On the ABA Law Practice Today podcast, host Terrell Turner talks with Daya Naef, a law firm consultant and small-firm practitioner focused on legal AI and efficiency, about how firms can still train and develop lawyers as AI automates repetitive junior-level work. Daya describes using technology, outsourcing, and automation to free time for more relational client service and more consistent client updates. They discuss how law schools and firms are split between restricting AI (blue books, no laptops) and embracing it with policies, and how generational shifts create new expectations from AI-native lawyers. They also address clients increasingly using free AI tools to challenge legal strategy, raising the importance of judgment training, potential new training models, and the disconnect of firms banning AI while trying to recruit associates, plus resources including an upcoming ABA CLE and related Law Practice Today articles.

00:00 AI Replaces Junior Work
00:32 Podcast Welcome Disclaimer
01:11 Meet Daya Naef
03:06 AI As Opportunity
05:06 Automation For Client Care
07:20 Training Gap In Firms
10:46 Law Schools React To AI
12:38 AI Native Generations
14:02 Clients Using AI Too
15:57 Rethinking Skills Training
16:57 Firms Banning AI
17:46 Where To Find Daya
18:19 CLE And Articles
18:55 Final Thanks Wrap-up

In this Law Practice Today podcast episode, the host discusses careers in animal law with professor and author Yolanda Eisenstein, who explains that modern animal law is largely animal protection law and has expanded significantly through increased legal education, clinics, and new legislation such as pet trusts. Eisenstein describes her path into the field, her teaching experience at SMU and the University of New Mexico, and how animal law spans companion animals, wildlife, farmed animals, federal and local practice, and even international work. She notes that companion animals generally receive the greatest legal protection and emphasizes that practitioners can integrate animal issues into many legal specialties. Eisenstein previews her updated second edition of Careers in Animal Law, advising prospective students to assess whether they truly want to be lawyers and can handle topics like cruelty and compassion fatigue, and predicts the field will keep growing amid biodiversity loss, climate change, and illegal wildlife trafficking.

00:00 Wildlife Trafficking Stakes
00:28 Podcast Intro and Disclaimer
01:07 Why Animal Law Careers
01:53 Origins and Expansion
04:37 Teaching and Practice Paths
06:01 Species and Legal Protections
08:15 Career Options and Locations
09:15 Staying Current in the Field
10:23 Book Advice and Self Fit
12:55 Future of Animal Law
13:54 Where to Find Yolanda
14:36 Closing Remarks

On the Law Practice Today podcast, host Terrell sits down with psychologists Larry and D'Arcy, authors of Thin Skinned, to discuss research on how lawyers differ from the general public and how those differences affect both practice and personal life. Larry describes decades of data collection—first via a nationwide Myers-Briggs study of 3,000+ lawyers and later through 30 years using the Caliper Profile, now totaling nearly 10,000 lawyer assessments—showing seven atypical trait outliers, including high skepticism and notably low resilience and empathy. They explain that some traits are present before law school, while skepticism, resilience, and empathy are largely learned and can shift with time in law-office environments. The episode highlights practical, research-backed ways to build resilience, including reducing cognitive distortions, increasing positive emotions, and strengthening relationships, plus leadership strategies for creating resilience-friendly firm cultures.

00:00 Lawyers Get Thin Skinned
00:20 Podcast Intro Disclaimer
00:58 Meet the Authors
01:44 Larry's Path to Psychology
02:28 D'Arcy Joins the Project
04:15 30 Years of Lawyer Data
06:36 Seven Traits That Stand Out
09:29 Why Lawyers Differ
10:30 Skepticism Lowers Resilience
18:19 Nature, Nurture, and Selection
19:56 Four Buckets of Solutions
20:47 Bucket One Fix Negative Thinking
24:38 Bucket Two Build Positive Emotions
30:01 Bucket Three Relationships Matter
34:17 Where to Learn More
35:05 Final Thanks and Wrap Up