How to be (sort of) happy in law school | Rebroadcast
03 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As summer winds down and school beckons, we’re looking back in our archives and assigning some bac...
Need to sharpen your legal writing? 10th Circuit Court judge shares his tips | Rebroadcast
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As summer winds down and school beckons, we’re looking back in our archives and assigning some bac...
James Patterson dishes on his new legal thriller, ‘The #1 Lawyer’ | Rebroadcast
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With a new legal thriller on the horizon, we're revisiting James Patterson’s 2024 interview about ...
3 trial court judges share the tough cases that stuck with them | Rebroadcast
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This month, we're revisiting some standout conversations from our archives. In this episode, three s...
Try estate law for a practice with work-life balance, says ‘Lifestyle Lawyer Revolution’ author
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Laura Cowan started her career in finance, earning a CPA and working at Ernst & Young and Goldman Sa...
Barrister’s new mystery novel offers glimpse inside the Inner Temple
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Since it was seized from the Knights Templar in the 14th century, the Inner Temple in London has hou...
How a Florida murder and an unlikely justice created a ‘criminal procedure revolution’
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In Chambers v. Florida and the Criminal Justice Revolution, historian and former ABA Journal report...
What today’s rainmakers do differently
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Matthew Dixon, co-founder of DCM Insights, is a researcher who’s spent much of his career studying...
Perplexed about AI? Richard Susskind wants to help
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For nearly 30 years, Richard Susskind has written books asking lawyers to envision the future of the...
‘Secrets of the Killing State’ exposes realities of lethal injection
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Execution by lethal injection is seen by many Americans as a less barbaric alternative than older me...
‘Patenting Life’ shares tales from a career on the cutting edge of science and the law
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jorge Goldstein entered the fields of science and law at a time of immense change for them both. In ...
How thinking like an athlete can make you a better lawyer
19 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Peak performance in high-stress environments. It’s the goal for the basketball players taking the ...
This Harvard Law prof thinks constitutional theory is a terrible way to pick a judge
05 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What if we are asking the wrong questions when selecting American judges? Mark Tushnet thinks our cu...
'The Licensing Racket' takes aim at professional licensing in America
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Should you need a license for that? For law professor and antitrust expert Rebecca Haw Allensworth, ...
Former Watergate prosecutor and friends reflect on life in 'Legal Briefs'
05 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For some people, retirement is an opportunity to kick back and finally relax. But for Roger M. Witte...
When should life sentences be overturned? Judge shares how he decides
08 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A federal judge’s new book is giving readers a rare inside glimpse at how a judge determines which...
Our favorite pop culture picks in 2024
18 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's the time of year when The Modern Law Library likes to look back on the media that we've enjoyed...
Horse-loving lawyer left the law to help run a Colorado ranch
04 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ami Cullen grew up loving horses and competing in hunter/jumper events. But when it came to her care...
What went wrong–and right–with 10 famous trials
25 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
J. Craig Williams believes empathy is an important quality to be a trial lawyer. It’s served him i...
'Watchdogs' author has no regrets about choosing civil service over the NBA
06 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Glenn Fine's career-long crusade against corruption might have its roots in his college days. As a p...
Meet the sheriffs who believe they are ‘The Highest Law in the Land’
24 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The first image conjured in your mind by the word “sheriff” might be the protagonist of a Wild W...
'Company' is the perfect short story collection for spooky season
09 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Most—though not all—of the 13 short stories in Company deal with members of the Collins family...
The Supreme Court is a liberal body–when it comes to legal writing
25 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jill Barton spent the first decade of her career working as a journalist, with the Associated Press ...
Legal thriller author David Ellis's day job? Appellate court justice
29 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Justice David W. Ellis has served on the Illinois Appellate Court for the 1st District for nearly 10...
'Shaping the Bar' author says bar exam protects legal profession, not public
24 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The goal of the bar exam is to be a gatekeeper for the legal profession and protect the public. But ...
