The Hearing – A Legal Podcast

"The legal profession is going through significant transformation, and I thought that was a wonderful thing to try and grab with both hands and see what role or part I could play in making that a success," shares this week's guest, Lucie Allen. For this episode, Lucie Allen, the managing director of the legal education platform BARBRI, sits down with host Yasmin to offer her unique insights on the...

"From 1910 to 1997, Black Americans have lost 90 percent of farmland to heir property. The Department of Agriculture has deemed it the worst problem that you've never heard of." These are just two of the staggering facts we've learned about heir property from writer and author Terah Shelton Harris. Terah chats with new host Tenee' Frazier about her recent novel, Long After We Are Gone. It's about...

"Mind your privilege, give not away your right!" With those words, William Penn urged the jurors in his 1670 religious freedom trial to remember the power and the responsibility of their role in the English judicial system. For this episode, we return to the topic of jury nullification – the power of juries to acquit despite evidence of the defendant's guilt – with a fresh take from the UK. Profes...

Content warning: This episode discusses sexual violence, domestic violence, and criminalized survivorship. If you or anyone you know needs help, please safely contact one of the organizations in our show notes. To mark Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Jenn sits down with Garrard Beeney to discuss his pro bono representation of Nicole "Nikki" Addimando and the issue of criminalized survivorship....

In this episode, Yasmin Sheikh interviews Bibi Badejo – a family law barrister at Four Brick Court chambers, in London, and an advocacy coach. Bibi recounts her journey into law and how she pursued advocacy despite an initial fear of public speaking and a hefty dose of imposter syndrome. These challenges early in her career motivated Bibi to improve her skills through extensive training in the UK,...

Imagine you are a juror in a criminal trial. The evidence is overwhelming that the defendant is guilty. But you can’t shake the feeling that it would be unjust to convict. Maybe you don’t believe what the defendant did should be treated as a crime. Or maybe you simply believe the defendant deserves mercy. Can you vote to acquit, or must you vote according to the evidence? It turns out that, in the...

In the UK you’ll find spectacular beaches and rivers, a nation of wild swimmers and water lovers… and a big pollution problem! Untreated sewage, chemicals and plastic waste are creating a worsening toxic soup. Surfers Against Sewage (https://www.sas.org.uk) has been fighting back for over 30 years – through public campaigns, education programmes and, more recently, an app that lets you check the h...

Following the recent release of the 12th Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, The Hearing is privileged to welcome its Editor-in-Chief, Bryan Garner, to the show. And to be honest, we're a bit nervous to write this description of our conversation with this esteemed grammarian, lexicographer, and lawyer! You don't hear about fourth graders naming "shan't" as a contraction or teenagers amassing a larg...

At 15 years old, Shaun Wallace was told that he would most likely end up in prison. Instead, he became a barrister and a TV personality famous for his knowledge mastery – first as a champion of the BBC quiz show Mastermind, and since 2009 as one of the chasers (professional quizzers) on UK television show The Chase. In this episode, Shaun chats with Yasmin Sheikh about how his love of law, learnin...

This episode explores the heart-wrenching subject of youth justice. Guest Aika Stephenson is the founder of Just For Kids Law, a UK charity that represents and advocates for children in contact with the criminal justice system. She’s also the author of In Their Defence: Fighting for Youth Justice One Child at a Time (https://www.mombooks.com/book/in-their-defence/). Join host Janelle as she chats...

In this episode, we dive into the philosophical depths of the legal profession – exploring some of the assumptions underpinning Western legal thought and the implications of such assumptions. So nothing we can’t handle. Join host Becky Annison as she talks to Ryan James and Zaneta Sedilekova, the founders of (re)purpose law – a personal development course for lawyers. The trio discuss how legal pr...

In the US, June is no longer just June – it is also National Gun Violence Awareness Month. To that end, this episode delves into one of the most pressing issues facing the US today: school shootings. Lauren sits down with Stuart Grossman and Alex Arteaga-Gomez, two attorneys at the forefront of US legal efforts to help curb gun violence in schools, to discuss their work on the deadliest mass shoot...

