Legal Talk Network - Law News and Legal Topics

Naturalized citizens have served as federal judges, including as Justices of our Supreme Court, for more than two centuries, many with great distinction. Recently Representative Nancy Mace introduced a joint resolution calling for an amendment to our Constitution that would require that federal judges, alongside members of Congress, be born in the United States. Previously, Representative Pete Stauber proposed legislation requiring that all American judges be “natural born citizens” and require sitting judges with dual citizenship to renounce foreign ties.

On this Lawyer 2 Lawyer episode, Craig welcomes Judge Jeremy D. Fogel, formerly of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, as they discuss these proposals that would require federal judges to be born in the United States or qualify as “natural born citizens, and the opposition by a group of bipartisan judges,  Keep Our Republic's Article III Coalition, who are leading the charge against these proposals which create hateful rhetoric and go against the framers of our Constitution’s ideals.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Keep Our Republic's Article III Coalition 

Subscribe to Lawyer 2 Lawyer: https://play.megaphone.fm/6kyeqlhety25kgmgqdr7cw

In this episode of the Un-Billable Hour’s Seat at the Table:

First, what is “firm culture?” The personality and backbone of the firm? Is it what happens when the boss isn’t around? Is it what people say about your firm when you’re not in the room? Every firm has a culture, whether you know it or not. 

Guests Lori Brown-Simmons, Hannah Hembree Bell, and Ben Hockema are experienced professionals who share their thoughts with host Christopher T. Anderson on building a healthy firm culture. 

For a lot of firms, “culture,” is an afterthought, if it’s thought about at all. But every firm develops a culture, either by accident or intentionally. (Intentionally is better). Understanding your firm’s culture, its mission, values, and goals helps everyone work together, collaborate, and even helps your firm from making a hire that may look good on paper but “wasn’t a good fit.”

Do you have the right people in the right seats? Do your clients represent you and your goals? You can be a team with a recognized reputation, or you can be an office with a bunch of lawyers chasing billable hours. An intentional culture is the difference.  

Mentioned in This Episode:

Clio

ClioCon 2026, Oct. 26-27, 2026

Legal Talk Network Unbillable Hour

Subscribe to Un-Billable Hour: https://play.megaphone.fm/qxfro4f-suekajnwe_solw

To run a thriving legal business, you need your prospective clients to easily find and connect with your law firm. Rocky Dhir welcomes marketing professionals Amanda Sexton and Zack McKamie to discuss effective marketing strategies for law firms. They discuss SEO tactics and what lawyers need to know about developing an advertising approach that makes sense for their individual law firm. Later, they also dig into the ethics of lawyer marketing, AI considerations, social media usages, and much more.

Subscribe to State Bar of Texas Podcast: https://play.megaphone.fm/_hh0l5izt4mfkr1zmxo_cg

Adriana has trained lawyers through legal tech developments for decades, so she’s pretty much seen it all! Dennis and Tom pick her brain on the trajectory of AI tools, technology competence, collaboration, and much more. Adriana offers deep insights into lawyers’ commonly underutilized tools in Microsoft and Adobe, pointing out that they may already be paying for the solutions they need.

Later, they also discuss Adriana’s career path and dig into the advantages of using practice management platforms in today’s midsize and small firms. 

As always, stay tuned for the parting shots, that one tip, website, or observation that you can use the second the podcast ends.

Have a technology question for Dennis and Tom? Call their Tech Question Hotline at 720-441-6820 for the answers to your most burning tech questions.

Show Notes:

Subscribe to The Kennedy-Mighell Report: https://play.megaphone.fm/yyu1pthsr22j6_xfnb0vnq

As an attorney, you do great work, you get results for your clients, but do you ever feel invisible? Getting your name out there and letting people know what you do is still important, no matter how good you are, and it doesn’t have to be expensive or take up all your time.

Guest Karen Korr is a veteran legal communications professional and an expert in legal media relations, public relations, marketing, and branding who helps lawyers get their name out there, build relationships, and make a lasting impression.  

Of course, it starts with being consistent and being human. But it’s been said most of us don’t remember something until we see it 15 times. So, making your firm visible is important, whether that’s in a news release, or social media, or sponsorships, or advertising. The secret is, it’s not that time consuming or costly. It just takes some knowhow.

Hear Korr’s tips for letting your light shine, tips you can start using today to make your firm top of mind. Visibility lets clients know about the great work you do and the problems you solve.

Questions or ideas about solo and small practices? Drop us a line at [email protected].

