We kick off season two with an engrossing conversation with Professor Robert Lawless about his new book, Debt's Grip: Risk and Consumer Bankruptcy. The book explores financial precarity in the United States and utilizes original data from the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, including the words of bankruptcy filers themselves to shed light on their situations. Professor Lawless shared insight into how he began his work on this project, how the book came about, and how the research has helped him as a teacher at Illinois Law.

For more information about Debt's Grip, including ways to purchase the book, please visit the publisher's website: https://www.ucpress.edu/books/debts-grip/paper

Bobby Mannis and Vindy Murthy, 2025 graduates, join the podcast to discuss their artificial intelligence-powered learning tool, NomosLearning. They share some background on how their education at Illinois inspired the building of this tool and how they came together to create a tool that all Illinois students can use. NomosLearning harnesses the power of AI to supplement reading for students, creating issue spotters and case briefs to guide their studies. The co-founders also share some of their vision for the future of NomosLearning and their careers.

To learn more, visit https://www.nomoslearning.com/.

Disclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement or approval by the College of Law. Please contact Nomos Learning for answers to questions regarding its content.

Studying the law at the University of Illinois doesn't always mean being in Illinois. In this episode, third-year student Rama Hamad shares her experience studying abroad in Madrid, Spain, and how the chance to study internationally has helped her on her path to being an outstanding lawyer. In the second half of the episode, Rebecca Ray, assistant director for Graduate and International Studies, fills in some of the specifics about the study abroad program and how it works for Illinois Law students.

If you are interested in studying abroad, you can contact Rebecca Ray and the graduate and international programs office at [email protected].

This episode is all about advocacy and what that means for law students and lawyers. We turn the spotlight on the Kimball R. and Karen Gatsis Anderson Center for Advocacy and Professionalism and learn about the classes and competitions they offer to help Illinois Law students become the best advocates possible. Guests include Professor Tony Ghiotto, director of the Anderson Center, and third-year students Yev Kozak and Nicole Marcinkus.

Juan Thomas has found great success in the legal world and in politics since graduating from Illinois Law in 1996, and now he is taking the time to give back by teaching The History of the African-American Lawyer in the United States. We talked about his path to the law and why he is passionate about sharing Black history with a new generation of students.

The Supreme Court unanimously agreed the law banning TikTok from the United States was constitutional and should go into effect as written; however, on January 20th, President Donald Trump instructed the Attorney General not to enforce the law for 75 days. So, what is going on and what is the legal basis for any of it? Professor Lena Shapiro, who also leads our First Amendment Clinic Director, joined us for a bonus episode of the podcast to examine the details behind this case.

In this episode, Assistant Director of Athletics, Strategic Initiatives Kamron Cox joins to talk about his journey through the law to the University of Illinois Athletics Department. When he was hired for his role with the Fighting Illini, Kam was the first specialist in name, image, and likeness law among Power 5 schools. He shared how he has traversed the changing landscape of college athletics to help the Illini find success on many different fields, and how he uses that knowledge in the classroom as an adjunct professor at the College of Law.

In this episode, our newest faculty members, Bill Watson and Sara Gerke, sit down to discuss their path to Illinois Law, their specialties, and how they are enjoying their time at the College of Law thus far.

This episode features Abass Sesay, an LLM student from Sierra Leone and founder of the nonprofit, Campaign for Social Justice and Human Rights. We discussed his work promoting climate change action, youth empowerment, and justice, as well as attending the United Nations’ Summit of the Future in and IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings.

Founder and director of the Veterans Legal Clinic, Yulanda Curtis, joins the podcast to discuss her passion for providing civil legal services to the veteran community. In the second half of this episode, 3L student Luke Hemmerla, a current member of the Missouri Army National Guard, joins to discuss his work as a clinician and how his military background has helped him in this role.

More information about the Veterans Legal Clinic can be found online: https://law.illinois.edu/academics/clinics-experiential-learning/veterans-legal-clinic/

If you would like to contact the Clinic to see if their services might be right for you, the number to call is (217) 244-9494 or you may email [email protected].