Lawyer 2 Lawyer

On this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams speak with ABA President James Silkenat, on his first day in office, about his goals and initiatives for the ABA agenda. James Silkenat has been working in international law for more than forty years. He joined the ABA’s first delegation to China in the mid-1970s and since then has chaired the International Law Section. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and of the American Law Institute, and has served as a Fellow in the U.S. State Department Scholar/Diplomat Program. As well as numerous other positions in and outside of the ABA, he will now serve as the president of the nation’s largest legal organization. Silkenat will discuss his major platform goals for his presidency, including the legal education financing system and student debt, a legal job corps, the ABA’s stance on gun violence, and more. Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.

If it’s not legally a human, it’s a thing. But animal rights advocates argue these alternatives fail to recognize that there are many cognitively complex species who deserve to be treated as people. The Nonhuman Rights Project is planning to file a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of a chimp to grant her the right to bodily liberty. This will release her from the cage she is currently living in, and the project will have her admitted into a cageless sanctuary. Steven M. Wise, president of The Nonhuman Rights Project, has been researching and planning this case for 20 years. Steven M. Wise has been practicing animal protection law nationwide for for the past 30 years. He was the first professor to teach animal law at Harvard University and is still teaching animal law courses all over the world. He has published four books on the matter, including Rattling the Cage – Toward Legal Rights for Animals. On this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams will talk with Wise about the case to grant a chimp the right to bodily liberty and The Nonhuman Rights Project’s long-term plans for animal rights Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.

With the Supreme Court’s Prop 8 and DOMA rulings, same-sex marriage is now legal in California and same-sex married couples can receive federal benefits across the nation. These landmark decisions for gay rights have sparked the question: is nationwide marriage equality on the way? On this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams will talk with Constitutional Law Professors Mark Tushnet and William Eskridge about what the history of both the gay rights and the civil rights movements have to say for the future of gay rights in America. • Harvard Law Professor Mark Tushnet specializes in constitutional law and theory, with a focus in examining the practice of judicial review in the U.S. and worldwide. He has served as a law clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall. Currently, his focus is in constitutional history and the development of civil liberties. He is known for his critical and controversial analysis of Supreme Court rulings, including Brown v. The Board of Education and Roe v. Wade. • William Eskridge, Yale Law Professor, focuses in statutory interpretation. He represented a same-sex-married couple from 1990-1995 who sued for recognition of their marriage and has published many books covering the political framework of gay rights. The historical component of his book GayLaw was the basis of an amicus brief he drafted for the Cato Institute and for much of the Court’s (and dissenting opinion’s) analysis in Lawrence vs. Texas, the decision which made same-sex sexual activity legal in every U.S. state. These law professors will provide unique insight to the future of gay rights through their knowledge and experience with Supreme Court rulings and civil liberties movements. Thanks to our sponsor, Clio.

On this episode of Lawyer2Lawyer, J. Craig Williams chats with Entertainment Lawyer Michael Baroni and superhero-law expert James Daily about the ending of The Dark Knight Rises. Proceed with caution – there are spoilers ahead! The city of Gotham sees Batman die at the end of the film. Does that mean that Bruce Wayne is legally dead, as well? And if so, who gets the batmobiles? Legally speaking, Warner Brothers’ design patent on the batmobile will run out, as will their patent on the story. Will another company fill the role and bring back Batman? • Baroni has been watching the Batman films since he was a kid and continues to be an enthusiast. Batman fan by night, he works as general counsel for Palace Entertainment by day. He is also a member of the Orange County Bar Association. • Daily is co-author of the book The Law of Superheroes and the blog Law and Multiverse. Both publications discuss the hypothetical legal ramifications behind comic book characters and their powers. When James isn’t meticulously analyzing the law of comic books and characters, he works in intellectual property and patent law. Tune in for, what Baroni describes as, the perfect “legal cocktail chatter” on the legalities behind Batman’s death, what he left behind, and the chances of a resurrection of one of America’s most beloved comic-book characters. Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.

Personal Audio’s founder Jim Logan created and patented an idea which, in his eyes, covers the concept of podcasting. “This is the story of the American inventor,” Richard Baker, Personal Audio’s vice president of licensing, says. Personal Audio has filed lawsuits against several podcasters and media companies, claiming patent infringement by popular programs such as NBC’s The Adam Carolla Show and by CBS for its podcast distribution of multiple shows including The Voice and Meet the Press. On the other side, The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has spearheaded a campaign dubbed “Save Podcasting!” to rescind Personal Audio’s patent. EFF’s goal is to revoke Personal Audio’s right to compensation from any podcast program. Daniel Nazer, a staff attorney working on the campaign, represents EFF on the program. On this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams talk with Richard Baker and Brad Liddle, Personal Audio’s president of licensing, and Daniel Nazer of EFF to hear their thoughts on what defines a patent troll, the specifics behind the cases, and more. Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.

On this episode of Lawyer2Lawyer, Bob Ambrogi and Craig Williams invite California Judge James Mize to discuss his first-of-its-kind idea to address the heavy congestion of divorce cases in Sacramento’s family court: The One-Day Divorce Program. This allows couples, who meet the specified requirements, to participate in an expedited divorce process that finalizes the separation in just one day. This program aims to serve couples who can’t afford a divorce lawyer. According to Judge Mize, 72% of family law litigants in California don’t have representation. Judge Mize began his career with an undergraduate degree in psychology, followed by graduate work at the School of Social Welfare where he earned his Master of Social Work. He found his work in social issues to be a defining part of his 26 years working as an attorney, and his current work on the bench. He has served as the presiding judge of the Sacramento Superior Court and is currently the supervising judge of Sacramento’s Family Court. Judge Mize is best known for his civil reform efforts which have garnered him several honors including the California Judge Association’s Alba Witkin Humanitarian Award and Sacramento County Bar Association’s Judge of the Year Award. Tune into to hear about the inner workings of the new one-day divorce program, who qualifies, how it’s run, and more.

On this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer host Bob Ambrogi discusses private prisons with Susan Herman, president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Adrian Moore, vice president of the Reason Foundation, a non-profit in support of libertarian principles and privatization. Susan Herman was elected president of the ACLU in October 2008. As Centennial Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, she teaches courses in the area of Criminal Law and Procedure and Constitutional Law. The ACLU has been studying and protesting against private prisons as a for-profit business for decades. Dr. Adrian Moore is vice president of policy at the Reason Foundation. He has conducted studies, written publications and scholarly articles on the privatization of prisons and how they yield quality corrections at a lower cost. He has served on boards and commissions developing or overseeing privatization at the federal, state, and local level. Tune in to hear Herman and Moore debate and discuss the colossal incarceration rate, the profit motives of private prisons, the politics behind it all, and the impact on prisoners’ rights. Special Thanks to our sponsor, Clio.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving brother of the accused for the Boston marathon bombings, has become a face of the media lately. His prosecution and potential sentence raises many questions for both the public and the legal world. Attorneys and co-hosts Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi join Attorney Jack Cunha and Professor Douglas Berman to discuss the prosecution and trial of the suspect. • Jack Cunha, of Cunha & Holcomb, is a practicing criminal attorney based in Boston, Massachusetts. A former instructor at Suffolk and Harvard Law Schools, Cunha lectures nationally for various associations and schools such as The National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, Harvard Law, and CLE Programs mainly on criminal defense. • Douglas Berman, Professor of Law at The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, has taught a myriad of courses at Ohio State including criminal law, criminal punishment and sentencing, and the death penalty. He is co-author of a casebook, Sentencing Law and Policy: Cases, Statutes, and Guidelines. He also writes a popular blog titled Sentencing Law and Policy. Tune in to hear what these experienced professionals have to say as they answer questions such as: Although Massachusetts outlawed the death penalty in 1984, will prosecutors use federal law to seek the death penalty for Tsarnaev? Will the fact that the suspect is only 19 call for mitigation? and more.

We started Lawyer2Lawyer back in August of 2005 with the idea of providing quality content and discussion of timely legal news and information for the legal profession with regularly published podcasts and often videos too. Since our inception, we have set the precedent for legal podcasting in numbers of listeners globally, but more importantly, we’ve been one of the leaders in great content - our priority over the past 7 years. On this final edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and Craig Williams, talk about their personal experiences over the years with this legal podcast.

The New England Compounding Center (NECC) shipped out tainted steroid shots to 23 states in what authorities believe resulted in a national fungal meningitis outbreak. Lawyer2Lawyer host Craig Williams chats with Attorney Michael F. Barrett, a personal injury attorney from the firm, Saltz Mongeluzzi Barrett & Bendesky, PC and Glenn Cohen, Assistant Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School, about the litigation stemming from this meningitis scare, the role of the FDA and CDC and regulation.