Lawyer 2 Lawyer

After recording the most recent episode of Lawyer 2 Lawyer about President Trump’s proposed ban of transgender people in the military, Bob Ambrogi, Craig Williams, Kris Poppe, and Brynn Tannehill continued their discussion on the topic. We recorded their candid conversation and wanted to share it with our listeners. If you were a fan of last week’s episode, check out this bonus content from the show.

In a series of tweets on July 26th, 2017, President Trump announced that “after consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.” Transgender service members have been allowed to openly serve since 2016 when former Defense Secretary Ash Carter ended the ban. According to a Rand Corporation study, it is estimated that there are between 1,320 and 6,630 transgender personnel serving in the active component and between 830 and 4,160 in the Selected Reserve. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and Craig Williams join attorney Kris Poppe from the Richardson law firm and Brynn Tannehill, director of Advocacy and founding member of the LGBT military organization SPART*A, as they discuss President’s Trump announcement, reaction by the military and transgender community, legislation, and potential litigation. Attorney Kris Poppe is from the Richardson law firm. He joined the Richardson Firm in 2016 after nearly 35 years of military service, including over 20 years as an Army Judge Advocate. Kris served as an NCO in the U.S. Marine Corps and as an Army infantry officer before becoming an attorney. Brynn Tannehill is director of Advocacy and founding member of the LGBT military organization SPART*A.  Over the past 20 years she has held positions of leadership over diverse teams of people as a Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) in the United States Navy, and as a senior research scientist and project manager at the RAND Corporation and others in private industry. Special thanks to our sponsors, Clio and Litera.

The Supreme Court ended its term on Monday, June 27, 2017. Decisions were handed down in a variety of cases including cases involving big corporations, church and state, voting rights, and most notably, the controversial travel ban, put forth by President Trump. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, host Bob Ambrogi joins attorney and constitutional scholar, David J. Shestokas, author of the book, Creating the Declaration of Independence and Carolyn Shapiro, associate professor of law and co-director of the Institute on the Supreme Court of the United States at Chicago-Kent College of Law, as they discuss the Supreme Court’s end of term, landmark cases and decisions, the addition of Gorsuch to the high court, and look ahead to upcoming cases on the docket. Attorney and constitutional scholar David J. Shestokas is author of the new book, Creating the Declaration of Independence, which takes you through the thoughts of the men and the political climate of the day as they forged the bold and barrier breaking document embracing the ‘law of nature and nature’s god’, as a foundation for self-government. Carolyn Shapiro is an associate professor of law and co-director of the Institute on the Supreme Court of the United States at Chicago-Kent College of Law. From 2014 through mid-2016, Professor Shapiro took a leave of absence from Chicago-Kent to serve as Illinois solicitor general. Special thanks to our sponsors, Clio and Litera.

There is a great fight over the release of two chimpanzees, Tommy the chimpanzee, caged in a warehouse in Gloversville, New York, and Kiko, caged in a storefront at the Primary Sanctuary in Niagara Falls, New York. In a recent legal ruling by a New York appeals court, the court struck down the habeas appeal by the Nonhuman Rights Project. According to a Nonhuman Rights project press release, “the court held that the NhRP did not have the right to seek second writs of habeas corpus on behalf of Tommy and Kiko then gave certain non-binding opinions about granting legal personhood to nonhuman animals. The NhRP intends to seek appeal of this decision to New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.” The Nonhuman Rights Project vows to continue to argue that the chimps’ capabilities require that they have the same fundamental rights as humans. Others have disagreed that this is not a “personhood issue” but rather a human responsibility issue. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and Craig Williams join guests, Steven M. Wise, president of the Nonhuman Rights Project, and Richard L. Cupp, J.D., the John W. Wade professor of law at Pepperdine University, as they discuss the recent legal ruling involving captive chimpanzees, the debate over animals as "legal persons,” animal rights, animal law, and next steps. Steven M. Wise is president of the Nonhuman Rights Project, the only civil rights organization in the United States working for the legal rights of nonhuman animals. Richard L. Cupp, J.D. is the John W. Wade professor of law at Pepperdine University, where he teaches torts, products liability, remedies, and animal law. Special thanks to our sponsors, Clio and Litera.

Comedian, actor, and America’s TV dad  Bill Cosby has been on trial for the sexual assault of Andrea Constand. Ms. Constand accused Cosby of sexually assaulting her and drugging her in 2004 at Cosby’s Philadelphia mansion. After a six day trial and the jury being “hopelessly deadlocked” after 52 hours of deliberating, the judge finally declared a mistrial on June 17th. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi joins attorney Letitia Quinones from the firm Quinones & Associates and attorney and professor Barbara Lynn Ashcroft from the Beasley School of Law at Temple University to discuss this case, the allegations, the prosecution strategy, the defense strategy, what lead to the mistrial, and what happens next. Attorney Letitia Quinones is from the firm Quinones & Associates out of Houston, Texas.  Attorney Quinones brings over 18 years of criminal law experience to her clients in Houston, throughout the state of Texas and across the nation. Attorney and professor Barbara Lynn Ashcroft is from the Beasley School of Law at Temple University. A former Montgomery County assistant district attorney, Ms. Ashcroft spent seven years prosecuting more than 1,500 criminal cases comprising fraud, burglary, domestic violence, sexual assault, felony drug crime, and homicide. Special thanks to our sponsors, Clio and Litera.

