Lawyer 2 Lawyer - Law News And Legal Topics

It’s about that time of year again when the law students are heading back to school and thinking ahead to what they want in a law firm once they graduate. Law.com blogger and co-host, J. Craig Williams turns to both a recruiter and two law students to get two different perspectives. Craig welcomes Partner and Chair of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton’s Recruiting Committee, David Leinwand, Matthew Donnelly, third year law student from the University of Iowa College of Law and Roger Smerage third year law student at Suffolk University Law School in Boston, to discuss recruiting at a large firm, what firms are doing to set themselves apart from the competition of other law firms, the interview process, what firms are looking for in a future associate, what students are looking for in a firm and how they are preparing for the competition of other law students.

Attorney Gerry Spence has practiced law for over fifty years, has never lost a criminal case and is the author of sixteen books. On Lawyer2 Lawyer, Law.com bloggers and co-hosts, J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi talk to Attorney Spence about his most prominent cases, life as a trial attorney, his founding of the Trial Lawyers College, his opinion about law school, stepping into the world of blogging and his mission to represent the poor, the injured and the forgotten. Listen and find out why he says "Lawyers disappoint me."

How do summer associates programs at major law firms work? Hear the perspectives from current associates who were summers and a leader in the recruitment strategy at a large firm on this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer with co-hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi, both attorneys and Law.com legal bloggers. We welcome guests, Attorney Lydia Kelley, partner and co-chair of the recruiting committee at McDermott, Will & Emery in Chicago along with two young Associates now working at big firms, Claudine Coumbres at White & Case, LLP in New York and Michel Ayer at Quarles & Brady, LLP in Phoenix. Listen to their first hand experiences and opinions.

Viacom accused Google's video sharing website, YouTube of violating its copyright in a $1 billion lawsuit. And as of last week, Google and Viacom reached an agreement to allow Google's YouTube to mask important user information from records before the handover to Viacom. Law.com bloggers and co-hosts, J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi welcome Attorney Kevin A. Thompson from the firm Davis McGrath LLC, and Lauren Gelman, Executive Director of Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society to discuss this case. They will discuss the legal issues, privacy rights, piracy issues and what this case means for the users, the source of business for these companies.

To many out there the internet is a necessity, but what will the internet look like 10 years from now? Join Law.com blogger and co-host Bob Ambrogi as he sits down with Harvard Law Professor and co-founder of HLS's Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Jonathan Zittrain, to discuss his new book, The Future of the Internet - And How to Stop It. Bob and John will also talk about the 10th anniversary of the Berkman Center and Jonathan’s concerns and thoughts on the future of the internet.

A very special guest on this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, Judge Nancy Gertner from the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, speaks out about her experience as a criminal defense attorney, her career rise to jurist and...blogging as a Judge. Join Law.com bloggers and co-hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams as they welcome the Honorable Nancy Gertner, recipient of the 2008 Thurgood Marshall Award of the American Bar Association Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, recognizing her contributions to advancing human rights and civil liberties.

The Supreme Court wrapped up on June 26th with its final ruling-an Individual Right to Bear Arms. Join Law.com bloggers and co-hosts, J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi as they talk shop with the experts: Tony Mauro, Supreme Court correspondent for Legal Times, American Lawyer Media and Law.com and Amy Howe, from the firm Howe & Russell, PC. and contributor to the SCOTUS Blog. They will discuss these wrap-up rulings, get reactions to the rulings and look at what the Supreme Court will look like at the same time next year when we are under the rule of a new President.

Last week Ralph R. Cioffi and Matthew M. Tannin, both former hedge fund managers for Bear Stearns, surrendered to federal agents and were charged with nine counts of securities, mail and wire fraud. Law.com bloggers and co-hosts, J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi welcome Attorney Rich Strassberg, a partner in Goodwin Procter’s Litigation Department and chair of its White Collar Crime & Government Investigations Practice, to discuss the details of this criminal case. They will explore the Bear Stearns scandal, look into the criminal charges against the ex-managers, the state of the mortgage market, the evidence in their email correspondence, tackle the topic of white-collar crime and look at what criminally can happen to these once successful fund managers.

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in Boumediene v. Bush, that suspected terrorists and foreign fighters held by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have the right to challenge their detention in federal court. Law.com blogger and co-host, J. Craig Williams, welcomes experts, Aziz Huq, Deputy Director from The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and Attorney Edward Lazarus, partner at the firm, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and author of Closed Chambers: The Rise, Fall, and Future of the Modern Supreme Court to explore this significant ruling. They will discuss habeas corpus rights of Guantanamo detainees and others, the effect on the war on terrorism and what this means for detainees.

A sign of the times ~ more law schools? According to the National Law Journal, law schools are on the rise with as many as ten new ones, and a majority set to open on the East Coast. That's what Law.com bloggers and co-hosts, J. Craig Williams and Robert Ambrogi discuss with experts, Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, founding dean of the Donald Bren School of Law at UC Irvine and Dean Thomas F. Guernsey, President and Dean, Albany Law School. They explore traditional vs. new age law schools, what these new law schools have to offer, the ABA accreditation process and take a look at the reality after law school for students.

Vioxx litigation is always upredictable. A $26 million jury verdict against Merck was overturned in Texas. Separately, an appeals court in New Jersey sharply reduced a verdict in another Vioxx case. Law.com bloggers and co-hosts, J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi welcome Attorney Tommy Fibich, partner in the firm of Fibich, Hampton & Leebron, LLP out of Houston, Texas and Brenda Sapino Jeffreys, reporter from Texas Lawyer, to explore the reversal of these verdicts. Join us to hear a plaintiff attorney and news reporter’s perspective and see what the future holds for the verdicts of those affected by Vioxx.

Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird and John Grisham’s The Firm and The Client, all come to mind when thinking about classic books written about the law. On Lawyer2Lawyer, co-host and Law.com blogger, Bob Ambrogi, will induct two more books into that classic category, by exploring a classic in the legal community and an upcoming book that is bound to be an instant classic. Bob talks books with Mark Herrmann, partner resident in the Chicago office of the international law firm, Jones Day and the author of The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law and turns to his co-host, J. Craig Williams, author of How to Get Sued©, to discuss his new release. They will discuss how they got involved in writing, how their experience as attorneys served as a source for their books, the inspiration that led them to write and feedback they have received from their peers in the legal community.

On May 15, 2008, in a 4-3 decision, California's Supreme Court ruled in favor of plaintiffs-comprised of gay rights group Equality California, almost two dozen gay couples and the city of San Francisco, who argued that the 2000 law banning same-sex marriage in the state was discriminatory. Law.com bloggers and co-hosts, J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi welcome Tara Borelli, Staff Attorney in the Western Regional Office of Lambda Legal and Brian S. Brown, Executive Director of the National Organization for Marriage to discuss this ruling. In this show, we will get specifics on the ruling, reaction from opponents, legal issues behind same-sex marriage and explore this controversial debate on gay marriage.

The democratic race for the Presidential nominee has been an exciting one—and as of this week, Senator Obama bypassed Senator Clinton in superdelegates. Law.com blogger and host, J. Craig Williams welcomes the experts, Daniel P.Tokaji, Associate Professor of Law at the Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law and the Associate Director of Election Law @ Moritz and Lanny J. Davis, partner and member of the Litigation Group at the global law firm, Orrick and special CNN political analyst, as they look at the legal issues behind the superdelagates. They will discuss the superdelegate quandary, explore election law, the Michigan/Florida issue and take a look ahead at what this fight to the finish means for the Democratic party.

The results of the AM Law 100 are in and total revenues for the Am Law 100 firms have reached $64.5 billion! Law.com blogger and host, Bob Ambrogi talks to the experts about the AM Law 100. Bob welcomes Aric Press, Editor-in-Chief of The American Lawyer Magazine and Bruce MacEwen, a lawyer and consultant to law firms on strategic and economic issues and blogger for “Adam Smith, Esq.” On this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, we will look at the AM Law 100, what goes into the research, discuss the final results, go back ten years to see how firms Revenue Per Lawyer has changed and look ahead to what the future looks like for law firms.

The legal publishing market is a nearly $5 billion business. However, some have taken case law into the public domain, calling it free case law, which allows attorneys, legal scholars, and the general public to have public access to decisions for State & Federal Courts and the U.S. Supreme Court. Law.com bloggers and co-hosts, J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi, discuss this hot topic with the experts: Professor Thomas F. Bruce, Director of the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University Law School, Carl Malamud, founder of Public.Resource.org and Andy Martens, Senior Vice President of New Product Development, from Thomson West. Bob, Craig and guests will explore the controversy over whose public records are they?

The raid of a polygamist compound in West Texas has raised some important issues of rights of children, women and family as well as religion. Host and blogger, Bob Ambrogi turns to the experts, Attorney Betsy Branch, from the firm of McCurley, Orsinger, McCurley, Nelson and Downing, LLP and lawyer and social critic, Wendy Kaminer, blogger on civil liberties at thefreeforall.net, to discuss the aftermath of the raid of the FLDS compound. Bob, Betsy and Wendy will explore DNA testing, civil liberties, the question of child abuse vs. religion, a sect’s legal rights and the fate of the children.

The Federal Shield Law is pending in Congress. Meanwhile, reporters have come under fire for protecting the privacy of their sources resulting in jail time and high fines. Join Law.com bloggers and co-hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi as they explore the shield law with the experts: Lucy Dalglish, Executive Director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Geoffrey R. Stone, the Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago Law School and Attorney Joel Kurtzberg, partner at the firm, Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP. They will discuss the federal shield law pending in Congress, high profile cases involving reporters, states’ efforts to enact their own shield laws, punishment given to those who protect their sources and the rights of journalists.

With global warming and environmental issues plaguing the world, the legal community is doing its part by taking charge and partaking in individual tasks within their firms to save the environment. Join Law.com blogger and co-host, Bob Ambrogi as he talks “Green Firms” with the experts: Attorney Carolyn S. Kaplan, Chief Sustainability Officer from Nixon Peabody LLP and Attorney Daniel Eisenberg, the Public Service Vice Chair for the ABA Section on Environment, Energy and Resources (SEER) Air Quality Committee. In this show, we will talk about the emergence of green firms worldwide, how firms can get involved, what going green can do for your firm and what employees within a firm need to do on a daily basis in order to stay green.

The sub-prime mortgage mess, foreclosures and housing downturn. The real estate world is stagnant and the U-S is now involved in a huge housing crisis leading many to take advantage and prey on vulnerable homeowners and Mortgage fraud is one product of the fall of the housing market. Join Law.com bloggers and co-hosts, J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi, as they turn to the experts, real estate insider, Richard Hagar and Attorney Melissa Huelsman, to discuss the ins and out of the real estate crisis and mortage fraud. They will highlight the Operation Homewrecker case, the rise in mortgage fraud and how to protect yourself from mortgage fraud and rise above the present real estate crisis.