DISCOVERY presented by UW Law

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit gig economy workforces particularly hard, amplifying the vulnerabilities workers face when they lack the same financial and medical protections as other jobs. Now, these challenges are being taken up in court as contractors, freelancers, app-based workers and more struggle to get by in the midst of the crisis. On this episode, Orly Lobel — a labor law expert and Unive...

Along her path from the classroom to the courthouse, Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis experienced the unique challenges and pressures people of color face in a field where individuals like herself remain vastly underrepresented. Today, the UW Law alumna brings those experiences to her new leadership role on the Washington Supreme Court after becoming the first Native American to serve on the state's h...

What can laws governing the natural world tell us about those that govern societies? According to Ted Sichelman: quite a bit. Employing a wealth of mathematical research, thought experiments and some truly mind-bending equations, the University of San Diego professor of law breaks down the ground-breaking quantitative measures he has developed to analyze legal systems. He goes on to outline the st...

U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments provide a unique window into decision-making at the highest level. In fact, the ways justices argue may tell us more about potential outcomes than even the arguments themselves. Tonja Jacobi , Stanford Clinton Sr. and Zylpha Kilbride Clinton Research Professor of Law at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, has conducted years of empirical research in this space. O...

When was the last time you read every page of Senate bill, processed each word of a mortgage agreement, or even parsed through an app's terms and conditions? If you're inclined to scroll straight to "accept," you're not alone. And as law professor and author Wendy Wagner writes in a new book, this idea of information overload is purposefully baked into the foundation of America's most important in...

As Washington's 22nd governor, Gov. Christine Gregoire spent two terms grappling with questions around middle-income housing, transportation, workforce development and more, all over a time of unprecedented change in the Emerald State. Now as a private citizen, Gov. Gregoire continues to attack the same issues head on, leading a first-of-its-kind coalition comprising the leaders from the region's...

We live in an age when algorithmic decision-making impacts more of our lives than ever before, from college admissions and job offers to financial opportunities and more. But does relying on automation for these kinds of crucial decisions actually amplify, rather than eliminate, the implicit bias it is supposed to curb? Law and technology expert Ifeoma Ajunwa argues algorithmic decision-making can...

Service opportunities for public-interest-minded students may not seem abundant in the oft-adversarial legal field. But as organizer and UCLA Lecturer in Law Claudia Peña explains, private practice and other "rebellious lawyering" opportunities provide tremendous space to advance social justice both within and beyond the courtroom. Peña shares her own law school experiences and discusses how stude...

The legal profession's demanding nature can take a toll on mental health for lawyers and students alike. Law school in particular presents its own unique stressors and challenges, and exams and classes often easily supersede self-care — sometimes with serious consequences. Self-care is easier said than done, Joe Bankman admits, but it goes hand in hand with success in the classroom and beyond. He...

https://www.law.uw.edu/news-events/discovery/season-2/city-on-the-hillIn 2016, the Russian government orchestrated vast disinformation campaigns that leveraged U.S. race relations to influence the presidential election. In the years since, how much has changed? More importantly, are we any better equipped to fight back heading into 2020? On this episode, Mutale Nkonde — who in addition to her work...

Criminal convictions, including those for lower-level crimes, create collateral consequences that can last a lifetime, such as limitations on employment opportunities and the ability to find housing. For offenders in Washington, the process of vacating those convictions later in life has ranged from limited to near impossible. Until now. On this episode, Maria Jouravleva of the KCBA discusses a la...

Bias is an implicit element of the human condition whether we know it or not. But when it comes to discussing our own deep-seated notions about race, gender, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status, how do we put ego on the line and start to break down those barriers? K.J. Williams discusses why this topic is particularly important to unpack in the context of the legal field, and she offers ins...

While the Hong Kong protests and Chinese censorship dominate the headlines, the U.S.-China trade war continues to send shockwaves through the global economy and is hitting Washingtonians particularly hard. On a special episode of DISCOVERY, Gov. Gary Locke joins to share his insights as 10th U.S. Ambassador to China in the Obama Administration. He discusses his experience working with the Chinese...

At a time when the American democratic system is being tested and debated in new ways, IP law expert and litigator William LaMarca discusses why the patent system's statutory framework is a reflection of the Constitution's separation of powers at work in its purest form. On the season two premiere of DISCOVERY, William outlines key examples and dives into specific cases that illustrate how the pat...

The First Amendment's free exercise clause is one of the most important lines in the U.S. Constitution that, when coupled with the establishment clause, constitutes the foundation of religious freedom in the United States. Throughout U.S. history, the application of the clause has changed dramatically, and for the past 29 years, these changes have had profound effects on the outcomes of a multitud...

One of the central ideas to the formation of the European Union is a concept known as free movement, which allows nationals of member countries to immigrate to and claim social services in other EU nations.  But with Brexit, a rising tide of nationalism in areas across the continent and ongoing debates raging over immigration policy, the law is being tested in new ways. On this episode, Professor...

While it is generally understood how intellectual property law applies to businesses, entrepreneurs, creatives and the like, IP in fact has played foundational roles in a profusion of landmark cases addressing the country's biggest sociopolitical issues. On this episode, Jessica Silbey, professor of law at Northeastern University and co-director of the school's Center for Law, Innovation and Creat...

Every year, thousands of individuals around the globe up and vanish without a trace — and it's Bernard Duhaime's job to help find them. As head of one of the United Nations' most unique working groups, Duhaime has worked on more than 57,000 cases in which activists, journalists, opposition leaders and more fell victim to state-sponsored disappearances. While the work leads to many dead ends and pa...

Section 2 of the 14th Amendment is one of the U.S. Constitution's most important evolutions. While it has never been enforced, this particular section gets to the very heart of voting rights in the United States — and its history constitutes a compelling story all its own. On this episode, Franita Tolson, Professor of Law at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, joins to tell...

The international coffee trade is a $200 billion industry that is growing bigger by the day. But with demand projected to double over the next decade, inequities in the supply chain and a rapidly changing climate are rattling its foundation as farmers struggle to make a living wage. On this episode of DISCOVERY, Hilary Haddigan shares insights into tenuous situations in coffee-growing regions arou...

The dynamic between the United States and China is one of the world's most important relationships, and around the globe, conflicts between the two superpowers are stoking the flames of a growing—and increasingly dangerous—rivalry. Professor Lyle J. Goldstein is the founding director of the China Maritime Studies Institute at the Naval War College and a leading voice on U.S.-China relations. He jo...

Since 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court has undergone a period of unprecedented change, and the events of the past two years are likely to be felt for generations to come. On this episode of DISCOVERY, we welcome a very special guest: Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law and one of the nation's most influential voices on all things Supreme Court. A prolific c...

The judiciary is designed to be a check on the executive and legislative powers in the United States. But what if this isn't always the case? On the first episode of DISCOVERY, author and American University Professor of Law Robert Tsai unpacks the concept of judicial complicity, outlining strategies for when and how to hold judges accountable for decisions that can rattle the very foundation of A...

In the early morning hours of Dec. 4, 1969, FBI agents raided the apartment where Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton was sleeping and shot him dead. Years later, a Chicago Police Department detective by the name of Jon Burge charged up a small electric box that would soon be used to torture hundreds of black men. The connection:  Flint Taylor , author, attorney and founding partner of the P...

The world feels more divided than ever, and in the age of social media, 24-hour cable news and polarizing political rhetoric, it can feel impossible to talk to each other about the biggest issues of our time. Ken Cloke is changing that narrative. As founder of the Center for Dispute Resolution, he has worked with myriad clients at the individual and corporate levels to facilitate conversations aro...