Montana’s decision to ban the popular social media app TikTok has drawn fierce legal backlash, with the company itself and some of its most prominent users immediately suing to reverse the unprecedented ban. This week on Pro Say, the hosts break down the testy litigation brewing in Montana, and how battles over prior attempts to ban the app might inform the saga to come. Also this week, South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, already sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife and son, get...
May 26, 2023•34 min•Ep 299•Transcript available on Metacast The Federal Circuit is in the middle of a sensitive inquiry to determine whether 95-year-old judge Pauline Newman is mentally fit to remain on the bench in light of what colleagues have termed “bizarre” and “paranoid” behavior from the judge. Tensions on the court are running high, as Newman has now filed a lawsuit against the court arguing that the investigation into her fitness violates her constitutional rights. Joining Pro Say this week to lay out the saga in full and explain its ramificatio...
May 19, 2023•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast A Manhattan jury has found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll and then defaming her with his subsequent denials, following a contentious and sometimes ugly trial in federal court. Law360’s New York court reporter Frank Runyeon joins the show this week to break down the trial, which resulted in an order for Trump to pay Carroll $5 million in damages. Also this week, the controversial Republican Congressman George Santos is rung up on a bevy of fraud charges, and the g...
May 12, 2023•37 min•Ep 297•Transcript available on Metacast It’s not every day an international pop star plays guitar on the stand. But that’s precisely what happened just before a New York jury decided that Ed Sheeran’s 2014 ballad “Thinking Out Loud” did not infringe on Marvin Gaye’s iconic hit “Let’s Get it On.” This week on Pro Say, the hosts probe the latest in a series of copyright decisions that have kept the pop music scene on its toes. Also this week, Law 360 senior reporter Nathan Hale cuts through the politics and explains exactly what is goin...
May 05, 2023•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast If you were building a fictional legal dream team, who would you include? That's the question we try to answer on this week's episode, as the hosts draft a roster of fictional lawyers. The Pro Say gang looks to the world of television and film to build a legal dream team with five categories: general counsels and fixers; defense counsel; plaintiffs' attorneys and prosecutors; judges; and wild cards. Will first round picks include heroes like Atticus Finch or Elle Woods, an inspiration to legions...
Apr 29, 2023•48 min•Ep 295•Transcript available on Metacast No one loves participating in jury duty, but would you like it more if you found yourself empaneled with actor James Marsden? How about if after weeks of hearing a case you found out the entire endeavor was an elaborate hoax, where the case is fake, everyone around you is an actor, and you are the only one who didn’t know. That's the premise of Amazon Freevee's new comedy, “Jury Duty,” and on this week's Pro Say we sit down with three of the show's stars who are also real-life attorneys. Also th...
Apr 21, 2023•34 min•Ep 294•Transcript available on Metacast Is honking your car horn to support a group of protesters a form of free speech, or is it a traffic violation? The Ninth Circuit decided it was the latter after a California woman who was ticketed for excessive honking sued on First Amendment grounds. Buckle your seatbelts as we talk through the appellate court’s ruling on this week’s Pro Say. Also this week, Tesla gets pulled into court by a proposed class of drivers who say they were surreptitiously recorded by their vehicles, and that Tesla e...
Apr 15, 2023•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast By now you’ve certainly heard about the historic prosecution of Donald Trump, as the former president pleaded not guilty this week to a rash of charges stemming from an alleged hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. Law360 New York courts reporter Frank Runyeon was in the room when Trump entered his plea and joins Pro Say to discuss that scene as well as his extensive reporting about criminal prosecutions in Manhattan court and what ...
Apr 08, 2023•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Artificial intelligence has swept across the culture, animating everything from philosophy to linguistics to cooking, and the legal industry is no different. This week on Pro Say, the hosts dive deep into whether and how lawyers are grappling with how to deploy generative AI tools like ChatGPT into their work across a number of areas. Legal aid groups have been eager to use AI, often covering for small staffs and budgets to farm legal services out to those that can’t afford them through traditio...
Mar 31, 2023•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast The litigation finance industry has boomed over the past several years, with investors looking to bankroll contentious cases in the hopes of securing a big payday. But what happens when the financiers begin to take a heavy hand on case strategy? That question is at the center of a new suit against litigation funding behemoth Burford Capital, which has been accused of blocking a client from accepting “reasonable” settlement offers. Joining Pro Say this week is Law360’s Hannah Albarazi who will di...
Mar 24, 2023•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Last week’s collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has jolted the economy, forcing the government to step in and attempt to restore order after the largest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis. Now, politicians, regulators and SVB customers hope to stave off another banking calamity. Joining Pro Say this week is Law360’s senior banking reporter, Jon Hill, to explain how and why SVB failed, and what its implosion means for tech, finance and the economy at large. Also this week, a California appe...
Mar 17, 2023•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast A years-long push to update the District of Columbia’s century-old criminal code landed with a thud this week as the U.S. Senate resoundingly defeated a suite of proposed amendments that would have reset sentencing guidelines and lowered penalties for certain crimes. On this week’s episode of Pro Say we welcome Law360 reporter Katie Buehler to explain how we got here, and what comes next in the heated debate over crime in the nation’s capital that has underscored the district’s unique hurdles to...
Mar 10, 2023•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s been hard to look away from the fascinating, bizarre and tragic trial of disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, who was convicted this week of murdering his wife and son. This week, Pro Say is joined by Law360 senior trials reporter Cara Salvatore, who has been covering every twist and turn. Salvatore walks us through the big revelations that shaped the trial and led to the jury’s decision. Also this week, the International Trade Commission is weighing a potential import ban on Ap...
Mar 04, 2023•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast The already heated debate over biometric data collection saw a jolt last week as the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that privacy claims pile up with each unlawful logging of employee data, potentially putting employers on the hook for astronomical damages. Joining Pro Say this week is Chicago court reporter Celeste Bott to break down the Prairie State’s high court ruling and what it could mean for workplace tracking disputes. Also this week, two plaintiffs’ firms trade blows over a Facebook antitr...
Feb 24, 2023•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast The weeks since the disastrous derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying toxic chemicals have seen a flurry of lawsuits from residents and business owners in and around East Palestine, Ohio. On this week’s Pro Say, we’re joined by Ohio courts reporter Eric Heisig, who breaks down the legal blowback as well as what’s likely to come as we learn more about what exactly went awry and what it means for the region. Also on the show, we dig into Alec Baldwin’s efforts to get a special pro...
Feb 17, 2023•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast The sensation of being RickRolled is unmistakable, thanks in no small part to the distinct timbre of the voice Rick Astley on full display in his 1987 smash Never Gonna Give You Up. But now, Astley is locked in a battle with rapper Yung Gravy, who mimicked the singer’s voice in a way that Astley says violates his publicity rights. On this week’s Pro Say, the hosts break down Astley’s legal gambit and explain why the suit may face an uphill climb. Also on this week’s show, French fashion house He...
Feb 10, 2023•29 min•Ep 284•Transcript available on Metacast This week the Third Circuit said Johnson & Johnson can’t use the “Texas two-step” to create a talc unit to spin off billions of dollars in liability and then immediately file for bankruptcy protection. The controversial maneuver has faced scrutiny in other suits as well, and this week we’re joined by Law360 senior bankruptcy reporter Vince Sullivan to talk about what the ruling means for J&J and beyond. Also on this week’s show, we discuss a federal grand juries indicting Tom Girardi for alleged...
Feb 03, 2023•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast An ugly turf war is playing out at some of New York City’s most hallowed venues, with Madison Square Garden as the epicenter of the dispute. The storied arena’s owner, James Dolan, has barred attorneys litigating against his various business interests from entering the Garden, enforcing the policy with cutting edge facial recognition technology and inviting a flood of litigation from the aggrieved lawyers. On this week’s Pro Say, we’re joined by attorneys Benjamin Noren and Joe Polito of Davidof...
Jan 27, 2023•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast This month the Securities and Exchange Commission sued law firm Covington & Burling claiming it needed a list of clients that were impacted by a 2020 cybersecurity breach attributed to Chinese spies. The feds say they need the list to determine whether any securities laws were broken following the hack, but Covington is fighting back, arguing the disclosure would run afoul of attorney client privilege. On this week’s episode of Pro Say, Law360 cybersecurity reporter Ben Kochman joins us to discu...
Jan 20, 2023•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast Decades of tension over the use of noncompete agreements in the workplace has bubbled over to start the year with a Federal Trade Commission proposal to ban those agreements across the board. The early-stage move drew cheers from the labor movement and threats of swift litigation from the powerful business lobby, teeing up a fierce legal and political clash in the coming months. Law360 competition reporter Bryan Koenig joins Pro Say this week to lay out the specifics of the FTC’s bombshell propo...