Summer reading picks and why a YMCA-funded crusade against obscenity matters today
10 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Do you need some distractions during vacation travel or while lying directly under your A/C unit and...
'The Lawyer Millionaire’ author shares the 7 biggest money mistakes lawyers can make
19 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Finances are a fraught area for many attorneys. Despite a high earning potential, new lawyers often ...
‘The Originalism Trap’ author wants to see originalism dead, dead, dead
05 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Originalism is the ascendant legal theory espoused by conservative legal thinkers, including the maj...
How to strike up conversations that build your book of business
29 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Networking is something that comes naturally to some people. But if the idea of talking to strangers...
When states’ rights and healthcare access clash
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From COVID-19 response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the results of 50 states having individua...
'In the Shadow of Liberty' shines light on American immigration history
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When the Trump administration's policy of separating families at the country's borders was announced...
Users keepers: Pirates, zombies and adverse possession
10 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“Trespassing plus time equals adverse possession,” Paul Golden writes in his new book, Litigati...
James Patterson dishes on his new legal thriller, ‘The #1 Lawyer’
20 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
James Patterson has written bestsellers in many genres. But as he tells the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles...
'When Rape Goes Viral' looks at why cases like Steubenville happen
06 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Three high-profile cases of sexual assault in 2012 followed a basic pattern: A teenage girl was sexu...
NY law prof is calling on ‘Lawyer Nation’ to reform
28 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ray Brescia, a law professor at Albany Law School, has taken a hard look at the country’s legal sy...
'Police & the Empire City' explores race and the origins of the NYPD
14 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In Police & the Empire City: Race & the Origins of Modern Policing, Matthew Guariglia looks at the ...
Yale Law's Owen Fiss talks about threats to democracy and 'Why We Vote'
31 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After 50 years as a professor at Yale Law School, Owen Fiss says his students are still idealistic a...
Access to justice can be achieved, says ‘Law Democratized’ author–but not without change
10 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 2013, the ABA Journal named Renee Knake Jefferson a Legal Rebel for her work co-founding the Mi...
How to plan your post-law life
20 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There are lawyers who love the practice of law so much, they’ll only leave it feet first, in a box...
Our favorite pop culture picks in 2023
06 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It's the time of year when The Modern Law Library hosts like to look back on the media we've enjoyed...
How is the true crime genre impacting the way people think about innocence?
22 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Human beings have told stories about violence and victims from our earliest records. In the nineteen...
Law grad turns culinary passion into TikTok fame and a brand new cookbook
08 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Like many others, Jon Kung figured law school would be a safe harbor to weather the storms of the Gr...
How reckoning with trauma can help you, your clients and the legal profession
25 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“You can’t think yourself out of trauma,” the introduction to Trauma-Informed Law: A Primer f...
Transform your negotiations with a win-win-win mindset, says author
11 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Moving from a “win-lose” mentality to a “win-win” mentality has been a central focus of the ...
Tales of 3 generations of Black women intertwine to form 'Memphis'
27 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Admittedly, Tara M. Stringfellow became an attorney simply because her first book of poetry didn’t...
Complex litigation judge has 50 ideas to simplify the courts
06 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As both an attorney and judge, Thomas Moukawsher has spent the majority of his career dealing in com...
Summer reading and back-to-law-school tips
23 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s time for the Modern Law Library’s summer recommendations episode, in which host Lee Rawles ...
Trial lawyer’s tales include wins, losses and international intrigue
09 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The year was 1961. Freshly minted attorney James J. Brosnahan had been on the job as a federal prose...
Is family court too flawed to be fixed?
26 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jane M. Spinak did not set out to write a book arguing for the abolition of family court. She though...
Didn't get it in writing? There may still be a way, says author of 'Litigating Constructive Trusts'
12 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“If you don’t have it in writing, you’re out of luck.” That’s the common wisdom you’ll h...
'My Mom, the Lawyer' explores women's work and personal lives through the eyes of their children
21 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
While directed at young children, a lawyer's book also speaks to lawyers who are moms, letting them ...
