New York City Bar Association Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

The Presidential Task Force on AI and Digital Technologies’ Bob Schwinger hosts a discussion with fellow Task Force members Don Irwin and Tyler Yagman. They identify the key takeaways from the House Financial Services Committee’s June 5th congressional hearing about the tokenization of real-world assets, its relation to cryptocurrency, and its potential to improve market efficiency and transparency. Bob, Don, and Tyler also discuss the importance of regulatory compliance, the differences between permissioned and permissionless blockchains, and tokenization's implications for future financial inclusion. Access a transcript of this episode here: https://bit.ly/3ZxikWG Want to learn more about emerging digital technologies and their development? Join us at the City Bar’s upcoming program: Guidelines for Users and Developers of AI Powered Technologies on October 10 (https://bit.ly/GUDAI) and view our catalogue of similar on-demand CLEs (https://bit.ly/BarCTFDT). Visit nycbar.org/events to find all of the most up-to-date information about our upcoming programs and events. 00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Today's Topic 01:21 Overview of Tokenization and Congressional Hearing 02:21 Detailed Explanation of Tokenization 05:09 Legislative Proposals and Industry Perspectives 07:33 Distinguishing Tokenization from Cryptocurrency 10:26 Goals and Benefits of Tokenization 16:41 Use Cases and Practical Applications 24:30 Fundamental Principles and Regulatory Concerns 33:38 Permissioned vs. Permissionless Blockchains 39:31 Tokenizing Securities and Technological Challenges 43:22 Stable Coins, CBDCs, and Financial Inclusion 48:02 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

President Muhammad Faridi hosts Rich Miller (former Chief of Energy Policy for New York City and former Vice President of Energy and Environmental Law at Con Edison) and Robie Craig (Senior Energy Council at the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services), Co-Chairs of the City Bar Energy Law Committee. The conversation touches on various aspects of energy policy and its relevance to New York City, including historical perspectives on power generation, the current shift towards clean energy, and the implementation of regulatory mandates such as the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) and the Build Public Renewables Act. Muhammad, Rich and Robie also explore the city's efforts to balance environmental justice with the need for reliable energy supply, the role of Con Edison, challenges posed by intermittent renewable sources, and the steps New York City is taking to support electric vehicle adoption. Access a transcript of this episode here: https://bit.ly/3XhBhtK Want to learn more about the impact of energy decisions and environmental justice? Join us at the City Bar’s upcoming programs: The Professional Duty of Lawyers and Bar Associations in Action on Climate on September 23 (https://bit.ly/3XsQhFh) and Economic and Environmental Impacts of State and City Funded Remediation Programs on Environmental Justice Communities in NYC on October 29 (https://bit.ly/3XrirQL). Visit nycbar.org/events to find all of the most up-to-date information about our upcoming programs and events. 00:00 Introduction and Welcome 03:46 Understanding DCAS and Con Edison 11:15 New York City's Energy Landscape 16:58 Historical Perspective: The Birth of Electricity in NYC 23:52 Regulatory Framework and Environmental Justice 35:49 Future of Clean Energy and Transportation in NYC 49:03 Committee Focus and Closing Remarks

Artificial intelligence tools are already changing the legal landscape, so how will lawyers know how to use them while complying with existing ethics rules? David Keyko and Tyler Maulsby – current and former chairs of the City Bar Professional Ethics Committee – join Azish Filabi, Executive Director of the American College of Financial Services Center for Ethics, on the latest podcast from the Digital Technologies Task Force to talk about the current landscape of ethics rules in relation to emerging digital technologies. They dig into the implications for the duties of confidentiality, disclosure and transparency while examining whether past leaps in technology – think cell phones and email – can inform the technological revolution that is happening underfoot today. Tune in to learn more about: • How do current legal ethics rules address digital technology? • What legal ethics rules exist addressing artificial intelligence? • What legal ethics considerations should lawyers have when advising clients on new technologies? • How can legal ethics inform the choice between using a tool from a third party vendor and managing a tool in-house? • How should lawyers think about disclosure to clients if they're using generative AI systems? Want to learn more about innovations in digital technologies for the legal world? Join us at our upcoming City Bar Programs: Technology Innovations and the Law on May 16 (https://bit.ly/3wkjtom) and the Artificial Intelligence Institute on June 10 (https://bit.ly/3JLCbrW). (These programs are available on-demand thereafter.) Visit nycbar.org/events to find all of the most up-to-date information about our upcoming programs and events. Access a transcript of this episode here: https://bit.ly/3UqERAr

