I wrote about the hearing regarding the lawsuit filed by the law firm, Perkins Coie here. The Judge was clearly flabbergasted by the Executive Order targeting two big law firms. She asked at that hearing if this EO was not like something from the Joe McCarthy era? Well, Judge Howell has now issued her
It is a strange world indeed in which we find ourselves. The Department of Justice, once the exemplar for competence and professionalism, now hires lawyers to political posts who do not respect the courts. At a recent hearing before Judge Paula Xinis regarding Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the DOJ attorney sat while speaking to the Judge.
Lawyers owe a duty of candor to the court. That means they cannot lie. Lawyers may not always tell the whole truth, but they cannot lie to a Judge. Even if that was not an ethical requirement, it is a practical requirement. Lawyering is one of the places where its participants must rely on the
There are few things a lawyer can say in court more offensive than “your verbal orders” do not matter. Yet, that is essentially what a DOJ lawyer, Abhishek Kambli, told Judge Boasberg in court. On Saturday, two or more planes left the U.S. with alleged Venezuelan refugees. The planes left about 5:30 p.m. just as
The Judge hearing a lawsuit filed against six Federal agencies asked specifically to hear from the head of Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Charles Ezell had submitted an affidavit and the Judge wanted to see him questioned. This all started a few weeks ago when OPM issued an email firing hundreds of probationary employees. So
The war on Federal workers continues. After the “Fork in the Road” email, the Musk/Trump next step has been to fire probationary employees. One estimate holds that there are 200,000 workers in their first year of Federal employment, making them probation employees. Many termination emails have been issued. A regular Federal employee can appeal any
The Office of Special Counsel has not done much for me or my clients in the past. But, it is always there as a backstop. The OSC receives and investigates whistleblower claims submitted by Federal workers. They are typically overwhelmed with too many complaints and not enough investigators. Which is probably why they were not
It starts with Project 2025. Right off the bat, the Project 2025 book claims Federal workers are not held accountable. I previously wrote about that propaganda book here. As any Federal worker knows, all employees of the U.S. government receive an evaluation every year. Many private employers cannot make the same claim. I just
His name is Joe. Joe cleans tables at a coffee bar I frequent. Joe has limited functioning. Whatever his diagnosis is, he could be on the severe end of the autism spectrum. Joe does a great job at keeping the tables clean and performing “hey you” tasks. Even though Joe is tall and big enough
In employment lawsuits, the nub of the matter is often the alleged pretext. The employer argues the personnel decisions as completely normal and free of discriminatory bias. The plaintiff argues the opposite, that the employer’s decision does not withstand scrutiny. In Texas Tech Univ. Health Sciences Center v. Flores, No. 22-0940 (Tex. Dec. 31