Opening Arguments

Latest Episodes:

Republicans Might As Well Pass the "No Things We Don't Like" Act Apr 11, 2025

Show notes

OA1149 - Even as most of the Biglaw establishment falls to Trump’s whims, lawyers from smaller firms are stepping up to do the most necessary work on the most important issues of our times. We’re here to tell you a little more about some of them! But first: The House passes the “No Rogue Rulings Act” and we rip into some fascist nonsense from MAGA legal “thinker” Mike Davis defending the President’s absolute right to call anyone a terrorist and send them to hell without a hearing. Also: DHS’s “evidence”(?) in support of Mahmoud Kahlil’s deportation, SCOTUS ‘s surprise mid-episode ruling ordering the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from a Salvadoran gulag, and more on the truly inspirational lawyers who are aggressively pushing these fights forward.

In today’s footnote: can you sue ChatGPT for “hallucinating” terrible stories about you? One heavily-armed Georgia talk show host is gunning to find out.

The “No Rogue Rulings Act” (HR 1526)
Amicus brief filed in Korematsu Center et al in Perkins Coie v. DOJ (4/9/25)
DHS “evidence” filed in Mahmoud Kahlil’s deportation proceedings (4/10/25)
U.S. Supreme Court’s order in Noem v. Abrego Garcia (04/10/2025)
Plaintiff’s complaint in Walters v OpenAI
“SCOTUS must stop leftist judges' lawless sabotage of Trump agenda | Fox News, Mike Davis (3/31/25)

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ICE Disappeared One of Matt's Clients Apr 09, 2025

Show notes

OA1148 - We interrupt your regularly scheduled T3BE to bring you three stories of why Immigration and Customs Enforcement is the worst. Matt starts off by reporting on how ICE disappeared one of his detained clients shortly before his scheduled bond hearing this week. On that theme, you might have seen the viral video of an attorney confronting deportation officers at his minor client’s home. What in the world was that? Matt has the brekadown. We then try to understand why the Supreme Court has just agreed that the President can kidnap and throw pretty much any non-citizen* out of the country so long as he calls them “alien enemies” and ICE mumbles something about due process first.

*citizens TBD

UPDATE: ICE has confirmed since the time of this recording that Matt’s client is in New Mexico, 2200 miles from where he was supposed to have a bond hearing on April 7th.

U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 per curiam order in Trump v. J. G. G. (04/07/2025)
Video of Virginia attorney James Rivera confronting ICE at his minor client’s home (@7jimmie77) | TikTok

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To support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

This content is CAN credentialed, which means you can report instances of harassment, abuse, or other harm on their hotline at (617) 249-4255, or on their website at creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org.

The Karen Read Trial(s) Apr 07, 2025

Show notes

OA1147 - It’s the retrial of the century, and Matt’s bringing his local perspective for the single most-requested story in OA history. Jury selection is underway for the second trial of Karen Read for her alleged responsibility in the death of Boston police officer John O’Keefe in the same Massachusetts courtroom where a mistrial was declared last July, and we’ve got everything you need to know to follow this case which has become a global phenomenon. We review some of the basic facts as revealed at the last trial and take a closer look at the legal issues. Where did both the prosecution and defense go wrong last time, what has happened between the trials, and what should we expect now?

Burnside Fountain (Turtle Boy) - Atlas Obscura
Defense attorney David Yanetti’s opening statement in Commonwealth v. Read (April 16, 2024)
READ v. COMMONWEALTH (SJC-13663) (2025)
Independent audit of the Canton Police Department (April 2, 2025)

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Kafka, Esq. Apr 04, 2025

Show notes

OA1146 - We begin with a quick review of SDNY Judge Dale Ho’s scathing 78-page (!) order dismissing all federal charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams at DOJ’s request to see how it compared to our recent predictions. Then in our main story, Matt breaks down a true legal nightmare from this week’s news and goes beyond the headlines to explain why ICE’s recent admission that it accidentally sent a man on a one-way ticket to hell with no intention of ever returning him is actually even worse than it sounds.

Also featured: Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem face actual for-real legal consequences for their bigotry against Venezuelan immigrants, 1,000 UK artists combine to form the world’s most boring supergroup to protest the legalization of AI art theft, Matt yearns for the open road, and Congressional Republicans assert the power to stop time itself.

Judge Dale Ho’s order dismissing all federal criminal charges against NYC mayor Eric Adams with prejudice (4/2/25)
Docket in Abrego Garcia v. Noem (filed 3/25/25)
“Imposing Duties to Address the Flow of Illicit Drugs Across Our National Border” (2/1/2025)
NDCA Judge Edward Chen’s order in National TPS Alliance v. Noem (3/31/25)

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The HHS Massacre Apr 02, 2025

Show notes

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OA1145 and T3BE65 - Lydia joins this Wild Card Wednesday to discuss the awful, inhumane HHS layoffs. Workers were lined up around the block to wait hours to find out if they were fired or not. These are human beings. The people responsible for this should be imprisoned.

(awkward transition) and then it's time for a bar exam question!

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To support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

This content is CAN credentialed, which means you can report instances of harassment, abuse, or other harm on their hotline at (617) 249-4255, or on their website at creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org.

Rap on Trial - Young Thug Was Not the First and Won’t Be the Last Mar 31, 2025

Show notes

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OA1144 - Professor Jack Lerner joins us for a follow up to OA1055 as we dive deeper into case law surrounding the usage of rap music in litigation, including discussion of the fight for lyrics to be admitted as evidence in the Young Thug trial in Fulton County, Georgia, and what mechanisms are being explored to address this at the state level in places like New York.

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Big Law Firm Paul Weiss Caved to Trump's Bogus Order in 4 Days. It Was Cowardly and Inexcusable. Mar 28, 2025

Show notes

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OA1143 - In the past month, Donald Trump has issued a series of truly fascist orders targeting some of the country’s best-known law firms for crimes ranging from hiring people Trump doesn’t like personally to doing some favors for special counsel Jack Smith to flagrantly hiring non-white non-men. What is actually in these orders, and how bad is it that one of leading litigation firms in the country gave in to Trump’s demands without a fight? And what will it mean for the already-overloaded immigration court system when they start going after immigration lawyers as they have also promised? Former NYC Biglaw associate (and current NYC public defender) Liz Skeen joins to help us to understand this uniquely un-American moment in American legal history.

(UPDATE: This episode was recorded shortly before news broke about the Trump administration taking action against major US law firms Wilmer Hale and Skadden Arps.)

Addressing Risks From Jenner & Block (3/25/25)
Addressing Remedial Action by Paul Weiss (3/25/25)
Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court (3/22/25)
Addressing Risks From Paul, Weiss (3/14/25)
Addressing Risks from Perkins Coie LLC (3/6/25)
Suspension of Security Clearances and Evaluation of Government Contracts (Covington & Burling LLP)(2/25/25)
“Complicity in the Perversion of Justice: The Role of Lawyers in Eroding the Rule of Law in the Third Reich,” Cythnia Fountaine, St. Mary’s Journal of Legal Ethics (2020)

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State Bar of California Fails the Bar Exam Mar 26, 2025

Show notes

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OA1142 and T3BE64 - The State Bar of California wanted to save a buck or two, so they switched from paying a company to administer a real bar exam to a company that... didn't do that. It's an absolute fiasco. Heather is pulling double duty today on Wildcard Wednesday (tm) as she is our expert on this nonsense, in addition to giving us the usual Thomas Takes the Bar Exam treatment!

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How One Lawsuit Targeting Trans Rights Could Undermine Disability Protections for Everyone Mar 24, 2025

Show notes

OA1141 - Are Republican AGs really trying to have some of the most important federal protections for disability rights declared unconstitutional? Attorney Jenessa Seymour joins to explain the history and purpose of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the pending challenge to a Biden-era regulatory update intended to protect trans health care rights.

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Not in a Gang? That’s Actually a Common Indicator of Gang Membership Mar 21, 2025

Show notes

OA1140 - The Trump administration has openly defied a court order--and that’s only the third worst thing about today’s main story. Also: what exactly does it mean to “sign” something into law? What is actually in all of these articles of impeachment which Republicans keep filing against federal judges who have defied Trump? And is there a First Amendment right to communicate with monkeys?