Scott Drake talks to John Levine of the anti spam advocacy group Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email. 

Law students Neil Weare and David Noah and a dozen classmates have spent thousands of hours interviewing plaintiffs, conducting research, drafting briefs and developing oral arguments in a lawsuit that would have cost an estimated $5 million to $7 million if handled by private lawyers.

The law students, representing the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding and public school students across the state for free, argued that the Connecticut Constitution guarantees every student at least an adequate education.

"We had a healthy sense of nerves," Weare said. "When you have potentially the future of Connecticut's schoolchildren resting on this argument today, there's a lot riding on it."

Weare and Noah are among the 80 percent of Yale Law School students who participate in clinics where they represent real people with real issues in courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

Scott Drake talks with David Noah about the case in this podcast. 

As regular readers and listeners to The Legal Broadcast Network and The Settlement Channel know, 468b trusts, also know as qualified settlement funds, are one of the single most useful and powerful tools for the management of multi-claimant/multi-defendant litigation. They provide a safe harbor during the management and prosecution of a case into which funds can be received by defendants at various times and amounts, with out taxable receipt by the attorney or the plaintiffs in the case. This allows for a rational, transparent process by which legal fees are paid, expenses are paid, government benefits or liens calculated and accounted for, structured annuities purchased and funded along with other substantial benefits. 

However, as these gain in popularity and awareness in the trial practices of leading attorneys, the potential for mistakes or over reaching as to their use looms large and that is the focus of these articles and this two part podcast. Rob and Mark discuss how lawyers can avoid mistakes in the creation of these trusts in the first place, but in the article and podcast they also review the process by which a code sec. 468b trust for a lawyers trust account can potentially be established even after receiving settlement proceeds. This is a very technical area and one that attorneys or settlement professionals should tread carefully in, and only with top quality tax counsel that knows exactly what they are doing.

If you or your firm are considering the use of a 468b trust, or possibly have received funds in a recent case that you think might have been better served by the process of electing status of a 468b trust, then you should listen to these two podcasts or go to Rob Wood's site where you can access the complete articles.

You can listen to the first podcast on 468b trusts by clicking here.

You can listen to the second follow up podcast on 468b trusts by clicking here. 

As you know, LBN has been following this story over the past few months, and in this podcast Karl Stark goes into the 2-1 ruling from a Federal Appeals court panel that sided with the drug industry on the sufficiency of warnings on drug labels.

You can listen to the entire podcast by clicking here.

Or you can go to Speaking of Justice to download the full podcast or cut and paste it to your site.

Preemption is going to be addressed by the full Supreme Court in the Wyeth vs Levine case that is in the current docket, but this appeals court ruling adds further momentum to the argument that the FDA is going to be providing cover to drug companies in state courts regarding their potentially defective or dangerous products. This podcast gives you a quick back ground of what has gone on so far, gives you the framework of what the Wyeth v Levine case is going to be about and the potential impact to trial lawyers and injured parties in the year ahead.  

You may also read the entire article from Karl Stark by clicking here. 

John Grisham spends a good part of his time with us talking about his support for Hillary Clinton's run for the Presidency, his long friendship with the Clinton's and his views as to why he feels she is the strongest candidate to lead the Democratic Party to victory in November. As most of his fan's know, and even others who might not have read his books but who have seen the movie adaptations, Grisham is a former trial lawyer himself, a man who ran for political office back before his writing career took off, and his thoughts on exactly why he believes so strongly in her candidacy should be of interest to his fans, and to political types who are fascinated with the epic electoral battle between Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama.

John Grisham doesn't grant a lot of interviews and we are pleased he took the time to join The Legal Broadcast Network for this enjoyable and revealing conversation where fan's of the author of such best sellers as The Appeal,  The Innocent Man, The Broker, The Last Juror, The King of Torts and The Client, can get a glimpse into the political beliefs and theories of this intriguing author.

While LBN doesn't cover politics on a regular basis, we definitely discuss political issues, the views of trial lawyers and opinion makers in the law, and this is a really enjoyable, insightful podcast that will appeal to Democrats who are looking at the choice between Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama and are interested why John Grisham is convinced that Hillary Clinton is the best choice for her party. He also discusses why the idea of a Clinton/Obama ticket doesn't look like a winner in his eyes and the importance of a candidate having been in the arena and tested the way Hillary Clinton has so they are fully able to compete in a national campaign in November. Just a really solid podcast.

You can listen to the entire podcast with John Grisham by clicking here.

Or you can go to the audio player at the bottom of this post which links to the Speaking of Justice video archive and listen to the entire John Grisham interview by clicking the player.  

Also, if you want to know more about John Grisham, you can click this link and go to his official page at Random House which has all of his books, his bio and other information you might want on this author.

These interviews and the expanded coverage you are seeing from The Legal Broadcast Network are just the "toe in the water" of what is going to be a dramatic expansion over the next few months to a full video, daily broadcast platform with radio podcasts, video news and interviews ,as well as in depth writing and discussion for attorney's , law students, judges and others intrigued by the law. Also, don't forget to check out our beta test page for Speaking of Justice, the new social/professional network for attorneys that will feature all of our video, audio, blog posts, discussion boards and social networks. Just one more tool for you to use being brought to you by The Legal Broadcast Network.  

One of the areas of interest to attorney's nationally, particularly women attorney's, is the ability to learn from and be mentored by other lawyers who have risen to a level of prominence. Kathleen in her article as well as this featured podcast on The Legal Broadcast Network uses Senator and former first Lady Hillary Clinton as an object lesson for women lawyers as to the pit falls that await women attorney's in particular.

What we at LBN particularly like about this podcast, and the accompanying article in Texas Lawyer that you can access by clicking here, is that Kathleen makes no apologies for being tough on herself and associates and in one section advises women attorney's to get a thicker skin, and in another to never under estimate your opponent. This is a really solid podcast and has interest far beyond just "women legal issues" but is an insightful analysis by an attorney who has walked the walk of building a dynamic and successful legal career and has value advice for law students, young lawyers and others looking to build a career and a practice.

You can learn more about Attorney Kathleen Wu by clicking here at her site at Andrews Kurth or by linking to her article in Texas Lawyer by clicking here.

The Wall Street Journal link is available here.  

The full podcast is available by clicking this link or by going to Speaking of Justice and looking for audio podcasts.  Just a reminder that Speaking of Justice's new social multi-media web site is now actively in beta test stage, is open for anyone to join and will be formally launched in 10 days.  

In our daily broadcast on Speaking of Justice, we were joined last week by Mickey Sherman to discuss in greater detail his recent book, " How can you defend those people?", a look at his life as one of the nations most high profile criminal defense attorneys.  As his book jacket and review says " In the tradition of true crime bestsellers by Alan Dershowitz and Dominick Dunne, Mickey Sherman delivers a powerful and extraordinarily candid account of his legal career that gives the readers an all-access backstage pass to not only the sausage factory that is the criminal justice system but the “big cases” we have all lived with on TV. "

Speaking of Justice host Scott Drake gets a deeper look at the issue of how criminal defense attorney's need to view their professional and ethical responsibilities, as well as attempt to educate the public on the constitutional right every citizen has to a vigorous and powerful defense. If you are a fan of legal issues, a practicing trial or defense attorney or a law student this well written book is going to be of value to you. 

Listen in to our podcast with famed criminal defense Attorney Mickey Sherman and learn "how he can defend those people" and the crucial role a defense attorney plays in our legal system.

You may also purchase his book on Amazon by click this link. We encourage you to purchase it for yourself or for the next person who asks why "criminals" are entitled to a vigorous defense.  

This podcast is a further example of the kind of authors, legal experts and commentators you can expect to find every day on The Legal Broadcast Network and our daily audio show, "Speaking of Justice". In the next few weeks you will witness our transformation to a daily video show as well, capitalizing on our recent expansion and the acquisition of the people and talent necessary to evolve LBN into the daily watering hole for lawyers of all types, practices and areas of interest.

If you have a guest, a topic or material you'd like to see us cover on Speaking of Justice, drop us a note or call our studio and we will be happy to get them on the air.  

The origin of this case was a suit brought by the Alaska for reimbursement of Medicare or Medicaid prescriptions written for Alaska residents, at an average of $5000 per case, on the theory that the manufacturer had not adequately warned about the drugs side effects of excessive weight gain, risk to diabetics and subsequent illness and medical risks that this created to a wide class of people who used the drug. While effective as an antipsychotic in many cases, these secondary risks were glossed over or poorly explained and resulted in health and medical issues for a large number of residents. In addition, it was marketed for off label uses that went well beyond it's studied or approved uses by the FDA.

Roberta Ashkin, in this podcast on both the Alaska case and the larger picture of Zyprexa litigation, discusses the foundation of these cases, the implication in other state reimbursement cases as well as the looming issue of preemption and the part it played in this case being settled. What at first look seems like a minor settlement and a win for Eli Lilly in making this go away, actually has broad implications on other similar cases in many states.

The timing of the settlement, three weeks into trial, was curious and if you want to know more we strongly urge you to listen to this podcast on Zyprexa litigation, a featured commentary brought to you exclusively on The Legal Broadcast Network. 

You can also find the WSJ article on the Alaska settlement with Eli Lilly by clicking here.