Legal Talk Network - Law News and Legal Topics

On March 10, Rocky Dhir welcomed president-elect candidates Jerry Alexander and Steve Benesh to give Texas attorneys the opportunity to learn about their campaigns and particular goals for the presidency. They discussed their career accomplishments and past service to the legal community, touched on the importance of maintaining the self-regulation of the State Bar, shared ideas for streamlining t...

Also Morgan & Morgan has had it with insurance lobbyists and the legal profession is losing talent to OnlyFans. Ron DeSantis tried to punish Disney by dissolving the local government dominated by Disney flopped when the smart lawyers pointed out that it would put the state on the hook for a deluge of liability. His latest effort to then replace all the board members flopped because while he crowed...

Bruce Jackson grew up shuttling between Brooklyn and Manhattan public housing projects. His journey led him to Hofstra University, then Georgetown Law. He ditched a white-shoe firm job to launch a career in entertainment law, and represented some of the hottest hip-hop and rap artists in the 1990s. When Napster changed the music industry, Jackson left for Seattle and Microsoft, where he traded in...

You have a question about your case, so you approach a colleague for advice. But the first thing out of their mouth is “How can you possibly not know that?” Ouch! How we deliver feedback can crush a co-worker or build camaraderie. This episode examines supportive ways to respond to inappropriate feedback and how to be sensitive when someone asks you for advice. Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...

Think you know your case so well you don’t need to write down your game plan? Think again. Part Two of our discussion on pretrial prep covers tips on preparing an order of proof, organizing evidence for each witness, thoughts on the most impactful way to order your presentations, when to send witness subpoenas, and ideas for preparing clients and experts for testimony. And if you are truly dedicat...

The pandemic underscored the need for solo practitioners and small law firms to plan for the retirement of influential leaders, business disruptions and unforeseen events. Firms without a succession plan run the risk of losing clients and revenue, if not more. As a law firm leader, what should you take into consideration when planning and timing your retirement? Discover essential elements of crea...

Whether you're a young lawyer just starting out or a seasoned veteran looking to take your career to the next level, mentorship is crucial for lawyers at all stages of their careers; but finding and fostering a strong mentor relationship can be challenging. In this episode, we explore the importance of mentorship in the legal profession and discuss the obstacles that can make it difficult to estab...

Law Professor Nomi Stolzenberg discusses the US Supreme Court’s consideration of Conservative Christian ideology as a new protected class under the First Amendment. Seven of the nine members of the Supreme Court are Catholic or raised Catholic. How does this potentially affect the decisions being handed down by the Supreme Court? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zack talks with Joyce Brafford, a lawyer and practice management expert at ProfitSolv, about incorporating AI into your firm’s workflows and automations. See how you can use Chat GPT to do the heavy lifting for template creation, client emails, and even internal brand research. If today’s podcast resonates with you and you haven’t read The Small Firm Roadmap Revisited yet, get the first chapter ri...

This month marks 5 years CBA's @theBar bringing you interesting and unscripted conversations about legal news, events, topics, stories and whatever else strikes our fancy. Celebrate this milestone with us by delving back into our amazing catalogue of past episodes. We'll back with more great content next month! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

DNA testing is the most powerful tool for freeing the innocent. But without evidence to test, it’s useless... leaving many wrongfully convicted people without hope. That’s why it’s critical to preserve every piece of evidence in your case. In this episode we talk with Alissa Bjerkhoel about her work in Uriah Courtney’s exoneration and how his freedom hung on a single article of clothing left in a...

Since its origins, DNA evidence has both convicted the guilty and exonerated the innocent. Despite its amazing abilities, this forensic science has not always been a slam dunk. In addition to reliability issues, its misapplication has led to the wrongful prosecution of the innocent around the country.  Host Michael Semanchik interviews world-renowned experts John M. Butler and Deanna Lankford abou...

Uriah Courtney was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life for kidnapping and rape. Despite having a solid alibi, a series of coincidences and past drug offenses convinced law enforcement that they had their man. Although his case looked hopeless, there was one person who knew Uriah was innocent and refused to give up on him. After serving 8 years in prison, he would finally win his freedom. Tu...

Artificial Intelligence has become one of the most discussed topics of our day. With the introduction of sophisticated chatbots like OpenAIs ChatGPT 3.5 and ChatGPT 4, many have predicted that we're on the verge of a revolution in terms of how many industries operate, including the legal industry. So what do firms and attorneys need to do to stay ahead of the incoming AI wave? In this episode, hos...

Despite best intentions, our criminal justice system is not perfect. Innocent people are frequently accused, convicted, and sent to prison for crimes they didn’t commit. On this show, we explore how this happens by talking with real-life exonerees, famous attorneys who fight for freedom, and world-renowned experts. You’ll recognize many of our guests from prominent productions like Making a Murder...

For solos sharing office space with other attorneys, there are advantages, but also potential headaches. How do you navigate this arrangement? Guest Jared Correia is a podcaster, lawyer, and full-time business management consultant, sort of the lawyer you know who knows how to run a business. For clients, he digs into law firm management from the very high-level strategy to the nuts and bolts of t...

Let’s talk about the art, and science, of billing. We’ll go ahead and say it, billing isn’t fun, but it’s crucial to the success of your law firm. And tracking many of those billable hours often falls on paralegal professionals. Getting work done is important, getting paid for that work is crucial. You aren’t alone. Everybody hates billing. Tracking your time and entering it into your system isn’t...

In a world where AI is becoming more and more prevalent, how do we protect the rights of the original, human ideas? Today, Zack talks with author, designer, programmer and lawyer Matthew Butterick about his work in copyright infringement and artificial intelligence. Links from the episode:  Typogrophy for Lawyers Stable Diffusion Litigation GitHub Copilot Litigation If today’s podcast resonates wi...

Latest podcast also talks about ranking the best law schools the worst way possible. With March upon us, we created our our bracket-based challenge to rerank the top law schools based on... nothing. If the law schools don't want to provide data to ranking services, we'll show them what that looks like. It's pretty bad. Speaking of bad, a litigant got a bit of a lecture from a federal judge who cau...

The 1964 decision in New York Times v. Sullivan protected the civil rights movement, established the “actual malice” standard, and is the basis for modern American libel law. But in recent years, criticism of the case has grown among conservatives, with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas calling it “policy-driven decisions masquerading as constitutional law” and suggesting that the decisio...

Preparing for trial can be a nerve-wracking experience for a young attorney. Today’s episode offers tried and true tips on when to request a pretrial conference and what matters to discuss, how to organize depos and evidence for quick reference, which hard copies you should and should not bring to the courtroom, how to prepare and use an exhibit checklist and much more. Learn more about your ad ch...

From Orangeburg to Ahmaud, host Dave Scriven-Young welcomes Bakari Sellers to discuss civil rights in the United States, then and now. Later, Henry R. Chalmers joins to talk about what you can expect at the ABA Litigation Section’s Annual Conference. This year’s conference offers a unique opportunity to learn from and interact with other top litigators and judges, earn CLE credit, incredible netwo...

Where do expert witnesses come from, exactly? Jared welcomes guests Allison Muller, Nick Briscoe, and Nick Rishwain—an experienced and knowledgeable panel discussing the ins and outs of expert witnessing. They share how professionals come into this field and offer advice for attorneys looking to engage an expert witness for a case. Later on in the Rump Roast, guest Rachael Ziegler joins to talk ab...

Experts from the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) discuss how and why states are using non-lawyer legal service providers on the latest episode of LSC’s “Talk Justice” podcast, released today. Talk Justice Co-host Cat Moon is joined by guests Michael Houlberg, director of special projects for IAALS, and Jim Sandman, president emeritus of LSC and IAALS board member...

Guest Sandrene “Sandy” Ryan is the senior director of recruiting at Level Legal. She’s built a unique process that focuses on quality and creating “the right match” over putting bodies into slots. Culture fit can be more important than a specific skill. You can teach a skill, but you can’t make the wrong person fit your own culture. Production is the lynchpin of your firm. Acquiring new clients an...