TDCAA Executive Director Rob Kepple joins host Chris Spendlove to discuss the work TDCAA does to help train and support prosecutors across Texas.  Mr. Kepple shares insights into the various training programs available to prosecutors (including "baby prosecutor school"), discusses his involvement with the Texas legislature, and offers tips for landing your first prosecution job.  Mr. Kepple also explains the publications TDCAA makes available, including the case summaries the association makes available on new developments in criminal law.  To receive these case summaries, sign up for the email newsletter here: https://www.tdcaa.com/case-summaries-sign-up/

Former Baylor Law Criminal Law Society president and newly-minted Baylor Law graduate Daniela Vakulchik joins hosts Chris Spendlove, Steve Lowry, and Conagher Jones to discuss her experiences at Baylor Law, internships and externships, and getting a pre-bar prosecution job.  She shares insights into Practice Court, advice on balancing your mental health and your law school workload, and tips for anyone interested in landing a job out of Texas after graduation.  We wish Daniela all the best in her post-law-school endeavors and thank her sincerely for the work she did to rebuild the Criminal Law Society!

We're back! Host Conagher Jones sits down (over Zoom) with co-hosts Chris Spendlove, Ethan Scroggins, and Steve Lowry to discuss all things criminal-law-internship.  Not sure what to expect at your internship?  Want to avoid some common pitfalls and mistakes?  Looking to maximize your usefulness to the office  you're interning at?  This roundtable Q&A episode covers all these topics and more.  Best of luck with your summer internships! Feel free to reach out to any of these hosts if you have further questions. 

Baylor Law School Associate Dean Patricia Wilson joins hosts Chris Spendlove and Conagher Jones for a candid discussion on the intersection of race and criminal justice in America.  Dean Wilson shares insights and context on some of the most difficult social questions we face as a nation and encourages us to use our superpowers as lawyers for good.  While not a comprehensive discussion by any means, we hope this conversation can serve as a jumping off point for our listeners as they grapple with the very real and very difficult questions they will face about race and justice as criminal-law attorneys.  The answers to these questions involve both powerful justice and abiding mercy; as criminal-law attorneys, defenders and prosecutors, we have an awesome responsibility to deliver both. 

Tarrant County prosecutor and fellow Baylor Lawyer Morgan Blair joins host Ethan Scroggins to discuss her journey from law student to prosecutor.  Morgan shares her experiences taking various electives and internships while in law school, and then talks about her transition from civil law to criminal law.  She shares practical advice about trying criminal cases, working with defense attorneys, how to utilize your Baylor Law training to jump right into your first job, and finding mentors. 

This special bonus episode of the Baylor Law Criminal Law Society Podcast is the recorded audio from the December 9, 2021 guest speaker, Mrs. Jackie Rylander.  Mrs. Rylander spoke with the Society about making the transition from prosecutor to defense attorney, imparted practical advice about setting up a private defense practice, and ran the group through a sample client problem.  

As mentioned in the episode, the resources Mrs. Rylander shared can be accessed here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1heQYaumAf_Uqjtx7qghCaxcRHRUV32-a/edit

Justice! Civil rights! Musical theatre! Flugelhorns! This episode has it all! Baylor Law Professor Rachel Kincaid joins hosts Chris Spendlove and Ethan Scroggins to discuss her career, spanning a masters-level musical education to prosecuting civil rights cases for the DOJ to teaching criminal law at Baylor.  Professor Kincaid's wide variety of experiences not only makes her an excellent podcast guest, but an incredible resource if you're unsure what you want to do with your law degree.  While she makes a strong case for public service in this episode, she'll be the first to tell you to follow your passions and find what drives you.  

Content advisory: this episode contains extended discussion of various trumpets and related brass instruments. Recovering band geeks strongly cautioned. 

Professional starfish-flinger Beth Toben joins hosts Chris Spendlove and Ethan Scroggins to discuss her career as a prosecutor, focused on working with kids in child sex abuse cases and, more recently, child protective services cases.  Mrs. Toben has spent her career as a champion and protector of children; the Baylor Law Criminal Law Society is fortunate to have her as our champion and advocate as well.  Mrs. Toben also discusses important considerations for young prosecutors seeking their first jobs and her involvement with TDCAA. 

Content advisory: germane to the conversation about Mrs. Toben's career, this episode contains frank discussion of child sexual abuse. 

Happy end-of-finals, Baylor Law! Fellow Baylor Law student Sami Shaffer joins host Steve Lowry to discuss their experiences at the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyer's Association conference in October 2021. Sami and Steve share their impressions of the event, including the blood spatter hands-on workshop and a presentation by the Innocence Project of Texas, and chat about what makes Sami such a very special guest.  

The gang's all here! Professor Paul Yanowitch joins all three hosts -- Chris Spendlove, Ethan Scroggins, and Steve Lowry -- to discuss his career in the Department of Justice.  Having worked on both civil and criminal cases for the government, Professor Yanowitch provides a unique perspective on making a career out of representing the United States.  He shares his insights on forming relationships with defense counsel, the differences between civil and criminal work, and his area of expertise: cybercrime.