Opening Arguments

Episode 1013   Today, we get to meet Azul Uribe. Azul lived most of her life in the US as a devout Mormon, doing her best to get by in a sea of Whiteness. She even made jokes at her own expense about being undocumented. That all changed when she was arrested at age 22 under bizarre and very unlucky circumstances. She was put in ICE detention. Treated terribly. Strip searched multiple times. She th...

Episode 1012   Does anyone else feel like the Supreme Court decided a part of the Constitution just doesn't exist anymore? Perhaps you're like Listener Thomas S, who found this decision absolutely nuts. If so, you're in luck, because in this episode of OA, Thomas throws every argument at actual lawyer Matt Cameron for why this decision sucked. How does the actual lawyer feel? Did SCOTUS get it rig...

Thomas Takes the Bar Exam Week 4!   Thomas comes into this week on a HOT, some would say, UNBREAKABLE, streak! 5-0. So, naturally, he aced questions 6 and 7, right? You'll find out! After those answers, we get questions 8 and 9, pictured below! What the hell is the firefighters' rule? And are drycleaners interstate commerce?   If you'd like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at...

Episode 1011   Here's one for everyone who enjoys stories about terrible people losing in court! Casey stops by to review Alito's complaint to America's managers about the devastating cost of marriage equality: the exclusion of anti-LGBTQ bigots from juries. Matt breaks down the total failure of state attempts to ban drag shows and why the actual First Amendment keeps winning over the one that the...

Episode 1010   It was the worst of Dons, it was the worst of Dons. Eagles singer Don Henley was not taking it easy in a New York City courtroom this week in his testimony against three memorabilia-collecting desperadoes who had to bring their alibis to face charges of conspiring to sell stolen (?) legal pads filled with Henley's drafts of "Hotel California"-era lyrics. Will the court find that the...

Thomas Takes the Bar Exam!   It's time for the answers to last week's questions, plus two more!   If you'd like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at  patreon.com/law ! For the time being, any profit over and above the costs of operating the show, will go towards repair and accountability.

Episode 1009    The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 has been making headlines with its promises to set the next Republican president up with a full staff of loyal civil servants and a 920-page executive branch playbook--but what is actually in this thing, and what can we learn from it? Matt takes us through some disturbing echoes of 1933 Germany, which was a famously chill and cool time, showin...

Episode 1008   Today we are serving up a tasteful pairing of radically destructive activism from one supreme court with a refreshing adherence to basic Constitutional law from another. We start in Alabama, where the state's highest court just found with no any apparent legal, factual, or moral justification whatsoever that a few hundred frozen cells are legally equivalent to a "child"--because God...

Thomas Takes the Bar Exam!   It's time for the answers to last week's questions, plus two more!   If you'd like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at  patreon.com/law ! For the time being, any profit over and above the costs of operating the show, will go towards repair and accountability.

Episode 1007   It's Part 2! Fani testifies! It is high drama. Not only that, we hear from an incredible Cohen Brothers movie character for some reason. We also hear from Fani Willis's dad, someone who has led a fascinating life. Then finally, they put Wade's ex-partner Bradley on the stand and... try to make him talk for like 4 hours. It also takes a very dark turn.   If you'd like to support the...

Episode 1006   Part 1! We watched 17 hours of Fulton Country Superior Court so you don't have to! Cohabitating lawyers Matt and Casey are here to break down many of the legal issues, from the mundane to the outright bizarre. These hearings were truly extraordinary. Some of the craziest courtroom drama to ever happen in the real world. If you'd like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please p...

Episode 1005. So uh, yeah. About that. The news was so crazy that we recorded two different episodes and I had to stitch them together like a Frankenstein's Podster. Because WOW Georgia. In addition to that, Matt has for us a tour of the Trump legal circuit! It makes stops in DC, Florida, Georgia, and New York, with a brief layover in 1998 to reminisce about where we were the first time we heard a...

At laaaaaaaast it is the return of #T3BE! And we've got, not 1, not 2, but 3 questions! First, a question + answer to get warmed up, since we don't have any answers from previous weeks. THEN, the question everyone can play along with. AND THEN, it's the question only Patrons are elligible to win. But also, for patreons only, I've included the first question Matt and I ever did. We did some T3BE to...

