Recent studies have suggested that lawyers are particularly prone to depression, anxiety, and stress, but are lawyers becoming zombies? According to Professor Peter Huang (who co-authored an article of similar title), the plight of the profession presents interesting parallels to the concept of “zombification,” with lawyers and law students mindlessly reacting to stress. Prof. Huang discusses these parallels, the role of stress reduction strategies such as mindfulness, and how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted attorney mental health. Peter also presents some ways in which the legal profession and law schools can begin to improve attorney well being… perhaps avoiding the zombie apocalypse entirely.

How to Earn CLE Credit

MCLE certificates are eligible only for TalksOnLaw Premium or Podcast members. To earn credit, listen to the full program, note the verification code announced during the recording, then log in to your TalksOnLaw account to record attendance and download your certificate at www.TalksOnLaw.com/podcast. 

Approved for 0.5 hours of Mental Health / Substance Abuse Illinois MCLE credit at the time of publication. Please visit TalksOnLaw to check whether older courses remain active for MCLE reporting purposes.

Prosecutors have the power to make decisions that have a deep impact on the lives of arrestees and defendants. This power arises, in large part, from the enormous discretion they exercise over decisions like whether to initiate charges and which charges to bring, whether to offer plea bargains and under what terms, what sentences to seek, and how to present and try a case. Public attention has focused on prosecutors’ discretion in recent years, as their conduct is increasingly scrutinized in high-profile cases involving civilian deaths in police shootings and sexual assault by wealthy, powerful men. Professors Bruce Green and Rebecca Roiphe, both former prosecutors, discuss through the lens of recent controversial cases the ethical and legal standards governing prosecutorial conduct and why prosecutorial discretion is not a black-and-white matter.

How to Earn CLE Credit

MCLE certificates are eligible only for TalksOnLaw Premium or Podcast members. To earn credit, listen to the full program, note the verification code announced during the recording, then log in to your TalksOnLaw account to record attendance and download your certificate at www.TalksOnLaw.com/podcast. 

Approved for 0.5 hours of Professional Responsibility Illinois MCLE credit at the time of publication. Please visit TalksOnLaw to check whether older courses remain active for MCLE reporting purposes.

Strategies for Combatting Stress. Professor Nathalie Martin of the University of New Mexico School of Law explains the benefits of mindfulness particularly for attorneys. For lawyers, mindfulness can help with stress management, increase emotional intelligence, and improve conflict resolution skills. In this interview, Professor Martin explores the factors that contribute to higher levels of stress and mental health issues in the legal profession and offers tips to incorporate mindfulness into lawyers' daily lives. Joel finishes the interview with some additional mindfulness related practices that attorneys can look into.

Strategies for Combatting Stress

Lawyers experience elevated levels of mental health issues, with many lawyers reporting anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and problem drinking. As the legal profession is coming to terms with this crisis, lawyers and legal employers are exploring ways to build a better profession and improve lawyer well-being. One key practice, Professor Nathalie Martin of the University of New Mexico School of Law explains, is mindfulness. Mindfulness is the practice of being present in the moment. Studies have shown that regular mindfulness training has measurable physical, mental, and emotional health benefits. For lawyers, mindfulness can help with stress management, increase emotional intelligence, and improve conflict resolution skills. In this interview, Professor Martin explores the factors that contribute to higher levels of stress and mental health issues in the legal profession and offers tips to incorporate mindfulness into lawyers' daily lives.

The Biden administration announced plans to invoke the broad powers under the Defense Production Act to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and aggressively boost vaccine production and distribution. Passed in 1950, the Defense Production Act authorizes the President to require businesses to prioritize government contracts and to create financial incentives to expand domestic output of goods deemed necessary for national defense. Professor Deborah Pearlstein of Cardozo Law School explains the origins and mechanics of the law, how the Act can be implemented to fight the pandemic, and examines its use and potential use under the past and current administrations.

A Credibility Gap in Cases of Rape. In cases of sexual assault, the credibility of the victim is crucial to whether law enforcement will investigate the assault, prosecutors will bring charges, and whether the jury will ultimately find the defendant culpable. Time and again, victims who come forward recount being disbelieved at each stage of the criminal justice system, a function of what Professor Deborah Tuerkheimer calls credibility discounting. The credibility discount is biased disbelief of the more vulnerable, less powerful party. Tuerkheimer discusses how the credibility discount is at its apex in sexual assault cases and impacts law enforcement intake and investigation in rape cases. She also explores the laws that have made rape charges particularly difficult in the United States such as unique corroboration requirements, prompt outcry rules, cautionary jury instructions, marital rape exceptions as well ill-conceived intoxication rules and resistance requirements. Tuerkheimer explores the surprising legal history of rape law and the formal and informal burdens still imposed on victims today.

How to Earn CLE Credit

MCLE certificates are eligible only for TalksOnLaw Premium or Podcast members. To earn credit, listen to the full program, note the verification code announced during the recording, then log in to your TalksOnLaw account to record attendance and download your certificate at www.TalksOnLaw.com/podcast. 

Approved for 1.0 hour of General Illinois MCLE credit at the time of publication. Please visit TalksOnLaw to check whether older courses remain active for MCLE reporting purposes.

Forensic science is often viewed as the silver bullet in modern criminal convictions, but not all forensic science disciplines are backed by sound empirical data. M. Chris Fabricant of Innocence Project explains how junk science leads to injustice, wrongful convictions, and the failure to apprehend violent criminals responsible. He explains that the term "poor people science" refers to how the courts seem to employ one system to adjudge experts in civil cases against wealthy corporate defendants and a far more lax approach to admitting evidence against criminal defendants with limited resources. Fabricant shares how courts can unintentionally enable destructive precedent that can then lead to the wrongful imprisonment of many.

How to Earn CLE Credit

MCLE certificates are eligible only for TalksOnLaw Premium or Podcast members. To earn credit, listen to the full program, note the verification code announced during the recording, then log in to your TalksOnLaw account to record attendance and download your certificate at www.TalksOnLaw.com/podcast. 

Approved for 1.0 hour of General Illinois MCLE credit at the time of publication. Please visit TalksOnLaw to check whether older courses remain active for MCLE reporting purposes.

America's infrastructure is crumbling. The American Society of Civil Engineers graded the national infrastructure a D+ in 2017, with transit rated a D- and drinking water, dams and roads rated a D. Despite broad bipartisan recognition for the need to rebuild and expand, government spending on infrastructure fell by nearly $10 billion over the past decade, with increased spending on maintaining existing systems and decreased spending on capital projects. Professor Michael Graetz, co-author of The Wolf at the Door: The Menace of Economic Insecurity and How to Fight It, explains why we haven’t seen large-scale improvements in recent decades, ways to finance infrastructure projects to address the funding gap, and the regulatory and policy changes necessary to rebuild America.

How to Earn CLE Credit

MCLE certificates are eligible only for TalksOnLaw Premium or Podcast members. To earn credit, listen to the full program, note the verification code announced during the recording, then log in to your TalksOnLaw account to record attendance and download your certificate at www.TalksOnLaw.com/podcast. 

Approved for 0.5 hours of General Illinois MCLE credit at the time of publication. Please visit TalksOnLaw to check whether older courses remain active for MCLE reporting purposes.

Directed trusts have become increasingly popular over the past few decades, in part, for the flexibility they offer in managing trust assets. In a directed trust, a person other than the trustee holds power to make decisions over investment, management, distribution, or some other aspect of trust administration and has the power to direct the trustee. As common as they’ve become, many states’ statutes have yet to iron out the legal uncertainties that arise when a nontrustee (or a “trust director”) holds power over the trust. In an effort to provide clarity and guidance, the Uniform Law Commission approved in 2017 the Uniform Directed Trust Act (UDTA), which has been adopted in some form by 16 states as of 2022. Professor John Morley, the reporter of the UDTA, explains some of the practical innovations and key provisions in the new law, including the scope of the powers of the trust director and the fiduciary duties of the trust director and trustee.

A dispute over the proper owner of Barry Bonds’ million-dollar home run ball, the right to grow California redwood trees that are shading a neighbor’s solar panels, the legality of shooting down a drone flying over private property: the common thread among all these seemingly unrelated cases is that these are conflicts about ownership design. Ownership design is a powerful social engineering tool that shapes how we live our lives. It determines who gets what and why. Professor Michael Heller, co-author of Mine! How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives, explains the six fundamental stories that determine all rules of ownership through the lens of some surprising and controversial property law cases in American jurisprudence.

How to Earn CLE Credit

MCLE certificates are eligible only for TalksOnLaw Premium or Podcast members. To earn credit, listen to the full program, note the verification code announced during the recording, then log in to your TalksOnLaw account to record attendance and download your certificate at www.TalksOnLaw.com/podcast. 

Approved for 0.5 hours of General Illinois MCLE credit at the time of publication. Please visit TalksOnLaw to check whether older courses remain active for MCLE reporting purposes.