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PODCAST – Welcome to the Trials and Tribulations Podcast
Welcome to the very first episode of the Trials and Tribulations Podcast, where I share the reasons for launching this new podcast. As we all spend the majority of our day in the workplace, it simply made sense to start a podcast that would engage both our audience and leading experts on a variety of topics related to the workplace. Tune into our podcast and enjoy!
Unknown:
Welcome to trials and tribulations at work, the podcast where we talk about everything related to the workplace. Join us as we interview leading experts to discuss a variety of workplace related issues to help you learn about your rights, as well as how to succeed professionally, personally and financially in the workplace. And here’s your host, Jay Stafford, founder of the law firm of JW. Stafford.
Jamaal Stafford:
Welcome to the introductory podcast for trials and tribulations at work. My name is Jay Stafford. This is our very first show. I’m very excited to have Claude Jennings here with me, typically, I’m the one asking the questions, but today, Claude is going to ask me questions and give you some insight into me into what I do. And again, Claude is sort of the behind the scenes guy handling everything related to the podcast. So very excited to have him here today. And definitely look forward to giving everyone a little bit of insight about me and what we’re going to do with this great podcast.
Claude Jennings:
Absolutely. Well, Jay, number one, congratulations on starting your podcast, folks want to get a lot out of it. I know we’ll talk a little bit about what the show is all about. But let’s just start with you know you a little bit about yourself. For those who may not be familiar with you, where you’re from and your story. Let’s just start with just explain a little bit about who you are.
Jamaal Stafford:
Thanks, Claude. My story starts in Akron, Ohio, the same city, LeBron James is born and lived there for about 1112 years. You know, for those that aren’t familiar with Akron, outside of LeBron James, you know, Akron was in the heyday A long time ago, you know, it was known for its industry, you know, Tire and Rubber, my mother from Claritin, Pennsylvania, which is a few hours down the road, and that’s a steel town or used to be a big steel town. And so my story starts there, live there, about 11 or 12 years old, then move to Chesapeake. Virginia, grew up with my grandparents after my mother passed. And so you know, I consider myself a Virginia boy. But that’s my story. I’ve got two kids and a great wife, and I’m owner of the wall from a JW. Stafford here in Baltimore, Maryland. And there’s a lot more to the story, but I’ll keep it short and sweet. Nice. And you know, regarding, you know, your law firm JW. Stafford, what aspect of law do you practice? Yeah, we, we practice employment law and professional licensed defense. So on the employment space, which is really a lot of what this podcast is going to focus on, we represent both employees and employers. So you know, we’re on the plaintiff side for employees representing them in cases related to, for instance, discrimination, or Wage and Hour related matters. So, you know, that’s a lot of what we do, that’s probably, I’d say, 70% of our practice, and the other piece of our practices, professional license defense, which is defending the licenses of, you know, doctors, physicians, nurses, you know, anybody with a professional license, you know, such as attorneys, realtors, you know, they’ve got a licensing board that they have to answer to, and sometimes things happen, where their license gets called into question, we defend them, they’re
Claude Jennings:
What made you want to start this podcast?
Jamaal Stafford:
Yeah, you know, as an attorney, you know, a lot of what we do is on paper, and but that doesn’t necessarily translate well to sort of getting out the message, right. And what I wanted to do with this podcast, was sort of connect with people in a way that I think it’s going to be better received in terms of, for instance, if you’re in your car, we can sort of educate you about, you know, what your rights are in the workplace, you know, a variety of other issues related to, you know, work, which is where we spend most of our time. And so, you know, I think a podcast would be a great way to just communicate with the employees out there and really convey important information and have speakers on who are engaging and and can be a resource to our listeners, you know, as they go about, you know, dealing with the trials and tribulations at work,
Claude Jennings:
you know, and speaking of your trials and tribulations at work, what might be one of the top two things that you oftentimes see when it comes to workplace, whether it’s discrimination, whether it’s just things that happen in the workplace that aren’t, you know, up to par? Like, what are some, like maybe one of the two most common complaints when it comes to the workplace when when people you know, reach out to you and say, Hey, I need some help with this.
Jamaal Stafford:
Yeah. Well, great question, Claude. So one of the big issues we’ve seen, and, you know, and I’ll talk about sort of the before COVID issues, you know, and still do a lot of the screw perceived discrimination, employees feeling that certain decisions related to their employment or certain, you know, actions from, you know, colleagues or supervisors are discriminatory based on whether it be race or sex, pregnancy. I mean, you know, that’s a lot of of what we see, in terms of from the employee side, a lot of discrimination claims. Since COVID started, you know, we see a lot of issues related to people not feeling safe in the workplace, because of COVID. And not feeling that their employer is accommodating, for instance of pre existing condition that could, you know, essentially employee feeling that, you know, they’ve got a medical condition, they’ve gone to the employer and said, hey, look, I need this accommodation, I need to, you know, telework or I need additional protections. So I don’t contract COVID in the workplace, and we’re seeing a lot employees expressed some some serious concerns about how employers have been responding to that. But you know, it’s certainly, you know, the COVID it’s certainly a challenging time for both employees and employers.
