41 episodes

Original Jurisdiction, a podcast about law and the legal profession, features host David Lat interviewing some of the most interesting, influential, and important people in the world of law. It's the companion podcast to Lat's Substack newsletter of the same name. You can follow David on Twitter (@DavidLat) or email him at davidlat@substack.com, and you can subscribe to his newsletter at davidlat.substack.com.

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Original Jurisdiction David Lat

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    • 5.0 • 25 Ratings

Original Jurisdiction, a podcast about law and the legal profession, features host David Lat interviewing some of the most interesting, influential, and important people in the world of law. It's the companion podcast to Lat's Substack newsletter of the same name. You can follow David on Twitter (@DavidLat) or email him at davidlat@substack.com, and you can subscribe to his newsletter at davidlat.substack.com.

davidlat.substack.com

    From Prosecutor To Presidential Candidate: Chris Christie

    From Prosecutor To Presidential Candidate: Chris Christie

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit davidlat.substack.com

    Welcome to Original Jurisdiction, the latest legal publication by me, David Lat. You can learn more about Original Jurisdiction by reading its About page, and you can email me at davidlat@substack.com. This is a reader-supported publication; you can subscribe by clicking here. Thanks!
    Chris Christie has had an interesting and eventful career in public li…

    • 55 min
    Designing The Law Firm Of The Future: David Elsberg

    Designing The Law Firm Of The Future: David Elsberg

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit davidlat.substack.com

    Would you leave a thriving law firm to strike out on your own? Many risk-averse lawyers would not, but David Elsberg has done so—twice.
    In 2018, David left Quinn Emanuel to launch Selendy Gay, later Selendy Gay Elsberg—which today is one of the nation’s top litigation boutiques. Then last month, he made the news again with the launch of Elsberg Baker & Maruri, which he co-founded with former colleagues from both Quinn Emanuel and Selendy Gay.
    David is one of the country’s leading commercial litigators—according to Chambers, Law360, Lawdragon, and Benchmark Litigation—and in this new episode of the Original Jurisdiction podcast, we discussed his career as a trial lawyer. But I was just as interested in getting his thoughts on two topics that have been on my mind a fair amount lately.
    First, why are so many great lawyers, especially litigators, leaving Biglaw to launch boutiques? And second, if you could design a law firm from the ground up, how would you structure it? David and his new partners have put a lot of thought into institutional design—and their firm bucks Biglaw trends in several different ways, as he explained to me in our conversation.
    Congratulations and good luck to David and his colleagues on the launch of their new firm. Based on his track record as both a litigator and a founder, I’m predicting great success for David and Elsberg Baker & Maruri.
    Show Notes:
    * David Elsberg bio, Elsberg Baker & Maruri PLLC
    * Wall Street Litigation Firm Starts With Selendy Gay Recruits, by Tatyana Monnay for Bloomberg Law
    * Selendy Gay Founder, Quinn Emanuel Partners To Form New Law Firm, by Sara Merken for Reuters
    * Selendy Gay’s David Elsberg, Quinn Emanuel Partners To Launch New Litigation Boutique, by Dan Roe for the New York Law Journal
    Prefer reading to listening? For paid subscribers, a transcript of the entire episode appears below.
    Sponsored by:
    NexFirm helps Biglaw attorneys become founding partners. To learn more about how NexFirm can help you launch your firm, call 212-292-1000 or email careerdevelopment@nexfirm.com.

    • 42 min
    Holding Trump Accountable: Shawn Crowley

    Holding Trump Accountable: Shawn Crowley

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit davidlat.substack.com

    Welcome to Original Jurisdiction, the latest legal publication by me, David Lat. You can learn more about Original Jurisdiction by reading its About page, and you can email me at davidlat@substack.com. This is a reader-supported publication; you can subscribe by clicking here. Thanks!
    What does it feel like to call out Donald Trump—with Trump sitting five feet away?
    Not many lawyers have had that experience, but Shawn Crowley has. Along with Roberta Kaplan, a previous guest on this podcast, Crowley represented writer E. Jean Carroll in her defamation lawsuit against former president Donald Trump. Delivering a closing statement that the New York Times called “an animated and passionate rebuttal,” Crowley called on the jury to “make him pay enough so that he will stop” defaming Carroll—which the jury did, issuing an $83.3 million verdict.
    The 40-year-old Crowley is one of the country’s leading trial lawyers. During her six-plus years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, she worked on several headline-making cases—including the trial and conviction of the so-called “Chelsea Bomber,” Ahmad Khan Rahimi, for perpetrating a terrorist attack in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in October 2016.
    You’ll be hearing a lot more about Shawn for years to come, so get to know her through this wide-ranging podcast interview. And congrats again to her and her colleagues at Kaplan Hecker & Fink on an epic win.
    Show Notes:
    * Shawn G. Crowley bio, Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP
    * Jury Orders Trump to Pay Carroll $83.3 Million After Years of Insults, by Benjamin Weiser, Jonah E. Bromwich, Maria Cramer, and Kate Christobek, for the New York Times
    * E. Jean Carroll attorney: Trump verdict proves ‘your lies’ catch up to you, All In With Chris Hayes
    Prefer reading to listening? For paid subscribers, a transcript of the entire episode appears below.
    Sponsored by:
    NexFirm helps Biglaw attorneys become founding partners. To learn more about how NexFirm can help you launch your firm, call 212-292-1000 or email careerdevelopment@nexfirm.com.

    • 48 min
    No Regrets: An Interview With David Boies

    No Regrets: An Interview With David Boies

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit davidlat.substack.com

    Welcome to Original Jurisdiction, the latest legal publication by me, David Lat. You can learn more about Original Jurisdiction by reading its About page, and you can email me at davidlat@substack.com. This is a reader-supported publication; you can subscribe by clicking here. Thanks!
    In part one of my two-part interview of David Boies, I asked the famed trial lawyer to do what he does best: analyze cases and controversies. In part two, we turned to a topic that’s closer to home: David Boies.
    My husband Zach tells me that I’m too soft as an interviewer. Trying to prove him wrong, I asked David some tough questions about sensitive subjects. Do you rue the day you met Elizabeth Holmes? What do you regret about your work for Harvey Weinstein? Why doesn’t Boies Schiller Flexner have an anti-nepotism policy? What will be in your Times obituary?
    I’ve interviewed David on multiple occasions over the years, and we’ve never had any tense moments—until now. If you usually read my podcast interviews, you might want to listen to this one.
    David fielded my aggressive questions thoughtfully, eloquently, and graciously—which is exactly what I expected of this legal lion. But listen for yourself and reach your own verdict on David Boies.
    Show Notes:
    * David Boies Pleads Not Guilty, by James B. Stewart for the New York Times
    * The Bad, Good Lawyer, by Andrew Rice for New York Magazine
    Prefer reading to listening? For paid subscribers, a transcript of the entire episode appears below.
    Sponsored by:
    NexFirm helps Biglaw attorneys become founding partners. To learn more about how NexFirm can help you launch your firm, call 212-292-1000 or email careerdevelopment@nexfirm.com.

    • 54 min
    Anti-Trump Lawsuits Are 'Greatly Mistaken': An Interview With David Boies

    Anti-Trump Lawsuits Are 'Greatly Mistaken': An Interview With David Boies

    I’ve come full circle. A little more than three years ago, I launched Original Jurisdiction with an interview of superstar litigator David Boies, 82, one of the most famous living American lawyers. Now I’m speaking with him again, this time for a special two-part podcast interview.
    In today’s interview, part one of two, David discusses current events. Most notably, given his representation of Al Gore in Bush v. Gore, he’s critical of attempts to keep Donald Trump off the ballot based on Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment, from both consequentialist and constitutional perspectives. He’s also not a fan of most of the criminal and civil cases targeting the former president.
    This is just part one; in part two, David and I will focus on his life and career. And fear not, dear listeners: I will “go there” and ask about Harvey Weinstein, Elizabeth Holmes, the near-implosion of Boies Schiller Flexner, and other sensitive subjects.
    In the meantime, enjoy part one of my conversation with David Boies. Whether or not you agree with him, he always has interesting things to say.
    Sponsored by:
    NexFirm helps Biglaw attorneys become founding partners. To learn more about how NexFirm can help you launch your firm, call 212-292-1000 or email careerdevelopment@nexfirm.com.


    This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidlat.substack.com/subscribe

    • 50 min
    'Integrity': An Interview With Judge Pauline Newman

    'Integrity': An Interview With Judge Pauline Newman

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit davidlat.substack.com

    Welcome to Original Jurisdiction, the latest legal publication by me, David Lat. You can learn more about Original Jurisdiction by reading its About page, and you can email me at davidlat@substack.com. This is a reader-supported publication; you can subscribe by clicking here. Thanks!
    For the past 10 months, the legal world has been transfixed by the Pauline Newman saga. At 96, Judge Pauline Newman is the nation’s oldest active federal judge. Last March, her longtime colleague, Chief Judge Kimberly Moore, initiated an effort to remove Judge Newman from the Federal Circuit.
    The complaint against Judge Newman was initially based on her supposed “cognitive decline” and “paranoid and bizarre behavior,” but it later morphed to focus on her unwillingness to cooperate with Chief Judge Moore’s investigation. Judge Newman said she’d be happy to cooperate with an investigation—as long as it’s conducted by a neutral party, namely, the judicial council of another circuit.
    As I have written repeatedly, I agree with Judge Newman on her due-process argument. It’s routine for circuit judges to transfer an investigation of a fellow circuit judge—as opposed to, say, a district, magistrate, or bankruptcy judge—to another circuit. And there are some interpersonal issues between Chief Judge Moore and Judge Newman, which I might write about in the future, that make it completely inappropriate for Moore to be leading this investigation.
    I was agnostic, however, on Judge Newman’s mental capacity. I read, along with everyone else, the gossipy details in Chief Judge Moore’s various reports that made Newman sound, well, totally out of it. But I also read and heard accounts from other sources—such as journalists who visited Newman in chambers, and lawyers who saw her speak at conferences—stating that she’s just fine.
    On January 4, I met with Judge Newman and her clerks in chambers, for about four hours. Last Friday, I interviewed Judge Newman on my podcast, for another hour. I’m now of the view that she’s completely lucid and sane—and I have reason to disbelieve or at least question much of what I’ve read in the takedowns of her. (I’m hoping to publish a deep dive into the drama at the Federal Circuit, which is actually quite fascinating—and if you have information or insight to share, please email me.)
    But you don’t have to take my word for it when it comes to Judge Newman’s condition. Listen to our almost hour-long podcast conversation—or watch video clips of the judge that I’ll be posting later this week, at her request—and judge for yourself.
    Show Notes:
    * Pauline Newman bio, Wikipedia
    * Colleagues want a 95-year-old judge to retire. She’s suing them instead, by Rachel Weiner for the Washington Post
    * Fed. Circuit’s Newman, 96, Fights Colleagues From Sideline, by Michael Shapiro for Bloomberg Law
    Prefer reading to listening? For paid subscribers, a transcript of the entire episode appears below.
    Sponsored by:
    NexFirm helps Biglaw attorneys become founding partners. To learn more about how NexFirm can help you launch your firm, call 212-292-1000 or email careerdevelopment@nexfirm.com.

    • 51 min

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