The Velvet Hammer™ Podcast
Trial lawyers can be real people, too—and this podcast proves it. The Velvet Hammer™ is back, and this time, Karen Koehler isn’t going it alone. Known for her fearless advocacy, bold storytelling, and, yes, even the occasional backwards dress moment, Karen is teaming up with Mo Hamoudi, a lawyer, poet, and storyteller whose empathy and resilience add a whole new dynamic to the show.
Together, they’re pulling back the curtain on trial law, diving into bold topics, heartfelt stories, and the messy, hilarious moments that make trial lawyers human. This is an unscripted, raw, and fun take on life inside—and outside—the courtroom.
Episodes
173 episodes
The ACLU Lawsuit Challenging ICE’s Operation Metro Surge
Season 6, Episode 5: The ACLU Lawsuit Challenging ICE’s Operation Metro SurgeA young Somali American U.S. citizen is tackled and detained by ICE in Minnesota, then later pepper-sprayed while filming a protest. That moment becomes ...
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Season 6
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Episode 5
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30:26
The Reality of Work-Life Balance for Trial Lawyers
Season 6, Episode 4: The Reality of Work-Life Balance for Trial Lawyers What does “work-life balance” actually look like for trial lawyers? In this episode, Kare...
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Season 6
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Episode 4
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19:09
Power: Who Holds It And Who Doesn’t
Season 6, Episode 3: Power: Who Holds It And Who Doesn’tIn this episode, Karen Koehler and Mo Hamoudi go head-to-head on whether power is real or an illusion, and why that question matters when your client has none. From courtroom...
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Season 6
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Episode 3
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33:25
Legal Breakdown of the ICE Minnesota Shooting
Season 6, Episode 2: Legal Breakdown of the ICE Minnesota ShootingIn this episode, Karen Koehler, Mo Hamoudi, and Mike Todd examine the January 7, 2026, fatal ICE shooting in Minnesota that resulted in the dea...
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Season 6
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Episode 2
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47:09
Preparing for Trial
Episode 1: Preparing for Trial Season six opens with Karen Koehler, Mo Hamoudi, and Mike Todd discussing the emotional and physical shift that happens when a trial is coming. The sleep changes. The aggression sharpens. The en...
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Season 6
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Episode 1
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35:40
Decoding Voir Dire Part 5 | The Jury Selection Series
Episode 49: Decoding Voir Dire Part 5 | The Jury Selection SeriesThe final installment of our five-part Voir Dire series. Karen Koehler explains how to respectfully invite jurors to excuse themselves by honoring their moral convic...
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Season 5
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Episode 49
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20:22
Decoding Voir Dire Part 4 | The Jury Selection Series
Episode 48: Decoding Voir Dire Part 4 | The Jury Selection SeriesPeremptory strikes look simple on paper. In practice, they are among the most strategic and controversial aspects of jury selection.In Part 4 of the Decoding ...
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Season 5
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Episode 48
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22:05
Decoding Voir Dire Part 3 | The Jury Selection Series
Episode 47: Decoding Voir Dire Part 3 | The Jury Selection SeriesIn Part 3 of our voir dire series, Karen Koehler and Mo Hamoudi break down what happens when a politically charged case collides with real human bias, and why jury s...
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Season 5
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Episode 47
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26:29
Decoding Voir Dire Part 2 | The Jury Selection Series
Episode 46: Decoding Voir Dire Part 2 | The Jury Selection SeriesIn Part 2 of our five-part jury selection series, Karen Koehler and Mo Hamoudi break down what really happens when you get 20 minutes to talk to 50 to 60 jurors (an...
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Season 5
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Episode 46
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24:05
Decoding Voir Dire Part 1 | The Jury Selection Series
Episode 45: Decoding Voir Dire Part 1 | The Jury Selection SeriesKaren Koehler and Mo Hamoudi kick off a five-part deep dive into voir dire with the question everyone secretly has. What are trial lawyers actually doing when they ...
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Season 5
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Episode 45
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23:56
The Velvet Hammers’ Journey through Bias, Marginalization, and Systemic Inequities
Episode: Live Podcast - The Velvet Hammers’ Journey through Bias, Marginalization, and Systemic InequitiesRecorded Live on December 2, 2025 1 Ethics Equity Credit - Please visit stritmatter.com/cle for Activity ID.
