Legal-Ease Podcast

Legalease Podcast, in partnership with Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law's Academy for Justice, interviewed Councilman Carlos Garcia, Assemblyman Pat Nolan, Public Defender Joel Feinman, Khalil Rushdan of the ACLU, and Attorney Kurt Altman for our upcoming episode on COVID-19 & our criminal justice system. 

We’re joined by organizers and public officials, all concerned about our unprecedented crisis: a spreading virus and how it affects our courts, our jails, and our prisons. If we’re going to talk about flattening the curve, then prisons, jails, and detention centers have to be part of the conversation. 

Pat Nolan is the Director of the American Conservative Union Foundation’s Center for Criminal Justice Reform, and he served in the California State Assembly for 15 years, ultimately serving as California State Assembly Republican Leader. Carlos Garcia serves on the Phoenix City Council as representative for District 8, and was elected to his position in 2019. Joel Feinman is the Public Defender for Pima County. Khalil Rushdan is the Smart Justice Community Partnerships Coordinator for ACLU of Arizona, and Kurt Altman is an attorney and state director of Right on Crime in Arizona & New Mexico.

Amena Kamel interviewed Stephanie on Entertainment Law and starting a practice in the field.

Stephanie Boxerbaum is the managing partner and founder of Box Counsel. With over fifteen years of entertainment law experience, Stephanie was previously Executive Vice President of Business Affairs and Business Development for izo (formerly DanceOn, the dominant global programming brand for dance entertainment and the largest digital community of influential dancers and choreographers. She was responsible for overseeing all legal transactions of the company and managing the top tier talent partnerships. Stephanie joined the izo team from Adconion Media Group (AMG), where she was the VP of Business Affairs and Acquisition. She handled all legal transactions for AMG's branded content studio, Red Lever, while also specializing in content acquisitions for AMG's owned and operated content platform. Prior to AMG, she held the position of VP, Business Affairs and Business Development at VOX Entertainment, a global branded entertainment events and marketing company. She began her legal career in private practice, representing entertainment clients and handling litigation matters at Liebman, Quigley, Sheppard and Soulema.

Stephanie received her BA from the University of Florida in Advertising and her JD from Southwestern School of Law. She is in good standing with the California bar, along with being a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles and the Beverly Hills Bar Association. She’s certified as an intuitive eating facilitator and is also the founder of The High Vibe Secret Society, a lifestyle brand for anyone who is business minded and wellness driven.

Enjoy and leave a comment!

The legalization of marijuana is a hot-button issue in the legislatures, courts, and communities in America. Studies vie with one another to determine its safety and propriety. In whatever form these questions are raised about the value and benefits of cannabis, marijuana is increasingly igniting discussions in courtrooms throughout America. This episode focuses on the legal issues as they relate to the business side of marijuana, specifically as they relate to banking, bankruptcy, and the alignment between Federal and state law. To focus on these issues, we are joined by Judge Daniel Collins, United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Arizona and Laura Coordes, an Associate Professor of Law at ASU’s Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. You can view guest bios on our website at www.legaleasepodcast.com!

This month’s episode covers Writers Guild of America and the #WGAStaffingBoost #WGASolidarityChallenge and navigates the legal battle between WGA and ATA which made headlines earlier this month. Amena Kheshtchin-Kamel interviewed WGA writers Liz Alper and Greg Bernstein. Liz Alper is a driving force behind the movement on Twitter, where she's graciously spent her time keeping track of writers recommended by upper level writers for staffing season. Greg Bernstein is a lawyer who is also a film screenwriter, and his film "Official Secrets" premiered at Sundance and will hit the theaters in August. Enjoy the episode and please leave us some comments!

We partnered with ASU Law Professors Art Hinshaw and the Honorable Judge Bruce E. Meyerson (Ret.) through the Lodestar Dispute Resolution Center and Meyerson’s ADR lecture series to bring you the ninth episode of our podcast featuring guest David Boies. Boies is considered one of America’s greatest lawyers of all time. He has a history of dealing with the nation’s biggest cases that have reached the U.S. Supreme Court: Westmoreland v. CBS, the landmark First Amendment case; United States v. Microsoft, on behalf of the federal government; Bush v. Gore; and Hollingsworth v. Perry, the effort to legalize gay marriage. The list goes on. In this interview, he specifically discusses the importance of ADR and the cases he is currently working on.

Our January episode is on America's criminal justice system. We partnered with the Academy for Justice at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law for this episode, with guest co-host ASU Law Professor Erik Luna and Executive Director at the Academy for Justice, Dawn Walton.

Through the Academy for Justice, our guests for this episode are Sixth Circuit Judge John Nalbandian and LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center Professor John Baker.

Please take some time to read up on the work being done by Erik Luna and the Academy for Justice:

https://www.charleskochfoundation.org/story/erik-luna-arizona-state-university/?fbclid=IwAR3tHkLE1-l3wm8md4GxItmnOctinKTpOEXF4Dqtl5FsBM82GkKwL7WyiEA

Co-hosts Amena Kheshtchin and Herbert Paine interview John Dacey, who is Founder and Executive Director of Abolish Private Prisons and Robert Craig, Staff Attorney at Abolish Private Prisons. In this episode, we interview John and Robert on the privatization of prisons and the two of them discuss how private prisons violate U.S. Constitution. They are determined to have their day in court before the U.S. Supreme Court to abolish for-profit incarceration.

Catch part two of the American Judicial System with co-hosts Amena, a recent law graduate, and Charles, a law professor at ASU's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. Judge Janet Barton, who is the presiding judge for the Arizona Superior Court for Maricopa County, and retired Justice Ruth McGregor of the Arizona Supreme Court return as guests. This episode offers you a candid conversation between two judges who explore different topics such as the jury, how judges communicate with one another, trends in American courts, technology, self-represented litigants, and paralegals. Enjoy!

Catch our latest episode now on the American Judicial System, discussing AZ state courts, with co-hosts Amena, a recent law graduate, and Charles, a law professor at ASU's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, who interviewed guests Judge Janet Barton who is the presiding judge for the Arizona Superior Court for Maricopa County and retired Justice Ruth McGregor of the Arizona Supreme Court. You'll hear from two judges on the life of being a judge and what that means exactly from challenges, to responsibilities, to being human. Americans and people around the globe in recent years have especially been interested in the American judiciary and this episode seeks to bring the people closer to the system by further educating them about our judiciary, hearing from two judges who continue to dedicate themselves to public service. Enjoy!

In this episode we discuss the significance of the Music Modernization Act, a ground breaking bill for the music industry that made its way to the White House just this past week. The MMA has been described by many as the first piece of legislation in decades to offer fair play to musicians. Not only has the MMA found common ground between opposing interests in the music industry, but it has also earned the support of both Republicans and Democrats in Congress. A lot of work has been put into this bill, with an extensive history leading up to it. We are joined by Steven Marks, chief of digital business and general counsel at The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) who kindly gave us his time to further analyze this bill for us all to better understand what it means for the music industry and why you should know about it.