Legal Talk Network - Law News and Legal Topics

On December 1, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in the landmark copyright case, Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment.  This case centers on whether Cox, an internet service provider, can be held legally liable for copyright infringement committed by its subscribers when those users downloaded and shared thousands of copyrighted songs without permission.  On this episode of Lawyer 2 Lawyer, Craig joins Professor Christopher Jon Sprigman, Co-Director of the Engelberg Center on Innovation Law and Policy at NYU Law,  as they spotlight Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment. Craig & Chris discuss this SCOTUS case, oral arguments, the friend-of-the-court brief, copyright law, and the potential impact of a future ruling.   Mentioned in this Episode: Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment Brief of Amici Curiae ACLU et al. in Support of Petitioners Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Looking for something to occupy yourself over the holidays, or to kick off your 2026? Lee Rawles is joined by her fellow Legal Talk Network hosts Stephanie Everett of the Lawyerist podcast and Conrad Saam and Gyi Tsakalakis of Lunch Hour Legal Marketing to share what books, TV shows and movies they enjoyed this year. They also share some of their own resolutions for 2026–and reveal a special new project for the Modern Law Library, coming soon to your podcast feed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Not all clients are created equal—and some quietly drain your firm’s time, energy, and profits. In episode 593 of the Lawyerist Podcast, Stephanie Everett talks with Affinity Consulting’s Jeff Krause about the hidden cost of bad clients and how law firms can use data to make better decisions about who they serve.  Jeff breaks down his Moneyball-inspired profit formula to show how client quality impacts leads, conversion rates, revenue, and margins. They explore why discount-seeking clients create compounding damage, how setting clearer expectations can improve client behavior, and when it makes sense to let certain clients walk away. A closer look at the tension between profitability and access to justice, and how intentional business models can support both.    Listen to our previous episodes about Client Experience & Law Firm Profitability:  Episode #384 – Delivering Bad News to Clients, with Marjorie Aaron — Apple | Spotify | LTN  Episode #462: Designing an Empathetic Client Experience, with Kirk Simoneau — Apple | Spotify | LTN  Episode #474: Moneyball for Lawyers, with Jeff Krause — Apple | Spotify | LTN  Episode #560 – Stop Doing Everything Yourself! Unlock Your Law Firm’s True Potential, with Leticia DeSuze — Apple | Spotify | LTN    Have thoughts about today’s episode? Join the conversation on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X!  If today's podcast resonates with you and you haven't read The Small Firm Roadmap Revisited yet, get the first chapter right now for free! Looking for help beyond the book? See if our coaching community is right for you.  Access more resources from Lawyerist at lawyerist.com.    Chapters / Timestamps:   00:00 – Introduction  05:12 – Meet Jeff Krause  06:51 – What “Moneyball for Lawyers” Really Means  09:08 – The Profit Formula That Drives Firm Growth  12:46 – How Bad Clients Damage the Numbers  15:30 – The Compounding Cost of Discounts  18:21 – Raising Rates vs. Chasing More Clients  19:45 – Can You Improve Mid-Tier Clients?  21:58 – Profitability vs. Access to Justice  24:19 – Building Intentional Service Models  26:48 – Trusting Your Data—and Your Gut  27:43 – One Step Firms Should Take Right Now  28:23 – Closing Thoughts  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you want 2025 in a nutshell, it doesn't get much better than a blundering Secretary of Defense bragging that the Pentagon bought an expensive, bespoke AI bot and it immediately started calling out the Trump administration for committing war crimes. As the legal industry ventures into a hallucinatory AI frontier, it's worth remembering that sometimes the bots outperform the human lawyers. At the Supreme Court, Justice Sotomayor tries to convince her colleagues not to blow up the federal government over a theory concocted in the 1970s. Sadly, she's fighting the wrong fight. And in a world of mergers -- especially cross-border mergers -- we have a reminder that sometimes it doesn't work out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The failure rate of our prison systems is staggering, with recidivism exceeding 70% in nearly every state. What should this tell us about the success—or lack thereof—of our criminal justice system? And, how can those who are incarcerated survive the harshness of prison and avoid becoming part of the large percentage who seem to inevitably return?  This time on For the Innocent, Michael Semanchik welcomes Matthew Cooke, writer and director of Survivors Guide to Prison, a documentary exploring life in United States prisons from the perspectives of two wrongfully convicted men, Bruce Lisker and Reggie Cole. Drawing from his extensive research, Matthew reveals a system plagued with fundamentally misaligned incentives that do little to create pathways for inmates to succeed on the outside.  Michael and Matthew discuss new shifts in criminal justice reform and offer their thoughts on how to continue to bring this issue to the forefront of public discourse. The system is broken, but change is possible.  Listen to our episode about Bruce Lisker’s story:  A Deceitful Detective & Manipulated Evidence – The Wrongful Conviction of Bruce Lisker. Learn more about Matthew Cooke and his film projects on IMDB: Matthew Cooke - IMDb Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices