Serious Trouble

In this eye-opening episode of "The Legal Brief: Beyond the Machine," renowned attorneys Ken White and Josh Barro explore the potential risks and limitations of using AI, specifically ChatGPT, for drafting legal briefs. Joined by esteemed legal professionals and experts, they delve into the allure of technology, the nuances AI may overlook, and the potential ethical dilemmas and risks of inaccurate information. Discover why relying solely on ChatGPT for your legal briefs may not be as foolproof as it seems. Tune in to gain valuable insights that challenge conventional perceptions and reshape the way you approach legal writing in the digital era. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.serioustrouble.show/subscribe

Is Rudy Giuliani in serious trouble? He’s facing two lawsuits. One is for getting a supermarket employee arrested. The other is… well, it’s for a lot of stuff. Ken and Josh discuss the prospects for ShopRite employee Daniel Gill’s lawsuit over Rudy crying “assault” over a tap on the shoulder. s for Noelle Dunphy, she has some pretty shocking claims about several areas of alleged misconduct, and we want to see what does (or doesn’t) come out in discovery to support them. We also talk about Mark Pomerantz — the former Manhattan prosecutor who somehow took the Fifth when House Republicans tried to question him about the investigation into Donald Trump — and John Durham, whose own prosecutorial endeavors have wound down with a fairly underwhelming report. We talk about signs of activity in the Trump documents case that are maybe being over-read in the press, and about new infighting in Trump’s legal team. And we talk about E. Jean Carroll’s other lawsuit — the one that’s still tied up in questions about whether Trump can be sued personally for statements he made about her while he was president — and what significance that lawsuit holds now that she’s already won a multimillion dollar judgment on closely related claims.Visit serioustrouble.show to find a transcript of this episode, relevant links and to support our work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.serioustrouble.show/subscribe

Ken and I started this week talking about the CNN town hall with Donald Trump. On CNN’s air, Trump repeated his denials of his assault of E. Jean Carroll — denials for which he was ordered (the day before the town hall) to pay a defamation judgment. Carroll has mused about suing him again, and she could, though her main challenge in court would be showing that his fresh denials further harmed her, beyond the damages she’s already been awarded compensation for. We also talked about the legal considerations facing CNN or any other network that might interview a person who is likely to make defamatory statements. We talked about George Santos, who appears to be quite enjoying his role as a federal defendant, and about whether you should give a hyped-up press conference explaining why it was okay for you to take the unemployment benefits the government has charged you over (no). And we talked about Nina Jankowicz, former head of the short-lived Disinformation Governance Board at the Department of Homeland Security. That board was dissolved after extensive attacks on Jankowicz in conservative media, and now she’s suing Fox News for defamation. Ken and I discussed her uphill legal battle.Visit serioustrouble.show to find a transcript of this episode and to support our work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.serioustrouble.show/subscribe

This week, Ken and I discussed the verdict — and the $5 million judgment — in the Carroll v. Trump case, and whether Donald Trump erred, in retrospect, by not showing up for trial. We also talked about his prospects for appeal (slim) and when E. Jean Carroll can expect to get her money. We talked about Rep. George Santos, who has been indicted for crimes including unemployment insurance fraud. (How pedestrian!) We talked about his best strategy going forward from this point, and the major bargaining chip he holds — his ability to resign from the office he olds (for now) as part of any plea deal.Visit serioustrouble.show to become a support of the show — you'll find a transcript of this episode and the rest of the Serious Trouble episodes there too. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.serioustrouble.show/subscribe

This episode of Serious Trouble, live and in person with Ken and Sara! This week, Ken and I talked about the Walt Disney Company’s lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, which raises an interesting legal question: When is an otherwise-constitutional government action made unconstitutional by the motive that elected officials had for acting? The Disney case also gave me an opportunity to make Ken talk about the rule against perpetuities, which was almost as enjoyable as when I make him read out the RICO Hotline email address.There’s more in this episode. We also talked about developments in E. Jean Carroll’s civil lawsuit against former president Donald Trump over the rape she says he committed against her in the 1990s. And we talked about developments in other proceedings — Trump’s loss in the suit he brought against his niece and The New York Times, Mike Pence’s appearance before special counsel Jack Smith’s grand jury in Washington DC, and the dismissal of the involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin.This episode is free for all listeners. It also includes questions and feedback from a few of you — we appreciate all your emails and comments. Of course, if you want to join those comments, you have to be a paying subscriber… so if you’re not, maybe consider an upgrade? We’d love to have you on board. serioustrouble.show This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.serioustrouble.show/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.show*This episode contains un-bleeped profanity, as usual, but the swear jar is used once.Tucker Carlson has been dismissed from Fox News. Media accounts on why he was fired differ, but the departure looks like it was, in one way or another, downstream of the lies Fox broadcast about Dominion Voting Systems and the legal proceedings that ensued. Ken and I talked this week about the stresses that litigation can impose on any organization, and about what you can do when you want to fire an employee who’s also a key witness in a lawsuit you face. Meanwhile, the civil trial over E. Jean Carroll’s rape allegation against Donald Trump has begun in New York. We talk about the opening statements, which reflect quality representation on both sides of the case, and about when a defendant should and should not show up to court.That’s the show for free subscribers. Paying subscribers also hear about Mike Lindell, who offered up a $5 million reward to anyone who could “Prove Mike Wrong” and an arbitration panel has ordered him to pay up, which he didn’t want to do, even though he was proved wrong. Paying subscribers also get an update on Hunter Biden, who’s made some dumb choices in a custody proceeding that could hurt his position vis-a-vis the ongoing criminal investigation into his finances. And you hear an expert listener’s answer to our question about Afroman, “Under the Boardwalk,” and intellectual property. We knew the RICO Hotline would come through on that one.Visit serioustrouble.show to find a transcript of this episode and to support our show.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showWell, holy crap. As you’ve likely heard, Dominion v. Fox will not be going to trial. We recorded this episode on Tuesday morning, and then when the settlement came out, we recorded again — so this is some fresh, fresh content, looking at what forces would have driven the parties to get to ‘yes,’ and how the settlement came to be so large — likely the largest settlement ever paid in a defamation case in the US.Read more from Josh and Ken, support our show, and find other links (including Josh's lemon pound cake recipe) at serioustrouble.show.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThis week, Ken and Josh discuss major developments in Dominion Voting Systems’ lawsuit against Fox News, which will imminently go to trial in Delaware. So far, pre-trial rulings have been in Dominion's favor, but as we saw a few months ago in the Tesla shareholder lawsuit against Elon Musk, it’s possible to win big on the pre-trial motions and still lose at trial. We discussed that outlook as the parties proceed into jury selection. We also talked about a goat — you have probably read about Cedar, the goat that the Shasta County Fair Board had seized and killed after the young girl who was raising him decided she didn’t want to give him up for slaughter. Ken describes why they’re going to have a tough time getting relief in court.And for paying subscribers, we have more conversation about Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s indictment of former president Donald Trump. Many of you pointed out the case looks stronger than commentators (including us) have given it credit for, and we discuss those specifics.Visit serioustrouble.show to become a free or paying subscriber of our podcast. Thank you for your support!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showWell, this one’s a doozy. There’s a reason this week’s episode for paid subscribers is more than an hour long. After years of hearing that “the walls are closing in on Donald Trump,” after two impeachments, and after Ken and Sara and I produced hundreds of podcast episodes regarding his legal travails, Donald Trump has finally been charged with a felony — 34 of them, actually. It’s quite complicated and interesting, and we have a lot of analysis of how we got here and what’s likely to happen next. And yet. The charges that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg have brought… well, they’re a real stretch. Still, even though this looks like a weak prosecution, it’s going to be a complicated and interesting one.Become a paying subscriber to hear the entire episode and all future episodes. Sign up for $6/month or $60/year at serioustrouble.show. This is a 100% listener-funded podcast, and we are proud of it.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showKen is back from his vacation, and there were no Trump indictments while he was gone. Isn’t that nice? We discuss the evidence that led many people, including Trump himself, to declare an indictment was imminent; and we discuss what we might infer about whether there will even be an indictment. Plus, updates on other Trump-related legal proceedings: anonymity for the jury in E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit, and a not-yet-released ruling that requires Mike Pence to testify about some topics for a grand jury in Washington D.C.But none of those is the big story of the week. BY OVERWHELMING REQUEST: we discuss the police raid on Afroman's house, how he turned footage of that raid into new songs and music videos and merch (including footage of a cop apparently getting a little distracted from his official duties by a lemon pound cake that was on Afroman's kitchen counter), and how he's being sued by the cops for doing so.That Afroman conversation is for paying subscribers only, as is our update on Sam Bankman-Fried, who has been indicted yet again for serious financial crimes. (Sam! Enough already.)Visit serioustrouble.show to become a paying subscriber and you'll receive all of our full episodes from now on.