Lawyer 2 Lawyer - Law News And Legal Topics

Due out this week is the 10th edition of Black's Law Dictionary. With 16,000 new definitions, 900 new maxims, and terms dated back to their first English usage, Black's Law Dictionary 10th Edition is touted to be the most comprehensive and relevant collection of legal terminology to date. But what goes into making this legal reference and how does it stay relevant in today's world? On this episode of Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams interview Black's Law Dictionary's editor-in-chief Professor Bryan A. Garner. Together they discuss the army of 300 professionals and scholars who deciphered true meanings from historic documents, ancient language, and modern usage. Tune in to hear Garner describe what goes into updating Black's and why he believes attorneys will continue to use it for generations to come. Bryan A. Garner is a U.S. lawyer, lexicographer, and teacher who has written several books about English usage and style, including Garner's Modern American Usage and Elements of Legal St

In its landmark 1963 decision Gideon v. Wainwright, the Supreme Court mandated the right to counsel in federal and state criminal proceedings. Fifty-one years after that unanimous decision, some question whether Gideon's promise has been fulfilled, as public defenders struggle against heavy caseloads, limited resources and low pay. On this episode of Lawyer2Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams interview Jonathan Rapping, founder of the Atlanta-based public defender training program Gideon's Promise, and Dawn Porter, director and producer of the documentary Gideon's Army. Together they discuss the daily rigors faced by public defenders in the south, their personal beliefs about unequal access to justice, and their ideas about how to better deliver on the promise of Gideon. Jonathan Rapping is the president and founder of Gideon's Promise, a training and support group for public defenders in the south aimed at creating greater access to justice for indigent defendants. He is also the director of the

Six states have passed laws to address revenge porn, but critics say those laws may infringe upon First Amendment rights and subject people to needless criminal prosecution. Critics of anti-revenge porn laws believe the laws as drafted are overly broad, fail to exempt acceptable behavior, and create a chilling effect on otherwise legal expression. On this follow up episode of Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams interview Lee Rowland from the ACLU and Marc Randazza from the Randazza Legal Group. Together we discuss the potentially harmful components of non-consensual porn legislation and consider alternative avenues of redress for victims. Professor Mary Anne Franks of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, a proponent of criminalizing revenge porn, joins us for the second half to debate criticisms of these laws. Tune in for a spirited debate about free speech, over-criminalization, and the proper way to address the troubling issue of revenge porn. For part one of this two-part series, please

The non-consensual posting of nude or sexual media by one person of another is known as Revenge Porn. Many victims report that this practice has had detrimental effects on their lives. Of those surveyed, 90 percent are women and 49 percent say they've been stalked or harassed. Despite the growing number of reports, most states' laws do not address the issue. On this episode of Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams interview victim-advocate Dr. Holly Jacobs, a victim of revenge porn herself, and Professor Mary Anne Franks, both of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative. Together, they discuss the technical aspects of various states' laws that allow some types of posts while forbidding others. Many factors and technicalities, including who took the picture, how the image or video was obtained, and who posted it, can dictate whether posting the item was illegal. Tune in to this very special episode to learn what individual states and the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative are doing to combat Revenge Por

Attorney-Client Privilege predates US history and is a fixture of Western Law. Pro advocates of its proliferation declare its necessity to a fair and adequate defense. According to many legal experts, NSA monitoring of privileged attorney-client communications stands in direct violation to the United States Bill of Rights and yet others disagree. In this episode of Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams shed light on this issue with guests Dean Erwin Chemerinsky of the University of California, Irvine School of Law and Dr. John Eastman of Chapman University Fowler School of Law. Erwin Chemerinsky is the founding Dean and Distinguished Professor of Law, and Raymond Pryke Professor of First Amendment Law, at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. His areas of expertise include, but are not limited to, constitutional law, federal practice, and civil rights. Erwin is a renowned author of seven books and nearly 200 articles in top law reviews. He has argued before the nation's highes

Federal law bans marijuana nationwide and yet some states have decided to license its trade. So, where does this leave citizens, local government, and attorneys who work in the cannabis industry? On this episode of Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams interview Brian Vicente, Dan Riffle and Kathy Haddock to discuss the challenges and liabilities that persist in the void between federal and state drug laws. Brian Vicente is a Colorado criminal defense attorney and founding partner of Vicente Sederberg. He also serves as Executive Director for Sensible Colorado, chairs the Denver Mayor's Marijuana Policy Review Panel, and coordinates the Colorado Bar Association's Drug Policy Project. Dan Riffle is a former assistant prosecutor for Vinton County, Ohio who has turned lobbyist on Capitol Hill. He currently serves as the Director of Federal Policies for Marijuana Policy Project and has shepherded 2013 legislation through Illinois making it the second largest medical marijuana state. Kathy Haddo

In an emergency, seconds count. What if you couldn't call 911 because you couldn't reach an outside line? On this episode of Lawyer 2 Lawyer, host J. Craig Williams interviews Henry "Hank" Hunt, the man petitioning for Kari's Law, and FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai. Together they discuss the importance of uniform dialing for 911. Henry Hunt's nine year old granddaughter, through no fault of her own, could not reach 911 to save her mother. Despite her multiple attempts, the calls would not connect because the hotel's phone system required dialing 9 to get an outside line. In the wake of these events, this Texas grandfather started the Kari's Law petition which calls for mandated direct-dial 911. Ajit Pai serves as FCC Commissioner focusing on regulatory environments where competition and innovation flourish. He is the former Associate General Counsel at Verizon. In addition, he has served as Senior Counsel with the Department of Justice and Chief Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Const

Are Bar Exams really necessary? The Iowa State Bar Association isn't so sure. In this episode of Lawyer2Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams interview Iowa State Bar Association President Guy Cook and Clinical Professor of Law John Whiston to learn why Iowa could soon offer Diploma Privilege for its law graduates. Cook is the current president of the Iowa State Bar Association. He is an Iowa native who has been practicing law for over 30 years. Guy is a board certified trial attorney, former federal prosecutor, and senior partner for Grefe and Sidney, P.L.C. where he practices exclusively in litigation. He also serves on the Board of Counselors of Drake University Law School. Whiston is a clinical professor of law at The University of Iowa College of Law. He teaches in the Clinical Legal Programs as well as courses in Evidence, Deposition Practice, Worker's Compensation, and Trial Advocacy. John is a former partner with Rossbach and Whiston, P.C. and has been admitted to practice before the Supreme

If you had bought $1,000 worth of Bitcoins in 2010, you would have $2.4 million dollars today. The anonymous, Internet-based currency has seen an exponential rise in value and popularity since its inception in 2009. This raises legal questions regarding the legitimacy, the legalities, and what lawyers need to know about this new currency. In this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams invite Bitcoin experts, attorney Lowell D. Ness and journalist Kashmir Hill, to provide some answers and a foretelling of the e-currency's future. Ness is a partner of the nationwide law firm Perkins Coie which has extensive experience in virtual currency. The firm's Virtual Currency Report Blog, which Lowell regularly contributes to, provides a legal outlook on the state of bitcoin and the market. Lowell's practice focuses on high-growth emerging companies and involves venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, and private placements. Senior Online Editor of Forbes, Hill i

In this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams invite Allen Pusey and Molly McDonough of the ABA Journal to recap the past year’s legal news. Consider this a crash course on news stories such as Edward Snowden, gun control, and Obamacare. The discussion will not only cover the top stories of the year but also find the common themes in this year’s news and foretell what to keep an eye on in 2014. Pusey has been with the ABA Journal since 2007 and was named editor and publisher in 2011. Prior to the ABA Journal, he worked for 26 years at the Dallas Morning News as an investigative reporter, feature writer, special projects editor, and U.S. Supreme Court correspondent. McDonough is the deputy managing editor of the ABA Journal. She currently oversees online operations and special projects, including the Legal Rebels series and the annual Blawg 100. Molly has covered the courts and the legal profession for more than 20 years. She has been a reporter and editor for the National Law Jou

News of Amazon’s plans to use delivery drones surprised many, but the fact is that a number of companies are developing drones for commercial uses. However, before any of these commercial drones can take flight, they need to clear a series of legal hurdles, from winning FAA approval to sorting out liability and privacy issues. In this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, host Bob Ambrogi invites industry lawyer Ben Gielow and Above the Law editor Elie Mystal to discuss the legal issues facing commercial drones and how they are likely to play out. Ben Gielow is the government relations manager and general counsel for the advocacy sector of the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. He has been featured in interviews covering the concept of commercial drones since the beginning regarding what legislation and other requirements are necessary for us to see commercial drones in our airways. Elie Mystal is the editor of Above the Law. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he left his life as a litigator to pursu

This landmark case, involving Google’s digitization project of scanning 20-million books to make them searchable through the Internet, was decided in favor of Google. “In my mind, this is a fair-use case that we will never see again,” Andrew Albanese, senior writer for Publisher’s Weekly, said, declaring the case a benchmark for future decisions. It was ruled that Google met the requirements of fair use and all four factors in defense of copyright infringement. In this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and Craig Williams chat with Andrew Albanese about the case, whether this constitutes transformative use, and what this case means for the online-media industry as a whole. Andrew Albanese has been covering Google vs. Authors Guild since it’s inception in 2005. As senior writer for Publishers Weekly, he focuses on copyright wars and how the Internet is changing protected works. His book, The Battle of $9.99: How Apple, Amazon and the “Big Six” Publishers Changed the E-Book Business Overnight, covered

“It’s impossible to figure out exactly what the judge did wrong,” University of Pennsylvania Law Professor Kermit Roosevelt says, discussing Federal District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin’s removal from Floyd, et al. v. The City of New York, known as the “stop-and-frisk” case. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Judge “ran afoul” of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges given her participation in media interviews and by making public statements about the “stop and frisk” case. The 2nd Circuit’s ruling did not provide further detail or examples. In this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, your host J. Craig Williams invites Roosevelt to discuss Scheindlin’s removal, whether this action is a question of judge’s first amendment rights, and the possible outcomes of her appeal. Roosevelt is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Working in a diverse range of fields, he focuses in constitutional law and conflict law. Professor Roosevelt was recently a part of a New York Times Room for De

Several email providers across the nation have chosen to shut down in reaction to the government subpoena of Lavabit's data. Ladar Levison, CEO of secure email provider Lavabit, chose to end operations after the government requested the company's SSL keys, which would grant access to more than 400,000 users' emails. Levison challenged the subpoenas under the fourth amendment and organizations including the ACLU and EFF have filed amicus briefs on behalf of Lavabit but at this juncture, the security of secure email is unknown. In this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams invite Attorney Jesse R. Binnall, Levison's counsel, to discuss the case, what it means for all secure email providers, and how it affects lawyers' responsibility for protecting their clients' digital information. Jesse R. Binnall is a partner of Bronley and Binnall, PLLC. His practice areas include civil litigation, small business and non-profit law, commercial lease disputes, appellate litigation, and election la

Cross-examination is a skill that every trial lawyer hopes to master, but few do. In the new book, Excellence in Cross Examination, published by Thomson Reuters, two giants of the trial bar, F. Lee Bailey and Judge Kenneth J. Fishman, share their insights and lessons on how to excel in cross-examination. In this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, host Bob Ambrogi invites Bailey and Fishman to discuss their newest book and the key skills lawyers need to be effective in cross. Having represented high-profile names such as O.J. Simpson, Dr. Sam Sheppard, and Captain Ernest Medina, F. Lee Bailey is known for his successful career as a trial lawyer in criminal and civil cases. He has been a licensed attorney for more than 50 years, authored and co-authored 21 books, and is a licensed private investigator. In addition to his legal career, he has worked as a designated naval aviator with the U.S. Marine Corps. The Honorable Kenneth J. Fishman was a practicing attorney for nearly 30 years before he moved to the bench. This

We saw a number of high-profile cases in the last Supreme Court term. With the nation currently alert to gay rights and Obamacare, some say this new term has fallen under the radar. But take note – as the spotlight shifts to campaign finance laws, free speech, and the president’s power to make recess appointments – the upcoming docket could have some monumental decisions in store. On this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams invite the editor of the SCOTUSblog Amy Howe and LA Times Supreme Court correspondent David Savage to discuss the new term. • Amy Howe has been with SCOTUSblog since 2003. She has served as counsel in over two dozen merits cases at the Supreme Court and has argued two cases there. Howe has also co-taught Supreme Court litigation courses at Stanford and Harvard law schools. • David Savage has been covering the court for nearly three decades. In addition to his work with the LA Times, he also writes a monthly column for the ABA Journal and is regularly feature

The New Jersey State Appeals Court recently ruled that texting someone while that person is driving may cause the sender to be liable if an accident occurs. Supporting arguments say those texting drivers are “virtually present” at the accident. This potential liability affects the distribution of responsibility amongst drivers when a collision occurs. On this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, your hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams invite Attorneys Ted Frank and Marc Saperstein to the discuss the case ruling, whether this advisory ruling will effectively prevent distracted driving, if it’s a fair allocation of responsibility, and more. • New Jersey Attorney Marc Saperstein is a founding member of Davis, Saperstein, and Solomon and a part of the New Jersey Association for Justice. He regularly lectures to fellow lawyers on current case law, class actions, and injury law. Saperstein has a special interest in distracted driving education and prevention. • Manhattan Institute Attorney Ted Frank is the founder and

On this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, your host J. Craig Williams speaks with Dr. Shana Alex Lavarreda and David Cusano, Esq., two health-insurance industry professionals, on the implementation of the Essential Health Benefits within the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. ObamaCare. There are ten Essential Health Benefits that all states are required to include, but the missing element is the lack of definitions for these benefits – which leaves us all wondering how to confirm the 50 states are correctly implementing them. • Dr. Shana Alex Lavarreda is the director of health insurance studies for the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Her research focuses on discontinuous health insurance, under insurance, as well as the political issues surrounding healthcare reform, at the state and federal level. • David Cusano, Esq., works in Georgetown’s State Health Reform Assistance Network to provide technical assistance to state officials on implementing the Essential Health Benefits and the Affordable Care Act. He has

On this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, Bob Ambrogi speaks with Sunita Patel of the Constitutional Center for Human Rights and Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research on Judge Scheindlin's recent ruling, Floyd vs. City of New York, which deemed the NYPD’s use of the stop-and-frisk policy unconstitutional. • Sunita Patel, an attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights, litigates racial profiling, immigrant justice, and other human rights issues. She represents the named plaintiffs in the Floyd class action, four minority men who argued that the stop-and-frisk law was being upheld unconstitutionally and caused indirect racial profiling. The case was filed by the CCR. • Heather Mac Donald is a John M. Olin fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor at the City Journal. She covers a number of topics including immigration, policing and racial profiling, and the New York courts. She has been featured in numerous publications regarding why the stop-and-frisk ruling will i

On this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams speak with ABA President James Silkenat, on his first day in office, about his goals and initiatives for the ABA agenda. James Silkenat has been working in international law for more than forty years. He joined the ABA’s first delegation to China in the mid-1970s and since then has chaired the International Law Section. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and of the American Law Institute, and has served as a Fellow in the U.S. State Department Scholar/Diplomat Program. As well as numerous other positions in and outside of the ABA, he will now serve as the president of the nation’s largest legal organization. Silkenat will discuss his major platform goals for his presidency, including the legal education financing system and student debt, a legal job corps, the ABA’s stance on gun violence, and more. Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.