It’s always fascinating to hear how lawyers ended up in the area of practice they did. It’s almost never a straight line. But the latest This Week in Legal Blogging guest has a backstory few can match.

Dr. Nancy Halpern, at one time a practicing veterinarian, joined Bob Ambrogi to discuss how she came to practice animal law at Fox Rothschild and shared her insights on authoring their Animal Law Update blog.

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Episode recap

First things first, we hear a bit about how Nancy came to arrive in the role she did, moving from veterinarian to a government role and eventually a practicing attorney at Fox Rothschild. Oh and what even is animal law? She hits that, too, explaining that it can really run the gamut, touching any industry involving animals or impacted by them. And how’s the blogging going? Quite well. She’s gained exposure she wouldn’t have otherwise—and offers other bloggers advise that fits in almost any situation: follow your passion.

Episode outline

  • 2:00 – How Nancy went from being a vet to a lawyer
  • 5:10 – What does day-to-day look like for an animal law lawyer?
  • 9:15 – How did she decide to start a blog about this?
  • 10:45 – Her blogging habit and how she keeps things going
  • 18:30 – How does she find time to blog?
  • 19:30 – The impact of the blog on boosting Nancy’s reputation
  • 22:05 – How she covers issues on which she has a strong opinon
  • 26:20 – The advice she’d give to fellow law bloggers
Photo of Colin O'Keefe Colin O'Keefe

As Publisher at LexBlog, Colin leads the Publishing team and guides LexBlog clients and community members on blogging digital publishing strategy. A professionally-trained journalist, he’s applied the trade by helping keep LexBlog at the forefront of blogging and digital media trends for more…

As Publisher at LexBlog, Colin leads the Publishing team and guides LexBlog clients and community members on blogging digital publishing strategy. A professionally-trained journalist, he’s applied the trade by helping keep LexBlog at the forefront of blogging and digital media trends for more than a decade—split up by a four-year stint helping lead the Seattle Mariners’ digital marketing efforts. He’s a fan of those M’s, the Green Bay Packers, Seattle craft beer, pinball, jogging and ebikes.