Baylor Law Criminal Law Society Podcast

Assistant County Attorney Jeff Janes -- friend, mentor, and most-shouted-out-individual-on-this-podcast -- joins hosts Chris Spendlove and Steve Lowry to discuss his work as a prosecutor in Limestone County. Jeff shares his insights on hiring, internships, leadership, and just being a good person to work with.  Jeff's down-to-earth, pragmatic style of teaching has benefitted countless Baylor...

TDCAA Executive Director Rob Kepple joins host Chris Spendlove to discuss the work TDCAA does to help train and support prosecutors across Texas.  Mr. Kepple shares insights into the various training programs available to prosecutors (including "baby prosecutor school"), discusses his involvement with the Texas legislature, and offers tips for landing your first prosecution job.  Mr. Kep...

Former Baylor Law Criminal Law Society president and newly-minted Baylor Law graduate Daniela Vakulchik joins hosts Chris Spendlove, Steve Lowry, and Conagher Jones to discuss her experiences at Baylor Law, internships and externships, and getting a pre-bar prosecution job.  She shares insights into Practice Court, advice on balancing your mental health and your law school workload, and tips...

We're back! Host Conagher Jones sits down (over Zoom) with co-hosts Chris Spendlove, Ethan Scroggins, and Steve Lowry to discuss all things criminal-law-internship.  Not sure what to expect at your internship?  Want to avoid some common pitfalls and mistakes?  Looking to maximize your usefulness to the office  you're interning at?  This roundtable Q&A episode covers al...

Baylor Law School Associate Dean Patricia Wilson joins hosts Chris Spendlove and Conagher Jones for a candid discussion on the intersection of race and criminal justice in America.  Dean Wilson shares insights and context on some of the most difficult social questions we face as a nation and encourages us to use our superpowers as lawyers for good.  While not a comprehensive discussion b...

Tarrant County prosecutor and fellow Baylor Lawyer Morgan Blair joins host Ethan Scroggins to discuss her journey from law student to prosecutor.  Morgan shares her experiences taking various electives and internships while in law school, and then talks about her transition from civil law to criminal law.  She shares practical advice about trying criminal cases, working with defense atto...

This special bonus episode of the Baylor Law Criminal Law Society Podcast is the recorded audio from the December 9, 2021 guest speaker, Mrs. Jackie Rylander.  Mrs. Rylander spoke with the Society about making the transition from prosecutor to defense attorney, imparted practical advice about setting up a private defense practice, and ran the group through a sample client problem.   As m...

Justice! Civil rights! Musical theatre! Flugelhorns! This episode has it all! Baylor Law Professor Rachel Kincaid joins hosts Chris Spendlove and Ethan Scroggins to discuss her career, spanning a masters-level musical education to prosecuting civil rights cases for the DOJ to teaching criminal law at Baylor.  Professor Kincaid's wide variety of experiences not only makes her an excellent podc...

Professional starfish-flinger Beth Toben joins hosts Chris Spendlove and Ethan Scroggins to discuss her career as a prosecutor, focused on working with kids in child sex abuse cases and, more recently, child protective services cases.  Mrs. Toben has spent her career as a champion and protector of children; the Baylor Law Criminal Law Society is fortunate to have her as our champion and advoc...

Happy end-of-finals, Baylor Law! Fellow Baylor Law student Sami Shaffer joins host Steve Lowry to discuss their experiences at the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyer's Association conference in October 2021. Sami and Steve share their impressions of the event, including the blood spatter hands-on workshop and a presentation by the Innocence Project of Texas, and chat about what makes Sami such a very s...

The gang's all here! Professor Paul Yanowitch joins all three hosts -- Chris Spendlove, Ethan Scroggins, and Steve Lowry -- to discuss his career in the Department of Justice.  Having worked on both civil and criminal cases for the government, Professor Yanowitch provides a unique perspective on making a career out of representing the United States.  He shares his insights on forming rel...

