Good Law | Bad Law - Aaron Freiwald

Latest Episodes:

Good Law | Bad Law #77 - Did the Arab Bank foster terrorism? W/ Stephen Vladeck May 04, 2018

Show notes

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Stephen Vladeck, co-host of the popular podcast “The National Security Law Podcast”, as well as a law professor at the University of Texas, School of Law. Stephen is also a consultant for CNN both on air and behind the scenes, as an analyst covering the Supreme Court.

Specializing in national security law, Stephen focuses his research on the intersection of the federal courts and national security law, access to justice, human rights law and more. In today’s episode, Aaron and Stephen discuss the Supreme Court case, Jesner Et Al. v. Arab Bank, PLC.

A matter with potentially wide-ranging implications, this case surrounds a series of five lawsuits that were filed against the Arab Bank in Federal District Court in Brooklyn between the years 2004 and 2010. The basic allegation uniting these five lawsuits and more than 6,000 plaintiffs is their claim as victims of terrorist attacks that happened overseas that they allege the Arab Bank was liable for. They claim that the Arab Bank was directly and indirectly responsible for financing and helping to facilitate a series of terrorist attacks in the Middle East over a ten year period that produced and resulted in the deaths and serious injuries of many of the plaintiffs and or their families.

Throughout the conversation, Aaron and Stephen discuss the ins and outs of the case, as well as the theoretical ramifications that could happen as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision. Technically a private entity, the Arab Bank is a major financial institution with many branches and a wide global reach.

Join us today as Stephen Vladeck and Aaron Freiwald discuss this fascinating Supreme Court case and discuss the potential outcomes this case could have. Attached are the original complaint, as well as the opinion by Justice Kennedy, and the concurring opinions by Justices Alito and Gorsuch. The dissenting opinion by Justice Sotomayor is also included. The holding of the court was that foreign corporations may not be defendants in suits brought under the Alien Tort Statute. The judgment was affirmed in a 5-4 decision on April 24th.

Complaint & Opinions: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-499_1a7d.pdf

Host: Aaron Freiwald

Guest: Stephen Vladeck

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Good Law | Bad Law #76 - The Makings of a Judicial Nominee W/ Grover Joseph Rees Apr 27, 2018

Show notes

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Grover Joseph Rees, a retired US Ambassador, retired Chief Justice of American Samoa, and former General Counsel to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, to talk about the judicial selection process. Mr. Rees was also the chief judge picker in the Department of Justice during the mid-part of Ronald Reagan’s Administration.

Often the media focuses on many of the policies and changes a president wants to make or promises to make while they are in office. But many of those changes can be un-done by another president. One of the few things a president can do that can’t be reversed later is appointing judges to the various federal courts throughout the country.

On this episode, Aaron and Joseph talk about his experience and background having worked under President Reagan as well as his experience working as a law professor at the University of Texas. They also reminisce about an interview Aaron did while working at the Legal Times where he traveled to American Samoa when Joseph was the Chief Justice of that Pacific island nation.

Joseph also weighs in on the performance of his friend and former colleague, John Bolton, who was recently appointed as President Trump’s National Security Advisor. He says that though it’s too early to tell yet, he believes John has a large role in the North Korea negotiations and thinks they’ve had a good strategy for those talks so far.

With Joseph’s experience as a professor, serving as an ambassador, helping advise President Reagan on Judicial nominees, and his experience as an attorney, he is one of the most knowledgeable people to talk about how judicial nominees are chosen. Joseph explains the process starts by looking at the nearly 1700 judicial positions and seeing what seats need to be filled. Then for all of the circuit courts and district courts they will consult with the Senator of that state to find the best candidates.

Join us today as Grover Joseph Rees and Aaron Freiwald talk about the Judicial nomination and selection process.

Host: Aaron Freiwald

Guest: Grover Joseph Rees

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Good Law | Bad Law #75 - Bad Weather Ahead for Trump? Inside the Stormy Daniels/Donald Trump/Michael Cohen “Hush Agreement” W/ George Bochetto Apr 20, 2018

Show notes

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by George Bochetto, a nationally acclaimed trial lawyer and the former boxing commissioner in Pennsylvania, to talk about non-disclosure agreements.

Throughout his career, George has handled some major defamation cases. He came on the show today to help walk us through the NDA agreement Stormy Daniels signed in regards to her alleged affair with Donald Trump and explain whether or not he thinks it would be enforceable.

