Legal Talk Network - Law News and Legal Topics

Bar presidents share strategies, tools and insights for attorneys growing into leadership roles. Learn from real stories of growth, crisis management, and innovation in NCBP's Leading the Bar podcast. Listen monthly for compelling stories the next generation of lawyer-leaders can use to develop skills, confidence, and vision to lead with purpose and integrity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Drawing from over 30 years experience in legal practice, Judy Selby’s newest book offers a wealth of knowledge for attorneys looking to move forward with confidence in their legal career. Molly Ranns and JoAnn Hathaway sit down with Judy to learn her insights on creating meaningful relationships with clients while growing a brand that reflects your personal values. And, when it comes to wellbeing, Judy has practical, realistic advice that helps attorneys avoid the pitfalls that could negatively impact their progress.  Read Judy’s book to learn more! The Untold Secrets to Thrive as a Lawyer: Six Steps to Ignite Your Legal Career Even if You Didn’t Go to Harvard or Yale  judyselby.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On January 20th, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order (EO) 14160, limiting birthright citizenship. This was met with backlash, as the constitutionality of the order was questioned. On May 15, 2025 SCOTUS heard oral arguments regarding a challenge to the order and a decision is expected to be released by late June or early July 2025. The courts have temporarily blocked the implementation of the Executive Order while constitutional challenges proceed. In this episode, Craig is joined by David C. Baluarte, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and a Professor of Law at CUNY School of Law. Together, Craig and Dean Balaurte discuss Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship, recent oral arguments before SCOTUS, the constitutional fight for birthright citizenship, and the potential impact of this upcoming decision. Mentioned in this Episode: United States v. Wong Kim Ark Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Step inside a real-world example of legal innovation as two Lawyerist Lab members, Rachel Allums and Allison Harrison, reveal how they partnered to create Safe Sendoff, a new company addressing common legal needs for young adults.   Rachel and Allison identified a need for legal documents like powers of attorney and HIPAA releases when young people turn 18. They decided to join forces, sharing costs and leveraging their individual firm experiences to develop a product that serves both young adults and their parents. Beyond providing crucial legal forms, Safe Sendoff also includes an "Adulting 101" course, which educates young people on the responsibilities and rights that come with turning 18, covering topics from employment rules to filing taxes.  Their discussion highlights a new service delivery model offering automated, cost-effective solutions. Rachel and Allison share how their experience running their individual law firms informed their approach to building Safe Sendoff, allowing them to expedite the process of defining their purpose, vision, and ideal client. They also emphasize the benefits of working with a shared coach through Lawyerist Lab, which helped keep them on track. You'll learn about their commitment to transparent, upfront pricing and their focus on delivering valuable legal support through recorded explanations and automated processes, making high-quality legal information accessible at a fraction of the cost.  If this discussion sparks questions about optimizing your firm's operations or identifying new opportunities, consider exploring the "free small firm scorecard" at lawyerist.com/scorecard. It's a quick assessment to help you get a data-driven view of your firm and identify areas for smart improvements as you embark on your own innovation journey.    Listen to our other episodes:  #407: Serving Clients Through Alternative Business Structures, with Mike Payne and Chad Huebsch Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Lawyerist   #368: Using Strategy Intensives for Your Firm’s Success, with Anne Romanello Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Lawyerist   #320 A Labster Call, with Aaron Thomas Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Lawyerist    Have thoughts about today’s episode? Join the conversation on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X!    If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap Revisited yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Looking for help beyond the book? See if our coaching community is right for you.    Access more resources from Lawyerist at lawyerist.com.  Chapters/Timestamps:  9:31 - Introducing Safe Sendoff: A New Venture 11:49 - The "Adulting 101" Component & Why Young Adults Need These Documents 15:14 - The Partnership Journey: Challenges and Synergies 17:48 - Building a Second Business Differently 22:46 - The Business Model: Beyond the Billable Hour 25:24 - Lessons Learned and Advice for Entrepreneurs 28:53 - What's Next for Safe Sendoff: Marketing and Growth   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What exactly does your state bar president do, anyway? A very presidential trio joins Rocky Dhir for today’s conversation examining this leadership role and its many responsibilities. Rocky welcomes Past-President Cindy Tisdale, current President Steve Benesh, and President-Elect Santos Vargas to learn more about their efforts for fellow lawyers and their desire to address unmet needs in the profession throughout the state. Later, they dig into the history of the State Bar of Texas, explain the current structure and operation of the organization as a whole, and share how Texas legal professionals can get more involved in Bar programs.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Quite the combination of words. ----- Lawsuit against former Texas SG alleges bizarre cosmic sex fetish. The administration made two significant changes to the judicial nomination process, firing the ABA from its neutral evaluator role and kicking the Federalist Society to the curb. The latter move came with an epic rant declaring Leonard Leo a sleazebag. Broken clocks and all. And Kash Patel lays out the FBI's priorities and child predators and terrorists are now lower on the most wanted list than, "your neighbor who posted an 8647 joke." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Chambers v. Florida and the Criminal Justice Revolution, historian and former ABA Journal reporter Richard Brust lifts the veil on a case that laid the groundwork for some much more famous civil rights victories. On May 13, 1933, shopkeeper Robert Darsey was robbed and murdered in Pompano, Florida. Four Black migrant farm workers—Izell Chambers, Walter Woodard, Jack Williamson and Charlie Davis—were seized and pressured by the local sheriff into confessing to the murder under threat of lynching. Their appeals eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court through the efforts of some dedicated African American attorneys, and succeeded in 1940. In Justice Hugo Black’s written opinion for the majority, the justice drew parallels between the Jim Crow regime in the American South and the rise of authoritarianism and fascism in Europe. Chambers v. Florida forbade the use of psychological coercion—such as threatening to turn prisoners over to lynch mobs—as well as physical abuse to extract confessions. The court’s ruling declared that the protections of the Bill of Rights extended into states’ criminal cases, and began to change the kinds of cases that made it onto the Supreme Court docket.Brust sees it as part of a trio of cases, which includes Moore v. Dempsey (1923) and Brown v. Mississippi (1936), that led to a “criminal procedure revolution,” he tells the ABA Journal’s Lee Rawles. In this episode of The Modern Law Library, Brust discusses the lawyers who worked on the case, most prominently Simuel D. McGill, a Black attorney in Jacksonville. He delves into the generational differences between the Floridian defense lawyers and the attorneys of the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund who would go on to win key civil rights battles. He explains why Justice Black would have been considered an unlikely author for this opinion. And he shares what he could discover about the fates of Chambers, Woodard, Williamson and Davis after the trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plaintiff attorney and mediator Jill Bollwerk offers practical tips and insights that can help you be more successful in your next mediation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We The Action has a simple premise – lawyers have the power to do good. The organization started in 2017 to help connect lawyer with pro bono causes, from immigration and domestic violence representation to non-profit governance and tax issues, from voting rights to copyright.  Anna Chu, the Executive Director, describes how nimble organization started the Federal Workers Defense Network to provide pro bono support for the thousands of federal workers who were fired from their positions in violation of law and without legal process. You can find pro bono opportunities at https://wetheaction.org/lawyers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Case Doctors explain how they’ve managed clients who are passionate about their cases after a viewer asks them how to handle a client has a short temper and gets defensive when asked tough questions. The hot topic in this episode is about how a high-profile e-cigarette case involving allegations of exploding batteries got removed to federal court. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices