Lexlee Overton | Beyond Burnout: Building High-Performing Legal Teams Through Well-Being
Release Date: 08/12/2025
Dennis Meador | Conversations as Authority: How FAQ Podcasts Help Lawyers Differentiate and Attract Clients
The Lawyer's Edge
Dennis Meador is the CEO of The Legal Podcast Network. DM has been an entrepreneur since he was a teenager, building businesses in everything from shoveling snow to SEO before finding his fit helping attorneys share their voices. A lifelong communicator from his years as a pastor to his more than 20 years in legal marketing, DM believes the best ideas don't come from selling, they come from conversations. WHAT'S COVERED IN THIS EPISODE ABOUT HOW FAQ PODCASTS HELP LAWYERS DIFFERENTIATE Eighty-two percent of people use the internet to find their attorney. They type in a search, get...
info_outline
Adam Severson | Executive Presence: How to Turn Skill into Influence
The Lawyer's Edge
Adam Severson is the Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer at Baker Donelson, a leading national firm with more than 700 lawyers and 25-plus offices in the United States, primarily in the southeastern U.S. Adam's role is unique compared to many who hold that title in that he spends a lot of his time meeting with clients and actually selling the firm's services. Adam is a past president of the Legal Marketing Association and a Hall of Fame member. He's also a Fellow in the College of Law Practice Management. WHAT'S COVERED IN THIS EPISODE ABOUT EXECUTIVE PRESENCE Executive presence...
info_outline
Abby Remore | Own Your Career: How Intentional Choices Create Autonomy for Lawyers
The Lawyer's Edge
Abby Remore is a member at Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi (CSG Law) in Roseland, New Jersey, where she leads the firm's trademark and copyright practice group. Her practice focuses on protecting brands and creative works through litigation, enforcement, clearance, counseling, licensing, and prosecution of trademark and copyright applications. She has particular expertise litigating trademark and copyright disputes in federal courts and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Abby is president-elect of the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association. WHAT'S COVERED IN THIS EPISODE ABOUT...
info_outline
Dawn Anderson | How Strategic HR Transforms Law Firm Performance
The Lawyer's Edge
Dawn Anderson is the Chief Human Resources Officer at Butler Snow LLP, a law firm with nearly 400 lawyers across 25 offices. With more than 30 years of HR experience and both an MBA and law degree from the University of Georgia, Dawn brings a unique perspective to law firm leadership. After two decades in HR leadership roles in retail and manufacturing, Dawn transitioned to the legal industry where she now oversees Butler Snow's HR function and operations. She has taught as an adjunct professor teaching college-level courses and facilitating countless training seminars on leadership,...
info_outline
Stacy Ackermann | A Focus on Relationships: The Real Key to Rainmaking and Impactful Leadership
The Lawyer's Edge
Stacy Ackermann is the global managing partner of K&L Gates, one of the world's leading law firms with more than 45 offices across the globe. A trailblazing leader and accomplished finance lawyer, Stacy brings a rare blend of strategic vision, authenticity, and deep industry insight to her position. Drawing on her extensive experience advising on complex transactions and a long track record in key leadership roles, she's shaping the future of the legal profession with a focus on innovation, collaboration, and inclusive leadership. WHAT'S COVERED IN THIS EPISODE ABOUT RAINMAKING AND...
info_outline
Elise Buie | Scaling With Soul: Building a Profitable Law Firm Without Burning Out Your Team
The Lawyer's Edge
Elise Buie is the founder and CEO of Elise Buie Family Law in Seattle, Washington. After losing everything in Hurricane Katrina, she rebuilt her life and career from scratch, bringing lessons in resilience and New Orleans hospitality to her practice. Elise is a passionate and creative family law attorney who has lived the life you're living now, juggling the endless tasks of a lawyer and law firm owner while dreaming of something better. She grew her firm from six figures to multiple seven figures, navigating the pandemic and intentionally scaling back to ensure the firm operates with...
info_outline
Lisa Sawyer Derman | Legal Spirits: How One Lawyer Turned a Legal Career into a Bourbon Brand
The Lawyer's Edge
Lisa Sawyer Derman is the Founder and CEO of Five Springs Infused Bourbon, a bourbon brand that blends Kentucky roots with modern, mixable flavor. Before launching Five Springs, Lisa spent more than 30 years in the global spirits industry, building and leading some of the world’s top alcohol brands. Her career includes serving as Chief Operating Officer at Stoli Group, Head of Legal at Absolut, and the Head of the North Division at The Macallan. Drawing on her legal background and executive leadership experience, Lisa launched Five Springs in 2024 with three distinctive expressions—Vanilla...
info_outline
Ryan Kimler | Money Matters: What Every Lawyer Should Know About Law Firm Profitability
The Lawyer's Edge
Ryan Kimler is the founder of Net Profit CFO and host of the Net Profit Podcast. He and his team help law firm owners understand their numbers, make better business decisions, and build more profitable and sustainable practices by using accounting and finance to give firm leaders clear information they can act on, so their businesses stay financially healthy and have the resources to grow. WHAT’S COVERED IN THIS EPISODE ABOUT LAW FIRM PROFITABILITY Law school teaches lawyers how to practice law, not how a law firm makes money. Many attorneys work hard, bill hours, build relationships, and...
info_outline
Lisa Smith | From Consolidation to Capital: How Big Shifts are Transforming Law Firm Strategy
The Lawyer's Edge
Lisa Smith is a principal in the Washington, D.C. office of Fairfax Associates. She advises leading law firms domestically and internationally on strategy development, mergers, management and governance, partner compensation and structure issues, and financial and operational performance and management. She has been advising law firms for more than 35 years. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and webinars and recently appeared on the TV show Wall Street Week talking about the potential for private equity investment in U.S. law firms. WHAT’S COVERED IN THIS EPISODE ABOUT...
info_outline
Dusty Holcomb | Connecting the Dots: How to Effectively Lead Yourself and Others
The Lawyer's Edge
Dusty Holcomb is the Founder and CEO of The Arcqus Group, an executive coaching and leadership consulting firm that helps leaders connect purpose to performance through clarity, consistency, and accountability. With a background that spans senior leadership, operations, and culture building, Dusty works with executives and their teams to unlock potential and lead with intention. Before founding The Arcqus Group, Dusty served as CEO of National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car, where he led thousands of employees across North America. He holds an MBA from Auburn University and completed the...
info_outlineLexlee Overton is a former trial lawyer who spent more than 30 years in the courtroom before choosing a different path. After experiencing firsthand how the legal profession can wear lawyers down, she founded Mind Over Law to help lawyers move beyond burnout and lead with greater clarity, resilience, and purpose.
Today, she works with both individual lawyers and legal teams using a science-based approach that combines mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and practical leadership tools to build healthier law firms with better performance.
WHAT'S COVERED IN THIS EPISODE ABOUT LAWYER WELL-BEING AND HIGH-PERFORMING TEAMS
The legal profession loves to reward hustle, grind it out, power through, keep your head down and just get the work done. But what if the real power comes from doing things differently?
Lexlee Overton spent decades playing by those rules until she realized something had to change. After 30 years in the courtroom, a health crisis at age 30 made her question everything about how lawyers are supposed to work. She founded Mind Over Law because she believes lawyers can be healthier, happier people and still do excellent work.
Now she works with individual lawyers and legal teams, teaching them that energy management is way more important than time management. She's discovered that when leaders work on themselves first, they naturally start building better teams.
In this episode of The Lawyer's Edge podcast, Elise speaks with Lexlee about why that "badge of honor" mentality around overwork is actually making lawyers less powerful, what happens when teams are chronically depleted, and how law firm leaders can build the kind of culture that actually attracts and keeps good people.
2:32 - Lexlee's personal breaking point and wake-up call
5:22 - The changing attitudes toward mindfulness in law
9:59 - Warning signs lawyers ignore before burnout hits
12:51 - Simple practices for skeptical, hard-driving lawyers
16:06 - The neuroscience of fight-or-flight in legal practice
18:32 - The statistics on lawyer mental health and malpractice
20:36 - Reframing the "lose your edge" mentality
23:15 - Why law firm leaders should care about well-being initiatives
26:41 - Using biofeedback to demonstrate coherency
29:12 - The one leadership habit Lexlee would change overnight
30:58 - Emotional intelligence in high-performing legal teams
37:16 - Getting started with culture change
40:04 - The curse of knowledge insight
MENTIONED IN BEYOND BURNOUT: BUILDING HIGH-PERFORMING LEGAL TEAMS THROUGH WELL-BEING
American Bar Association (ABA) study on lawyer depression and substance abuse
Get connected with the coaching team: hello@thelawyersedge.com
SPONSOR FOR THIS EPISODE...
Today's episode is brought to you by the Ignite Women's Business Development Accelerator, a 9-month business development program created BY women lawyers for women lawyers. Ignite is a carefully designed business development program containing content, coaching, and a community of like-minded women who are committed to becoming rainmakers AND supporting the retention and advancement of other women in the profession.
If you are interested in either participating in the program or sponsoring a woman in your firm to enroll, learn more about Ignite and sign up for our registration alerts by visiting www.thelawyersedge.com/ignite.