Justice Counts

On April 16, 2009, Kim Hamer watched her 44-yr-old husband take his last breath. During his illness and after his death, she was amazed by the helpful ways their coworkers, bosses, friends, and family supported them. Kim started calling their kind actions "acts of love". After the death of her husband, Kim, an HR leader, noticed how little guidance leaders received when navigating cancer, health c...

In February 2020, attorney Joseph Fawbush wrote a piece for Findlaw.com entitled “Good News! People Think Lawyers Have an Average Amount of Integrity Now.” Wow! Just average? In the new book, “Filthy Rich Lawyers, The Education of Ryan Coleman,” attorney Brian Felgoise and co-author David Tabatsky explore that dubious claim. It’s a sometimes hilarious novel, and the opening scene sets the stage wh...

Today we welcome Roger Canaff, an award winning legal thriller author whose writing is influenced by his experiences as a child protection and anti-violence against women advocate, legal expert, and speaker. He has devoted his legal career to the eradication of violence against women and children, first as a prosecutor in Alexandria, Virginia, then as a Special Victims ADA in the Bronx. Roger also...

Host Mark M. Bello and a co-host Bob Gatty once again explore issues involving child sex abuse in the Catholic Church. While that's been in the headlines for decades, author Tom Hogan's "The Empty Confessional" explores the issue in a unique way—the author goes inside the head of a young priest who has decided to become an avenger. From archaeological digs in Israel, to life in both Protestant and...

Today, legal thriller author and attorney Mark M. Bello is with Erika Twani, who has some strong feelings about the state of our schools and what needs to be done – and can be done -- to fix them. Erika is author of Becoming Einstein’s Teacher: Awakening the Genius in Your Students, is co-founder and CEO of Learning One to One, where, along with experts, she explores ways to foster human achieveme...

Gabrielle Hartley has spent over two decades working as a divorce attorney and mediator, but her special sauce is her ability to resolve the unsolvable conflict. Working with polarized individuals, and families she has learned, first hand that there’s always a productive way forward, even when the situation feels impossible. She is the Author of Better Apart; The Radically Positive Way to Separate...

"The abortion war is over," says Justice Counts guest Kelley Keller, an attorney who is expert in Constitutional law. "It has been lost in the courts." Now, she says, those who are concerned about having control over their own bodies need to focus on a battle with broader support -- the right to a therapeutic abortion. During this episode, Keller says people who oppose the "crazy" laws being propo...

For Congress to enact meaningful gun legislation in response to the mass shootings that are plaguing America, "some level of profile in courage" will be needed by lawmakers who traditionally have been beholden to the gun lobby. "Sometimes principle is more important than your political career, but I'm not sure how many people think of it like that who are current members of Congress, unfortunately...

On May 15, the Southern Baptist Convention finally acknowledged what our guest today has already experienced – that pastors and other church employees have sexually abused parishioners and that the church covered up those claims for years. Now our guest, Sandy Phillips Kirkham, was not a member of the Southern Baptists when she was sexually abused by her youth pastor. She was a member of another p...

Today’s guest is Kelsey Walker and our topic is abortion, and the injustice that many states are attempting to perpetrate on women who are faced with this traumatic decision. Since she was a teenager, Kelsey’s been a warrior for reproductive rights and then had her own experience with abortion. It was a tragic situation, and laws in the state in which she lived made it even more difficult. From th...

Hey guys, welcome to our podcast. Our guest today is Nicole D. Porter, who manages The Sentencing Project’s state and local advocacy efforts on sentencing reform, voting rights, and confronting racial disparities in the criminal legal system. Named a “New Civil Rights Leader” by Essence Magazine for her work challenging mass incarceration, Porter joined the Sentencing Project in 2009 and her advoc...

Michelle Thompson, J.D., Ph. D. is the CEO of Resistant Vision Coaching and Consulting. She helps women lawyers and academics who work extreme hours to prove their prowess, build sustainable careers and earn promotions and raises. Her approach is based on the belief that if you never set boundaries for yourself, you will always be overworking, stuck on the hamster wheel of producing more results,...