This episode is brought to you by Trade Coffee! Visit  drinktrade.com/oa Episode 1004. "What's going wrong?" Neil Young once asked Alabama, and it's still a good question 52 years later in the wake of the unprecedented execution of Eugene Michael Smith on January 25, 2024 by nitrogen gas. Casey returns to share why learning about the death penalty made her want to be a lawyer before we review the...

Republicans thought they were going to impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas but they didn't count on... AL GREEN!   There has been so much in the news that Matt and I thought we'd do some bonus recording, both to give you fine folks more content and also to keep practicing and getting into the groove. Matt breaks down the absurd Articles of Impeachment that some Republican intern typed up. Then we talk...

This episode is brought to you by Trade Coffee! Visit  drinktrade.com/oa ! In Episode 1003, Thomas and Matt are joined by Matt's partner, Casey, to discuss what's been going on with District Attorney Fani Willis down in Fulton County, Georgia. Perhaps you've heard about a scandal involving a relationship and a messy divorce... But how severe is it? How much of it is real, and how much is MAGA disi...

This episode is brought to you by Trade Coffee! Visit drinktrade.com/oa In episode 1002, we get to know Matt Cameron. He talks about his background, his legal practice and areas of expertise. I ask him about the case he is most proud of, and you will not believe what it took for him to win it! Then I ask him about the case he most regrets, and... wow. Let's just say Matt does incredibly difficult...

#T3PB babyyyyyy!  Due to several good court thingies, this podcast is now hosted by Thomas Smith. Not too much can be said, but this episode contains a bit of how we got here, and the plan for the future.  If you'd like to support the show, please pledge at patreon.com/law and get your hands on the first lawsode with Matt Cameron! Plus lots of bonus things coming. For the time being, any profit ov...

Liz says goodbye.

On the day that Ron DeSantis dropped out of the Republican presidential primary and endorsed his personal bully, Donald Trump, Liz and Andrew cover two stories that could impact the 2024 presidential election. First, we tackle the centrist group "No Labels" request that the Civil Rights Division of the Department begin a criminal RICO investigation into... people who don't like the centrist group...

Liz and Andrew dive deeply into Alina Habba and Michael Madaio's efforts to cross-examine E. Jean Carroll and her expert, Dr. Ashlee Humphreys. Plus much, much more! Notes Ameriekalinje v. Sun P. P. Assn, 226 N.Y. 1 (1919) https://casetext.com/case/norske-ameriekalinje-v-sun-p-p-assn Justice Manual 9-5.000 https://www.justice.gov/jm/jm-9-5000-issues-related-trials-and-other-court-proceedings -Supp...

After a roundup including the first day of the E. Jean Carroll trial, Liz and Andrew break down the latest SpaceX lawsuit and discuss what it might mean for the future of collective bargaining. Notes Nathan J. Robinson, researcher, Current Affairs , “Surely We Can Do Better Than Elon Musk,” April 7, 2021 https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/04/surely-we-can-do-better-than-elon-musk S. Derek Turner,...

Today, Liz and Andrew document Donald Trump's latest (failed) shenanigans in the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial set to begin in New York on Tuesday. Then, they break down in depth the motion to disappear the Fulton County, GA indictment on the grounds of DA Fani Willis's alleged relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. Notes Trump DC Docket h t t p s : / / w w w . c o u r t l i s t e n...

Liz and Andrew describe the truly audacious plan cooked up by Trump and his counsel to disrupt his fraud trial's closing arguments. Then, the two break down a recent TRO entered prohibiting Ohio's social media ("anti-TikTok") law from going into effect. Notes Pew Media Poll https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/10/31/81-of-us-adults-versus-46-of-teens-favor-parental-consent-for-minors-to-us...

"So, I understand your answer to be that if the President uses Seal Team Six to assassinate his political rival, and he hasn't been impeached and convicted by the Senate, he can't be prosecuted." That really happened. Liz and Andrew break down yesterday's pivotal argument before the Court of Appeals of the DC Circuit as to whether Donald Trump has immunity from prosecution for his efforts to steal...