In the News

In Episode 3, we take a break from the law and sit down with author Todd Henderson to discuss his new book, The Trust Revolution: How the Digitization of Trust Will Revolutionize Business and Government. Henderson argues that with the advent of companies like Lyft, AirBnB, and others fueling the “sharing economy,” we are in the middle of a new era in trust and cooperation that promises to forever change the world. After all, ten years ago no one would have thought to rent a random person’s house in a foreign country, use another person's car to travel while there, and drop off her dog for the week at yet another stranger’s pet-sitting service. Henderson argues that individual reviewers serve as “micro-regulators” giving us faith that the service or product we are getting will be safe and useful.

None of this goes down too easy for Jay, who has spent the last two decades taking on BigTech and does not view it as the paradigm of trustworthiness. But, one thing that Jay is forced to concede is that Henderson’s newest book made him rethink how he views the world.

In Episode 1, we heard from a surprising proponent of class action lawsuits. Now we hear from the other side, as prominent (and enigmatic) public interest objector Ted Frank joins the show. Proving why the New York Times called him the “leading critic of abusing class-action settlements” in the country, Ted pulls no punches. He argues that many settlements are rigged in favor of attorneys and explains why he thinks plaintiff’s lawyers could be targeted with antitrust lawsuits or (gasp) even malpractice class actions in the future. Ted also talks about how he chooses his cases, why he is rarely worried about what happens in the trial courts, and why he thinks one of his objections (maybe even Equifax) might soon end up in the Supreme Court.

And for dessert, Jay plays a part of his firm’s new rap song, which gives a shout out to Ted.