As early as the 1930s, presidents were considering putting the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court. So who were these other candidates on the shortlist, and why did it take until 1981 for Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice? In this episode of the Modern Law Library, the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles talks with Renee Knake Jefferson and Hannah Brenner Johnson about their decade-long research project into the careers and personal lives of nine other women who could have been eleva...
May 20, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 120
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson says that near the end of every school year, he has law students come into his office, "usually in tears." They tell the professor that if they'd only known at the start of the year what they'd figured out by the end of the year, they'd be so much father ahead. During his time as a non-traditional law student, Jonathan Yusef Newton found himself coaching and consoling many of his peers, trying to share with them what he'd learned about the law school system. Both Ferguson...
May 06, 2020•37 min•Season 1Ep. 119
When Michael Segal first approached longtime Chicago journalist Maurice Possley about writing about his case, Possley was not interested. Segal's 2002 arrest and subsequent federal trial had been big news in the city, and Segal had been accused of the looting about $30 million from his Chicago company, Near North Insurance Brokerage. Possley had won the Pulitzer Prize for previous stories about wrongful convictions, but never about someone of Segal's profile: a wealthy, powerful and educated own...
Apr 22, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 118
Julie Fershtman has developed a niche practice helping people who love horses deal with the particular joys and challenges that come with equine businesses. She is one of the nation's best-known lawyers serving many facets of the horse industry. Fershtman is the author of Equine Law and Horse Sense , produced with ABA Publishing. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Fershtman introduces ABA Publishing’s Ashley Alfirevic to the world of horse sense, the dark underbelly of the Kentucky Derby...
Apr 08, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 117
With a barrage of information and misinformation about COVID-19 coming our way, it can be hard to evaluate what sources are trustworthy, and where to go for reliable medical news. So for this episode of the Modern Law Library, the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles called her friend Mary Lancaster, an epidemiologist for the federal government. They discuss how to evaluate social media claims, the best books and podcasts for people who want to know more about infectious diseases–and their recommendations o...
Mar 25, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 116
Public speaking is a crucial part of working as an attorney. It is especially important for female attorneys who are claiming their vocal authority in speaking roles in courts. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, ABA Publishing’s Olivia Aguilar speaks with Rena Cook, co-author of Her Voice in Law: Vocal Power and Situational Command for the Female Attorney , about various aspects of voice and presentation; power-stealing vocal traits; and why understanding your voice is an important first...
Mar 11, 2020•37 min•Season 1Ep. 115
The riots in South Los Angeles in 1992 may be nearly three decades old, but in the present day, two families in the novel Your House Will Pay will find that the events from that time are far from over. Shawn Matthews is a former gang member and ex-prisoner in his forties, trying to raise a family and help his cousin acclimate after a decade in prison. Grace Park is a 28-year-old pharmacist who lives at home with her Korean-immigrant parents, trying to understand the reasons behind her older sist...
Feb 26, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 114
The story of voting rights in the United States is not just one of expansion; there have been periods (such as after Reconstruction) where voting rights that had once been exercised were blocked off, extinguished and suppressed. Uncounted: The Crisis of Voter Suppression in America tells the story of historical efforts of voter suppression and the modern-day dangers that face voters now. In this new episode of the Modern Law Library, Gilda R. Daniels speaks with the ABA Journal’s Lee Rawles. Spe...
Feb 05, 2020•38 min•Season 1Ep. 114
A lawyer’s duties do not begin and end at the courtroom door. They extend beyond to the proverbial court of public opinion. As both an attorney and a public relations consultant, author James F. Haggerty has shared how to properly handle the media aspects of litigation in the third edition of his book, In the Court of Public Opinion: Winning Strategies for Litigation Communications . In this new episode of the Modern Law Library , Haggerty speaks with Olivia Aguilar of ABA Publishing. Special th...
Jan 22, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 112
When considering our New Year’s resolutions, we all want to be more resourceful with our time, especially with our workdays. We don’t realize how much time meetings can take up if they are conducted in an inefficient manner. Author and lawyer Donald Tortorice has offered a solution with his new book, The Modern Rules of Order . The fifth edition shares a modern and streamlined approach to business meetings that promotes efficiency, decorum and fairness in all settings. Special thanks to our spon...
Jan 08, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 111
If you're traveling this holiday season–or just enjoying some end-of-year downtime–you might be in need of some good book recommendations. With that in mind, in this episode of the Modern Law Library, the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles brings you a glimpse at what we've been reading around the ABA offices. Staff recommendations run the gamut from romance to horror to self-help to historical fiction. Make 2020 the year you make time to curl up with a good book, and tell us your favorite read of 2019. S...