Claude Jennings:
And as you launched the podcast, what do you hope listeners take away from it? You know, from listening, subscribing to the show? What’s, what’s your main goal for the consumer?
Jamaal Stafford:
Yeah, my main goal is empowerment. Um, you know, I feel that the more you know, our listeners know about what their rights are. And again, you know, yes, the, a lot of the focus for our podcast will be legal. But, you know, we’re going to talk about a variety of subjects, like sort of financial independence, and, you know, preparing for retirement, you know, we’re going to talk about a broad array of subjects. And so what I hope listeners take away from this podcast is that sense of empowerment, having the knowledge they need to make, you know, smart decisions, if they, you know, have a question about something, the, you know, we provide them resources that they can use, you know, or their friends and family can use, if they’re dealing with issues in the workplace.
Claude Jennings:
Nice. And so people can expect the podcast How often? And if they need more information on you, and your firm and your practice, where can they go?
Jamaal Stafford:
Yeah, we want to do the podcast twice a month to start. And if they need, you know, if you need more information about me or the firm, you can go to www dot Stafford trial team calm, that’s sta FF o rd, trial team calm, and we’ve got all our information up there social media, and you can follow us there and definitely look forward to talking with our listeners and hopefully being a resource to
Claude Jennings:
nice now some of the things that people like me who don’t practice law, you know, have rarely ever even been in a courtroom, you know, we might have certain questions. And so I kind of wanna do like a quick, easy, rapid fire kind of situation with you. So, you know, we see a lot of things dramatize on television, when it comes to law. What is one of the most, I guess, misconceptions regarding being a lawyer that we may think is common, because we watch a lot of TV and like, you know, court on television, and law and order and things like that?
Jamaal Stafford:
Yeah, I tell you, in my practice area, I think one of the one of the misconceptions, you see people thinking that getting to court is quick, I’m telling you, getting in front of a jury is tough, there’s a lot of, you know, there’s a lot of what are called motions practice that makes it difficult to get in front of a jury. So if you do get in front of a jury, it’s often you were talking years down the road. So it’s not as quick as long in order where they’re, you know, in front of the jury and about, you know, 30 minutes, it’s just not like that,
Claude Jennings:
of all the areas of law, you could practice, what made you choose to go into workplace law,
Jamaal Stafford:
you know, what made me get into employment law is the fact that we do spend so much time at work, and there’s so many issues that spin off around what happens at work, for instance, you know, equal pay, and, you know, discrimination. And for me, my focus has been, what can I do to help people and to the extent we can make the workplace a fair place, a more equal environment for people of all stripes. That, to me is what my sort of goal is, and the goal for our firm to really make the workplace you know, fair, and because it allows so much so many things to happen allows you to send your kid to school with allows you to pay your bills and and so the more we can do to make the workplace a fair environment for both employees and employers. That that’s been my goal.
Claude Jennings:
Okay, two more questions and rapid fire. So if not, employment law, what area of law would you practice and why?
Jamaal Stafford:
Yeah, you know, I would probably do criminal defense. I like I’ve always liked criminal defense. Because, you know, look, you’re helping people. I mean, that’s what I that’s what I’ve wanted to do.
Claude Jennings:
Okay. And if law was just out of the question altogether, what would you do?
Jamaal Stafford:
Yeah, I would probably be a financial advisor. Um, you know, I I for a long time and look, one of our one of our first episode is going to be with financial advisor. I love that stuff. I mean, for me, it’s, I love that stuff, my degrees in economics and business. So I love that and you know, you can change the lives of so many people. I mean, it You know, they run these models where, you know, somebody saves $50 a day, you know, starting at 18 years old and I mean you know, literally the the the the power of, you know, investing smartly and managing your money. I mean you can you know, it’s it’s life changing and so that’s why I like you know, economics and business just being able to help people convey information.
Claude Jennings:
Well, there we go. So for more information on you, and for our wicked people go one more time.
Jamaal Stafford:
Yeah. www dot Stafford trial team sta FF o rd trial team comm you can go there. And you know we’ve got all our information up there and feel free to reach
Claude Jennings:
out. Alright, teaser episode number one in the books. Congratulations, sir.
Jamaal Stafford:
Thank you, sir. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you for listening to today’s podcast. Be sure to subscribe to our podcasts on your favorite podcast platform and be sure to share this podcast with your friends and family. If you have questions, you can always email us at info at Stafford trial team comm again, that’s info at Stafford trial team comm We look forward to catching up with you next time. Until then, take care