If you get arrested, a lawyer is handy if you're guilty and absolutely essential if you're not.  Generally, lawyers are shrewd, intelligent, and fun to talk to, if you're not paying $200 an hour for the conversation.  If you're accused of a crime, you'd be crazy to go to trial without an attorney.

Civil law is another matter.  Once in a while people find themselves in need of an attorney.  For example, if the neighbor's dog jumps over the fence and takes a piece out of my leg, I'll see to it that the negligent neighbors pay my medical bills.  That would probably require an attorney.

(Or if, for example, someone copies an entire page from this web site and posts it on their own web site, presenting my works as their own — after removing my copyright notice from the bottom of the page — I'd probably call a really good law office in North Dallas and have them help me resolve the issue.  And I did, too.  But then the other web site took down the infringing page just in time to avoid trouble.)

Most people recognize, however, that litigation can be used to pursue a number of goals other than justice.  It has been said that you don't have to literally chase ambulances to be considered an ambulance chaser.  In my opinion, one of this country's biggest and most costly problems is hair-splitting legalism and opportunism in the form of frivolous class-action lawsuits which benefit only the lawyers who file them.

And another thing:  Until about 1980 it was illegal for lawyers to advertise on television.  Today, when school children are asked, "What's the quickest way to get rich?", they will most often give an answer that mentions a lawsuit or a lottery ticket, because that's what they've seen on television.  If lawyers were once again prohibited from advertising on television, it would go a long way toward improving this country in the long term.

It could very well be that the percentage of unscrupulous lawyers is no higher than the percentage of unscrupulous fast-food workers.  But the lawyers are in a position to inflict a lot more damage.

San Francisco Bill Would Let People Sue Grocery Stores for Closing Too Quickly.  The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is considering a remarkable policy that would allow people to sue grocery stores that close too quickly.  Earlier this week, Supervisors Dean Preston and Aaron Peskin introduced an ordinance that, if passed, would require grocery stores to provide six months' written notice to the city before closing down.  Supermarket operators would also have to make "good faith" efforts to ensure the continued availability of groceries at their shuttered location, either through finding a successor store, helping residents form a grocery co-op, or any other plan they might work out by meeting with city and neighborhood residents.  Lest one thinks this is some heavy-handed City Hall intervention, the ordinance makes clear that owners still retain the ultimate power to close their store.  It also creates a number of exemptions to the six-month notice requirement.

2018 Letter From Michael Cohen's Lawyers Admitting Trump Knew Nothing About Stormy Daniels 'Hush Money' Transaction Re-Emerges.  A 2018 letter from Michael Cohen's lawyers admitting Trump knew nothing about the Stormy Daniels 'hush money' transaction re-emerged as the judge set the trial for April 15.  Last year the Daily Mail obtained a 2018 letter from Michael Cohen's lawyer stating Cohen used his own personal money to pay Porn Star Stormy Daniels in 2016.  The letter also states that the Trump Org nor the Trump campaign reimbursed Michael Cohen for the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels.  This directly contradicts Cohen's testimony — not surprising given Michael Cohen is a convicted perjurer.

In Florida, ignorance of the law is an excuse if you don't speak English.  An illegal alien in Florida escaped prosecution for resisting arrest because he speaks no English[,] and now he's suing the estate of the officer who collapsed while arresting him.  If you've ever wondered how lost America is, I think this story tells the tale.  I'll limit my comments because the facts really do speak for themselves.  Virgilio Aguilar Mendez is a Guatemalan citizen who came to America illegally, ending up in St.  Augustine, Florida.  Last year, Sgt. Michael Kunovich, an experienced police officer, believed that Mendez was behaving suspiciously and began to question him.  Mendez announced that he didn't speak English and tried to walk away.  Of course, walking away from a police officer isn't how it works in Guatemala or America, so Kunovich grabbed Mendez.  Mendez responded with violence.  Kunovich then collapsed from a deadly heart attack.

Washington Supreme Court Rules Bar Exam Negatively Impacts Minorities, Will No Longer Require It For Lawyers.  The Washington State Supreme Court officially abolished the traditional bar exam requirement for aspiring lawyers Friday due to its perceived negative impact on minorities.  The Supreme Court has announced that the bar exam is no longer a requirement for those who aspire to be practicing lawyers.  The Bar Licensure Task Force claims that the exam is only minimally effective in measuring competency and noted its unfair barrier to marginalized communities aspiring to practice law, according to the Washington Administrative Office of the Courts.  The Task Force on Bar Licensure found that the usual bar exam unfairly stops people from underrepresented groups from entering the legal profession.  The exam is not good at measuring if someone is qualified.  Washington has followed Oregon in getting rid of the bar exam requirement, making it the second state to do so after Oregon.  Other states like Minnesota, Nevada, South Dakota, and Utah are looking into different ways to license lawyers, the Spokesman-Review reported.

The Editor says...
I hope all the half-baked incompetent lawyers go to work for the IRS.

Mendacity and Corruption in the Judiciary.  Something is seriously wrong with American law schools and the disciplinary outfits that are supposed to monitor corrupt conduct of practitioners.  You can see the effects of this degradation in the outrageous behavior of government prosecutors and in the judiciary, which ignores its responsibility to decide fairly and without bias.  We are churning out dishonest, corrupt lawyers and judges who are more than willing to look the other way at such behavior, condoning the most obvious selective partisan prosecutions.  As the awareness of the failure of the judicial system grows, the consequences will be enormous — respect for the traditional way of resolving disputes and obeying the law are fundamental aspects of a civilized, prosperous nation.  Once that is lost, other less tenable means will be employed.

Mark Steyn appeals hockey stick verdict.  Climate bully Michael Mann, with mixed results, has been suing those who criticize his "hockey stick" graph of climate history.  This 1998 graph purported to show that global temperature was stable until about 1900 when human-induced warming struck.  In February, Mann scored a $1 million libel judgement against Canadian columnist Mark Steyn in a court in the District of Columbia.  Steyn has responded with an appeal.  Punitive damages are typically calculated as a ratio to actual damages.  With only $1 in actual damages, the ratio in this case is a staggering million to one.  This amount is so excessive that there doesn't seem to be any precedent for it, according to Steyn's appeal.  On the other hand, the appeal does cite numerous precedents to support a decision to reduce an excessive award.

NY cop claims he was fired for writing traffic ticket to lawyer who flashed PBA card to try dodge trouble.  A Westchester County cop claims he was unceremoniously fired just months into the job for writing a traffic ticket to a PBA-connected lawyer — and is now suing the county in federal court.  Joseph Saetta, 29, said he got into hot water with the suburban department just two months after joining the force — all because he didn't honor a police benevolent association "courtesy card," part of an unspoken code in law enforcement for cops to look the other way on minor infractions.  It ended up costing him his job, the lawsuit claims.

A quiet coup is handing control of Britain to the lawyers.  Should we adopt the Iranian system of rule by a Council of Guardians — wise Ayatollahs — who oversee what elected representatives must, may and cannot do, to ensure government policies accord with the Ayatollahs' interpretation of sacred texts?  No takers for that in Britain you may think.  But in fact the UK is well on the way to succumbing to such a system.  In Iran it was established by the Islamic Revolution overthrowing the Shah.  Here it is being imposed by a stealthy constitutional revolution.  Our unelected, unaccountable guardians are lawyers, giving themselves power to constrain what elected representatives can and cannot do.  Their sacred text is not the Koran but the European Convention of Human Rights which, they assert, Parliament cannot override or resile from, but which judges declare to be a "living instrument" — open to their subjective interpretation.  This week, we will find whether these legal Ayatollahs have already gained the power to stop Parliament passing the Rwanda Bill.

Fani Willis and Nathan Wade [are] Now Facing Trouble With the Georgia State Bar.  After all the problems regarding Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her former paramour, whom she appointed to be a special prosecutor in the Trump election case, you knew that they were going to be in trouble.  Now, they have been referred by a watchdog group to the Georgia state bar for misconduct.  The American Accountability Foundation (AAF) is alleging that the pair violated the rules of professional conduct in ethics complaints they filed with the bar.  The AAF claims Wade lied under oath about the relationship with Willis and that Willis kept campaign money for personal use, and admitted it during her testimony.  The Foundation is asking that the bar take action against both Willis and Wade to permanently ban them from the practice of law.  The Foundation was upset about this part of Willis' testimony that we reported on, and thought it needed more investigation.  [Tweet]

Exposed: Corrupt Albuquerque Cops Caught in DWI Extortion Scheme With Local Attorney.  The police department in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is facing scrutiny from the Justice Department over an alleged DWI scheme perpetrated by police officers and an attorney.  The story underscores the need for diligence in promoting transparency and accountability in law enforcement.  The scam involves the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) collaborating with a defense attorney to extort money from residents accused of driving while under the influence.  One of the reports chronicles the story of Carlos Smith, who was pulled over during a routine traffic stop for speeding.  The officer's bodycam showed Officer Joshua Montaño's interaction with Smith, in which he subjected the motorist to a series of field sobriety tests that resulted in an unnecessary arrest.

Fani for Vice President!  First, let's recap why her law career is ending.  Fani's case against Donald Trump includes a preposterous RICO charge for violating the racketeering laws.  Fani has no expertise in that arcane law, so she hired her boyfriend and paid him three-quarters of a million taxpayer dollars for his expertise.  Never mind that he, too, has no such expertise, having never tried a RICO case.  The scheme worked well for Fani and the boyfriend, for a while.  The boyfriend took Fani on expensive vacations to exotic places, paid for by the taxpayer money he received from Fani's office.  Fani says she always paid him back for her half, but the payback was in untraceable cash that she kept around the house.  There's no bank record of her withdrawing that cash, and no bank record of him depositing that cash.  To casual observers, and, more importantly, to the judge, this all looked a little crafty and grafty.

E. Jean Carroll May Sue Trump Again, and the Reason Is Absurd.  On Monday night, Shawn Crowley, one of the attorneys representing E. Jean Carroll, suggested that Carroll is considering yet another lawsuit against Donald Trump because he insists on defending himself by denying any wrongdoing.  At issue were Trump's statements over the weekend at a rally in Michigan, where he criticized Carroll's lawsuits and called them unfair.  Crowley indicated that they're keeping tabs on Trump's public statements, waiting to pounce.

Jackpot! Muslim Woman in Tennessee Gets $100,000 for Having to Remove Her Hijab for a Mugshot.  There are several ways to get rich in Old Joe Biden's America.  Among the most notable are winning an elected office, being the son of a major elected official, and being part of one of the left's protected victim groups who can make a case for having been the victim of discrimination.  That last one is why a woman in Tennessee, Sophia Johnston, is $100,000 richer today.

Fani Willis gets slapped with 22 articles of impeachment.  Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has found herself in hot water over the past few weeks as allegations of misconduct have sprung forth, casting a dark shadow on her behavior in the legal world, particularly as she continues to spearhead the Georgia election-related case against President Donald Trump.  As reported by RSBN, a story surfaced in the media that broke allegations concerning Willis's involvement with an alleged romantic partner whom she hired to prosecute Trump, thus resulting in reported financial benefits.  This partner has allegedly been identified as Nathan Wade, a private attorney.

The Trump-Carroll Case is Blatantly the Greatest Miscarriage of Justice in Modern American History.  The awarding of nearly $90 million to the second-rate advice columnist E. Jean Carroll will doubtless be remembered for generations as the greatest miscarriage of justice in contemporary American history.  Jean Carroll's case was not just ludicrous on the face of it, but between the judge, the "experts" who testified, and the mechanisms by which the case even came to be, it's impossible for any ordinary person in the West to see this as anything more than the continuation of a series of hoaxes perpetrated on former President Donald J. Trump with the desire to keep him from re-entering the Oval Office in January 2025.

The E. Jean Carroll case against Trump shows our morally corrupt legal system.  The headline is that a jury awarded E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in her defamation claim against Donald Trump.  What's behind the headline is infinitely more important, for it shows how America's leftist-run judicial system works.  I should explain that I come with a strong bias to this matter.  I worked as a litigator for almost thirty years in the San Francisco Bay Area.  That experience left me with an abiding hatred for leftist judges.  They routinely showed themselves to be disinterested in law and facts.  Instead, they used their powerful positions to dispense "justice" — only their idea of "justice" was whatever comported with leftist ideology.  That meant that landlords lost, banks lost, insurance companies lost, and anyone else whom the judges didn't like lost — and they lost for dishonest reasons.  I never minded losing a case I knew was weak; I resented losing a good case, and I became conservative for that reason.

Why is no one wondering how the Trump trials have such idiotic jurors?  [Scroll down]  A jury consultant's job is to research, as closely as possible, each prospective juror by any means necessary so that the defense can select the persons who may be most disposed to find their client not guilty.  Of course, prosecutors hire jury consultants as well to determine who among the pool will be likely to find the person on trial guilty.  On its face, this seems to be an obviously unethical practice; depending on who got the most jurors of their choosing is likely to win.  How can this be legal, one might ask.  It probably should not be, but one thing is clear:  Juries are rarely a "jury of one's peers" anymore.  They are carefully and deceptively chosen.  We can be certain that jury consultants were hired to select the people who would sit in judgment of President Trump for each of the numerous trials to which he has been so unfairly subjected.