Dec 18, 2019•34 min•Season 1Ep. 110
A new book by Judge Frederic Block gives a behind-the-scenes look at a judge’s thoughts and feelings when imposing punishments. Block is candid and self-reflective in the book and also wonders where the line should be drawn in exercising judicial powers. In this new episode of the Modern Law Library podcast, Olivia Aguilar of ABA Publishing speaks with Block about sentencing issues, the details surrounding the cases covered in the book, and the most important case that he has ever handled. Speci...
Dec 04, 2019•28 min•Season 1Ep. 109
One year after Brett Kavanaugh's tumultuous nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, questions that arose during the nomination hearings still linger. In this episode, the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles speaks with New York Times reporters Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly about their book The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation . Progrebin and Kelly discuss what it was like to report on Kavanaugh's nomination in real time, and to speak with the women who accused him of sexual assaults dating back...
Nov 27, 2019•33 min•Season 1Ep. 110
As director of the National Legal Research Group ’s jury research services division, Jeffrey T. Frederick is an expert on jury selection strategies. His new book, Mastering Voir Dire and Jury Selection, Fourth Edition: Gain an Edge in Questioning and Selecting Your Jury, shares how to develop and ask the questions to uncover information. In this new episode of the Modern Law Library podcast, Olivia Aguilar of ABA Publishing talks to Frederick about the significance of nonverbal cues during quest...
Nov 06, 2019•43 min•Season 1Ep. 108
Tens of thousands of people worked at Ground Zero after the World Trade Center attacks in 2001, looking for survivors, sifting for human remains and breathing in the dust of the pulverized buildings. Their actions were heroic and lauded at the time, but as the months and years passed, many began to become gravely ill. William Groner was part of a legal team who brought a mass tort case that secured settlements for more than 10,000 such clients. In 9/12: The Epic Battle of the Ground Zero Respond...
Oct 30, 2019•33 min•Season 1Ep. 107
From connected cars and industrial systems to toothbrushes and refrigerators, "internet of things" technology seems to be everywhere in the daily lives of consumers. With these modern conveniences, there are also privacy violations and security risks that must be considered while using them. The first comprehensive legal text focused on IoT, The Internet of Things: Legal Issues, Policy, and Practical Strategies , provides perspectives on public policy and assesses the broad range of legal issues...
Oct 09, 2019•27 min•Season 1Ep. 106
Ed Scott was the first ever non-white owner and operator of a catfish plant in the nation. The former sharecropper-turned-landowner was part of a class-action lawsuit that resulted in upon one of the largest civil rights settlements in U.S. history. With the settlement of Pigford v. Glickman in 1999, almost $1 billion dollars has been issued to over 13,000 African American farmers to date. In 2010, the second half of the case was settled for another $1.2 billion in Pigford II. Scott’s legal batt...
Sep 25, 2019•25 min•Season 1Ep. 105
We often associate the #MeToo movement with the entertainment industry, but sexual harassment is a widespread problem in all industries. The hierarchical nature of the workplace influences victims’ fear that reporting harassment will result in retaliation, and they do not feel protected by the very systems that are in place to protect them. Lauren Stiller Rikleen addresses these structural issues in her new book, The Shield of Silence: How Power Perpetuates a Culture of Harassment and Bullying i...
Sep 11, 2019•31 min•Season 1Ep. 104
In 2009 and 2010, two cargo ships packed with refugees fleeing the Sri Lankan civil war arrived on the shores of Canada. Those refugees inspired Sharon Bala's debut novel, "The Boat People," which won the 2019 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. Told through the eyes of a Sri Lankan man seeking asylum for himself and his son; a young Sri Lankan-Canadian law student reluctantly assigned to help with his case; and the granddaughter of Japanese immigrants to Canada interned during World War II, who...
Aug 28, 2019•39 min•Season 1Ep. 103
When it comes to working with an expert or expert witness, there can be a lot of moving parts to keep track of. Navigating a relationship with an expert can be challenging, but it can be done successfully if both you and your expert pay attention to each other throughout the process. Author and attorney Janet S. Kole examines the complex issue of expert witnesses in her new book How to Train Your Expert: Making Your Client’s Case. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, ABA Publishing’s Olivi...
Aug 07, 2019•25 min•Season 1Ep. 102
When Simon Tam booked the first gig for The Slants, there was a major obstacle to overcome: The band did not technically have any other members yet. There was just Tam and his dream of creating a rock band made up entirely of Asian American musicians. The bassist soon recruited enough musicians to perform the gig, but that would not turn out to be The Slants' biggest challenge. That would come with a trademark battle over the band's "disparaging" name that dragged on for more than a decade until...
Jul 24, 2019•39 min•Season 1Ep. 101
There’s no denying that law firms have gone through significant changes in the last decade. These changes continue to create unprecedented challenges for modern law firms today. So, what’s next? Randy Kiser, author of American Law Firms in Transition: Trends, Threads, and Strategies, pinpoints why the Great Recession of 2008 marked a defining moment for law firms and how the economic shift transformed the legal services landscape. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, ABA Publishing’s Olivi...
Jul 10, 2019•27 min•Season 1Ep. 100
The good news for anyone aspiring to a life of crime is that you may be a multiple offender of federal criminal laws without even being aware of it. Mike Chase, a white-collar defense attorney, launched his popular Twitter account @CrimeADay in an attempt to begin counting how many federal crimes are on the books in the Unites States. Five years later, he's still going strong, and the exercise led him to write How to Become a Federal Criminal: An Illustrated Handbook for the Aspiring Offender. I...
Jun 19, 2019•24 min•Season 1Ep. 99
Who’s afraid of the big bad partner? For new law graduates and associates going into the world of BigLaw, the stakes have never been higher and neither have the expectations. As an attorney with Jones Day for over 20 years, Mark Herrmann is willing to tell you everything you wish that stoic senior lawyer would say. His book—The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law, Second Edition—explains how to succeed with a little bit of snark and a whole lot of laughs. In this episode of the Modern Law Libr...
Jun 05, 2019•19 min•Season 1Ep. 98
For every lawyer that thinks they have oral presentations down pat, there’s another that has anxiety about talking in front of a crowd. And they both need help. As an attorney and a formal federal law clerk, Faith Pincus gives lawyers the tools they need to succeed at public speaking. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, ABA Publishing’s Ashley Alfirevic speaks with Pincus about how to ditch the notecards, engage the audience and ask the right type of rhetorical questions.
May 22, 2019•29 min
A series of suspicious deaths; a murder at a victim's funeral; a minister whom locals suspected was dabbling in voodoo; a gregarious Alabama lawyer and politician called Big Tom; and one of the nation's most celebrated–and misunderstood–novelists, Harper Lee. These are the backdrop and the main subjects in the newly released, stranger-than-fiction book Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep. The author of To Kill a Mockingbird spent years researching and writi...
May 08, 2019•33 min•Season 1Ep. 97
Like everyone else, police are inundated with new gadgets and technologies promised to make their jobs easier. But do they? In his new book, Thin Blue Lie, investigative journalist Matt Stroud digs deeps into the background of various police technologies' promises and perils. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Stroud speaks with the ABA Journal's Jason Tashea about how the desire for quick technological fixes can compound the problems that technology was supposed to solve.
Apr 24, 2019•34 min•Season 1Ep. 95
You have to network to get work. Carol Shiro Greenwald wrote her book Strategic Networking for Introverts, Extroverts, and Everyone in Between for the wallflowers and the social butterflies alike who need help turning cocktail conversations into business relationships. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, ABA Publishing’s Ashley Alfirevic speaks to Greenwald about the networking matrix, interview double dates and random acts of lunch.
Apr 10, 2019•36 min•Season 1Ep. 94
Cara Robertson has been fascinated by the axe murders of Andrew and Abby Borden–and the daughter who stood trial for those murders–since she was an undergrad at Harvard University nearly 30 years ago. In her new book, The Trial of Lizzie Borden, Robertson uses her skills as a lawyer to go over the strategies used by the defense and prosecution, the evidence brought before the court, and the societal influences that contributed to the trial and its outcome. In this episode of the Modern Law Libra...
Mar 20, 2019•33 min•Season 1Ep. 93
Kenneth Imo spent years playing college football, working his way up in the military and leading the charge for diversity in two international law firms. Imo mined his experiences for his book, Fix It: How History, Sports, and Education Can Inform Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Today. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, ABA Publishing's Ashley Alfirevic speaks with Imo about how firms can develop a more diverse and inclusive workforce; improve the legal profession; and creatively tackle...
Mar 06, 2019•46 min•Season 1Ep. 92
