MSNBC anchor and trial lawyer Katie Phang, host of podcast Class Action

ABOUT CLASS ACTION<br /><br />iHeartRadio and Sound Argument LLC Announce the launch of "Class Action," a New Documentary Series About the Next Generation of Lawyers<br /><br />iHeartRadio, the no. 1 podcast publisher according to Podtrac, and Sound Argument LLC have launched a new documentary podcast titled "Class Action." Hosted by Katie Phang, a trial lawyer, anchor, and host for MSNBC and Peacock, the 12-part podcast series will track a diverse cast of outstanding law students who are battling it out in mock trial competitions across the country. The first two episodes debuted on June 7 and can be heard on iHeartRadio and all other major platforms.<br /><br />The budding young lawyers on "Class Action" are extraordinary, bright, ambitious and sometimes ruthless. They are poised to enter a justice system that is under intense public scrutiny. And jury trials-a bedrock of a fair justice system-are becoming rare. Prosecutors aggressively push plea deals on defendants, while defense attorneys, often untrained in courtroom procedure, urge them to accept. But in the wake of high-profile verdicts like the George Floyd case, and with the growth in trial "mooting"/mock trialing at major law firms, trial advocacy training is gaining popularity. Mock trial tournaments are quickly becoming a necessary and exciting kind of collegiate sport. One tournament director, who works full time as a homicide investigator, sees it this way:<br /><br />"All of a sudden we take lawyers, they graduate law school, and we expect them to walk into a courtroom and talk about life and death and millions of dollars without any practice. Think about music, playing the violin in your basement. And then, all of a sudden, walking into Carnegie Hall one day and playing for the first time. It would never happen in music. It would never happen in sports. Why should it happen in law?," said Jared Rosenblatt, Hofstra University.<br /><br />Host Katie Phang will guide us through these young lawyers' stories, disentangling the complexities of American