Legal Current
Legal Current is a podcast from Thomson Reuters, Legal, that features information and commentary on the business and practice of law.

As Congress continues its budget negotiations, concerns are rising about the potential  on federal support of legal aid for people with low incomes, seniors, people with disabilities, and others who lack ready access to legal services. 

In this episode of For Public Consumption, Sharon Sayles-Belton, vice president of Government Affairs for Thomson Reuters, talks with Drew Schaffer, executive director of Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid.

Direct download: For_Public_Consumption_episode_3_-_Mid-Minnesota_Legal_Aid.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:33pm EDT

Frederic Block is a Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, a musician, and a noted author.

His first book, Disrobed: An Inside Look at the Life and Work of a Federal Trial Judge, provides aunique  behind the bench look at some of the controversial cases Judge Block handled over his 23 years on the federal bench in Brooklyn. includiing the Crown Heights riots and the trial of Peter Gotti of the Gambino crime family.

His new book, Race to Judgment is a "reality-fiction" debut novel loosely based on a number of high-profile cases handled by Judge Block

Direct download: Judge_Fredric_Block_-_Race_to_Judgement_book.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 7:35pm EDT

President Trump signed more executive orders in his first 100 days in office than any US President since World War II.  

Ronald D. Rotunda, a U.S. legal scholar and professor of law at Chapman University School of Law, discusses the history of Presidential executive orders.
Direct download: Trump_the_Presidency__the_History_oF_Executive_Orders.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:04am EDT

Aging corporate boards are getting lessons on how to foster the next generation of directors. Younger directors remain rare but they’re increasingly in demand for their skills and perspectives on topics such as cybersecurity, e-commerce and marketing to millennials. They can also bring diversity to otherwise “pale, male and stale” boardrooms. The next generation of board leaders say too many boards lack effective on-boarding practices for new members. 


What are best practices for bridging the gap between aging boards and the younger generation that brings new, fresh ideas?

 

Dave Lynn -- Co-Chair of Jenner & Block¹s Securities Practice – dicsusses.

Direct download: Millennials__Corporate_Boards.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:21am EDT

Free wi-fi is widely available and tempting to use, especially when traveling.  Hotels, airports, coffee shops, even NYC subway stations provide it. 

But the dangers of public wi-fi are many-fold.  Not only are they hunting grounds for hackers, but a new report from security firm FireEye claims a Russian hacker group known as APT28, or Fancy Bear, used hotel Wi-Fi networks to spy on high-value guests.

While use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) can safeguard against unsafe wi-fi networks, recent bans of VPNs by Russia and China further complicate matters. 

Bob Braun with Jeffer Mangels, Butler & Mitchell, says when using any public wi-fi, you are inherently at risk.

 

Direct download: Beware_of_Hotel__Public_Wifi.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 2:30pm EDT

Emojis are cute, fun...and can get you in a whole lot of legal trouble.  “Emoji law” is increasingly a factor in e-discovery, particularly in labor and employment cases such as sexual harassment and discrimination.

Jay Holand, chair of labor and employment at Joseph Greenwald, says it has gotten to the point where e mployment attorneys should start thinking about setting up emoji-awareness seminars for companies on how emoji and applications like Slack are creating new questions, and perhaps conflicts, in workplaces like, “Is that winky-face emoji friendly, flirtatious or sexual harassment?”

Direct download: Emoji_Law__The_Evils_of_Emojis.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:06am EDT

As the Supreme Court prepares to open its 2017-2018 term, all eyes will on the docket to see which cases the high court decides to take up.  In recent years, the Court has been taking an increased focus on IP cases.  Wayne Stacy of Baker Botts says his analysis reveals that this is part of the Court’s growing scrutiny of the Federal Circuit Courts. 

Direct download: SCOTUS_v._Federal_Circuit.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:55am EDT

NAMWOLF CEO Joel Stern discussed how NAMWOLF works with large law firms to boost diversity and inclusion in the legal profession

Direct download: How_NAMWOLF_Partners_with_Big_Law_on_Legal__Diversity__Inclusion.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:41am EDT

NAMWOLF CEO Joel Stern discusses how unconscious bias impacts diversity and inclusion in the legal profession

Direct download: Unconscious_Bias_in_the_Legal_Profession.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:25am EDT

NAMWOLF CEO Joel Stern discusses innovative partnerships NAMWOLF forms with Corporate America to boost diversity and inclusion in the legal profession


The National Association of Minority & Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF) seeks to increase diversity in the legal profession through greater corporate retention of minority- and women-owned law firms.  

CEO Joel Stern recently discussed NAMWOLF’s work with Sharon Sayles Belton, vice president, Government Affairs and Community Relations for Thomson Reuters.

Direct download: NAMWOLF_CEO_Joel_Stern.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:58am EDT

Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have produced numerous fatalities and billions of dollars in property damage.

As devastated areas move into recovery mode, numerous legal issues will arise for impacted businesses.

Rachel Steely of Gardere Wynne Sewell in Houston discusses what businesses need to keep in mind as they recover from the aftermath of storms and other natural disasters.

Direct download: Hurricanes__Disaster_Recovery_for_Businesses.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:59pm EDT

Silvia A. LeBlanc of Morgan Lewis in Philadelphia discusses how the firm uses knowledge management and practice innovation, to collaborate with team members across Morgan Lewis’s global network and ensure they take full advantage of resources. She maps legal processes, creates productivity tools, and conducts training sessions that promote a culture of quality and consistency across matters.

Direct download: Day_in_the_Life_of_a_KM_Attorney_-_Morgan_Lewis.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:07pm EDT

Direct download: Tech_Titans.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:34am EDT

Balancing employee rights with employer's data security needs and data privacy requirements can be tricky.  Anna Suh with Fenwick & West discusses how employers can manage this balance.

Direct download: Data_Security_vs._Employee_Privacy.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:37am EDT

Legal departments are increasingly turning to alternative legal service providers to handle certain legal tasks and matters on a more cost-effective basis.  But now, some law firms are also engaging alternative legal service providers to help their client reduce costs and strengthen the firm’s client relationships

Jeffrey Sharer co-chair of Akerman's Data Law Practice talked at ILTACON 2017 with Ed Sohn, Thomson reuters vice president of product management and partner management about his firm's use of Collaborative Disaggregation.

Direct download: Collaborative_Disaggregation_-_ILTACON_2017.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:56am EDT

Brian Kuhn, founder of IBM Watson Legal, addressed key misconceptions around artificial intelligence and cognitive computing in Tuesday’s keynote at ITLACON 2017. 

Kuhn talked with David Curle, Thomson Reuters director of market intelligence,  and shared insights from business-of-law use case workshops IBM conducted with corporate legal departments and law firms over the last two years. He discussed patterns of customer interest and success related to the application of artificial intelligence and cognitive computing to the legal domain, and what everyone needs to know about what AI can — and can’t — do.


Direct download: AI__Ethics_-_ILTA_Keynote_Day_1_Interview.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:02pm EDT

Earlier this spring, the Trump Administration released its full 2018 budget proposal, which outlined deep cuts, and even outright eliminations, of some agencies.

Among the 19 agencies on the chopping block is the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), an independent nonprofit established by Congress to support low-income Americans with civil legal aid. While the budget for 2017 kept funding in place for LSC to the tune of $385 million, the expected budget showdown for 2018 has many legal aid organizations concerned for the future, including Legal Assistance Foundation (LAF) in Chicago.

In the latest installment of our podcast series, For Public Consumption, host Sharon Sayles Belton, vice president, Government Affairs and Community Relations at Thomson Reuters, speaks with Diana White, former executive director of LAF, about the organization’s mission, funding challenges and what’s next should federal funds disappear.

Direct download: For_Public_Consumption_-_episode2.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 4:48pm EDT

Brexit and Cuba may be oceans apart, but they share one common issue: a potential disruption of trademarks in both markets. Jeffrey Greene, a trademark partner with Fenwick & West discusses what issues need to be aware of if they are doing business or plan on doing business there.

Direct download: Btrexit_Cuba__Trademarks.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:17am EDT

Karl Florida, managing director of the small law firm business of Thomson Reuters, talks with David Lat, founder of the Above the Law blog about his experience as a pre-eminent blogger on the legal industry

Direct download: David_Lat_-_Above_the_Law_founder.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 9:14pm EDT

“Fake news” is nothing new, especially to corporations dealing with short sellers – investors who bet on falling stock prices, who have long been accused of deliberately spreading false information in order to drive bigger gains.

But the Securities & Exchange Commission has been surprisingly powerless in dealing with short sellers. Mike Dicke of Fenwick & West, who formerly worked for the SEC, discusses what companies can – and can’t do – to combat fake news being spread by short sellers

Direct download: Fake_News__Short_Sellers.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:50pm EDT

Soaring athlete contracts, growing TV revenues and cheating and doping scandals.

Nope. Not the NFL or World Cup Soccer. It’s the burgeoning world of e-Sports or spectator video games.  Video game live televised tournaments and leagues are fast becoming big business.  And with it comes legal issues that are all too familiar for those who follow more established, traditional “ball-and-stick” sports leagues.

Aaron Swerdlow of Gerard Fox Law explores the new legal frontier of e-Sports. Coming soon to an Xbox near you.

Direct download: eSports_and_the_Law.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:33pm EDT

A dicussion of the keynote at the 2017 VANTAGE Elite User Conference in Orlando.

Direct download: VANTAGE_2017_Keynote.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:18pm EDT

Elite's Client Advisory Board is an important source of communications for Elite and its clients to develop innovative ways to improve law firm efficiency.

Stuart Robinson, Financial Controller for Irwin Mitchell, the 11th largest law firm in the UK, discusses his role on the Elite Client Advisory Board with Patrick Hurly, VP of Customer Advocacy at Elite.

Direct download: How_Elites_Client_Advisory_Board_Improves_Innovation_for_Firms.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:22am EDT

Millennials are now the largest demographic group in the U.S.  Much has been written and discussed about how millennials often have unique preferences for how they prefer to shop for and purchases goods and services. 

How does this apply to law firms? 

Christi Krautbauer of FindLaw discusses the findings of a white new paper, Reaching a New Generation: Tailoring Your Marketing Your Legal Marketing to Millennial Consumers, which break downs what makes millennial consumers unique, and how law firms can market more effectively to them.

This is just one of many white papers and other helpful resources for firms on how to improve all aspects of their marketing.

Direct download: Tailoring_Your_Legal_Marketing_to_Millennial_Customers.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:13pm EDT

New Podcast Series on Government: For Public Consumption

 

Legal Current is proud to present a new podcast series: For Public Consumption.

 

Hosted by Sharon Sayles Belton, vice president, Government Affairs and Community Relations at Thomson Reuters, this podcast series examines issues that impact government, its services and the people it serves.

 

In this first installment, Sharon interviews Sally Heyman, Miami-Dade County Commissioner for the 4th District, on the mental health crisis, its impact on our judicial and correctional systems, and an innovative new approach in Miami-Dade County that may reduce costs to taxpayers while improving care for the mentally ill who enter the judicial and correctional systems.

 

To listen, click on the built-in audio player below, or download and listen later by right click here. Or you can subscribe to Legal Current podcasts on iTunes.

 

And check back for future episodes of For Public Consumption on Legal Current.

Direct download: For_Public_Consumption_-_episode_1.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:25am EDT

The Ark Group recently held its conference on Best Practices & Management Strategies for Law Firm Library, Research & Information Services.

In this episode of KM with Kim, we discuss a recap of the conference with Kim Stein, national KM manager for Thomson Reuters

Direct download: Ark_Group_Conference_Recap_-_KM_with_Kim_episode_7.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 7:53pm EDT

With the passage of the America Invents Act in 2011 and a string of Supreme Court decisions in recent years, the landscape for intellectual property filings and dispute resolution was supposed to become clearer.  But they have also brought new issues and uncertainty.

Jeremy Taylor with Baker Botts discusses some of the most important IP considerations that are commonly overlooked, or that companies fail to take into consideration and land them in hot water.

Direct download: Freuently_Overlooked_IP_Issues.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 2:57pm EDT

In November, Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., United States ex rel. Rigsby, a case involving the False Claims Act and misclassified claims after Hurricane Katrina.  This case is important as litigation under the False Claims Act has grown remarkably in recent years. It also is relevant that the False Claims Act, which dates back to the Civil War, and provides for treble damages, mandatory minimum penalties, and recovery of costs, including attorney¹s fees, making successful litigation quite lucrative. Government Contractors have complained bitterly about what they regard as unduly lax applications of the statute by the lower courts.

Brian Markovitz of Joseph Greenwald & Laake discusses the intersection of Hurricane Katrina, Abraham Lincoln and the so-called “Lincoln Law”.

Direct download: Abraham_Lincoln_Hurricane_Katrina__Civil_War_Horses.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:22am EDT

ABA TECHSHOW 2017 is this week in Chicago.  ABA President Linda Klein discusses some of the initiatives and priorities for the ABA.