On a daily basis, family and criminal courts depend on mandated domestic violence services for resolving cases of intimate partner violence. Thousands of defendants and respondents in our city are required to complete these services in order to have visits with their children or get back in their homes. Yet there is little evidence of the effectiveness of existing services and there continues to be a reliance on outdated services such as Batterers Accountability programs. New York City policymakers have been examining this issue and have developed a Blueprint for Abusive Partner Intervention. A report published in 2018, “Seeding Generations: New Strategies Towards Services for People who Abuse,” took a comprehensive look at this issue and the need for a new model of services. The report acknowledges that services to families also need to consider the trauma that those who harm have been through. This panel on January 17, 2019 served as an opportunity for policymakers to have a dialogue with family court and criminal court practitioners about the current and future state of domestic violence services. Welcome: Cecile Noel, Commissioner, Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence Moderator: Purvi Shah, Consultant, Seeding Generations Speakers: Albery Abreu, Abusive Partner Intervention Specialist, Children’s Aid Society Tanya Apparicio, Deputy Chief, Domestic Violence Unit, NY County District Attorney’s Office Ana Bermudez, Commissioner, New York City Department of Probation Juliana Chereji, Family Defense Practice, Brooklyn Defenders Services Bea Hanson, Executive Director, Domestic Violence Task Force, NYC Office of the Mayor Quentin Walcott, Co-Executive Director of Connect Sponsoring Association Committee: Council on Children, Lauren Shapiro, Chair Co-Sponsoring Association Committees: Children & the Law Committee, Sara L. Hiltzik, Chair Domestic Violence Committee, Amanda M. Beltz, Chair Education & the Law Committee, Laura D. Barbieri, Chair Family Court & Family Law Committee, Glenn Metsch-Ampel, Chair

On December 6, 2018, Juan Williams, the political analyst for Fox News, bestselling author, and civil rights expert addressed the Trump administration’s sweeping rollback of the civil rights movement at the City Bar's Public Affairs Luncheon. Donald Trump’s campaign pitch to African Americans was: “What the hell do you have to lose?” According to Juan, the answer is: Quite a lot, as it turns out. He believes that the Trump administration’s policies and intentions pose a threat to civil rights without precedent in modern America. Based on his observations of the current state of politics and race relations with insights from the long, and sometimes forgotten, history of the civil rights movement, as Juan asserts in his new book, knowing our past is essential if we are to understand our present, and shape our future. Speaker: Juan Williams has covered and written about American politics for four decades. He is currently a columnist for The Hill, and was a longtime writer and correspondent for The Washington Post and NPR. Juan is currently a cohost of Fox News Channel's roundtable debate show The Five, and makes regular appearances across the network, where he regularly challenges the orthodoxy of the network's conservative stalwarts. He is also the author of numerous books, including Eyes on the Prize, Thurgood Marshall, Enough, Muzzled, and We The People. Sponsoring Association Committee: Senior Lawyers Committee, Barry M. Bloom, Chair Public Affairs Luncheon, Frank Wagner, Chair

On December 3, 2018, experts discussed the legal issues relating to the First Amendment and freedom of speech. Topics included the scope and limits of First Amendment protection for certain types of speech, whether by news and media outlets, on school campuses, via social media, or as part of public protests. The program covered the current state of the law and recent developments. With an eye toward contributing to the public understanding of this complex area of law, it focused on the legal issues and on identifying and addressing the areas where legal line-drawing either is fairly easy or remains difficult and uncertain. Opening Remarks: Roger Juan Maldonado, President, New York City Bar Association Panel: Alex Abdo, Senior Staff Attorney, Knight First Amendment Institute Floyd Abrams, Senior Counsel, Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP Daniel J. Kornstein, Partner, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP Carmelyn P. Malalis, Chair & Commissioner, NYC Commission on Human Rights Nadine Strossen, John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law, New York Law School Moderator: Jamal Greene, Dwight Professor of Law, Columbia Law School Sponsoring: New York City Bar Association City Bar Justice Center City Bar Office for Diversity & Inclusion Co-Sponsoring Association Committees: Civil Rights Committee, Philip Desgranges, Chair Federal Courts Committee, Laura Grossfield Birger, Chair Communications & Media Law Committee, Katherine M. Bolger, Chair Legal History Committee, Daniel J. Kornstein, Chair

The presidential election first scheduled for 2016 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and then for 2017 never took place. The election is now scheduled to take place on December 23, 2018. The Prime Minister has said that President Kabila will not run again, and he will abide by the constitutional limits. The delayed elections spurred anti-Kabila marches and protests, led by laity of the Catholic Church and youth activists. The government has cracked down on this opposition, harassing, arbitrarily arresting, detaining, injuring, and killing protestors. Many still remain in detention despite increasing health problems. The panelists examined the way forward for the DRC and the role opposition leaders, youth activists, the Catholic Church, and duly-elected officials can play in strengthening civil society. Speakers: H.E. Ambassador François Nkuna Balumuene, The Democratic Republic of the Congo Ambassador to the United States--Invited Tatiana Carayannis, Director of the Social Science Research Council’s Understanding Violent Conflict Research Initiative and convener of the DRC Affinity Group Sasha Lezhnev, Deputy Director of Policy at the Enough Project Kambale Musavuli, Human Rights Activist and Spokesperson for Friends of the Congo Moderator: Elizabeth Barad, Esq., International Law and Gender Consultant Sponsoring Association Committee: African Affairs Committee, Victoria Safran, Chair Co-Sponsoring Association Committees: United Nations Committee, Simon O’Connor, Chair Council on International Affairs Committee, Michael D. Cooper, Chair International Human Rights Committee, Lauren Melkus, Chair Co-Sponsoring Organization: Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, Alexander Papachristou, Executive Director

Focused on New York City’s schools grades K-8, panelists on November 8, 2018 discussed the history of school segregation and integration efforts; diversity pilots and plans; school admission screens, G&T programs, and their potential for desegregation; accountability, legal constraints, and best practices. Whether you are an education advocate, parent, practitioner, public official, student, or concerned citizen, this exciting and thought-provoking conversation is packed with information you will want to know. Speakers: Matthew Gonzales, Director, School Diversity Project, New York Appleseed Richard D. Kahlenberg, Senior Fellow, The Century Foundation Brad Lander, Member, New York City Council Emmy Liss, Chief of Staff, Div. of Early Childhood Educ. & Student Enrollment, NYCDOE Dennis D. Parker, Director, Racial Justice Program, ACLU Moderator: Clara Hemphill, Founder and Editor, InsideSchools

Re-legalization of cannabis for general adult use in New York City has never been closer, but how ready is the most populous metropolitan area in the United States - and the country’s largest urban cannabis market for commercial manufacture, delivery, home cultivation and over-the-counter sale of cannabis? On November 1, 2018, the City Bar’s Drugs & the Law Committee held a panel discussion examining the legal and policy changes that will be necessary in order to make a safe and orderly transition from a criminal market to a viable regulated market. Speakers: Axel Bernabe, Assistant Counsel, Governor Cuomo for Health Steven Epstein, Founding Partner, Barket, Epstein, and Kearon LLP Jerome Levy, Partner, Duane Morris Joseph Levey, Founding Partner, Helbraun & Levey Donovan Richards, New York City Council Member Preston Niblack, New York City Deputy Comptroller for Budget Moderator: Kristin Jordan, Chair, Cannabis Practice Group, Newman Ferrara LLP

On October 22, 2018, the City Bar’s Labor & Employment Law Committee held a program on how the evolving treatment of marijuana under the law affects the workplace. Learn how legalization of medical and recreational marijuana affect rights and obligations under the ADA, FLMA, and more. Speakers: George Schwab, Kraus & Zuchlewski LLP Anne Dana, Seyfarth Shaw LLP Jay Jaffe, 1199 SEIU Moderator: Hanan Kolko, Meyer Suozzi English & Klein P.C. Sponsoring Committee: Labor & Employment Committee, Katherine Greenberg, Chair