The Podvocate

In the follow up to Guilding pt. 1, Ben sits down with People’s Law Office Attorney Brad Thompson, to further discuss the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and it’s work in Chicago. In doing so, we discussed the history of the guild, some of the key movements it has helped support, as well as some of the influential projects and programs it takes part in now. Specifically, we explored the work of the C...

In an episode recorded last semester (Spring of 2024), Ben sits down with fellow Podvocate Co-Editor in Chief, Casey Callahan, to talk about the history of the National Lawyers Guild both nationally and internationally over the course of the 20th and early 21st century. In doing so, they discuss what brought them both to the guild while students at Loyola as well as key historical events that led...

Casey sat down in May to talk with the Executive Director of Cabrini Green Legal Aid, Aisha Cornelius Edwards, and the Director of Legal Programs at Cabrini Green Legal Aid, Breanna Kantor about how criminal and civil law are siloed. They discuss the importance of both criminal and civil attorneys being versed in the criminal and civil consequences of what legal actions they take on behalf of thei...

The incoming editorial board members for The Podvocate introduce themselves. We are looking forward to a great year!

Podvocate Associate Editor, Johannes Alvarez-Rivero, sits down to give the listeners a primer on the field of antitrust within the United States of America. First, Johannes discusses what antitrust laws are and what they are meant to protect. Johannes briefly discusses the governmental regulatory bodies that enforce antitrust laws, then turns to discussing the history of antitrust laws in the nati...

Ben sits down with Chief Defender of the Orleans Public Defenders Office (OPD), Danny Engelberg, to discuss the founding of the office as it is today as well as the events that led to the office’s remodeling after the destruction brought on by Hurricane Katrina. In doing so, they discuss OPD’s commitment to a community-centered defense model and the offices’ wholistic approach to advocacy and repr...

In this episode, Maris chats with Jamie Cernek, a Legislative Aide at the Chicago City Council Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight. Jamie is an attorney and organizer with years of experience in policy and advocacy, coalition-building, and campaign management. Even before law school, Jamie knew that policy was the path for her. In this episode, she reflects on this vision and how it carri...

In this solo episode, Casey dives into the web of collateral consequences of a criminal conviction, and how both attorneys and judges can better inform people charged with crimes of the consequences beyond a sentence.

Associate Editor Karan Kaushal and Co-Editor-in-Chief Nneka Ugwu invited Professor Neil Williams for a very unique and special episode of the Pod. In this storytelling forward format, Professor Williams leads listeners on a journey from Jim Crow South to Chicago big law. Listen and learn about how his upbringing informs his views on lawyering for racial justice (inspired by his legal idols Norman...

Ben sits down with Loyola Distinguished Professor in Residence, Dean Strang to discuss his role in the seminal U.S. Supreme Court Case United States v. Booker in 2005. In Part 2 of this two-episode series, Ben and Professor Strang move away from the legal facts of the case and begin to discuss the experience of litigating in the Supreme Court. In doing so, they explore the preparation process, spe...

Ben sits down with Loyola Distinguished Professor in Residence, Dean Strang to discuss his role in the seminal U.S. Supreme Court Case United States v. Booker in 2005. In Part 1 of this two-episode series, Ben and Professor Strang focus on the specifics and do a deep dive into the facts, legal rules, holdings, and outcomes associated with U.S. v. Booker. In doing so, they discuss what led Professo...

In this week's episode, Maris and Karan sit down with fellow Loyola student and friend, Audrey La, to reflect on their experiences at the annual National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Convention. At the conference, the three attended a variety of workshops, including panels discussing the legal histories of AAPI folks that are often invisible in the legal curriculum and the importance of...

Following their discussion of historical litigation addressing affirmative action in education, Johannes and Andy continue the Greatest Hits series by discussing the landmark Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. They discuss the facts of the case and the Court’s majority opinion, while briefly addressing the separately filed concurring and dissenting opinions. Finally...

We speak with Anita Maddali, the Assistant Dean of Student Services and Weekend JD at Loyola University Chicago. We will explore her legal career and how she ended up in the Dean’s Suite. We also discuss how she plans on transforming her role and the community to meet the ever-changing needs of students.

In this episode, Karan has a conversation with Loyola Professor Juan Perea, a Curt and Linda Rodin Professor of Law and Social Justice. Professor Perea has written extensively on topics ranging from racial inequality, the legal history of race relations in the United States, and the civil rights of Latinos. Professor Perea teaches courses about Constitutional Law and Race in the Law at Loyola. Kar...

Ben sits down with Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell Jr. to discuss his path to leadership within the Cook County Public Defenders’ office as well as his background and past experiences as both a public defender and a policy advocate in Chicago. During the course of their conversation, they discuss the offices’ goals and priorities, both past and present, as well as efforts the staff is...

In this episode, Maris sits down with Cherie Mathews, a patent holder and entrepreneur who transformed a difficult experience with breast cancer into a patented product that has helped over 150,000 cancer patients. Cherie, among a disproportionately small number of female patent holders, candidly discusses the experiences that fueled her journey to patenting the garment – from being raised by a fa...

In this week's episode, Andy gets together with Associate Editor Johannes Alvarez-Rivero. Together, the two talk about and break down some of the landmark cases that eventually brought the Supreme Court 2023's "Student's for Fair Admissions v. Harvard"--the case that rejected affirmative action and ruled that colleges and universities can no longer use race as a factor in admitting students.

Yasmeen Khayr, a project coordinator at Loyola University Chicago’s Center for Urban Research and Learning, sits down with Casey to talk about her work as a researcher navigating the Domestic Violence Court in Cook County and evaluation of the Family Court Enhancement Project.

Casey sits down with Loyola alum, and current Loyola mock trial coach, Nat Cobbett to discuss how his participation in trial advocacy programs as a law student set him up for success as a trial attorney.

In today’s episode, Andy sits down with Tim Love, the executive director of the Office of Equity and Compliance and Title IX coordinator for Loyola University Chicago. In their discussion, Tim and Andy talk about some of the more intricate and humanistic details of working in this position and how it fits into the overall world of post-JD and law studies.

In this episode, Nneka Ugwu sits down with Savannah Joy West for a lawyerly lesson. Tune in for a candid conversation about her reflections from law school, advice for aspiring attorneys, and a crash course on the day-in-the-life of an Investment Funds attorney. Savannah is an associate in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Her practice focuses on the formation, structuring, and operation...

In the final episode of her privacy series, Marisa sits down with Liz Hein, Foursquare’s VP of Compliance and Data Protection to talk about geolocation data, how she thinks about privacy, and the rapidly changing world of privacy engineering and thought. Link to Daniel Solove’s paper referenced by Liz: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4322198

In this series, Marcus explores what Academic Freedom is through interviews with Dean Sacha Coupet, Associate Dean of Mission Innovation with the Loyola Chicago School of Law, and Zach Greenberg, Senior Program Manager for the Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). In this Part, we speak with Mr. Greenberg. In Part 1, we spoke with Dean Coupet.

In today’s episode, Andy sits down with compliance professional Vanessa Ross. In their discussion, they break down the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) guidance on the seven elements of an effective compliance program. Vanessa not only explains what each element means, but she also outlines how the elements show up in her compliance work e...