Can America Survive This Perversion of Our Justice System?  Today's spectacle out of Georgia:  Fani Willis hired her lover, who has no experience trying felony cases, to be the chief prosecutor in the election case against Donald Trump.  While she was making self-righteous and remarkably stupid pronouncements of her virtue and legal acumen, she was sleeping with Mr. Ward, allegedly her lover, and allowing him to bill the State of Georgia over $650,000.  Among his bills, which she approved, are notations like a claim that he spent 24 hours on one day in November working on the case, requiring him to be paid for every minute of that day by the State.  Seriously?

Special Prosecutor in Trump Case, Nathan Wade, Allegedly Billed Fani Willis's Office $6k for 24 Hours of Work in 1 Day.  Embattled Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade — accused of having a romantic relationship with Fulton County District Attorney (FCDA) Fani Wills — and his firm allegedly billed her office $6,000 for 24 hours of work in a single day in November 2021.  Michael Roman, who is one of 18 co-defendants along with former President Donald Trump in the Georgia election case, laid out the allegation in a 127-page motion to disqualify Willis, Wade, and the district attorney's office from prosecuting the case.

When Lawyers Defending Their Clients Become the Accused.  Lawyers throughout America are being subjected to these very ordeals due to their participation in cases related to the 2020 presidential election.  One of the principal groups pursuing this strategy operates under the name "The 65 Project."  The group targets lawyers who litigated 2020 election irregularities or represented President Donald Trump.  It does this by filing complaints against them in state bar associations, contending not only that the lawsuits were meritless but that anyone involved in them should be sanctioned — up to and including disbarment.  This may be the first time in our nation's history that election controversies have denigrated into such "lawfare."  Election controversies are not uncommon, and heretofore, they have not led to such actions by disciplinary bodies.

The allegations against Fulton County's prosecutor.  [Scroll down]  Separate from the vendetta against Trump, if the charges are true, it smells horrible that Willis illegally appointed her boyfriend to a position that saw him receiving $625,000 from Fulton County taxpayers.  Let's not stop there, though.  As the old Ginsu knife commercials used to say... but wait!  There's more.  We can add a whole new level of stench to the smell coming out of Fulton County.  The same filing includes copies of the invoices from Nathan J. Wade explaining why the Fulton County taxpayers owed him $654,000 dollars.  In the bills, aside from the usual lawyer stuff (team meetings, telephone calls, meeting with the DA, research, writing, etc.), there are two that really stand out:  [#1] May 23, 2022: "Travel to Athens; Conf with White House Counsel."  Willis charged eight hours for that day, at $250 per hour, for a total of $2,000.  It's unclear how much time was allocated to travel and how much to the meeting.  [#2] November 21, 2022: "Interview with DC/White House."  Once again, this was an eight-hour day at $250 per hour, the only difference being that it's clear that Wade's entire eight hours was spent in conference with the White House counsel.  That's a lot of time to spend in conference. [...] I don't know if it's illegal for the White House to have worked with a state prosecutor in this way, but it's certainly problematic, especially when the target is almost certainly going to be the opposition candidate in the next election.

The Roots of Lawfare.  The first nationally infamous use of "lawfare" was most likely the battle in 2005 to remove Tom Delay (R Texas) from his position as Speaker of the House.  The vendetta against Tom Delay was led by one Ronnie Earle, the DA in Austin, Texas who had a strong dislike for Delay (One might call it TDDS). Ultimately the case was overturned on appeal, but the battle was won, as Delay was removed from office.  Recognize that one of the purposes of Lawfare is to remove the person from the political scene.

Florida woman sues Hershey's for $5B because the Reese's pumpkins were not "cute" enough.  A Tampa Bay, Florida resident, Cynthia Kelly, submitted a proposed class-action complaint against Hershey Co. for five billion dollars in federal court.  She claims the company has "falsely" portrayed certain Reese's Peanut Butter products, as reported by the Tampa CBS affiliate WTSP-TV.  The woman's dissatisfaction with the candy began in October when she spent $4.49 on a pack of pumpkin-shaped Reese's at an Aldi grocery store.  Her expectation was based on the assumption that "the product contained a cute looking carving of a pumpkin's mouth and eyes as pictured on the product packaging," according to the filed complaint.  Upon opening one of the treats, she realized the product was entirely covered with chocolate and lacked the "cute" carving that had motivated her purchase.

The Editor says...
Yes, the Hershey Company owes her $4.49.  Not a penny more.  And only if she still has the receipt.

400-pound former student who can barely walk sues university for weight discrimination after he cannot become gym teacher.  A severely overweight former student has sued a Detroit university after he was unable to complete its student-teaching requirement to become a certified gym teacher.  David Lopez, a 44-year-old man who weighs more than 400 pounds, has filed a discrimination lawsuit against Wayne State University.  Lopez told the Detroit News that he fulfilled all the requirements for WSU's physical education kinesiology program except for student teaching because the school would not provide him the necessary accommodations.  Lopez was initially placed to complete a student-teaching assignment at a school district in Dearborn, a city that borders Detroit.  Before the student-teaching term began in winter 2022, a doctor indicated that Lopez would require accommodations on account of his health conditions, which include asthma, hypertension, and diabetes.  He also cannot stand or walk for long periods of time, the doctor claimed.

Man sues Verizon as its Idaho cell tower emitted RF radiation that he claims triggered his heart disease.  A 53-year-old man from Idaho has sued Verizon and other companies involved in the operation of the radiofrequency radiation-emitting cell tower installed next to his home which triggered more than 15 episodes of atrial fibrillation, a condition when the heart's natural pacemaker can no longer control the rhythm of the heart that causes one to have a highly irregular pulse rate.  The lawsuit, funded by Children's Health Defense (CHD) and filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho Southern Division was of Henry "Hank" Allen, who said his electromagnetic sensitivity (EMS) makes him vulnerable to life-threatening cardiac episodes.  His heart condition episodes began in April 2021, when the telecommunication company activated the tower.  "It's becoming really clear that this massive deployment of wireless technology everywhere is functionally prohibiting a large number of people from being able to participate in society or even live safely in their own homes," W. Scott McCollough, lead litigator for CHD's Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) and Wireless cases, told the Defender.  "This case is designed to recognize the fact that wireless technology does indeed make a lot of people sick, and also to give them some much-needed relief."

