ABA Journal

Podcasts

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Legal Rebels Podcast

The future of DEI programs in the legal industry

The legal professional lacks diversity. In other news, the sun is hot, law school is expensive and junk food is bad for you.

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Asked and Answered

Law prof finds ways to connect remotely amid historic election and COVID-19 restrictions

April Dawson, an associate dean and professor at the North Carolina Central University School of Law, misses seeing her constitutional law students in person.

The Modern Law Library

Lawyer recounts the life and legacy of the mysterious man behind Pilates

In 1963, John Howard Steel was a 28-year-old attorney with a challenging litigation practice, an unhappy marriage and a stiff neck. At the urging of his mother, Steel decided to try physical therapy at a gym owned by an elderly German immigrant named Joseph Pilates. It was a decision that would change Steel's life.

Legal Rebels Podcast

Constant communication has been key amid COVID-19, law school dean says

Just before students at the University of California at Irvine School of Law were set to return from spring break in March, the university decided that all classes would be moved online because of the spread of COVID-19.

The Modern Law Library

Having a hard time connecting with your witness? Try these tips

You're a plaintiffs attorney with a promising tort case, but getting the narrative evidence you need from a particular witness is like squeezing blood from a stone. How can you get through to them and help ensure that your client gets the damages needed for long-term care? The real problem might be that your communication styles are fundamentally different, says author and trial consultant Katherine James.

Asked and Answered

How to maximize your business development during the COVID-19 crisis

Plenty of lawyers in private practice worry about business development during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there may be more opportunities to discover new clients than they realize. And that is thanks to an increase in online events, says Karen Kaplowitz, a lawyer and business development coach.

The Modern Law Library

Knowing when to tell your client no and other ethical dilemmas

One of the most important ethical obligations a lawyer has is knowing when to tell their client no. But how do you know when that moment has come, and how do you deal with it?

Legal Rebels Podcast

Firms of the future: COVID-19 prompts more law firms to pursue real estate downsizing

In recent years, a growing number of law firms reduced their brick-and-mortar office space as a way to cut costs and also better meet the changing workplace needs of their attorneys.

The Modern Law Library

Voting rights attorney writes a tale of dark money chicanery in ‘The Coyotes of Carthage’

Steven Wright spent several years at the Department of Justice's Voting Section witnessing all manners of election chicanery, voter suppression and dark money campaigns. So when he turned his efforts toward fiction, he decided to write what he knew.

Asked and Answered

How is the lawyer known as ‘Popehat’ on Twitter keeping busy during the pandemic?

Legal news about President Donald Trump often outrages people, but it shouldn’t. And at the same time, his administration makes outrageous legal statements that many accept as normal, says Kenneth White, a former assistant U.S. attorney known as "Popehat" on Twitter.

The Modern Law Library

Constitutional scholars sound warning on SCOTUS and the separation of church and state

The separation of church and state is a concept that is often talked about, but there's hardly a national consensus on what that should look like—or whether it should exist at all. In recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court has been shifting towards an "accomodationist" interpretation, say the authors of The Religion Clauses: The Case for Separating Church and State. To Erwin Chemerinsky and Howard Gillman, this is a dangerous approach.

Legal Rebels Podcast

This Louisiana judge continues to innovate during the COVID-19 crisis

Judge Scott Schlegel’s history of utilizing technology in his Louisiana courtroom to make life easier for attorneys and members of the public has come in very handy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Modern Law Library

‘Demagogue’ tells the story of Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s rise and fall

What made 1950s America vulnerable to a man like Joseph McCarthy, a junior senator from Wisconsin? In Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy, author Larry Tye takes an in-depth look at McCarthy's life.

Asked and Answered

This law prof has been fighting off Twitter trolls during the coronavirus crisis

While Veena Dubal was adapting to working at home with three young children during the COVID-19 pandemic, the “reply guys” came after the California law professor on Twitter for her support of a 2020 state law that extends employee classification status to gig workers.

The Modern Law Library

6 key numbers that can diagnose the financial health of your law practice

Do you know how many billable hours you can devote to a new case? Or whether you need to add another attorney to your firm? Can you afford to take time off from your practice, and if so, how much? If you're one of the lawyers who is kept up at night with worries about your firm's finances, you are not alone.

Legal Rebels Podcast

Bench trial by video? This lawyer says it went better than expected

Exhibits were screen-shared with witnesses. Lawyers conducted cross-examinations from their offices while the judge watched from his home. And one afternoon, the proceedings ended early when a witness lost their internet connection.

The Modern Law Library

Convicted of a crime that never occurred? It happens all too often, law prof says

We are used to hearing about wrongful convictions in which a murderer walked free because an innocent person was misidentified. But when Jessica S. Henry, a professor at Montclair State University in New Jersey, was researching material for her course on wrongful convictions, she discovered that in one-third of all known exonerations, the conviction was wrongful because there had not even been a crime.

Asked and Answered

2020 Harvard Law grad postpones bar exam and her wedding plans because of COVID-19

This past spring, when few people realized that most July bar exams would ultimately be canceled, Molly Coleman decided to forgo the test, for the time being, despite her lawyer father’s objections.

The Modern Law Library

Well-meaning social reforms created ‘Prison by Any Other Name,’ authors say

At a time when the country is discussing how the justice system and policing can be reformed, it's critical that we avoid adopting reforms that have damaging consequences.

ABA Annual Meeting

What can we expect from the all-virtual 2020 ABA Annual Meeting?

The Modern Law Library

We need to reckon with feminism’s contributions to mass incarceration, says law professor

As a law professor at the University of Colorado Law School, Aya Gruber has seen her Millennial students wrestle with a contradiction that she has long struggled with herself.

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