In today's episode, we take a look at arbitration, an increasingly popular device being used to take disputes out of the courtroom. What might arbitration mean for you? Listen and find out!
We begin, however, with a question from patron Faye Reppas, who asks about HR 2802, th...
2017-02-17 05:11:35 +0000 UTC View Post
In today's episode, we take a look at the ongoing status of Executive Order 13769 (often referred to as the "Muslim Ban"). What exactly did the 9th Circuit decide, and how does it affect the status of efforts to restrict emigration going forward?
We begin, however, with a Breakin' Down ...
2017-02-14 03:39:12 +0000 UTC View PostThe answer to the question was (B) -- that character evidence may be offered when it is relevant to the material facts of the case. Since character is at issue in this case, it can be proven by reputation, opinion or past acts evidence as per Rule 405(b) of the Federal Rules of Evidence.
Sad...
2017-02-12 22:37:26 +0000 UTC View Post
Brought to you by Audible! Go to http://www.audible.com/lawpod for a free 30 day trial!
So Kellyanne Conway recommended we all buy Ivanka Trump's clothing and this has everyone wondering if she has broken the law. Has she? Find ...
2017-02-11 03:57:39 +0000 UTC View Post
In today's episode, we take a look at the law of contracts, and particularly in the context of the recent lawsuit involving former Speaker of the House Denny Hastert.
We begin, however, with a related question from patron Michael, who asks whether the Scientologists can really enforce that billion...
2017-02-10 04:48:13 +0000 UTC View PostOkay, patrons, here's the deal:
We're going to have on a tax expert who has reviewed Presidential tax returns and he's going to tell us ALL about what we could learn (and what we can't learn) from Donald Trump's tax returns if they're ever made public -- say, during discovery in the CREW/emolument...
2017-02-07 19:44:16 +0000 UTC View Post
In today's episode, we examine one of the favorite policy recommendations of President Trump's Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos: the school voucher. What is it? Is it constitutional? Listen and find out!
We begin, however, with a Breakin' Down the Law segment where Andre...
2017-02-07 05:04:57 +0000 UTC View PostThe answer to the question was (D) -- that the second cousin became the sole owner of the estate upon the death of the first cousin due to the right of survivorship. This requires you to know the legal definition of a "joint tenancy," which is really, really tricky.
Sadly, Thomas got this qu...
2017-02-06 20:52:06 +0000 UTC View Post
In today's episode, we take a look at President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch. The main segment was recorded before the announcement and reflects our guess (correctly!) that he would be the nominee, so you'll hear some speculative language.
We begin, however, with a question fr...
2017-02-03 05:45:22 +0000 UTC View Post
We've got a couple awesome bonus questions for patrons only, brought to you by HelloFresh.com ! Make sure to try it and use the promo code "lawpod" and yes, always take cooking advice from our podcast!
2017-02-02 05:13:33 +0000 UTC View Post
For the third installment of Law'd Awful Movies, we've returned to the king of terrible legal movies: John Grisham. Some people have tried to tell us that John Grisham has a law degree, or that he's really writing sophisticated multi-level satire about how the layman views the law, or......
2017-02-01 05:58:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Today's episode revisits a question we tackled way back in Episode #16, namely, whether President Trump has the authority to enact his Muslim Ban.
We begin with an examination of the recent CREW lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that President Trump has violated the Emoluments Clause. I...
2017-01-31 05:06:41 +0000 UTC View PostThe answer to the question was (A); that the landowner had a duty to warn. Thomas got this correct, and is now 6-for-8 (75%) and on an amazing five-question winning streak. Noah got this one wrong, and is also 6-for-8, dropping into a tie with Thomas for the lead.
This...
2017-01-30 13:38:18 +0000 UTC View Post
Today's episode is part two of our two-part series on pending changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"). As we've previously mentioned, in 2016, the Obama Department of Labor promulgated new rules requiring that employees who are "exempt" from the FLSA's overtime requirements ...
2017-01-27 18:23:39 +0000 UTC View Post
Today's episode is part one of a two-part series on pending changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"). As we've previously mentioned, in 2016, the Obama Department of Labor promulgated new rules requiring that employees who are "exempt" from the FLSA's overtime requirements must earn at...
2017-01-24 08:15:46 +0000 UTC View PostThe answer to the question was (C). Thomas is now 5-for-7 (71%) and has earned that "Gentleman's C-" on the bar exam.
This question tested Thomas's knowledge of the exceptions to the hearsay rule contained in ...
2017-01-22 21:14:32 +0000 UTC View Post
Because Andrew is such an awesome guy, and so are our wonderful patrons!!
2017-01-21 23:40:44 +0000 UTC View Post
Today's episode is part two of our two-part series on whether the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution applies to incoming President Donald Trump.
We begin, however, with a listener question from Erik Alsman who asks whether the Supreme Court has the power to declare an amendment to the Cons...
2017-01-20 08:26:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Today's episode is part one of a two-part series on whether the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution applies to incoming President Donald Trump.
We begin, however, by addressing another Trump-related question: Does a recent report claiming that 50+ Trump electors are ineligible provide the ...
2017-01-17 06:03:28 +0000 UTC View PostThe answer to the question was (C). Thomas is now 4-for-6 (67%) and is on an improbable winning streak.
This question tested whether you knew that a prenuptial agreement must be in writing to be enforceable. Almost everyone who answered this question online did so correctly, so I guess...
2017-01-16 16:00:29 +0000 UTC View Post
Today's episode is a mini-masterclass on Copyright. We begin by answering a question from listener Sue Barnum who asks if a simple list can be copyrighted.
After that, we move to the main discussion over the Copyright Act and the "fair use" defense, using as an illustration the recent story ...
2017-01-13 08:37:36 +0000 UTC View Post
Today's episode begins with Breakin' Down the Law in which we discuss the recently-enacted "Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act," and whether the Act constitutes a significant legal protection for atheists.
During our main segment, we are excited to have on Simon Tam, founder of the ...
2017-01-10 04:39:45 +0000 UTC View PostThe answer to the question was (D). Thomas is now 3-for-5 (60%) and has never enjoyed this segment more.
This question tested whether you knew that the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of procedural due process protected you from having the state freeze your wages without the opportunity fo...
2017-01-09 16:33:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Today's episode begins with a question from Adrien Thuren about the minimum wage. How come restaurants can seemingly pay wait staff less than minimum wage? And if that's legal, why don't other industries don't start paying their employees less than minimum wage too? Andrew tells us...
2017-01-06 06:30:51 +0000 UTC View Post
Welcome to the first Opening Arguments of 2017, and the first episode on our new two-episode-per-week schedule. Just a reminder: we will be releasing these episodes on Tuesdays and Fridays every week. More on scheduling below.
Today's e...
2017-01-03 05:48:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe answer to the question was (B). Thomas is now 2-for-4 (50%) and is feeling cautiously optimistic about the next question.
This question was asking a basic principle of law: does the tort of trespass require the plaintiff to prove a specific intent to injure on the part of the defen...
2017-01-02 04:29:08 +0000 UTC View Post
[podcast src="https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/e...
2016-12-28 07:25:24 +0000 UTC View PostThe answer to the question was (C). Thomas is now 1-for-3 (33%) and is nervously wondering whether law school was the right move or not.
Thomas chose (D), which earns him no points for predicting the correct result -- that the appellate court is not likely to reverse the trial court's decisi...
2016-12-27 00:00:18 +0000 UTC View Post
We are terrible, horrible people. We have taken a beloved holiday classic -- in fact, Andrew's sister's favorite holiday movie -- and done awful, terrible things to it. And most of that isn't about how badly this movie mangles the law.
Make no mistake: this mov...
2016-12-25 04:32:33 +0000 UTC View Post
It's a two-episode week! In this week's Wednesday episode, we are joined by Tom & Cecil of the Cognitive Dissonance podcast for a discussion about freedom of speech and whether online platforms such as Facebook and Twitter o...
2016-12-21 07:17:32 +0000 UTC View Post