Legal Grounds | Heidi K. Brown On Bringing Identity to Our Legal Writing, Unpacking Introversion, and Why Finding a Shared Vocabulary is Necessary for Success

It always feels like an easy out to say a podcast conversation is “wide-ranging”, but when the guest has written best selling books for attorneys on everything from Introversion to Fear, it seems like the only descriptor broad enough to fit. 

Heidi K Brown is the Associate Dean of Upper Level Writing at the New York School of Law. 

Inspired by her own experiences untangling a fear of public speaking during her litigation career, Heidi is passionate about helping lawyers at every level find their authentic legal-voices through her teaching and her writing. 

Her books include, The Introverted Lawyer: A Seven-Step Journey Toward Authentically Empowered Advocacy,  Untangling Fear in Lawyering: A Four-Step Journey Toward Powerful Advocacy, and The Flourishing Lawyer: A Multi-Dimensional Approach to Performance and Well-Being, and the recently released travel memoir - The Map I Draw

We discuss the importance of writer-identity and how she’s helping her students to find their voices so that they can advocate from a place of authenticity. Of course, with the rise of Generative A.I., Heidi has had to pivot HOW she teaches - and the story of the first encounter with Chat GPT is worth the listen alone. 

We also talk about her own journey into the law, how she learned to leverage her introversion to her advantage, and how attorneys can benefit from embodying the mentality of professional athletes