Forty years ago, I was a young lawyer working for a long-time judge in rural Louisiana. Judge Robert P. Jackson had been a judge for a couple of decades and a prosecutor before that. Judge Jackson had seen it all. But, one day, on a Friday of course, we had a divorce case. A Cuban
Once again, Trump lawyers give us a master class in how not to litigate. Donald Trump was sued in New York civil district court for civil fraud. Attorney General James claimed the Trumps perpetrated fraud among lenders when they vastly overstated the value of their holdings. A couple of days ago, the judge presiding over
In the recent decision in January v. City of Huntsville, No. 22-20380 (%th Cir.7/24/2023), the Fifth Circuit has returned again to its old friend, the discredited “pretext plus” doctrine. I have previously written about this insidious doctrine here and here. In January, a fire fighter had gall bladder surgery. The surgery was
So, the lawyers who took much of their briefing from ChatGPT have been sanctioned. ChatGPT created case law out of whole cloth. It created non-existent holdings from those cases that simply did not exist. I previously wrote about that brief here. This is not a surprising result. Whatever the source, every lawyer has a
The crime fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege was instituted in reaction to the Watergate scandal of the 1970’s. Observers at the time were shocked how many attorneys were involved in the Watergate mess. It was also surprising at the time how often illegal plans were funneled through lawyers, simply because it was presumed the
We are all intrigued by the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence. But, what happens when AI goes crazy? One lawyer in New York City will soon find out. The lawyer who represents the plaintiff in Roberto Mata v. Avianca, Inc, Steve A, Schwartz, a lawyer with 30 years experience, submitted a brief that was partly
Lawyers do not like to be deposed in a civil suit. So, when Baker Hostetler partner Lee H. Rosebush was deposed, he provided evasive answers. Or, as Special Master, retired Judge Dennis Cavanaugh said, ” he spoke words, but did not provide answers.” Mr. Rosebush sits on the board of Alliance Medical Holdings. Alliance Medical
I think as lawyers and advocates, we are always tempted to engage in some hyperbole and take a potshot or two at the judge. But, after a couple of years, most of us learn how to deal with that temptation. Not one lawyer in Chicago named Calvita Frederick. Ms. Frederick represented a woman who failed
Lawyers can be sanctioned by the court for “unreasonably and vexatiously” multiplying a lawsuit. That means the lawyer can be sanctioned for creating unnecessary work. In the lawsuit Vaughan v. Lewisville ISD, the plaintiff claimed his vote as a white voter was diluted by some measure taken by the Lewisville ISD. The judge sanctioned
I previously wrote about the whistle blower allegations against Attorney General Ken Paxton here and here. I said then that it seemed like a clear whistle blower violation. And, sure enough, now AG Paxton has agreed to settle their claims. As part of that settlement, AG Paxton has agreed to apologize for calling former