The Editor says...
Cell phone towers are nothing new.  If everybody in the vicinity of every cell phone site developed heart problems, there might be a problem.  Otherwise, this looks like someone playing the "lawsuit lottery."

Democratic lawfare vs.  Donald Trump.  The story of the 2024 campaign so far is the effort by Democrats and their appointees to use criminal charges and lawsuits to force former President Donald Trump out of the race for a second term in the White House.  The name for such an effort is lawfare — that is, "the strategic use of legal proceedings to intimidate or hinder an opponent," to cite one law dictionary.  The latest development, of course, is the Colorado Supreme Court ruling disqualifying Trump from being on the state ballot.  All seven members of Colorado's highest court were appointed by Democrats.  The case was started by a Washington-based, aggressively anti-Trump activist group called CREW, or Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which recruited local Coloradans to file suit against Trump.  The Colorado case, of course, comes amid a growing number of Democratic legal efforts to bring down Trump.  Here are five additional examples.  All were brought by Democratic or Democratic-appointed prosecutors, and three of the five are being tried before Democratic-appointed judges.

Come to America, and sue us!
Migrant groups launch lawsuits against Border Patrol over camping conditions near San Diego.  It's not enough that the food isn't good enough in New York for migrants, who are reportedly wasting tons of it.  Nor is it enough that migrants are getting any shelter at all, as the same migrants demonstrated in the streets with demands for permanent housing.  Now migrant open-borders groups are complaining about holding-camp conditions for illegal border crossers, hitting the Border Patrol with two lawsuits in San Diego. [...] After all, didn't the migrants pay good money to cartel human smugglers, upwards of $7,000 a pop, for passage across into the U.S. with no visas or papers needed?  If the cartels select a remote desert spot for migrant-dumping, the Border Patrol better be ready to house all of them, no matter how many they send, and with five-star hotel accomodations, or else lawsuits will be filed.

The travesty verdict against Rudy Giuliani and the left's lawfare against lawyers.  A mother and daughter duo sued Rudy Giuliani in Georgia, alleging that he had defamed them in connection with the Fulton County vote county.  They just received a $148,000,000 verdict (and yes, that's the right number of zeroes).  But all is not as it seems, and the story is a reminder of the multi-level lawfare being practiced against conservatives, especially Trump supporters.  The headlines are screamers:  The jury awarded one plaintiff $16,171,000 in compensatory damages and the other $16,998,000 in compensatory damages.  In addition, the jury ordered that Giuliani pay each plaintiff $20,000,000 for intentional infliction of emotional distress and pay an additional $75,000,000 to both as punitive damages.  The grand total is $148,169,000.  These verdicts aren't meant to punish someone; they are meant to destroy him.

Constitution Scholar:  Lawfare Punishing Me For Advising Trump Will Cost Me $3 Million.  Three lawsuits attempting to bankrupt a constitutional scholar for giving the prior Republican president legal advice will cost him $3 to $3.5 million, John Eastman said Friday.  Eastman was a target of Democrats' illegal Jan. 6 Committee and has been harassed by the FBI and courts since assisting Donald Trump in 2020 constitutional litigation.  "This is what I call the authoritarian moment in our history," Eastman told reporter Julie Kelly and podcast cohost Liz Sheld.  "The whole premise here is: 'The government has spoken and you continue to say otherwise.  Therefore you must be lying.'"  Eastman's legal defense fund has raised more than half a million dollars so far, "less than a third of what we've already incurred and less than about a sixth or seventh of what we're likely to incur before we're done," Eastman said.  To defend himself legally in a Georgia prosecutor's case against Trump and dozens of his associates, Eastman needs to raise $1 million by February, he said:  "I'm trying very hard not to completely deplete my wife's retirement fund."

Trump Lawyer Alina Habba:  NY Judge Was 'Definitely Assisting' Anti-Trump Lawyers.  Justice Arthur Engoron was "definitely assisting" the opposing attorneys in espousing anti-Trump sentiments on Monday, former President Donald Trump's lawyer and spokeswoman Alina Habba said during a Tuesday appearance on Breitbart News Daily, outlining the absurdities of the New York civil fraud case while discussing some of the drama around Trump's testimony.  Trump testified at the New York County Supreme Court on Monday and had a back-and-forth with Justice Arthur Engoron, which went viral after the judge reportedly asked Trump's counsel, "Can you control your client?  This is not a political rally."  Trump counsel Chris Kise reportedly responded, "You're in control of the courtroom, not me."  In another viral moment, Habba told Engoron he was there to "hear what he [Trump] has to say" after repeated interruptions.  "I'm not here to hear what he has to say.  He's here to answer questions," Engoron retorted.

Jack Smith's War on Free Speech:  Attorney General Garland Should Rein in His Special Counsel.  In 2016, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion overturning a conviction that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had seemed willing to secure at whatever cost to the rule of law.  The case involved the prosecution of former governor Bob McDonnell (R-Va.), and the lead DOJ prosecutor was now-special counsel Jack Smith.  The court dismissed the "tawdry tales" offered by the DOJ and declared that it was far more concerned with the damage that Smith was causing to the legal system with his virtually limitless interpretation of criminality.  The rebuke came to mind this week as Smith continued his unrelenting effort to gag former president Donald Trump before the 2024 election.  Some of us have previously denounced the gag order issued by U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan as unconstitutional, but even that order was more limited than what Smith had demanded.  Even the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a leading critic of Trump, has come out against Smith's efforts as an attack on the First Amendment.

Meet Joe Biden's D.C. Prosecutor Who Let 56% of Arrestees off the Hook in 2023.  Fifty-six percent of those arrested by the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in 2023 can thank U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves for being released back on the street, where many taxpayers fear for their lives.  Nominated to the position by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate in 2021, Graves is Joe Biden's handpicked Yale Law graduate to serve as both the local and the federal prosecutor for the nation's capital.  He is in charge of prosecuting crimes from misdemeanor drug possession to murders.  He also has the capacity to prosecute federal crimes, such as financial fraud and terrorism.  Graves claims to be "committed to ensuring the fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans," but many taxpaying residents cannot walk their dog, enjoy a local park, or pick up groceries without fear of being stabbed, robbed, or gunned down in the District, a 68-square-mile area described as a "war zone" and "the most unsafe capital city anywhere in the World."

