals and firm culture
• What it feels like to be "the first" the pride, the pressure, and the responsibility
• The philosophy of "Be the Ladder" why social mobility in law is about building infrastructure, not just celebrating exceptions
• Reaching the "Karman line" the point in your career where you finally feel free to be entirely yourself
 
"I cannot just have climbed the ladder and then rest on my laurels. I've now got to be the ladder and help other people to climb it."
 
This is a conversation about resilience, representation, and what true leadership actually looks like when the mask comes off.
 
Connect with Trevor:LinkedIn: Dr. Trevor D. Sterling Hon.causa | LinkedIn
Moore Barlow: Dr. Trevor D. Sterling (Hon.causa) Senior Partner at Moore Barlow LLP
Be The Ladder: BeTheLadder
 
Connect with Hannah:LinkedIn: Hannah Beko | LinkedIn
www.authenticallyspeaking.co.uk

Jackie Nagtegaal has spent twenty years asking a question that most of the legal profession would rather not answer: what is the law actually for, and who does it really serve?
 
She built and now leads one of Africa's largest alternative legal organisations with 300 lawyers, and now she's brought the model to the UK with Lawyerly, a subscription-based legal service designed to make expert legal advice something businesses actually use, rather than something they avoid until it is too late.
 
In this conversation, Hannah and Jackie explore:
Why the billable hour is a structural barrier to justice and why it has survived for so long
The psychology of legal pricing: why clients still equate expensive with good, and how to break that assumption
What AI can genuinely do for lawyers and what it cannot replace
Why accountability, not intelligence, is the thing clients really need from their lawyers
What the legal profession needs to fundamentally rethink about its purpose in society
"It breaks my heart how there's a barrier to justice. Whatever I do is with that lens trying to break down that barrier."
 
This is a conversation about conviction, courage, and what happens when someone decides to build something the profession might say couldn't be done. 
 
Connect with Jackie:
LinkedIn: Jackie Nagtegaal | LinkedIn
Lawyerly: Commercial Solicitors for Growing SMEs in the UK | Lawyerly
Connect with Hannah:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannahbeko/
www.authenticallyspeaking.co.uk 
 
The Practice Room, a place for Real conversations. Real leaders. Real law.