ABA Journal: Asked and Answered

A few decades ago, there were no page limits for U.S. Supreme Court briefs, and that brought considerable headaches for the clerks who had to read them. Also, the justices rarely, if ever, asked more than 15 questions total during oral arguments. But that changed in 1986, after Antonin Scalia joined the high court. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit meg...

Many Harvard Law School students knew of classmate Rehan Staton through a July 2020 video that went viral, which featured him opening a Harvard Law School acceptance email. There’s a lot more to him than the video, and Staton wanted to connect with classmates more significantly while they attended remote classes over the past year. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad ch...

Lawyer Patrick Krill learned to be more flexible during the pandemic, with inspiration from "Be Water," an ESPN documentary about martial artist and actor Bruce Lee. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the dean of Pennsylvania State University's law school during the COVID-19 pandemic, and at a time of significant social unrest, Hari Osofsky tried to say yes whenever possible. Leadership involves taking in a variety of viewpoints, she explains, and recognizing what students, professors and administration want is a good way to guarantee people that they are being heard. Special thanks to our s...

Lawyer and author David Lat thinks remote working for lawyers is here for the foreseeable future, and that’s just one of the many significant changes that he sees the pandemic bringing to the legal profession. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emily D. Baker wanted a diversion from 2020, so she started doing her own legal commentary about pop culture, with topics including a pair of "Satan Shoes" associated with rapper Lil Nas X and the conservatorship of Britney Spears. Today, Baker is considered to be an influencer. According to her, she earns more than she did as a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney. Special thanks to our sp...

Howard Bashman of How Appealing discusses blogging during COVID-19 and how appellate work in Pennsylvania has changed in the pandemic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lawyer Beth Bourdon is willing to go places where other attorneys may be hesitant, including this summer when she joined Parler. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Colorado law professor recently discussed how he incorporates mindfulness in his life and finding “pandemic positives” with ABA Journal Senior Writer Stephanie Francis Ward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SCOTUS lawyer Jeffrey L. Fisher breaks down how he had to adapt during the coronavirus crisis for three recent Supreme Court cases that he argued. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Law professor April Dawson talks to Senior Writer Stephanie Francis Ward about finding creative ways to use technology in the classroom, even before the pandemic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Karen Kaplowitz talks with the ABA Journal's Stephanie Francis Ward about how many people are discovering the benefits of long-term telecommuting and why they may continue to support the work schedules after the pandemic ends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kenneth White, a former assistant U.S. attorney known as "Popehat" on Twitter, spoke with ABA Journal Senior Writer Stephanie Francis Ward about what he's been up to during the COVID-19 crisis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While Veena Dubal has adopted to working at home with three young children during the COVID-19 pandemic, the “reply guys” came after the California law professor on Twitter for her support of a 2020 state law that extends employee classification status to gig workers. Dubal tells ABA Journal Senior Writer Stephanie Francis Ward that she thinks that people’s anxieties are running high amid the pand...

This past spring, when few people realized that most July bar exams would ultimately be canceled, Molly Coleman decided to forgo the test, for the time being, despite her lawyer father’s objections. Coleman chats with ABA Journal Senior Writer Stephanie Francis Ward about moving back to St. Paul, Minnesota—her hometown—less than a week before the area erupted in protests following the Minneapolis...

When COVID-19 closed ABA offices in March, staff sprang into work figuring out how the association could convert its meetings and events to virtual environments. In this bonus episode of Asked and Answered, we're giving you a sneak peek at how the 2020 ABA Annual Meeting came together, some of the exciting guests and speakers who have been lined up, and what exactly it will be like to attend an al...

Lawyer and author Brian Cuban chats with ABA Journal Senior Writer Stephanie Francis Ward about how he’s been focusing on what he can control during the COVID-19 pandemic, rather than what he can’t, and what he misses the most. For Cuban, that includes hugs from family and friends, and he’s not sure that they’ll ever be given as freely as they once were. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Lear...

Do you really need a human for the so-called human touch in lawyering, particularly when a big part of the job is convincing the client to be reasonable? Maybe not, according to some people who created apps that they claim help people accomplish tasks traditionally carried about by lawyers. The ABA Journal’s Stephanie Francis Ward talks with legal technologists about how their apps are working to...

In this new episode of the ABA Journal’s Asked and Answered podcast, Senior Writer Stephanie Francis Ward talks about the similarities between the pageant circuit, law school and the practice of law with pageant winners—some of whom have no school debt thanks to contest scholarships—and a litigator who also works as a pageant coach. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad c...

As people across the country are coping with countless changes in light of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the ABA Journal’s Asked and Answered podcast is taking a break from its regularly scheduled programing to share information with lawyers about how they can adjust to the world’s current situation—such as having to work from home, whether they want to or not. Special thanks to our sponsor, Law...

These days, people from all walks of life get tattoos. But in Columbus, Georgia, it was illegal to give them on Sundays, until recently. No one knows for sure what led to the law, but some suspect that it was what’s known as a “blue law,” a term for state and municipal regulations that prohibits commerce on Sundays, when lawmakers thought people should be in church. In this new episode of Asked an...

Imagine you are meeting a client for the first time, and they show up with a TV camera crew that wants to film your meeting. This month, the Asked and Answered podcast series is exploring the unique curiosities of the law, starting with what it’s like when your client shows up with a camera crew and wants to tell their story on film. In this new episode, Stephanie Francis Ward, host of Asked and A...

When you think about all the women and people of color who leave large law firms before making partner, that adds up quickly, says Ripa Rashid, managing director of Culture at Work in New York City. But there are ways to keep diverse lawyers at their firms, she says. In this new episode of the ABA Journal’s Asked and Answered podcast, Ripa talks with Senior Writer Stephanie Francis Ward about how...

Heidi Brown talks about how to navigate the office holiday party and still appear to be having fun and how to come out of your shell when you'd rather be alone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Much has been said about getting rewarding mentoring and work opportunities from more-seasoned lawyers. But newer lawyers can also bring knowledge to the table. In this new episode of the ABA Journal’s Asked and Answered podcast, Senior Writer Stephanie Francis Ward talks to Karen Kaplowitz, founder and president of the New Ellis Group, a business-development consulting firm in New Hope, Pennsylva...