This episode explores the evolving landscape of U.S. tariffs and their wide-reaching legal effects. It starts with a refresher on tariffs, who imposes them, and how maritime law—particularly the Jones Act—intersects with trade policy. Then we examine recent tariff developments and how these moves are impacting global trade, supply chain disruptions, and geopolitical relations. It delves into the legal foundations of tariff authority, related litigation trends, and the business risks that come with shifting tariff policies. Finally, it looks ahead at possible future developments, emphasizing the continuing role of maritime law in shaping trade enforcement and dispute resolution.

Jones Act (Merchant Marine Act of 1920) – 46 U.S. Code § 55102

WhiteHouse.gov, Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Imposes Tariffs on Imports from Canada, Mexico and China, The White House, February 1, 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-imposes-tariffs-on-imports-from-canada-mexico-and-china/?utm_source=chatgpt.com.

​Exec. Order No. 14,257, 90 Fed. Reg. [page number TBD] (Apr. 2, 2025).

Senate Session – Remarks by Sen. Tim Kaine and Sen. Rand Paul regarding the vote to end the national emergency declaration, C-SPAN (Apr. 10, 2025), https://www.c-span.org/video/?Ma1yZjk1.

Benoit et al., Trade Protection – What Impact on Jobs and Wages? Council on Economic Policies, December 23, 2022, .

Grennes, Thomas, An Economic Analysis of the Jones Act, Mercatus Research, Mercatus Center George Mason University, 2017, 48 pages. .

Hahn, Tariffs 101: What are they and how do they work? Oxford Economics, March 19, 2025, .

Hamm, A., Trump’s steel tariffs, UNC affirmative action, and Maine’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, SCOTUSblog, December 3, 2021, 3:06p.m., .

Siripurapu, A. et al., What are Tariffs? Council on Foreign Relations, last updated April 1, 2025, 5:36 p.m. EST, .

Smith, M, The Impact of Trump’s Tariffs: A Comprehensive Analysis, CLA, March 11, 2025, https://www.claconnect.com/en/resources/articles/25/the-impact-of-trumps-tariffs-a-comprehensive-analysis/

Smith, A. et al., Immediate Impacts, Risks, and Uncertain Future of President Trump’s Unprecedented Worldwide Tariffs, Gibson Dunn Client Alert, April 8, 2025,

Thomas, M. et al., USTR Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Action in Section 301 Investigation of China’s Targeting of the Maritime, Logistics, and Shipbuilding Sectors, Safe Passage – News and Views from Blank Rome Maritime and Mainbrace, Blank Rome LLP, March 7, 2025, 4 pages, .

York, E., The Impact of Trade and Tariffs on the United States, Tax Foundation, June 27, 2018, .

York, E., Trump Tariffs: The Economic Impact of the Trump Trade War, Tax Foundation, April 4, 2025, .

In the fourth and likely final episode of the series on NIL, associate editors Davey and Chris discuss new issues within the NIL space since their last episode. We break down the major points and discuss the issues of the House v NCAA proposed settlement, which is set to be ruled on, on April 7th, 2025. Additionally, we give updates on two smaller legal disputes. One is Diego Pavia’s lawsuit against the NCAA on eligibility and the other is Dartmouth Men’s Basketball team seeking to unionize. Thank you all for listening to the series and be sure to check out the previous episodes!

Research & Sources:

Proposed House Settlement

NCAA appealing Pavia injunction

The Dartmouth men’s basketball team ends its attempt to unionize

Resources:

Check out the prior NIL episodes in the series and by previous editors

Schooled: The Price of College Sports

In this episode, Associate Editor Isabella Lund explores the differences between the legal systems in Germany and the United States. Our guest Matthias Baehre works as a judge in Stade, Germany. He walks us through his career, starting with law school in Germany and finishing with the trial process in Germany. Our discussion focuses on the use of lay judges versus a jury to deliver a verdict, as well as the pros and cons of being a judge in the United States versus Germany. Ask yourself, would you rather be a defendant in Germany or the United States? Would you rather become a lawyer in the United States or Germany?

Research & Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany/Justice

https://howtogermany.com/bureaucracy/german-law-and-the-german-legal-system/

https://www.ejn-crimjust.europa.eu/ejn2021/ContentDetail/EN/5/1

For a diagram of the German court system: https://www.germancivilprocedure.com/know-your-way-around-german-civil-courts/

Being a defense attorney in Germany: Crime and Guilt by Ferdinsnd Von Schirach

I think I’ve seen this film before, and I didn’t like the ending. In the first three months of his second term President Trump has embarked on an unprecedented campaign against the American justice system. Working through the history of the legal profession and its roots in the United States, Associate Editor Alyssa Pacheco draws parallels between the political climate of today and that of Germany during the fall of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Adolf Hitler hoping to implore listeners to act. All in the name of democracy of course.

Research & Sources:    

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/addressing-risks-from-perkins-coie-llp/

Charles I. Lugosi, Reflections From Embassy Lakes, Florida: The Effective Teaching Of Criminal Law, 48 St. Louis U. L.J. 1350 (2000).

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/109967829299924979

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/11/01/liz-cheney-blasts-trump-for-war-hawk-comment/75984766007/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/protecting-the-meaning-and-value-of-american-citizenship/

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/content/immigrants-and-crime

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2024-10-31/we-fact-checked-some-of-trumps-most-common-claims-on-immigration

https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2025/02/aba-statement-re-remarks-questioning-judicial-review/

https://www.actl.com/news/actl-condemns-elon-musks-call-for-an-immediate-wave-of-judicial-impeachments/

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/11/politics/chilling-effect-trump-legal-establishment/index.html

https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2025/02/aba-statement-re-remarks-questioning-judicial-review/

Fictional legal shows are just fiction. Right? Let’s dive into the world of legal dramas and analyze three stories from the shows Suits and The Good Wife and the 1996 movie, Primal Fear. Together we will apply real legal principles, like contract law and the comparative negligence standard, to the fictional cases. Please note there are spoilers for the shows and movie!

Research & Sources:

https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/documents/073500050K2-1116.htm

https://law.justia.com/cases/illinois/supreme-court/1981/52875-5.html

https://casetext.com/case/poole-v-city-of-rolling-meadows-1

https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/blog/the-principles-of-contract-law/

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/oral-contract.asp

https://lawlibrarycollections.umn.edu/classic-cases-criminal-mnaghten-rule

“Break Point.” Suits. Created by Aaron Korsh, Season 2, Episode 5, Universal Cable Productions, July 19, 2012.

“Painkiller.” The Good Wife. Created by Robert King and Michelle King, Season 1, Episode 12, Scott Free Productions, January 12, 2010.

Hoblit, G. (1996). Primal Fear. Rysher Entertainment.

This week Davey and Chris sit down with Lanston Tanyi and Coach Dave McGinnis to discuss payment in college athletics and its collateral effects. Lanston Tanyi is a 4L in the Weekend JD program also works as a marketing director for a national healthcare company. While attending Appalachian State University, Lanston was a four year starter for their football program. Lanston was one of the first members of what we now know as “the transfer portal” eventually leaving as a graduate and finishing his college career at Colorado State University. Lanston played professional football in the NFL for the Washington Commanders, Denver Broncos and in the CFL for the Montreal Allouttes. Coach Dave McGinnis is a radio analyst for the Tennessee Titans and a former coach with over four decades of experience. “Coach Mac” played college football for TCU before entering coaching. He spent a decade coaching in the college ranks before becoming the Linebackers coach of the Chicago Bears in 1986. Coach Mac went on to be the Defensive Coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans. He served as Head Coach of the Arizona Cardinals from 2000-2003. Davey and Chris were lucky to sit down with these two guests and discuss life as a college football player as well as the ramifications of payment in college sports on the NCAA’s biggest cash cow.

Research & Sources:  

National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston 141 S.Ct. 2141, 594 U.S. 69, 210 L.Ed.2d 314 (2021)

O'Bannon v. National Collegiate Athletic Association 802 F.3d 1049 (2015), cert. denied, 137 S. Ct. 277 (2016)

Johnson v. The National Collegiate Athletic Association, No. 22-1223 (3d Cir. 2024)

In this part 2 episode of the Women in the Law series, Neha Alety sits down with Kelly Greening, associate general counsel at Lurie Children’s Hospital and former DePaul University College of Law graduate. Kelly discusses her experiences as a former lobbyist, fighting for reproductive health rights, and takes us through her career. We expand on the challenges that she faced as each stage of her career as a woman in the historically male dominated legal field and how she navigated those challenges. She looks back on what she wished she had known when she was a 20-year-old navigating the legal field and how her experiences have shaped her into the lawyer she is today.

Research & Sources:

Maureen Mulligan, Continuing Our Conversations on Gender Equity, American Bar Association, April 7, 2021, https://www.americanbar.org/groups/diversity/women/publications/perspectives/2021/april/continuing-our-conversations-gender-equity/

Sarah Thomas, Creating Space at the Table: Succeeding as a Felae in the Still Male-Dominated Field of Law, ABA Journal, June 29, 2023, https://www.abajournal.com/voice/article/lowering-the-ladder-succeeding-as-a-female-in-the-still-male-dominated-field-of-law

International Women’s Day: What Does the Legal Profession Look Like for Women in 2021?, Law Careers, March 8, 2021, https://www.lawcareers.net/Explore/Features/08032021-International-Womens-Day-what-does-the-legal-profession-look-like-for

Jaline S. Fenwick, See Her; Hear Her: The Historical Evolution of Women in Law and Advocacy for the Path Ahead, American Bar Association, November 15, 2023, https://www.americanbar.org/groups/business_law/resources/business-law-today/2023-november/see-her-hear-her-historical-evolution-women-in-law/

Resources:

ABA Women in the Profession

Includes online toolkits and literature

This week Davey and Chris sit down with Will Boling and Emily Proud to discuss payment in college athletics and its collateral effects. Will Boling is a sports radio host on 104.5 the Zone in Nashville, TN as well as a play-by-play announcer for professional and collegiate track, women’s college basketball and college baseball. While attending the University of Tennessee, Will was a distance runner with the track team. Emily Proud is a sports reporter for the CBS Sports network. She covers college football, men's and women's college basketball as well as the NWSL and the WNBA. While attending Belmont University Emily was a member of the women’s soccer team. Davey and Chris were lucky to sit down and discuss their time as athletes in non-revenue programs as well as their reporting on the monumental shift in the college sports landscape that is Name Image and Likeness revenue.

Research & Sources:  

National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston 141 S.Ct. 2141, 594 U.S. 69, 210 L.Ed.2d 314 (2021)

O'Bannon v. National Collegiate Athletic Association 802 F.3d 1049 (2015), cert. denied, 137 S. Ct. 277 (2016)

Johnson v. The National Collegiate Athletic Association, No. 22-1223 (3d Cir. 2024)

Associate Editor Mary Bandstra explains the SAFE-T Act, Illinois’ law eliminating cash bail, that went into effect in 2023. Associate Editor Katie Dorsey interviews Assistant Public Defender Debra Cruz to get a boots-on-the-ground perspective on the Act’s practical implications.

Illinois SAFE-T Act Full Text: https://ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/101/101-0652.htm

Cook County Court – Pretrial Fairness Act Data Dashboards: https://www.cookcountycourt.org/court-reports-statistics

Brennan center for Justice – Bail Reform and Public Safety: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/bail-reform-and-public-safety

Resources:  

Loyola Chicago Law School’s Center for Criminal Justice: Tracking the Pretrial Fairness Act: https://loyolaccj.org/pretrial-fairness-act

Cook County Public Defender’s Office – Fact and Fiction on the Pretrial Fairness Act: https://www.cookcountypublicdefender.org/news/illinois-historic-pretrial-fairness-act-fact-and-fiction

Rowe v. Raoul: https://ilcourtsaudio.blob.core.windows.net/antilles-resources/resources/79db4d0e-4bed-4cd2-bec1-88fc1ba8b904/Rowe%20v.%20Raoul,%202023%20IL%20129248.pdf

People v. Thomas: https://law.justia.com/cases/illinois/court-of-appeals-first-appellate-district/2024/1-24-0479.html

Does the government owe us, American Citizens, anything? Associate Editor Alyssa Pacheco explores what the relationship between government and its people looks like, the role contract law plays in governing that relationship, and what happens when that contract is broken.

Resources:

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/americas-broken-criminal-legal-system-contributes-to-wealth-inequality/

https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/hate-crime-statistics#:~:text=On%20September%2023%2C%202024%2C%20the,crime%20incidents%20involving%2013%2C829%20offenses.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/07/24/key-facts-about-americans-and-guns/

https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/american-israel-public-affairs-cmte/recipients?id=D000046963