Legal Talk Network - Law News and Legal Topics

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are living children for the purposes of Alabama law. And while there are a lot of serious implications for the future of family fertility efforts, let's take a second to consider how much this absolutely breaks the state's rule against perpetuities. An attorney in the YSL case faces gang charges herself. She's made some... marketing decisions. Hogan Lovells must ponder whether invoking the wrath of ancient Roman poltergeists are worth a prime office location. Has anyone considered just working from home? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We continue our discussion on jury nullification with examples we’ve encountered in recent cases and offer tips on how you can address possible nullification issues through argument, motions in limine or jury instructions. Our best advice is to keep your eyes open through every step of the case and be prepared to take up the issue with the court. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s always best to assume that your case could go to trial, and, with that in mind, lawyers need to be prepared and organized throughout the entire matter. Host Lydia Malone welcomes Alicia Aquino and Heidi Barcus to learn tips from their TECHSHOW session on best practices for methodical trial document organization—highlighting technology use, creating and managing pre-trial documents, developing trial binders, and more. Alicia Aquino is the CEO and Trial Technology Consultant with Aquino Trial Services.Heidi Barcus is a healthcare trial attorney Lewis Thomason, P.C. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guest Kathryn “Katie” DeBord leads product development strategy at the global firm DISCO in technological, cloud-based solutions for lawyers and law firms. Tech, from the earliest stages of every case, is no longer an option. Everything from eDiscovery – sifting through oceans of data – to analyzing witness statements to adjusting trial strategy on the fly involves today’s ever-evolving technologies. Are you keeping up? It’s hard to know with so many services bursting onto the scene. Hear how DeBord scans the landscape to track what’s new, what works, and what’s still in the pipeline. You’ve come a long way from the LexisNexis and Westlaw you met in law school. Entire suites of tech platforms, all the way up to generative AI, are on the market and getting better. If your opponent is using the latest, and you’re not … well, that’s not good.Autogenerate timelines, upload and organize evidence, and sift through data as today’s tools accelerate your case and reveal hidden connections. Tech won’t replace your creativity and skill as an attorney, but it can help you work smarter, more efficiently, and achieve better results. (Plus, did you know the CIA has a secret museum of gadgets created by the agency’s Directorate of Science and Technology? And no, you can’t visit it without secret clearance).Resources:Kathyrn “Katie” DeBord’s previous appearances on the Legal Talk Network include:  “Legal Innovation: Imagining Creative Solutions for Clients”  “Evolve Law: The Future and Direction of Legal Technology”  “Evolve Law: Client Driven Technology Solutions”  LexisNexisWestlawAmerican Bar AssociationAmerican Bar Association Litigation Section Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Federal judges have lifetime tenure with little to no oversight. Despite employing thousands of new law school graduates as law clerks, they aren’t subject to anti-discrimination or other workplace laws. How is it possible that federal courts do not have to follow the same federal labor laws they enforce? In this episode, Aliza Shatzman, founder of the Legal Accountability Project, describes the experience that inspired her to create LAP and what needs to change to hold federal judges accountable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the past two episodes of Lawyer2Lawyer, we have covered SCOTUS cases that have included ballot access and immunity with former President Trump at the forefront of these cases. Trump has also been charged in four criminal cases.In this episode, Craig is joined by professor Tamara R. Lave, from the University of Miami, as they spotlight these upcoming criminal cases of Trump, whether these cases will go to trial before the presidential election, and possible punishment. Mentioned in this episode:Tracking the Trump Criminal Cases (Politico) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Let’s talk about changes in the law and legal technology in 2024 and how to make yourself more valuable to your firm and reenergize your career. Hear where the legal field is going (and how you’ll get there) with tech guru and guest Joy Murao. Maybe you’ll even find the motivation and courage to sign up for a course and learn new skills in the coming year. Technology isn’t something mystical or even unusual in the legal field. It’s as vital as a paper and pen. Make this the year you overcome any lingering fears and learn to use the myriad tools available to you, from eDiscovery to AI. Don’t underestimate what you’ve learned in the past, don’t overestimate the learning curve as you get accustomed to new tools, and never underestimate yourself. Get inspired. If you have insights you’d like to share or a topic you’d like us to take on, please send us a note at Jfrancisco@lawgical.com and HaveASipp@gmail.com. Mentioned in this Episode:PAR training and classesNALA education programsNALA Advanced Certified Paralegal coursesLA Law Library   2024 NALA Conference & Expo “Nala Certifying Board Announces New Certified Paralegal Exam Specifications”NALA, The Paralegal Association Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zack talks with Lab Coach and former Lab member Ryan McKeen about delegating leadership in your law firm. Specifically, Ryan explains the recent Emerging Leaders Retreat that Lawyerist CEO Stephanie Everett facilitated for his firm. Zack also digs into why lawyer websites matter and how attorneys should make sure their website is saying what they want to say to convert potential new clients with iLawyer Marketing. Links from the episode:   Check out iLawyer Marketing! iLawyer 30 Min Strategy Session iLawyer Marking First Appearance   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!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Even-keeled professionalism may pay off over time, but being a mercurial lunatic always pays off now.______________________________Former Trump aide Stephen Miller used Super Bowl week to launch a stunt employment discrimination complaint against the NFL. The rule in question is the subject of a much better legal challenge that it doesn't do ENOUGH to address anti-Black discrimination, but nothing about Miller's legal moves have much connection to reality -- up to and including the fact that he IS NOT A LAWYER. The Supreme Court heard oral argument in the insurrection case and Chief John Roberts hasn't shown his complete ignorance of basic facts about American elections since Shelby County. Finally, Judge Aileen Cannon receives motion to reconsider, the boldest litigation move of all since it requires counsel so confident in their eventual success that they're willing to call the trial judge a moron. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Police & the Empire City: Race & the Origins of Modern Policing, Matthew Guariglia looks at the New York City police from their founding in 1845 through the 1930s as “police transitioned from a more informal collection of pugilists clad in wool coats to what we can recognize today as a modern professionalized police department.”From the beginning, race and ethnicity had a major impact in the policing of New York City. In a city where the top echelons of power were held by Anglo-Dutch Protestants, the streets were patrolled by Irish and German immigrant police officers, sometimes enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act by snatching Black people off the streets and sending them back to enslavement in the South.In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Guariglia and the ABA Journal’s Lee Rawles discuss what the early period of policing in New York City can tell us about policing today. Rawles shares her own ancestor’s path from immigrant to police court judge on the West Side of Chicago (though the dates she cites in the interview are incorrect–Michael J. O’Donoghue emigrated from Ireland in the 1874 and was appointed to the police court in 1901.)For Irish and German immigrants, a job on the police force was a path out of poverty and towards whiteness and political power, but you would be asked to prove yourself by visiting violence on your own community. African American community leaders hoped the appointment of Black policemen would curb police brutality, but the city was slower than other metropolises like Chicago, who hired James L. Shelton as the city’s first Black officer in 1871. Samuel Battle became the NYPD’s first Black police officer in 1911, eventually rising to the rank of lieutenant and being appointed a parole commissioner.Meanwhile, in neighborhoods like Chinatown, entire communities went without police officers who spoke the same language as inhabitants. The first Chinese-speaking officer was hired in 1904. That same year, the General Slocum disaster sent the city administration scrambling for German-speaking police officers to locate relatives in Kleindeutschland to identify bodies of the thousand victims of the burned shipwreck. Fears of “the Black Hand” led to the creation of the Italian Squad, and Guariglia shares the story of how the Italian Squad’s founder, Joseph Petrosino, ended up assassinated while on assignment in Sicily.“Empire City” is an apt name for New York City, as it had international reach and drew on former colonial administrators. One influential police commissioner, Gen. Francis Vinton Greene, had been involved in the U.S. occupation of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War. Tactics first used to subjugate colonists were put to use in the city. As the Progressive Era led to a preoccupation with eugenics, the New York City police were involved in international conversations about the characteristics of criminals and race science. The idea of molding the perfect police officers also caught hold. In this episode, Guariglia shares how the police departments decided they had to teach their officers how to stand and chew properly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices