Today’s Los Angeles Times has a profile of L.A. lawyer Allison Margolin. The article describes Margolin as “star-struck, young and unorthodox,” but also “Ivy League, savvy and successful.”
The title of the piece — “A Law Unto Herself” — may promise more than the article delivers. But there are still some interesting tidbits:
Matt Farrell, a video producer, needed an attorney after he had been charged with growing marijuana. He hired Allison Margolin, “L.A.’s dopest attorney,” on a friend’s recommendation.
Farrell’s first impression was “she was hot.”
Is Margolin “hot”? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder — but at the very least, she’s “lawyer hot.” Cf. being “book hot.”
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[Farrell’s] second [impression] was doubt. She looked too young to be a lawyer.
Then he saw the Ivy League degrees on her wall.
Like actress Reese Witherspoon’s character in the movie “Legally Blonde” — a rich, ditsy Beverly Hills blond who goes to Harvard Law School — Margolin, 28, is the kind of lawyer who might be easy to dismiss. The graduate of Beverly Hills High talks like a Valley girl, preceding adjectives with “like” and using “whatever” as a period.
OMG — this Margolin chick sounds totally rad!
There’s, like, more stuff after the jump.
We kinda love this little anecdote:
[T]here was the time Margolin burst into tears after a prosecutor told her she had only minutes to decide whether to take a deal that would put a client in prison for 17 years. The prosecutor relented and extended the deadline.
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Work it, girl!
And check out this bit of color:
Delayed by a flat tire, she had scurried into the courthouse 30 minutes after court started, clutching a pink leather briefcase and trailed by two 19-year-olds she introduced as her assistants, Daniel Samadi and Raymond Hay.
The pair of college students are Boy Fridays, answering her cellphone, fetching her food, walking her dog and soothing her when she gets tense.
And, pray tell, how exactly do these strapping young men “sooth[] her when she gets tense”?
Slender and small with olive coloring, her auburn hair pulled into a ponytail, Margolin was in constant motion, biting her lips, rubbing her chin, pulling at strands of hair. She wore a black Armani pants suit and a sleeveless red top with a plunging neckline, revealing a silver-blue lacy camisole and generous cleavage.
Daniel and Raymond sound like two lucky boys. But really, the “generous cleavage” had nothing to do with it — they’re just there to learn about the law…
Given the Harvard Law pedigree and ample bust, Margolin’s fees seem pretty reasonable:
For a client caught with more than [marijuana] 100 plants, she usually charges a $10,000 fee. She also has done cases for free, but confesses to aspiring to wear “only Chanel” suits. “I plan to make a lot of money,” she said matter-of-factly.
A woman after our own heart.
A Law Unto Herself [Los Angeles Times]
Allison’s Wonderland [Allison Margolin’s Blog]