 Topics:

Resources:

Super Lawyers

Best Lawyers

LinkedIn

Bluesky

X

Eventbrite

Reddit

Businesswire

PR Newswire

ABA Techshow 2026

Subscribe to New Solo: https://play.megaphone.fm/snklydceswminrbke6phsq

Special thanks to our sponsors CallRail, ALPS Insurance, Wyzer Staffing, and LEX Reception.

Privacy is not just about keeping secrets. It is about protecting your power. In episode 629 of the Lawyerist Podcast, Zack Glaser talks with Oxford professor and author Carissa Véliz about how personal data gives companies, governments, and technology platforms the ability to influence our choices and shape our lives. 

Carissa explains why seemingly harmless information, from the music you enjoy to the way your phone battery drains, can be used to identify, categorize, and predict you. They explore how AI has made surveillance cheaper and more powerful, why predictions should never be treated as facts, and how automated scores can affect important decisions without giving people a meaningful way to challenge them. 

The conversation also offers practical ways to reclaim control without abandoning technology entirely. From choosing more private digital tools to questioning the predictions presented as inevitable, Carissa shows why every decision to protect your privacy matters. 

If you have ever clicked “accept” without thinking about what happens next, this episode will change the way you think about your data, your autonomy, and who gets to shape your future. 

Listen to our previous episodes on AI, Privacy & Legal Ethics. 

Have thoughts about today’s episode? Join the conversation on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X!  

If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap Revisited yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Looking for help beyond the book? See if our coaching community is right for you.  

Access more resources from Lawyerist at lawyerist.com.  

Subscribe to Lawyerist Podcast: https://play.megaphone.fm/xrm0mqp4tqwi0ozntiu41g

Chapters / Timestamps 

00:00 – Introduction 

00:55 – The Future of Law Firm Leadership 

05:00 – The Four Cornerstones of Leadership 

09:00 – Be a Next Level Leader 

10:45 – Meet Carissa Véliz 

11:45 – Why Privacy Is Power 

13:30 – How Personal Data Limits Your Autonomy 

15:50 – Who Decides What Your Data Says About You? 

17:50 – How Companies Exploit Personal Vulnerabilities 

20:10 – The Data You Never Realized Was Personal 

21:15 – The Connection Between Surveillance and Prediction 

22:30 – Applying Fiduciary Duties to Personal Data 

24:15 – Why You Cannot Contest a Prediction 

26:20 – Banning the Sale of Personal Data 

28:25 – Predictions Are Power Plays, Not Facts 

30:30 – AI and the Expansion of Digital Surveillance 

33:25 – How to Take Back Your Digital Privacy 

37:30 – Why Every Privacy Choice Matters 

40:00 – The Future Is Not Predetermined 

41:25 – The Most Private Way to Read a Book 

The hosts unpack what ego really means in the legal profession and why female attorneys especially need a healthy dose of it. They trace the word's negative connotations alongside its necessary flip side: the confidence to stand in front of a jury and believe what you're arguing whether that's a damages number or a case strategy. Stories range from convincing a jury of a dollar amount you have to actually believe, to colleagues questioning why you're on a case, to the TikTok-fueled discourse about young female attorneys feeling embarrassed to even say "I'm a lawyer" out loud. The throughline: ego isn't about arrogance, it's competence-backed confidence and it's something you build over time.

Subscribe to Heels in the Courtroom: https://play.megaphone.fm/lpqcuasdqrkvtile7bx6ng

This election season is bringing a major hike in ad rates. What’s a lawyer to do? Later, service and gifts give every member of your law firm the opportunity to level up client experiences. 

-----

Massive political ad spends are pushing expenses higher than ever in the lead-up to November 6, impacting your branded advertising economics both online and off. Do you need to make changes to your firm’s marketing campaigns? Should you take a break from branded advertising or push through? Conrad and Gyi debate tactical options to help you make informed decisions with your advertising budget. 

And, if you do decide to cut back on digital media buys, where are those extra marketing dollars going to go? A gift budget is an excellent way to help your team members get involved in marketing. The guys explain how gifting promotes a more thoughtful mindset, helping your team connect more deeply with clients and creating opportunities to build affinity for your law firm. 

The News:

Make Summer More Fun: 

Listen Next:

Connect:

Leave Us an Apple Review 

Lunch Hour Legal Marketing on YouTube 

Lunch Hour Legal Marketing on TikTok

r/LHLM 

Subscribe to Lunch Hour Legal Marketing: https://play.megaphone.fm/boagdxq4tr2wawseaj104w

In This Episode

00:00 Intro & The Trophy Story

03:05 News: Election Ad Spend Record Highs

03:40 News: Local Positioning Lessons from a Roofer

05:35 News: Google Testing AI Summaries in Ads

06:19 News: Michigan Auto Law Campaign Shout-out

07:13 News: UChicago Law’s New AI Strategy

09:43 Should Lawyers Pause Ads During Mid-terms?

11:15 Strategy: Location-Specific Ad Planning

13:16 The Debate: Branding Consistency vs. Ad Spend

15:52 Direct Response vs. Brand Awareness

23:18 Employee Gifting Programs for Law Firms

27:10 Logistics: Using Gifting Platforms

28:32 The Power of Personalized Client Gifts

31:40 Incentivizing Employee Engagement

34:10 Operationalizing Marketing Efforts

38:34 Aligning Firm Growth with Staff Goals

In January 1800, Elma Sands's dead body was found in a New York City well. The case has captivated people ever since, not least because in the resulting trial, defendant Levi Weeks was represented by Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and a future Supreme Court justice.

The Girl from Greenwich Street: A Novel of Hamilton, Burr and America's First Murder Trial is a historical fiction novel by Lauren Willig. On this episode of the Modern Law Library, she explains how four years before their fatal duel, Hamilton and Burr came to be co-counsels on a murder case.

"The New York Bar was perishingly small in 1800. And in fact, Burr and Hamilton were co-counsel on a complex commercial litigation at the exact time," says Willig. "So people were constantly–it's like swing your partners, do-si-do. They were always working together, working against each other. It was just the way the bar worked in 1800."

The defendant, Levi Weeks, lived in the same boarding house as Sands, a hatmaker whose cousin owned the house. The prosecution contended that Weeks had seduced Sands with a promise of marriage, then dumped her body in the Manhattan Well. His trial was the first murder trial in America to have a court transcript, thanks to a clerk who'd recently learned shorthand. This transcript gave Willig a wealth of witness testimony to draw on when fleshing out her characters.

"One of the things that drove me nuts when I was researching this case was how little attention has been expended over the years in trying to figure out anything about Elma Sands, the murdered woman," Willig tells Rawles. "There are some big personalities and really big names involved in the trial itself. And people are so eager to get into the courtroom with Hamilton and Burr that they just trample over Elma. And she gets flattened into one of two archetypes. Either she's the innocent young maiden who's been seduced and betrayed, which is how the prosecution portrays her in the trial, or she's a melancholy laudanum-addicted nymphomaniac, which is how the defense tries to portray her."

"And I think the reality of Elma was a lot more complicated than those flat depictions would have us believe."

Willig and Rawles also discuss her time at Harvard Law, where she signed a contract to write her popular Pink Carnation series as a 1L, and then her time at Cravath, Swain & Moore, trying to balance being a published romance writer and lawyer.

"I had to make a choice, try to continue to juggle or go all in on being an author. And I left Cravath and my partner mentor came up to me and said, 'Well, what took you so long? I would've left sooner.' "

 Subscribe to Modern Law Library: https://play.megaphone.fm/93wtgxnatpsubsdxwklzwq

Social media is everywhere today. Ever wonder how the role social media plays into the employer/employee relationship? In this episode, guests Aaron Holt and SaNni M-K Lemonidis, both experienced labor and employment attorneys, join host Matt Greer for a deep dive into the murky waters of who said what where and to whom.

Can employers regulate what an employee says on a social media channel – say Facebook or X? It depends. The “manner and method” of our free speech outside of work still matters. It’s about content and context.

Harassment and discrimination matter still matter. Try the “water cooler principle,” if  a comment was made on social media, ask if the same comment was made at work around the water cooler, would the boss feel obligated to act. If the answer is yes, then action is likely required.

This is a fascinating field, nuanced and sometimes dependent on the size of a company and capacity for control as well, as the company’s own use of social media in outreach and marketing.

The laws, and EEOC guidance, haven’t changed. But the environment we live and work in has. Basic principles still apply. For employees, be nice to each other. For employers, do your best to ensure no one is being harassed or bullied. If someone says there’s a problem, employers can protect themselves by investigating complaints and developing and adhering to consistent policies.

REFERENCES MENTIONED:

 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

NLRB v. Pier Sixty, Justia Law

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 

Okonowsky v. Garland, Justia Law 

Connick v. Myers, Justia Law 

The ABA Labor and Employment Law Section 2026 Annual Conference is scheduled for Nov. 4-7, 2026 in Washington, DC

ABA Labor and Employment Law Section

Subscribe to ABA Labor and Employment Law Podcast: https://play.megaphone.fm/jzfpgfsst3wnyevnhvs9cq