CBA Record May-June 2023

Jonathan Amarilio

Jennifer Byrne

Maggie Mendenhall Casey

Trisha Rich

Celebrating 5 Years of the CBA’s @theBar Podcast By Jennifer Byrne, CBA Continuing Legal Education Director

tial guests. Ideas ranged from Retired 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner (who we got!) to Kim Kardashian (who still eludes us). We researched pod cast platforms and found our home with Legal Talk Network. Then, we sat down to record. By early 2017, we had eight ini tial episodes “in the can.” Attorney well ness, artificial intelligence and the law, the Illinois budget crisis, and gun violence in Chicago were among the ambitious list of topics tackled in that initial set of epi sodes. When Legal Talk Network pressed upload on March 7, 2017, we crossed our fingers and hoped the audience would enjoy what we had made as much as we enjoyed making it. Flash forward to today. We now know that the audience does enjoy and appre ciate our @theBar podcast. Over 4,000

M arch of 2023 marked the five year anniversary of the CBA’s podcast, CBA @theBar, hosted by the Legal Talk Network. To celebrate this milestone, I wanted to reflect on how the podcast came to be and acknowledge the dedication of our hosts and volunteers to make the show a success. In the summer of 2016, when our show’s host, Jonathan Amarilio, was Chair of the Young Lawyers Section and I was the section’s administrative director, it was suggested that the Young Lawyers Section should launch a podcast. As elder millen

nials and podcast enthusiasts, it sounded like a great idea, but how would we even begin? What would the show focus on? What equipment would we need? What would we call the show? How would we get people to listen? We spent several months figuring out the answers to those questions. We attended a “how to launch a podcast” con ference, we talked with other podcasters, and we listened to shows we liked and took notes. We brainstormed with members who helped us generate the show’s clever title and generated a dream list of poten

Praise for @theBar Highland Park 4th of July Shooting: “Mayor Nancy Rotering and I had the honor of talking with Jonathan Amarilio and Trisha Rich for an @theBar podcast on the timely but sensitive topic of the

tragic mass shooting that occurred during the 2022 Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, IL. The Mayor and I were at the parade with our families, and we both have been deeply involved in all the subsequent matters. Jonathan and Trish profession ally, compassionately, and expertly guided us through the difficult recounting of the events as well as the legal issues involved with the subject of gun safety regulation and assault weapon bans. As a Past President of the CBA, I am very proud that our Association is producing such relevant and impactful material. Well done, @theBar!” — Steve Elrod, Elrod Friedman (guest on Mass Shooting in Highland Park)

14 May/June 2023