Opening Arguments
Opening Arguments is a law show that helps you make sense of the news! Comedian Thomas Smith brings on legal analysts to help you understand not only current events, but also deeper legal concepts and areas!
The typical schedule will be M-W-F with Monday being a deep-dive, Wednesday being Thomas Takes the Bar Exam and patron shoutouts, and Friday being a rapid response to legal issues in the news!
- Update frequency
- every 2 days
- Average duration
- 65 minutes
- Episodes
- 1132
- Years Active
- 2016 - 2025
OA51: The Grimm Reality About Transgender Bathrooms
In today's episode, we take a look at the recent Supreme Court decision to rescind its grant of certiorari in the 4th Circuit opinion of Grimm v. Gloucester County School District. What happened, an…
01:08:16 |
Tue 14 Mar 2017
OA50: Obama's Fiduciary Rule (With Guest Ben Offit)
In today's episode, we take a look at a rule first proposed by President Obama's Department of Labor in 2016 that would require financial advisers to abide by a "fiduciary" duty with their clients. …
01:08:39 |
Fri 10 Mar 2017
OA49: Why Originalists Don't Belong on the Supreme Court
In today's episode, we take a long look at the judicial philosophy of "originalism" made popular by former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and advocated by his would-be replacement. First, we be…
01:03:17 |
Tue 07 Mar 2017
OA48: Three Cases You Care About - Planned Parenthood, Gay Florists, and Litigious Quacks
Today's episode is a little bit different than our usual format; today, we take a look at three cases that our listeners have asked about on Twitter and Facebook. First up is an order entered by the …
01:05:28 |
Fri 03 Mar 2017
OA47: Is This The Gun Control Case That Could Overrule DC v. Heller?
In today's episode, we take a look at the just-decided case of Kolbe v. Hogan out of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Is this case as big a deal as people are saying it is?…
01:03:43 |
Tue 28 Feb 2017
OA46: What Could Donald Trump's Tax Returns Tell Us? (With Guest Tony Di Fatta) - Part 2
Today's episode concludes our two-part look at one of your most requested questions: what might be in Donald Trump's taxes! We begin, however, with a listener criticism from Peter Crinklaw, who thin…
01:04:45 |
Fri 24 Feb 2017
OA45: What Could Donald Trump's Tax Returns Tell Us? (With Guest Tony Di Fatta) - Part 1
In today's episode, we take a look at one of your most requested questions: what might be in Donald Trump's taxes! We begin, however, with a preliminary question from Jim Sabatowski, who asks us wha…
01:05:34 |
Tue 21 Feb 2017
OA44: All About Arbitration
In today's episode, we take a look at arbitration, an increasingly popular device being used to take disputes out of the courtroom. What might arbitration mean for you? Listen and find out! We begi…
01:03:25 |
Fri 17 Feb 2017
OA43: Explaining the 9th Circuit's Ruling on Trump's Muslim Ban
In today's episode, we take a look at the ongoing status of Executive Order 13769 (often referred to as the "Muslim Ban"). What exactly did the 9th Circuit decide, and how does it affect the status …
01:11:43 |
Tue 14 Feb 2017
OA42: Denny Hastert and the Limits of Contract Law
Today's episode is brought to you by Audible! Go to audible.com/lawpod for your free 30 day trial!!
In today's episode, we take a look at the law of contracts, and particularly in the context of the…01:02:07 |
Fri 10 Feb 2017
OA41: Betsy DeVos and School Vouchers
In today's episode, we examine one of the favorite policy recommendations of President Trump's Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos: the school voucher. What is it? Is it constitutional? Listen an…
00:57:30 |
Tue 07 Feb 2017
OA40: Who is Neil Gorsuch, and How Scared Should You Be?
In today's episode, we take a look at President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch. The main segment was recorded before the announcement and reflects our guess (correctly!) that he would b…
00:52:30 |
Fri 03 Feb 2017
OA39: Trump's Muslim Ban
Today's episode revisits a question we tackled way back in Episode #16, namely, whether President Trump has the authority to enact his Muslim Ban. We begin with an examination of the recent CREW laws…
01:20:34 |
Tue 31 Jan 2017
OA38: FLSA and Exempt Employees, Part 2
Today's episode is part two of our two-part series on pending changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"). As we've previously mentioned, in 2016, the Obama Department of Labor promulgated new …
01:05:42 |
Fri 27 Jan 2017
OA37: FLSA and Exempt Employees, Part 1
Today's episode is part one of a two-part series on pending changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"). As we've previously mentioned, in 2016, the Obama Department of Labor promulgated new ru…
00:59:23 |
Tue 24 Jan 2017
OA36: The Emoluments Clause (w/Seth Barrett Tillman) Part 2
Today's episode is part two of our two-part series on whether the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution applies to incoming President Donald Trump. We begin, however, with a listener question from Er…
01:16:06 |
Fri 20 Jan 2017
OA35: The Emoluments Clause (w/Seth Barrett Tillman) Part 1
Today's episode is part one of a two-part series on whether the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution applies to incoming President Donald Trump. We begin, however, by addressing another Trump-relate…
01:03:55 |
Tue 17 Jan 2017
OA34: The "Fallout" Over Copyright
Today's episode is a mini-masterclass on Copyright. We begin by answering a question from listener Sue Barnum who asks if a simple list can be copyrighted. After that, we move to the main discussion…
01:06:00 |
Fri 13 Jan 2017
OA33: Interview With The Slants
Today's episode begins with Breakin' Down the Law in which we discuss the recently-enacted "Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act," and whether the Act constitutes a significant legal pro…
01:09:34 |
Tue 10 Jan 2017
OA32: Phil Ivey's Gambling Winnings (with guest Chris Kristofco)
Today's episode begins with a question from Adrien Thuren about the minimum wage. How come restaurants can seemingly pay wait staff less than minimum wage? And if that's legal, why don't other indu…
01:02:00 |
Fri 06 Jan 2017
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