Two years ago, we launched Between the Briefs with a plan to put some of the sharpest minds in litigation and legal technology in front of a microphone and see what happens. Seventy-five-plus episodes and 1,200-plus followers later, the podcast has built a track record of attorneys, court reporters, and legal ops leaders trading experience on how AI, billing models, and the practice of law itself are changing, and what to actually do about it.

To mark the milestone, hosts Joe Stephens and Adrian Cea recorded a special episode live at ILTACON 2026, looking back at the conversations that stuck with them most and debuting the podcast's new Hot Takes segment—hot sauce included.

Looking Back

The special episode doubles as a retrospective, with Joe and Adrian revisiting the moments that shaped how they think about the industry. AI adoption came up more than anything else. 

Joe and Adrian on air from the Steno booth at ILTACON 2026.

"We've had some amazing guests,” Joe said. “We've gotten a ton of followers, and we've had some of the most amazing conversations about how this industry is changing and what technology is doing to affect it."

He pointed to an early guest who reframed how he thinks about adoption speed. "One of my favorite recollections was Elaine Barsom talking about AI readiness," Joe said. "It's not necessarily about the speed of innovation, because it is a fast-paced, ever-changing tech landscape around us. It's not about matching that pace. It's actually about being methodical and thoughtful about how you adopt, when you adopt, how you change."

Adrian brought up a guest who pushed back on a different assumption entirely. "One of my favorite takes when it came to AI was Colin Levy," he said. "Everyone has been on the bus of, okay, AI is going to take over our jobs, there's not going to be a need for lawyers. And he just called total BS on it. Look at this from an actual macro perspective. It's actually just making lawyers more powerful attorneys."

While AI was a thread running through many of the conversations, each guest's path through the industry offered its own kind of insight. Adrian pointed to a guest whose path into the legal industry stood out from the rest.

"Katie DeBord worked at DISCO as a VP, but what made her conversation so interesting was that she used to work for the CIA as an analyst,” he said. “She took the track from working in intelligence to becoming an attorney, and then to DISCO. It was a crazy path."

Joe pointed to the podcast's guests on the bench as similar standouts. "We've had judges of all shapes and sizes—a federal magistrate judge, a justice of the peace. I love hearing how they consider the role of AI as the overseer of a courtroom."

The two also revisited a debate that's threaded its way through the podcast: whether AI finally kills the billable hour. "We've had multiple hot takes that address this issue," Joe said, "from 'this is the thing that finally kills the billable hour' to 'the billable hour is here to stay.' My read is that billing models will have to adjust, and they are adjusting. Will that be the end of the billable hour entirely? TBD."

What's Next

Running a podcast on autopilot is not on our agenda. Legal is moving through one of the most unsettled stretches in memory: AI reshaping how cases get built, billing models under real pressure, courts and firms still working out where the lines are. Between the Briefs has spent two years documenting that shift as it happens, one conversation at a time.

"You don't get a former Am Law chairman or a sitting federal judge on a podcast by being one more legal tech company with a microphone," said Burcu Binguler, Steno's Creative Director. “As our audience keeps growing, we have new opportunities to expand on the identity of Between the Briefs. This is an incredibly interesting time in the legal industry, and the podcast consistently highlights that. Our job is to keep the show growing right alongside our audience, staying tuned to where the industry is headed, while building on the momentum that's already here and exploring what's next for the brand.”

That evolution starts with restlessness. Between the Briefs will continue tracking what the audience needs to know as the industry continues to shift, revisiting the biggest open questions as the answers keep changing. In the coming weeks and months, the podcast will bring on more practitioners and legal tech leaders who are setting the terms of this shift, from large firms rethinking how they staff cases to legal ops teams deciding what to build in-house versus buy.

"It's been such a joy," Joe said, closing out the special episode. "Still is. So much more to come. The foundation is so solid, and the wealth of information and quality conversations we've already had is just… there's so much more ahead."

The special episode is live now on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. New episodes follow in the weeks ahead.