Aba Journal: Modern Law Library

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 to his high school and college years. They discuss what they learned from people who'd known him at various points in his life, and the conclusions they came to at the end of their year-long investigation. Special thanks to our sponsor, Headnote.

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 questioning, why open-ended questioning is the best way to secure necessary information, and how you can break the ice with a conversational tone. Special thanks to our sponsor, Headnote.

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 Responders, Groner and journalist Tom Teicholz tell stories about the individuals involved and the twists and turns of a legal battle with billion-dollar stakes. Groner speaks with the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles about how this battle changed him personally, the challenge of "being ahead of the science," and why the heroism his clients showed is now more important than ever. Special thanks to our sponsor, Headnote.

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, such as licensing, liability, electronic discovery and intellectual property, while addressing the current lack of regulation. In this new episode of the Modern Law Library podcast, Olivia Aguilar of ABA Publishing speaks with co-editor Cynthia H. Cwik about why IoT devices are some of the most vulnerable hacker targets, the impact of these devices on national security, and potential future regulatory measures. Special thanks to our sponsor, Headnote.

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 battle and personal history inspired Julian Rankin to write Catfish Dream: Ed Scott's Fight for his Family Farm and Racial Justice in the Mississippi Delta. In this episode, Rankin speaks with his cousin, the ABA Journal's Brenan Sharp, about how Rankin came to meet Scott; how his background in visual arts informs his writing; and what Scott's story shows us about the struggle for racial and economic justice in the Mississippi Delta. Special thanks to our sponsor, Headnote.

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 in the Workplace. This new release combines thought-provoking research, extensive interviews and strategic recommendations for addressing misconduct in a wide range of scenarios. Rikleen argues that if we are to move forward, all sectors must recognize the systemic problems that have left victims unprotected and work to create a culture of respect in the workplace. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, ABA Publishing's Olivia Aguilar speaks with Rikleen about how workplace structures protect those accused of miscon

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 will have to decide whether the details of his story add up. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Bala speaks with the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles about the true stories behind her fictional novel, and what winning the prize named for the author of "To Kill a Mockingbird" means to her.

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 Olivia Aguilar speaks with Kole about common mistakes that young lawyers make while working with an expert, the ins and outs of the written report and how to avoid "impermissible ventriloquism." Special thanks to our sponsor, Headnote.

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 it finally reached the U.S. Supreme Court. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Tam joins the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles to discuss his band and his new book, Slanted: How an Asian American Troublemaker Took on the Supreme Court. Special thanks to our sponsor, Headnote.

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 Olivia Aguilar speaks to Kiser about the impact of the recession on law firms, why law firm culture is crucial in today's world and what lawyers have in common with the Pirahã tribe in Brazil. Special thanks to our sponsor, Headnote.

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. In this episode, Chase talks with the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles about crimes like impersonating a mailman; importing pregnant polar bears; selling mail-order dentures; and letting your falcon be filmed for a movie. Special thanks to our sponsor, Headnote.

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 Library, ABA Publishing's Ashley Alfirevic speaks to Herrmann about what they didn't tell you in law school, how to work with your assistant and what's changed in this new edition. Special thanks to our sponsor, Headnote.

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.

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 writing about this true-crime tale, with the intention of producing her own book in the style of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. But did she ever finish it? In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Cep speaks with the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles about how her time reporting on the controversial release of Go Set a Watchman led her to start seeking another book that could be hidden in Harper Lee's sealed papers: The Reverend. Special thanks to our sponsor, Headnote.

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.

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.

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 Library, the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles chats with Robertson about the evidence from the crime scene; the differences between Lizzie Borden's trial and what we might see in a similar case today; and why each generation seems to have a different take on Lizzie Borden and what she might have done in in 1892 on a hot August day in Fall River, Massachusetts.

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 the problems at hand.

The 10 years that Dave Cullen spent researching and reporting on the 1999 shootings in Littleton, Colorado for his book "Columbine" were so draining that he experienced secondary PTSD. So on Feb. 14, 2018, when he heard about the shootings at Margery Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, he had no initial intention of writing about them. But in the nearly 20 years since the Columbine shootings changed our expectations about school safety, there had been a number of changes–including what the children directly impacted were able to do to change our national conversations about gun laws. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Cullen speaks to the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles about his new book, "Parkland," and how the Parkland students he met were able to create the impact they have in the year since the tragedy at their school.

Blockchain's a buzzword, but what does it mean? In this episode of the Modern Law Library, our guests James A. Cox and Mark W. Rasmussen give a breakdown of what blockchain is, the emerging legal issues the technology is prompting, and why Jones Day thinks that it's an important emerging practice area. As the editors of "Blockchain for Business Lawyers," Cox and Rasmussen have compiled advice tailored for lawyers in a number of fields to help navigate the uncharted waters that blockchain technology is making possible.