Legal Talk Network - Law News and Legal Topics

The virtual world of NFTs and Web3 is developing rapidly, and within this space, intellectual property disputes are now cropping up at a similarly rapid pace. Diane Littlejohn, Kristen Roberts, and Jessica Neer McDonald talk through their TECHSHOW presentation on trademark and copyright issues arising from NFTs and Web3 and share how to assess goals and uses for virtual content to decide what protections a creator may need. Diane Littlejohn is an attorney currently serving as the Executive Director of the Technology Law and Policy Center at North Carolina Central University School of Law.Kristen G. Roberts, Founder & Managing Attorney at Trestle Law, APC is a California-based intellectual property attorney who helps business owners build a bridge from their brands to their bank accounts.Jessica Neer McDonald is founder of intellectual property law firm Neer McD PLLC, based in Miami, Florida. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

And a pop quiz: do you know what 'bofadeez' is?Judge Roger Benitez of the Southern District of California decided to use his marshal to take a 13-year-old girl out of the audience and handcuff her in the jury box. Apparently, he didn't realize arbitrary acts of psychological torture upon children was frowned upon in this establishment. Now the Ninth Circuit is looking into a formal complaint. Also, those Dr. Rick commercials scold people turning into their parents for trying to leave voicemails, but it might be worth checking to see what the voicemail greeting you set 10 years ago says. Because for one aspiring lawyer it wasn't great. Finally, the Fifth Circuit's Judge Ho thinks it's wrong to prosecute political rivals on made up charges and frighteningly he's in the minority on this question. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Lauren Stiller Rikleen was approached in 2020 by the ABA Judicial Division to help compile autobiographical stories from women judges in America, a powerful motivating factor for her was to capture stories of the barriers the judges overcame in their own words.Rikleen, a former law firm partner and consultant who writes and speaks about the importance of cross-generational communication, tells the ABA Journal’s Lee Rawles that she hopes millennial and Gen Z readers will benefit from the reflections of women judges from the Silent Generation, baby boomers and Gen X. Some of the challenges they faced will not similarly impede younger generations, but other obstacles are familiar, formidable and still present.“[E]ven as gains are made, biases are deep and systemic, requiring the vigilance of every generation to continue the difficult work of achieving full equity for all,” Rikleen writes in her introduction to Her Honor: Stories of Challenge and Triumph from Women Judges.Bookended by essays about the former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Her Honor compiles reflections by the living jurists or essays about the lives of judges who have passed on. The 25 women jurists are all honorees of the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Awards, selected by the Commission on Women in the Profession. Rikleen herself has received a Margaret Brent award, and says it was a fair-handed way to narrow down participants. Past Margaret Brent honorees who also contributed to Her Honor include previous guests of the Modern Law Library podcast, Judge Bernice Bouie Donald and Judge M. Margaret McKeown. The judges write about the paths they took to the judiciary; their struggles to balance their work and personal lives; the people who mentored and encouraged them; and their triumphs and regrets.“They are different in every particular, yet what unites them in the aggregate is profound: This is a book about imagination, and what it took and still takes for women, and by extension other minorities invisible to the Constitution and the law, to imagine themselves into a structure that didn’t include them,” Dahlia Lithwick, senior legal correspondent at Slate, wrote in the forward to the book.In addition to discussing Her Honor, Rikleen and Rawles get into another project to which Rikleen has devoted her time. She is the executive director of Lawyers Defending American Democracy, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that works to uphold democratic norms and the rule of law. They also discuss the “three Cs” promoted by ABA President Deborah Enix-Ross: civics, civility and collaboration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Getting the documents your client requests is the primary reward of Sunshine Law litigation, but can you also be reimbursed for your time? In our final episode on Sunshine Laws, we discuss settlements, misconceptions about attorney/client privilege, and our personal observations that judges are becoming more eager to rule on these cases to ensure government entities are transparent and act to serve