New Bar Center for Professionalism podcast celebrates civility in law
Magie Ozarowski: ‘My hope for the podcast is not only to interview these amazing people, but for the listeners to be able to learn something from their different and diverse experiences.’
A new podcast dedicated to promoting civility and professionalism in the legal field, produced by The Florida Bar’s Henry Latimer Center for Professionalism, has launched.
Hosted by attorney Magie Ozarowski of Ausley McMullen in Tallahassee, “On Civility” features engaging conversations with prominent judges, lawyers, and legal professionals. The inaugural episode, released on October 16, features an insightful interview with Administrative Law Judge Hetal Desai, who shares her unique career journey from Washington, D.C., and New York back to Tallahassee, where she now serves with the Division of Administrative Hearings.
Judge Desai contests the popular perception that there is currently a crisis of civility.
“I think there’s actually more civility in the practice of law than when I came up through the ranks,” said Judge Desai, highlighting the impact of continuing education and mentoring offered by The Florida Bar. She also noted a cultural shift within the profession: “Attorneys are [now] encouraged to set boundaries…People are realizing how other parts of their life affect how they practice.”
Judge Desai shares an example of how a challenging pro se litigant was met by two different attorneys. Both attorneys won their cases, but she had appreciation for the grace displayed by one of them. “He read the room; he came down to the level of this party against him; he wasn’t a butt…and the results were the same,” Judge Desai explained on the first podcast.
Judge Desai shares her thoughts about her expectations for attorneys with state agencies and local governments, aggressiveness among attorneys, women lawyers as “friendtors,” attorneys whom she admires, and her own podcast with the Center for Professionalism, “Never Contemplated.”
Her one piece of advice intended for young lawyers: “Lean into your skills…Find out what your strength is and use it for good.”
The “On Civility” podcast carries 0.5 hours of General CLE credit including 0.5 hours of Professionalism CLE credit. It is available on most platforms, including Apple and Spotify.
Ozarowski sat down with the News to discuss the new podcast.
News: What do you hope “On Civility” will accomplish?
Ozarowski: I hope to speak to a lot of people in the field of law, from judges to practitioners to leaders, to get an idea of what civility means to them, and to get their ideas about what some people propose – that we are in a bit of a crisis when it comes to civility and professionalism. My hope for the podcast is not only to interview these amazing people, but for the listeners to be able to learn something from their different and diverse experiences. There’s great diversity among The Florida Bar membership and I want to explore how different people experience the practice of the law in Florida. I think that’s going to be slightly different for everybody, but I suspect there’s a strong undercurrent of the same values and the same hopes.
News: What sparked the decision to create this podcast?
Ozarowski: I was a member of the Standing Committee on Professionalism for six years. During that time, we worked with Rebecca Bandy and Katie Jones at The Florida Bar’s Henry Latimer Center for Professionalism, which is the umbrella under which the committee is housed. During COVID, Judge Hetal Desai was doing a podcast called “Never Contemplated.” This is an extension and evolution of that podcast.
News: Tell us about your first guest. Why did you select her?
Ozarowski: Because it evolved from “Never Contemplated,” of course my first guest was going to be Judge Desai, who shepherded “Never Contemplated” through an incredible time starting in COVID and post-COVID. She spoke to women in all walks of life and was so good at talking to people on a human level; she is my inspiration. Because the law can be such an adversarial setting, with a judge who holds power and attorneys who are opposed to one another, there isn’t a lot of humanity present in transactional law. But Judge Desai puts a face, a voice, a history to these people who are our fellow practitioners in the Bar, and they have so many interesting things to say, so much wisdom and knowledge. I hope to continue that, in a sense, with my own take, which is how the people view civility in the practice of law.
News: Who are some upcoming guests?
Ozarowski: I’m in the process of confirming, so I don’t want to say. As you can imagine, it can be difficult to get time scheduled with people who are at this level. What I will say is I want to interview a wide variety of people in the Bar. Judge Desai started by interviewing judges, and I would like to interview judges also, but perhaps include judges from the appellate and federal benches. My goal is to talk to leaders in bar associations and people who have made a difference to The Florida Bar — superstars.
