In the Counsel's Chair: John Nadolenco on leadership

John Nadolenco didn't plan to become a class action defense specialist — he made a strategic bet during the dot-com era that bigger, higher-stakes cases would define the future of Big Law. Three decades later, as managing partner of Mayer Brown's Los Angeles office and after a series of high-stakes class action defense wins (including at the U.S. Supreme Court), he's proven himself right. In this conversation, John shares how he approaches impossibly complex technology cases (hint: it involves a lot of YouTube), why he championed the fight against "no injury" class actions all the way to the Supreme Court, and how he balances trial work with leadership by waking up "crazy early." Plus: the one book about robots that's reshaping how he thinks about AI in legal practice.

Episode Chapters

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to John Nadolenco

01:06 Career Path and Class Action Defense

20:38 Office Management and Culture Post-COVID

27:39 Mentorship and Developing Future Leaders

34:01 Final Thoughts and Recommendations

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