Climate Data Refutes Crisis Narrative.  Suing oil companies is becoming big business.  Along with California, state and local government climate change lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry have been filed in Oregon, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, South Carolina, and Hawaii.  Alleging these companies have directly caused global warming and extreme weather, they seek damages for consumer fraud, public nuisance, negligence, racketeering, erosion, flooding and fires.  These cases will take years to resolve, and even in victory, will cost oil companies hundreds of millions (or more) in legal fees, costs that will be passed on to consumers.  The plaintiffs were handed a huge advantage in 2007 in the Massachusetts v.  Environmental Protection Agency case, when the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5 to 4 ruling, gave the EPA authority to declare CO2 a dangerous pollutant.  In 2009, the EPA did just that, paving the way for litigation.

A Lawless Justice System Is The Perfect Tool For Criminalizing Opposition To Democrats.  Democrats' successful 100-year war against the rule of law in America made it possible for a court to ban Democrats' top opponent from criticizing them Monday.  Because the United States is, in multiple aspects, effectively lawless after years of leftist-detonated norms and institutions, Democrats are now free to not just threaten Donald Trump with several hundred years in prison but anyone they so choose to target.  Not only must Trump spend millions in multiple venues for the crime of effectively publicly disagreeing with Democrats, but as of Monday, he is gagged from talking about this situation.  That means merely being a party to a lawsuit has erased his First Amendment rights.  [Tweet]  Prosecutors are well aware that they can convict just about anyone they want.  That's partly because American laws and regulations are now so voluminous that enforcement depends on discretion: picking and choosing whom to go after.  The law has ballooned far beyond punishing things everyone knows are wrong to being used as a social control tool.

Charleston's Climate Suit Is a Stalking Horse for the Green New Deal.  Charleston's climate change lawsuit is part of a nationwide effort by left wing activists to score policy wins (think Green New Deal) in the courtroom that would never prevail at the ballot box or in the halls of the conservative state legislatures.  The city's lawsuit targets energy companies for supposed complicity in Lowcountry flooding.  The scheme features liberal elites, dark money pass-throughs, and fortune-seeking trial lawyers.  These well-heeled forces are advancing an agenda Palmetto state voters would never adopt.  The alliance between trial lawyers and left-wing cities is an increasingly prevalent tool progressives are using to advance liberal policies in red states, such as Ohio, Texas, and here in South Carolina.  The outside law firm Charleston retained for its climate change case, Sher Edling LLP, is an essential player in the scheme to change America's energy policy by judicial fiat.

Waves of climate lawsuits against oil companies likely to drive up consumer energy costs.  Eight states and dozens of municipalities have filed lawsuits against oil companies for damages alleged to have been caused by climate change.  Climate activists hail the efforts as a means to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for damages suffered as a result of climate change.  Critics say the suits are a means to enact policies banning and restricting fossil fuels that would never pass legislatures or ballot measures, and if successful, they will drive up energy costs for everyone.  "They're basically attempting to bankrupt industries that they don't like to make them shut down," O.H. Skinner, executive director of the Alliance for Consumers, told Just The News.

Connecting the dots between Fani Willis and unrepentant communists.  The sudden appearance of communist apparatchik Angela Davis in the middle of former President Donald Trump's prosecution saga in Atlanta is a testament not just to her stunning political durability.  It's also yet another reminder of how selective justice has been with prosecuting political violence.  Davis, twice vice presidential candidate on the ticket of the Communist Party USA and an unrepentant bootlicker of all communist tyrants, precisely at the point when that blood-soaked boot was pressed on someone's neck, has now been revealed as the live-in lover of John Floyd III, the father of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.  That revelation actually came in an interview Floyd gave earlier this year to the California State University's Tom and Ethel Bradley Center, but the New York Post revealed the connection in an article this week.  Floyd was interviewed as a founder of the Black Panther Party and a prominent member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, two of the biggest organizations of the 1960s' New Left.

How the Trump Indictments Destroy the Constitution.  In the Mar-a-Lago documents prosecution, former Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran, "according to multiple sources," took copious notes of his conversation with Trump.  Then, going full-blown Judas Iscariot, he betrayed Trum by surrendering confidential notes to Jack Smith's power-hungry little prosecutors.  The New York Times, on June 11, wrote "Trump Indictment Shows Critical Evidence Came From One of His Own Lawyers," adding, "M. Evan Corcoran, who was hired to represent the former president after the Justice Department issued a subpoena for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, could be a key witness in the trial." "Mr. Corcoran's notes," the Times continues, "first recorded into an iPhone and then transcribed on paper, essentially gave prosecutors a road map to building their case."  So Trump hires Corcoran, entrusting him with confidential conversations.  But then Corcoran flips against Trump, becoming a "road map" for prosecutors in "building their case."  Smith's sixty-page superseding indictment reveals three unnamed former "Trump Attorneys," Trump Attorneys 1 (Corcoran), 2, and 3, whom Smith plans to rely on at trial.  Thus, Smith takes a hot blowtorch to the attorney-client privilege, pitting lawyers against clients.

Maui Lawmaker to Step Down Amid Possible Conflict of Interest As Lawyer for Wildfire Victims.  A Maui lawmaker announced he would be stepping down from his position amid a possible conflict of interest over his role as a lawyer for the victims of the Maui wildfire.  Democratic Hawaii state Sen. Gilbert Keith-Agaran, 61, revealed on Wednesday that he had plans to retire on Oct. 31, citing an interest in advocating for the victims of the Maui wildfires, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.  "It's something I've been weighing," Keith-Agaran said.  "It was mainly because clients have been approaching us.  They've lost a lot of things.  In addition my family hasn't been immune to what happened.  We lost someone."

Blue City To Pay George Floyd Protesters Nearly $5 Million.  Denver will hand over nearly $5 million to protesters who participated in 2020 demonstrations after the death of George Floyd after settling a class-action lawsuit on Aug. 23 that alleged they were selectively targeted for violating curfew, according to the court document.  The lawsuit, filed in November 2021 by seven protesters, alleged that more than 300 people were arrested for violating the curfew.  The settlement awarded over $4.7 million to the protesters and promised that the city would not enforce future curfews against persons engaging in First Amendment activity.

The Editor says...
This is a good example of a group of opportunists cashing in on the Lawsuit Lottery.  After rioting violently, injuring cops and damaging other people's property, the perpetrators pretended to be victims and found lawyers willing to represent them.

Can the Trump-Hating Psycho Prosecutors Be Stopped?  Most respected legal analyses of the various charges against Trump agree that the law has been twisted into something unrecognizable in order to "get" him.  From a layperson's viewpoint, the Fulton County charges seem to be particularly awful, as does its district attorney, Fani Willis.

Kyle Rittenhouse Is Being Sued Again and the Lawyer Is Making Insane Claims.  Kyle Rittenhouse revealed on Friday, the third anniversary of the incident during the BLM riots in Kenosha that made him famous, he is been sued again, this time by a firm representing the estate of Joesph Rosenbaum.  Texas Scorecard reports those also being sued by Rosenbaum's estate are Kenosha officials, different Sheriff's departments, the City of Kenosha, the City of West Allis, and several counties for "compensatory and punitive damages" for the "wrongful death" of Rosenbaum.  They are requesting a jury trial for conspiracy to deprive constitutional rights, conspiracy to obstruct justice based on invidious discrimination, and First Amendment retaliation.

Ohio GOP sounds alarm as progressives submit state constitutional amendment stripping police protections.  Progressives in Ohio wasted no time moving to change the state's constitution and take away qualified immunity from police after a failed push by Republicans to make it harder to alter the state's guiding document.  Shortly after Ohio voters rejected a ballot measure that would have raised the threshold to amend the state constitution from 50% plus one vote to 60% of the vote, the Ohio Coalition to End Qualified Immunity submitted a petition to end qualified immunity for state workers, including the police, the Toledo Blade reported.  Ending qualified immunity, a vocal goal of progressives and police abolitionists across the country, would end protections that state employees currently have from most civil lawsuits.

The Editor says...
Hmmm.  Who wants more lawsuits?  Lawyers!  Who wrote this constitutional amendment?  Lawyers!

Reporter Andy Ngo's Case Against Antifa Shows How Desperately Lost Portland Is.  Journalist Andy Ngo was chased, beaten, and chased again when he burst into a downtown Portland, Ore., hotel in May 2021 to get away from his black-bloc-clad Antifa attackers. "They're trying to kill me," he told the understandably frightened hotel workers.  It wasn't the first time he'd been attacked by the notorious Portland terrorist gang.  If Portland's criminal justice system wouldn't stop these guys, Ngo figured, he'd sue them for $1 million.  On Tuesday, a Portland jury decided that two key alleged Antifa conspirators whose cases went to trial were not civilly liable for Ngo's injuries, both physical and otherwise.  The trial was marred by intimidation tactics — not just from the attackers but from their attorney who declared to the unidentified jury members, "I am Antifa" and "I will remember each one of your faces."  We're talking Godfather stuff here.

Sanctuary State California Gov. Gavin Newsom to Spend $4.5M on Lawyers for Illegal Aliens.  The sanctuary state of California will soon spend $4.5 million on providing free lawyers to illegal aliens working on farms thanks to a plan by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).  Newsom announced the pilot program this week, which will see $4.5 million in state taxpayer money shifted to lawyers who are helping illegal alien farmworkers involved in labor investigations.  "This new program includes case review services, legal advice, and representation by an attorney — all at no cost to farmworkers seeking assistance," a press release states of the pilot program.

Hunter Biden's lawyer sends cease-and-desist letter to Trump over social media posts, claiming first son could be hurt.  An attorney for embattled first son Hunter Biden sent a cease and desist letter to former President Donald Trump's legal team claiming Trump's posts on social media could lead someone to injure the first son or his family, according to a report.  One of Hunter Biden's lawyers, Abbe Lowell, cited Trump's tweets leading up to the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riots in 2021 as evidence of the 45th president inspiring violence, according to the letter, obtained by ABC News.  The attorney additionally noted the hammer attack on former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul at their home in October, and last month's arrest of a man found with a slew of weapons and ammunition near former President Barack Obama's D.C. home.

The Editor says...
How many "homes" does Barack H. Obama have?  One each in Martha's Vineyard, Washington DC, Hawaii, Chicago, and where else?

You're Going to Get a Kick Out of the Letter Hunter Biden's Lawyer Sent to Trump.  Either Hunter Biden is a delicate snowflake, or his legal team is beyond thin-skinned because the letter they sent to Donald Trump is laughable.  The former president has been posting extensively about the cracked-out son of Joe Biden.  He's an easy target, and we got a window into his whacked-out life when the contents of his laptop got revealed.  Essentially, Hunter's lawyer told Trump to stop exercising his constitutional right to free speech because it could cause harm to Mr. Biden and his family.

Let me guess: They're calling it Russian disinformation?
"The Images You Circulated Online Are Complete Fakes" — Hunter Biden Lawyer Accuses Republicans of Faking WhatsApp Message.  In a letter sent to Republicans on the House Ways and Means Chairman, Hunter Biden's lawyer Abbe Lowell denied Joe Biden was sitting next to Hunter Biden when his son sent a threatening WhatsApp message to a Chinese business associate.  IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley revealed Hunter Biden demanded payment from his Chinese business associate over WhasApp messenger.  Hunter Biden demanded payment and threatened Henry Zhao, a Chinese Communist Party official and director of Harvest Fund Management.  Harvest Fund Management had previously invested in Hunter Biden's firm, BHR Partners — a private investment fund founded in 2013 that is co-owned by the Bank of China.

Hunter Biden's Attorney Sends Letter Apparently Riddled With Falsehoods To Key Republican.  Hunter Biden's attorney Abbe Lowell is asserting that two Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblowers are part of a Republican smear campaign to damage President Joe Biden, but appeared himself to have spread multiple falsehoods in his letter to the Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.  A high-powered lawyer who has represented numerous Democratic political figures, Lowell wrote Friday in a letter to Republican Missouri Rep. Jason Smith that IRS Supervisory Agent Gary Shapley and an unnamed agent offered "unsworn and slanted statements" in a bid to "evade their own misconduct."  Lowell asserted that Shapley and the other whistleblower were not asked appropriate questions and lied to investigators, but Lowell makes multiple claims in the letter that appear to be false.

Misleading the Public on Law.  New York University (NYU) Law professor Rick Pildes, among a partisan academic group including NYU Law's Bob Bauer, who worked for the Obama administration, wrote a guest essay in the New York Times recently where he opines on the SCOTUS decision over state voting procedures.  In doing so, he adds to the long list of law school professors who are deliberately misleading the public.  There are some formal issues to consider in this case, including the Court's dissent by Justices Clarence Thomas and others, and the concept of "mootness," but I'd like to leave those technical and law factors to others, and focus on what Pildes does in his NYT essay:  deliberately twist the law in order to serve the DNC, and by so doing, abandon law's professional standards.

This kind of lawfare is evil.  In today's United States, a lawyer can become a celebrity for representing O.J. Simpson, but if you represent a former President of the United States be prepared to be attacked by your fellow lawyers and be driven out of the profession.  That is the mission of The 65 Project, which is managed by former Perkins Coie attorney Michael Teter.  Perkins Coie is the Democrat Mega law firm that represents everybody who is anybody in Democrat politics: the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Leadership Council, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.  Other political clients include most Democratic members of the United States Congress.  It has also represented several presidential campaigns, including those of John Kerry, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton.  The group's political law practice was founded by Robert Bauer who recruited Marc Elias and made him chair of the group in 2009.  Basically, Perkins Coie IS the legal arm of the Democrat Party.  This basically implies that for all intents and purposes, so is the 65 Project.

