UC Hastings

As the 46th Solicitor General of the United States, Donald B. Verrilli Jr. is best known for the case he made before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012 in which he successfully defended the constitutionality of President Obama's Affordable Care Act. Also that year, he scored a big victory when the High Court largely struck down an immigration law passed by the state of Arizona. Verrilli speaks with UC Hastings Law Professor Rory Little in San Francisco two years after those rulings about what it takes to be an effective Solicitor General and the biggest on-the-job challenges he's had to face. Series: "Legally Speaking" [Public Affairs] [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 28144]

In late 2012, an NSA contractor named Edward Snowden leaked to the press almost 200,000 classified documents exposing secrets about the scope and methods of American intelligence gathering. To some this made him a hero; to others a traitor. In this very special edition of Legally Speaking we pose a set of hypotheticals to an all-star panel of experts including New York Times reporter Charlie Savage, former NSA director Michael Hayden, and Washington, D.C., trial attorney Abbe Lowell that in effect put both Snowden (renamed "Snowman") and the NSA on trial. Series: "Legally Speaking" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 27843]

During the waning days of South Africa's apartheid era, Judge Richard Goldstone led a series of investigations that exposed the human rights abuses committed by his own country's security forces--an effort that may well have prevented a full blown civil war. He then went on to serve as the chief prosecutor for two international war crimes tribunals; one for the former Yugoslavia, the other for Rwanda. In early December, Judge Goldstone spoke with California Lawyer magazine's contributing editor, Martin Lasden.

Series: "Legally Speaking" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 27829]

In a country where as many as 100,000 rape cases are now pending in its courts, human rights attorney Rutuparna Mohanty has devoted herself to fighting for the rights of abused women and their families. In September, as a guest of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice, Mohanty spoke with California Lawyer editor Martin Lasden. Series: "Legally Speaking" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 25720]

No attorney in the United States has done more to weaken, if not kill, campaign finance laws than James Bopp Jr. As the principal plaintiffs attorney behind the Citizens United case, he paved the way for the U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to support the political candidates of their choice. Bopp also serves as general counsel for the National Right to Life Committee, and as a conservative Republican he believes that Barack Obama is a socialist. In August, Bopp spoke with California Lawyer editor Martin Lasden. Series: "Legally Speaking" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 25850]

In 2008, Sadakat Kadri began an intellectual journey that would take him to Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, as well as to his father's birthplace in Northern India, in order to better understand both the history and the meaning of Shari'a law. Kadri recounts this odyssey in his highly acclaimed 2012 book Heaven on Earth. In May, Kadri spoke with California Lawyer editor Martin Lasden. Series: "Legally Speaking" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 25086]

Former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wis) is perhaps best known as the co-sponsor of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (a.k.a. McCain-Feingold). He also cast the only vote in the Senate against the USA Patriot Act, which he believed posed an unacceptable threat to civil liberties. In May, Feingold spoke with UC Hastings law professor Evan Lee about the war on terror, the Obama presidency, and how the Senate has changed. Series: "Legally Speaking" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 25085]

At a time when the debate over new gun laws couldn't be more divisive, Adam Winkler's 2011 book, Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America, has drawn praise from both opponents and advocates of stricter measures. In April 2013, the UCLA law professor spoke with California Lawyer editor Martin Lasden. Series: "Legally Speaking" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 25084]

More than any other lawyer in the country, Paul Hoffman is responsible for turning an obscure 1789 law called the Alien Tort Statute into a potent weapon. Under the ATS, Hoffman has, on behalf of the tortured, successfully sued foreign nationals, as well as corporations, in U.S. federal courts for acts committed abroad. In March 2013, UC Hastings law professor Naomi Roht-Arriaza interviewed Hoffman in San Francisco. Series: "Legally Speaking" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 25196]

Once, he presided over the third largest newspaper empire in the entire world. He also was a celebrated author with massive biographies of both Franklin Roosevelt and Richard Nixon to his credit. But that was all before he served three years in federal prison for fraud and obstruction of justice. From his mansion in Toronto, Conrad Black talks to California Lawyer editor Martin Lasden about his spectacular rise and fall, and the protracted legal battles that he has waged to clear his name. Series: "Legally Speaking" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 24832]