Legal Talk Network - Law News and Legal Topics

As the dean of Pennsylvania State University's law school during the COVID-19 pandemic, and at a time of significant social unrest, Hari Osofsky tried to say yes whenever possible. Leadership involves taking in a variety of viewpoints, she explains, and recognizing what students, professors and administration want is a good way to guarantee people that they are being heard. Special thanks to our s...

The Affordable Care Act survived another Supreme Court challenge in ‘California vs. Texas’. But what was actually resolved and what does that mean for future challenges to Obama Care? Aron Solomon from Esquire Digital law-splains. Special thanks to our sponsor Nota. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Supreme Court has seen a number of religious freedom cases so far in 2021. In a 5-4 ruling in Tandon v. Newsom, the high court struck down COVID-related restrictions on group religious activities in private homes. Also, in Fulton v. Philadelphia, a case involving a Catholic group that objects to placing foster children with same-sex couples, SCOTUS ruled that the city of Philadelphia violated...

Known nationwide for her technology and legal management expertise, Natalie Kelly has recently brought her skills to the Southern Poverty Law Center to help them modernize their legal department operations. Sharon Nelson and Jim Calloway talk with Natalie about her new role and the work done by the center to advance civil rights and racial justice. Natalie discusses the technology used to help the...

Guest: Dean Blachford just hanged his solo shingle eight weeks ago. But he didn’t jump into solo practice blind. Instead, he reviewed New Solo’s back catalog and sought advice from host Adriana Linares. He joins Linares to share his crash course on striking out on his own. Five Categories of Must-Listen Episodes:  5) Inspirations from famous people What New Solos can Learn from Han Solo New Trends...

Lab coach Kelly Street is talking with therapist Sherry Walling about what it looks like to carry your client’s trauma. If today’s podcast resonates with you and you haven’t read The Small Firm Roadmap yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Thanks to DK Global, Rankings.io, TextExpander, and Postali for sponsoring this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

COVID’s isolation plus reliance on new technology left our senior citizens more vulnerable to fraudsters. But how can we stop these criminals? Josh Jones from Bressler Aimery & Ross gives us tips and information. Special thanks to our sponsor Nota. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The NCAA's amateurism model got obliterated 9-0 by the Supreme Court, with a concurrence inviting more lawsuits to tear the whole thing down. Meanwhile raises continue throughout the legal world and we grapple with whether or not we're contributing to a culture of greed. Finally, the Kraken lawyers face a reckoning not seen since Perseus pulled out Medusa's head. Special thanks to our sponsors, Le...

Summer is upon us, vaccinations are making travel safer, and you may be looking forward to getting some leisure reading done. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, host Lee Rawles shares some of the books she’s read since our favorites reads of 2020 episode. We are also re-airing a 2017 interview we did with David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of...

The latest news about Google’s update to Core Web Vitals has led to a flurry of opportunistic emails from SEO companies offering their services to “fix” problem points for firms. Gyi and Conrad offer some reassurance, buyer beware tips, and what to focus on with this latest Google rollout.  Their predictions for further market consolidations hit the mark again, this time with news of the acquisiti...

Ohio’s Attorney General Dave Yost filed a lawsuit to turn Google into a public utility so it can be regulated as a common carrier. This might sound far out but Ohio’s unique law gives them legal grounds to try it. But what does all this mean?  Harold Feld from Public Knowledge gives us the skinny. Special thanks to our sponsor Nota. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mental health problems have long been a prevalent issue amongst both law students and practicing lawyers, but have things gotten better as the profession has sought to increase awareness and reduce the stigma surrounding these concerns? Meg Steenburgh welcomes Patrick Krill for a broad discussion on legal field mental health and his extensive research and work in this area. Patrick offers invaluab...

What happens when you are surrounded by Canada and water during COVID-19? If you’re an American living in Minnesota’s Northwest Angle, you get cut off from civilization. So how did everyone survive? Brad Dokken from the Grand Forks Herald tells us about this true-life "Tale of Two Lakes". Special thanks to our sponsor Nota. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Looking for some simple ways to make life just a little bit better? Dennis and Tom challenge themselves to fire through 20 simple technology-related tips in just 20 minutes, from useful shortcut commands, to favorite apps, to smarter tech habits, and more!  On “Hot or Not?”, they discuss whether making cell phone calls is really useful or necessary in this day and age and what types of issues stil...

We have all seen a wave of ransomware attacks in the news as of late. For those who are unfamiliar, ransomware is a type of malware that threatens to publish, destroy, or block access to the victim's personal data unless a ransom is paid. The ransom is usually paid to these attackers through cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, impairing the ability to trace the transaction back to the perpetrator. Targ...

No lawyer wants a failing grade, but the fact that nearly one-third of law firms have experienced a data breach makes it apparent that cybersecurity preparedness needs some major work. Focusing specifically on smaller law firms, Sharon Nelson and John Simek welcome Tom Lambotte to discuss why lawyers fail to adequately protect themselves and what they should do to bring their cybersecurity measure...

Lab coaches Kelly Street and Stephanie Everett share their best tips and insights to help level up your business for greater success. If today’s podcast resonates with you and you haven’t read The Small Firm Roadmap yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Thanks to Postali, Rankings.io, and TextExpander for sponsoring this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoi...

Did Snapchat’s Speed Filter cause a fatal high speed accident and if so does Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protect it from liability? Associate Dean and Professor Eric Goldman from the Santa Clara University School of Law walks us through the lawsuit filed against the social media company by parents who lost their children. Special thanks to our sponsor Nota. Learn more about your...

Biglaw firms are furiously matching salary increases this week, and Joe and Kathryn walk through the latest announcements, how we got here, the impact across the country, and the fate of the whiny corporate clients out there. This episode doesn't have a cash register sound effect, which is really a shame and Joe takes full responsibility for this oversight. Special thanks to our sponsors, Lexicon ...

Devshi Mehrotra and her classmate Leslie Jones-Dove, who was also passionate about criminal justice reform, contacted local public defenders in the Chicago area to see how the two technologists could potentially be of help. They responded by developing a technology platform known as JusticeText, an AI-powered evidence management tool primarily geared toward public defenders. Special thanks to our ...

A whole lot of lawyers are trying to be something they’re not, but Jared thinks you all really ought to cut the crap. The truth is, marketing yourself as some unapproachable superlawyer isn’t going to get you nearly as far with clients as just being yourself. (1:56) Building on this theme, Jared welcomes Darian Kovacs to discuss ways to develop your online authenticity by telling your story, your...

In this part two of two, Sonia Russo talks with Hema Lochan who participated in the American Bar Association’s Legal Tech Fictional Writing Competition. Together, they discuss her short story ‘F(A.I.)LED US’ which is about the unintended consequences for using artificial intelligence (instead of a lawyer) in a future criminal justice system. Stay tuned for the Financial Wellness Minute when contri...

In this part one of two, Sonia Russo talks with the winner of the American Bar Association’s Legal Tech Fictional Writing Competition, Theresa Yuan, about her winning dystopian-future short story ‘In The Matter of Infinite Monkeys’ and how it cautions against over-trusting predictive algorithms to determine what kind of person a child will become. Can technology really predict a child’s fate? And...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced new guidelines for taking off our masks and relaxing certain social distance protocols associated with COVID-19. In this episode we discuss what workplaces need to consider before they change their policies with Melissa Legault from Squire Patton Boggs. Special thanks to our sponsor Nota. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/...

What do we mean when we talk about web presence, and how exactly can your law firm get it? Hosts Molly Ranns and JoAnn Hathaway welcome legal marketing pro Gyi Tsakalakis to chat about what digital marketing looks like in the current legal landscape. They discuss effective ways to invest in your online presence, how to measure your success, and whether an in-house marketing team or a marketing con...