How Ben Meiselas Met Michael Popok

Written by Ben Meiselas

Many of you have asked how I met Michael Popok and how we started Legal AF. Here’s the true story.

Back in 2015, I was a full-time litigator in Los Angeles. I never contemplated running a media company. I was either in court or taking depositions every day.

At the time, I represented a client who had legal claims against the company she once worked for. We investigated her claims and filed a lawsuit on her behalf against the company. Within about 30 days of filing the lawsuit, I received a very, very aggressive letter from the lawyer representing the company we had just sued. That lawyer’s name was Michael Popok. I thought he was a jerk. He thought I was a jerk.

At that time, Michael Popok was a Deputy General Counsel for a large company. That company had numerous subsidiaries, one of which was the company we had sued on behalf of our client.

Instead of hiring expensive outside lawyers like many companies do, Popok had built out an entire litigation firm inside the parent company and led a team of lawyers who litigated their own cases.

Once the case started, Popok and I hit it off right away and became best friends after our first phone call. Just kidding. To say we did not get along would be an understatement.

Popok and I were both aggressive litigators zealously representing our clients in a tough case with lots of emotions. We were at each other’s throats. I’m sure we each reported back to our respective clients and colleagues with some less-than-flattering things about each other. But that changed over time.

As the case proceeded, with difficult motions and multiple hearings over the course of a year, Popok and I started to develop mutual respect for each other. Eventually, we attended a confidential mediation before a retired judge and settled the case. We reached an outcome that both of our clients were happy with.

After the case concluded, Popok and I exchanged numbers and kept in touch.

When Popok started with a new law firm and opened their New York office, we had a sushi lunch in 2019 that I still remember vividly. We reminisced about the case we had against each other and agreed we wanted to handle cases together and work as a team if we could. This was still a year before MeidasTouch would be formed.

Later in 2019, Popok and I started working on civil cases together. Though we were at different law firms, we found cases where we could team up and achieved some pretty good results for our clients.

In the early days of MeidasTouch, during the summer of 2020, it was just me and my brothers. We did shows that maybe 10 people watched—most of them our family. As it turned out, one of those viewers was Michael Popok. I remember after one show, which had maybe 15 viewers, I got a call from Popok.

“Ben, it’s Popok. I want in. It’s a rocket ship you’re building,” Popok said.

“You think? We had 15 viewers. You think it’s a rocket ship?” I replied.

“Absolutely, Ben. I love it. Let’s do a legal show together. I think we can have a lot of fun, and it’s so important we share our legal knowledge now with all the crimes Trump is committing,” Popok said.

After that call, Popok and I started a show called Legal Roundup, which eventually became Legal AF.

Popok was right. He believed in us from day one. Now, the network averages 1 billion views every 90 days and just beat Joe Rogan in video podcast views.

I love telling the story of how I met Popok. Today, he’s one of the most viewed hosts on the network (and on all of YouTube) and even launched his own Legal AF YouTube channel. Popok is one of my best friends. He was at my wedding. I was at his wedding. We talk every day, and he’s like family to me.

I also love sharing this story because it shows how people on opposite sides of a case or issue can work productively together and reach a mutually beneficial outcome. It also highlights that you can’t always judge a book by its cover. Popok and I went from disliking (loathing?) each other in 2015 to becoming best friends and business partners within five years. And the rest is history.

So, there you have it. That’s how I met Michael Popok.

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