May It Please The Court: Weblog of legal news and observations, including a quote of the day and daily updates

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Lawyer2Lawyer Internet Radio Takes To The Air Over The Atlantic To Examine Air France Crash

On May 31, 2009, Air France flight 447, out of Rio de Janiero bound for Paris, vanished into thin air.  A frantic search for passengers and the black boxes, turned up with a number of bodies but no black boxes. Please join me and my co-host Bob Ambrogi as we invite Attorney Justin T. Green, partner with the firm Kreindler & Kreindler and Attorney John A. Greaves from the firm Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman, PC, to discuss the crash, the litigation and jurisdiction issues and the quest for compensation for the victims' families.

Lawyer2Lawyer Internet Radio Examines Hate Crimes And First Amendment Rights

When an 88-year old white supremacist walked into the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC opening fire, reaction was swift to question if this tragedy could have been prevented. And with those questions comes the examination of First Amendment rights. Please join me and my fellow Lawyer2Lawyer co-host Bob Ambrogi as we welcome Attorney Brian Cuban, a Dallas Attorney working for Mark Cuban Companies, Attorney Steve Freeman, Director of Legal Affairs for the Anti-Defamation League and renowned trial lawyer and First Amendment lawyer, Attorney Martin Garbus, to discuss First Amendment rights - the balance between protecting free speech for the many and restricting hate speech for the few

Lawyer2Lawyer Internet Radio Looks Up At A Down Economy In Law Firms

Layoffs in the legal profession have been in the news lately, but downsizing from the top?  More experienced attorneys, even senior partners in some larger law firms are not as secure in their jobs as they once were in what may be more signs of practicing law as a business.  Please join me and my fellow Law.com blogger and co-host Bob Ambrogi as we welcome Ed Poll, a recognized expert and author in law practice management and Stephen E. Seckler, president of Seckler Legal Consulting, to discuss the new benchmarks the legal profession is seeing in job performance and what the business of law may look like in the future.

Lawyer2Lawyer Internet Radio Huddles On College Quarterback vs. EA Sports and NCAA

This month, former Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller filed a lawsuit against EA Sports and its partner, the NCAA, claiming they illegally used the likenesses of college athletes in video games without sharing profits with players. Please join my co-host Bob Ambrogi as he welcomes Peter Goplerud, Dean and Professor of Law at Florida Coastal School of Law and Clay Travis, attorney, former editor at Deadspin.com and writer for FanHouse.com, to discuss the legal issues behind this lawsuit and how athletes can legally protect their image.

Lawyer to Lawyer Internet Radio Reviews Judge Sotomayor's Nomination To High Court

Please join me and my fellow Law.com blogger and co-host Bob Ambrogi as we discuss the Sotomayor nomination with Professor Jenny Rivera, Director of Center on Latino and Latina Rights and Equality and Professor of Law at CUNY School of Law, and Professor Stephen Wermiel, Supreme Court expert and adjunct professor at American University Washington College. Together they offer a unique perspective on this important nomination.  Click on the podcast link below to get the full story.

Lawyer2Lawyer Internet Radio Sizes Up The Impact Of The Recession On Law Firms And Lawyers

The economic downturn has taken its toll on law firms, especially lawyers.  Please join me and my fellow Law.com blogger and co-host  Bob Ambrogi welcome Attorney Skip Simpson from the Law Offices of Skip Simpson to explore the rash of suicides hitting the legal community and what law firms need to do to prevent them.  Later in the program, we welcome Peter Zeughauser from the Zeughauser Group to take a look at the long-term changes in law practice caused by the recession.

Lawyer 2 Lawyer Internet Radio Talks About Finding a New Souter

At the age of 69 and after 18 years on the Supreme Court,  Justice David Souter made the announcement that he would be retiring from the Supreme Court at the end of this year's term in June.  Law.com bloggers and co-hosts, J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi welcome Professor Daniel J. Meador, James Monroe Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of Virginia School of Law and Kermit Roosevelt, Professor of Law at University of Pennsylvania Law School and Justice Souter's former law clerk, to reflect on Justice Souter's career, look at the potential list of replacements and the opportunity for President Obama to leave an imprint with his choice for the High Court.

Lawyer2Lawyer Internet Radio Gets The List On Craigslist

Recently the popular online advertising site, Craigslist was in the spotlight after a medical student was accused of killing a Boston masseuse who advertised on the site.  Please join me and my fellow Law.com blogger and co-host Bob Ambrogi as we welcome Attorney Edward Wes, Outside Counsel for Craigslist, and David Ardia, fellow at the Berkman Center and director of the Citizen Media Law Project, to talk about regulations on online advertising sites and what is being done to monitor illegal activity on these sites.

You can download the podcast here.

Lawyer2Lawyer Internet Radio Finds Online Interference in the Jury Box

Jurors Twittering details of a trial. Jurors Googling information about a case. And last month, a kudge declaring a mistrial in a big federal drug case in Florida when jurors conducted research online.  On this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, we're talking about the advances in technology, communication and information flow interfering with the justice system and the potential effect on ‘trial by jury.' 

Please join me as I welcome jury behavior expert, Dr. Edward P. Schwartz, Attorney Peter Raben, defense attorney from Miami, Florida and Attorney Sean Ellsworth managing partner at Ellsworth Law Firm P.A, to discuss this hot legal topic.  My fellow Law.com blogger and co-host Bob Ambrogi is off this week.

Lawyer 2 Lawyer Internet Radio Gets SaaS-y

If you've been hearing a lot about legal software as a service or SaaS lately, you'll want to listen to this Lawyer2Lawyer program. Please join me and my fellow Law.com blogger and co-host Bob Ambrogi, as we welcome Jack Newton, Co-founder and President of Clio, who holds an M.Sc. in Computer Science and Erik Mazzone, the Director of the Center for Practice Management for the North Carolina Bar Association to take an in-depth look at the advantages, disadvantages, risks and even ethical issues when it comes to legal SaaS.

Lawyer2Lawyer Internet Radio Discusses the Employee Free Choice Act

There has been much debate as of late on the proposed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) of 2009. Please join me and my fellow Law.com blogger and co-host Bob Ambrogi, as we welcome Professor Richard A. Epstein, Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School and Attorney Nancy Schiffer, Associate General Counsel with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), to explore both sides of the Employee Free Choice Act debate and what the outcome would mean for the future of unions and employers and the lawyers who represent them.

Lawyer 2 Lawyer Internet Radio Inspects the Madoff Scandal

While Bernie Madoff awaits sentencing for the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history, hear from one of his victims - Lawrence R. Velvel, Dean of the Massachusetts School of Law. Join me as I welcome Dean Velvel as he tells his story and how he is turning his experience into activism, along with special guest, Attorney Ross B. Intelisano, partner of the law firm Rich & Intelisano LLP, who represents other Madoff victims. They will take a look at the fate of the victims and who else could be involved.

Lawyer 2 Lawyer Internet Radio Discusses the Recent Wyeth Ruling

How will the pharmaceutical companies, doctors and patients and legal cases be impacted by the recent SUPCO ruling in the Wyeth v. Levine case? Please join me and my fellow Law.com blogger and co-host Bob Ambrogi as we welcome Wyeth's attorney, Bert W. Rein, founding partner of the law firm, Wiley Rein LLP, to discuss the wide-reaching impact this ruling will have for many years to come.

MIPTC's Writer Moves WLF Firm To Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold, LLP

You may have noticed some changes going on around here.  We've taken away the burgundy background and added in its place a soft taupe and slate blue and you'll soon see changes in the branding, removing WLF | The Williams Lindberg Law Firm, PC from the site.  We're excited to announce that our firm has been acquired by Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold, LLP.  I'm housed in SDMA's Irvine office, just a hop, skip and a jump away from Newport Beach. 

While WLF has ended its operations, MIPTC will continue as a blog independent of SDMA, but still written by me.  Sedgwick's webmasters have beed kind enough to make the color changes to more closely match the SDMA site colors, although my blog will not be branded with SDMA's name.  Plus, we've added in a new disclaimer to make sure you understand that while I may be a partner at Sedgwick, what I say here is not firm policy.  So if I do anything to offend you, it's not their fault.  It's mine. 

With that out of the way, MITPC will return to its regular format of daily news and legal observations.  As you can imagine, I've been just a bit busy with the transition.  So if you get the chance, give me a call at the new firm at 949-852-8200 or send me an email at jcraig.williams - at - sdma.com (just replace the - at - with the @ symbol).  I'd love to hear from you about what you think of our new look.

You'll still see my weekly podcast Lawyer2Lawyer on the site and we're continuing our companion blogs, A Criminal Waste of Space and Sharks in the Water.  Just about everthing else will remain the same, especially the dry satirical take on things.  Plus, you'll soon see my new book, Bad Decisions?  10 Famous Cases That Went Wrong, published by Kaplan Publishing this fall.

Stay tuned. Exciting things are coming, and thanks for your continued support.  Stay in touch.

Behind Lawyer2Lawyer: The Legal Talk Network

For the last three years, Bob Ambrogi and I have been the voices you hear on the Legal Talk Network, but what you probably don't know is who's behind the scenes making it all happen.  The show is actually produced in Boston, where the Legal Talk Network is located.  Lu Ann Reeb and Scott Hess founded the company and run the entire show.  Both are private pilots to boot. 

They fly planes out of the Norwood Airport, and Scott loves to tinker with plane and helicopter engines when he's not keeping all of the Legal Talk Network's high-end television and radio equipment humming.  They also produce television shows for lawyers, some of which are featured on national media and on YouTube and have put together the finest settlement videos I've ever seen.

The Boston Business Journal just ran this article on Lu, which will give you a glimpse into Lu and her team.

LTN is staffed by the capable Kate Kenny, our Assistant Producer who lines up our guests each week and writes the Lawyer2Lawyer script for us.  Audio Engineer Mike Hochman mans the mixer board and edits our gaffes out to make us sound professional.  LTN recently added Deb Curran as its Director of Sales and Business Development, and she has located our long-lost sponsors and brought a new dimension to the show - profitability.  It's the teamwork at the Legal Talk Network that pulls it all together. 

The true glory is not in front of the microphone.