Law to Fact

Latest Episodes:

Requirements for Validating Wills Mar 17, 2020

Show notes

In this episode...
Dean Katheleen Guzman, Interim Dean of the University of Oklahoma College of Law discusses the requirements for validating a will.
Some key takeaways...

Many jurisdictions have relaxed the strict common law requirements for wills
Holographic comes from Holo (whole) and graphic (written) so the holographic will is a will that is handwritten.
Many states accept holographic wills as proof of the testator's intent.

About our guest...
Dean Katheleen Guzman joined the OU Law faculty in 1993, where she has taught numerous courses targeting the dimensions of the property and its transfer and writes in related areas.

She was named the MAPCO/Williams Presidential Professor in 2000 and the Earl Sneed Centennial Professor of Law in 2015. From 2003 to 2006, she served as associate director of the Law Center and associate dean of academics, and from 2017 to 2018, she served as associate dean for research and scholarship.
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This episode is sponsored by Kaplan Bar Review. Getting ready for the bar exam means you’ll need to choose the study program that’s right for you. Kaplan Bar Review will get you ready to take on test day with confidence by offering $100 off live and on-demand Bar Review with offer code Leslie100.
Visit kaplanbarreview.com today to sign up.

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A Step by Step Guide to Creating a Distance Learning Class Mar 08, 2020

Show notes

In this episode...
Bridget Crawford, Professor of Law at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, walks listeners through the steps necessary to create a distance learning class.
Some key takeaways are...
1. Take time to understand the platform you will use.
2. Decide whether you want to create a synchronistic or asynchronistic class.
3. For asynchronistic classes:
a. Layout the agenda, prepare a lesson plan, include powerpoint presentations
b. Record in bits rather than one long session
c. Create post-recording assessments.
4. For Synchronistic classes
a. Choose your technology
b. Set student expectations
5. One other option is to hold the class in a conference call format.
About Professor Crawford...
Professor Bridget J. Crawford teaches Federal Income Taxation; Estate and Gift Taxation; and Wills, Trusts and Estates at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law. Prof. Crawford has been engaged in distance learning for the past 11 years. Her teaching has received both national and school-wide attention having received every major faculty award (including best professor 8 times!) and Michael Hunter Schwartz' included her in his book, What the Best Teachers Do.
Her scholarship focuses on issues of taxation, especially wealth transfer taxation; property law, especially wills and trusts; tax policy; and women and the law. Prior to joining the Pace faculty, Professor Crawford practiced law at Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP in New York. Her practice was concerned with income, estate and gift tax planning for individuals, as well as tax and other advice to closely-held corporations and exempt organizations.

You can follow Professor Crawford on Twitter at @ProfBCrawford

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As always, if you have any suggestions for an episode topic, please let us know!
You can email leslie@lawtofact.com or tweet @lawtofact.
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A Holistic Understanding of Online Learning for Law School Mar 06, 2020

Show notes

In this episode...
We speak with Nina Kohn, the David M. Levy Professor of Law and Faculty Director of Online Education at Syracuse University College of Law about developing on-line classes for legal education.
Some key takeaways...

Online classes are asynchronous or synchronous.
Asynchronous classes are recorded and students can watch them on their own time.
Synchronous classes are live.
Students are all present at the same time and the professor is able to engage in dialog.
Developing an online class is not as difficult as one might think (and Prof. Kohn explains how to make it happen).
The key to creating an online class is to first identify goals and principles.
Faculty can deliver the Socratic method through online learning.

About our guest...
Nina A. Kohn is the David M. Levy Professor of Law and Faculty Director of Online Education at Syracuse University College of Law, a faculty affiliate with the Syracuse University Aging Studies Institute, and a member of the American Law Institute. Professor Kohn is currently a Visiting Professor of Law at Yale Law School for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Kohn led the development and launch of Syracuse University College of Law’s online JD program (“JDinteractive” or “JDi”). The program is the nation’s first fully interactive online JD program. In addition to teaching Torts to JDi students, Kohn oversees the program’s continuing development and operations.

Professor Kohn’s scholarly research focuses on elder law and the civil rights of older adults and persons with diminished cognitive capacity.

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1st Lieutenant Steven Arango Speaks About Life as a Law Student and Beyond Mar 03, 2020

Show notes

In this episode...
1st Lieutenant Officer Steven Arango, USMC, and Federal Law Clerk to U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, Jr. in the Southern District of Texas shares his wisdom about life as a law student and beyond. We cover a range of topics including JAG Corps, Study Skills, post-law school employment and the importance of mentors. 1st Lt Arango works with veterans attending college and law school to help them succeed in their academic studies. Our discussion is of great value to military personal and anyone else thinking about, enrolled in or graduated from law school.
Some key takeaways...

Build relationships with professors while in law school. They can help you years after you graduate.
Find a mentor to help you navigate the legal world.
Outline your classes on your own. The outlining process is where you can do your best learning.

About our guest...
1st Lt Steven Arango is an officer in the United States Marine Corps, a lawyer, and a dedicated public servant. Arango is always seeking opportunities to join non-profit organizations and to mentor others.

Currently, he is a Federal Law Clerk for U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, Jr. in the Southern District of Texas. Arango conducts research and drafts opinions on various issues dealing with immigration, constitutional, and administrative law. He also manages and drafts all orders related to land cases, mainly dealing with Southern Border issues.

Before his clerkship, Arango worked for the U.S. House of Representatives, specifically for Representative Jeff Duncan (SC), and for the Department of Defense in the Office of General Counsel, International Affairs. He has been fortunate to work in all three branches of government at an early age, and learn how the federal government operates.
1st Lt Arango is a law school and undergraduate Ambassador to Service to School, a non-profit that provides free college and grad school application counseling to military veterans and service-members.
Click here to reach 1st Lieutenant Officer Arango.
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As always, if you have any suggestions for an episode topic, please let us know!
You can email leslie@lawtofact.com or tweet @lawtofact.
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Consideration in Contracts Feb 18, 2020

Show notes

In this episode...
Professor Wayne Barnes, Professor of Law at Texas A & M School of Law and a lecturer with Kaplan Bar Prep explains consideration in contracts.
Some key takeaways...

Consideration is a bargained-for exchange
The promisor must receive something of value in exchange for his promise
The thing of value can be a return promise or performance.

About our guest...
Professor Wayne Barnes teaches and writes about contract law. His scholarly interests focus on contract law, including the implications of contract theory for ascertaining assent by consumers to standard form contracts. He has especially focused on such assent to form contracts in the online Internet context, and the implications of the online environment for the contracting process. He is a co-editor of the student edition of the venerable White & Summers treatise on the Uniform Commercial Code, the Learning Core Commercial Concepts coursebook by West Academic, and The Short & Happy Guide to Secured Transactions. Prior to joining the faculty at Texas A&M, Professor Barnes practiced law for eight years in commercial litigation, creditors’ rights and bankruptcy, first at a law firm in Amarillo, Texas, and later at a large Dallas law firm. He is also the lead national Kaplan lecturer for Contracts and the Uniform Commercial Code, and also lectures for PMBR on MBE preparation.
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Law to Fact is a podcast about law school for law school students.
As always, if you have any suggestions for an episode topic, please let us know!
You can email leslie@lawtofact.com or tweet @lawtofact.
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Find us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
Review us on iTunes, your opinion matters!
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Want to stay updated on all things Law to Fact?
Join our mailing list by visiting www.LawToFact.com.
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Environmentalist Karl Coplan on His Book, Live Sustainably Now Feb 11, 2020