SCOTUS faces ‘a catastrophic loss of institutional legitimacy,’ warns author
07 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In his new book, The Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America, Michael Waldman identifi...
‘The Shadow Docket’ shines light on an increasingly uncommunicative Supreme Court
17 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the R...
End of the Cold War launched new efforts to build the rule of law
10 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As chunks of the Berlin Wall were being torn down by jubilant crowds on November 9, 1989, James Silk...
Author and lawyer explores English family's ties to Nazi Germany in 'The Mitford Affair'
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Heather Terrell, who writes under the pen name Marie Benedict, has written about novelist Agatha Chr...
‘Never Far from Home' brings readers from NYC projects to 90s hip-hop scene to Microsoft offices
05 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Bruce Jackson grew up shuttling between Brooklyn and Manhattan public housing projects. His journey ...
Why NYT v. Sullivan mattered in 1964 and is under attack today
29 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The 1964 decision in New York Times v. Sullivan protected the civil rights movement, established t...
In ‘Her Honor,’ trailblazing women judges take center stage
08 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When Lauren Stiller Rikleen was approached in 2020 by the ABA Judicial Division to help compile au...
In ‘Myth America,’ historians challenge misinformation about our past
22 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Some American patriotic myths are harmless; George Washington may have chopped down a cherry tree at...
Bestselling author relished collaboration for 'Heat' follow-up
08 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When former lawyer and bestselling author Meg Gardiner teamed up with Michael Mann for the follow-up...
From Amanda Knox to Kyle Rittenhouse, lawyer discusses justice and due process in the digital age
25 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In Anne Bremner’s work as a Seattle-based trial attorney, she saw a disturbing pattern—that high...
Lawyer digs into big data for new legal thriller 'Code 6'
04 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Lawyer and author James Grippando made a name for himself writing legal thrillers, including the bes...
This lawyer tackled lifelong anxiety to free herself from 'The Box'
21 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Since childhood, Wendy Tamis Robbins experienced debilitating anxiety and panic attacks. Her perfect...
Our favorite pop culture picks in 2022
08 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In our annual Year in Review episode, Lee Rawles speaks to her ABA Journal colleagues Blair Chavis, ...
Can change really come from within the system? These 13 prosecutors think so
30 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Miriam Aroni Krinsky worked as a prosecutor in Los Angeles County in the 1980s and 1990s as the War ...
'By Hands Now Known' shines light on cold cases of lynchings and racial violence
16 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the summer of 2020, when the murder of George Floyd was igniting protests in Minneapolis and arou...
How do you calculate damages in injury trials?
26 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For any plaintiff who's been injured or any young attorney just starting out in the field of tort la...
Author and lawyer Scott Turow made generational leap for new legal thriller
12 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Author and lawyer Scott Turow’s latest legal thriller Suspect reintroduces readers to Clarice “...
Nina Totenberg's early life, NPR legacy and friendship with the Notorious RBG
21 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this special two-part episode of the Modern Law Library, the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles speaks with...
9th Circuit judge shines light on Justice William O. Douglas’ environmental campaigns
07 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Justice William O. Douglas could be known for his fiery opinions, turbulent personal life and longti...
Sick of meetings that go off the rails? Robert’s Rules of Order can help
24 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s no secret that lawyers are asked to attend or preside over many kinds and types of meetings. ...
Summer Pop Culture Picks and What Else We Lost When Roe was Overturned
10 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s time for the Modern Law Library’s summer recommendations episode, where host Lee Rawles sha...
After collaborating with bestselling author, judge discusses new solo book
27 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After several collaborations with bestselling author James Patterson, Judge David Ellis of Illinois ...
The modern US Border Patrol is a national police force with dangerous capabilities, author warns
13 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In Nobody is Protected: How the Border Patrol Became the Most Dangerous Police Force in the United ...
Authors of '50 Lessons for Happy Lawyers' share some top tips
29 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Even during times less tumultuous than the one we are in now, lawyers as a profession report high le...
Do you have what it takes to break into esports?