Jan 13, 2023•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Pro Say podcast is taking a break this week for the holiday. In its place, please enjoy Law360 Explores: The Law School Promise, a two-part series looking at whether the structures of legal education are working. In Episode 2, we take our seats inside the prestigious legal classroom, where law professors teaching a century-old curriculum engage in Socratic dialogue to shape you into thinking like a lawyer. But is that the most effective way of teaching, for all students? On this episode, we ...
Jan 05, 2023•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Pro Say podcast is taking a break this week for the holiday. In its place, please enjoy Law360 Explores: The Law School Promise, a two-part series looking at whether the structures of legal education are working. In Episode 1 we start with the rigorous admissions process that includes not just letters of recommendation and statements of purpose, but the notoriously arduous LSAT exam. An exceptional score can open doors at the nation’s most prestigious universities, but is it the fairest way ...
Dec 29, 2022•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Another year, another deluge of legal news, and as usual, the Pro Say gang has you covered. This week’s show is a look back at a whirlwind of judicial activity, headlined by a historic Supreme Court term that saw 50 years of abortion rights precedent wiped away, gun rights expanded and stirred a feverish debate over the institution of the court itself. We’ll also walk through a handful of highly publicized trials that had both excerpts and non-experts buzzing, including defamation cases against ...
Dec 16, 2022•54 min•Ep 279•Transcript available on Metacast The Supreme Court is once again examining the line between LGBTQ+ discrimination and religious freedom, this time in the case of a Colorado web designer looking to establish her right to refuse service to same-sex couples. That conflict prompted a range of hypothetical questions from the high court at this week’s oral arguments, ranging from amusing to uncomfortable, all of which underscored the justices’ close scrutiny of the dispute. This week, Law360’s Supreme Court reporter and co-host of Th...
Dec 09, 2022•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast A historic challenge to the NCAA over its purported failure to warn college athletes about the dangers of repetitive head injuries fizzled in California state court last week as a jury found that the organization was not liable for the death of a former USC linebacker who was posthumously diagnosed with CTE. This week on Pro Say, the hosts break down the first-ever CTE-related wrongful death suit against the college athletics body to reach a jury and consider whether the organization’s win muddi...
Dec 02, 2022•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s time once again for one of Pro Say’s grandest traditions, as the hosts gather round and give thanks for another crop of legal oddities. This year delivered a bounty, as the crew offers an update on the curious case of the Ana de Armas movie trailer that wasn’t and revisits the fecal rage of a former court officer directed at an Ohio congressman. Finally, a look back at the legal morass caused by an artist’s construction of a wall of cheese near the U.S.-Mexico border, complete with a look b...
Nov 23, 2022•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast One of the cryptocurrency market’s largest exchanges collapsed in particularly stunning fashion last week after some questionable financial entanglements came to light, leading to a “run on the bank” and ultimately the loss of FTX’s $32 billion value. On this week’s episode of Pro Say, we’re talking you through all the legal elements of the FTX fiasco, including the numerous government investigations now underway, how much liability the company’s owner and some celebrity brand ambassadors may be...
Nov 19, 2022•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter wiped away one thorny lawsuit over his attempts to back out of the deal, but his rough start at the helm of the social network has spawned a new host of legal problems. On this week’s Pro Say, the hosts examine Musk’s decision to lay off thousands of Twitter’s workers, which has invited new litigation from former employees who say they were not given proper notice that they’d soon lose their jobs. Also on this week’s show, a rundown of some big-ticket ballot initi...
Nov 10, 2022•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast A $2.2 billion merger between Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster has been put on ice after a federal judge found that the tie-up poses a likely threat to the market for publishing top-selling books. The ruling came after a three-week trial that saw testimony from literary giants like Stephen King who warned against the dangers of consolidation in the publishing industry. Joining Pro Say this week to break down the trial and the fallout from the merger’s blocking is Law360’s senior competi...
Nov 05, 2022•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is facing an existential crisis after the Fifth Circuit said the agency is unconstitutionally funded. On this week's episode, Law360 senior baking reporter Jon Hill tells us about the fallout of that ruling, including a flurry of filings from companies looking to get CFPB cases thrown out. Also this week, we discuss a criminal tax fraud case getting underway against the Trump Organization; an appellate ruling that says call center workers should be paid f...
Nov 03, 2022•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
