Legal Beagle Podcast

My friends Chrissy Hagen and Kaitlin Nares recently opened Hagen Nares in Denver, Colorado.  Hagen Nares is a modern law firm that sprouted out of The Great Resignation.  Chrissy and Kaitlin both worked for a large law firm in Colorado, where they struggled to strike a good work-life balance.  They also looked 10 years into the future and realized that the legal profession was going to look entirely different than it...

In 2014, Cynthia Pigott made history by sitting on the longest civil trial ever held in Manhattan, NY.  In 2021 she published her vivid memoir, Diary of a Mad Juror:  An Inside Look at a Record-Breaking Wrongful-Death Trial that fell Short of the Truth.  Cynthia provides a firsthand look at the wrongful-death case that led to a whopping ninety-six-million–dollar verdict.  More telling is what Cynthia discovered ...

In the aftermath of unthinkable loss, shock, uncertainty, and anger set in. Few understand this more than nationally recognized lawyer Kyle Bachus. Kyle gained first-hand knowledge of his clients’ experiences when his own mother was struck and killed in a crosswalk. Now, in Unthinkable, Kyle provides a practical roadmap for navigating a path that no one chooses. He takes you through the process in chronological order, from what to ...

On February 7, 2022, trial attorney Grant Gehrmann sent out an email to a list of plaintiff attorneys. Dubbed “the post,” this email challenged traditional norms and offered a musing on the idea of mediation. Grant took the position that engaging in mediation can actually hurt your case. Grant’s email was met with a firestorm of responses from attorneys all over the country. I invited Grant onto the show to talk about mediations, h...

Wesley Thysse Msc. joins the show to discuss the Whitepaper that he authored in 2018 titled: The Decentralized Legal System.  In this paper, Wesley offers a construct of how to develop a legal framework within a decentralized ecosystem.  In a sense, this Whitepaper creates a bridge between cyberspace and the real world to allow for enforcement of dispute resolution.  More thought-provoking is the idea that this White...

Professor Bryant Walker Smith is one of the world’s leading legal experts on transportation technologies, and his research focuses on issues of risk and trust in new technologies, especially automated driving systems and unmanned aerial systems. As automated vehicle technology move towards level 4 and 5 of automation, the idea of risk analysis is front and center. How do minimal risk conditions (MRC) factor into the future of this ...

Nick Rowley, Courtney Rowley and Daniel Bidegaray join Jonathan to talk about Loss of Consortium. Loss of consortium is a standalone claim for damages brought by the spouse (and sometimes children) of an individual who been injured or killed as a result of a defendant's negligence. Think loss of love and affection from your spouse because they were injured. Nick and Courtney tried a case in Bakersfield back in September of 2021 and...

Mike Alder, the founder of AlderLaw, is one of the best trial attorneys in California.  Mike and his team have recovered more than $1.7 billion dollars for their clients.  Jonathan sat down with Mike to talk about how to ask juries for large verdicts.  In addition to sage advice on damages, Mike offers insights into the future of injury law, how helping others without an expectation in return will come back tenfold, ...

Jonathan chats with TurnSignl co-founder Jazz Hampton.  Jazz and his team developed the TurnSignl app to connect users with attorneys in real-time.  Minnesota-based TurnSignl is an on-demand service that provides 24/7 legal guidance from an attorney to drivers while their camera records the interaction. When drivers are stopped by law enforcement officers or involved in a car accident, they can access live video chat with...

In this episode, Nick Rowley, one of the most well known trial attorneys America, discusses the Fairness Act.  The Fairness Act is a reform to MICRA.  In 1975, the state of California passed a law called the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA).  This law put a cap on damages for medical malpractice claims.  MICRA set a cap of $250,000 on medical malpractice claims.  This amount has NEVER been adj...

When Keith Mitnik talks, you stop and listen.  Keith Mitnik is Senior Trial Counsel at Morgan & Morgan.  Keith has written the best-selling book Don't Eat the Bruises.  Keith is backing that up with his highly anticipated book:  Deeper Cuts.  Keith is one of the best trial attorneys in America.  He is also extremely generous with his time.  Keith is always willing to help other attorneys becom...

Mary joins Jonathan to talk about the "invisible injury" that very few people actually understand.  More troubling is the fact that people won't talk about traumatic brain injuries.  Mary discusses the evolution of objecting testing on brain injuries and why you should be on the lookout for a TBI even if you didn't hit your head or lose consciousness.  Mary Finck is a Doctor of Physical Therapy at ESP Sports Medicine...

Matt Morstad is the Senior Vice President of Customer Operations at Axon.  Axon, formerly known as Taser International, is a global leader in smart weapons and cameras that are used by police agencies worldwide.  Jonathan and Matt discuss the BWC (body-worn cameras) that officers use when investigating auto crashes, what new emerging technologies Axon is working on, and how Axon stores more data than Netflix's entire cata...

In this episode, Jonathan chats with Blaine Clooten.  Blaine is an attorney in Eastern Oregon and one of the few people speaking out publicly against the Oregon State Bar's recommendation that the State of Oregon should adopt two (2) alternative pathways to becoming an attorney.  Neither of these recommendations requires taking the bar exam and both of these alternatives seem to miss the mark of the intended goal of incre...

In this episode, Jonathan interviews former ASU Sun Devil Gary Chambers.  Gary played at ASU for 4 years and then went onto the NFL.  Jonathan and Gary discuss the new NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) laws that have recently gone into effect.  These new laws allow student-athletes profit off of their name, image and likeness.  On paper it sounds like a great thing for student-athletes, however, their are a lot of ...