Lawyer 2 Lawyer - Law News And Legal Topics

The Electoral College has become somewhat of a controversial talking point when it comes to deciding the presidency. Some have praised the Electoral College citing its creation by our Founding Fathers, while others have produced legislation to abolish the Electoral College in its entirety, favoring electing our president though a national popular vote. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, host J. Craig Williams joins Trent England, director of the Save Our States project and Dr. John R. Koza, originator of the National Popular Vote legislation, as they discuss history of the Electoral College, Electoral College vs. national popular vote, and the great debate over the Electoral College, especially during this presidential election. Trent England is vice president for strategic initiatives at the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, where he also is the David and Ann Brown Distinguished Fellow for the Advancement of Liberty and directs the Save Our States project. Dr. John R. Koza is lead author of the book Every Vote Equal: A S

Across the country, women have been filing class action lawsuits over a male-dominated culture and alleged gender discrimination within the walls of their law firms. In this episode of  Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi join David Sanford, chairman and co-founder of Sanford Heisler, LLP, attorney Kerrie Campbell, a partner in Chadbourne & Parke’s Litigation Department and Caroline Fredrickson, president of the American Constitution Society (ACS), to discuss litigation, the difficulty of proving gender discrimination, legislation, and what the future looks like for equality for women in the workplace. Attorney David Sanford is chairman and co-founder of Sanford Heisler, LLP.  David was lead counsel representing approximately 7,000 female employees in Velez v. Novartis. After a seven-week trial, Mr. Sanford secured the largest employment verdict in United States history. David is currently representing attorney Kerrie Campbell in her gender discrimination class action lawsuit. Attorne

In a recent decision, the Drug Enforcement Administration ruled that marijuana will remain a Schedule 1 substance under the Controlled Substances Act. Substances in Schedule 1 are determined by the Food and Drug Administration to be drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.   On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, host J. Craig Williams joins Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML and Ben Cort, business development manager for the Center for Addiction Recovery and Rehabilitation (CeDAR), to discuss the recent decision by the DEA to keep marijuana on the Schedule 1 list. They will talk impact, the legalization of marijuana, manufacturing marijuana for scientific purposes, and what the future holds on this controversial topic. Paul Armentano is deputy director of NORML, and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, and a senior policy advisor at Freedom Leaf, Inc: The Marijuana Legalization Company. He is the co-author of the book “Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving Pe

After our veterans return from combat or active duty, they can face a host of legal issues upon returning to the reality of home. From homelessness stemming from evictions and foreclosures to child custody disputes to problems with benefits, veterans can have various legal needs due to their lengthy separation from home and are in need of assistance. But there is help for these individuals and the legal community is making strides in assisting our veterans in these legal disputes. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi join attorney Richard V. Spataro, director of training and publications for National Veterans Legal Services Program and Robert Liscord, veteran legal services outreach coordinator and paralegal for Pine Tree Legal Assistance, as they take a look at various legal issues facing our veterans. They will discuss legal needs and how attorneys and organizations are assisting veterans with their legal issues. Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.

In July, a sniper, later identified as Micah Xavier Johnson, opened fire at a march against fatal police shootings, held in downtown Dallas, Texas, killing 5 police officers and wounding many others. After a 45 minute gun battle and hours of negotiation with the sniper, who was holed up in a parking garage, Dallas Police Chief David Brown gave an order to his SWAT team to come up with a plan to end the mayhem before more police officers were killed.   This led to the use of as robot, the Remotec Androx Mark V A-1, manufactured by Northrup Grumman and a pound of C-4 explosive, which was sent in eventually killing the sniper. Today on Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi  join attorney Edward Obayashi, deputy sheriff and legal advisor for the Plumas County Sheriff's Office and Dr. Peter Asaro,  assistant professor and director of graduate programs for the School of Media Studies at the New School for Public Engagement, as they take a look at the recent tragedy in Dallas,  the use of robots b

Update: Brendan Dassey, nephew to Steven Avery, the primary defendant from the "Making a Murderer" series on Netflix had his conviction for murder, rape, and mutilation of a corpse overturned by U.S. Magistrate Judge William E. Duffin of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin last Friday. This episode was recorded shortly before the development. Back on October 31st of 2005, a young photographer named Teresa Halbach went missing. Teresa’s last meeting had been with Steven Avery, on the grounds of Avery's Auto Salvage in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. Teresa’s remains were later found on the grounds of Avery’s home and family business. Avery was well known to law enforcement and had previously served a lengthy prison sentence for rape and attempted murder from which he  was later exonerated on DNA evidence. What transpired inspired the extremely popular Netflix series “Making a Murderer,” directed by Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos. The series spotlights Steven Avery and his quest for justic

The Pokémon Go App developed by Niantic is the latest craze sweeping the world. The location-based augmented reality mobile game/app produced 15 million downloads in just the first week. The game allows players to capture, battle, and train virtual creatures, called Pokémon, who appear on device screens as though in the real world. Unfortunately, this popular app has caused some trouble amongst gamers and has created a big threat to public safety. Trespassing on property, muggings, driving distracted, walking into traffic, and falling from cliffs are just some of the incidents stemming from the use of this app. In addition, businesses are attracting customers by adding fantasy characters to their stores, so the implications for liability have increased. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi join professor Adam Thimmesch, an assistant professor of law at the University of Nebraska College of Law and attorney Brian Wassom from the firm Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP as they discuss

The American Bar Association is one of the world’s largest voluntary professional organizations, with nearly 400,000 members and more than 3,500 entities. It is committed to doing what only a national association of attorneys can do: serve members, improve the legal profession, eliminate bias and enhance diversity, and advance the rule of law throughout the United States and around the world. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi join Linda Klein, president-elect of the American Bar Association, as she takes a look back at the past year as president-elect and looks ahead to her initiatives and mission under her presidency at the American Bar Association. Linda Klein is president-elect of the American Bar Association. Linda, senior managing shareholder at Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz, assumed the role of president-elect of the American Bar Association in August 2015 at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago. She is presently serving a one-year term as president-elect then wi

On June 27th, the Supreme Court wrapped up its term with some standout cases. Immigration, affirmative action, abortion clinic restrictions, guns and domestic violence, and public corruption are only a few cases that have ended an eventful and, at some times, controversial Supreme Court term. These cases alongside a vacant seat on the Supreme Court have made this term an interesting one to say the least. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi join Tony Mauro, Supreme Court correspondent for the National Law Journal and Suzanna Sherry, the Herman O. Loewenstein professor of law at Vanderbilt University Law School, as they discuss the Supreme Court's end of term. They will take a look back at the standout cases, the last cases before the term ended, the impact of the loss of Justice Scalia and one less justice, and look forward to the start of next term in October. Tony Mauro is the Supreme Court correspondent for the National Law Journal. Tony has covered the Supreme Court for over 30 year

On June 12, 2016, tragedy struck at Pulse, a popular nightclub within the LGBT community in Orlando, Florida, after a gunman, Omar Mateen fatally shot 49 people and injured 53. This tragedy is one of  the deadliest mass shootings in the United States and the nation's worst terror attack since 9/11. In a Father's Day address, President Obama said gun violence was "preventable" and too common. "It's unconscionable that we allow easy access to weapons of war in these places,"  he said.  And just yesterday, a divided Senate voted down 4 gun control measures. So what needs to change when it comes to gun laws, all while protecting the Second Amendment? And can bipartisan gun legislation curb gun violence and prevent future mass shootings? In this episode of Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi join attorney Steven W. Dulan, first vice chair of the Michigan Coalition of Responsible Gun Owners and Arkadi Gerney, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, as they take a look at gun laws and

In a highly publicized custody case involving a 6-year-old girl, the use of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, a federal law that seeks to keep American Indian children with their American Indian families, has come into play. The child was recently removed from her foster home after a lower court judge ruled that Lexi’s Choctaw Indian bloodline requires her to live with relatives in Utah.  According to court records, Lexi was moved to foster care four years ago due to her birth mother’s substance abuse problems, her birth father’s criminal history, and custody issues involving both birth parents and other children. Lexi’s foster parents, have since filed an appeal to the California High Court In this episode of  Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi join attorney Lori Alvino McGill, partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Wilkinson Walsh + Eskovitz and Chrissi Nimmo, assistant attorney general for Cherokee Nation, who has represented the nation in tribal, state, and federal courts sinc

The Labor Department recently announced regulation changes pertaining to overtime pay for employees and their employers. Under these new rules, those who earn salaries of less than $47,476 a year will automatically qualify for overtime pay of time-and-a-half if they work more than 40 hours a week. Once the new rules go into effect on December 1, 2016, they will impact 4.2 million workers in the United States.  So what does this mean for business owners and their employees? In this episode of Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi join Jane Lauer Barker, a partner at the New York labor and employment firm Pitta & Giblin LLP and Thomas Wassel, a labor and employment partner with the New York firm Cullen and Dykman, as they take a look at these recent overtime rule changes and the impact, pros and cons, and reaction from business owners and the workforce. Jane Lauer Barker is a partner at the New York labor and employment firm Pitta & Giblin LLP.  Jane concentrates in labor, employment,

An offshore investment scandal known as the Panama Papers has taken the world by storm. The controversy centers around the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca and its connections to high-ranking political figures, their relatives, celebrities, and business figures, including Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson. Recently, a German newspaper announced that 11.5 million confidential documents between 1970 and 2015 had been leaked from the firm to journalists. These "Panama Papers" revealed how clients hid billions of dollars in offshore tax shelters.  There are many issues at hand here: establishing these offshore entities, evading taxes, fraud, laundering money, and overall corruption. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and Craig Williams join Jessica Tillipman, the assistant dean for field placement at George Washington Law School and Professor William Byrnes, a member of the law faculty and an associate dean with Texas A&M University School of Law, as they take an inside look at the Pan

North Carolina’s House Bill 2, better known as the “Bathroom Law”, has taken center stage and has created a great debate. On March 23, 2016, Gov. Pat McCrory signed the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, also known as House Bill 2 or HB2. The law bans people from using bathrooms that don't match the sex indicated on their birth certificates, which opponents argue is discriminatory toward the transgender community. Supporters of the new law say it is a safety and privacy issue, protecting women and children from men who use the law as a pretense to deliberately enter the wrong restroom. Legislation involving the transgender community is not only happening in the state of North Carolina, but Mississippi and Tennessee have pushed similar legislation as well. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi join Ilona Turner, legal director at the Transgender Law Center, Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute and Professor Katie Eyer from Rutgers Law School as they ta

The FBI and Apple, Inc. have been immersed in an ongoing legal battle over privacy and security. The legal battle reached a boiling point when the FBI and Apple engaged in a dispute over whether the federal court may compel Apple to create new software that would enable the FBI to unlock an iPhone 5C it recovered from one of the shooters in a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. So, is this a threat to our data security or will Apple’s assistance to the FBI provide key information needed to prevent future terrorist attacks? On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi join David O’Brien, a senior researcher at the Berkman Center and Robert E. Cattanach, a partner with the international law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP and a former justice department attorney, as they take a look at the latest on the FBI/Apple Legal Battle. They will discuss San Bernardino, encryption, privacy, national security and the future impact of this case. Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.  

Last month, Justice Antonin Scalia passed away unexpectedly sparking a huge reaction from the legal and political world. Justice Scalia was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 and is known for his conservative position in his rulings. Since his death, there has been great controversy over his replacement on the High Court and the nomination process under President Obama. In this episode of Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams join Tony Mauro, the Supreme Court correspondent for the National Law Journal and Kevin P. Martin, an appellate and regulatory litigation partner and co-chair of Goodwin Procter’s Appellate Litigation Group and Justice Scalia’s former law clerk, as they discuss the passing of Justice Scalia, his legacy, the controversy over a replacement, and the impact his death will have on the future of the Supreme Court and the laws of the land. Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.

There is presently a public health crisis plaguing Flint, Michigan. Lead contamination in the water has led to a major public health danger. Back in 2014, Flint changed its water source from the treated Detroit Water and Sewerage Department water to the Flint River. Since then, Flint’s drinking water has had a host of problems. This Flint River water then caused lead from aging pipes to seep into the water supply, causing extremely high levels of lead. Between 6,000 and 12,000 children have been exposed and they may experience a range of serious health problems. On January 21, 2016, the E.P.A. issued an emergency administrative order finding that “the city of Flint’s and the state of Michigan’s responses to the drinking water crisis in Flint have been inadequate to protect public health and that these failures continue.” On Lawyer2Lawyer, hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi join professor Peter Jacobson, professor of health management and policy at the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan

On January 25, 2016, in a 6-3 opinion written by Justice Kennedy, the Supreme Court ruled that those sentenced as juveniles to mandatory life imprisonment for murder, “should have a chance to be resentenced or argue for parole.” This ruling plays off of the 2012 decision in Miller v. Alabama, which struck down mandatory life terms without parole for juveniles. This now must be applied retroactively and could affect at least 1,000 inmates in similar situations across the country. In this episode of Lawyer 2 Lawyer, host Bob Ambrogi joins Emily C. Keller, a supervising attorney at Juvenile Law Center, and professor Christopher Slobogin from Vanderbilt Law School as they look at the recent Supreme Court decision, inside Montgomery v. Louisiana and Miller v. Alabama, the impact on past and future cases involving juveniles, the decision’s impact on the families of victims and juvenile justice reform. Emily C. Keller engages in litigation and policy efforts to improve the child welfare and justice systems, includin

On January 5, 2016, President Obama announced he would be taking executive action to reduce gun violence. Surrounded by families of the Sandy Hook tragedy and other mass killings, he vowed to not allow guns to get in the wrong hands. In the past decade, more than 100,000 people have died as a result of gun violence. So, will the President’s recent action impact gun control or will all remain the same? In this episode of Lawyer 2 Lawyer, host Bob Ambrogi joins David B. Kopel, adjunct professor of advanced constitutional law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and Laura Cutilletta, senior staff attorney at the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence as they take a look at this executive order on guns, “smart guns”, state laws, public reaction, and the impact this executive order could have on gun violence.   Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.

When many of us think of actor and comedian Bill Cosby, we think of the jovial dad, Cliff Huxtable from the Cosby Show. Over the past year, at least 58 women have come forward alleging that Bill Cosby had drugged and sexually assaulted them at different times and in various locations. Amidst a multitude of allegations from these women over the years, now, Bill Cosby faces criminal charges for allegedly drugging and sexual assaulting former Temple University staffer Andrea Constand back in 2004. In this episode of Lawyer 2 Lawyer, host Bob Ambrogi joins attorney Scott Greenfield, criminal defense attorney out of New York, and attorney Murray Newman, a former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney out of Houston as they take a look at the legal issues surrounding Bill Cosby. We will discuss the allegations, prosecution vs. defense strategy, his arrest, the recent criminal charge of sexual assault, the statute of limitations on sexual assault, the impact on his public image, and what the future holds for Mr. C