On June 1st 2017, President Trump announced that the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. This accord was negotiated in 2015 to limit and reduce global warming.  Environmental organizations voiced their outrage over the decision citing a denial of climate change and a threat to our environment, whereas supporters of the withdrawal praised President Trump’s decision claiming it would create domestic energy production and jobs stateside. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, host Bob Ambrogi joins environmental attorney Jeffrey B. Gracer from the firm Sive, Paget & Riesel and Nicolas Loris, an economist from The Heritage Foundation, as they take a look at the Paris Agreement on climate change, President Trump’s withdrawal from the accord, climate change, the impact on international law and relations, and the long-term implications for the economy and the environment. Attorney Jeffrey B. Gracer is from the firm Sive, Paget & Riesel. Jeff has a vibrant domestic and international environmental law practice. Nicolas (Nick) Loris is an economist who focuses on energy, environmental, and regulatory issues as the Herbert and Joyce Morgan fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Special thanks to our sponsors, Clio and Litera.

On May 9th, 2017, President Trump fired James Comey, the seventh Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Although the accounts are in dispute, it was reported that days before his dismissal, Comey had requested more resources for an FBI probe into the alleged meddling of Russia in the presidential election. The Justice Department has since denied those allegations.  Many were stunned by the dismissal of Comey and are questioning the reasons behind it. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, host Craig Williams joins Ronald Kessler, author of “The FBI: Inside the World's Most Powerful Law Enforcement Agency”, and Asha Rangappa, associate dean at Yale Law School and former special agent for the FBI, as they take an inside look at the FBI, the dismissal of Comey, the legalities triggered by dismissals, and the Russia connection. Ronald Kessler is the New York Times bestselling author of 20 non-fiction books. For Kessler's eighth book, “The FBI: Inside the World's Most Powerful Law Enforcement Agency”, the FBI gave Kessler unprecedented access to the bureau. Asha Rangappa is associate dean at Yale Law School. Prior to her current position, Asha served as a special agent in the New York office of the FBI, specializing in counterintelligence investigations. Special thanks to our sponsors, Clio and Litera.

The regulatory body that oversees the legal profession in England and Wales, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), has enacted a major overhaul of legal training and solicitor licensure. This will take effect in 2020. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and Craig Williams join attorney Mark A. Cohen, CEO of Legal Mosaic and Julie Brannan, Director of Education and Training for the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), as they discuss how the U.K. is eliminating the requirement of attending law school in favor of a skills exam. They talk about that exam, its potential impact on law students and the legal community, and whether or not the United States will adopt a similar practice. Mark Cohen, the CEO of Legal Mosaic, is a Distinguished Lecturer in Law at Georgetown Law School and writes a weekly column on the global legal marketplace for Forbes. Mark recently wrote a piece for Forbes titled, “A British Reboot of Legal Education-- Law School Optional.” Julie Brannan is the director of education and training for the Solicitors Regulation Authority better known as the SRA out of the U.K. She joined the SRA in October 2013, and since then has been leading the Training for Tomorrow review of legal education and training. Special thanks to our sponsors, Clio and Litera.

On April 18th 2017, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court dismissed more than 21,000 low-level drug cases connected to the drug lab scandal that involved Annie Dookhan, a former chemist of a Massachusetts crime lab who admitted to falsifying evidence. After an investigation into Annie Dookhan and her work at the Hinton State Laboratory Institute, Dookhan admitted to altering and faking test results over a period of 8 years. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and Craig Williams join Carl Williams, staff attorney for the ACLU of Massachusetts, and Sandra Guerra Thompson, the director of the Criminal Justice Institute at the University of Houston Law Center, to take a look at this drug lab scandal in Massachusetts and its impact on drug cases, attorneys, defendants, as well as take an inside look at what goes on inside a crime lab. Carl Williams is a staff attorney for the ACLU of Massachusetts. Carl was previously a criminal defense attorney with the Roxbury Defenders Unit of the Committee for Public Counsel Services. Sandra Guerra Thompson is the director of the Criminal Justice Institute at the University of Houston Law Center. In 2015, Sandra wrote a book entitled “Cops in Lab Coats: Curbing Wrongful Convictions with Independent Forensic Laboratories."

On April 3rd, 2017, President Trump signed into law a controversial measure repealing online privacy protections, which were established by the Federal Communications Commission under the Obama Administration and would go into effect at the end of 2017.  This legislation allows internet providers or ISPs to sell customer data without consent. Supporters of this legislation believe that keeping browsing information private would stop innovation, where opponents voice their concerns over the privacy protections of customers. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and Craig Williams join Ernesto Falcon, legislative counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Alden F. Abbott, deputy director of the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation, as they take a look at the passing of this legislation involving internet service providers and web-surfing data. They discuss this controversial legislation, the privacy issues, and the potential impact on customers. Ernesto Falcon is legislative counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation with a primary focus on intellectual property and open Internet issues. Prior to joining EFF, Ernesto worked as a legislative staffer for two Members of Congress (2004-2010). Alden F. Abbott is the Rumpel senior legal fellow and deputy director of the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Alden previously served as director of patent and antitrust strategy for BlackBerry, and in a variety of senior government positions. Special thanks to our sponsors, Clio and Litera.