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Season 5
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Episode 44
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1:04:00
The Privilege of Sacrifice as a Trial Lawyer
Episode 44: The Privilege of Sacrifice as a Trial LawyerIn this episode of The Velvet Hammer™ Podcast, the group sits down with a simple question: Does being great at your work always require sacrifice? Karen...
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Season 5
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Episode 43
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47:06
Mansplaining, Mo-Splaining, and the Space Between Talking and Listening
Episode 42: Mansplaining, Mo-Splaining, and the Space Between Talking and ListeningA heated phone call about “mansplaining” turns into a sharp, funny, and honest look at listening, ego, and the thin line between protecting and dom...
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Season 5
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Episode 42
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34:46
Anticipating the Loss - When Trial Lawyers Feel It Coming
Episode 41: Anticipating the Loss - When Trial Lawyers Feel It ComingWhen you’ve been in the courtroom long enough, you know the feeling. The slow, heavy dread of a case slipping away. In this episode of The Velvet Hammer™
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Season 5
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Episode 41
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41:23
Misogyny, Patriarchy, and the Pain of “Mean Girls”
Episode 40: Misogyny, Patriarchy, and the Pain of “Mean Girls”In this episode of The Velvet Hammer™, Mo asks the question most men avoid: “What is misogyny?” Karen, Mo, and Mike take it further, unpacking how patriarchy s...
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Season 5
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Episode 40
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29:49
Confronting the "Let Them" Philosophy: Trial Lawyers Debate Self-Help Culture
Karen Koehler and Mo Hamoudi debate the viral “Let Them” theory by Mel Robbins and whether it works in the real world of trial law. From self-help culture and quick-fix thinking...
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Season 5
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Episode 39
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28:26
When Zoom Replaces Rooms – Navigating the Post-Pandemic Legal Practice
Episode 38: When Zoom Replaces Rooms – Navigating the Post-Pandemic Legal PracticeKaren Koehler, Mo Hamoudi, and Mike Todd tackle one of the most significant shifts in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic: the rise of remote eve...
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Season 5
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Episode 38
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49:00
Sticks, Stones, and Strategic Responses: How We Handle Being Insulted
How do you respond when someone insults you? In this episode, Karen Koehler, Mo Hamoudi, and Mike Todd explore how their childhood experiences with insults shape their adult mechanisms. Karen reflects on her mother’s “eye for an eye...
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Season 5
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Episode 37
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32:55
Crossing the Moat - Building Trust Between Attorneys and Clients
In this episode, Karen Koehler starts with a client who was permanently disfigured and how fast the defense tried to dig through every corner of her life. From medical records to private history, nothing feels off-limits in discovery. Karen and...
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Season 5
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Episode 36
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22:40
Unbound: A Woman’s Guide to Power Book Review
Episode 35: Unbound: A Woman’s Guide to Power Book ReviewKaren Koehler, Mo Hamoudi, and Mike Todd review Unbound: A Woman’s Guide to Power by Kasia Urbaniak. They delve into the meanings of dominance, submission, and infl...
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Season 5
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Episode 35
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36:38
Keeping Up with Karen
Episode 34: Keeping Up with Karen Karen Koehler and Mo Hamoudi debate the power of thinking on your feet versus slowing down to choose your words. Karen owns her “borderline manic” speed and explains how fast processing helps...
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Season 5
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Episode 34
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18:48
The Rise of AI: Adapt or Die
Episode 33: The Rise of AI: Adapt or DieKaren, Mo, and Mike dive into the question every lawyer and law firm is facing: what do we do with AI? Karen breaks down how the firm is already using it, from med-mal intake summaries that ...
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Season 5
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Episode 33
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37:20
How to Interview Clients and Win Juries
Episode 32: How to Interview Clients and Win JuriesIn this episode of The Velvet Hammer™, Karen Koehler, Mo Hamoudi, and Mike Todd dig into one of the most overlooked skills as a trial lawyer: the client interview. This i...
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Season 5
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Episode 32
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22:25
Protesting in America: Your Legal Rights Explained
Episode 31: Protesting in America: Your Legal Rights ExplainedSeattle recently saw 70,000 people take to the streets during the No Kings March, and Karen, Mo, and Mike are here to talk about what it means to exercise your right t...
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Season 5
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Episode 31
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51:33
Placing a Monetary Value on the Loss of a Good Life
Episode 30: Placing a Monetary Value on the Loss of a "Good Life"What constitutes a “good life,” and what happens when catastrophic events forever change its course? Karen Koehler reads an essay she wrote at 17 about what makes a ...
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Season 5
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Episode 30
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42:58