Nikolai Morse '24
Editor-in-Chief
On Wednesday, October 18, the Federalist Society at UVA Law hosted a live taping of Advisory Opinions (“AO”). As many of our readers are likely aware, Advisory Opinions is a semi-weekly legal podcast, which features “conversations about the law, culture, and why it matters.” It is part of The Dispatch, an American conservative online magazine.
Advisory Opinions is hosted by Sarah Isgur of The Dispatch and David French of The New York Times. Isgur has an array of experiences, ranging from time at private firms such as Wiley Rein and Cooper & Kirk, to the Office of Legal Policy, to multiple political campaigns. French has written for The Atlantic and National Review, served as legal counsel to the American Center for Law and Liberty and the Alliance Defending Freedom, and was President of FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) before serving in the military. Regrettably, neither host attended this great institution for law school.[1]
Wednesday night’s taping included roughly an hour of discussion by the hosts followed by twenty minutes of questions from members of the audience. The hosts covered a variety of topics, including the Fugees rapper Prakazrel Michel’s ineffective assistance of counsel appeal, a study which found that female Supreme Court advocates are interrupted at a significantly greater rate than their male counterparts, Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s remarks calling for a Supreme Court code of ethics, and whether the Fifth Circuit is destined to become the Ninth Circuit (known for its decisions regularly being granted cert by the Supreme Court, only to be struck down in epic fashion).
Following the standard greeting with which the Federalist Society opens its events,[2] Connor Fitzpatrick ’25 introduced the hosts. The hosts then kicked the show off by noting how much happier and better looking their audience was than the typical law school. Considering that the hosts seemed to be staring directly at this reporter’s freshly trimmed goatee, we can all agree they were right.
First, the hosts discussed the rapper “Pras” Michel’s lawsuit[3] in which he was found guilty of acting as an unregistered foreign agent funneling dozens of millions of dollars to influence political campaigns and investigations in the United States.[4] While this case is interesting on the merits, Isgur and French focused on its intersection with artificial intelligence. Specifically, the hosts described claims raised by Michel that he suffered ineffective assistance of counsel (“IAC”) because, among other things, his trial counsel had used artificial intelligence to draft the closing statement.[5]
While the AO hosts thought there might be a claim against the lawyers because they had a stake in the artificial intelligence company they contracted with, the hosts were sanguine about the prospects of the IAC claims. Isgur emphasized that “the Strickland[6] standard doesn’t even come close to describing how hard it is for ineffective assistance of counsel claims to succeed. Falling asleep at the table didn’t count. Failing to call witnesses didn’t count.”
Isgur and French also discussed the question, put forth by other legal commentators, that the Fifth Circuit might be the new Ninth Circuit.[7] The hosts disagreed with the hypothesis of Empirical SCOTUS, that because the Fifth Circuit is known for conservative jurisprudence, it is likely to be affirmed on most of the cases the Supreme Court had granted cert on. Pointing to cases like NetChoice v. Paxton[8] and Community Financial Services Association v. CFPB,[9] the AO hosts suggested that these cases were highly likely to be overturned.
The students in attendance seemed to have enjoyed themselves, and a number hung around after the taping to speak with the hosts. Casey Crowley ’24 gushed, “My favorite part was Sarah’s wit. Her jokes about UVA students being much better looking and charming than Yale or Harvard students were my favorite.”
Describing the decision to invite Advisory Opinions to the Law School, President of FedSoc at UVA Law, Aquila Maliyekkal ’24 stated, “David and Sarah are very thoughtful (and entertaining) interlocutors, and we knew that students that attended would both have a lot of fun and find it very informative. A big part of our mission is exposing grounds to smart, thoughtful conservatives, and we think that’s exactly what the event accomplished!”
Wednesday night’s taping was posted on Thursday, October 19, and can be found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and anywhere else you listen to podcasts.[10]
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cpg9jy@virginia.edu
[1] We understand that they attended a Boston-area commuter law school. We respect the hustle.
[2] Straight from the source: “The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies is a group of conservatives and libertarians interested in the current state of the legal order. It is founded on the principles that the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution, and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be.” Heady stuff.
[3] https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/26/fugees-rapper-convicted-political-conspiracy-00094073.
[4] We’re open to bets on how many times the prosecutors sang “Ready or not, here I come, you can't hide” as they prepared for trial.
[5] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.206880/gov.uscourts.dcd.206880.310.0.pdf.
[6] Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984).
[7] Noting the Ninth Circuit’s tendency to be a glutton for punishment, during my 1L criminal law class Professor Jeffries memorably described them as acting “Like lemmings, off the cliff…repeatedly.”
[8] 49 F.4th 439 (5th Cir. 2022) (cert granted).
[9] 51 F.4th 616 (5th Cir. 2022) (cert granted).
[10] Bonus points for those who listen until the very end, when you can hear a weirdly-timed chuckle, courtesy of yours truly.