Legal Talk Network - Law News and Legal Topics

In episode #598 of the Lawyerist Podcast, learn how Microsoft Copilot can help lawyers work more efficiently inside Microsoft 365—without compromising accuracy, security, or client trust. Zack Glaser talks with Ben Schorr, innovation strategist at Affinity Consulting Group and former Microsoft insider, about how attorneys can move past AI hype and start using Copilot for real, everyday legal work.  Zack and Ben break down how Copilot helps lawyers draft and edit documents, summarize complex files, extract key deadlines, prep for meetings, and manage inbox overload—all while keeping client data protected within Microsoft’s security framework. They clarify where Copilot delivers the most value, where caution is required, and why understanding its limitations is essential to using it effectively. For lawyers curious about AI but unsure where to begin, this episode offers a clear, realistic roadmap for adopting Copilot without compromising accuracy, ethics, or trust.  Listen to our other episodes on  AI, Legal Technology & Practical Innovation in Law Firms:   Rethinking Law Firm Growth in the Age of AI, with Sam Harden Apple | Spotify | LTN  Episode 550: Beyond Content: How AI Is Changing Law Firm Marketing, with Gyi Tsakalakis & Conrad Saam Apple | Spotify | LTN  Episode 543: AI Ethics: What Lawyers Need to Know, with Hilary Gerzhoy Apple | Spotify | LTN  Episode 497: Real Talk About Artificial Intelligence in Your Office, with Ben Schorr Apple | Spotify | LTN    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  08:43 – Meet Ben Schorr  11:08 – What Copilot Is (and Why Lawyers Care)  13:27 – Security, Privacy, and Client Data  16:47 – Drafting Legal Documents With Copilot  18:36 – Schorr’s Law: Always Review AI Output  20:30 – Editing, Fact-Checking, and Improving Existing Work  23:57 – Summarizing Documents and Extracting Key Info  28:49 – Brainstorming, Personas, and Strategy Testing  34:34 – Agentic AI: What’s Possible (and What Isn’t)     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On January 3, 2026, the U.S. military captured Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro and his wife and brought them back  to the United States where they faced criminal charges related to drug trafficking. Many questioned the legality of the invasion and a policy from the 1800s called the Monroe Doctrine was being alluded to by the current administration.  Trump’s reinterpretation of the Monroe Doctrine nicknamed  “The Donroe Doctrine” by Trump himself, was originally a policy created back in 1823 by then-President James Monroe to oppose European interference in the Western Hemisphere. Trump reinvoked Monroe in his decision to take over Venezuela and publicly made threats to take over other countries. On this episode of Lawyer 2 Lawyer, Craig joins Claire Finkelstein, Professor of National Security Law and faculty director of the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL) at University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. Craig & Claire discuss international law, the Monroe Doctrine, the legality  of the Venezuela invasion, and the threats from the Trump administration of possible takeovers of other countries.   Mentioned in this Episode: The Monroe Doctrine In Dispute: Why John Adams Defended the British Soldiers During the Boston Massacre Trials Subscribe to Lawyer 2 Lawyer: https://play.megaphone.fm/6kyeqlhety25kgmgqdr7cw Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We trust the justice system to protect the innocent and prosecute the guilty, but what happens when it gets things catastrophically wrong? In 1981, 21-year-old William Michael Dillon became the focus of a murder investigation in Canova Beach, Florida. Though Dillon maintained his innocence, police coercion and unreliable witnesses rapidly steered the case toward what appeared to be a predetermined outcome. Dillon was arrested, convicted, and sent to prison for a crime he did not commit. More than 27 years later, DNA testing finally proved his innocence and set him free. In this episode, Dillon explains how he was swept into the murder investigation, how coercive interrogations and untrustworthy testimony shaped the verdict—and how his love of music helped him survive the darkest years of his incarceration. Be sure to read the full account of Dillon’s story in FRAMED, written by his wife, Ellen Moscovitz. And, listen to his album on YouTube: Black Robes and Lawyers. Subscribe to For the Innocent: https://play.megaphone.fm/l674qjabrokc8uscyu76jg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mystic for hire! Conrad dusts off the ol’ prophetic orb for a look at what 2026 has in store for lawyers and legal marketers. ----- We know you’re itching to hear those future fortunes, but hang on a second! First, Gyi and Conrad look back at their previous predictions to see how well they forecasted 2025. I mean, you want to know whether you can trust these guys, right?  And, well, those results aside, the guys then gaze into the depths to pick out the important marketing trends to watch in 2026. More AI stuff, new law firm business structures, anybody who could do anything about fake reviews will do absolutely nothing about it… and more! Cheers to a New Year! The News: Quite the play, Google. - Official: Apple Intelligence & Siri To Be Powered By Google Gemini Better pay attention to this one, folks. Commercial environments are changing, but watching this trajectory should help us wrap our heads around it: New tech and tools for retailers to succeed in an agentic shopping era. And, Jay Ruane wrote a stellar book! - Analog Marketing in a Digital World: A Blueprint for Attorneys to Dominate Local Markets by Being Human   Suggested LHLM Episodes: Conrad’s Crystal Ball IV | Lawyer Marketing Predictions for 2025 - Legal Talk Network      Connect: The Bite - Lunch Hour Legal Marketing Newsletter! 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dennis and Tom continue their proud tradition of pondering the panorama of timely tech happenings and sharing personal resolutions for learning and development. But first, they both take a look at last year’s goals to gauge their progress (or, ahem, lack thereof). As for new resolutions—from investigative AI problem solving to streamlined tech tool usage to open-sourced writing to content creation, there’s lots to do in 2026!  Later, the guys are loath to make predictions in an unpredictable world, but decided to take a stab at it anyway! Listen in for their thoughts on the possible future and what technologies may become increasingly essential for lawyers.  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: Wispr Flow Speechify Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

​​New Texas AI legislation will take effect January 1, 2026. What will this mean for your legal practice? The Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act (TRAIGA) aims to regulate the development and deployment of artificial intelligence systems in the state to address issues such as discrimination, intentional harm, illegal sexual content, and the use of biometric data. Rocky Dhir welcomes Chris Schwegmann to help us unpack the nuances of TRAIGA legislation and understand its implications for the practice of law. The discussion later shifts to the effective and ethical deployment of AI within legal practice. Chris highlights its capabilities by detailing his firm’s approach to AI tools. With proper use, AI has the potential to enhance your legal work and streamline processes to allow for greater attention to high-level tasks. Chris Schwegmann is managing partner at Lynn, Pinker, Hurst & Schwegmann in Dallas, Texas.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The idea that prisoners should be treated humanely was discussed by Enlightenment Era aristocrats, "but the idea that they are people who are peers is new," says Yale Law professor Judith Resnik. "As Democratic norms turned us all into equal citizens, equal persons in a jurisdiction, the question of government's relationships in courts, policing, schools and prisons changed over the last hundred years," says Resnik, author of Impermissible Punishments: How Prison Became a Problem for Democracy. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Resnik walks host Lee Rawles through centuries of discussion about how punishments are deemed to be permissible, from a trial about whipping prisoners in Arkansas to the League of Nations' effort to develop minimum standards of treatment in prisons worldwide. "People who run prisons have a very challenging time, and there's a body of data growing that people who work in prisons, like people who live in them, have higher stress, heart attacks, blood pressure, suicide rates," Resnik tells Rawles. "These are terrible environments of concrete and metal and noise and often dirt and violence. In the United States, many people who are in detention have had mental health issues and behavioral issues of significant kinds. And when you take people with limited training, often with staffs that are too thin, interacting with overcrowded facilities of metal and concrete, with limited resources, you end up generating scary places for everybody. "So one of the kind of puzzles, if you step back, is how a thing called corrections, that promises safety, has generated institutions that are deeply unsafe for the people who live and work in them."   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

High performance in law requires more than technical skill—it requires the right mindset. In episode #596 of the Lawyerist Podcast, Zack Glaser talks with Jess Sargus about applying an athlete’s mindset to leadership, performance, and growth in legal practice.  Jess breaks down the core pillars of athletic thinking. From growth mindset and action orientation to process focus and purpose, and explains how lawyers can apply these principles to become better leaders and perform at their best under pressure.  If you want to hear more from Jess, check her out at: https://www.thelegalathlete.com/  Listen to our other episodes on Mindset & Performance:  #588 – Practice Smarter, Not Harder: 411 Tips for Modern Lawyers, with Jordan Couch Apple | Spotify | LTN  #585 – First Aid for the Mind: Mental Health in Law, with Soumya Palreddy & Jill Kluesner Apple | Spotify | LTN  #572 – Practical Courage Skills Every Lawyer Needs, with Jim Detert Apple | Spotify | LTN  #551 – Becoming the AI-Driven Leader, with Geoff Woods Apple | Spotify | LTN  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.    Chapters / Timestamps:   00:00 – Introduction  03:12 – Meet Jess Sargus  04:02 – From Law to Combat Sports  08:06 – Competition, Business, and Leadership  11:15 – Why Mindset Matters  15:12 – The Athlete’s Mindset Defined  17:01 – Action Orientation and Elite Performance  19:30 – Getting Comfortable with Failure  22:05 – Growth Mindset and Competitiveness  26:03 – The Five Pillars of Fierce Agency  29:21 – Process Over Outcome  34:46 – Purpose and Mission Alignment  39:48 – Where to Find Jess  40:53 – Closing Thoughts  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once you’ve landed your first job as a paralegal professional, what next? How do you build your career, advance into management, and leverage affiliations and activities within local and national associations as you pursue your goals?  Guest Angela King is a successful paralegal manager at the national law firm of Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP. Over more than two decades, she has advanced from a law firm volunteer to a file clerk to legal assistant, then paralegal professional, and now paralegal manager at a national law firm overseeing dozens of paralegal professionals.  At each step, being active with paralegal associations helped her advance her skills and network. It starts with learning, and it extends to helping and mentoring. King explores how a conscious push to improve and learn at every stage built her career and how you can create your own path to professional success. Mentioned in This Episode: National Capital Area Paralegals Association National Federal of Paralegal Association IPMA, International Practice Management Association IPMA Conference and Expo Los Angeles Paralegal Association NALA, The Paralegal Association NALA Conference & Expo 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When family lawyer and podcaster Lee Rosen talks about referrals, he doesn’t call them a network. He calls them friends. He explains why you only need about 20 trusted relationships to sustain a thriving practice, how genuine curiosity and consistency outperform traditional “networking,” and why lawyers make some of the most powerful referral partners across practice areas. Lee also shares how thoughtful gestures, not referral fees, build long-term goodwill and how social media can strengthen real-world connections when used with intention. Then, ALPS Insurance’s Rio Laine joins host Adriana Linares to cover the risk-management side of referrals, including documentation best practices, appropriate thank-you gifts, when to decline referrals, and why every solo should have a backup attorney and succession plan in place. Hear the original episode with Lee Rosen Learn more about ALPS Insurance.  Receive email notifications every time we release a new episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices