Lawyer 2 Lawyer - Law News And Legal Topics

Recently in an Oakland, California courtroom, a jury awarded Oracle Corp., a whopping $1.3 billion verdict against competitor, SAP AG, a market and technology leader in business management software, for damages due to copyright infringement by a now-defunct software maintenance unit called, TomorrowNow. Attorney and co-host Bob Ambrogi welcomes Attorney Carol Smith, from Hiaring + Smith LLP and David H. Levitt, Partner at the firm, Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP, as they take a look at this complicated case that is sweeping the legal community. They discuss copyright infringement and stolen intellectual property, SAP’s admitted liability, the significance of the billion-dollar jury award and the impact of this case on future cases.

A major blow to the National Health Care Law! Just this week in Richmond, Virginia, U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson determined a central provision of the national health care law, the Affordable Care Act, to be unconstitutional. Attorneys and co-hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams welcome health care law expert Professor Timothy S. Jost from the Washington and Lee University School of Law and Adam Winkler, a constitutional law specialist from UCLA Law School, to discuss this recent ruling, the constitutionality of this provision and the health care law and the impact of this ruling on other states and those in need of health care.

A lawsuit on behalf of 500,000 women employees against Walmart is under review by the Supreme Court to decide whether it can proceed as a class action. Guest host, Attorney Marsha Kazarosian welcomes Professor Marcia L. McCormick, from Saint Louis University School of Law and co-editor and contributor to the Workplace Prof Blog, to discuss the largest employment discrimination case in U.S. history. They take a look at the alleged gender discrimination at Walmart, the criteria for the Supreme Court to decide on this class action issue and the impact this case could have on employment law and discrimination within companies.

In recent weeks, there has been a huge backlash against the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) over full-body scanners and pat downs at select airports across the country. Attorneys and co-host Bob Ambrogi welcomes Patrick Smith, airline pilot, author, and air travel columnist, who writes the column, Ask the Pilot, for Salon.com and Jim Harper, Director of Information Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, to discuss the latest on this nationwide controversy. They take a look at the fallout from travelers, the potential legal issues, the impact on traveling and what the future holds for security and the TSA on their quest to fight terrorism.

The Order in the Court 2.0 project will turn a Massachusetts courtroom into a test lab for how courts deal with social media, electronic journalism and digital technology. Attorneys and co-hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams discuss this pioneering project with John Davidow, the wbur.org executive editor who helped WBUR win a $250,000 grant from the Knight News Challenge to launch the project, and Judge Mark S. Coven, presiding justice at Quincy District Court, where the project will be based. They take a look at the program’s goals and challenges and the broader issues raised by bloggers, tweeters and other forms of new media in courtrooms nationwide.

Civics education is vital to developing the skills and dispositions that young people need to succeed in the 21st Century. Attorney and co-host Bob Ambrogi welcomes Stephen N. Zack, President of the American Bar Association, to discuss his fight to bring civic education to our schools and to the people of our nation. Bob and Stephen talk about the Commission on Civic Education in the Nation’s Schools, the Constitution and civic engagement and inspiring the Latino community to enter the legal profession through the Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities.

Attorney Issac Lidsky was the first blind law clerk to serve the U.S. Supreme Court, working under Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Recently, Tony Mauro highlighted Issac in the National Law Journal. Attorneys and co-hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams welcome Attorney Issac J. Lidsky from the firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and founder of Hope For Vision, to discuss his legal career, his Supreme Court clerkship, being visually impaired and a lawyer and take a look at Hope For Vision, which is raising awareness and helping those with blinding diseases.

From music to film to theatre, celebrities can be a challenge in an entertainment law practice. Attorney and co-host Bob Ambrogi welcomes Gordon Firemark, an entertainment and new media lawyer in Los Angeles, to take a look at entertainment litigation and working with a celebrity. Bob & Gordon look at the various legal cases in Hollywood and chat about Gordon’s new e-book, The Podcast, Blog & New Media Producer’s Legal Survival Guide.

According to a Wall Street Journal investigation, many of the public’s favorite Facebook applications like Farmville, Texas HoldEm Poker and FrontierVille, are allegedly sharing users’ personal information with third-party advertisers and Internet tracking companies. Attorneys and co-hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams welcome Kimberley Isbell, a Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society and Mark G. McCreary from the firm Fox Rothschild LLP, to discuss this matter. They look at the potential impact of this privacy breach, the legal issues and how this breach could affect the business of Facebook.

In the film Conviction, Betty Anne Waters, a wife and mother of two, puts herself through high school, college and ultimately law school, in an 18 year long crusade to prove her brother Kenny’s innocence after he is convicted of murder sentenced to life without parole. Attorneys and co-hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams spotlight Betty Anne , her story and her thoughts on the new film and how she continues to help others like her brother.

Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers University student, jumped to his death after his college roommate used a hidden webcam to stream a sexual encounter between Clementi and another man online. Two students, Dharun Rhavi and Molly Wei were charged with invasion of privacy and could face additional charges. Attorney and co-host J. Craig Williams discusses these complex legal issues with three guests: Attorney Henry E. Klingeman, defense attorney and former federal prosecutor, Attorney Nancy Willard, Executive Director of the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use, and Attorney Jim Harper, Director of Information Policy Studies at the Cato Institute. They take an inside legal look at invasion of privacy through technology and the potential criminal case against the two students involved.

The 2010-2011 Supreme Court term is upon us, with controversial issues like same-sex marriage and health care reform that will likely play a role when the session gets underway Monday, October 4th. Attorneys and co-hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams, welcome Professor Wilson R. Huhn, Constitutional Law Research Fellow at the University of Akron School of Law, Professor Steven H. Goldberg, from Pace Law School and Greg Stohr, Bloomberg News Reporter, to explore the standout cases. They discuss the role of Justice Elena Kagan on the High Court and spotlight the big issues that are sure to keep the court busy and the legal community and general public talking.

U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth recently ruled to temporarily block federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, citing a violation of the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, a 1996 law that prohibits the destruction of human embryos. The ban has been temporarily lifted, but the court battle continues. Attorneys and co-hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams, welcome Russell Korobkin, Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law and Author of Stem Cell Century: Law and Policy for a Breakthrough Technology and Charles P. Kindregan Jr., professor of family law and assisted reproduction law at Suffolk University Law School, to explore this controversial debate, legislative, ethical and religious aspects of stem cell research and this recent legal ruling’s impact on scientific research.

While many around the world were paying tribute to those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, Pastor Terry Jones, from the Dove World Outreach Center, had announced that he would burn 200 copies of the Quran on the anniversary of 9/11 in a protest against Islam. Attorney and co-host J. Craig Williams joins Mark Potok, Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center and Dr. Charles C. Haynes, Director of the Religious Freedom Education Project at the Newseum and senior scholar at the First Amendment Center, to look inside this controversy. They discuss the First Amendment, religion, Jones’ potential impact on national security, attitude toward the Muslim community and how other countries view America when it comes to religion.

In the US vs. Pineda-Moreno decision, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Law enforcement agents can legally place a GPS device on an individual’s car without their knowledge and without a warrant from a judge. Attorneys and co-hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams, welcome Orin S. Kerr, contributing blogger to the Volokh Conspiracy and Professor of Law at the George Washington University Law School, to discuss the legality of GPS tracking in light of the Fourth Amendment, privacy rights, the role of technology and the possibility that this case and others like it will reach the Supreme Court.

Back on August 31st 2005, the Legal Talk Network launched this podcast that would become the longest running legal podcast. And 250 podcasts later, the award-winning Lawyer2Lawyer podcast is celebrating its 5th anniversary. Attorneys and co-hosts Bob Ambrogi and J.Craig Williams, spotlight two other pioneers of legal podcasting, Denise Howell, the host of This Week in Law and Struan Robertson, Legal Director for Pinsent Masons LLP and founding editor of OUT-LAW.com/OUT-LAW Radio . They take a look at the value of a podcast for a lawyer today, as well as time commitment, differentiation, and a bit of fun.

Should former MLB pitcher, Roger Clemens and his former trainer Brian McNamee take polygraph tests? That's just one of the topics discussed on this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer. Attorneys and co-hosts Bob Ambrogi and J.Craig Williams, welcome legendary defense counsel, Attorney F. Lee Bailey and Michael S. Schmidt, reporter for The New York Times, to discuss the Clemens indictment on charges that he allegedly lied to Congress back in 2008, when he testified that he never used performance-enhancing drugs. They explore legal strategy, the use of physical evidence, the credibility of testimonies and the future of Roger Clemens.

A Boston medical student and accused Craigslist killer, Philip Markoff commits suicide in jail awaiting trial for first degree murder, prompting reactions ranging from frustration to relief. On this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, attorneys and co-hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams welcome Douglas Berman, Law Professor at Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University, who first prompts the question on his blog, Sentencing Law and Policy, about how we react to this turn of events in the legal process, along with special guests Elie Mystal, Editor at Above the Law, and Leslie Walker, Executive Director of Prisoners’ Legal Services in Boston for a discussion about justice denied.

With a vote of 63-37, the Senate confirmed Elena Kagan as a Supreme Court justice making her the 112th justice, and the fourth woman ever to serve on the Supreme Court. Attorney and co-host, Bob Ambrogi welcomes Professor Joel Grossman, a professor of political science, and a constitutional law scholar from Johns Hopkins University and University of Maryland School of Law and Tony Mauro, Supreme Court correspondent for The National Law Journal and for ALM Media, to discuss the latest on the confirmation of Elena Kagan. They look at her background, some of the controversy over her confirmation and what kind of impact she will ultimately have on the Supreme Court.

In a landmark decision in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker in San Francisco struck down the controversial and highly-debated, Proposition 8 in California, which was approved by the state's voters in November 2008 and overturned a state supreme court ruling that resulted in the legalization of same sex marriage. Attorney and co-host, Bob Ambrogi welcomes Adam Winkler from UCLA Law School, Professor Nelson Tebbe from Brooklyn Law School and Attorney Thomas J. Barbar, the Mass Bar Association's Family Law Chair and principal with Deutsch Williams, Brooks, DeRensis & Holland PC., to sort through all the twists and turns. They look at reaction to the ruling, the legal issues surrounding gay marriage and the likelihood of this issue reaching the U.S. Supreme Court.