To follow along in the episode and read the NDA for yourself click the link below:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ocvnkwprbs7enje/Filed%20Complaint.pdf?dl=0

Some of the points George points out in the episode that could nullify this agreement are:

David Dennison aka Donald Trump didn’t sign the agreement
The penalties are overly one sided. Meaning, Peggy Peterson aka Stormy Daniels’s punishments may be too severe to enforce.
Contracts for illegal acts are not enforceable, if this contract relates to any illegal acts it cannot be enforced.
Finally, George explains how David Dennison aka Donald Trump being the President affects the enforceability of this agreement.

Join us today as George Bochetto and Aaron Freiwald masterfully break down NDA’s and confidentiality agreements on today’s episode and remember to tune in every Friday for new episodes of Good Law | Bad Law!

Host: Aaron Freiwald

Guest: George Bochetto

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Good Law | Bad Law #74 - The First Amendment in 280 Characters W/ Katie Fallow Apr 13, 2018

Show notes

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Katie Fallow, a Senior Attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.

Before Katie joined the Knight First Amendment Institute, she was a partner at the law firm Jenner & Block, where she represented video game creators in the Supreme Court case EMA v Brown and defended news outlets like the Huffington Post against defamation claims.

Katie joins the show today to talk about a case she has brought on behalf of seven Twitter users that have been blocked from the @RealDonaldTrump Twitter account. She claims President Trump has violated the First Amendment by blocking these users because:

The President uses his Twitter account as a form of public forum, and a public official cannot silence or exclude someone from a public forum based solely on his or her viewpoint.
The President’s Twitter account has become an important source of information and an individual’s access to this information cannot be revoked due to his or her viewpoint.
Blocking individuals based on their viewpoints interferes with their rights to petition the government for redress of grievances.

One argument the government is making to combat these claims is that the @RealDonaldTrump Twitter account is the President’s private account and unaffiliated with the official account of the Office of the President. Therefore, he can block whomever he wants.

Katie and The Knight First Amendment Institute dispute this point by citing claims made by the DOJ in recent cases asserting that statements made on the @RealDonaldTrump Twitter account are official White House statements.

During the episode, Katie also clarified that she and her clients are not seeking monetary compensation, but rather to require the President to remove the existing blocks on users and to prevent him from blocking users in the future based on their dissenting viewpoints.

To learn more about the case, read the complaint here: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3892179/2017-07-11-Knight-Institute-Trump-Twitter.pdf

Remember to tune in every Friday for new episodes of Good Law | Bad Law!

Host: Aaron Freiwald

Guest: Katie Fallow

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Good Law | Bad Law #73 - An Engineered Injustice W/ William Myers Apr 06, 2018

Show notes

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined again by William (Bill) Myers Jr., author of “An Engineered Injustice,” to talk about his new book.

We had Bill on the show last summer to talk about his last book, “A Criminal Defense,” and his work as a trial lawyer in Philadelphia for the past 30 years. Today, we’re continuing that discussion and focusing on his new book, “An Engineered Injustice.” Bill’s newest book takes a page out of his law practice (which specializes in FELA law, a type of law that applies to injured rail road workers) and focuses on a criminal defense attorney representing his cousin who is a train conductor.

Vaughn, a character from “A Criminal Defense” is thrust into the spotlight when his cousin Eddie is involved in a train crash. Bill tells us that Vaughn owes Eddie a debt so he is forced to represent him even though all of the evidence points to Eddie being at fault for the crash. Each page in this book reveals another stunning detail about the crash and the relationship between Vaughn and Eddie until finally, you learn the truth… you’ll have to read the book to find out more!

Purchase Bill’s book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Engineered-Injustice-Philadelphia-Legal/dp/1542046483/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523018991&sr=8-1&keywords=an+engineered+injustice

Listen in as Aaron and Bill talk about being a lawyer full time while writing a best-selling book series.

Remember to tune in every Friday for new episodes of Good Law | Bad Law!

Host: Aaron Freiwald

Guest: William Myers Jr.

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Good Law | Bad Law #72 - Can doctors really hide their past wrongs? W/ Robert Oshel Mar 30, 2018

Show notes

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Robert Oshel, the former Associate Director of the National Practitioners Databank to discuss transparency in the medical field.

The National Practitioners Databank was established by Congress in 1986 to try and reduce healthcare fraud and improve health care quality. The Databank records anytime a medical professional pays a medical malpractice payment and when/if a medical professional has a disciplinary action taken against them.

However, despite the Databank, there is a serious problem in our country. Recently outlined in a USA Today story, (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/20/doctors-licenses-medical-boards/2655513/) the issue of transparency is directly addressed as it is revealed that doctors can have their license revoked in one state but not another. This means that the doctor still has the opportunity to then go to a state where they are still allowed to practice and immediately start seeing patients. Consequently, the reason their license was revoked never gets addressed and they never learn from their mistakes, while potentially putting their respective patients in harm’s way.

With the National Practitioners Databank that should never happen. Hospitals and licensing boards have access to the databank; they can see everything in a doctor’s medical past before hiring him or allowing him to practice in the state.

Listen in as Aaron and Robert talk about the National Practitioners Databank and delve into the importance of transparency in the medical field.

Visit the National Practitioners Databank website here: https://www.npdb.hrsa.gov/index.jsp

Remember to tune in every Friday for new episodes of Good Law | Bad Law!

Host: Aaron Freiwald

Guest: Robert Oshel

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Good Law | Bad Law #71 - Is This The End To Partisan Gerrymandering In PA? W/ Ben Geffen Mar 23, 2018

Show notes

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Ben Geffen, an attorney at the Public Interest Law Center, to talk about the recent landmark “gerrymandering” case in Pennsylvania. Ben is one of the lawyers behind this historic Supreme Court case.

This case, a blow to partisan gerrymandering, not only has led to a redrawing of the Congressional map in Pennsylvania, but may contribute to more wide-ranging political change in the midterm elections this November.

Throughout our conversation, Ben details the normal process in which Congressional district lines are redrawn every ten years after the census. The census determines how many seats a state has in Congress based on population shifts since the previous census. That information is used in the drawing of district lines to ensure that each district is given an equal vote.

The political party in charge of the state legislature always has the upper hand in how district lines change, but when redistricting becomes more overtly partisan and is done in a way to lock in one party’s electoral advantage over the other party, then that can be unlawful. Partisan gerrymandering often uses “packing and cracking.” As the lines are being drawn, the opposing party’s voters will either be “packed” into a single district, giving that party a major advantage, or “cracked”, meaning that they will be spread thinly and separated into surrounding districts.

Though this happens everywhere, Pennsylvania’s Republicans took redistricting to a new level of partisanship in 2011, the Supreme Court ruled a few weeks ago. Since then, Republicans consistently have won 13 of the 18 seats in the state even though there were times when they only earned 48% of the votes.

In January, the PA Supreme Court ruled the Republican-drawn maps violated the Pennsylvania Constitution in favor of the Republican Party and ordered the district lines be re-drawn. (Just last week, The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an 11th hour Motion to Stay filed by the Pennsylvania’s State Republican leadership.)

Listen in as Aaron and Ben discuss gerrymandering in the US, specifically how it is affecting PA and its districts, as well as Public Interest Law Center’s involvement in the case.

Click here to see the old and new district maps: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/state/pennsylvania-gerrymandering-case-congressional-redistricting-map-coverage-guide-20180308.html

Remember to tune in every Friday for new episodes of Good Law | Bad Law!

Host: Aaron Freiwald

Guest: Ben Geffen

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Good Law | Bad Law #70 - Is this the biggest lawsuit on the planet? W/ Kelsey Juliana & Julia Olson Mar 16, 2018

Show notes

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Kelsey Juliana and Attorney Julia Olson to talk about a federal lawsuit they have brought against the United States Government regarding Climate Change.

Kelsey Juliana is a 21-year old college student and the lead plaintiff in the case that has been dubbed “Youth v. Gov” and that some are also calling the “biggest lawsuit on the planet.” Kelsey, along with 20 other children, filed suit in federal court in Oregon claiming that U.S. energy policies over the last 50 years that have favored fossil fuel companies and fossil fuel use have contributed to the climate change crisis we now face. As a result, Kelsey and the others claim, the U.S. has violated their fundamental constitutional rights.

Julia Olson is the lead attorney on this roller coaster of a case and certainly has had her work cut out for her. Since the start of litigation in 2015, there has been significant pushback from the U.S. government and the Trump Administration. But the Courts keep rejecting the Justice Department’s efforts to have the case thrown out. Recently, Kelsey and Julia won again as the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected the Justice Department’s latest motion to derail the case.

Now the case may actually go to trial.

Kelsey is a passionate advocate and explains why the youth of our country need to stand up and take action. Is this the beginning of a youth movement? It just might be.

Listen in as Aaron, Julia, and Kelsey discuss this incredible lawsuit and the impact that young people can have if they put their hearts and minds into something they truly believe in.

Remember to tune in every Friday for new episodes of Good Law | Bad Law!

Visit Our Children's Trust: https://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/

Read the opinion denying the motion to dismiss: http://blogs2.law.columbia.edu/climate-change-litigation/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/case-documents/2018/20180307_docket-17-71692_opinion.pdf

Host: Aaron Freiwald

Guest: Julia Olson & Kelsey Juliana

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Good Law | Bad Law #69 - Flint Michigan Water Crisis W/ Hunter Shkolnik Mar 09, 2018

Show notes

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Hunter Shkolnik, Co-Liaison Counsel for the Flint Michigan Water Crisis Lawsuit. In today’s episode, Hunter explains what caused this crisis and how it has affected the citizens of Flint.

The Flint water crisis started in 2014 when the city of Flint decided to change the source of its water from the Detroit River to the Flint River. In a city that had declared a financial state of emergency 3 years early, the move was designed to save money. The Flint water would have been fine had the officials in charge of the transition taken the proper precautions and conducted the proper tests.

Because Flint’s water service lines were over 100 years old, they were made of lead pipes. During the episode Hunter explains lead pipes alone don’t cause any harm because they are treated with a protective coating that keeps the lead from leaching into the water. As long as that coating is on the pipes, the water is safe.

Hunter goes on to explain that the water from the Flint River had a different chemical make-up than the water from the Detroit River which had flowed through those pipes for the past 100 years, a chemical make-up that proved to be corrosive to the protective coating on the lead pipes. Had the officials done the proper testing during the transition they would have caught this and been able to treat the water to prevent this from happening. Unfortunately, the testing never occurred, and the protective coating was stripped from the pipes.

Listen in as Aaron and Hunter discuss the Flint water crisis and the litigation surrounding the crisis on today’s fascinating episode.

Remember to tune in every Friday for new episodes of Good Law | Bad Law!

Host: Aaron Freiwald

Guest: Hunter Shkolnik

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Good Law | Bad Law #68 - Experts Debate Gun Rights vs. Gun Control W/ Shira Goodman & Joshua Prince Mar 05, 2018

Show notes

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined on this very special episode by Shira Goodman and Joshua Prince to talk about the gun debate that is raging in our country right now.

Shira Goodman has served as the Executive Director of Cease Fire PA, an organization dedicated to reducing gun violence in PA and, is currently running for congress in the 4th congressional district of PA.

Joshua Prince is a partner at Prince Law Offices and focuses his practice on 2nd Amendment and gun rights cases.

With all of the news coverage about the recent mass shooting in Parkland Florida, there is a lot of information being thrown around: proposed solutions like arming teachers and banning guns; opinions from students, teachers, news anchors, and politicians; definitions of “Assault Rifles” and “Semi-Automatic Weapons”; and various bills being proposed to try and prevent these tragedies from happening in the future.

One thing we felt was missing was a true understanding of the problem and a proper discussion from people on both sides of the fence about realistic solutions that can be taken. That’s what we set out to accomplish with today’s episode. By bringing in experts on both sides of the issue we try to define the key terms and come to an agreement on what they mean. Then, we look at some of the proposed solutions and discuss why they may or may not work.

Though we didn’t come to an agreement on a solution, we did find a lot of common ground in the definitions and some of the things that we can’t or don’t need to change. Hopefully, you as the listener can take some of the information presented in today’s debate and use it to help form your own opinions.

Thank you for listening and as always, give us your feedback!

Contact Shira Goodman:

VoteShiraGoodman.com

Contact Joshua Prince:

Firearmsindustryconsultinggroup.com

Joshua@princelaw.com

888.202.9297

Remember to tune in every Friday for new episodes of Good Law | Bad Law!

Host: Aaron Freiwald

Guest: Shira Goodman, Joshua Prince

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