
Listen and learn from Chris Batz’s bi-weekly podcast, The Future is Bright.
Enjoy a front-row seat as Chris speaks with thought-provoking C-Suite executives and leaders from corporations, both public and private, professional service firms, and of course, the legal industry from around the United States.
“It was a true pleasure joining Chris for his podcast. Chris brings a creative and energized approach to his exploration of management issues facing the legal industry, and his podcast captures invaluable perspectives from a cross-section of tenured law firm and law department leaders.”
“Chris was great to work with. He was easy to talk to and made the experience fun for me. If I was looking for an attorney Chris would be my first call”
“Before serving as a guest on Chris’ podcast, I had been an avid listener. Chris has an engaging approach with each guest that will immediately draw you in. I appreciate the variety of thought leaders he features. Listening to his podcasts allows me to be sure I am continuing to grow as a leader and lawyer.”

Why Law Partners Leave with Dan Binstock
“According to Dan Binstock, successful partnerships rely on key factors such as people, practice, compensation, and confidence.”
Join Chris Batz and Dan Binstock, a partner at Garrison & Sisson in Washington, DC, as they discuss the reasons why law partners decide to leave their current law firms. Dan outlines the top four reasons behind partner transitions, including concerns about firm …

Law Firm Merger Conversation with Gary Miles
For mergers to be successful, there really has to be a strategic reason on both sides that is well thought out by both parties, regardless of who makes the approach to whom, explains Gary Miles, President and CEO of Miles Partner Placement, an elite partner placement group movement and merger boutique. Today, Gary speaks with host Chris Batz about recent law firm merger activity, future …

Alexis Robertson | Director of DEI at Foley & Lardner on Law Firm DEI Efforts and Updates
For too long DEI work has been focused on changing individual hearts and minds, versus the organization taking on responsibility and frankly, modifying behavior without the need for personal buy-in,” explains Alexis Robertson, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Foley & Lardner, as well as host of Foley’s Path & Practice Podcast. There has been great improvement in DEI at law…

Generative AI and the Coming Disruption with Mary O’Carroll and Craig Katerberg
With the fast pace that Generative AI models like Chat GPT have been expanding and improving, it has become quite clear that major disruptions are on the way for every single industry. And the legal industry is likely to be the first to face major disruptions due to these technological advances. Today, Mary O’Carroll,Chief Community Officer at Ironclad, lnc., and Craig Katerber, Chief …

Executive Presence and Inner Confidence with Deanna Sheridan and Stewart Hirsch
You have to be yourself, but you have to pay attention to the audience that you’re working with,” explains Stewart Hirsch, managing director and business development coach. The issue with talking broadly about concepts like executive presence is that everyone has a different definition for what executive presence entails. The initial ideas for executive presence applied primarily to white …

Michelle Patterson Wimes | SVP Chief Equity & Inclusion Officer Children’s Mercy Kansas City
It was something that I had always wanted to do, because I always felt this inclination to stand up for folks who didn’t have a voice,” explains Michelle Patterson Wimes, SVP Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer at Children’s Mercy Kansas City. Michelle began her professional journey as a teacher and then as a lawyer, thinking that was the best route to being able to help people. Along the …

In-House Team, Talent and Career Advice with Kim Yapchai and Dennis Garcia
It takes time to build that psychological safety, but I think it’s a more important area than ever before in the modern workplace,” explains Dennis Garcia, Assistant General Counsel of Microsoft. Today, Dennis and Kim Yapchai, former SVP, Chief Environmental, Social, and Governance Officer at Tenneco Inc., discuss their career advice for developing in-house talent. Trust is something that …

Matt Saur | CoFounder and Partner of Woolery & Co on Pushing Boundaries and Advising Family Offices
Anyone that knows me throughout my career would see that it’s really been about trying to push the boundaries. And in our part of the market, I think we really are driving and pushing the boundaries of what is possible and what clients want,” explains Matt Saur, strategic and institutional advisor, co-founder and partner of Woolery & Co. Today, Matt shares his career journey, the challenges …

Susanne Meline | CoFounder Francis Capital Management-Launching a Hedge Fund & Active Board Service
Hedge funds, if you do it right and you set up a really good compliance and operational structure, it’s a scalable business,” explains Susanne Meline, co-founder of Francis Capital Management. Prior to going into hedge fund management and serving on several boards, she worked as an investment banker and as a lawyer. Today, Susanne shares how she first became involved with hedge funds, how …

Bill Ryan | SVP Assistant GC of AT&T Services Inc. on Contextualizing Work and Family
I always try to make sure I’m contextualizing what I do on a day-to-day basis. And my personal priority is my family all the time,” shares Bill Ryan, SVP. Bill is the Assistant GC of AT&T Services, Inc., but has held many roles from working as a bilingual educator to becoming an attorney and working in-house at DirectTV. Today, he shares his professional journey and how he has built a …
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