ABA Journal Podcasts - Legal Talk Network

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ABA Journal: Modern Law Library : 'White Fright' author discusses historical lynch mobs and the attack on the Capitol Jan 13, 2021

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Historian Jane Dailey discusses her new book, White Fright: The Sexual Panic at the Heart of America's Racist History, and what America's history with lynch mobs can teach us about the attack on the Capitol. She and the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles also discuss how the end of Reconstruction impacts us today, and several key court cases that influenced the way courts considered racial identity.

ABA Journal: Legal Rebels : Law firms should not rush lateral hiring, due diligence expert says Jan 13, 2021

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With the shift to virtual recruitment amid the COVID-19 crisis, the speed at which law firms vet and hire lateral partners has increased, according to Michael Ellenhorn, the founder and CEO of Decipher. But Ellenhorn, whose company helps legal industry clients evaluate potential hires, says law firms would be wise not to quicken the hiring process too much.

Special thanks to our sponsor Alert Communications.

ABA Journal: Asked and Answered : What it's like to argue before the Supreme Court during COVID-19 Dec 28, 2020

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Jeffrey L. Fisher has argued more than 40 U.S. Supreme Court cases, and he relies heavily on the justices’ body language during arguments. But that wasn’t possible for his last three, which were conducted by phone because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He recently shared his experiences with ABA Journal Senior Writer Stephanie Francis Ward.

Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay.

ABA Journal: Modern Law Library : Our favorite reads from 2020 Dec 23, 2020

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As a tumultuous year draws to a close, we gathered together ABA Journal editors and reporters to discuss what the past year has been like for them as readers. With the stress of the pandemic and national elections, how had their reading habits changed? Were they concentrating on current events or comfort reads? With our offices operating remotely, did they have more time for reading? Modern Law Library host Lee Rawles spoke to editor Victor Li and reporters Lyle Moran, Amanda Robert and Stephanie Francis Ward to find out which books helped them make it through 2020–and what listeners could be adding to their own 2021 reading lists.

ABA Journal: Legal Rebels : Deloitte is monitoring regulatory reforms but is focused on growing new practice Dec 16, 2020

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Don Fancher, a principal in Deloitte’s legal business services practice in the United States, acknowledges that his firm has been monitoring the regulatory reform developments taking place in several states. But he says Deloitte has no current plans to apply to offer direct legal services in this country as it does in other nations. “These are issues happening in the industry that are important to our legal department clients, as well as our law firm clients, so we certainly pay attention,” Fancher says.

Special thanks to our sponsor Alert Communications.

ABA Journal: Modern Law Library : Former corporate lawyer draws inspiration from her family for her tireless clemency work Dec 09, 2020

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Brittany K. Barnett was a perfect fit for corporate law. As a certified public accountant who comes from a family with an entrepreneurial spirit, it made sense to fulfill her childhood dream and become a lawyer. But the same east Texas upbringing that gave her the ambition to succeed as a corporate attorney also wound up pulling her towards what her mother calls her "heart work": clemency and sentencing reform.

In A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom, Barnett describes how the war on drugs preyed upon the community she grew up in. It eventually led to her mother, who was fighting a drug addiction, being imprisoned for two years when Barnett was a young adult. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Barnett shares how formative experience changed her and made her identify strongly with Sharanda Jones, an incarcerated woman Barnett met during law school. Jones had been given a lifetime sentence without the possibility of parole for a first-time drug offense.

Barnett's fight to free Jones expanded into a larger mission as she became involved in the Obama administration's clemency project, and she continued that work after the Trump administration signed the First Step Act into law. Working with celebrities like Kim Kardashian West and Sean "Diddy" Combs has helped her bring needed attention to certain cases, she tells the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles, but incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people can be tremendous advocates for themselves and should be the directing force behind the work. She also shares details about two non-profits she's founded, the Buried Alive Project and Girls Embracing Mothers.

ABA Journal: Asked and Answered : Law prof finds ways to connect remotely amid historic election and COVID-19 restrictions Nov 30, 2020

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April Dawson, an associate dean and professor at the North Carolina Central University School of Law, misses seeing her constitutional law students in person. But the constitutional law and voting rights scholar has been finding creative ways to use technology in the classroom, even before the pandemic, and she says the experience helped her connect with students and foster meaningful discussions, even when classes can’t meet in person.

ABA Journal: Modern Law Library : Lawyer recounts the life and legacy of the mysterious man behind Pilates Nov 25, 2020

Show notes

In 1963, John Howard Steel was a 28-year-old attorney with a challenging litigation practice, an unhappy marriage and a stiff neck. At the urging of his mother, Steel decided to try physical therapy at a gym owned by an elderly German immigrant named Joseph Pilates. It was a decision that would change Steel's life.

Caged Lion: Joseph Pilates & His Legacy is a memoir, history and biography that tells the story of Steel's intergenerational relationship with Joe Pilates and his wife Clara, and the transformational effect of Joe Pilates' workout routines. Steel estimates that at the time of Joe Pilates' death in 1967, his life's work–which Joe Pilates called "contrology"–was limited to a circle of some 50 insiders who attended his New York City gym. He had no idea that one day the exercises that had cured his stiff neck would become an international phenomenon. His main concern was purely selfish, he says: He wanted the gym to keep operating so that he could continue to practice the workout that had benefited him so much. And he was not alone; people who Joe Pilates had mentored would eventually open more studios that kept contrology–now known simply as Pilates–alive.

In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Steel tells the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles about the unlikely history of Pilates–both the exercise phenomenon and the man himself. While Joe Pilates was living, Steel never questioned the man directly about his murky origin story. In his research for Caged Lion, Steel would disprove some of the tales the man had spun and come up with his own theories about how Joe Pilates developed his now-famous techniques and equipment. He also shares the backstories of the legal battles over who could use the Pilates name and practices.

ABA Journal: Legal Rebels : Constant communication has been key amid COVID-19, law school dean says Nov 18, 2020

Show notes

Just before students at the University of California at Irvine School of Law were set to return from spring break in March, the university decided that all classes would be moved online because of the spread of COVID-19. L. Song Richardson, the law school’s dean, says the news generated anxiety among students and faculty about how the rest of the spring semester would play out. Richardson emphasized to the law school community that they had experience addressing challenges together, and constant communication would be key to making the best of switch to remote learning.

Special thanks to our sponsor Alert Communications.

ABA Journal: Modern Law Library : Having a hard time connecting with your witness? Try these tips Nov 11, 2020

Show notes

You're a plaintiffs attorney with a promising tort case, but getting the narrative evidence you need from a particular witness is like squeezing blood from a stone. How can you get through to them and help ensure that your client gets the damages needed for long-term care? The real problem might be that your communication styles are fundamentally different, says author and trial consultant Katherine James.

Properly preparing one's witness is key to a successful outcome, but lawyers can't assume that every witness has the same learning style that they do, James says. She provides tools for figuring out communication and learning styles in her book, Harvesting Witnesses' Stories: How to Get your Client the Second Best Life in the World by Maximizing Human Damages.

In this episode of the Modern Law Library, James explains to the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles how she draws from her background in the theater to advise lawyers. James shares some of her war stories from her many years as a trial consultant and offers advice to listeners about how they can achieve the best outcome for their injured clients.

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