Direct download: ABA_TECHSHOW_2017_with_ABA_President_Linda_Klein.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:46pm EDT

There’s no such thing as a typical day for someone who runs knowledge management for a law firm, in the same way that there’s no such thing as a typical KM setup, or even a typical person who manages KM for a firm.

The person in charge of KM can be anyone from a law librarian to a chief knowledge officer to a practice group leader, a IT manager, or even someone who does a little bit of all those things.

Welcome to KM with Kim, where we share best practices and the latest in getting the most from your knowledge management systems with Kim Stein, national manager for knowledge management for Thomson Reuters.

In this episode, Kim takes a look at “A Day in the Life of KM,” through the eyes of  David Hobbie, Litigation Knowledge Management Attorney at Goodwin Procter, LLP in Boston. at Goodwin Proctor.

David talk about how his firm uses KM, and he manages his role to make the firm more efficient and productive through its use of KM.

You can also visit David’s blog: http://caselines.blogspot.com/

Direct download: A_Day_in_the_Life_of_a_KM_Attorney.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:43am EDT

On Jan. 26, 1997, many homes across America were tuned-in to Super Bowl XXXI. While much of the game itself may be a blur, most people who watched that night likely remember one image from that night: Hollywood legend Fred Astaire, who had died nearly a decade before, dancing with an electric broom in a vacuum commercial. While many people were fixated on how the ad was created, some – including members of Astaire’s family – took issue with bringing the legendary performer “back from the dead.”

Now 20 years later, a new film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, puts a new spin on the debate in part because, unlike the brief appearance of Astaire in the vacuum ad, the new Star Wars film demonstrates that actors, can quite literally, return to the screen forever.

But what are legal ramifications to these posthumous performances, and how are today’s actors prepping for this future?

Join us for the latest Legal Current podcast, where we are joined by Brad Cohen, partner with Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell in Los Angeles, where we break this down.

And be warned… there will be spoilers.

 

Direct download: The_Estate_Strikes_Back_-_Deceased_Stars_Star_Wars__Posthumous_Rights.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 4:01pm EDT

Geoffrey the Giraffe, Supreme Court & Online Sales Taxes

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a case this term that could have provided some clarity to the bewildering array on jurisdictions and taxes involved with online sales.

Will the move lead to action by the states or Congress, or the potential for even greater confusion?

Matthew Hunsaker of Baker Botts discusses.

Direct download: Geoffrey_the_Giraffe__Online_Sales_Taxes.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:05pm EDT

Managing a successful solo or small law practice means overcoming many challenges. These days, running a small practice requires many skills in addition to being a good lawyer: one often also needs to be a project manager, technologist, marketer and small business expert.

The State of the US Small Law Firms Study surveyed more than 300 solo and small law firm leaders to find out how they define success, their challenges and what the most successful firms are doing to develop and execute winning strategies.

In this podcast, we discuss the survey findings and what it reveals about the world of today’s solo and small law firm with Karl Florida, managing director, small law firms, Thomson Reuters; and Bob Ambrogi, practicing solo attorney, ABA Journal columnist and creator of the LawSites blog.

Here are some of Bob’s previous discussions of the Small Law Firms study

http://abovethelaw.com/2016/07/this-week-in-legal-tech-exclusive-results-of-a-new-small-firm-survey/

http://www.lawsitesblog.com/2016/07/exclusive-survey-results-small-firms-greatest-challenges-theyre-address.html

http://www.lawsitesblog.com/2016/08/exclusive-survey-results-small-firms-measure-success.html

http://www.lawsitesblog.com/2016/08/exclusive-survey-results-small-firms-implementing-new-technology.html

http://abovethelaw.com/2016/09/this-week-in-legal-tech-survey-sheds-light-on-how-solos-differ/

 

 

Direct download: Thomson_Reuters_Solo__Small_Law_Firm_Survey.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:54pm EDT

What Safer Roads Could Mean for Your Personal Injury Practice

Our nation’s roads are getting safer. Traffic fatalities and injuries have generally been declining for more than two decades. But law firms that have staked their futures on motor vehicle accident (MVA) injuries or fatalities may face significant business challenges on the horizon unless they prepare now.

FindLaw has published a new white paper that analyzes traffic safety data and its implications for personal injury practices.

Traffic Signals – What Safer Roads Could Mean for Your Personal Injury Practice

Direct download: What_Safer_Roads_Could_Mean_for_Personal_Injury_Practices.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 10:52am EDT

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