This week on the Real Lawyers podcast, Kevin O’Keefe talks with Nicole Black of 8am about a career that changed course because she decided to publish. What began as a way to signal she was current on the law led to book deals, speaking work, early recognition in legal tech and a role that now spans product insight, strategy and industry-facing thought leadership.
Her story tracks the real outcomes that come from putting your ideas out into the world. Not SEO tactics. Not chasing traffic. Actual relationships that turn into trust and opportunity.
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Episode outline
- 07:56 — The move into cloud computing and pitching the ABA
- 08:51 — The chain of events that led to MyCase
- 10:16 — Joining MyCase and the acquisition that followed
- 11:20 — How relationships and visibility shaped her career path
- 12:25 — What it felt like to work inside a growing tech company
- 14:21 — Why publishing still creates opportunity for young lawyers today
- 15:10 — Examples of people breaking in through consistent writing
- 16:42 — Using publishing to launch small creative projects
- 18:29 — The path from MyCase to 8am
- 19:55 — What 8am is and how it came together
- 21:22 — Inside the company’s first Kaleidoscope conference
- 23:30 — Why the event felt intimate and interactive
- 5:24 — Why 8am felt like the right home for MyCase after earlier ownership changes
- 26:00 — How industry fluency inside 8am shapes her work with product, marketing and PR
- 27:26 — The value of having leaders who understand solo and small firm lawyers
- 28:03 — What she sees in 8am’s culture and leadership
- 28:32 — How she bridges lawyers and technology in her role
- 30:09 — The importance of helping lawyers understand new tools through writing and speaking
- 31:15 — The career she likely would have had without publishing
- 31:42 — How early publishing led to real equity outcomes and long-term opportunity
- 31:52 — Closing thoughts
Key takeaways
- Publishing created relationships that shaped every major step in her career
- Writing led to book deals, speaking invitations and early visibility in legal tech
- Her path into MyCase and later 8am was rooted in the connections she built by sharing her work
- Smaller legal tech conferences can create stronger interaction and better insight into lawyers’ needs
- Consistent publishing still creates real opportunity for lawyers who want to move into new roles or industries
