Sony Corporation suffered a huge security breach in its video game online network with names, addresses and credit card numbers of 100 million PlayStation and PC game network users stolen by hackers. This week on the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer, we discuss the legal obligations of companies to protect consumer data and the rights of consumers [...]
On Feb. 23, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Obama administration would no longer defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act in cases pending in federal court. On this week’s Lawyer2Lawyer, we discuss the implications of this announcement. Helping us do that are two guests who fall on opposite sides of the issue:
We discuss the controversy over the announcement and consider what it will mean for pending cases and for the future of DOMA.
You can download or stream this week’s show from the Legal Talk Network.
On this week’s episode of the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer, we look at the documentary, Out of the Ashes: 9/11. The film documents the Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund. Created just 11 days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, it remains the largest public entitlement program ever.
We speak with the executive producer, writer and co-director of the documentary, Marilyn J. Berger, professor at the Seattle University School of Law and founder of the school’s Films for Justice Institute; and with a lawyer who was featured in the film for her pro bono work on behalf of 9/11 victims and their families, Debra Brown Steinberg, partner with the firm, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.
Listen to or download the program: The Making of Out of the Ashes: 9/11.
When snow and ice result in personal injury or property damage, who is legally responsible? The answer will likely depend on the law of the state where the accident occurs. For more than 100 years, Massachusetts applied a rule that a property owner is not liable in tort for failing to remove a natural accumulation of snow and ice. That all changed with the Supreme Judicial Court’s 2010 decision, Papadopoulos v. Target Corp., in which the court abolished any legal distinction between natural and unnatural accumulations of snow and instead said that a property owner has a duty to act “as a reasonable person under all the circumstances” with regard to removal of snow and ice.
Will the Papadopoulos ruling result in a blizzard of new lawsuits in Massachusetts? What is likely to happen elsewhere in the U.S., given the severity of the weather this winter all across the country? On this week’s Lawyer2Lawyer podcast, we interview two lawyers who are experts in the slippery issues of liability for snow and ice:
Listen to the show or download the MP3 at the Legal Talk Network.
This week on the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer, we uncover the revealing facts about full-body scans and do a full pat-down of the legal issues surrounding the TSA’s controversial screening practices.
Joining us to discuss this issue are Patrick Smith, the airline pilot and author who writes the Salon.com column, Ask the Pilot and who operates the popular website AskthePilot.com; and Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute and co-editor of the recent book, Terrorizing Ourselves: Why U.S. Counterterrorism Policy Is Failing and How to Fix It.
Listen to the entire program or download it from the Legal Talk Network.
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The Order in the Court 2.0 project will turn a Massachusetts courtroom into a test lab for how courts deal with social media, electronic journalism and digital technology. This week on the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer, we discuss this pioneering project with John Davidow, the WBUR.org executive editor who helped WBUR win a $250,000 grant from the Knight News Challenge to launch the project, and Judge Mark S. Coven, presiding justice at Quincy District Court, where the project will be based. They take a look at the program’s goals and challenges and the broader issues raised by bloggers, tweeters and other forms of new media in courtrooms nationwide.
Listen to or download this week’s show from the Legal Talk Network.
See also my earlier posts on the Order in the Court 2.0 project:
ABA President Stephen N. Zack is our guest this week on the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer. Amid controversy among legal bloggers over the ABA’s recent issues paper on lawyers’ use of the Internet, I ask Zack for his perspective on the issue. Zack also discusses his initiative to enhance civics education in U.S. schools, his Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities, and other initiatives of his term as president.
Listen to or download the show from the Legal Talk Network.
On the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer this week, we follow up on the Wall Street Journal investigation that found that several popular Facebook applications may be inappropriately using users’ personal information. We discuss the legal implications of this with two guests: Kimberley Isbell, a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society and staff attorney for the Citizen Media Law Project, and Mark G. McCreary, a partner with the law firm Fox Rothschild and author of the firm’s Privacy Compliance & Data Security blog.
Listen to or download the show from the Legal Talk Network.
It’s the first Monday in October and you know what that means. This week on the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer2Lawyer, we look ahead at the new Supreme Court term and the docket of cases the court will hear.
Our guests this week are Wilson R. Huhn, professor of law and constitutional law research fellow at the University of Akron School of Law; Steven H. Goldberg, professor of constitutional law at Pace Law School; and Greg Stohr, Supreme Court reporter for Bloomberg News.
Listen to or download Lawyer2Lawyer.
With today’s episode of the Lawyer2Lawyer podcast, we reach a milestone: our 250th episode and the end of our fifth year of weekly shows. This makes Lawyer2Lawyer the longest continually running legal podcast.
Our first show was on Aug. 31, 2005. Our guests for that first show were Michael S. Greco, then the newly installed president of the American Bar Association, and law professor (now dean) Erwin Chemerinsky. Over the years since, we’ve been fortunate to have a steady stream of fascinating guests, joining us from all over the world. Today’s show features two long-time podcasters to talk about podcasting: Denise Howell, host of This Week in Law, and Struan Robertson, editor of Out-Law.com and Out-Law Radio.
We’ve also won several awards. By my tally, they include:
I was fortunate from the start to partner with lawyer J. Craig Williams as a cohost. An ace litigator with a background in journalism, Craig is a master at asking the most challenging questions. Originally, the show was called Coast2Coast to reflect Craig’s base in California and mine in Mass. We later changed the name to Lawyer2Lawyer to avoid confusion with a radio show and to reflect our increasingly international array of guests and listeners.
Although Craig and I cohost the program, the real brains and brawn behind the program rests with the highly talented people at the Legal Talk Network who produce the show. LTN is run by two long-time TV news professionals, Lu Ann Reeb and Scott Hess. Both worked for the CBS news outlet in Boston for many years. Our show is produced by Kate Kenney, who works tirelessly to line up guests, provide background research on topics, and script the outline for each show. Audio engineering is done by Mike Hochman, a radio professional who now attends New England School of Law. The distinctive voice that introduces the show is that of Gary Tanguay, well known in the Boston area as a TV sports anchor. My enormous thanks to all of them.
I sincerely want to thank the people who listen to the podcast. There are an average of 65,000 of you every month, from all over the world. All of us involved with the program appreciate the feedback you provide and comments you offer, not to mention the time you take to listen. Please feel free to let me know of any ideas you have for guests, topics or ways of improving the show.
Now on to number 251!