Professor Malcolm Bales joins hosts Chris Spendlove and Ethan Scroggins to discuss his nearly cinematic career.  From law student to FBI agent to federal prosecutor to US Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, Professor Bales' story is fitting for a man who was initially inspired to go into law enforcement by an Al Pacino true-crime film.  Grab the popcorn and some Milk Duds and str...

Defense attorney Patrick Short joins hosts Chris Spendlove and Ethan Scroggins to discuss his work and his journey.  In this emotional interview, Patrick shares some of the experiences that have not only led him to this point in his career, but more importantly, that have shaped his worldview and outlook on life.  Patrick reminds us that, as law students and lawyers, we have a unique opp...

Fellow Baylor Law student Allison Barber joins hosts Chris Spendlove and Ethan Scroggins to discuss her work with the Federal Public Defender for the Northern District of Texas.  She shares how she qualified for and obtained her prestigious internship and details the kind of work law students can expect to do at a Federal Public Defender's office (spoilers: a LOT of research).  Above all...

Kassidy Durfee joins hosts Chris Spendlove and Ethan Scroggins to discuss her experiences taking every criminal law class offered at Baylor Law School.  She shares practical advice on which classes to take, what to expect from specific classes, and how to prepare to achieve the Criminal Law Special Distinction.  She also demystifies the separate criminal law PC problem and plugs the Boot...

Ryan Calvert, Assistant District Attorney with the Brazos County Appellate Division, joins hosts Chris Spendlove and Ethan Scroggins to discuss appellate work and voir dire. What does the attorney who literally wrote the book (TDCAA manual) on voir dire have to say about jury selection? Don't talk like a lawyer, don't blame the jury if you lose, and remember: failure is a far better teacher than s...

In this special bonus episode, we share the audio from a debate between Clark Neily of the Cato Institute and Professor Richard Alpert on the ethics of plea bargaining.  The debate was co-hosted by the Criminal Law Society and the Federalist Society on November 8, 2021.  

Professor Richard Alpert joins hosts Chris Spendlove and Steve Lowry to discuss his transition from legendary Tarrant County misdemeanor chief and DWI guru to Baylor Law adjunct professor and criminal curriculum czar. Loaded with nuggets of wisdom and practical advice for Baylor Law students and newly-practicing criminal law attorneys alike, this is episode will be worth a repeat listen from time...

"Just be a normal person!" So says career prosecutor and longtime friend of the Baylor Law Criminal Law Society Ekua Assabill on this week's very special episode of the Baylor Law Criminal Law Society Podcast.  Hosts Chris Spendlove and Steve Lowry talk with Ekua about her work in the arena of domestic violence, how to bridge the gap between an intellectual understanding of the law and its pr...

Baylor Law students Michael Morin and Tristan Crowder join host Chris Spendlove to discuss the Fall 2021 Criminal Law Bootcamp.  They share their experiences signing up for and participating in the Bootcamp, offer tips on how to get the most out of the weekend, and impart some key takeaways.  Final verdict: the Bootcamp is an absolute must for anyone remotely interested in trial work!

On this very special episode of the Baylor Law Criminal Law Society Podcast, we share the audio from our Summer 2021 conversation with Tarrant County ADA Allenna Bangs.  Allenna shares with us how she got started on her career, war stories from the intimate partner violence and gang units, and helpful advice for those who are interested in becoming prosecutors.  She also answers question...

Host Chris Spendlove takes the interview chair to discuss his internships at the Limestone County Attorney's Office and the Family Violence Division of the Bexar County District Attorney's Office.  Learn how he got his internships, the differences between a big and small county/district attorney's office, and how to get class credit for your internship (externship).

Host Ethan Scroggins takes the interview chair to discuss his internship in the Criminal Trial Division of the Bexar County District Attorney's Office. Learn how Ethan got his internship, what valuable experiences he gained, and the kind of work an intern at a large DA's office can expect. 

Welcome to the Baylor Law Criminal Law Society Podcast!  Join your hosts, Chris Spendlove, Ethan Scroggins, and Steve Lowry, as they discuss what you can expect from the podcast -- the format, the content, the types of guests, and how frequently episodes will drop.  The idea is to give Baylor Law students interested in practicing criminal law a repository of audio content covering everyt...