Today, Mark Bello and I are with Tara Paustenbach, who with a background in sales/marketing, has partnered with Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. since 1998. She recruits, trains and develops Associates across the U.S. and Canada to market the company’s products -- LegalShield and ID Shield for home and business. For Pre-Paid Legal, she has served as Regional Manager and Regional Vice President in Sou...

Today we welcome Dr. Tracy A. Pearson, a popular regular Court TV guest whose website includes the line, “She makes sense out of the noise.” Dr. Tracy’s passion is helping others understand what they didn’t understand before, and then change their perspective. She has not one, but two doctorates, one in education and the other in law. On the show, we discuss a wide range of issues that all fall un...

A church should be where an insecure sixteen-year-old girl feels welcome and safe. Tragically for some, the church can become a place of great harm. My co-host, Mark M. Bello has written about this issue in his award winning novel, Betrayal of Faith, based upon his own experience as a young attorney representing victims of clergy abuse. Our guest today has experienced clergy abuse, first hand. In...

Our guest is Jordan Skopp, who among other things is leading a fight to get rid of a longtime baseball rule that prevents fans who are injured by batted balls to receive compensation in court, no matter how badly they are hurt. Well, you might say, that fans are accepting the risk when they buy those tickets so they can have the best view or have a great chance of getting a ball for a souvenir. I...

Today we’re with Dr. Pamela Gurley, who calls herself “a fierce entrepreneur” as an author, professional speaker, CEO, podcaster, professor, and businesswoman. Dr. Pam says she’s a “busy and empowered boss lady working every day to change how Black women are perceived.” We’ll find out more about that. In 2021, she was awarded the RadioOne EmpowerHER “Empowering Motivation” award for her commitment...

Annie Little is a real estate finance lawyer turned ICF certified coach who specializes in supporting lawyers through their job searches, career transitions, and ascent to leadership positions within their organizations. She founded JD Nation in 2012 to pursue her vision of a world in which every lawyer has a fulfilling job, a humane workplace, and a life they’re excited to live. Through executive...

Today, we’re with Michael A. Bryant, managing partner of the Minnesota law firm of Bradshaw & Bryant, where he represents clients suffering from minor, serious, and catastrophic injuries. Mr. Bryant has extensive experience negotiating with insurance companies, as well as litigating personal injury and wrongful death claims throughout Minnesota. He was named MTLA Trial Lawyer of the year. In the p...

Our guest is Carrie Kohan, a national child advocate and spokesperson who has forced the change of several laws in Canada relating to child abuse, and has written a book called “The Five Lessons of Life”. In addition to forcing the government to change an entire body of Canadian law, Carrie founded Project Guardian and Mad Mothers Against Pedophiles (MMAP) in 1998. What MADD did for drinking and d...

Today Mark Bello and I are with William F. “Chip” Merlin, Jr., founder and president of the Merlin Law Group. Chip has dedicated his practice to representing insurance policyholders in disputes with insurance companies nationwide. Chip was noted as the “Babe Ruth of Hurricane lawyers” in the Asbury Park Press for his work on behalf of 23 municipalities and hundreds of policyholders following Super...

Birth Justice attorney Emily Thomas, interviewed by hosts Mark M. Bello and Bob Gatty discusses her work in representing mothers and babies in cases of medical malpractice involving births. Listen as Emily explains this important work and the steps her law firm takes to make certain their clients -- perhaps the most vulnerable of all -- are accorded fair treatment under the law and receive the com...

Listen to Mark M. Bello and co-host Bob Gatty interview David Mittleman and Mick Grewal, attorneys who represented many of the University of Michigan victims of Dr. Larry Nassar, now in prison for sexually abusing young female athletes. This remarkable interview provides an inside look into the work of these two dedicated attorneys, their work in serving these young clients who were victims of Nas...

Today Author/lawyer and podcaster Mark Bello and I are with Yvener Duroseau, author of “Alike Regardless: This is Where it Began.” His mission is to encourage us to challenge the status quo, fight for social justice, and seek to challenge the norm of division that’s present in humankind. Yvener was born in Haiti before moving to the United States. He grew up learning Haiti’s profound history as th...