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Submit ReviewThat Governing Document Can't Stop Me Because I Can't Read!
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Sammy Alito openly defies the Constitution with European knighthood. Chicago Law tapes classes but isn't interested in letting students actually use those recordings. Students are, unsurprisingly, pissed. Professor Richard Epstein brags about replacing scientists with judges. Yes, the same guy who said COVID would only kill 500 people and got the first Trump administration sold on the idea. And mark your calendars for the lawyer movie from Hallmark's holiday season.
Criticism is meant to be helpful, but often, it just hurts. How can we better absorb the punches and keep a positive attitude?
Glenn Fine's career-long crusade against corruption might have its roots in his college days. As a point guard for the Harvard basketball team, Fine had his personal best game on Dec. 16, 1978, the same day he interviewed for–and received–a Rhodes scholarship. He put up 19 points against Boston College, including eight steals, and the team nearly eeked out a win against the favored Boston players. A remarkable day.
What Fine would later discover was that mobsters had bribed Boston College players to play worse to keep the game tight and not cover the point spread. Henry Hill and Jimmy Burke–later portrayed by Ray Liotta and Robert De Niro in the movie Goodfellas were part of the point-shaving scheme.
Fine would later be drafted in the 10th round of the NBA draft by the San Antonio Spurs, but it was the anti-corruption law that stuck, not basketball.
Fine took a job out of law school as a prosecutor in Washington, D.C., and joined the Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Justice in 1995. He would go on to serve as Inspector General at the DOJ from 2000 to 2011, then at the Department of Defense from 2015 until 2020. He was one of the five inspectors general fired by then-President Donald Trump in what the Washington Post referred to as the "slow-motion Friday night massacre of inspectors general."
But what do inspectors general do? It's a question Fine wants to answer with his book, Watchdogs: Inspectors General and the Battle for Honest and Accountable Government. In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Fine and the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles discuss the function, history and importance of the position, along with ways Fine believes government oversight can be improved.
As of the book's publication in 2024, there are 74 inspector general offices at the federal level, with more than 14,000 employees. As the IG for the Department of Defense, Fine oversaw the largest office, with some 1,700 employees. Inspectors general conduct independent, non-partisan oversight investigations into waste, fraud, misconduct and best practices, and deliver their reports and recommendations to Congress and the agencies involved. The IGs cannot enforce the adoption of recommendations, but their work acts as the "sunshine" for disinfection, Fine says.
One major recommendation Fine makes in Watchdogs is that an inspector general be established for the U.S. Supreme Court and the federal judiciary, who could perhaps file their reports to the chief justice or the head of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Fine points to judicial ethics concerns and polls finding public trust in the Supreme Court at historic lows, and argues one way to increase public trust is through the transparency provided by an inspector general.
Also in this episode, Fine offers advice for anyone considering a career in public service. Rawles and Fine discuss stories of his own investigations, including evaluating the claims of a whistleblowing scientist at the FBI laboratory and looking into how the infamous double-agent spy Robert Hanssen was able to fool his FBI superiors and pass intel to Soviets and Russians.
As the year winds down, it’s a good time to take stock of your life as both a person and a litigator. Are you going in the direction you want, are you shortchanging one aspect of your life to benefit another? Is it working for you?
Guests Anne Marie Seibel and Paula Hinton are experienced and highly successful litigators who explain how they learned to balance family and careers, professional goals, and personal aims. There are times when one part of your life demands your full attention, and then there are times when it’s acceptable to say “no” to a request.
Learning to follow mentors, listen to colleagues, and balance family is an art. A big part of this is building your “board of directors,” people you trust to give you honest feedback, people you can lean on for both support and guidance.
Your life, professional and personal, is a marathon, not a sprint. Take a moment now and then to listen to yourself and your “team” to learn where you are, where you’re going, and what you want. Life throws a lot at you – sometimes things you can’t control, like the COVID pandemic – and each challenge can take control of your career and your life if you let it. Take charge of your life.
Resources:
Previously on Litigation Radio, “Step by Step: How a Prominent Litigator Build Her High-Profile Career"
Since colonial days, the legal profession has been proud of its role in the founding of the republic, the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, and the defense of democracy and the rule of law. However, the profession faces an existential crisis on which the American democratic experiment hinges, says law professor Ray Brescia, author of Lawyer Nation: The Past, Present, and Future of the American Legal Profession. If attorney unethical behavior surrounding the 2020 election repeats without disciplinary repercussions in 2024 . . . democracy itself is at risk.
In this episode, I’m joined by Pete Everitt, and we dive into the intricacies of Google Analytics 4 (GA4), AI's role in the legal industry, and strategies to boost SEO and conversions for law firms.
We discuss key differences between GA4 and Universal Analytics, setting up Google Analytics effectively, and optimizing website conversions. Additionally, we explore the impact of AI on search, creating meaningful content, and leveraging AI for enhanced digital marketing.
Pete also shares insights from 'The Million Dollar Weekend' by Noah Kagan and stresses the importance of sustained client relationship management.
Pete gives listeners actionable tips on:
- 00:00 Intro
- 01:18 Understanding GA4: Basics and Differences
- 02:19 Challenges and Criticisms of GA4
- 05:16 Setting Up GA4: Key Steps and Tips
- 09:04 Tracking and Analyzing Traffic Effectively
- 15:17 Conversion Optimization Strategies
- 19:06 Real-World Examples and Best Practices
- 23:20 Customer Service Frustrations
- 24:16 Website Conversion Essentials
- 25:17 Understanding Calls to Action
- 27:09 Optimizing Client Interaction
- 32:03 Marketing Funnels and Strategies
- 34:18 The Role of AI in SEO
- 39:14 Book Recommendation: The Million Dollar Weekend
- 41:12 Final Thoughts on Conversions
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Connect with Pete here:
Connect with me
As you may have discovered on your own, genAI tools are ready and enthusiastic with their outputs, but may be woefully ill-informed, in spite of the snappy replies they spew out with unfettered confidence. So, what is being done to remedy this issue? Dennis and Tom explain how Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) combines AI’s LLMs with more current external information, addressing problems arising from outdated LLM data. The guys talk through some of their favorite tools that employ RAG effectively and offer insights into their uses for attorneys.
Later, could AI-adoption be diminishing a lawyer’s hard-earned expertise? Dennis and Tom dive into this common fear shared by many traditionally-minded attorneys, focusing on ways to leverage AI not to replace, but enhance their legal practice.
As always, stay tuned for the parting shots, that one tip, website, or observation you can use the second the podcast ends.
Have a technology question for Dennis and Tom? Call their Tech Question Hotline at 720-441-6820 for the answers to your most burning tech questions.
Show Notes - Kennedy-Mighell Report #372
A Segment: AI and RAG: Hate the Name, Love the Application
- Google Notebook LM https://notebooklm.google/
- Perplexity.ai - https://www.perplexity.ai/
- Practical Law with AI: https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/en/products/practical-law
B Segment: A question from our AI Chatbot
Parting Shots:
- Android search with your camera - https://theintelligence.com/34456/android-search-google-lens/
- Ethan Mollick, “Thinking Like an AI” - https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/thinking-like-an-ai
Stephanie speaks with Ari Kaplan about his recent report exploring how midsize law firms can adapt and innovate to succeed in today's legal landscape. The conversation covers how technology can provide firms with greater agility, strategies for managing change fatigue, the importance of effective leadership, and evolving decision-making processes in the legal industry.
Links from the episode:
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!
Guest Christina Hough dives into the topic of neurodivergence in the legal field. The subject refers to how people learn and behave. We’re all “neurodivergent” in that we are all different. The term covers everything from the autism spectrum to ADHD issues to our own individual quirks and how we interact, learn, and understand each other.
When it comes to neurodivergence, the legal system has a particular interest. It has been estimated about 12.5% of lawyers report having ADHD, attention deficit disorders, nearly triple the rate of the general population. And that’s just the beginning.
Law is a stressful profession, and many may not know they have a neurodivergence issue – issues that may only reveal themselves under extreme stress. That’s why awareness is so important as we learn to account for our own differences and others’ and make sure we are communicating with and understanding coworkers and even opposing counsel and witnesses.
It all starts with being aware and giving thought to how the person across the desk processes information and communicates. As the great (fictional) attorney Atticus Finch taught us in “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
Mentioned in This Episode:
San Diego Paralegal Association
“Lawyers With ADHD: Understanding Neurodiversity in the Legal Profession,” JD Nation
Christina Hough’s Presentation
Alexander LaRiviere from expert service provider Bicycle Accident Investigations addresses typical bicycle mechanical failures and the impact on trials and cases.
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