people, not politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You clearly gave your focus group jurors all the facts in your case. Most understood your message, but a few folks went completely off the deep end and jumped to a conclusion you can’t even comprehend. We often forget that jurors don’t share our legal knowledge and that the responsibility of decision-making in a legal setting can be overwhelming. Tune in to hear some of the crazy comments we’ve heard in focus groups and what they can teach us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The day has finally come: Conrad and Gyi are live from ABA Techshow! F.O.P’s Allison Johs and Rukayatu “Ruky” Tijani share the importance of investing in marketing and authentic branding and purpose.(1:46) You may be surprised at how few small firms and solo practices have a true budget, never mind a specific marketing budget. So how do these firms know how much money they have and how to use resources effectively? In our first segment Allison Johs of Legal Ease Consulting gets right into the results from the latest ABA Tech survey with tips on how to deploy your resources to grow your business.(12:38) Being intentional and goal oriented starts with knowing yourself, your clients, and your goals. Consider Rukayatu “Ruky” Tijani, a shining example of how lawyers can build their brand and create meaningful connections with real people. Hear how Tijani sets goals, creates routines, and thrives as her authentic self.Resources from This Episode:ABA TechshowCheck out Alison Joh’s book, “How to Do More in Less Time: The Complete Guide to Increasing Your Productivity and Improving Your Bottom Line, Second Edition”CanvaGroove appLunch Hour Legal Marketing now on YouTubeLunch Hour Legal Marketing on TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Change is difficult, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t needed. So, what might we need to do to change the way we conceive of legal services? Lynda Shely, Darth Vaughn, Jayne Reardon, and Ed Walters share highlights from their keynote—a fictional public hearing—debating the idea of modifying attorney Rules of Professional Conduct to address challenges in access to justice and legal service delivery.Lynda Shely, of The Shely Firm, PC, Scottsdale, Arizona, provides ethics and risk management advice to lawyers and law firms.Darth Vaughn serves as Litigation Counsel and leads the Legal Innovation & Technology Operations team for Ford Motor Company’s Office of General Counsel.Jayne Reardon is the former executive director of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism.Ed Walters is the CEO and co-founder of Fastcase. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ChatGPT’s ability to work at the level of language is already catching the attention of litigators around the world. Pablo Arrenondo and Stephen Embry recap their talk at TECHSHOW on how ChatGPT and other AI can be used as tools to aid attorneys in legal practice. They discuss concerns with accuracy and bias and also explore the many positive opportunities presented by this burgeoning tech.Pablo Arredondo is co-founder and chief innovation officer at Casetext.Stephen Embry is a member of Frost Brown Todd LLC and part of the firm’s class action, privacy, and mass tort groups. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Web3 and the metaverse continue to grow in their reach, more and more people are using cryptocurrency—even to pay their legal fees. What do lawyers need to know about these new forms of payment? Jessica Neer McDonald and Jamie Szal give an overview of blockchain, cryptocurrency, and Web3 payment sources and explain their legal and ethical implications for law firms.Jessica Neer McDonald is founder of intellectual property law firm Neer McD PLLC, based in Miami, Florida.Jamie Szal is a partner at Brann & Isaacson, where she focuses her practice on assisting businesses in all aspects of state and local tax controversy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The newest market for legal professionals may not exist in the physical world, but legal matters in the metaverse are very real, opening up a host of opportunities for attorneys. Kristen Roberts, Diane Littlejohn, and Mathew Kerbis talk us through the basics of the metaverse and its expanding need for legal services.Kristen G. Roberts, Founder & Managing Attorney at Trestle Law, APC is a California-based intellectual property attorney who helps business owners build a bridge from their brands to their bank accounts.Diane Littlejohn is an attorney currently serving as the Executive Director of the Technology Law and Policy Center at North Carolina Central University School of Law.Mathew R. Kerbis is an associate attorney at Condon & Cook, LLC focusing his practice in civil litigation defense of first-party and third-party insurance and personal injury matters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices