According to the League of Women Voters, “Voting is a fundamental principle, and all Americans deserve the equal opportunity to make their voices heard in our democracy.” Yet over the years, various states have suppressed voters from reaching the ballot box through various methods like strict ID laws, purging voter rolls, and cutting early voting. 

Gerrymandering, defined as “to manipulate the boundaries of (an electoral constituency) so as to favor one party or class” has taken center stage when it comes to voting in elections. Just recently, SCOTUS decided to take up a South Carolina racial gerrymandering case, a lower court decision that struck down a congressional district in South Carolina as an illegal racial gerrymander. This case will be heard by SCOTUS next term.

In this episode, host Craig Williams joins guest, professor Ruth Greenwood, Director of the Election Law Clinic at Harvard Law School. Craig and Ruth discuss election law, voting rights, gerrymandering, and SCOTUS and the South Carolina racial gerrymandering case.

Take a deep dive into eDiscovery for small and midsized firms with an old friend and frequent New Solo contributor, guest Brett Burney, a lawyer and longtime consultant who’s passionate about legal tech. Facing a mountain of electronic documents from PDFs to spreadsheets to emails to texts in discovery? You don’t need to be an expert, but you do need to understand the basics, the traps, and the available tools.

Start by accepting that electronic files aren’t paper files. They are inherently different and aren’t meant to be printed out. Embrace the format and treat electronic documents as what they are. If you print electronic documentation out, or you accept a printed version, you’re not getting the full picture, and you’re letting potentially valuable information slip through your fingers.

It's a digital world, and litigation is more likely than ever to include emails, smartphones, voice mails, social media posts and comments, and texts.

If you’ve been wondering if you’re doing the best job possible with eDiscovery, this is the episode for you.

Got questions or ideas about solo and small practices? Drop us a line at NewSolo@legaltalknetwork.com 

Topics:

• Electronic discovery (eDiscovery) involves electronic files that are inherently different than paper discovery. What you need to know and mistakes you may be making.
• Metadata included in electronic documents can offer valuable clues that help you prepare your case, but it’s easy to contaminate that data.
• Understand the available tools that organize, preserve, and prepare digital evidence, including extracting text messages, voice memos, and emails from smartphones and tablets. 

Mentioned in This Episode:

Previously on New Solo, with guest Brett Burney

LegalWeek New York

iMazing

“Forensic Image,” Science Direct

Synctech

Synctech SMS Backup and Restore

X1 Search

vault.com/">Page Vault

Pagefreezer

WebPreserver vs. Pagefreezer

Relativity

Relativity One

Everlaw

NextPoint

Logicull

Disco

Lexbe

GoldFynch

Acrobat

Digital WarRoom

NextPoint blog, “eDiscovery with Outlook: 3 Reasons Why Outlook is NOT a Document Review Tool,”

Let’s talk about bias. Not just “explicit” bias, the conscious bias for or against someone. Instead, think about “implicit” bias, those subconscious decisions we all make about hiring, capability, and value because of our own experiences. It happens every day. 

Guest Al De La Cruz leads the litigation department for the San Diego office of Manning & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez, Trester LLP and examines how our own internal biases affect our daily decisions, even if we don’t realize it. 

When legal cases touch on discrimination or other issues in employment law, start with understanding how the decision was made. What was going on? It’s complicated.

To overcome bias, start by being intentional. Learn to reflect on your decisions and understand your own starting point and thought process. It’s not just race, ethnicity, or gender. Think about being tall, short, older, younger, etc.

Bias has consequences across our daily lives, from education to business to economics and the law. Take this opportunity to make the best, most equitable, decisions you can. Start with the Harvard University’s implicit bias test.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Law360 Article, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (free registration required)

Implicit Association Test (IAT), Harvard University

American Bar Association, “Implicit Bias Videos and Toolkit”

many-ceos-tall-people-height-matter-bisi-daniels.html?tztc=1">New York Times, “Why Many CEOs Are Tall People? The Height Of The Matter” (registration required)

The Economic Times, “The Necktie Syndrome: Why CEOs Tend To Be Significantly Taller Than The Average Male”

“Thinking Fast and Slow,” Daniel Khaneman

“Blink, The Power of Thinking Without Thinking,” Malcolm Gladwell

From the depths of addiction to helping attorneys overcome their own, lawyer and author Brian Cuban joins the show to share his personal journey, as well as shed light on the often overlooked issue of substance abuse within the legal community.

Drawing from his own struggles, Brian highlights the unique pressures, stressors, and challenges which can commonly lead lawyers down the path of addiction. He also offers valuable advice to attorneys and law school students who find themselves grappling with similar issues.

Tune in as we delve into the prominence of substance abuse, events that can contribute to addiction, available resources for support and guidance, and the steps lawyers can take towards a healthier and more fulfilling life.

Lately, AI developments have been top of mind for just about everybody—lawyers included. And with AI’s potential to solve all kinds of workflow problems and majorly improve access to justice, the excitement around it does have real merit. However, concerns about accuracy, security, and the current lack of regulation are just as pressing as the excitement surrounding the AI bandwagon. To address all these issues and more, Sharon Nelson and Jim Calloway welcome John Simek to unpack the latest AI trends and their implications for lawyers. 

John W. Simek is vice president of the digital forensics, managed information technology and cybersecurity firm Sensei Enterprises.