On our last Pro Say episode of 2023, we're also sad to report that it is the final episode of the show. Join the hosts as we take a walk down memory lane to remember our best pop culture moments, biggest news stories, and most memorable guests from the podcast. We’re joined by a special guest and original Pro Say co-host, Bill Donahue, to help us reflect on the happy memories we have from this wonderful, engrossing experience.
Epic Games prevailed in its closely watched antitrust trial against Google this week, convincing a California federal jury that Google’s app store functions as an illegal monopoly that jacks up prices for app developers and smothers competition. This week on Pro Say we sift through the huge defeat for Google that, if upheld on appeal could transform the entire app store economy and mark a pivotal moment as the tech giant faces a slew of other antitrust suits that figure to heat up in the coming ...
As Purdue Pharma looks to exit bankruptcy, a key part of its proposed reorganization plan has made its way to the Supreme Court: a deal by which the Sackler family pays $6 billion in exchange for a shield from future opioid crisis claims. Joining Pro Say this week is Law360 senior bankruptcy reporter Vince Sullivan, who walks us through these controversial releases and how they’ve been received by the justices. Also this week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ legal feud with Disney trudges on with a n...
The Justice Department’s years long push to use antitrust laws to crack down on wage suppression and “no poach” agreements appears to be slowing down, as the department quietly dropped a case against a United Healthcare unit earlier this month, marking the latest in a series of losses and retreats. Joining Pro Say this week is Law360’s senior competition reporter Bryan Koenig, who will break down the steady decline of those enforcement efforts, and the DOJ’s failure to convince a single jury to ...
The Pro Say crew convenes to give thanks for all the unusual legal news that made us laugh this year. Join us for our annual tradition of revisiting the best of our offbeat segments, including a look at a woman who tried to get paid a reward from Lady Gaga despite involvement in dognapping the pop star’s pooches; police who sued Afroman for using an ill-fated raid as fodder for new music and merch; and the latest on Cocaine Bear, the wedding officiant.
After intense public scrutiny over ethics, the U.S. Supreme Court released its first-ever code of conduct governing the behavior of the justices. The justices claim the new code codifies what they have long been doing and should dispel public misunderstandings about judicial ethics. But does it do enough? Law360 Supreme Court reporter Katie Buehler joins us to break it all down. Also this week, Law360’s senior reporter in Florida Carolina Bolado stops by discuss the strange and tragic medical ma...
Last week’s conviction of cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried was fueled in part by the FTX founder’s unusual decision to take the stand in his own defense. It was an ambitious gambit that did not pay off, as Bankman-Fried now faces decades in prison for his crimes. Joining Pro Say this week in Law360 New York courts reporter Rachel Scharf to discuss SBF’s decision to take the stand and wrap up coverage of a wild monthlong trial. Also this week, the NCAA faces billions in damages as thous...
The 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, seized the nation’s attention as a gathering of white nationalists opposing the removal of a Confederate statue soon turned deadly. What came next was a years-long legal fight to hold the rally’s organizers accountable for the violence, which was chronicled in the recent HBO documentary “No Accident.” This week on Pro Say, we’re joined by attorneys Michael Bloch and Benjamin White, who successfully litigated the case. They share detail...
This week saw 41 U.S. states and the District of Columbia launch an all-out legal blitz against Meta, alleging that the tech giant is using addictive features to get kids hooked onto Facebook and Instagram. This week on Pro Say, the hosts break down the particulars of the suit, and how it fits into the broader push for more child-oriented safeguards on social media. Also this week, a Google executive wins a $1.2 million gender discrimination verdict, but can’t convince the jury she was illegally...
A secret conversation held in an empty courtroom has raised ethics questions for a judge, his clerk and a local attorney. And it may lead to a manslaughter conviction being tossed. On this week’s episode of Pro Say we’re joined by Marco Poggio who fills us in on this twisty legal drama. Elsewhere this week, the Israel/Palestine conflict reverberates into the U.S. legal system, as BigLaw shops rescind job offers to students for voicing solidarity with Gaza and the government is hit with a lawsuit...
The Federal Trade Commission is moving ahead with a proposal to crack down on what are commonly called “junk fees,” the often-obscured extra charges applied to concert tickets, hotel bookings and other purchases, that can cost customers upwards of $80 million per year. Joining Pro Say this week is Columbia Business School professor Vicki Morwitz, whose research into those fees and their effects on consumer behavior has informed much of the government’s response to what it considers a transparent...
The criminal fraud trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is underway in Manhattan, with prosecutors making the case that SBF looted billions of dollars from the crypto exchange before its ultimate collapse last year. Joining Pro Say this week is Law360 New York courts reporter Rachel Scharf, who explains that the case will ultimately turn on whether the government can show that the fallen crypto mogul willfully shuffled money from the exchange to his hedge fund and how testimony from FTX inside...
The Supreme Court justices return to the bench on Monday for a new term that’s shaping up to be an impactful one, with issues ranging from gun ownership rights in domestic violence cases, to the legality of administrative courts and the First Amendment implications of public officials blocking critics on social media. Let this episode of Pro Say be your guide for the term as we talk about all the major cases and storylines with special guest and prolific Supreme Court litigator Carter Phillips f...
A dispute over a relatively obscure fishing industry rule is attracting considerable buzz ahead of the upcoming Supreme Court term, as the justices will consider whether to overturn their decades-old precedent providing leeway to federal regulators. The so-called Chevron deference requires courts to defer to agencies’ interpretations of ambiguous laws, and has been a target for mostly conservative activists who fear it gives the executive branch too much power. Joining Pro Say this week is Law36...
A remarkable Fifth Circuit opinion recently concluded that Mississippi’s permanent ban on voting rights for convicted felons is cruel and unusual punishment that violates the Constitution. The ruling energized a growing nationwide advocacy movement against felon disenfranchisement, but it’s not without its detractors either, who argue the opinion conflicts with existing precedent and could throw voting regimes in many states into disarray. On this week’s episode of Pro Say we welcome Law360 feat...
A landmark trial kicks off next week with the federal government squaring off against tech giant Google. The government says Google has abused its power over online searches to smother competition. On this week's episode of Pro Say, we're joined by Law360 senior antitrust reporter Bryan Koenig to give us a preview of the government's first monopoly trial since its historic case against Microsoft in the late ‘90s. Also this week we tackle ethics issues at the state and federal level. First, we di...
After more than six years of quiet obsession over the attorneys and other legal pros who appear on The Bachelor and Bachelorette, Pro Say brings you an exclusive interview with one such contestant. We’re joined this week by Mayer Brown associate James Pierce, who was one of roughly two dozen suitors vying for the affections of Charity Lawson on the most recent season of the Bachelorette. James dishes on what his BigLaw bosses thought of his detour into reality television, how his legal training ...
Lawsuits accusing Hawaii’s power companies of negligence have already started to trickle in following one of the deadliest wildfires in history that ravaged Maui and killed more than 100 people, and legal experts believe that hundreds if not thousands more may follow. On this week’s episode of Pro Say, Law360 product liability senior reporter Emily Field talks us through what the potentially historic litigation could look like and how it might play out based on similar tragic wildfire incidents ...
Two women lawyers told Law360 that former Federal Trade Commission member and George Mason University law professor Joshua D. Wright abused his power in order to engage them in sexual activity. On this week's Pro Say podcast we discuss details of the alleged misconduct that began while they were his students and later continued when they were his subordinates at the FTC and at a BigLaw firm. Also this week we talk about MLB umpire Angel Hernandez losing a racial bias suit over his lack of presti...
What began with a simple court order for Southwest Airlines to issue a statement vowing to uphold the religious protections in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act has escalated to a bitter feud in Texas federal court, where a judge has sanctioned three of the company’s attorneys with an edict to undergo “religious liberty training.” On this week’s episode of Pro Say we talk through the full story of the underlying case, how it escalated to an unusual demand from the judge and the upcoming appeal t...
The latest criminal indictment against Donald Trump paints a detailed picture of the former president’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election by spreading misinformation and pressuring state and federal officials to break the law. The four counts brought by special counsel Jack Smith turn on a number of unique laws and theories, including obstruction charges that have also surfaced in the Jan. 6 prosecutions and a voter intimidation statute first drafted to target the KKK in the l...
This week saw a California federal judge block the Biden administration’s attempt to place new restrictions on asylum seekers, ruling that the White House cannot curtail where and how migrants fearing persecution in their home countries can seek shelter in the U.S. Joining Pro Say this week is Law360 senior immigration reporter Britain Eakin to explain why the court faulted the Biden administration, and what the ruling means for the future of asylum law as the government continues to push its po...
The Biden administration’s efforts to combat “disinformation” online by coordinating with tech giants have long been the subject of partisan sniping, but are now at the center of a testy legal battle that has already yielded a number of twists and turns. First came a 155-page ruling from a Texas judge on the Fourth of July barring the White House from certain engagements with social media companies, which was quickly halted this week by the Fifth Circuit. But the litigation appears poised to set...
Microsoft, the maker of XBox, and Activision Blizzard, creator of Call of Duty, cleared an early stage this week in the multilevel game of getting their $68.7 billion dollar merger approved. The gaming giants saw a California federal judge refuse the Federal Trade Commissions’ move to block the merger, but the government is appealing and other countries aren’t sold on the tie-up either. We discuss what it will take to beat the merger challenge game. Also this week, we talk with Law360 senior rep...
Another U.S. Supreme Court season is in the books, and while the final week of opinions featured some supermajority holdings along party lines on divisive issues like affirmative action and gay rights, we also saw a number of decisions with unexpected lineups on issues like voting rights and religious freedom. This week, the hosts of both Pro Say and The Term team up to discuss the surprising unanimity we saw in many of the justices’ opinions, the impact we should expect following some of the bl...
Among its flurry of blockbuster end-of-term decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of an Evangelical postal worker who objected to working on Sundays due to religious reasons. The high court held that the Third Circuit shouldn’t have found that the USPS lawfully denied the worker’s religious accommodation request, raising the bar on what kind of accommodation is so burdensome that an employer cannot be expected to honor it. On this week’s Pro Say, Law360 Employment Authority editor...
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has had a busy first year as the Volunteer State’s top legal officer. A keynote speaker at this year’s Burton Awards, which recognize excellence in the law, Skrmetti joined Pro Say to talk about his defense of anti-drag show legislation, gun rights and the delicate balance between litigation and policy work. Also at the Burton’s, former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer opens up about originalism, his label as a pragmatist and potential reforms to ...
Former President Donald Trump has once again been indicted, this time by a special federal prosecutor honing in on Trump’s stashing of sensitive documents after he left office. This week on Pro Say, the hosts break down the charges against Trump and shine a light on two men who figure to loom large as the case surges ahead: Trump’s personal aide and co-defendant Walt Nauta and his attorney M. Evan Corcoran. Also this week, a white former Starbucks manager wins $25.6 million after proving that sh...
The bitter legal dispute that has swallowed up the golf world for the past year vanished in a flash this week, as the PGA Tour and its Saudi-backed rival LIV Golf rolled out a blockbuster agreement to join forces. The union would create a new golf organization, the exact shape of which is still taking place. Those particulars will be crucial, as any arrangement between the former competitors is likely to get a long look from antitrust watchdogs and national security regulators. This week on Pro ...
Already impeached over a raft of ethics violations, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is expected to pursue an unusual legal argument to exonerate himself in the state senate: that voters knew about his purported misdeeds and voted him into office anyway. The so-called “voter forgiveness” doctrine has roots in Texas caselaw, but looks to be a longshot for Paxton. Joining Pro Say this week to lay out Paxton’s dilemma and his unique legal calculus is Law360 editor-at-large Andrew Strickler. Also t...
