Lawyer 2 Lawyer

Update: Brendan Dassey, nephew to Steven Avery, the primary defendant from the "Making a Murderer" series on Netflix had his conviction for murder, rape, and mutilation of a corpse overturned by U.S. Magistrate Judge William E. Duffin of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin last Friday. This episode was recorded shortly before the development. Back on October 31st of 2005, a young photographer named Teresa Halbach went missing. Teresa’s last meeting had been with Steven Avery, on the grounds of Avery's Auto Salvage in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. Teresa’s remains were later found on the grounds of Avery’s home and family business. Avery was well known to law enforcement and had previously served a lengthy prison sentence for rape and attempted murder from which he  was later exonerated on DNA evidence. What transpired inspired the extremely popular Netflix series “Making a Murderer,” directed by Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos. The series spotlights Steven Avery and his quest for justice after claims that he was wrongfully accused in the murder of Teresa Halbach. In 2005, Steven Avery was arrested for the murder of Teresa Halbach, and was ultimately represented by Wisconsin attorneys, Dean Strang and Jerry Buting. Strang and Buting presented their case and their defense strategy, bringing to light alleged tampering and planting of evidence by police. After a whirlwind of a trial, the verdict came back guilty, sending Steven Avery to jail for life without the possibility of parole. As Steven Avery sits in jail, a new attorney has taken over his case and Steven hopes for a new trial and maybe one day his freedom. On this special episode of Lawyer 2 Lawyer, host Bob Ambrogi joins Dean Strang, former defense attorney for Steven Avery, and Peter Linton-Smith, a former television news reporter who covered the Avery trials, as they discuss the popular Netflix series, “Making a Murderer.” Dean and Peter  offer inside perspectives and get the latest on Steven Avery and his quest for a new trial and justice under a new attorney. Dean Strang is a lawyer in Madison, Wisconsin, at the firm Strang Bradley, LLC. He is best known for his work as one of Steven Avery's trial lawyers, as well as for his first book, "Worse Than the Devil: Anarchists Clarence Darrow, and Justice in a Time of Terror." Mr. Strang served five years as Wisconsin’s first federal defender and co-founded Strang Bradley, LLC. He is an adjunct professor at Marquette University Law School, the University of Wisconsin Law School, and University of Wisconsin's Division of Continuing Studies. Mr. Strang is a member of the American Law Institute and serves on several charity boards, including the Wisconsin Innocence Project. His second book will be published in early 2018. Peter Linton-Smith was a television news reporter for 24 years covering primarily courts (1988-2012). Peter has covered cases ranging from first degree murder, wrongful death, products liability, copyright dispute, employment and labor disputes. Peter has covered Steven Avery, both his civil and criminal case from 2003-2007. Peter is currently employed at Leventhal & Puga in Denver, Colorado. If you want more on "Making a Murderer," check out the Defending Brendan Dassey of “Making a Murderer” Planet Lex episode, when Dassey's appeal attorneys discuss what it was like defending him. Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.

The Pokémon Go App developed by Niantic is the latest craze sweeping the world. The location-based augmented reality mobile game/app produced 15 million downloads in just the first week. The game allows players to capture, battle, and train virtual creatures, called Pokémon, who appear on device screens as though in the real world. Unfortunately, this popular app has caused some trouble amongst gamers and has created a big threat to public safety. Trespassing on property, muggings, driving distracted, walking into traffic, and falling from cliffs are just some of the incidents stemming from the use of this app. In addition, businesses are attracting customers by adding fantasy characters to their stores, so the implications for liability have increased. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi join professor Adam Thimmesch, an assistant professor of law at the University of Nebraska College of Law and attorney Brian Wassom from the firm Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP as they discuss the Pokémon Go App. They look at the very real legal implications surrounding this popular app, incorporating reality into a fantasy world, and whether Pokémon Go is here to stay or simply a passing fad. Professor Adam Thimmesch is an assistant professor of law at the University of Nebraska College of Law. Adam focuses his research on the impact of modern technology and markets on existing legal doctrines, with a particular emphasis on tax policy and the regulation of interstate commerce Attorney Brian Wassom is from the firm Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP. Brian is the leader of the firm’s social, mobile and emerging media industry group and is a litigator with 15 years of experience focusing his practice on intellectual property matters related to copyright, trademark, trade dress, and publicity rights. He also handles many other types of complex commercial litigation cases, including invasion of privacy, defamation, false and deceptive advertising, data security, and product liability issues. Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.

The American Bar Association is one of the world’s largest voluntary professional organizations, with nearly 400,000 members and more than 3,500 entities. It is committed to doing what only a national association of attorneys can do: serve members, improve the legal profession, eliminate bias and enhance diversity, and advance the rule of law throughout the United States and around the world. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi join Linda Klein, president-elect of the American Bar Association, as she takes a look back at the past year as president-elect and looks ahead to her initiatives and mission under her presidency at the American Bar Association. Linda Klein is president-elect of the American Bar Association. Linda, senior managing shareholder at Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz, assumed the role of president-elect of the American Bar Association in August 2015 at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago. She is presently serving a one-year term as president-elect then will become ABA president in August 2016.

On June 27th, the Supreme Court wrapped up its term with some standout cases. Immigration, affirmative action, abortion clinic restrictions, guns and domestic violence, and public corruption are only a few cases that have ended an eventful and, at some times, controversial Supreme Court term. These cases alongside a vacant seat on the Supreme Court have made this term an interesting one to say the least. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi join Tony Mauro, Supreme Court correspondent for the National Law Journal and Suzanna Sherry, the Herman O. Loewenstein professor of law at Vanderbilt University Law School, as they discuss the Supreme Court's end of term. They will take a look back at the standout cases, the last cases before the term ended, the impact of the loss of Justice Scalia and one less justice, and look forward to the start of next term in October. Tony Mauro is the Supreme Court correspondent for the National Law Journal. Tony has covered the Supreme Court for over 30 years. During his tenure, Tony has also written about the First Amendment and food, reviewing restaurants for various publications. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with his wife, Kathy Cullinan, and his daughter, Emily Mauro, lives nearby in Arlington. Suzanna Sherry is the Herman O. Loewenstein professor of law at Vanderbilt University Law School. Her writing focuses primarily on constitutional law and procedures and doctrines of the federal courts, including the Supreme Court. She is the author of seven books, including four textbooks, and more than 75 articles. She received her A.B. from Middlebury College and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.

On June 12, 2016, tragedy struck at Pulse, a popular nightclub within the LGBT community in Orlando, Florida, after a gunman, Omar Mateen fatally shot 49 people and injured 53. This tragedy is one of  the deadliest mass shootings in the United States and the nation's worst terror attack since 9/11. In a Father's Day address, President Obama said gun violence was "preventable" and too common. "It's unconscionable that we allow easy access to weapons of war in these places,"  he said.  And just yesterday, a divided Senate voted down 4 gun control measures. So what needs to change when it comes to gun laws, all while protecting the Second Amendment? And can bipartisan gun legislation curb gun violence and prevent future mass shootings? In this episode of Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi join attorney Steven W. Dulan, first vice chair of the Michigan Coalition of Responsible Gun Owners and Arkadi Gerney, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, as they take a look at gun laws and the tragedy in Orlando. They will talk reaction, the gun control debate, the Second Amendment, Florida gun laws and potential legislation.  Attorney Steven W. Dulan is first vice chair of the Michigan Coalition of Responsible Gun Owners. MCRGO is the largest state-based firearms advocacy organization in America and its mission is to promote safe use and ownership of firearms through education, litigation, and legislation. Steve has appeared on various media outlets to discuss gun ownership, including CNN (with Christiane Amanpour and Piers Morgan), FOX and Friends, NPR, and HuffPost Live. Attorney Arkadi Gerney is senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, where he focuses on crime and gun policy. Arkadi previously worked as special advisor and first deputy criminal justice coordinator to former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, where he managed Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a national coalition that Mayor Bloomberg co-chairs. During four and a half years in the New York City mayor’s office, Gerney oversaw the coalition’s growth to more than 600 mayors, led successful campaigns to influence federal legislation, partnered with Walmart to develop a landmark gun seller code of conduct, and led New York City’s undercover investigation of out-of-state gun shows. Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.

In a highly publicized custody case involving a 6-year-old girl, the use of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, a federal law that seeks to keep American Indian children with their American Indian families, has come into play. The child was recently removed from her foster home after a lower court judge ruled that Lexi’s Choctaw Indian bloodline requires her to live with relatives in Utah.  According to court records, Lexi was moved to foster care four years ago due to her birth mother’s substance abuse problems, her birth father’s criminal history, and custody issues involving both birth parents and other children. Lexi’s foster parents, have since filed an appeal to the California High Court In this episode of  Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi join attorney Lori Alvino McGill, partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Wilkinson Walsh + Eskovitz and Chrissi Nimmo, assistant attorney general for Cherokee Nation, who has represented the nation in tribal, state, and federal courts since 2008, as they take an inside look at this case, tribal law, the Indian Child Welfare Act, and overall child custody cases. Attorney Lori Alvino McGill is partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Wilkinson Walsh + Eskovitz. Lori’s practice focuses on all aspects of appellate strategy, including issue preservation, briefing, argument, and obtaining (and opposing) Supreme Court review. She has handled high-profile civil and criminal appeals involving a wide range of constitutional and statutory issues in state and federal appellate courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States. Lori is presently representing the foster parents of Lexi and has appealed to the California’s highest court. Chrissi Nimmo is assistant attorney general for Cherokee Nation and has represented the nation in tribal, state, and federal courts since 2008. Chrissi primarily focuses on the Indian Child Welfare Act and in-house counsel duties for the nation. She represented Cherokee Nation in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl before both the United States Supreme Court and the South Carolina Supreme Court and in Nielson v. Ketchum before the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Chrissi also serves as the Adam Walsh Act Sex Offender Registration and Notification Compliance Office for Cherokee Nation. Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.

The Labor Department recently announced regulation changes pertaining to overtime pay for employees and their employers. Under these new rules, those who earn salaries of less than $47,476 a year will automatically qualify for overtime pay of time-and-a-half if they work more than 40 hours a week. Once the new rules go into effect on December 1, 2016, they will impact 4.2 million workers in the United States.  So what does this mean for business owners and their employees? In this episode of Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi join Jane Lauer Barker, a partner at the New York labor and employment firm Pitta & Giblin LLP and Thomas Wassel, a labor and employment partner with the New York firm Cullen and Dykman, as they take a look at these recent overtime rule changes and the impact, pros and cons, and reaction from business owners and the workforce. Jane Lauer Barker is a partner at the New York labor and employment firm Pitta & Giblin LLP.  Jane concentrates in labor, employment, and employee benefits law and litigation and labor union representation.  Previously, Barker headed up New York State Attorney General's Labor Bureau where she oversaw civil and criminal enforcement of state labor laws and handled appellate litigation. Thomas Wassel is a labor and employment partner with the New York firm Cullen and Dykman. Tom has been advising employers on a wide range of labor and employment law matters since 1983.

An offshore investment scandal known as the Panama Papers has taken the world by storm. The controversy centers around the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca and its connections to high-ranking political figures, their relatives, celebrities, and business figures, including Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson. Recently, a German newspaper announced that 11.5 million confidential documents between 1970 and 2015 had been leaked from the firm to journalists. These "Panama Papers" revealed how clients hid billions of dollars in offshore tax shelters.  There are many issues at hand here: establishing these offshore entities, evading taxes, fraud, laundering money, and overall corruption. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and Craig Williams join Jessica Tillipman, the assistant dean for field placement at George Washington Law School and Professor William Byrnes, a member of the law faculty and an associate dean with Texas A&M University School of Law, as they take an inside look at the Panama Papers. They will discuss Mossack Fonseca’s role, shell companies and offshore bank accounts, the issue of data security, tax evasion, investigations into these clients, and future of Mossack Fonseca. Jessica Tillipman is the assistant dean for field placement at George Washington Law School and an expert in corruption, government ethics, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. She is a senior editor of the FCPA Blog, which has been following the Panama Papers revelations. Professor William Byrnes is a member of the law faculty and an associate dean with Texas A&M University School of Law. William held a senior position of international tax for a Big 6 firm and has been commissioned on fiscal policy by a number of governments. He is currently developing a tax and legal risk management online curriculum for professionals. Texas A&M University is the fifth largest U.S. public research institution and one of only 62 institutions to be designated a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.

North Carolina’s House Bill 2, better known as the “Bathroom Law”, has taken center stage and has created a great debate. On March 23, 2016, Gov. Pat McCrory signed the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, also known as House Bill 2 or HB2. The law bans people from using bathrooms that don't match the sex indicated on their birth certificates, which opponents argue is discriminatory toward the transgender community. Supporters of the new law say it is a safety and privacy issue, protecting women and children from men who use the law as a pretense to deliberately enter the wrong restroom. Legislation involving the transgender community is not only happening in the state of North Carolina, but Mississippi and Tennessee have pushed similar legislation as well. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi join Ilona Turner, legal director at the Transgender Law Center, Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute and Professor Katie Eyer from Rutgers Law School as they take a look at North Carolina's HB2 controversy, reaction, litigation surrounding HB2, anti-LGBT discrimination bills and LGBT protections nationally, and the quest for equal rights for the transgender community. Ilona Turner was a staff attorney at the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), where her work frequently focused on issues affecting transgender clients. She previously practiced law at Cohen, Weiss, & Simon LLP in New York City, representing unions, union-run health and retirement plans, and employees. In the early 2000s she worked as the lobbyist for Equality California, where she helped to shepherd groundbreaking legislation that prohibited housing and employment discrimination against transgender people and dramatically expanded the rights of domestic partners in California. Andrew Beckwith is a graduate of Gordon College and the University of Minnesota Law School. Andrew is a judge advocate in the United States Marine Corps Reserve where he holds the rank of major. He has also served as an immigration trial attorney for the Boston office of the Department of Homeland Security. Katie Eyer joined the Rutgers law faculty as an assistant professor in June 2012. Katie also litigated civil rights cases prior to entering academia full time, and secured a number of precedents in the Third Circuit expanding the legal rights of LGBT and disabled employees. Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.

The FBI and Apple, Inc. have been immersed in an ongoing legal battle over privacy and security. The legal battle reached a boiling point when the FBI and Apple engaged in a dispute over whether the federal court may compel Apple to create new software that would enable the FBI to unlock an iPhone 5C it recovered from one of the shooters in a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. So, is this a threat to our data security or will Apple’s assistance to the FBI provide key information needed to prevent future terrorist attacks? On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi join David O’Brien, a senior researcher at the Berkman Center and Robert E. Cattanach, a partner with the international law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP and a former justice department attorney, as they take a look at the latest on the FBI/Apple Legal Battle. They will discuss San Bernardino, encryption, privacy, national security and the future impact of this case. Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.