ABA Journal: Modern Law Library

The story of voting rights in the United States is not just one of expansion; there have been periods (such as after Reconstruction) where voting rights that had once been exercised were blocked off, extinguished and suppressed. Uncounted: The Crisis of Voter Suppression in America tells the story of historical efforts of voter suppression and the modern-day dangers that face voters now. In this new episode of the Modern Law Library, Gilda R. Daniels speaks with the ABA Journal’s Lee Rawles. Special thanks to our sponsor, Headnote.

A lawyer’s duties do not begin and end at the courtroom door. They extend beyond to the proverbial court of public opinion. As both an attorney and a public relations consultant, author James F. Haggerty has shared how to properly handle the media aspects of litigation in the third edition of his book, In the Court of Public Opinion: Winning Strategies for Litigation Communications. In this new episode of the Modern Law Library, Haggerty speaks with Olivia Aguilar of ABA Publishing. Special thanks to our sponsor, Headnote.

When considering our New Year’s resolutions, we all want to be more resourceful with our time, especially with our workdays. We don’t realize how much time meetings can take up if they are conducted in an inefficient manner. Author and lawyer Donald Tortorice has offered a solution with his new book, The Modern Rules of Order. The fifth edition shares a modern and streamlined approach to business meetings that promotes efficiency, decorum and fairness in all settings. Special thanks to our sponsor, Headnote.

If you're traveling this holiday season–or just enjoying some end-of-year downtime–you might be in need of some good book recommendations. With that in mind, in this episode of the Modern Law Library, the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles brings you a glimpse at what we've been reading around the ABA offices. Staff recommendations run the gamut from romance to horror to self-help to historical fiction. Make 2020 the year you make time to curl up with a good book, and tell us your favorite read of 2019. Special thanks to our sponsor, Headnote.

A new book by Judge Frederic Block gives a behind-the-scenes look at a judge’s thoughts and feelings when imposing punishments. Block is candid and self-reflective in the book and also wonders where the line should be drawn in exercising judicial powers. In this new episode of the Modern Law Library podcast, Olivia Aguilar of ABA Publishing speaks with Block about sentencing issues, the details surrounding the cases covered in the book, and the most important case that he has ever handled. Special thanks to our sponsor, Headnote.

One year after Brett Kavanaugh's tumultuous nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, questions that arose during the nomination hearings still linger. In this episode, the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles speaks with New York Times reporters Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly about their book The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation. Progrebin and Kelly discuss what it was like to report on Kavanaugh's nomination in real time, and to speak with the women who accused him of sexual assaults dating back to his high school and college years. They discuss what they learned from people who'd known him at various points in his life, and the conclusions they came to at the end of their year-long investigation. Special thanks to our sponsor, Headnote.

As director of the National Legal Research Group’s jury research services division, Jeffrey T. Frederick is an expert on jury selection strategies. His new book, Mastering Voir Dire and Jury Selection, Fourth Edition: Gain an Edge in Questioning and Selecting Your Jury, shares how to develop and ask the questions to uncover information. In this new episode of the Modern Law Library podcast, Olivia Aguilar of ABA Publishing talks to Frederick about the significance of nonverbal cues during questioning, why open-ended questioning is the best way to secure necessary information, and how you can break the ice with a conversational tone. Special thanks to our sponsor, Headnote.

Tens of thousands of people worked at Ground Zero after the World Trade Center attacks in 2001, looking for survivors, sifting for human remains and breathing in the dust of the pulverized buildings. Their actions were heroic and lauded at the time, but as the months and years passed, many began to become gravely ill. William Groner was part of a legal team who brought a mass tort case that secured settlements for more than 10,000 such clients. In 9/12: The Epic Battle of the Ground Zero Responders, Groner and journalist Tom Teicholz tell stories about the individuals involved and the twists and turns of a legal battle with billion-dollar stakes. Groner speaks with the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles about how this battle changed him personally, the challenge of "being ahead of the science," and why the heroism his clients showed is now more important than ever. Special thanks to our sponsor, Headnote.

The podcast discusses legal issues and policies surrounding smart technology like IoT devices, addressing privacy violations and security risks. Topics include vulnerabilities of IoT devices to hackers, impact on national security, potential regulatory measures, and security recommendations by NIST. It also explores the societal implications of IoT automation, from data ownership to algorithmic bias.

Ed Scott was the first ever non-white owner and operator of a catfish plant in the nation. The former sharecropper-turned-landowner was part of a class-action lawsuit that resulted in upon one of the largest civil rights settlements in U.S. history. With the settlement of Pigford v. Glickman in 1999, almost $1 billion dollars has been issued to over 13,000 African American farmers to date. In 2010, the second half of the case was settled for another $1.2 billion in Pigford II. Scott’s legal battle and personal history inspired Julian Rankin to write Catfish Dream: Ed Scott’s Fight for his Family Farm and Racial Justice in the Mississippi Delta. In this episode, Rankin speaks with his cousin, the ABA Journal’s Brenan Sharp, about how Rankin came to meet Scott; how his background in visual arts informs his writing; and what Scott’s story shows us about the struggle for racial and economic justice in the Mississippi Delta. Special thanks to our sponsor, Headnote.