Over decades, hundreds of Post Office employees in the UK were wrongly prosecuted for crimes such as fraud and theft due to accounting errors resulting from faulty software. Many lives were devastated by the false accusations. This week, Yasmin speaks to Neil Hudgell, the Executive Chairman of Hudgell Solicitors, a firm representing many of the claimants in the post office scandal, about the case...

Picture this: a young boy enters a computer programming project in his school science fair. It's so sophisticated that his teacher mistakenly assumes a parent must have helped – and awards him last place. The boy then grows up to become CEO of a legal technology company worth $650 million. That story belongs to Jake Heller, Head of CoCounsel – a revolutionary generative AI product for lawyers. In...

Governments around the world are grappling with how to regulate AI on issues ranging from copyright protections to ethical standards, competition rules and beyond.   In this episode, host Becky Annison explores AI governance issues with Lord Tim Clement-Jones CBE, member of the UK House of Lords and former chair of its Artificial Intelligence Select Committee. The pair discuss the challenges of ba...

Salt and pepper. Fish and chips. The sun and the moon. Law and innovation? Ok, maybe those last two haven’t traditionally been a natural pair. But the legal world is changing like never before. What skills should lawyers develop to excel with new technologies? How can lawyers interested in tech get more involved in that field? This episode’s guest, Joe Green, Chief Innovation Officer at Gunderson...

For lawyers who are disabled or neurodivergent, finding role models and support in the legal profession is a huge challenge. After becoming disabled eight years ago – and grappling with how to navigate her health and her work as a lawyer – Reena Parmar set out to address that problem. Now Chair of the Disabled Solicitors Network (DSN) at the Law Society of England and Wales, Reena chats with host...

In this episode, Lauren sits down with Alan Barinholtz, lawyer and star of the hit TV series Jury Duty. Though Alan spent most of his life as a litigator and arbitrator, he dreamed of being an actor. After 40+ years as a lawyer (and, as he puts it, being patient and rehearsing for close to 50 years), Alan's dream came true when he landed the role of Judge Alan Rosen on Jury Duty. The Amazon show w...

THE CROSS-EXAMINATION – Lawyers who are concerned about climate change increasingly want to see environmental values reflected in their practice. It can be difficult to advocate for change, especially for early career lawyers and those who feel that climate law is outside their expertise. But it turns out you don’t have to be an environmental litigator or a managing partner to make a difference. I...

In this episode, Jennifer sits down with Michele Meyer-Shipp, the Chief Executive Officer of Dress for Success Worldwide. Dress for Success (https://dressforsuccess.org) is a global not-for-profit organization operating in 22 countries. Michele tells us about the organization's mission – helping women achieve economic independence and, as she explains, dress women "from the inside out" by providin...

THE CROSS-EXAMINATION – In today's culture, people are used to expressing their views on social media and entering into often polarised debates on potentially emotive issues. Amid the ethos of "bringing your whole self" to work, we have seen this outspokenness permeate into the workplace. There can be a range of differing views which can result in conflicts between employees and challenges for emp...

This episode’s guest is Fiona Rutherford, the Chief Executive of Justice, a UK law reform and human rights charity. Justice strives for a fair, accessible, and equal justice system and is also the UK section of the International Commission of Jurists. Fiona chats to Yasmin about a landmark report the charity recently published addressing the erosion of the rule of law in the UK, which you can acce...

"Show up. Speak up. Woman up." This is the motto of Mirna Santiago, a lawyer, DEI expert, and nonprofit founder and CEO. Through the many roles Mirna has held during her career, which has also included law firm partner and chair of the New York State Bar Association's Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Mirna epitomizes someone who walks her talk. In this episode, Jenn and Lauren chat w...

This episode's guest pulls off the impossible: he'll make you wonder if maybe you should have been a tax lawyer.   Dan Neidle is described by some as “possibly the UK’s leading tax lawyer”. After spending 25 years at Clifford Chance, including as their UK head of tax, he set-up Tax Policy Associates – a not-for-profit company aiming to improve tax and legal policy and educate the public. Dan chats...

In this episode, Lauren sits down with billionaire philanthropist and former lawyer Laura Arnold, co-founder of Arnold Ventures. Arnold Ventures has spent over $2.5 billion (USD) on more than 3,200 projects in many areas of need, like criminal justice reform, healthcare, democracy and contraceptives, to name a few. The organization, which in part seeks to change laws, was founded on the belief tha...