Courtney Teasley, a criminal trial attorney turned certified business coach, author, and speaker, joins me to talk about the case that shaped her career: her own mother’s, overcharged as a drug seller instead of a user. Courtney traces how that experience, and a mentor who built a practice on her own terms, pushed her into criminal defense and, eventually, out of full-time practice.
The conversation covers why she left the courtroom for coaching and advocacy work, the business lessons law school never taught her, and how her book series, The Easy Way to Learn Your Rights, translates legal literacy into plain, bilingual language for the people who need it most.
Key Takeaways
* Courtney traces her path to criminal defense directly back to her mother being overcharged as a drug seller instead of a user, a decision that shaped how she practices and teaches law.
* The pressure of high-stakes cases never fully disappears; the lawyers who care the most are the ones who keep showing up despite it.
* Courtney left full-time practice after realizing one-on-one casework moves too slowly to shift the systemic patterns behind mass incarceration.
* A CliftonStrengths certification helped Courtney separate her zone of excellence, practicing law, from her zone of genius, teaching and advocacy.
* Courtney built her book series and coaching practice around plain, bilingual language, arguing legal jargon keeps clients from understanding their own cases.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Bluesky @Kathryn1
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