Making Things Happen As An Outsider: SCOTUSblog & The Genius Of Tom Goldstein

Who would have guessed cold calls & quitting your Biglaw job would lead to the creation of the most influential law-related media company in America?

Alex Su @heyitsalexsu

A Biglaw associate once used cold calls to build up a niche specialty in an exclusive practice area and ended up creating one of the most important legal media companies in the world. Here’s his story:

I love stories about lawyers who have done extraordinary things. During challenging times as a young lawyer, I’d read their biographies obsessively, hoping to gain insight into how to navigate my career. I’d file their stories away in my mind, and use them as a roadmap on how to move forward.

One of the stories that has always stuck with me is Tom Goldstein’s. Today I’d like to share his journey, not only because it’s motivational, but because it was one of the stories that ultimately helped me decide to leave the practice of law to go into legal tech. Which, by the way, I’m still in the middle of telling—and I promise the next part will be out soon!

You can’t really understand The Why behind my decisions without Goldstein’s story though. Which, yes, is about encountering setbacks and blazing your own trail. But more than that, it’s also a story about an outsider who struggled to fit in, who ignored established customs and traditions, and who earned the mockery and scorn of insiders. And in doing so, created something incredibly, absolutely wonderful.

This is Tom Goldstein’s story.