The law affects our lives and our society in many unique and profound ways. Reasonably Speaking, produced by The American Law Institute, features interviews with legal experts on some of the most important legal topics of our time. Each episode takes you through the law in action, beyond courtrooms and casebooks. Whether you are a legal scholar or a concerned citizen, this examination of the relationship between our laws and our society will leave you with a better understanding of how we go ...
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Judges Under Siege: Threats, Disinformation, and the Decline of Public Trust in the Judiciary
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This episode addresses the alarming surge of attacks on judges and courts. These attacks range from threats and acts of physical violence to a corrosive rhetoric that undermines public confidence in the judiciary. While criticism of court decisions is a vital aspect of a healthy democracy, dismissing the courts as corrupt or illegitimate threatens …
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Empowering Everyday Choices: A Conversation on Philip Howard's "Everyday Freedom"
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Is America’s governing framework hindering our ability to make simple choices in daily life? In this episode of Reasonably Speaking, ALI President David F. Levi sits down with author and lawyer Philip Howard to discuss his new book, Everyday Freedom: Designing the Framework for a Flourishing Society. They’re joined by Judge Edith Jones and Professo…
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Exploring ALI's History and Influence
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On the occasion of ALI’s anniversary, we brought together three of our project Reporters to talk about ALI’s history and a few of our most influential projects. In this discussion, ALI Centennial History Book Editor Andrew Gold is joined by Deborah A. DeMott (Reporter for Restatement of the Law Third, Agency), John C.P. Goldberg (Associate Reporter…
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ALI Oral History Series: Roberta Cooper Ramo and Michael Traynor
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Mike served as ALI's eighth president from 2000 to 2008, and Roberta as ALI's ninth and first woman president from 2008 to 2017. Both are recipients of ALI's Distinguished Service Award. Beyond the ALI, Mike is senior counsel at Cobalt in Berkeley, California. He's a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Ap…
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The tension between protecting and promoting freedom of speech is no better exhibited than in the university setting. Historically, colleges have been a place where young minds have been encouraged to exercise true freedom of thought. But to what extent is that freedom protected? Additionally, how does that freedom extend to university faculty? On …
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McKeown on the Environmental Legacy of William O. Douglas
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ALI President David F. Levi sits down with M. Margaret McKeown, senior judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, for a discussion on McKeown’s new book, Citizen Justice: The Environmental Legacy of William O. Douglas—Public Advocate and Conservation Champion. U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas was a giant in the legal wor…
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The Public's Confidence in the Supreme Court
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The Supreme Court of the United States has historically received criticism from all sides of the political spectrum. However, recent Gallop polls suggest a significant loss in confidence by the American people in several institutions of government, including the Court. These ratings were from June 2022 before the last few controversial decisions of…
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Principles to Guide Electoral Count Act Reform
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In April 2022, at the invitation of the leadership of The American Law Institute, a group whose members span a range of legal and political views, came together to consider possible Electoral Count Act (ECA) reforms. Despite holding diverse legal, political, and ideological commitments, the group is united by the belief that Congress should reform …
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A Conversation with Justice Stephen G. Breyer: The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics
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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer spoke about his new book, The Authority of the Court and the Perils of Politics, and his views on judicial decision-making with David F. Levi, director of the Bolch Judicial Institute at Duke Law School and president of The American Law Institute. During the hour-long conversation, Breyer reflects on his 27…
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Completing an ALI Project: Lessons from Reporters
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Have you ever wondered what exactly goes into completing an ALI project? There’s nobody better to talk about the ALI process than four veteran Reporters whose projects may be completed at the 2021 Annual Meeting.In this episode of Reasonably Speaking, Reporter on one of our newest projects, Lyrissa Lidsky from Restatement of the Law Third, Torts: D…
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Challenges to the 2020 Election: the Solicitors' Perspective
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ALI President David F. Levi is joined by three former Solicitors General, Walter E. Dellinger, Donald B. Verrilli, and Seth P. Waxman, to discuss the topic of election litigation and reflect upon the unconventional challenges faced in the 2020 presidential election.By Walter Dellinger, Donald Verrilli, Seth Waxman
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The U.S. Presidency: Looking Forward
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Join us for this episode of Reasonably Speaking where top scholars in U.S. presidency and political science discuss the the history of the U.S. presidency and its future "post–Trump." Moderated by: ALI President David F. Levi Panel: Jack Landman Goldsmith, Harvard Law School David M. Kennedy, Stanford University Terry M. Moe, Stanford University Da…
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Children and the Law: Protecting the Vulnerable in a Time of Crisis
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The treatment of the children in two distinct areas of the law – child welfare and juvenile justice – is fraught with difficulty even under the best of circumstances. But with the onslaught of the COVID pandemic, the regular challenges and the need to protect children have only been compounded. In this episode of Reasonably Speaking, juvenile justi…
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MDLs Go Mainstream: Mass Torts Today
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This episode explores the multidistrict litigation (MDL) from their origins to current examples and recommended reforms. When complex issues effect large numbers of people, MDLs are often seen as the most efficient way to consolidate and manage those cases, recent examples include opioids and Roundup. Led by MDL expert and scholar Elizabeth Chamble…
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Election 2020: When Are Results Official and What Happens if Results Are Disputed
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The 2020 election is seeing unprecedented volatility leading up to November 3. Will this volatility make a difference, helping or hurting the system’s capacity to serve its purpose? This is the first of many questions about the 2020 election that this group of election law experts will tackle. Every election year presents its own unique set of chal…
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How Courts Are Addressing Racial Disparities in the Administration of Justice
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Since the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, civil unrest has spread throughout the United States, causing many American citizens to question racial equality in every corner of our society. In this episode we will explore one of those corners, the justice system, to discuss how our courts and judges are addressing the comp…
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Disgorgement or Accounting for Profits? An Analysis of Liu v. SEC
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In Liu v. SEC (June 22, 2020), the Supreme Court of the United States held, in an enforcement action by the Securities and Exchange Commission, that a disgorgement order that did not exceed a wrongdoer’s net profits and was awarded for victims constituted “equitable relief” that was permissible under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. §…
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Faithless Electors: SCOTUS Decisions and Implications for November
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On July 6, the Supreme Court of the United States held that states may replace and even punish “faithless electors,” the term used for a member of the U.S. Electoral College who does not vote for the presidential or vice presidential candidate they pledged to support. This episode will consider the implications of the Court’s ruling and reasoning f…
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The Plague of Excessive Force - Working Together to Find a Cure
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This episode of Coping with COVID shifts attention from one pandemic to another, the plague of excessive force by police officers. This is an old and longstanding problem receiving new attention in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd. Although we have witnessed these atrocities in the past, across the nation, citizens are coming together wit…
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Absentee Balloting: Preparing for the November Election
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In its April 2020 primary election, Wisconsin experienced serious problems in its absentee balloting processes, which led to a federal court case (RNC v. DNC) that the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately resolved on election eve. The problem was that in the face of the current pandemic, the number of voters who requested an absentee ballot overwhelmed th…
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ALI Oral History Series: Ken Frazier
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Featuring one of the series of interviews that ALI is conducting as part of ALI’s Oral History Series, in this episode ALI Council Member Kenneth Frazier of Merck is interviewed by Alfred W. Putnam Jr. of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath. This interview was conducted on January 22, 2020. Ken was elected to ALI membership in 1996, and to ALI’s Council …
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Coping with COVID: When is it safe to work?
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The current public health crisis has raised a variety of new challenges in the workplace. What is the employer's responsibility to keep employees safe? Is an employee able to refuse to work? Can an employee share medical information without adverse consequences? Join us for this episode of Reasonably Speaking when we are joined by lawyers and schol…
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Coping with COVID: Administering Jury Trials, Mediations, and Complex Litigation
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As we saw in the first episode of Season 2, our state and federal courts have adapted much of their work to digital platforms. But some procedures or litigation events do not easily or obviously translate to digital. In this episode, judges and court administrators reveal how procedures and processes that traditionally rely heavily on in-person int…
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Robert L. Wilkins v. Maryland State Police
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This episode features a previously un-aired portion of the season one episode “Long Road to Hard Truth: The 100 Year Mission to Create the National Museum of African American History and Culture.” On that episode, Judge Paul Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia sat down with Judge Robert Wilkins of the U.S. Court of Appe…
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Coping with COVID: Leading through Uncertainty - Perspectives from the Private Sector
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Don’t miss this episode, as we welcome Katherine Adams, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Apple; Ivan Fong, Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary of 3M; Ken Frazier, Chairman and CEO of Merck; and Malini Moorthy, Vice President and Chief Deputy General Counsel of Medtronic, as they discuss how their companies are responding …
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Medical Malpractice in the Restatement Third of Torts
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This episode explores one aspect of our ongoing project, Restatement of the Law Third, Torts: Concluding Provisions. Specifically, we'll be discussing medical malpractice. Torts was one of the first Restatements completed by The American Law Institute. Now in the Third series, nearly 90 years later, medical malpractice has never been included in an…
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Coping with COVID: How Law Schools Are Educating Students and Fostering Community
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In this third installment of the “Coping with COVID” series, ALI President David F. Levi is joined by six law school deans to discuss how their schools are adjusting to remote learning, including adapting experimental classes, clinics, and other hands-on courses to the online format. The deans also discuss how law schools are responding to the cris…
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Coping with COVID: Legal Services Organizations on the Frontlines
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"Coping with COVID: Legal Services Organizations on the Frontlines" welcomes several accomplished lawyers who lead legal services organizations and who are working hard to assist people with critical legal needs. Our country has long struggled to meet the needs of people who cannot afford legal services and the COVID crisis has only exacerbated the…
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Coping with COVID: How Courts Are Preserving Access to Justice
