Other than the Lone Ranger and Zorro and “superheroes,” the ‘good guys’ never wear masks. Then why are ICE agents masked and is it right to be disturbed by that choice? Masking of police officers is not an American tradition. Far from it – police wear badges with numbers and name tags, and travel in marked cars. We even disclose names of police charged with misconduct despite fears about whether they will have protests near their homes.   And masks have been banned in state after state, going back to at least 1845, when New York prohibited them because they permitted insurrectionists to go unpunished, and later in response to the Ku Klux Klan.   How were masks used beyond hiding identity? As one court explained, by 1867 “masked Klan members had assumed the practice of ‘night riding,’ making nocturnal visits to the dwellings of blacks in order to harass and intimidate.” Church of the Am. Knights of the KKK v. Kerik, 356 F.3d 197, 200 (2nd Cir. 2004).   Beyond masks going against tradition, they intimidate not …

It began with a simple idea: what if we ended the Temple LL.M. in Trial Advocacy program not in a classroom, but in the Eternal City? What if we could connect the dots between Ancient Roman law and modern American litigation? What if the conclusion to a year of study in evidence, advocacy, and professional identity was not an exam, but an immersive global experience?  In May 2025, that vision became a reality. For the first time ever, the LL.M. in Trial Advocacy program launched a Capstone trip to Temple’s Rome campus, welcoming eleven graduates from the Class of 2025 to four unforgettable days of legal education, professional connection, and cultural exploration.  The group included seven trial lawyers sponsored by Temple University Health System (TUHS), who handle medical malpractice litigation at some of Philadelphia’s most prominent firms: Cozen O’Connor, Blank Rome, Buchanan Ingersoll, and the Tucker Law Group. Through the generosity and vision of John C. Ryan—Executive Vice President, Chief Counsel, and Corporate Secretary for TUHS, and Chair of the Board of Visitors at Temple …

Shakespeare’s Dick the Butcher, in the play Henry VI, uttered the oft-quoted words “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” Shakespeare’s intent with these words has been debated, but one interpretation is significant. “Shakespeare insightfully realized that disposing of lawyers is a step in the direction of a totalitarian form of government.” Walters v. Nat’l Ass’n of Radiation Survivors, 473 U.S. 305, 371 (1985) (Stevens, J. dissenting). The Trump script is different but at least as pernicious – ‘the first thing we do, we frighten [indeed threaten] lawyers who challenge the administration’s authority’. What brought this on? Jack Smith, former special counsel prosecuting Mr. Trump, sought legal services after resigning. A law firm offered that assistance at no cost. When that became public, the attack on lawyers commenced with a fury. Wielding power from the Oval Office, the President issued a memorandum against that firm, Covington and Burling, stripping security clearances from some of its attorneys and directing “all agencies to review all Government contracts with Covington & Burling LLP.” Put more …

Two weeks out from the presidential election, the nation is divided, polls can’t predict a winner, a third party candidate persists in their campaign, and anger over issues (Gaza being emblematic) pushes some to not vote, vote third party, or vote “to punish” the Democratic candidate. My commitment to activism and progress is strong; my responsibility as a lawyer, law professor, and advocacy/persuasion teacher, is to dissect arguments, identify the reasoning behind it, and look for and expose fallacies or unacknowledged consequences. As I see these trends, read the heartfelt angry statements, and listen to those who take such stances, I fear two things – the consequences of such actions are dire and the reasoning does not hold up. Consider these statements, some direct quotes and others paraphrases of what potential voters have said: I need to see a policy that says something in Israel is going to change [before I vote for Harris] I am becoming a one issue voter The Democrats have done great things. Biden has passed historic legislation, but none of …

The report announcing that no criminal charges would be brought against Joseph Biden for mishandling classified materials brought an unsurprising response from Donald Trump – that this was “selective prosecution.” As he stated in a speech to the NRA, “It was just announced that Joe Biden’s Department of Injustice will bring zero charges against crooked Joe despite the fact he willfully retained undisclosed droves of ultra-classified national security documents.” Trump added “if he’s not going to be charged, that’s up to them, but then I should not be charged.” And this claim has now been made in court papers, as Trump’s lawyers in the documents case filed a new pleading calling it a case that should have never been brought and must ultimately be dismissed on the basis of, inter alia, selective and vindictive prosecution. Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Justice released a report issued by Special Counsel Robert Hur, finding that President Biden has “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen,” over the course of …

Whether you agree or disagree with the decisions handed down during the U.S. Supreme Court’s term ending just this June, you must agree that the term was quite a doozy. Affirmative Action out the window, student loans assistance down the drain, important LGBTQIA+ protections up in smoke. Those who are enraged or deeply disappointed by the decisions turned to a tried-and-true way to express their sentiments: humor. One of the wonders of humor is that it comes in so many varieties and adapts to such a broad array of media. Here’s just a few examples. Starting first at the nerve center of the Court itself, the dissenting opinions from the term had quite a few zingers: “With let-them-eat-cake obliviousness, today, the majority pulls the ripcord and announces ‘colorblindness for all’ by legal fiat, But deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life.” “The best that can be said of the majority’s perspective is that it proceeds (ostrich-like) from the hope that preventing consideration of race will end racism.” Justice Ketanji Brown …

In a stunning letter to its member schools on June 25, the National Collegiate Athletic Association said that colleges and universities must comply with NCAA policies on name, image and likeness even if those policies conflict with state laws. Purportedly in response to recent amendments to state NIL statutes that the NCAA deems to be too permissive, the association warned directly, “If a state law permits certain institutional action and NCAA legislation prohibits the same action, institutions must follow NCAA legislation.”[1] One must question the timing of this edict. Only recently, the NCAA announced that its Division I Board has directed its council to explore ways to assist student-athletes and their universities in navigating the muddy waters of NIL, acknowledging the complexity and outright inconsistency of the state legislative landscape. More specifically, on Aug. 2, the association informed its member schools that a working group of its Division I council would present specific proposals in October for rules governing: A registration process for agents and financial advisers who negotiate NIL deals on behalf of student-athletes; …

John Langel ‘74 was not always a likely candidate to be the champion of women’s sports that he has become. Now retired from Ballard Spahr where he served for decades as a partner, Langel spent much of his career representing clients in the sports industry. But for his first twenty years of practice, Langel’s experience was representing male athletes like Philadelphia legends Ron Jaworski, Reggie White, and Doug Collins. Langel’s two sons played Division I basketball, one of whom, Matt, is now the head men’s basketball coach at Colgate. His firm, Ballard, had a long-standing relationship with the Philadelphia Phillies. As Langel said in an interview for Marietta College in 2017: “I had only known a man’s world. In the man’s world, you are treated very well. I learned pretty quickly that it wasn’t the same way for the women.”[1] Langel’s education came when the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) enlisted his help in the late 1990s. The women of the National Team were embroiled in a fight with U.S. Soccer over unfair treatment. …