Podcast

PODCAST: A Conversation with Magistrate Judge James M. Wicks

TLR BLOG

United States Magistrate Judges play a vital role in the operation of the federal courts. In this week’s Touro Law Review podcast, Magistrate Judge James M. Wicks discusses why he became a federal magistrate judge, the process for applying and being selected, and his various responsibilities for criminal and civil cases in the Eastern District of New York.

Judge Wicks was inspired, in substantial part, by his clerkship with the Hon. Arthur Spatt and becoming a judge was a “calling” for him. As Judge Wicks explains, the selection process for a federal magistrate is thorough and lengthy, entailing a written application, panel interviews, and an FBI background investigation. In the last part of the discussion with Associate Dean Rodger Citron, Judge Wicks describes his work on criminal and civil cases and provides guidance for attorneys on how to navigate a familiar challenge in civil litigation – discovery disputes – and offers some thoughts on how artificial intelligence (AI) may affect the practice of law.

   

Brought to you by the Touro Law Review.   

Our guest today is Magistrate Judge James M. Wicks.

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PODCAST: The Cases Pending Against Former President Donald J. Trump with Thane Rosenbaum

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When Alexis de Tocqueville wrote, “Scarcely any political question arises in the United States that is not resolved, sooner or later, into a judicial question,” he surely could not have anticipated all of the pending legal cases against former President Donald Trump. Nevertheless, here we are nearly two centuries later, with four criminal prosecutions and one civil case pending and another civil case likely to be filed soon against Trump.  

Thane Rosenbaum, Distinguished University Professor at Touro University, joins us on the Touro Law Review Podcast to help make sense of the legal cases against Trump.  After describing the cases, Rosenbaum explains to Associate Dean Rodger Citron what he finds problematic about each one.  The conversation focuses on the four criminal cases:  the New York “hush money” case; the federal classified documents case in Florida; the federal January 6 case pending in Washington, D.C.; and the Georgia election interference case.  

Brought to you by the Touro Law Review.   

Our guest today is Professor Thane Rosenbaum.

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PODCAST: A Discussion with Associate Professor and Associate Dean Tiffany C. Graham regarding her role on the New York State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

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This Podcast featured Associate Professor and Associate Dean Tiffany C. Graham regarding her role on the New York State Advisory Committee (“Committee”) to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (“Commission”). Professor Zablotsky moderated this podcast, where he asked Professor Graham questions about her role and work on the Committee, which led to a discussion of the racial disparities that Black families face in the child welfare system. Professor Graham started her discussion of her journey to academia, which occurred when she realized quickly private practice was not her passion but rather, she wished to join a student environment. Professor Graham taught in California, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and now is teaching in New York. When in South Dakota, she was a faculty member and the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the University of South Dakota School of Law.  Throughout her time in that state, she had the ability to work on various civil rights issues, in particular those related to matters impacting the LGBTQIA+ community.  While there, she also served as the chair of the South Dakota Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, where she was leading a project focused on maternal mortality rates for Native American women before resigning to take her current  position at Touro Law Center, which was followed by a recommendation to take a spot on the New York advisory committee. 

When she first joined the New York Committee, it decided to study racial disparities in eviction. Most recently, the Committee has been focusing on racial disparities in the foster care system.  Professor Graham noted the importance of looking at the problems in the child welfare system that exist in New York City – where they are acute – as well as throughout the state to fully understand the situation. She was clear and concise about one of the biggest obstacles that Black families face — they are often subjected to over-surveillance under harsh circumstances that derive from implicit and explicit biases. She then laid out the empirical information that the Committee learned from the witnesses who testified before them. Finally, Professor Graham spoke about the major pushback on the discrimination issues and that these problems were not created overnight. Rather, they were created throughout the centuries. She urged that, even though we have made great strides in eliminating discriminatory practices, society must continue to work on eliminating the structural inequalities that impact our institutions to ensure that they do not reproduce the harms of inequality that have existed in our communities. Professor Graham ended the podcast by asking listeners to pay attention and try to become aware of what is happening under the surface that we may not necessarily see but nonetheless exist. 

Professor Graham expects the Committee’s Report to be released at some point next year.

Brought to you by the Touro Law Review.   

Our guest today is Associate Professor and Associate Dean Tiffany C. Graham.

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PODCAST: The Petitioner’s Path to Victory in the Supreme Court in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co.   