Show notes

In this episode...
Professor Karl Coplan, Professor of Law and Director of the Environmental Litigation Clinic at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University discusses his new book, Live Sustainably Now: A Low Carbon Vision of the Good Life, published by Columbia University Press. Professor Coplan shares ways, both small and large, in which each of us can lower our carbon footprints, and together make a difference in the fight against climate change.
Live Sustainably Now reads as much as a memoir as it does a call to arms. Coplan shares how he lives on a 4-ton annual carbon budget by kayaking across the Hudson River to work or inserting a wood stove to heat his home, through what he calls Carbon Diaries. Each Diary is a fun read and an aspirational example of helping with climate change. He presents his efforts through what he calls Carbon Diaries, each of which is fun to read through his Carbon Diaries, which include—carbon life, sharing his carbon diary (like how he kayaks to work or rode his bike rather than drives). But unlike so many books on climate change, this book is neither unreasonably aspirational nor preachy. Coplan recognizes that his efforts may be other herculean and offers small reasonable steps that each of us can take to effect change, and feel good doing so. (check out the chapter on Having Fun on a Climate budget!) He also clearly explains what factors work against our climate and does so—easily and understandably. Filled with information sandwiched between personal highlights, it is an interesting read. You're likely to finish it in one sitting.
Some key takeaways....

Every flight across the country emits enough carbon monoxide to fill a house
Of all protein production, Pork and Meat production emits the highest levels of carbon monoxide.
Doing something as simple as switching to renewable energy will make a difference
The easiest and best step we can each take is to check our carbon footprints.

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Drafting the Ideal Appellate Brief Feb 04, 2020

Show notes

In this episode...
Three writing expert writing professors share their advice and key strategies to assure success on the appellate brief. Christine Coughlin, Professor of Legal Writing at Wake Forest School of Law, Jean Goetz Mangan, Legal Writing Instructor at the University of Georgia School of Law and Ruth Anne Robbins, Distinguished Clinical Professor of Law at Rutgers Law School highlight the importance of pre-writing, narrative and even font choice when drafting the brief. And we all share the fear we first felt, and fun we finally had, when arguing the brief.
Some key takeaways...

Chart the arguments both pro and con before you begin writing your argument.
Document design can improve the quality of your brief.
Headings are the prime real estate of your appellate brief.
There is a huge value to pre-writing.

Our experts share some key reference books for you to check out!

Ruth Ann Robbins, Ken Chestek and Steve Johansen,Your Client’s Story: Persuasive Legal Writing (2d ed. 2019)
Christine Coughlin, Jean Malmud Rocklin et. al, A Lawyer Writes
Ruth Anne Robbins, Painting with Print: Incorporating Concepts of Typographic and Layout Design into the Text of Legal Writing Documents
Laura P. Graham and Miriam E. Felsenburg, The Pre-Writing Handbook for Law Students: A Step by Step Guide

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Writing a Law School Scholarly Article Jan 28, 2020

Show notes

In this episode...
We speak with Sarah Morath, Clinical Associate Professor, Director of Lawyering Skills and strategies at The University of Houston Law Center, about drafting a scholarly article. Most law schools have an upper-level writing requirement. Expert Sarah Morath provides valuable insights to help you get the job done right!!
Some key takeaways...

Scholarly articles must have a legal "so what." Be careful not to write an undergraduate thesis.
Footnotes for law review articles are different from those in a memorandum of law or appellate brief. Use the main part of the Bluebook for reference.
Pick a topic that interests you, you will be with the topic for a long time.

Law to Fact is a podcast about law school for law school students.
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As always, if you have any suggestions for an episode topic, please let us know!
You can email leslie@lawtofact.com or tweet @lawtofact.
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Find us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
Review us on iTunes, your opinion matters!
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Want to stay updated on all things Law to Fact?
Join our mailing list by visiting www.LawToFact.com.
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Privacy Torts Jan 21, 2020

Show notes

In this episode...
Professor Amy Gajda, the Class of 1937 Professor of Law at Tulane Law School explains the four privacy torts and shares discusses the likely impact of recent cases including Bollea v. Gawker (The Hulk Hogan Case).
Some key takeaways are...
The Privacy Rights are

Misappropriation - use of another's name or identity without permission.
Intrusion into seclusion - peering in on someone who is in seclusion.
Publication of private facts (the gossip tort) publishing of private information about another person that is highly offensive and not newsworthy.
False Light - which is similar to the tort of defamation and not accepted in all jurisdictions.

About our guest...
Amy Gajda is recognized internationally for her expertise in privacy, media law, torts, and the law of higher education; her scholarship explores the tensions between social regulation and First Amendment values.

Gajda’s first book, The Trials of Academe (Harvard 2009), examines public oversight of colleges and universities and its impact on academic freedom. Her later work draws on insights from her many years as an award-winning journalist and focuses on the shifting boundaries of press freedoms, particularly in light of the digital disruption of traditional media and rising public anxieties about the erosion of privacy. Her second book, The First Amendment Bubble: How Privacy and Paparazzi Threaten a Free Press (Harvard 2015), explores these boundaries in the context of judicial oversight of journalistic news judgment. Gajda is presently at work on a third book, The Secret History of the Right to Privacy, under contract with Viking and slated to be published in 2021. Her upcoming book, tentatively titled The Secret History of the Right To Privacy will be published by Viking Press.
In Fall 2019, the American Law Institute appointed her to serve as an Adviser for its new Restatement on Defamation and Privacy, a multi-year project that begins in 2020.
You can hear Professor Gajda's take on the Hulk Hogan case, and its fallout, by clicking here.
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As always, if you have any suggestions for an episode topic, please let us know!
You can email leslie@lawtofact.com or tweet @lawtofact.
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Find us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
Review us on iTunes, your opinion matters!
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Want to stay updated on all things Law to Fact?
Join our mailing list by visiting www.LawToFact.com.
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Model Rule 1.6(b) Meets Climate Change Jan 14, 2020

Show notes

In this episode...
Professor Victor Flatt, the Dwight Olds Chair in Law at The University of Houston Law Center and the 2019 Haub School of Law at Pace University Visiting Scholar, explains the requirements of Model Rule of Professional Responsibility 1.6(b), which permits attorneys to disclose information to prevent death or serious bodily harm and how bar associations can use the rule to prevent further climate change. He presents his theory in his most recent article, Disclosing the Danger: State Attorney Ethics Rules Meet Climate Change, to be published in the Utah Law Review.
About our guest...
Professor Victor B. Flatt returned to the University of Houston in 2017 as the Dwight Olds Chair in Law and the Faculty Director of the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources (EENR) Center. He also holds an appointment as a Distinguished Scholar of Carbon Markets at the University of Houston’s Global Energy Management Institute. He was previously the inaugural O’Quinn Chair in Environmental Law at UHLC from 2002-2009.
Professor Flatt is a recognized expert on environmental law, climate law, and energy law. His research focuses on environmental legislation and enforcement, with particular expertise in the Clean Air Act and NEPA. He is co-author of a popular environmental law casebook, and has authored more than 40 law review articles, which have appeared in journals such as the Notre Dame Law Review, Ecology Law Quarterly, Washington Law Review, Houston Law Review and the Carolina Law Review. Six of his articles have been recognized as finalists or winner of the best environmental law review article of the year, and one was recognized by Vanderbilt University Law School and the Environmental Law Institute as one of the three best environmental articles of 2010, leading to a seminar and panel on the article in a Congressional staff briefing.
Professor Flatt has served on the AALS sub-committees on Natural Resources and Environmental Law and was chair of the AALS Teaching Methods Section. He has served on many other boards and committees in his career including the national board of Lambda Legal, and the Law School Admission Council’s Gay and Lesbian Interests section. He is currently on the Advisory Board of CE3, a member of the ABA’s Section on Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Law Congressional Liaison Committee, and a member scholar of the Center for Progressive Reform.
Law to Fact is a podcast about law school for law school students.
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As always, if you have any suggestions for an episode topic, please let us know!
You can email leslie@lawtofact.com or tweet @lawtofact.
-
Find us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
Review us on iTunes, your opinion matters!
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Want to stay updated on all things Law to Fact?
Join our mailing list by visiting www.LawToFact.com.
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