Law360's Pro Say - News & Analysis on Law and the Legal Industry

Driven by the delta variant, Covid-19 infections are spiking across the country, leaving courts and law firms to once again grapple with public health and safety measures. On this week’s episode, we’re breaking down the patchwork of new restrictions, from courthouse mask rules to BigLaw vaccine mandates. Also this week, a public corruption trial with such bad lawyering that the First Circuit grant...

Some elite lawyers are miracle workers. Others are janitors. Michael Clayton, the eponymous main character of our Pro Say Movie Club pick this week, is the latter. Clayton, played by George Clooney, is a so-called fixer at a prestigious Manhattan law firm who is thrust into crisis after his boss and mentor has a mental breakdown while defending the producer of a deadly weed killer. As the sinister...

Every young associate has probably had a tough boss at their firm, but what if that boss was literally Satan? Our pick for the Pro Say Movie Club this week “The Devil’s Advocate” tells the story of hot shot Florida litigator Kevin Lomax, played by Keanu Reeves, whose perfect courtroom record draws the eye of a tony New York law firm and its enigmatic top partner John Milton, played by Al Pacino. T...

On this week’s episode of the Pro Say Movie Club, we comb our hair, put on our suits made out of some kind of cloth, and journey to the south with Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei in the venerable 1992 legal comedy “My Cousin Vinny.” Pesci plays Vincent Gambini, a sharp but inexperienced New York attorney who’s way out of his element defending two “yutes” accused of murdering a store clerk in a small Al...

Earlier this year, New York joined the growing list of states to legalize recreational marijuana. But the Empire State’s law goes a step further by automatically expunging hundreds of thousands of cannabis-related criminal convictions, offering a clean slate to those hampered by aggressive enforcement in the past. Law360 reporter Marco Poggio joins the show this week to break down the impact of th...

In the Pro Say Movie Club it is our code built on honor and respect for the chain of command to carefully break down outrageous courtroom showdowns in legal cinema. That’s why this week we’re talking about "A Few Good Men," the gripping 1992 drama featuring Tom Cruise as a cocky young Navy lawyer who prides himself on never seeing the inside of a courtroom, until he finds purpose in defending two...

Britney Spears’ battle against a guardianship that she says is unwarranted and abusive is a high-profile case, but it is far from the only one questioning the legal mechanism that can strip people of their rights to basic self-determination. On this week’s episode we talk with Law360 features reporter Cara Bayles about just what’s going on with the guardianship system. Also this week: Joe Exotic,...

For the first episode of our new summer movie series, we’re watching the iconic 2001 law school comedy “Legally Blonde,” in which sorority queen Elle Woods conquers Harvard Law. What, like it’s hard? What begins as a scheme to win back her boyfriend turns into a journey of self-realization for Elle, who teaches us along the way that lawyers come in all forms, and that staying true to yourself is t...

This week we’re discussing the legal dimensions of the tragic collapse of the Champlain Towers condominium complex in Surfside, Florida. We unpack the litigation that has followed the disaster, the lawyers working the case pro bono, and the lessons to be learned that could help prevent future tragedies. Also this week, a wrap-up of the latest Supreme Court term with Law360 reporter Jimmy Hoover, a...

The hosts of the Pro Say podcast love talking about two things: the law and the movies. So we're going to spend our summer bringing them together for the Pro Say Movie Club, a new limited-run podcast series about the greatest films in legal cinema history — from “My Cousin Vinny” to “A Few Good Men” and everything in between. Episodes will drop every Tuesday starting on July 13, when we journey to...

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court threw out Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction this week, ruling that the disgraced comedian was improperly prosecuted after being promised immunity. On this week’s show, the hosts break down the court’s decision and its implication for the post-#MeToo legal landscape. Also on the show, on the final day of the Supreme Court term, the justices uphold controversial v...

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week that the NCAA violated federal antitrust laws by barring student athletes from receiving compensation. The decision wasn’t a sweeping overhaul for players, but it could open the door to new, broader challenges at a time when college sports are already changing. We’re joined this week by Law360 senior sports law reporter Zach Zagger to break down the ruling an...

Elite law firms across the country are racing to heap higher salaries and big new bonuses onto associates — a surprising development at the tail end of a global pandemic where economic belt-tightening was a common theme. We’re joined this week by Law360 legal industry editor Natalie Rodriguez to explain the so-called ‘salary wars’ in BigLaw, including what firms are bumping pay, why they’re doing...

Toyota is under federal investigation for allegedly bribing Supreme Court judges in Thailand in an effort to overturn a $350 million tax judgment. Law360's Frank Runyeon joins the show this week to explain what we know so far about the unfolding scandal. Also this week, we discuss an insurance suit that weighs whether the coronavirus or government orders were to blame for losses to a strip club; t...

The NFL has agreed to end the use of a controversial race-based method of evaluating brain damage claims as part of its billion-dollar concussion settlement, months after a federal judge said she was “concerned” by the practice. On this week’s show, we’re breaking down the controversy, the NFL’s new move and what it means going forward. Plus, a Supreme Court ruling on a federal hacking law that cr...

Amazon was hit with an antitrust lawsuit from Washington DC’s attorney general this week, accusing the tech giant of crushing competition and driving up prices. On this week’s show, Alex and Bill break down the new lawsuit and how it compares to recent similar cases against Google and Facebook. Also this week: A prominent plaintiffs firm is scolded for “fraud” and booted from a securities class ac...

An elected North Carolina district attorney was recently forced out of office via an obscure state law. Some say this was an instance of the law holding a DA accountable for ethical breaches, but others fear the state law could be used to punish DAs for unpopular decisions. On this week’s episode of Pro Say we welcome Law360 ethics expert Andrew Strickler to unpack this unusual ouster. Also this w...

Just a week into her tenure as a high-ranking SEC official, former BigLaw partner Alex Oh abruptly resigned in April — with little indication as to why. Now, the former Paul Weiss attorney has been sanctioned over a tense deposition in a human rights case against Exxon. On this week’s episode, Law360 senior securities reporter Deal Seal joins the show to unpack this messy situation. Also this week...

Covid-19 vaccines have hit the market, but there remains a huge discrepancy in access to the life-saving treatments between rich and poor countries. This week, the Biden administration endorsed a suspension of global intellectual property rules that advocates say will help worldwide vaccine distribution, teeing up a closely watched clash with the pharmaceutical industry. Law360’s Ryan Davis joins...

After years of denying responsibility for the opioid crisis, major drugmakers are trying out a bolder defense in a trial that just kicked off in California: downplaying the severity of the crisis itself. This week, we’re breaking down the big trial and this new strategy, plus: Accusations that Bayer is running a “pay-to-appeal scheme” to help beat cancer litigation about Roundup weedkiller; A cras...

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty Tuesday for the murder of George Floyd, following a weeks-long trial that captured the world’s attention. Law360’s senior trials reporter Cara Bayles was there every step of the way, and she joins us this week to break it all down — the big takeaways, the key moments, and what the verdict might mean for future police brutality cases....

A landmark union push at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama ended in defeat Friday as workers decisively opted against organizing. While the outcome is a setback for organized labor, it may not be the end of the story. This week, we’re joined by Law360’s Braden Campbell to discuss the closely watched vote and the union’s looming effort to challenge the results. Also this week, a parent charged in the...

For more than a decade, Google and Oracle have been duking it out over the extent to which individual companies can control an important building-block component of computer software code -- with Google potentially on the hook for billions of dollars in damages and the future of the technology industry seemingly at stake. On Monday, we finally got an answer from the Supreme Court, which avoided a...

The fierce debate over the NCAA’s restrictions on paying college athletes reached the Supreme Court this week, with justices from across the ideological spectrum openly criticizing the current structure of college sports. On this week’s Pro Say, we break down the case and the tough questions lobbed by the justices. Also this week, the high court relaxes rules aimed at limiting media consolidation...

BigLaw attorneys teamed up with the ACLU this month to win major changes to how Maryland grants parole to prisoners serving life sentences for crimes they committed as children. We’re joined this week by Law360 reporter Justin Wise to break it all down, including the details of the case, its potential impact, and how white-shoe law firms work with non-profit activists. Also this week: A former per...