Gavel Gavel

Part 3! In this  very special episode, Thomas and Lydia Smith celebrate their 11th wedding anniversary in the most normal and romantic way possible: subjecting themselves to an extended interrogation about their marriage by a federal agent. After setting the scene in a (very slightly) parallel universe in which Thomas was born in Canada and committed a series of Nickelback-related misdemeanors before overstaying his student visa, Matt draws from his twenty years of experience in sitting through hundreds of immigration interviews to play out an unscripted simulation of what his clients and their U.S. citizen spouses go through when they are applying for residency through marriage. We then reconvene to review how the Smiths did, and Matt takes us through some of the legal issues raised in this interview as well as some of the more interesting aspects of the residency process generally.  Finally, we discuss some of the weirder aspects of the law surrounding immigration through marriage beyond the facts of this interview, including (among many others): --Do you really have to prove to the satisfaction of an immigration officer that your marriage includes sex? --Why might the US government refuse to recognize a prior divorce from your home country?  --Will federal immigration authorities really recognize a Zoom wedding conducted from completely different continents? --Can you bring multiple partners if you are coming from a country where polygamy is legal? "Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status," U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (1/20/2025 edition) "Immigration Consequences of Criminal Activity," Congressional Research Service (5/28/21) Matter of Peterson, 12 I&N Dec. 663 (BIA 1968) "Kicking the INA Out of Bed: Abolishing the Consummation Requirement for Proxy Marriages," 22 Hastings J. Gender & L. 55 (2011) "Second Wives Club: Mapping the Impact of Polygamy in U.S. Immigration Law," Claire A. Smearman, Berkeley Journal of Immigration Law (Dec. 2009)  

Part 2! In this  very special episode, Thomas and Lydia Smith celebrate their 11th wedding anniversary in the most normal and romantic way possible: subjecting themselves to an extended interrogation about their marriage by a federal agent. After setting the scene in a (very slightly) parallel universe in which Thomas was born in Canada and committed a series of Nickelback-related misdemeanors before overstaying his student visa, Matt draws from his twenty years of experience in sitting through hundreds of immigration interviews to play out an unscripted simulation of what his clients and their U.S. citizen spouses go through when they are applying for residency through marriage. We then reconvene to review how the Smiths did, and Matt takes us through some of the legal issues raised in this interview as well as some of the more interesting aspects of the residency process generally.  Finally, we discuss some of the weirder aspects of the law surrounding immigration through marriage beyond the facts of this interview, including (among many others): --Do you really have to prove to the satisfaction of an immigration officer that your marriage includes sex? --Why might the US government refuse to recognize a prior divorce from your home country?  --Will federal immigration authorities really recognize a Zoom wedding conducted from completely different continents? --Can you bring multiple partners if you are coming from a country where polygamy is legal? "Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status," U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (1/20/2025 edition) "Immigration Consequences of Criminal Activity," Congressional Research Service (5/28/21) Matter of Peterson, 12 I&N Dec. 663 (BIA 1968) "Kicking the INA Out of Bed: Abolishing the Consummation Requirement for Proxy Marriages," 22 Hastings J. Gender & L. 55 (2011) "Second Wives Club: Mapping the Impact of Polygamy in U.S. Immigration Law," Claire A. Smearman, Berkeley Journal of Immigration Law (Dec. 2009)  

In this  very special episode, Thomas and Lydia Smith celebrate their 11th wedding anniversary in the most normal and romantic way possible: subjecting themselves to an extended interrogation about their marriage by a federal agent. After setting the scene in a (very slightly) parallel universe in which Thomas was born in Canada and committed a series of Nickelback-related misdemeanors before overstaying his student visa, Matt draws from his twenty years of experience in sitting through hundreds of immigration interviews to play out an unscripted simulation of what his clients and their U.S. citizen spouses go through when they are applying for residency through marriage. We then reconvene to review how the Smiths did, and Matt takes us through some of the legal issues raised in this interview as well as some of the more interesting aspects of the residency process generally.  Finally, we discuss some of the weirder aspects of the law surrounding immigration through marriage beyond the facts of this interview, including (among many others): --Do you really have to prove to the satisfaction of an immigration officer that your marriage includes sex? --Why might the US government refuse to recognize a prior divorce from your home country?  --Will federal immigration authorities really recognize a Zoom wedding conducted from completely different continents? --Can you bring multiple partners if you are coming from a country where polygamy is legal? "Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status," U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (1/20/2025 edition) "Immigration Consequences of Criminal Activity," Congressional Research Service (5/28/21) Matter of Peterson, 12 I&N Dec. 663 (BIA 1968) "Kicking the INA Out of Bed: Abolishing the Consummation Requirement for Proxy Marriages," 22 Hastings J. Gender & L. 55 (2011) "Second Wives Club: Mapping the Impact of Polygamy in U.S. Immigration Law," Claire A. Smearman, Berkeley Journal of Immigration Law (Dec. 2009)

GG67 - U.S. v. Dunn 8 Detective Henry finishes her direct testimony but not before the lawyers duke it out over admissibility of the body-worn camera footage that allegedly captures our hero admitting to his crime. How will the judge rule? PLUS: Matt brings us a case out of Massachusetts in which security footage that ceased to still exist was admitted. How did this happen?!

GG66 - U.S. v. Dunn 7 We've got another witness! Detective Henry. And she's providing critical circles over stuff the jury totally already knew.

GG65 - U.S. v. Dunn 6 Time for some game changing testimony.

GG64 - U.S. v. Dunn 5 Time for our hotshot defense attorney to grill Agent Lairmore!

GG63 - U.S. v. Dunn 4 We hear from the mangled corpse of victim #1. It's a medical wonder that he's even talking.

GG62 - U.S. v. Dunn 3 More like US v FUN. Join Matt Thomas and Lydia and we finally get to listen to real, authentic, 100% genuine simulated trial audio! It's the opening statements from each side.

GG61 - U.S. v. Dunn 2 Matt takes us through some very interesting pre-trial motions.

GG60 - Lively v. Baldoni 59 - Wayfarer v. Lively 25 WE MADE ITTTTT! We're FINISHING the idiotic human rights abuse that is the Baldoni amended complaint! And to celebrate this immense accomplishment, we've got none other than MJ Morley for a double album extra longo!

GG59 - Lively v. Baldoni 58 - Wayfarer v. Lively 24 This is truly a game changer. We're honestly not sure what to think anymore now that we've found out the NYT worked on their story before publishing it. We're honestly shaken. ALMOST DONE with this complaint! Only 1 more ep after this, with MJ Morley!

GG58 - Lively v. Baldoni 57 - Wayfarer v. Lively 23 Workin' our way through! Can you believe Blake had the GALL to say grab your friends and wear your florals? Is she some kind of horrible idiot monster clueless victim hating b@#$% or something?

GG57 - Lively v. Baldoni 56 - Wayfarer v. Lively 22 We're back and unironically happy to be digging back into this stupid complaint! Let's get it donnnnnnnnne!!! Doooooooone? That can't be right. DoneeeeeeeeeNOPE ok no good way to do that. I stand by donnnnnnnnnnne.

GG56 - Lively v. Baldoni 55 - Wayfarer v. Lively 21 EVEN MORE revelations about the August 8th-9th interactions. This is the last one on this! Then we can finally move on like the ghost army that Aragorn brought to Gondor which was kinda cheating, if you ask me.

GG55 - Lively v. Baldoni 54 - Wayfarer v. Lively 20 Buckle up. It's time for some Perry Mason shit with these August 8th-9th texts and emails.

Bonus! New York public defender Liz Skeen joins Gavel Gavel to break down what's been happening in the Luigi Mangione trials!

GG54 - Wayfarer v. Lively 19 Join as these rootin' tootin' scrutin' gavelistas unravel the most insane day or two of messages and nonsense. This required like 4 different recordings and re-recordings because it is so complicated.

GG53 - Wayfarer v. Lively 18 Your honor they might have made fun of me possibly and that has to be against the law.

GG52 - Wayfarer v. Lively 17 We're back on our Blake beat. Together we can finish this effing complaint (and the attachment)

It's a new Gavel Gavel trial! We are excited to announce that we will be producing a totally new full trial re-enactment working from our EXCLUSIVE access to the transcript of the federal prosecution of Sean Dunn, better known to the world as the "Sandwich Guy" after being federally charged for assaulting a CBP officer with a fully-loaded 12-inch Subway sandwich on the streets of DC. But before we get to the meat of 2025's Trial of the Century, legal sandwich artist Matt Cameron is here to slice up everything you need to know. From Dunn's notably underreported motive to the significance of the date and location of the alleged assault to a shot-by-shot analysis of the only known video of the incident, we've got this one wrapped. U.S. v. Dunn docket Sean Dunn's GoFundMe Video of Sean Dunn throwing a Subway sandwich at a uniformed CBP agent near 14th and U in Washington DC on August 10, 2025 U.S. v. Dunn complaint (filed 8/13/25) Sensationalized video of Dunn's arrest in his house by a swarm of federal agents posted on the official White House X account (8/14/25)  

Happy Holidays normies! Here's the first half of this interview, but you'll need to join as a member to get the second half of our conversation! --- Dale Wheatley joins the pod in this special bonus episode to share his insights as a filmmaker and industry professional watching the Lively v Baldoni case (and associated lawsuits) unfold, and we dig into many of the places where the set for It Ends With Us went wrong. In the patron-only segment, we chat about Dale's own experience with a Hollywood lawsuit, in which he and his colleagues sued Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire to free the film they made back in the 1990s, Don's Plum. Catch Dale and his partner Angela on YouTube for daily livestreams! Check out Free Don's Plum where you can purchase signed copies of Dale's memoir, Too Real The Making and Epic Unmaking of Don's Plum, Vanity Fair (12/12/2016) Support the show, get rid of ads, and get bonus stuff over on patreon.com/gavelpod!  

Wayfarer v. Lively 16 - It's the last sub-chunk of the November mega-chunk and there's some fun stuff in here! Baldoni and Heath cannot tell when people are obviously lying to them, and also we get some previously unseen Jones/Abel texts!

Wayfarer v. Lively 15 - It's here, baby! The most massive self-own. Can't wait for you to hear it.

Wayfarer v. Lively 14 - It's Book Bonanza time! Apparently Blake outright STOLE the movie file and showed it to hoards of people without permission or authority??? ARREST HER. Or....maybe that's not what happened. Support the show, get rid of ads, and get bonus stuff over on patreon.com/gavelpod!

Wayfarer v. Lively 13 - The CH words continue to CH. Wayfarer's own complaint continues to be bad for them.

Wayfarer v. Lively 12 - Gavelheads and Chunkarinos, it's the end of the month and you know what that means! Chunks, chunks, chunks chunks chunks chunks, chunks! We begin this month's Chunkmas exactly where we left off last time. It's more Wayfarer v. Lively! But we're weirdly excited about it this time. There's a lot of stuff we haven't seen before and it's not good for WF parties at all.

Wayfarer v. Lively 11 - in this one, we get a very behind the scenes look at Blake Lively's creative contributions, and they're... good. Support the show, get rid of ads, and get bonus stuff over on patreon.com/gavelpod!

Wayfarer v. Lively 10 - on this one, we get to the whole "she didn't sign the nudity rider/contract" thing.  Support the show, get rid of ads, and get bonus stuff over on patreon.com/gavelpod!

Wayfarer v. Lively 9 - the bull shit continues. Support the show, get rid of ads, and get bonus stuff over on patreon.com/gavelpod!

Wayfarer v. Lively 8 - Watch as Justin Baldoni tries to defend himself against the horrible bully Blake Lively, and is then never seen or heard from again. Support the show, get rid of ads, and get bonus stuff over on patreon.com/gavelpod!

Wayfarer v. Lively 7 - the bullshit continues Support the show, get rid of ads, and get bonus stuff over on patreon.com/gavelpod!

Wayfarer v. Lively 6 - We're back! Apologies for the big delay in normi-sodes. This chunk was released on Patreon and then our horrendous October schedule prevented us from doing the released that we wanted to on here. So... you've got a TON of episodes coming your way in the next week! Probably like one a day, minimum.  We continue on in the behemoth of garbage that is Wayfarer v. Lively! Support the show, get rid of ads, and get bonus stuff over on patreon.com/gavelpod!

We are so, so sorry. We have to do this. It's time to listen to and break down Justin Baldoni's nearly 7-minute voice memo to Blake Lively. BUT! We have some great analysis, clock investigation, and commentary on some curious reactions from when this was released. This episode is like the vegetables you need to eat before getting dessert... Well, if those vegetables had salmonella, e-coli and several other kinds of infectious bacteria. But then after your vegetables, and a long hospital stay, you can have the dessert of more Wayfarer v. Lively complaint!

Wayfarer v. Lively 4 - It's time to take on one of the most infamous messages of this entire saga. Khaleesi and her dragons. But also, Baldoni has no idea when someone is blowing smoke. It seems like he thinks everyone loves him all the time. Support the show, get rid of ads, and get bonus stuff over on patreon.com/gavelpod!

Wayfarer v. Lively 3 - Hey so this isn't like, the most consequential bull shit, but it is one of the most infuriating bull shits for so many reasons. Wayfarer parties lose pretty much all credibility with this one enormous stupid bull shit. Support the show, get rid of ads, and get bonus stuff over on patreon.com/gavelpod!

Wayfarer v. Lively 2 - We continue on the big one. Lots of interesting stuff here, including a Reddit rabbit hole, and the apology that Blake and Ryan wanted Justin to make. WHY DIDN'T HE JUST DO IT. Support the show, get rid of ads, and get bonus stuff over on patreon.com/gavelpod!

Wayfarer v. Lively 1 - We're finally here. This is the big one. The document(s) that Baldoni fans swear absolutely devastates Lively's case. We're going to be here a while.... Support the show, get rid of ads, and get bonus stuff over on patreon.com/gavelpod!

It's our final entry in the Jones v. Abel docket for a bit! This one solidifies Jones's lawyers as probably the best writers of all the lawyers we've dealt with in this. There are some absolute gems in this one. But... NEXT EPISODE we finally take on the behemoth. The monstrosity that is Wayfarer v. Lively. It's something like 400 total pages. yayyyyyy funnnnn  

Stephanie Jones's Motion to Dismiss Jennifer Abel's Counterclaims. Got it? So, Jones sued Abel, Abel brought counterclaims, and now this is Jones's motion to dismiss those counterclaims. And let me tell you, it is way more fun than you might think!

Part 2. Now that we've had to hear THAT noise, let's dig more into the analysis of the context in which Blake experienced this day on set. It does seem like Blake misrepresented what happened in one key part. So, how should we think about that? What does Candace Owens have to say? Support the show, get rid of ads, and get bonus stuff over on patreon.com/gavelpod!

Part 1 of 2. We chunk on over to the main timeline again to dissect the bar footage that was released in mid-January in an effort to refute one of the scenarios that Lively called out as inappropriate and part of the pattern of sexual harassment on set. Many claim this completely undermines Blake Lively's case. Seeing as how it's some of the only evidence we the public have access to that we haven't already digested, what can we learn if we Zapruder Film this thing? Watch the footage here. Support the show, get rid of ads, and get bonus stuff over on patreon.com/gavelpod!

Gavelheads, it's here! Stephanie Jones's lawyers - Kristin Tahler and Maaren Shah - join us to discuss what Jones v Abel is really about! While we have them, we get their take on the utilization of Doe lawsuits in litigation, and dive deep into third-party subpoenas. After filing a couple third-party subpoenas meant to illuminate information related to who created the allegedly defamatory website and various social media accounts associated, an unexpected objection entered the docket. What might that mean? Support the show, get rid of ads, and get bonus stuff over on patreon.com/gavelpod!

It's our final catch up on the Jones v. Abel docket before we have Stephanie Jones's lawyers on! MJ is back to break down this one. It's very business-y and contract-y and that's just what MJ Morley probably knows best! Does Wayfarer have any chance at these counterclaims against Jones and Jonesworks? Find out!  

There's lot of copy and paste in this one, but also some realllly interesting stuff. How is Wayfarer going to defend themselves against Stephanie Jones' incredibly straightforward and coherent case?  

This will conclude Jen Abel's countercomplaint. Next, we'll be onto Wayfarer's countercomplaint!  

We're so lucky to have MJ Morley (@morewithmj) back on the show, this time to give us the legal breakdown of Jen Abel's counterclaims against Stephanie Jones and Jonesworks!  

It's part 3 of Jen Abel's countercomplaint against Jones and Jonesworks!

We're in our alternate timeline to catch up on the bustling Jones v. Abel docket! It's part 2 of Jen Abel's Countersuit against Jones and Jonesworks.

*RECORD SCRATCH* Hey folks. We had to do a bit of a pivot for a really cool reason. That reason is, we're going to be interviewing Stephanie Jones' lawyers. But in order to do that, we need to catch you up on the Jones v. Abel docket. But that's still also good news, because this docket is really fascinating and honestly pretty fun to analyze. We tell you more about it in the outro to this episode, but expect chunks and chunks coming your way! So this is us jumping into an alternate timeline to catch up on the bustling Jones v. Abel docket! We've already broken down Stephanie Jones's side of this story, so it's time to hear from Jennifer Abel in her countercomplaint! Support the show, get rid of ads, and get new episodes FIRST on patreon.com/gavelpod!