Legal Talk Network - Law News and Legal Topics

Voting for the State Bar of Texas’ president-elect candidates will take place in the month of April! Podcast host Rocky Dhir welcomes candidates Sara Dysart and Laura Gibson to learn about their backgrounds, discuss a variety of issues from diversity to COVID-19 to access to justice and more, and hear what each hopes to bring to the role of State Bar President. Members can vote either online or by paper ballot from April 1-30. Learn more at: https://www.texasbar.com. Sara Dysart is a sole practitioner in San Antonio, Texas and is certified in commercial real estate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Laura Gibson is currently a partner and head of the Labor & Employment Section at Dentons in Houston, TX.

Legal marketing expert, Delisi Friday, shares her specific do’s and don’ts when it comes to marketing across the legal industry. If today’s podcast resonates with you and you haven’t read The Small Firm Roadmap yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Thanks to SweetProcess, TextExpander, Postali, and ESQ.Marketing for sponsoring this episode.

We all heard about famous actresses making bribes to get their kids into elite colleges but who was the mastermind behind it and how did it all work? Jennifer Levitz, author and national reporter for The Wall Street Journal joins us for a deep dive about ‘Operation Varsity Blues’, the biggest college admissions scandal ever. Special thanks to our sponsor Nota. Sources: Netflix Documentary ‘Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal’ Wikipedia article ‘2019 College Admissions Bribery Scandal’

Jumping off a listener question, host Carl Morrison devotes an entire episode to answering common questions he hears about an increasingly hot topic: paralegal certification. Questions tackled: Why get certified? Do certificate paralegals make more money? What’s the difference between a certificate and a certification? Which certification program is best? Is getting a state certification advisable? Will certification help obtain limited licensing? Can CLE courses be applied to multiple certification bodies? What’s the time commitment for certifications? In this episode, find answers to these questions and hear why Carl decided to pursue so many certifications. Special thanks to our sponsors, NALA, ServeNow, CourtFiling.net and Legalinc.

Just like workers’ compensation, states have varying approaches to vocational rehabilitation. Voc rehab expert Rhonda Jellenik and host Judson Pierce discuss how state programs differ and what role counselors like Jellenik play in the legal and job training processes. Whether called on by a plaintiff or defendant, Jellenik helps determine whether the worker has transferable skills and what options for employment are available with and without additional training. And because she works in Massachusetts, she often has the opportunity to work with injured workers in a more comprehensive way from testing, to planning and prepping them for job interviews. Pierce and Jellenik talk about how assessments have changed in the shift from in-person to virtual meetings. And they discuss how an individual’s ability to join a video call is now part of Jellenik’s documentation. Rhonda Jellenik is a nationally certified vocational rehabilitation counselor. Special thanks to our sponsor, PInow.

As special bonus season intensifies, Kathryn muses about compensation leadership and what the value of going big. Joe talks about vaccines and returning to in-person events and we recap the goings on at CUNY and Michigan where the deans faced pressure over past incidents. Special thanks to our sponsors, LexisNexis® InterAction®, Lexicon and Nota.

In the United States, the right to counsel in civil cases is currently a very complex issue. Some states provide counsel in certain types of civil cases, but not others; while other states may have little or no access to civil counsel in any matters. With this complicated picture in mind, what should be done to attain more equality throughout our nation’s civil courts? ABA Law Student Podcast host Meg Steenburgh talks with John Pollock about the many implications of a lack of legal counsel across a variety of civil matters (with a particular focus on guardianship) and his ongoing efforts to establish the right to counsel for low-income individuals. John Pollock is a staff attorney for the Public Justice Center and has served as the coordinator of the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel since 2009. Thank you to our sponsor NBI.

Laurien Gilbert from Cornerstone Research joins us to discuss price gouging and how things have evolved through COVID and the emergencies beyond. Special thanks to our sponsor Nota. Sources: Previous Episode: ‘Price Gouging’ Cornerstone Research article by Laurien Gilbert ‘Price Gouging and the Pandemic: An Economic Perspective’ Proskauer article by Marget A. Dale, Jordan B. Leader, Julia Alonzo, and Jennifer L. Roche ‘Nationwide Deep Freeze Leads to Spike in Natural Gas Price’

Heightened data privacy, security, economic, and legal pressures all serve to underscore why a comprehensive and effective contract management program is essential in today’s business environment. Organizations that fail to regularly evaluate and update contract management platforms and processes expose themselves to a host of operational, legal and financial risks. In this episode of The Robert Half Legal Report, host Charles Volkert, senior district president of Robert Half Legal, is joined by Bernie Donachie, managing director of Protiviti’s supply chain solutions practice, and Frank Serge, managing vice president with Robert Half Legal’s consulting solutions practice, to discuss best practices for contract lifecycle management. They explore why legal and contract teams are increasingly adopting a digitized system; and how other tech advancements, including artificial intelligence applications, help to strengthen contract processes and enable more effective analysis, while minimizing compliance, operational and financial risks. They also offer critical strategies and actions that can help reboot contract management platforms to achieve maximum control, benefits and value. Robert Half is not a law firm and does not provide legal representation. Robert Half project attorneys do not constitute a law firm among themselves.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has caused there to be fewer court filings in some jurisdictions, Howard Bashman’s blog, How Appealing, continues to share multiple posts on a daily basis about appellate law and legal news. Special thanks to our sponsor, LawPay.