Lawyer Forward

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode shares details of a sexual assault case. Please be mindful of those stories' impact on you.

In 1984, Jennifer Thompson misidentified the man who'd sexually assaulted her. For Ronald Cotton, it meant a decade in prison for a crime he didn't commit. But the strangest part of the story occurred after the exoneration: he and Jennifer became supportive friends.

In this episode, we talk about the mental errors that break up relationships and lead to false convictions, as well as the two men whose research in this field couldn't keep them together.

Episode Resources

• Connect with Mike Whelan
• https://www.lawyerforward.com/
• Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption: https://www.pickingcottonbook.com 
• The Undoing Project: A Friendship that Changed Our Minds https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Undoing_Project_A_Friendship_That_Ch/xpJHDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 
• "Why Eyewitnesses Fail": https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5544328/ 

Canceling people in power is all the rage right now, but it's been part of our culture for as long as there's been culture. In this episode, we share the story of how Eartha Kitt was canceled by the President of the United States, and we explain why her experience was totally different from calls for Larry McDougal to step down as president of the State Bar of Texas.

Episode Resources

• Connect with Mike Whelan
• [email protected]
• https://www.lawyerforward.com/
• Can We Still Listen to Michael Jackson? https://www.salon.com/2019/03/01/can-we-still-listen-to-michael-jackson-we-wouldnt-need-cancel-culture-if-we-had-justice-culture/
• Lawyers Call on Larry McDougal to Resign: https://www.law.com/texaslawyer/2020/07/13/lawyers-call-on-texas-bar-president-to-resign-over-black-lives-matter-comments/
• Eartha Kitt's Vietnam Comments Nearly Ended Her Career: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/02/16/eartha-kitt-and-lady-bird-johnson-vietnam/321602002/
• Cancel Culture is Chaotic Good: https://daily.jstor.org/cancel-culture-is-chaotic-good/
• Why Can't We Stop Fighting About Cancel Culture? https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/12/30/20879720/what-is-cancel-culture-explained-history-debate

Canceling people in power is all the rage right now, but it's been part of our culture for as long as there's been culture. In this episode, we share the story of how Eartha Kitt was canceled by the President of the United States, and we explain why her experience was totally different from calls for Larry McDougal to step down as president of the State Bar of Texas.

Episode Resources

• Connect with Mike Whelan 
• [email protected] 
• https://www.lawyerforward.com/
• Can We Still Listen to Michael Jackson? https://www.salon.com/2019/03/01/can-we-still-listen-to-michael-jackson-we-wouldnt-need-cancel-culture-if-we-had-justice-culture/ 
• Lawyers Call on Larry McDougal to Resign: https://www.law.com/texaslawyer/2020/07/13/lawyers-call-on-texas-bar-president-to-resign-over-black-lives-matter-comments/ 
• Eartha Kitt's Vietnam Comments Nearly Ended Her Career: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/02/16/eartha-kitt-and-lady-bird-johnson-vietnam/321602002/ 
• Cancel Culture is Chaotic Good: https://daily.jstor.org/cancel-culture-is-chaotic-good/ 
• Why Can't We Stop Fighting About Cancel Culture? https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/12/30/20879720/what-is-cancel-culture-explained-history-debate 

We're encouraged to use the scientific method in innovating our practices. The only problem is that the method we were taught in school—and the heroic narratives we build around them—isn't how science works at all. In this episode, learn about the discovery of chemotherapy and two secret missions in World War II.

Episode Resources

• Connect with Mike Whelan
• [email protected]
• https://www.lawyerforward.com/
• Disaster at Bari: https://www.amazon.com/Disaster-at-Bari-Glenn-Infield/dp/0450026590
• The Scientific Method is Crap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j12BBcKSgEQ

We're encouraged to use the scientific method in innovating our practices. The only problem is that the method we were taught in school—and the heroic narratives we build around them—isn't how science works at all. In this episode, learn about the discovery of chemotherapy and two secret missions in World War II.

Episode Resources

• Connect with Mike Whelan 
• [email protected] 
• https://www.lawyerforward.com/
• Disaster at Bari: https://www.amazon.com/Disaster-at-Bari-Glenn-Infield/dp/0450026590 
• The Scientific Method is Crap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j12BBcKSgEQ 

The Lizzie Borden trial was a media sensation, but everyone chose the media narratives that confirmed what they already believed. In this episode, we explore the threat of polarizing group dynamics and how lawyers can be positive voices in their communities.

Episode Resources

• Connect with Mike Whelan
• [email protected]
• https://www.lawyerforward.com/
• The Trial of Lizzie Borden by Cara Robertson: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Trial-of-Lizzie-Borden/Cara-Robertson/9781501168390
• "Conspiracy Theories": https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1084585
• "White Lawyering": https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=779525

The Lizzie Borden trial was a media sensation, but everyone chose the media narratives that confirmed what they already believed. In this episode, we explore the threat of polarizing group dynamics and how lawyers can be positive voices in their communities.

Episode Resources

• Connect with Mike Whelan 
• [email protected] 
• https://www.lawyerforward.com/
• The Trial of Lizzie Borden by Cara Robertson: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Trial-of-Lizzie-Borden/Cara-Robertson/9781501168390 
• "Conspiracy Theories": https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1084585 
• "White Lawyering": https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=779525 

In 1984, a Soviet computer engineer and his clinical psychologist friend created a new game called Tetris. That set off a legal battle fit for a spy novel. In the end, one of the friends achieved fame and friendship; the other lost his life in a gruesome death. For lawyers, the distinction shows how our habits of mind make us ill-prepared for the internet's "new socialism".

Episode Resources

• Connect with Mike Whelan
• [email protected]
• https://www.lawyerforward.com/
• The Lawyer Forward Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/596484970450737/
• The BBC's documentary Tetris: From Russia With Love: https://youtu.be/NhwNTo_Yr3k
• "What Makes Lawyers Happy?" https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2398989

In 1984, a Soviet computer engineer and his clinical psychologist friend created a new game called Tetris. That set off a legal battle fit for a spy novel. In the end, one of the friends achieved fame and friendship; the other lost his life in a gruesome death. For lawyers, the distinction shows how our habits of mind make us ill-prepared for the internet's "new socialism”.

Episode Resources

• Connect with Mike Whelan 
• [email protected] 
• https://www.lawyerforward.com/
• The Lawyer Forward Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/596484970450737/ 
• The BBC's documentary Tetris: From Russia With Love: https://youtu.be/NhwNTo_Yr3k 
• "What Makes Lawyers Happy?" https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2398989 

In this episode, Mike talks about race, both in America generally and the legal system specifically. He uses the story of Italian internment in World War II to explore the idea of "otherness." Out of preferences and perceptions, as well as a history of identifying white culture with professionalism, the legal industry has created a context that's hostile to African Americans. Resolving that distance will only come after first owning our ugly history.

Episode Resources

• Connect with Mike Whelan
• [email protected]
• https://www.lawyerforward.com/
• White Lawyering by Russell G Pearce: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=4073&context=flr
• Why the US Needs Black Lawyers: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/11/why-the-us-needs-black-lawyers
• Police killings can be captured in data. The terror police create cannot. https://www.vox.com/21292688/police-killings-data
• Thomas Schelling, Micromotives and Macrobehavior: https://www.amazon.com/Micromotives-Macrobehavior-Thomas-C-Schelling/dp/0393329461/