Tune in to hear:

• What i've learned about possible reasons for my cult obsession
• Why I think it's a good sign for Baldoni that the decisions on his motions is taking awhile
• What made jurors tear up in the social media trial
• Whose depositions Karen Read wants to take in her wrongful death case
• The limitations of appeals

Want to go deeper?

If you want deeper dives, bonus episodes, and some very honest work-and-life talk, come hang out with me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/notactuallygolden/membership

Connect on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@notactuallygolden?lang=en and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@notactuallygolden

In this episode, i'm giving a full explainer on a mechanism being used in multiple high-profile cases to have the cases thrown out before they get started. It's all about free speech, but maybe not quite in the way the law intended. I'll also provide updates on all the big cases we are watching, with a little side rant about being a woman in 2026.

Tune in to hear:

-How Mark Zuckerberg explained Meta's decisions regarding minors using social media on the witness stand

-Why discovery in the Jones v. Abel case is being reopened

-How big entertainment companies are using laws that are supposed to help the little guy

-Why it's so hard to sue someone for things they say

Want to go deeper?

If you want deeper dives, bonus episodes, and some very honest work-and-life talk, come hang out with me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/notactuallygolden/membership

Connect on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@notactuallygolden?lang=en and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@notactuallygolden

In this episode, i'm bringing on my most-requested guest, my husband. We talk about everything from meeting at a law firm to coaching youth sports and everything in between. I'll also give updates on the social media trial, the mediations in the Lively and Jones cases last week, and the status of two civil cases Erika Girardi is still fighting.

Tune into hear:

• Why I think the Lively Judge is more likely to issue an order on dispositive motions now that mediation is over
• What it's like to live with me (the good and the bad)
• What Mr. NAG thinks about Vanzan and all those sanctions motions
• How being an athlete can prepare you for a career in law
• The one question parents should never ask a baseball coach

Want to go deeper?

If you want deeper dives, bonus episodes, and some very honest work-and-life talk, come hang out with me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/notactuallygolden/membership

Connect on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@notactuallygolden?lang=en and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@notactuallygolden

In this episode, i'm doing a full breakdown of a case that should be on everyone's radar; a California trial where a young woman accuses Meta, Google, TikTok, and Snapchat of causing her mental health issues. She, along with more than a thousand other plaintiffs in a multi-district litigation, asserts that the platforms' algorithms and reward systems are inherently unsafe for children and that the platforms should be held accountable. I'll also do a mock opening statement for each side of the Lively v. Baldoni case to show how they might frame their case if they get to a jury.

Tune into hear:

• Things that hit different when you're middle aged
• What we're waiting on in the lululemon and Karen Read cases
• The legal arguments the social media platforms have made to defend themselves against negligence claims from parents and children
• The evidence both sides are trying to have sidelined in the upcoming trial, and the kinds of questions being asked in jury selection
• How the Lively case might be presented to a jury, from both sides

Want to go deeper?

If you want deeper dives, bonus episodes, and some very honest work-and-life talk, come hang out with me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/notactuallygolden/membership

Connect on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@notactuallygolden?lang=en and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@notactuallygolden

In this episode, i'm sharing updates on several cases i've been following involving celebs and other people in the public eye. I give a brief overview of appeals and how they work, so we can follow some cases that are headed to that level in the coming months. I also break down a clean and easy way the judge in the Lively case can enter judgment for Wayfarer.

Tune into hear:

• The latest move by Angelina Jolie in her battle with Brad Pitt over their French Vineyard, Chateau Miraval, that has stopped the case in its tracks
• What Candace Owens filed recently in her attempt to dismiss the defamation case against her by the President of France and his wife based on Owens' content claiming that Brigitte Macron was born a man
• The major Constitutional issue raised by The McCabes, the Alberts, and Brian Higgins as they ask the Federal Court to drop them from Karen Read’s civil rights lawsuit
• The two unsealed documents that I see as most damaging to Blake Lively’s case and why
• A possible pathway for the Lively judge to end the case by only making two legal decisions

Want to go deeper?

If you want deeper dives, bonus episodes, and some very honest work-and-life talk, come hang out with me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/notactuallygolden/membership

Connect on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@notactuallygolden?lang=en and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@notactuallygolden

In this episode, @littlegirlattorney and I take you inside the courtroom for the highly anticipated Lively v. Wayfarer hearing. A nearly three-hour proceeding that revealed far more through the judge’s questions than through the arguments themselves.

We walk through what it was like to be in the room, the sheer scale and seriousness of the hearing, and why this judge’s level of preparation matters more than anything else that happened that day. From sexual harassment and retaliation to independent contractor status, defamation, spoliation, and extraterritorial application of California law, this episode breaks down the real legal fault lines shaping the case.

Tune in to hear:

• What stood out immediately inside the courtroom
• Why the judge’s preparation changed the tone of the hearing
• The key legal issues at stake and how each side approached them
• How sexual harassment claims are evaluated in creative environments
• The high-stakes debate over employee vs. independent contractor status
• Why the retaliation argument appeared especially vulnerable
• The defamation claims and the line between opinion and fact
• Why the spoliation motion faced steep odds
• What the judge’s final questions may reveal about his thinking

Want to go deeper?

If you want deeper dives, bonus episodes, and some very honest work-and-life talk, come hang out with me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/notactuallygolden/membership

Connect on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@notactuallygolden?lang=en and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@notactuallygolden

In this episode, I am exploring why celebrity culture feels different now...not because the glamour is gone, but because we understand too much about how image-making works behind the scenes. That understanding becomes especially important when celebrity narratives collide with the courtroom.

This week’s Civil Disorder segment focuses heavily on the ongoing Lively litigation, as the court prepares for a pivotal hearing that could dramatically reshape (or even end) the case. A major development precedes that hearing: the judge’s decision on what evidence will remain sealed and what the public will finally be allowed to see.

The episode breaks down why sealing evidence is unusual, what the law actually says about public access to court records, and why the distinction between confidential and private information matters more than most people realize. From discovery disputes to deposition secrecy, this case raises serious questions about transparency, litigation strategy, and whether selective secrecy has been used to shape public perception.

Tune In to Hear:

• Why celebrity culture feels less glamorous (and more strategic) than ever
• What the Lively case reveals about sealing evidence and court transparency
• The legal difference between confidential and private information
• Why Blake Lively’s deposition matters and why not seeing it is unusual
• How judges decide what the public has a right to see in civil cases
• What deposition testimony reveals about credibility before trial
• Why Ryan Reynolds and agency communications may become public
• How litigation can be misused to create headlines instead of justice
• Why free speech protects more than most Americans realize
• How defamation and discrimination claims fit into First Amendment law
• Why bad speech isn’t fixed by more laws but by more speech
• What to watch for ahead of the upcoming court hearing

Want to go deeper?

If you want deeper dives, bonus episodes, and some very honest work-and-life talk, come hang out with me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/notactuallygolden/membership

Connect on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@notactuallygolden?lang=en and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@notactuallygolden

In this episode, I’m walking you through what to expect from the upcoming January 22 court hearing in the Blake Lively v. Wayfarer case and, more importantly, what that hearing is not.

This episode focuses on the dispositive motions that could end the case before it ever reaches a jury. While headlines frame these motions as an attempt to “deny Blake Lively her day in court,” the reality is far more routine. In civil litigation (especially employment cases) summary judgment and judgment-on-the-pleadings motions are not only common, they are expected.

The episode breaks down the major legal questions the court must resolve, including whether California law can apply to conduct that occurred in New York, whether Blake Lively was legally an employee or an independent contractor, and whether procedural missteps before filing suit could be fatal to her claims.

Tune in to hear:

• What dispositive motions are and why they’re filed in most civil cases
• Why this hearing is unusual and why the judge likely requested oral argument
• How judges use oral argument to identify appeal-proof rulings
• The eight major legal issues the court must decide
• Whether California law can apply to a New York-based film production
• Why employment status (employee vs. independent contractor) matters so much
• How pre-suit filing requirements could eliminate the case entirely
• Why the unsigned actor loan-out agreement is central to nearly every issue
• How damages limitations could undercut key claims
• What the evidence spoliation motion is really trying to accomplish
• Why this case could end without any factual findings at all

Want to go deeper?

If you want deeper dives, bonus episodes, and some very honest work-and-life talk, come hang out with me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/notactuallygolden/membership

Connect on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@notactuallygolden?lang=en and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@notactuallygolden