TLR BLOG

As the Supreme Court’s 2022-23 term neared its conclusion, the Court issued an important personal jurisdiction decision in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co.  By a five to four vote, the Court rejected a Due Process Clause challenge to Pennsylvania’s corporate registration statute.  In Mallory, this meant upholding a Pennsylvania court’s exercise of personal jurisdiction over a Virginia corporation that did business in Pennsylvania when the corporation was sued by a Virginia citizen for injuries that, he alleged, were caused by the corporation’s conduct outside of Pennsylvania.    

Ashley Keller represented Robert Mallory, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, in the Supreme Court.  In this podcast, Keller discusses with Associate Dean Rodger Citron how he came to take the case, his strategy for getting the Supreme Court to grant certiorari and presenting original public meaning (or originalist) arguments in defense of the Pennsylvania statute, and why he was surprised that Justice Gorsuch ended up drafting the Court’s plurality opinion.  As Keller explains, Mallory is an important case for a number of reasons, including the fact that it shows that plaintiffs may array original public meaning arguments to support their view of the law.      

Brought to you by the Touro Law Review.   

Our guest today is Ashley Keller, Esq.

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PODCAST: A Conversation about the Hon. Irving R. Kaufman with His Biographer

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Lawyer and author Martin J. Siegel discusses his biography of the Hon. Irving R. Kaufman on this week’s Touro Law Review podcast.  Kaufman is most well-known today for having presided over the Cold War espionage case of United States v. Rosenberg, in which Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, a married couple, were charged with conspiring to share atomic secrets with the Soviet Union, found guilty by the jury, and sentenced to death by Judge Kaufman in 1951.  Two years later, after numerous appeals, the United States executed the Rosenbergs.   

Siegel’s biography shows that there was more to Kaufman’s life than the infamous Rosenberg trial. Kaufman, the son of Jewish immigrants, was able and ambitious.  His appointment to the federal bench in 1949, at the age of 39, was an extraordinary accomplishment. No less interesting is that after President Kennedy appointed him to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1961, Kaufman became one of the more liberal judges on that court.  Nonetheless, even today, the Rosenberg case casts a long shadow over Kaufman’s judicial legacy.       

As Siegel discusses with Associate Dean Rodger Citron, the author benefited from the cooperation of Kaufman’s family while writing the book, enabling him to shed light on the judge’s personal life.  The podcast concludes with Siegel sharing his thoughts on the relevance of biography in understanding how judges decide cases and, accordingly, how the law develops through judicial decision-making.

   

Brought to you by the Touro Law Review.   

Our guest today is Professor Martin J. Siegel.

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PODCAST: A Discussion on the New York Court of Appeals with the Honorable Sol Wachtler

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This week on the Touro Law Review Podcast, we are joined by the Honorable Sol Wachtler, former Chief of the New York State Court of Appeals. This podcast is moderated by Professor Lauren Wachtler. Judge Wachtler has had an exceptional career. Serving for many years in government, and as a justice of the New York State Supreme Court, and  later elected to the New York Court of Appeals where he served first as an associate judge and then as its Chief over the course of 14 years.

The discussion begins with a conversation about the complicated and confusing nature of the New York court system after which Judge Wachtler dives into the jurisdiction of the New York Court of Appeals, its present mandate that it may only review issues of law on appeal.  Judge Wachtler discusses many present and past cases of interest which have become before the NY State Court of Appeals, including “The Subway Vigilante” case of Bernard Goetz. 

   

Brought to you by the Touro Law Review.   

Our guest today is the Honorable Sol Wachtler.

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PODCAST: Representing Unpopular Defendants with Anthony LaPinta

TLR BLOG

This week on the Touro Law Review Podcast, we are joined by guest speaker Anthony LaPinta. This podcast is moderated by Professor Lynne Kramer. The topic of discussion surrounds the Valva case where Michael Valva and his fiancé, Angela Pollina were found guilty of the murder of Michael Valva’s eight-year-old son, Thomas Valva. Anthony LaPinta discusses in this podcast the important facts of this case. Mr. LaPinta explains how he voluntarily agreed, alongside two other top defense attorneys in the country, to represent Mr. Valva– an indigent defendant –as assigned counsel.

Mr. LaPinta and Professor Kramer discuss the seemingly difficult task of representing such an unpopular defendant where the facts of the case are as troubling and emotional as the facts are in this case. However, Mr. LaPinta’s strong beliefs in the criminal justice system and the foundational notion that everyone is entitled to an attorney allows him to zealously represent such unpopular defendants. Throughout this conversation, Anthony LaPinta and Professor Kramer discuss picking a jury, dealing with client honesty or dishonesty, and making good faith arguments in a defense.

Brought to you by the Touro Law Review.   

Our guest today is Anthony LaPinta.

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