08 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Are you a lawyer who plays League of Legends late at night? A World of Warcraft warrior who engages ...
Work for Canadian residential school survivors informs lawyer's debut novel
25 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As a lawyer, Michelle Good spent years investigating the trauma that Canada’s residential school s...
Wiretapping's origins might surprise you
11 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On the cover of Brian Hochman's book The Listeners: A History of Wiretapping in the United States ...
How–and why–Kazakhstan gave up its Soviet-era nuclear weapons
20 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
During its time as a Soviet republic within the USSR, Kazakhstan was the site of massive nuclear tes...
Ex-Tesla attorney leveraged her contract expertise into a book and thriving LinkedIn community
06 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In August 2020, contract attorney Laura Frederick accepted a challenge: Post to LinkedIn once a day,...
'No Equal Justice' shares George Crockett Jr.'s civil rights legacy
30 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Detroit has been the site of many civil rights and labor rights battles, and many notable Black atto...
The justice system is the antagonist in retired judge's legal thriller novel
16 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Retired judge and bestselling novelist Martin Clark had to deal with his fair share of rejection bef...
Tough decision to make? Here’s how to break it down like a lawyer
23 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Law professor Kim Wehle is used to helping her students begin to think like lawyers. But the methodo...
Regulate cryptocurrencies and fintech products before it's too late, urges author
09 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hilary J. Allen isn't sorry if you find her new book scary. In fact, she's hoping that Driverless F...
Need to sharpen your legal writing? 10th Circuit Court judge shares his tips
26 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There's plenty of conventional wisdom about what makes a good legal brief or court opinion. Judge Ro...
Outcomes in state supreme courts aren't as simple as Blue vs. Red
12 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Most of the spotlights are on the U.S. Supreme Court when it comes to legal cases that impact civil ...
In 'All Her Little Secrets,' the death of an attorney's boss could bring her secrets to light
22 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In her debut novel, All Her Little Secrets, attorney Wanda M. Morris has written a legal thriller f...
Our favorite pop culture picks in 2021
08 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In our annual year-in-review episode, Lee Rawles speaks to her ABA Journal colleagues Blair Chavis, ...
America's fights over medical treatment choices didn't start with COVID-19 and Ivermectin
24 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Like the legal profession, the practice of medicine in the United States is highly regulated. But it...
Discover the man behind 12 Angry Men, and the real-life case that inspired him
10 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Whenever the ABA Journal has conducted a survey to find the best legal movies or the best legal play...
Want to change a veteran's life through pro bono? There's a manual for that
20 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Since World War II, more than two million service members have been discharged from U.S. military se...
How SCOTUS enabled police abuses of civil rights–and what we can do about it
13 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Much has been said about police officers and departments who violate civil rights or enforce the law...
How to market your legal services to Hispanic clients
22 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Hispanics are becoming an increasingly large segment of the U.S. population, and for an enterprisi...
A tale of love, loss and conservatorships in the Golden Age of Hollywood
08 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Britney Spears' legal battle over the conservatorship that put her under the control of her father b...
How LinkedIn can help lawyers develop and market their brands
25 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How do you use LinkedIn? Do you see it as a static resume, or is it the equivalent of your morning n...
How neurodiverse lawyers can thrive in the profession–and change it for the better
11 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a business case to be made for hiring attorneys with ADHD, autism, learning disabilities a...
Can the raucous history of Chicago's lakefront teach us how to preserve land for public use?
21 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Joseph D. Kearney and Thomas W. Merrill discuss the shenanigans that ultimately gave the city and th...
Do we need to rethink how we handle classified leaks?
07 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the Pentagon Papers, First Amendment scholars Lee Bolling...
Summer reading and a book coming to the silver screen
23 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Host Lee Rawles shares some of her favorite books she's read since this year, and we revisit our 201...
'Vice Patrol' examines how police and courts enforced anti-gay laws before Stonewall
09 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In Vice Patrol: Cops, Courts, and the Struggle Over Urban Gay Life Before Stonewall, author Anna Lvo...