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This is the first installment of a series of episodes on "Coping with COVID." Produced jointly by the Bolch Judicial Institute of Duke Law School and The American Law Institute, this series examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the legal system. Moderated by David F. Levi, ALI President and Director of the Bolch Judicial Institute, this e…
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May It Please the Court Part II: A Closer Look at Arguing in Front of SCOTUS
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In this episode, we spend time with Paul D. Clement, who served as the 43rd Solicitor General of the United States from June 2005 until June 2008. Before his confirmation as Solicitor General, he served as Acting Solicitor General for nearly a year and as Principal Deputy Solicitor General for over three years. He has argued nearly 100 cases before…
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Consent is a concept at the center of criminal law and sexual assault. So, why is it so difficult to accurately define? Sexual assault laws have evolved from requiring the victim to resist toward requiring consent. However, “consent” is defined in many ways. In this episode, two experts on the topic, Criminal Law Professor Aya Gruber and AEquitas C…
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Responding to Sexual Assault Allegations on Campus
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Colleges and universities face special challenges in designing and implementing procedures to respond to campus sexual and gender-based misconduct, while maintaining an academic community with equal educational opportunities for all students. In this episode Suzanne Goldberg, Professor of Law at Columbia Law School and Executive Vice President for …
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Creating a Strong Corporate Compliance Program
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Board members, business owners, employees, and even customers should all be interested in a company’s compliance policies and adherence to them. Why? Because there is much at stake. Join us for this episode when we ask two compliance experts about the greatest challenges in creating a strong compliance program and establishing a corporate culture t…
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Long Road to Hard Truth: The 100 Year Mission to Create the National Museum of African American History and Culture
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On this episode, Judge Paul Friedman of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia sits down with Judge Robert Wilkins of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to talk about his book Long Road to Hard Truth: The 100 Year Mission to Create the National Museum of African American History and Cultur…
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Consumer contracts are everywhere. The number of contracts you enter into today may surprise you. Most of the contracts you enter into no longer involve a pen and paper. Purchasing a morning coffee, visiting a website, or scheduling a delivery are just a few daily transactions that more often than not include contract terms. In this episode, consum…
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Race and Policing Part 2: Predictive Policing, Funding Priorities, and Working Toward a Solution
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In part two of this two-part episode, Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., Barry Friedman, New York University Law professor and director of NYU’s Policing Project, and John Malcolm of the Heritage Foundation continue the discussion about the intersection of race and policing in the United States. The application o…
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Race and Policing Part 1: History, Training Programs, and Police as First Responders
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In part one of this two-part episode, Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., Barry Friedman, New York University Law professor and director of NYU’s Policing Project, and John Malcolm of the Heritage Foundation begin their exploration of the intersection of race and policing in the United States. They discuss history…
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Consent and Sexual Assault in Criminal vs. Civil Law
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From start to finish, criminal and tort cases differ in many ways, including how a case is initiated, in which court it is heard and decided, standards of proof, and the consequence if the defendant is found liable (punishment if defendant is convicted of a crime; payment of money damages if defendant is liable for a tort). Some cases [or fact patt…
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American Indian Law: When Two Sovereigns Collide
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In this episode, renowned experts on American Indian law and policy, Matthew Fletcher and Wenona Singel, discuss the nuanced and highly complex field of American Indian Law. Matthew and Wenona begin by exploring the history of tribal sovereignty, and discuss the rights of American Indians as both tribal citizens and U.S. citizens. We then explore j…
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Protecting Children in Criminal Procedures
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Listen as the experienced child advocate and juvenile law scholar talk about the current issues and explore state policies and practices that have been implemented to help protect children. History of the treatment of children in the justice system [04:26] Modern trends in how we view children [17:20] Racial disparities [21:18] Recent progress…
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May It Please the Court: SCOTUS Perspectives from Leading Supreme Court Advocates
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How does one prepare, and what is it like to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court? In this episode, Douglas Laycock, an experienced Supreme Court advocate himself, moderates an insightful conversation between two prominent Supreme Court appellate lawyers. Former Solicitor General Seth Waxman of WilmerHale and former Assistant to the Solicitor Genera…
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The death penalty in the United States, both new convictions and executions, has declined through recent decades. In this episode, we explore the history of the death penalty and the various factors that are contributing to this decline. Death penalty expert and author of End of Its Rope: How Killing the Death Penalty Can Revive Criminal Justice, B…
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Protecting Individual Liberties: Recognizing the Value of State and Federal Courts
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When U.S. citizens hear “constitutional law,” we tend to think only of the U.S. Constitution, U.S. Supreme Court, and the federal court system, effectively ignoring the power of state constitutional law. In 51 Imperfect Solutions, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton argues that American Constitutional Law should account for the role of th…
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