New York City Bar Council on International Affairs

Presented by the City Bar's African Affairs Committee, host Justin Loveland, a commercial litigator who previously served as a legal consultant to Seychelles' Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission, is joined by four leading voices in transitional justice who have worked on or alongside truth commissions across the continent: Professor Ron Slye (Kenya and South Africa), the Honorable Bernard Georges (Seychelles), and Didier Gbery and Dr. Baba Jallow (The Gambia). The panel discusses the legal standards truth commissions rely on and how formal findings differ from narrative truth. Panelists then compare what worked and what didn't in their own countries, from the Gambia's live-broadcast hearings and Kenya's women-only hearings to Seychelles' stalled follow-through, along with challenges like witness protection and cultural silence around sexual violence. The conversation closes on reparations: who should pay, whether perpetrators can be required to compensate victims, how The Gambia delivered int

Our episode today features Mindfulness and Well-Being in Law Committee members Robye Margolius (director of wellbeing at Arnold & Porter) and Jordana Confino (founder and CEO of JC Coaching and Consulting). They discuss social wellbeing as a powerful but overlooked dimension of lawyer wellbeing, defined as having meaningful, supportive relationships and a sense of connection and contribution. Robye and Jordana outline research linking social support to happiness, life satisfaction, reduced depression and anxiety, and improved physical health, and cite workplace findings that belonging boosts performance and retention. The conversation explores barriers in legal culture such as time pressure, transactional interactions, invulnerability norms, autonomy needs, and perfectionism, plus the effects of billable-hour incentives, hybrid work, phones, and AI on connection and mentorship. Robye and Jordana offer practical individual strategies (micro-connections, recurring touchpoints, presence, boundaries) and organ

Lorraine McGowen brings us today’s podcast from the City Bar’s Presidential Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies. The discussion covers expanding legal use cases (research, drafting, due diligence, e-discovery, deposition and hearing prep, judicial chambers), ROI concerns due to verification burdens, and persistent hallucination risks. Panelists emphasize “trust nothing and verify everything,” including checking citations, quotations, and whether law remains good. We review ethics and court-rule developments (New York Part 161; proposed California SB 574), sanctions trends, confidentiality and privilege risks from public AI tools, client restrictions and protocol controls, record retention and supervision frameworks, international implications such as the EU AI Act’s risk categories and penalties, and the need for AI literacy and ongoing training. Lorraine McGowen is Co-Chair of City Bar’s Task Force and a Partner at Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe. She is joined by these experts in

The horrific attacks on September 11, 2001, left New York City in dire need of help. Families were searching for missing loved ones, and those who lost loved ones could not access support without a death certificate. Small businesses and street vendors in Lower Manhattan lost their livelihoods overnight. Immigrants were targeted and detained. The legal needs were tremendous, varied, and urgent, and the legal community stepped up. On this inaugural episode of the 44th Street Podcast, marking the 25th anniversary of 9/11, host and City Bar President Matthew Diller reflects on the unprecedented volume of pro bono legal service that followed the attacks. He is joined by three lawyers — Anthony Crowell, Maria Imperial, and Janet Sabel — who helped lead the response. They share stories from that work, about the City Bar's role as a coordinating hub for volunteers and legal service providers across the city, the family assistance center at Pier 94, the triage system built at the Metropolitan Detention Center, and

Pema Sherpa is a mindfulness researcher and keynote speaker who helps organizations boost employee well-being and performance. Born and raised in Nepal, she studied the mind-body relationship at Harvard University and teaches mindfulness in a way that's both philosophically grounded and useful for people in demanding careers. She co-authored The Daily Buddhist with her husband, pairing short, daily teachings with practical, modern application. Presented by the City Bar's Mindfulness & Well-Being in Law Committee, Pema talks with committee members Katiuska Moure and Nancy Batterman about her upbringing, her path into mindfulness research, and some practical keys lawyers and law students can use to build healthier daily habits even before they're ready to meditate. Selected Links from the Episode: The Daily Buddhist (book): https://thedailybuddhist.net/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daily.buddhist/ 00:00 Introduction 02:02 Pema's Journey 06:28 Harvard and Career Pivot 08:54 Immigrant Law Stu

Katherine Hughes hosts the latest podcast from the City Bar’s Presidential Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies. She is joined by WashU Law Dean Stefanie Lindquist and AI Collaborative Co-Director Oliver Roberts to discuss how generative AI is reshaping law school teaching, assessment, and professional preparation. Dean Lindquist describes her wake-up call about student AI use, making AI a central dean priority, forming an AI task force, partnering with Roberts, and hiring an LLM engineer to support experimentation and tool-building. Roberts traces early experiences with hallucinated citations and argues AI education must go beyond AI regulation to hands-on tool use across legal workflows, core terminology, tool selection, and explicit ethics (competence, confidentiality, supervision, and overreliance). They discuss institutional guardrails such as eliminating take-home exams, using simulations, workflow-based pedagogy, and new assessment ideas like oral exams and quizzing student

Environmental lawyer and Animal Law Committee member Robin Happel hosts a discussion on noise pollution and noise law with Jamie Banks of Quiet Communities and ocean noise researcher Vanessa ZoBell. Jamie explains how chronic leaf-blower and land-care noise led her to found Quiet Communities. She describes gaps in federal, state, and local noise regulation, focusing on the 1972 Noise Control Act, the rise and 1982 defunding of EPA’s Office of Noise Abatement and Control, and Quiet Communities’ lawsuit to reactivate the program. Vanessa outlines major ocean noise sources (commercial shipping and seismic air-gun surveys) and impacts on marine life, including stress, masking, behavioral changes, and examples such as post-9/11 stress hormone reductions in right whales and sonar-linked beaked whale strandings. They discuss challenges of relying on A-weighted averages, low-frequency noise, communication barriers, voluntary and incentive-based programs, electrification of equipment, vessel speed reduction benefits,

In this episode, a panel of legal experts discusses the different approaches taken by the Second and Ninth Circuits on two key areas of copyright law: substantial similarity and the Server Test. Presented by the New York City Bar Association’s Copyright & Literary Property and Entertainment Law Committees, the panel explores recent and emerging case law and the Second and Ninth Circuits’ divergent approaches to analyzing substantial similarity, a key element of copyright infringement, as well as the ongoing debate surrounding the Server Test, which addresses whether the posting of online content constitutes a “display” within the meaning of the Copyright Act. Moderated by Dwayne Amos, Associate at Kasowitz LLP, the episode features a panel of leading copyright litigators and experts, including: • Barry Werbin, Counsel, Herrick Feinstein LLP • Aaron Moss, Partner, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP and author of the Copyright Lately blog • Marc Lebowitz, Principal, Lebowitz Law Office • James Bartolomei, Of Co

The Genius Act and Payment Stablecoins: A Regulatory Deep Dive by New York City Bar Association

In this episode, beloved City Bar figure Richard Tuske reflects on his remarkable 50-year journey with the City Bar Law Library, from starting as a page in 1972 to serving today as Senior Director of Library Operations on the eve of retirement. Along the way, he shares vivid stories with Legal History Committee Chair Abigail Nitka on the library’s transformation into one of the most prominent legal libraries in the world—from towering stacks to the dawn of digital research and early Westlaw and Lexis—along with behind-the-scenes anecdotes on the history of City Bar membership, unusual research requests, the auction of a remarkable rare-books collection, a failed merger attempt, and the library’s technological evolution. 00:00 Podcast Welcome  01:03 Early Page Years  07:30 From Stacks To Screens  14:53 Computer Revolution Begins  19:05 Unusual Research Request  25:24 Famous City Bar Members Spotlight  30:18 Salt Mines Preservation  33:36 What Remains Today  36:59 Computers Transform Research  41:08

The City Bar’s Presidential Task Force on AI and Digital Technologies dives deep into the six pillars of President Trump’s March 2026 Cyber Strategy for America: Shape Adversary Behavior; Promote Common Sense Regulation; Modernize and Secure Federal Government Networks; Secure Critical Infrastructure; Sustain Superiority in Critical and Emerging Technologies; and Build Talent and Capacity. Task Force co-chair Jerome Walker joins Sabeena Ahmed Liconte (Head of Legal & Chief Compliance Officer, Americas at ICBC Standard Bank Group) and Alex Southwell (Partner, McDermott Will & Schulte) to discuss the “aspirational” strategy in its totality, including its offensive, defensive, and future-minded qualities, as well as its challenges and the surrounding requirements for the strategy to be successful and ensure global compliance. If you are interested in learning more about emerging AI developments and policy, join us for the 2026 Artificial Intelligence Conference on June 18 to hear from industry experts and co

In a special Women’s History Month episode, City Bar President Muhammad Faridi speaks with Judge Bianka Perez, an associate justice of the New York Supreme Court and president of the Supreme Court Justices Association. Judge Perez speaks about her path to the bench – her roots as a Bronx paralegal and office manager, through night classes at New York Law School, and a legal practice serving both her intellectual ambitions and her commitment to supporting her community. Perez discusses how private practice shaped her perspective on judicial empathy, how her Dominican heritage and role models influence her leadership and service, and how mentoring students is a priority. She addresses the difficulty of rulings constrained by statute and precedent, coping with the stress of judging, and defines success as making history and lifting the next generation of Latina leaders. Want to hear more from women who lead? Check out the most recent International Law Conference on the Status of Women hosted at the City Bar, w

New York is facing a growing mental health crisis, and the systems meant to support people are struggling to keep up. Efforts to fix an inadequate system have given rise to dueling reform proposals. Maia Goodell, Chair of the City Bar's Mental Health Law Committee, hosts today's podcast in conversation with Dr. Thomas Insel, Former Director, National Institute for Mental Health; Arvind Sooknanan, New York–based mental health advocate and civic leader; Dr. Ashwin Vasan, Former Commissioner, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; and Ken Zimmerman, Attorney & CEO of Fountain House. They discuss existing reform efforts and explain those efforts' real-world impact, focusing on what they mean for care, public safety, and the rights of vulnerable individuals across the state.

Scott Mason talks with Sara Walshe about what intuition is and how lawyers can use it to feel better, work smarter, and avoid burnout. Sara describes intuition as an immediate “knowing,” and says it can show up either as experience-based pattern recognition (like a strong BS meter built from years of practice) or as a deeper inner knowing that’s hard to explain. They discuss how to tell intuition apart from wishful thinking, how confidence can shape outcomes, and why “doom” feelings may be more about instinct and survival. Sara shares stories from studying for the bar, negotiating plea deals as a Brooklyn prosecutor, and eventually leaving law to combine yoga, mindfulness, and coaching. She emphasizes that intuition is easier to access when you feel safe, and suggests simple mindfulness tools—like slow finger rubbing paired with a deep breath—to get grounded in the moment. Want to learn more about combining mindfulness techniques with your legal practice? Get involved with the sponsor of today’s podcast, the

The City Bar’s Presidential Task Force on AI and Digital Technologies hosts today’s podcast on President Trump’s:  Winning the Race, America's AI Action Plan. Task Force co-chair Jerome Walker is joined by task force members Matthew Bacal (Davis Polk), Azish Filabi (American College of Financial Services), Robert Mahari (Stanford Codex), and Evan Abrams (Steptoe), to review the plan’s three pillars and key action steps. Pillar One (“Accelerate AI Innovation”) is described as largely deregulatory, including agency review of rules and certain FTC/FCC actions, with targeted concerns such as ideological bias and synthetic media in the legal system, plus investments in open-source/open-weight models, data, interpretability, evaluations, and government/DoD adoption. Pillar Two (“Build American AI Infrastructure”) focuses on the physical side of AI—permitting for data centers and fabs, energy and grid expansion, semiconductors, water for cooling, workforce training, cybersecurity, and “security by design,” while

In this episode of the New York City Bar Association podcast, host Carl Hahn from Steptoe, LLP leads a discussion on synthetic employees and the future of work. He is joined by experts Marcia Narine Weldon (Illuminating Wisdom), Geoffrey Schaefer (Leidos), and Ramsey Brown (Mission Control) to explore the implications of integrating AI-driven synthetic workers into organizations. Topics include the intersection of artificial intelligence and compliance, the role of governance in AI deployment, the potential employment law ramifications, and practical steps for managing synthetic workforces. The conversation also dives into the practical and ethical considerations companies must navigate as they incorporate these technologies, emphasizing the importance of having robust governance frameworks and multi-stakeholder committees to address risks and ensure sustainable implementation. If you are interested in learning more about emerging AI developments and policy, join us for the 2026 Artificial Intelligence Confe

Today's podcast hosted by the City Bar's Presidential Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies explores the ethical and legal dimensions of informed consent in AI healthcare settings. Anne Zimmerman, Chair of the City Bar’s Bioethical Issues Committee and Editor-in-Chief of the Voices in Bioethics Journal at Columbia University, Alex London from Carnegie Mellon University and Susannah Rose from Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The discussion covers the significance of informed consent in healthcare, challenges with AI integration, patient autonomy, regulatory issues, and the balance between disclosure and effective use of AI. It also delves into potential impacts on patient care, operational uses of AI, and the importance of building trust and communication between clinicians and patients. If you are interested in learning more about emerging AI developments and policy, join us for the 2026 Artificial Intelligence Conference on June 18 to hear from industry experts and connect with

In this episode, Jerome Walker, co-chair of the Presidential Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies, convenes Task Force subcommittee members Austin Brown, David Lisson, and Stuart Levi to examine President Trump’s December 11 Executive Order, "Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence." They explore key issues, including the executive order’s implications and challenges; the evaluation of state AI laws and potential federal restrictions on state funding; the creation of an AI litigation task force; and whether this approach can effectively balance innovation with regulation. The panelists also share their perspectives on how AI policy may evolve under this new national framework. If you are interested in learning more about emerging AI developments and policy, join us for the 2026 Artificial Intelligence Conference on June 18 to hear from industry experts and connect with leading legal professionals across the field. Register at: https://services.nycbar.org/SLI

The New York Emerging Technologies Amendments to the New York Uniform Commercial Code are the result of a multi-year collaboration between the City Bar (led by the City Bar Presidential Task Force on Artificial Intelligence) and the Uniform Law Commission, including the New York State delegation to the Uniform Law Commission. This significant legislation modernizes the New York UCC to address advances in technology and digital assets, ensuring that New York remains the preferred jurisdiction for innovations in commerce and finance. In this episode, Task Force Co-Chair Jerome Walker sits down with City Bar stakeholders – including the City Bar Director of Advocacy (Elizabeth Kocienda) and two Uniform Law Commissioners from the Task Force (Ed Smith and Neil Cohen) – to talk about the years-long advocacy effort behind the passage of this bill, and to unpack the nuts and bolts of the bill’s changes to New York’s Uniform Commercial Code. Together we’re celebrating a victory that preserves New York’s leadership

Today we delve into the intricate world of AI assessment, review and audit methodologies, focusing on international frameworks and regulatory approaches. The discussion features experts from the City Bar Presidential Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies, including Azish Filabi (American College McGuire Center for Ethics and Financial Services), Rim Belaoud (Forensic Risk Alliance), Nikhil Aggarwal (Deloitte Anti Money-Laundering), Lenka Molins (Oxford Internet Institute) and Jerome Walker (Task Force Co-Chair). They explore the definitions, methodologies, and challenges of AI audits across different jurisdictions such as the US, EU, Canada, and the UK, providing perspectives on issues related to methodologies, bias, transparency, and accountability. The episode also covers practical approaches for organizations to review AI models and highlights the importance of robust AI governance in various sectors, including financial services, AML, CFT, fraud, and export controls. 00:00 Introd