Above the Law - Thinking Like a Lawyer

Joe and Elie chat with election law expert Professor Rick Hasen about the Iowa Caucuses, Ted Cruz's infamous mailer, and Citizens United as the presidential election kicks into gear.  

Do Droids have rights in the Star Wars universe? Are they "pets?" Does Jabba's treatment of droids reveal him to be more evil than the Empire? Spoilers follow.

With the Court seemingly poised to strike down affirmative-action in Fisher v. Texas, Elie, Joe and Renwei Chung debate how we got here and the future of diversity in higher education.

Elie and Joe chat with Robert Schenk of Schenk Smith and proprietor of the Wedding Industry Law Blog about the oft-overlooked legal minefield that is getting married. Venues, vendors, and "DJ-Gate" loom large as Schenk explains how he found this niche and used it to build his small firm practice.

Joe and Elie chat with Slate Senior Business and Economics correspondent Jordan Weissmann about the economics of law schools. From Northwestern renaming itself for a huge endowment to a law professor taking to the media to say he sees no problem taking tuition from students who will never be able to practice, the economics of legal academia deserve a serious look. Is the model doomed?

Joe and Elie chat with Gary Ross of Jackson Ross about starting your own firm, the unique challenges of transactional small law, and his blockbuster Above the Law column about legal sexual prowess.

Joe and Elie talk with Vanderbilt Career Services Officer Nick Alexiou about the legal job market, and the presidential job market. 

Elie and Joe complain about the media's abysmal coverage of court cases before previewing the upcoming Supreme Court Term with a real-life Supreme Court litigator, Tejinder Singh, a partner at Goldstein & Russell (http://www.goldsteinrussell.com/attorneys/tejinder-singh/) and contributor to SCOTUSBlog. What's next for the Supreme Court? If you said, "a lot of pro-business decisions" you're probabl...

Elie and Joe talk with Steve Silver of The Legal Blitz about all the off the field problems associated with "OMG I think that's brain coming out of his ear"-Ball.

Joe talks to Jared Correia, Assistant Director and Senior Law Practice Advisor at LOMAP and host of Legal Talk Network's Legal Toolkit and Lunch Hour Legal Marketing about what lawyers, especially small firm and solo lawyers, need to know about running their own firm. As one might expect, the discussion takes some twists and turns before ending up on the burning question: should you draft Tom Brad...

Joe chats with Kat Griffin of Corporate about women's professional fashion, the confusion of business casual and whether office temperatures unfairly target women.

Joe and Elie take a break from the usual format to face off in a trivia challenge. Do you know your constitutional amendments? How about your Supreme Court history? Play along at home.

Elie and Joe speak to Rick Hasen, professor at UC Irvine and author of Election Law Blog. Professor Hasen explains the recent Supreme Court redistricting case, future cases regarding voting rights, and talks about the relationship between the Roberts Court and disenfranchisement. Joe argues for hope while it seems like Elie believes we should be led by a Platonic Philosopher King.

Joe and Elie talk to Matthew Dowd, a partner at Andrews Kurth. Dowd famously represents the Meitiv family, the parents (now cleared) of child neglect charges for allowing their children, 10 and 6, to walk through their neighborhood unattended. Elie expresses concern over letting children roam free, while Joe thinks independence is key to building character and Dowd walks through the legal landscap...

Elie and Joe chat with Joshua Gilliland and Jessica Mederson of The Legal Geeks about their legal careers and the legal issues surrounding the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Recorded immediately before the release of Avengers 2, they speculate on the legal issues that arise in building genocidal robots, cleaning up the aftermath of superpowered mayhem, and just how terrifying an entity like S.H.I.E.L....

Elie and Joe talk with Brian Dalton, Research Director at Above the Law, about the 2015 law school rankings published by Above the Law. The annual ranking of the Top 50 law schools in the country boasts some surprising shakeups at the top. After discussing the latest rankings, the gang discusses what really matters: what law school student body would win in a fight.

Elie and Joe sit down with Maria de Cesare, a lawyer from a major cable network, to talk about the fabulous life of an entertainment lawyer. After she stops crying, we figure out whether you should be jailed for killing a zombie, or a clone of yourself.

Elie and Joe sit down with Ryan Morrison, aka The Video Game Attorney, to discuss the emerging legal issues in the video game industry and just how many genocide treaties humans breach in every video game ever.

It's March Madness time. Or, as a person with a rudmentary respect for trademark laws would say, "It's time for the NCAA Mens College Basketball Tournament." In this episode, we take a look at running an office bracket pool. But it turns out that gambling is illegal in most states. Why is that the case? Should we live in a world where we have laws that nobody even tries to enforce? Guest Steven Si...

In our inaugural episode, Elie and Joe take a deep dive into their own navels. What kind of person becomes a "legal blogger" in the first place? In the words of Admiral Stockdale (Google him): Who are we? Why are we here?