BRANDI LAWLER • LU LI • DAVE MOREHOUSE • CODY NIESS•
Who is/was an important mentor to you?
Favorite TV show involving a lawyer?
Not a show, but My Cousin Vinny
Favorite movie that doesn't involve a lawyer?
DARA ALVARADO
Where were you born?
Where were you born?
Naranjito, Guayas, Equador
Who is/was an important mentor to you?
My Parents
Favorite TV show involving a lawyer?
Not a show, but My Cousin Vinny
Favorite movie that doesn't involve a lawyer?
Encanto, Finding Nemo
List three topics you are most likely to blog about at some point?
(1) Travel
(2) Food
(3) Animals
(2) Food
(3) Animals
What was your very first paying job?
Favorite TV show involving a lawyer?
Scandal
List three topics you are most likely to blog about at some point.
(1) Media
(2) Technology
(3) Travel
What’s the first food booth you visit on a trip to the state fair?
The funnel cake booth!
Famous person (dead or alive) with whom you’d most like to have dinner?
Beyonce, obviously.
If you could describe your career path in one word, what would it be?
Diverse
If you were not a lawyer, had no capital and had to start a business from scratch tomorrow to make ends meet, what would that business be?
A travel blogger.
MIKE COHEN
List three topics you are most likely to blog about at some point.
(1) Intellectual Property
(2) Basketball
(3) Television
List three topics you are least likely to blog about at some point.
(1) The weather
(2) Religion
(3) Politics
Favorite TV show involving a lawyer?
Boston Legal
Favorite Movie that doesn’t involve a lawyer?
The Sound of Music
What was your major in college?
Urban Planning and Russian — I was going to design cities in Russia
If you were not a lawyer, had no capital, and had to start a business from scratch tomorrow to make ends meet, what would that business be?
A 24-hour hardware store that serves 10 varieties of soup
LINDSEY DAY
List three topics you are most likely to blog about at some point.
(1) Wisconsin sports
(2) Outdoors
(3) Travel
List three topics you are least likely to blog about at some point.
(1) Politics
(2) Religion
(3) Exotic foods
Favorite TV show involving a lawyer?
Ed (about the bowling-alley lawyer)
What was your major in college?
Accounting
What was your very first paying job?
Rink monitor at open skate at the local ice arena
It’s your last meal...what’s on the menu?
A little bit of a lot of things: cheese pizza, the steak and those delicious rolls with cinnamon butter at the Texas Roadhouse, shrimp, and Red Lobster cheddar bay biscuits
MICHAEL EWALD
List three topics you are most likely to blog about at some point.
(1) Book Reviews
(2) Science and the Environment
(3) My Dogs
If you were not a lawyer, had no capital and had to start a business from scratch tomorrow to make ends meet, what would that business be?
I would start a podcast interviewing entrepreneurs, scientists, athletes, artists and public intellectuals on their passions and interests.
It’s your last meal…what’s on the menu?
Hopefully fresh seafood around a campfire or from the grill
Who is/was an important mentor to you?
Professor Frank Fommersheim, a professor at the University of South Dakota School of Law
If you could describe your career path in one word, what would it be?
Winding
TUCKER GRIFFITH
List three topics you are most likely to blog about at some point.
(1) Intellectual Property Law
(2) Movies, TV and general pop culture
(3) Food
List three topics you are least likely to blog about at some point.
(1) Tax Law
(2) The Bachelor/Bachelorette
(3) The contrasting influences of Keynesian and Monetarist economics on modern day societies
What was your major in college? If you had to do it all over again, what would you study?
Mechanical Engineering, though if given the opportunity to do it all over again, I would study Biomechanical Engineering – I’m fascinated by the advances in prosthetic technologies.
It’s your last meal…what’s on the menu?
Easy! – full Thanksgiving dinner – turkey, all the fixings, and of course a variety of pies to finish it off.
What's the most ridiculous Halloween costume you've ever worn?
When I was 10 or 11, I made my own hippopotamus costume, including painstaking efforts to craft a realistic head out of papier maché. I was disheartened when everyone thought I was a dragon.
If you could describe your career path in one word, what would it be?
Scholarly
Who is/was an important mentor to you?
My Dad
Favorite TV show involving a lawyer?
Goliath
Favorite Movie that doesn't involve a lawyer?
Interstellar
List three topics you are most likely to blog about at some point.
(1) Sports
(2) Arts (music or movies)
(3) Technology
What was your major in college? If you had to do it all over again, what would you study?
Environmental science. If I could do it all over again, I would study accounting.
It’s your last meal…what’s on the menu?
Burnt ends, macaroni and cheese, cornbread, and Caesar salad.
BRANDI LAWLER
List three topics you are most likely to blog about at some point.
(1) Volcanoes
(2) Travel
(3) Science
What was your major in college?
I double majored in Finance and Risk Management
Favorite TV show involving a lawyer?
Suits (sometimes it would be great to have a photographic memory)
Famous person (dead or alive) with whom you'd most like to have dinner?
Neil deGrasse Tyson (who doesn't love astrophysics?)
It's your last meal...what's on the menu?
Margherita pizza from Il Leone Rosso in Sorrento, Italy
What was your very first paying job?
I ran the cash register and was chief leech counter at a bait and tackle shop when I was about 7 years old (it wasn't cash compensation, and we won't get into child labor laws). My first real job was loading beef jerky onto semi-trucks.
LU LI
List three topics you are most likely to blog about at some point.
(1) The intersection of finance and law
(2) Business Plan drafting
(3) Exotic cultures and business models
(2) Business Plan drafting
(3) Exotic cultures and business models
List three topics you are least likely to blog about at some point.
(1) Sports
(2) Religion
(3) Politics
(2) Religion
(3) Politics
Where were you born?
Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, China
Who is/was an important mentor to you?
Who is/was an important mentor to you?
My dad is definitely the most important and valuable mentor I have ever had. He is a typical self-made man who is resilient, positive, and caring. He never went to college, but he tried his best to support my younger brother and me all the way through doctoral programs.
Favorite TV show involving a lawyer?
The Good Fight. I love seeing how Diana survives and thrives at her lowest point in life (bankruptcy at retirement, loss of reputation and clients, and separation from her husband). There are definitely ups and downs in life, the point is how we handle them.
Best piece of advice you ever received?
There are always two sides to a coin. If you want the best side, you need ot take the worst side of it too.
DAVE MOREHOUSE
Three topics you are most likely to blog about at some point?
(1) Generally, books—maybe a movie here and there or even a current event
(2) What we all might learn from Indiana Jones (or other sources that entrepreneurs might not readily embrace)
(3) Enlightened self interest
Three topics you are least likely to blog about at some point?
(1) Celebrities and their public meltdowns
(2) Intricate details of arcane provisions of the tax code (I have partners for that!)
(3) How to make a humongous fortune (if I knew, I might already have done it)
Favorite TV show involving a lawyer?
Rumpole of the Bailey (Masterpiece, PBS). Otherwise, I tend to avoid law-oriented shows. Truth is stranger than fiction.
Favorite movie that doesn’t involve a lawyer?
How the West Was Won—It may not be particularly accurate historically, but it captures the American impulse to create, to build, and to improve. Plus, it has an awesome score.
Famous person (dead or alive) with whom you’d most like to have dinner?
Winston Churchill or Franklin Roosevelt—it’s a toss-up. If those guys are busy that night, William the Conqueror. I’d have a drink with Jimmy Page.
It’s your last meal...what’s on the menu?
A reprieve?
CODY NIESS
List three topics you are most likely to blog about at some point.
(1) Agriculture, lessons learned growing up on the farm.
(2) Ancient human history/geographical history/travel.
(3) Commodities, history or current day, facts related to commodity trading.
Three topics you are least likely to blog about at some point?
(1) Politics
(2) Sports
(3) Pop Culture
What was your major in college?
Double major in Agricultural Business and Economics at Iowa State University.
If you were not a lawyer, had no capital and had to start a business from scratch tomorrow to make ends meet, what would that business be?
I’d start a business that creates excel documents for specialized uses for companies, such as generative forms, contract generating excel documents, automated invoicing, etc.
It’s your last meal…what’s on the menu?
Appetizers:
Low-moisture cheeses, Italian prosciutto, Spanish iberico ham
Soft eggs & lobster from Bar La Grassa.
A dozen oysters.
“An Epiphany” from Manny’s (drink).
Main Course:
85-day dry aged ribeye from Manny’s.
Smoked spaghetti from Bar La Grassa.
A king crab leg w/ butter.
Spanish dry red wine.
Dessert:
Dark Chocolate.
Cheesecake.
Italian espresso.
VIEW CODY'S PROFESSIONAL BIO
ALEX REED
List three topics you are most likely to blog about at some point.
(1) Kansas City Sports
(2) Small Towns
(3) Racquet Sports
List three topics you are least likely to blog about at some point.
(1) Reality TV
(2) Nuclear Politics
(3) Celebrity Gossip
Where were you born?
Ottawa, Kansas
Favorite TV Show involving a lawyer?
Better Call Saul
What is the most ridiculous Halloween costume you've ever worn?
Rex, owner of Rex Kwon Do martial arts center (from Napoleon Dynamite)
What was your major in college? If you had to do it all over again, what would you study now?
Finance and Accounting. I really enjoyed (and enjoy) finance and accounting, but I think having a construction science degree and helping to construct large projects would be very cool.
Where did you get your undergraduate degree? What did you like most about that location?
Purdue University! I loved that it was in a college town in the Midwest. Having moved around a lot, I’ve never known the ins and outs of another city as well as I did West Lafayette, IN.
Who is/was an important mentor to you?
Both my parents. I’ve never received better advice from anyone else.
List three topics you are most likely to blog about at some point.
(1) Mythology
(2) Dogs
(3) The Midwest
What was your major in college? If you had it to do all over again, what would you study now?
Communication. I would have majored in Classical Studies, because that was my minor and I enjoyed it way more!
Famous person (dead or alive) with whom you’d most like to have dinner?
Taylor Swift
If you were not a lawyer, had no capital and had to start a business from scratch tomorrow to make ends meet, what would that business be?
I would start a podcast where I retell ancient myths with a more modern take on them.
JULIAN SANSANO
Where were you born?
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Best piece of advice you ever received?
Someone has to be the best, why not you?
Favorite Movie that doesn’t involve a lawyer?
Good Will Hunting
List three topics you are most likely to blog about at some point.
(1) Cryptocurrency, Blockchain technology
(2) NIL deals in collegiate athletics
(3) Tax code changes
It’s your last meal…what’s on the menu?
My grandmother’s lasagna!
Famous person (dead or alive) with whom you’d most like to have dinner?
(1) Dead: Kobe Bryant (his mentality was unmatched)
(2) Alive: Gennaro Gattuso (famous Italian soccer player)
If you could describe your career path in one word, what would it be?
Unique
DAN TENENBAUM
List three topics you are most likely to blog about at some point.
(1) Musical theatre
(2) Animation
(3) Raising capital and/or children
List three topics you are least likely to blog about at some point.
(1) Country music
(2) The British royal family
(3) Celebrity marriages
Favorite TV show involving a lawyer?
Modern Family, because it doesn’t really center around the fact that Mitchell is a lawyer
Favorite movie that doesn’t involve a lawyer?
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Gaston wasn’t a lawyer, although I’ve seen plenty of lawyers who act like that...)
Famous person (dead or alive) with whom you’d most like to have dinner?
Walt Disney
It’s your last meal...what’s on the menu?
Chicken wings, Gino’s East pizza (with sausage—crumbles, not patty—mushrooms, and pesto), and chocolate mousse cake (from Carnegie Deli)
LORI WIESE-PARKS
List three topics you are most likely to blog about at some point.
(1) Trademarks
(2) Advertising
(3) Dogs
List three topics you are least likely to blog about at some point.
(1) The war in Afghanistan
(2) Insurance
(3) Sushi
Favorite TV show involving a lawyer?
LA Law—I was a newer attorney when the show started, and I appreciated that it wasn’t particularly realistic, at least with respect to MN Law. I didn’t watch it so much in the later years, but admit that I loved the episode where the nasty managing partner stepped into the elevator that wasn’t there. It still makes me smile. I am also a sucker for the old black and white Perry Mason episodes (not the later made-for-TV movies).
If you had it to do all over again, what would you study now?
Archeology or museum administration
Famous person (dead or alive) with whom you’d most like to have dinner?
Lee Harvey Oswald—I really want to know!
It’s your last meal...what’s on the menu?
Blutwurst and grit—an old German recipe that died with my aunt (it’s not as gross as it sounds)
