ABA Journal: Asked and Answered

After 13 years and 170 episodes, Asked and Answered host Stephanie Francis Ward is hanging up her headphones and switching off her mic. Asked and Answered, the ABA Journal’s first and longest-running podcast, is ending its run—at least for now. In this final episode, Ward discusses her podcast tenure with the Journal’s Lee Rawles. Ward recently accepted a new position within the ABA Journal as an assistant managing editor after a long reporting career covering legal education and general legal affairs. They chat about the podcast’s humble beginnings with an episode about alternative billing released on April 5, 2010, and the changes Ward has observed in the legal community over that time period. A major shift Ward identifies is an increasing willingness to talk about mental health struggles and work-life balance. There has also been a sea change in attitudes towards remote work, accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Ward and Rawles—host of the Modern Law Library, another Journal podcast—discuss the rapid pivot they had to make when the pandemic shut down the ABA offices and podcasts had to be recorded at their homes instead of a media room. They discuss some of their favorite episodes from the past 13 years, and which topics feel dated—like “How Can Attorneys Use Google+ to Generate Business“—versus more timeless issues lawyers face. One evergreen Asked and Answered topic Ward returned to in several episodes was helping lawyers navigate social anxiety in business and rainmaking situations, and Ward shares some of her favorite tips she’s gleaned from guests. Finally, Ward thanks the listeners who’ve accompanied her on this journey and urges them to stay in touch with legal tips and pitches. The Journal’s other two podcasts, the Legal Rebels Podcast and the Modern Law Library, will continue to be released on their normal schedules.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When lawyers hear the term "LLM," their first thought may go to a master of law degree that a person earns after law school. However, the acronym also stands for “large language model,” which is technology that generates and creates writing for offerings that include ChatGPT and Google Bard. The technology doesn’t know what is accurate—that’s where lawyers come in—but the writing is impressive, it could make legal writing better and you could even use it as a writing coach, says Greg Sarab, a technologist and a lawyer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After almost 40 years on the bench, Judge Pauline Newman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has sued her chief, two judge colleagues and the Federal Circuit Judicial Council, following a court committee interview and a medical records request, which she denied, and a suggestion that she should be suspended from work for one year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As stories of some CEOs' outrageous behaviors continue, the amount of activist shareholder activities keeps growing, say Kenneth Mantel and Megan Reda, partners at Olshan Frome Wolosky in New York. They represent investment funds, family offices and people trying to bring change at public companies—and maybe get a seat on the board. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Winning a 2003 landmark U.S. Supreme Court case expanded a gay lawyer's Supreme Court practice, he says, and looking back, it's his favorite case. Because Paul M. Smith was the editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal, clerked for then-U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. and handled various Supreme Court cases—including for paying clients—many thought that it made sense for the Washington, D.C., lawyer to argue Lawrence v. Texas, which led to a 2003 landmark opinion that struck down state laws criminalizing sexual conduct between consenting adults of the same gender. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the current exam, candidates have a 90% chance of passing, if they follow the advice of their law schools’ academic support staff. When the National Conference of Bar Examiners launches a revamped version of the bar exam in 2026, called the NextGen bar exam, it is expected that there will be new assessments on skills including legal research, investigation and client counseling. And that could mean less focus on memorization for candidates. Or not, says Mike Sims, president of the test prep group BARBRI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the criminal justice world, pig butchering refers to bacon—but not literally. Instead, it’s a term used to describe scamming someone online out of all their money through promises of romance and cryptocurrency windfalls, says Erin West, a prosecutor in the Santa Clara County, California, district attorney’s office. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As rises in Chicago carjackings continue to increase fear among many residents, Cliff Nellis, an attorney and pastor who founded the Lawndale Christian Legal Center, says his nonprofit group represents a fair amount of young people charged with the crime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jessica Bednarz has spent much of her career representing people, researching access-to-justice issues and using that knowledge to try to find better ways to deliver legal services. That includes using what’s known as “design thinking” for developing client service programs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 35 years that Jayne Conroy has been a lawyer, she’s spent the entire time in private practice doing civil litigation and has tried more than 70 cases. Conroy’s work includes leading some of the multidistrict litigation involving opiates with jury trials around the country. Through that, she’s seen juries and judges change their minds about addiction and responsibilities. Her next target is social media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Attorneys often expect incarcerated clients to lie and vice versa, says Derrick Hamilton, who served more than 20 years of a second-degree murder sentence. Those outlooks don’t help build good attorney-client relationships, according to Hamilton, who now works with students at the Yeshiva University Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law’s Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While 2022 was a phenomenal year for attorneys and “anyone with a pulse” and a law license could find work, 2023 might “go back to normal,” says Valerie A. Fontaine, a founding director of the legal search company SeltzerFontaine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we head into the holiday season, consider what you want your celebrations to look like, rather than meeting everyone else’s expectations, says Laurie Besden, a lawyer who has been sober for almost two decades. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The overall employment outcomes for 2007 and 2021 law school graduates were both 91.9%. And while that sounds like a good thing, it could be a warning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ellen Freeman immigrated from Odesa, Ukraine, to Pittsburgh almost 30 years ago. And although her family always planned to leave—she grew up learning various languages so that she could communicate wherever they settled—moving to the United States as a young single mother was one of the most difficult things that she has ever done. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aliza Shatzman didn’t realize that federal judicial employees are not protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. That is until the judge she worked for in 2020 ended her clerkship early—for reasons that she thinks were due to gender discrimination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you are studying for the July bar exam, you’re not going to memorize every flashcard for the Multistate Bar Examination, and that’s OK. You can still pass. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A good home-school program provided a nurturing environment that was lacking in elementary education, and the experience helped build confidence for law school, says Haley Taylor Schlitz, a 2022 graduate of Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A recent order from Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directing the state to consider medical treatments for transgender youths as child abuse is hurtful to children and their families, as is a new Alabama law that makes providing gender-affirming care to a minor a felony, says lawyer Asaf Orr. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For young litigators who want to be considered “a lawyer’s lawyer,” careers spent mostly working from home may not get you to where you want to be, according to Robert Giuffra and Evan Chesler, two Wall Street partners who have been trying cases for more than 30 years. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Although the Americans with Disabilities Act is decades-old, many businesses, including law firms, continue to treat it as a suggestion, rather than federal law, according to Eve Hill and Jason Turkish, two lawyers who represent plaintiffs in disability cases. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Business hasn’t slowed down during the COVID-19 pandemic, which tore many couples apart, according to family law attorneys Stacy D. Phillips, who practices in Los Angeles, and Bonnie E. Rabin, who practices in New York. However, the COVID-19 crisis has made it easier to work together. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Physical aspects aren’t the only changes in federal litigation, according to two veteran Chicago litigators. They think jurors, particularly those younger than age 40, are much more forgiving when a witness is caught lying, few care whether a party admits to drug use, and many expect significant documentation from law enforcement trying to defend misconduct charges. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The heavy, hardback editions of Martindale-Hubbell law directories, which were published annually and had different volumes for each jurisdiction, represented an important tool for executive search consultants back in the 1980s, before internet access was common, and lawyers’ backgrounds could only be found through paper or word of mouth. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the late 1980s, law school groups for gay and lesbian students met off campus in case members didn’t want the school community to know their sexual orientation. And there were so few female faculty at law schools, if two or more were seen together talking, male faculty would ask what they were up to. So if they were actually up to something, such as persuading their dean to adopt a faculty parental leave policy that was longer than a few weeks, they would meet off campus, too. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A few decades ago, there were no page limits for U.S. Supreme Court briefs, and that brought considerable headaches for the clerks who had to read them. Also, the justices rarely, if ever, asked more than 15 questions total during oral arguments. But that changed in 1986, after Antonin Scalia joined the high court. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many Harvard Law School students knew of classmate Rehan Staton through a July 2020 video that went viral, which featured him opening a Harvard Law School acceptance email. There’s a lot more to him than the video, and Staton wanted to connect with classmates more significantly while they attended remote classes over the past year. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lawyer Patrick Krill learned to be more flexible during the pandemic, with inspiration from "Be Water," an ESPN documentary about martial artist and actor Bruce Lee. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the dean of Pennsylvania State University's law school during the COVID-19 pandemic, and at a time of significant social unrest, Hari Osofsky tried to say yes whenever possible. Leadership involves taking in a variety of viewpoints, she explains, and recognizing what students, professors and administration want is a good way to guarantee people that they are being heard. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lawyer and author David Lat thinks remote working for lawyers is here for the foreseeable future, and that’s just one of the many significant changes that he sees the pandemic bringing to the legal profession. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emily D. Baker wanted a diversion from 2020, so she started doing her own legal commentary about pop culture, with topics including a pair of "Satan Shoes" associated with rapper Lil Nas X and the conservatorship of Britney Spears. Today, Baker is considered to be an influencer. According to her, she earns more than she did as a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Howard Bashman of How Appealing discusses blogging during COVID-19 and how appellate work in Pennsylvania has changed in the pandemic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lawyer Beth Bourdon is willing to go places where other attorneys may be hesitant, including this summer when she joined Parler. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Colorado law professor recently discussed how he incorporates mindfulness in his life and finding “pandemic positives” with ABA Journal Senior Writer Stephanie Francis Ward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SCOTUS lawyer Jeffrey L. Fisher breaks down how he had to adapt during the coronavirus crisis for three recent Supreme Court cases that he argued. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Law professor April Dawson talks to Senior Writer Stephanie Francis Ward about finding creative ways to use technology in the classroom, even before the pandemic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Karen Kaplowitz talks with the ABA Journal's Stephanie Francis Ward about how many people are discovering the benefits of long-term telecommuting and why they may continue to support the work schedules after the pandemic ends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kenneth White, a former assistant U.S. attorney known as "Popehat" on Twitter, spoke with ABA Journal Senior Writer Stephanie Francis Ward about what he's been up to during the COVID-19 crisis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While Veena Dubal has adopted to working at home with three young children during the COVID-19 pandemic, the “reply guys” came after the California law professor on Twitter for her support of a 2020 state law that extends employee classification status to gig workers. Dubal tells ABA Journal Senior Writer Stephanie Francis Ward that she thinks that people’s anxieties are running high amid the pandemic, and some public relations groups harness that energy to support client platforms, particularly on social media. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This past spring, when few people realized that most July bar exams would ultimately be canceled, Molly Coleman decided to forgo the test, for the time being, despite her lawyer father’s objections. Coleman chats with ABA Journal Senior Writer Stephanie Francis Ward about moving back to St. Paul, Minnesota—her hometown—less than a week before the area erupted in protests following the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd in late May. She was joined by her fiance—a University of Michigan Law School student—and the couple postponed their September wedding to 2021, given health concerns with large gatherings. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When COVID-19 closed ABA offices in March, staff sprang into work figuring out how the association could convert its meetings and events to virtual environments. In this bonus episode of Asked and Answered, we're giving you a sneak peek at how the 2020 ABA Annual Meeting came together, some of the exciting guests and speakers who have been lined up, and what exactly it will be like to attend an all-virtual meeting. ABA President Judy Perry Martinez and Marty Balogh of the Meetings and Travel Group spoke with the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles to share behind-the-scenes information about the annual meeting, which is free to all ABA members. Register before July 27, then attend sessions and events at your leisure from July 29-Aug. 4. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lawyer and author Brian Cuban chats with ABA Journal Senior Writer Stephanie Francis Ward about how he’s been focusing on what he can control during the COVID-19 pandemic, rather than what he can’t, and what he misses the most. For Cuban, that includes hugs from family and friends, and he’s not sure that they’ll ever be given as freely as they once were. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you really need a human for the so-called human touch in lawyering, particularly when a big part of the job is convincing the client to be reasonable? Maybe not, according to some people who created apps that they claim help people accomplish tasks traditionally carried about by lawyers. The ABA Journal’s Stephanie Francis Ward talks with legal technologists about how their apps are working to do things such as detect and block sarcasm in texts between parents at odds with each other and quickly find middle ground between people battling over small amounts of money. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this new episode of the ABA Journal’s Asked and Answered podcast, Senior Writer Stephanie Francis Ward talks about the similarities between the pageant circuit, law school and the practice of law with pageant winners—some of whom have no school debt thanks to contest scholarships—and a litigator who also works as a pageant coach. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As people across the country are coping with countless changes in light of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the ABA Journal’s Asked and Answered podcast is taking a break from its regularly scheduled programing to share information with lawyers about how they can adjust to the world’s current situation—such as having to work from home, whether they want to or not. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

These days, people from all walks of life get tattoos. But in Columbus, Georgia, it was illegal to give them on Sundays, until recently. No one knows for sure what led to the law, but some suspect that it was what’s known as a “blue law,” a term for state and municipal regulations that prohibits commerce on Sundays, when lawmakers thought people should be in church. In this new episode of Asked and Answered, Stephanie Francis Ward explores people’s changing views of laws inspired by Christian outlooks and whether it’s worth changing those laws, even if they are rarely if ever enforced. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Imagine you are meeting a client for the first time, and they show up with a TV camera crew that wants to film your meeting. This month, the Asked and Answered podcast series is exploring the unique curiosities of the law, starting with what it’s like when your client shows up with a camera crew and wants to tell their story on film. In this new episode, Stephanie Francis Ward, host of Asked and Answered, speaks with three lawyers involved in the world of reality television. Music featured in this episode: “On the Line” by Bright Seed “Seriously” by Adrian Walther “Sun And The Moon” by Moments “California Cruisin” by Mikey Geiger “Keys And Thank You” by Fairlight Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you think about all the women and people of color who leave large law firms before making partner, that adds up quickly, says Ripa Rashid, managing director of Culture at Work in New York City. But there are ways to keep diverse lawyers at their firms, she says. In this new episode of the ABA Journal’s Asked and Answered podcast, Ripa talks with Senior Writer Stephanie Francis Ward about how can firms keep female and minority lawyers from leaving their firms and the high cost for said firms when they depart. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Heidi Brown talks about how to navigate the office holiday party and still appear to be having fun and how to come out of your shell when you'd rather be alone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Much has been said about getting rewarding mentoring and work opportunities from more-seasoned lawyers. But newer lawyers can also bring knowledge to the table. In this new episode of the ABA Journal’s Asked and Answered podcast, Senior Writer Stephanie Francis Ward talks to Karen Kaplowitz, founder and president of the New Ellis Group, a business-development consulting firm in New Hope, Pennsylvania, about ways the experience pairing works well—for things like discovering unique business development opportunities—having more diverse legal teams, and finding better ways to use social media in marketing. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices