On The Merits

The predictions from a few years ago that the so-called "gig economy" would take over the country are looking a little shakier now. That's because California and other states have enacted laws that force many gig apps to classify their users as employees.On this episode of On The Merits, Bloomberg Law's Maeve Allsup talks about how, despite a pro-gig economy ballot initiative last year, many of these apps are still subject to California's employment laws. (3:10)Also, we take a look at the ongoing trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with the murder of George Floyd. Kristen Gibbons Feden, a former Pennsylvania assistant district attorney who tried and convicted Bill Cosby, talks to us about how to prosecute a trial that's receiving intense media attention. (12:53)

Berkshire Hathaway is unusual in a lot of ways, including the fact that it doesn't have a general counsel or even an in-house legal team. Today on our weekly podcast, On The Merits, Bloomberg Law's Brian Baxter explains why Warren Buffett's holding company exclusively uses an outside law firm and how that firm has benefited from its relationship to The Oracle of Omaha. (3:12) Also, Bloomberg Law legal reporter Jacklyn Wille tells us about the footnotes of a federal judge in California that are, depending on how you look at it, either extremely passive aggressive or remarkably empathetic. (12:18)

For many businesses, 2020 was a truly awful year—but that was not the case for Kirkland & Ellis’s bankruptcy practice. On today’s episode of our podcast, On The Merits, business of law reporter Roy Strom talks about his analysis of bankruptcy data that shows Kirkland handled a tremendous share of the many major bankruptcies that were filed last year. (2:36)Also, our new columnist Vivia Chen on the necessary and long overdue anti-Asian racism discussion happening now in the U.S. and how it intersects with the legal industry. (12:03)

State bar exams are getting some tweaks and may be fully overhauled in the near future. On this week’s episode of our podcast, On The Merits, Bloomberg Law’s Sam Skolnik talks about how emergency changes made to state bar exams, in response to the pandemic, have many thinking that a wholesale revision of how the exams are administered may not be a bad idea. (2:48)Also, legal editor Carmen Castro-Pagan talks about the ousted CEO of a company who lost a trademark suit with his former employer, and then also lost the patience of the judge hearing his case. (14:54)

This week's episode of our new weekly legal podcast, On The Merits, explores the push to increase the minimum wage for tipped workers. The hourly wage for tipped workers, $2.13, hasn't gone up in decades and is $5.12 lower than for non-tipped workers. (3:01) We also get a lesson in negligence while learning about a casino pool party accident that led to an embarrassing benchslap. (12:14)

Our new weekly podcast, On The Merits features some of the best reporting from across the Bloomberg Law newsroom. For the inaugural episode, we learn that states are sharing reams of sensitive, personally identifiable information about Covid-19 vaccine recipients with the CDC, all while staying in compliance with HIPAA. Bloomberg Law's Jacquie Lee explains how the famously strict medical privacy law has become much more flexible during this public health emergency, and what the CDC is doing to try to maintain some level of privacy for those who receive the vaccine (3:38).

Introducing "On The Merits," a new weekly legal news podcast from Bloomberg Law.

A live interview with Sally Yates, former deputy attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice, exploring the current state of risk for public and private companies. Yates is interviewed by David Westin, an anchor at Bloomberg TV and former general counsel of Capital Cities/ABC. Sponsors: Epiq www.epiqglobal.com/ Bloomberg Law www.bloomberglaw.com/ More Information: Big Law Business https://biglawbusiness.com/sally-yates-live-from-bloomberg-laws-in-house-forum

Josh Block is joined by legal journalist, Victor Li, the author of a new book about Richard Nixon's time as a law firm partner in New York City. In between his loss in the 1962 gubernatorial election in California and the 1968 presidential campaign, Nixon was a rainmaking partner at the Wall Street law firm, Nixon, Mudge, Rose, Guthrie & Alexander. In “Nixon in New York: How Wall Street Helped Richard Nixon Win the White House,” Li chronicles how Nixon’s time as a practicing lawyer, including arguing a case before the Supreme Court, helped pave the way for his political comeback. Sponsors: Epiq www.epiqglobal.com/ Bloomberg Law www.bloomberglaw.com/ More Information: Big Law Business https://biglawbusiness.com/ Show Notes: Richard Nixon’s concession speech following his loss in the 1962 California gubernatorial election. https://youtu.be/JA1edgj1U5E Leonard Garment on Charlie Rose speaking about his book, “Crazy Rhythm: My Journey from Brooklyn, Jazz, and Wall Street to Nixon’s White House, Watergate, and Beyond…” https://charlierose.com/videos/766 Oral arguments in Time v. Hill, the Supreme Court case Richard Nixon argued. https://www.oyez.org/cases/1965/22 The New York Times account of the collapse of Nixon’s former law firm, from October 1, 1995, “The Mudge Rose Firm Enters the Tar Pit of Legal History.” https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/01/nyregion/the-mudge-rose-firm-enters-the-tar-pit-of-legal-history.html Victor Li’s Richard Nixon blog. http://victor-li.com/the-nixon-blog/

After Ruth Bader Ginsburg graduated from Columbia Law School in 1959, tied for first in her class, she could not get a job as an associate in big law. As her classmate Professor Arthur R. Miller tells it, a partner at a prestigious firm was told about the brightest student in his class but, when her gender was mentioned, the partner wouldn’t even consider her. Which law firm? Miller isn’t saying. “He wouldn’t name the New York firm. It was our impression that it was a big name law firm in New York who’s name might still ring a bell,” Julie Cohen, co-director of a new documentary about Justice Ginsburg, told Big Law Business's Josh Block. Big law may not have been part of Ginsburg’s path, but not practicing at a law firm clearly did not impede her professional progress. It is well known that Justice Ginsburg became the second woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Her pop culture bona fides, established after her famous dissenting opinions, include a recurring segment on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update, and memes including the play on the name of rapper, The Notorious B.I.G. However, less well known is the path Ruth Bader Ginsburg took, including her years as as a lawyer, arguing six gender discrimination cases before the Supreme Court, winning five of them. In January 2015, filmmakers Julie Cohen and Betsy West had the idea of filling in those gaps by making a feature documentary about Ginsburg. Their film, "RBG," was released in select theaters today. In this podcast interview with the directors, they tell Block about Justice Ginsburg and their experience making the film. Sponsors: Epiq https://www.epiqglobal.com/ Bloomberg Law www.bloomberglaw.com/ More Information: Big Law Business https://biglawbusiness.com/