The Portia Project
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
Episodes
On the heels of the inaugural American Space Law Foundation national moot court competition, we reprise this compilation episode featuring some of our guests who focus on Space Law - in academia, private practice, and government. Michelle Hanlon, Caryn Schenewerk, Franceska Schroeder, Ruth Pritchard-Kelly, and Bailey Reichelt share their paths to the law and t...
We reprise one of our most popular episodes in our continuing series on Space with Aarti Holla-Maini, the Director of the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) who joins the podcast to share her journey from solicitor training to atte...
In this reprise episode, Newport Beach, California City Council Member and now Mayor Lauren Kleiman talks with host M.C. Sungaila about her path to practicing law and the unexpected road to elected office. She also draws the ugly and amazing side of elections and politics in general. Council Member Lauren Kleiman encourages people in Newport Beach to get involved in different areas of what their community is doing to shape and supp...
Continuing our space leader series, Dr. Ulpia-Elena Botezatu, Space Policy Officer at the Romanian Space Agency, joins us from the sidelines of the recent UNOOSA Commercial Lunar Activities and Space Law Conference at the U...
Get ready for our annual episode of The Portia Project Podcast compiling and highlighting the personal mottos of many of our guests - extraordinary women in the legal field - sharing the wisdom that shaped their careers. From judges to law professors, hear their guiding principles, life lessons, and how they’ve overcome challenges. Whether you’re aspiring to the bench, the bar, or beyond, this episode offers powerful insights to mo...
In this episode, we get to hear some of the most impactful and profound personal and professional mottos that The Portia Project guests have shared on the show. Whether we can articulate it or not, we each have our own motto that we live by, and women in law are no different. You’d be amazed at just how many of these mottos you will resonate with. Most probably all of them. Tune in to find out and...
Many of the judicial guests on the podcast have shared their top tips for briefwriting. This episode compiles many of these tips for those who want to learn. Whether you are preparing for your first appellate argument or seeking to refine your existing skills, this episode offers a treasure trove of practical advice to elevate your brief-writing prowess and be...
In a reprise episode coinciding with a season of gratitude and the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., nonprofit leader and resilient spirit Michelle Wulfestieg joins the podcast to share her personal and career journey, as well as provide some guidance on finding your own life purpose. Michelle, the executive director of the SoCal Hospice Foundation, came back from a near-death exp...
In one of our most downloaded episodes of all time, Rachel Barchie shares her journey from BigLaw attorney to nonprofit and family foundation leader. She offers tips for those interested in transitioning from the practice of law to other arenas, and how legal skills add value to other leadership roles.
Theresa Harris, the Program Director of the AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program, sits down with host M.C. Sungaila to discuss her organization's role in connecting scientists with human rights concerns, and her career path from more traditional human rights law leadership to her current r...
Former Chief Judge of the Northern District of Texas and Chair of the ABA Section of Litigation, Barbara Lynn, sits down to share insights from her storied career as a trial lawyer and federal judge. Recently retired as a federal judge and now a partner at Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann, Lynn discusses the importance of mentors, the role we can all play in traini...
We continue our Space series with Kiersten Fortson, Senior Counsel for Launch Operations at Relativity Space and former FAA counsel. Kiersten shares how an unexpected moot court competition on international space law sparked her passion for the field, setting her on a path from the Pentagon to t...
Rachel Williams, Executive Director of the Open Lunar Foundation, shares her path from a space startup to a lunar governance nonprofit. Along the way, she shares leadership lessons and tips for navigating career transitions and finding your way to a meaningful next step in your career.
Space security shapes everything from global stability to everyday life on Earth, and it needs leaders who can bridge disciplines and drive collaboration. As part of our Space series, Victoria Samson, Chief Director of Space Security and Stability at the Secure World Foundation
This compilation episode features some of our guests who focus on Space Law - in academia, private practice, and government. Michelle Hanlon, Caryn Schenewerk, Franceska Schroeder, Ruth Pritchard-Kelly, and Bailey Reichelt share their paths to the law and the growing field of Space Law specifically.
As part of our Space series, Christine Calvé, General Counsel of the Canadian Space Agency, joins the podcast to share her career journey from ballet to the law, the importance of mentorship to career success, and the value of taking on stretch opportunities.
Stacy Bratcher, General Counsel of Cottage Health, and now host of the acclaimed The Legal Department podcast, in conversation with host M.C. Sungaila, shares her journey to in-house leadership and dives into the role of bar associations in shaping professional connections, skills development, and career advancement. ...
This is a reprise of an earlier episode which we are featuring upon the retirement of Kathleen E. O'Leary, the former Presiding Justice of the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Three, and the former Presiding Justice of the Orange County Superior Court-- and the first woman to hold both positions. Justice O’Leary has also served ...
Marisa Cianciarulo, Dean of Western State College of Law in Orange County, California, discusses her journey to academia, her role managing faculty, students, and various stakeholders as a law school dean, and the importance of female role models in her career development.
Karen Stevenson, Chief Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, shares her path to the bench and to the law, including a stint at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. She also describes how her experience living abroad expanded her perspective as a person and enhanced her judicial skills later on. Judge Stevenson exemplifies her mott...
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