ABA Journal Podcasts - Legal Talk Network

ABA Journal Reporter Rachel Zahorsky talks with David Westin, author of Exit Interview and a former Washington, D.C., BigLaw partner, who left his position as president of ABC News after 14 years of leading media coverage of what he calls “some of the most perplexing and important events in history.” President Bill Clinton’s impeachment (including what ignited the decision to report on the existence of a certain blue dress); the 2000 presidential election; the Sept. 11 attacks; the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan; and the worst economy since the Great Depression have marked an era of constant change in America. And, within the newsroom, Westin, who was seen as a corporate outsider to some veteran journalists, inherited a business besieged by budget cuts and competition from nearly unlimited sources thanks in part to the explosive growth of the Internet and digital technology. As a former lawyer who once clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell, Westin also shares with us his views on cameras in courtrooms, protections for anonymous sources, and lessons the legal profession—faced with its own changing landscape—should learn. Reviews: Newsweek: "David Westin on Network News in Crisis in ‘Exit Interview’" NPR: "A Network Head Reflects In 'Interview'" KPCC: "Former head of ABC News David Westin offers his ‘Exit Interview’"

Partners might drive associates crazy, but associates can control some of that with their own behavior, lawyers tell ABA Journal Podcast moderator Stephanie Francis Ward. Tips include never leaving your office without a pad of paper; asking questions—providing they’re well thought out—when assigned a matter; and remembering that at work, you are always being judged.

Listen to the ABA Journal Podcasts for analysis and discussion of the latest legal issues and trends. Podcasts include ABA Modern Law Library and ABA Asked and Answered, brought to you by Legal Talk Network.

Shoplifting—is it little Johnny swiping a pack of gum, or a multibillion-dollar crime epidemic? Well, it can be both, says Rachel Shteir, author of The Steal: A Cultural History of Shoplifting, and the public perception of shoplifting has shifted throughout history. Shteir speaks with ABA Journal Web producer Lee Rawles as they discuss professional shoplifters—called "boosters"—the treatments available for compulsive shoplifters, and the extraordinary extrajudicial industry of "loss prevention." Reviews: The New York Times: "Sticky Fingers, Used in Service of a Covetous Nature" New York Observer: "No, Steal This Book: Rachel Shteir’s ‘The Steal: A Cultural History of Shoplifting’" NPR: "Sticky Fingers, Hidden Hams: A Shoplifting History" Los Angeles Times: "The surprising psychology of shoplifting"

Listen to the ABA Journal Podcasts for analysis and discussion of the latest legal issues and trends. Podcasts include ABA Modern Law Library and ABA Asked and Answered, brought to you by Legal Talk Network.

Acting relies on an audience connection, and trial work is no different, say consultants David Ball and Joshua Karton. With ABA Journal Podcast moderator Stephanie Francis Ward they discuss storytelling, cross examinations and why one should never use PowerPoint during trial. Related article: ABA Journal: "The Theater’s 12 Greatest Courtroom Dramas"

Listen to the ABA Journal Podcasts for analysis and discussion of the latest legal issues and trends. Podcasts include ABA Modern Law Library and ABA Asked and Answered, brought to you by Legal Talk Network.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has long been known as a champion of the legal philosophy of textualism, interpreting statutes by the writer’s words. The justice teams again with co-author Bryan A. Garner, editor-in-chief of Black’s Law Dictionary, in their second book, Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts. In addition to explaining textualism and originalism–defining the words based on the Constitution Founders’ meaning–the writers list 70 canons to guide lawyers and judges. In an interview with ABA Journal Assistant Managing Editor Richard Brust, Justice Scalia explains textualism, the effort with Garner to write the book, and how lawyers can use the concepts to help argue their cases.

Listen to the ABA Journal Podcasts for analysis and discussion of the latest legal issues and trends. Podcasts include ABA Modern Law Library and ABA Asked and Answered, brought to you by Legal Talk Network.

In his time on the federal district court in Brooklyn, Judge Frederic Block has presided over many high-profile cases. He speaks with ABA Journal web producer Lee Rawles about his time in private practice; his involvement with cases, including the Kitty Genovese and Crown Heights Riot murders; and appearing before the Warren Supreme Court to argue a one man, one vote case at the age of 33. He says that he wrote Disrobed: An Inside Look at the Life and Work of a Federal Trial Judge to help further readers' understanding of federal courts and to combat the typical "judicial lockjaw." Reviews: "Judge Block gives the reader an engaging, often humorous account of his life, as always, and a compelling introduction to the world of a federal judge, whose decisions are subject to plenty of public scrutiny but whose decision-making process remains a mystery for most Americans." - President Bill Clinton The Villager: "Judge’s book gives an insider’s view of life on the bench" Updated at 2:20 p.m. to remove a reference in Judge Block's bio.

Listen to the ABA Journal Podcasts for analysis and discussion of the latest legal issues and trends. Podcasts include ABA Modern Law Library and ABA Asked and Answered, brought to you by Legal Talk Network.

For in-house counsel reluctant to pay fees for entry-level associates, a new study that uses actual billing data from 2007 to 2011 may further justify that resistance. Controlling for partner and associate hours per matter, associates with less than two years of experience cost clients $72,185 more than using more seasoned associates for short-term litigation matters that billed 40 hours or more, according to the Real Rate Report, featured in this month's ABA Journal's Law By the Numbers. Given the reports' additional findings that less than 3 percent of total lawyer hours billed to a company, on average, in 2011 were for entry-level associates, down from 7 percent in 2009 (even as junior associate salaries increased), how can firms offer the best value to their clients and still provide the necessary legal experience to their associates? Hear ABA Journal business of law reporter Rachel M. Zahorsky talk with Craig Raeburn, managing director of TyMetrix Legal Analytic, co-producer of the Real Rate Report, and Stuart Dodds, director of global pricing at Baker & McKenzie (a now-growing position in the legal profession that existed at only a handful of firms just five years ago), as they discuss the impact of the study’s findings on law firm-client relationships, best practices for efficient case management, and how firms can ensure the proper investment in entry-level lawyers to serve clients now and in the future.

Listen to the ABA Journal Podcasts for analysis and discussion of the latest legal issues and trends. Podcasts include ABA Modern Law Library and ABA Asked and Answered, brought to you by Legal Talk Network.

ABA Journal Business of Law Reporter Rachel Zahorsky talks with Brian Z. Tamanaha, author of Failing Law Schools, on the need for new law school models that reflect today’s reality, where the six-figure cost of a J.D. is grossly disproportionate to the economic benefits for most graduates. Tamanaha proposes updated accreditation standards and federal lending programs, and challenges prospective students, their parents and Congress to demand the critical changes necessary to preserve the future of the profession. Reviews: The National Law Journal: "Book Gives Law Schools Failing Grade" TaxProf Blog: "Jim Chen Reviews Brian Tamanaha's New Book, Failing Law Schools" Related articles: ABAJournal.com: "Law Prof: Economics of Legal Education Are Broken Because of Exacting Standards, Loan System" ABAJournal.com: "Around the Blawgosphere: Suit Against Avvo Dismissed; Ex-Associate Starts Book on Cross-Country Walk" ABAJournal.com: "Law Deans and a Law Professor Respond to the ‘Law School Bubble’" ABAJournal.com: "Law Prof’s Upcoming Book Chronicles Oversupply of New Lawyers, Proposes Flexible Legal Ed System"

Listen to the ABA Journal Podcasts for analysis and discussion of the latest legal issues and trends. Podcasts include ABA Modern Law Library and ABA Asked and Answered, brought to you by Legal Talk Network.