The Lawlessness of Yale And Other Law Schools.  Yale Law School professor Oona Hathaway wrote an especially revealing Guest Essay in the pages of the New York Times.  By aiding the government's exceptional indictment against a former U.S. president, she may have violated several laws; the American Bar Association (ABA) Model Rules of Professional Conduct; and the American Association of Law School (AALS) Statement on "Law Professors in the Discharge of Ethical and Professional Responsibilities."  Hathaway's essay demonstrates how extreme ideological fervor can make law professors "legally blind" to what the law actually says.

Reading Body Language: The New Phrenology?  America has excellent (but not perfect) procedures for settling disputes among citizens in civil court and attributing guilt for crimes based on evidence arising from the actions of the offense.  Yet, America always has an audience for the alternative — including non-investigative, alternative methods to detect lies and withheld truths.  Experts decipher the meanings of eye movements or gestures.  Exotic drugs called truth serums supposedly do "in vino veritas" one better.  A machine that measures breathing, sweating and heart rate, is fitted onto the interviewee after a practice session and elaborate explication of the examiner's expertise and the machine's reliability.  (If it's the machine detecting lies, why do examiners boast expertise?  A microwave heats food whether the button is punched by Gordon Ramsay or a toddler).  The American justice system requires patience of participants and citizens[.]  This virtue can be difficult for police wanting to reassure the community with a rapidly apprehended suspect.

Washington Post helps those who are intimidating lawyers into not working for Trump.  The right to counsel for defendants is sacred to our democratic republic.  Preventing defendants from obtaining counsel clearly adds to the darkness that the Washington Post endlessly tells us is fatal to democracy.  A highly organized group of people is attempting to deny Donald Trump the right to legal counsel of his choosing by organizing a campaign of intimidation of lawyers who might be asked to serve his defense in the criminal matter he now faces.

Trump Lawyers Targeted by Dark Money Group.  mong the unusual features of last week's arraignment of former President Trump in Miami involved the difficulty he had finding a qualified attorney to represent him in the classified documents case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith.  The corporate media inevitably made much of this issue.  The Washington Post, for example, quoted various anonymous sources who claimed that Trump's reputation as a "challenging client" caused several prominent lawyers to turn him down.  In reality, the problem resulted from an intimidation campaign by a radical pressure group called the 65 Project, whose explicit mission is to ruin any lawyer willing to represent Trump.

6 Reasons DOJ's 'Get Trump' Documents Case Is Seriously Flawed.  [#6] If you could pick any lawyer in the country to handle a controversial case against a former president, a case involving an aggressive, unprecedented use of the Espionage Act, a controversial law in and of itself, what lawyer would you pick?  You'd probably want just a consummate professional, right?  Career prosecutor with no political profile at all?  White knight in shining armor who's never lost a case?  Or you could pick Jack Smith.  The single case Jack Smith is most publicly associated with was the prosecution of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.  In that case, using a very aggressive interpretation of the scope of federal bribery and honest services fraud statutes, Smith nuked the career and life of a popular Republican politician, before having all his convictions overturned by the Supreme Court in a unanimous opinion.  A unanimous Supreme Court smacked Smith down for an overzealous, legally defective prosecution of a Republican politician, and the opinion was so devastating that DOJ did not even attempt to retry the case.  It was just dropped.  As has been noted publicly as well, Smith's wife is a leftist filmmaker who produced a hagiography of Michelle Obama, and he currently lives in the Netherlands.  Was there not anyone else up to the task on this side of the Atlantic?

Scientists Urged to Aid 'Rights of Nature' in Science.  The major science journals are growing increasingly hard left politically.  The prestigious journal Science, in particular, has swallowed progressive ideology — including supporting the "nature rights" movement.  The rights of nature — which include geological features — are generally defined as the right to "exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution."  Nature is, of course, not sentient.  So, this campaign is really about granting environmental extremists legal standing to enforce their policy desires through litigation as legal guardians serving nature's best interests.  But the movement has a problem.  It is clearly ideological rather than rational.

A doozy of a DOJ IG report into MA US Attorney Rachel Rollins, who resigned yesterday.  [Thread reader] She got in hot water for attending a fundraiser for DOCTOR Jill Biden: [...] But there's more!  She was in cahoots with the media and an unnamed Boston-area law professor to do the DOJs two-step of smearing a political rival. [...] And here's the SHOCKER, folks.  Merrick Garland declined to prosecute Rollins.

The Editor says...
Why would DOCTOR Jill Biden hold a fundraiser?  She's raising funds for what?

Living Room Pundit's Updated Guide to Soros District Attorneys.  The Kyle Rittenhouse trial, the Jussie Smollet hoax, the attack on the Waukesha Christmas parade, the organized mob lootings in San Francisco, and now the potential indictment of President Donald Trump have each attracted national attention and spotlighted an issue that many in law enforcement and politics have been warning of for years: the threat of activist district attorneys (DAs).  Specifically, the public imagination has been captured by the stories of activist DAs backed by the shadowy figure of George Soros.  Many have heard of him, and most understand that he spends millions on U.S. politics, but very few know the specifics.  As a result, Soros has become something of a folklore monster whose reputation often exceeds reality.  But when it comes to Soros's involvement in backing left-wing district attorneys, Soros really is the archvillain that rumor makes him out to be.

Soros-Backed Prosecutor Dropped Previous Assault Charges Against Man Arrested For Attacking Dem Staffers With A Bat.  Xuan Kha Tran Pham, the 49-year-old man being investigated for the Monday assault of two congressional staffers with a metal bat, was previously charged with assaulting a police officer, but the local Soros-backed prosecutor declined to pursue the charges, court records show.  The office of Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano, whose campaign was backed by far-left billionaire George Soros, declined to prosecute Pham in 2022 after he was charged with assaulting a police officer, according to court records.  Pham allegedly attacked two staff members at Democratic Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly's district office with a baseball bat Monday morning and has been charged with aggravated malicious wounding and malicious wounding; he is being held without bond, according to ABC 7.

George Soros is funding almost all of Matt Dugan's campaign for Allegheny County DA.  Billionaire liberal donor George Soros is the sole contributor to an outside political group financing most of Democrat Matt Dugan's run for Allegheny County district attorney, a new financial filing shows.  The Pennsylvania Justice and Public Safety PAC listed Mr. Soros as its only donor in a campaign finance report released Tuesday.  Based in New York City, the philanthropist, financier and activist has backed progressive candidates in local races for prosecutor across the country, including Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner.  While he is often only one source of funding for groups that in turn help finance candidates, the extent of his support for Mr. Dugan's campaign — while entirely legal — is less common.

Attempt to Remove Soros-Backed Prosecutor Moves Forward; She Vows to Fight 'Witch Hunt'.  Days after an embattled prosecutor vowed she would never resign from office, a judge ruled that removal proceedings against her would continue.  On May 2, Visiting Judge John Torbitzky ordered seven out of 10 claims against St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner to move forward.  He denied her lawyers' request to throw out all of the accusations.  Torbitzky has been presiding over the case that Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey brought against Gardner, a Democrat.  Gardner has accused Republican Bailey of playing politics.  Bailey filed a petition alleging that Gardner shirked her responsibilities and should forfeit her elected office.  Her lawyers say Gardner committed no intentional acts that would warrant her removal.

Judge rules Kim Gardner will go to trial on seven counts of neglect of her duties.  In February there was a tragic story out of St. Louis.  A teen named Janae Edmondson was downtown as part of a high school volleyball tournament that she was participating in.  Afterwards she and her family were crossing the street when a car driven by 21-year-old Daniel Riley came speeding through town.  Riley flipped the car and crushed Janae Edmondson's legs.  She survived but both of her legs had to be amputated.  At the time of the crash, driver Daniel Riley was out on bond for a robbery that took place in 2020 but he still hadn't been tried.  The really unbelievable part was that Riley had remained out on bond even though he'd violated the terms more than 50 times.  The prosecutor's office in this case was run by Kim Gardner.  Her office immediately offered an excuse for why Riley hadn't been tried in three years.  But the first explanation offered turned out to be false.

First, Posit a Counter-Factual....  One of the hallmarks of Leftist methodology is to assert blatant falsehoods as real and then act on them — with the fierce urgency of now! — as if they were true.  At first dismissed as too absurd to take seriously, this approach has proven highly successful.  The triumph of relativism and the concomitant loss of belief in even the most fundamental verities has resulted in the complete emasculation of the culture — and don't expect newly defeminized women to take up the slack.  The Left's squadrons of vicious, shameless lawyers take as their operating principle:  "we can make the argument that...," the argument being wholly imaginary.  But who's to call them on it?  They may win some and lose some, but every win goes in the permanent win column and every loss can always be relitigated later.  And they're getting bolder.

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg sues Rep. Jim Jordan over Trump indictment subpoenas.  Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit against Rep. Jim Jordan, alleging that the Republican lawmaker is trying to wage a campaign of intimidation over his prosecution of former President Donald Trump.  In his lawsuit, the Democratic D.A. said he's taking legal action "in response to an unprecedently brazen and unconstitutional attack by members of Congress on an ongoing New York State criminal prosecution and investigation of former President Donald J. Trump."  Bragg is asking a judge to invalidate subpoenas that Jordan, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has or plans to issue as part of an investigation of Bragg's handling of the Trump case.

Former Twitter Exec Wants Company To Pay For Her $600,000 Legal Bill Ahead of House Committee Hearing.  Former Twitter chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde has filed a lawsuit against her former employer, seeking reimbursement for expenses totaling almost $600,000.  The expenses were incurred during her preparation for a House Oversight Committee hearing in February, during which Gadde was subpoenaed, alongside two other former Twitter executives to discuss the company's censorship of conservative voices.  The lawsuit filed by Parag Agrawal, Vijaya Gadde, and Ned Segal, three former officers of Twitter, is aimed against Twitter for failing to advance their expenses related to the various legal proceedings, including a subpoena from Congress.

Federal Judges Say They Won't Hire Clerks From Stanford Law School.  James Ho and Elizabeth Branch, the circuit court judges who announced last year that they would no longer hire clerks from Yale Law School, are adding Stanford to the boycott.  "We will not hire any student who chooses to attend Stanford Law School in the future," Ho, who sits on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, said Saturday evening in a speech to the Texas Review of Law and Politics, a transcript of which was reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.  The clerkship moratorium, like the one on Yale, will exempt current law students.

George Soros Denies Connection To Manhattan DA Who Indicted Trump.  Here's The Truth.  Leftist billionaire George Soros denied that he knows or has donated money to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who indicted former President Donald Trump on Thursday, but the prosecutor's campaign efforts were assisted by a group which Soros funds.  Bragg has called on Trump to surrender in New York for an arraignment on Tuesday amid legal proceedings over his alleged hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election cycle.  The case, which critics have characterized as politically motivated since Bragg has earned a reputation for his soft-on-crime approach with respect to violent offenses, induced additional scrutiny into Soros and his Open Society Foundation, which promotes Left-wing justice and education initiatives around the world.

Soros family helped push Manhattan DA Bragg into power.  The Manhattan grand jury indictment Thursday night of former President Donald Trump is sparking new scrutiny of the George Soros-supported district attorney who led the investigation into Trump's alleged violations of state campaign finance laws.  The former president is expected to surrender to District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office early next week, following his indictment stemming from Bragg's investigation into Trump's alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016.  Fox News Digital previously reported that in May 2021, financier George Soros pushed $1 million to the Color of Change PAC, which turned around and spent big, backing Bragg's candidacy.

SCOTUS Declines To Hear Case Of Trial Lawyer Who Bribed Judge To Bilk US Oil Company For Billions.  The Supreme Court declined Monday [3/27/2023] to hear the appeal of a trial lawyer who was convicted after he secured a $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron in Ecuadorian court by bribing the judge.  After Chevron sued Donziger in U.S. courts, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan found his victory was "obtained by corrupt means," citing in his 2014 opinion the fact that Donziger had bribed the judge and ghostwritten both the environmental report and the court opinion.  In 2021, Donziger was convicted on civil contempt of court charges after failing to hand over his electronics to Chevron's forensic experts, a conviction he appealed on separation of powers grounds, according to Reuters.  When Kaplan initially charged Donziger in 2019, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan declined to prosecute the charges due to lack of resources, prompting Kaplan to appoint private lawyers, Reuters reported.  Donzinger, who ultimately spent 45 days in prison and 993 days on house arrest, argues that the court-appointed private prosecutors violate the separation of powers because they were operating without executive oversight.

Ray Epps' Lawyer Threatens Tucker Carlson: 'You Didn't See What You Saw on J6 Video — or Else'.  The man seen urging people inside the Capitol Building on multiple videos on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 in 2021, Ray Epps, wasn't really urging people inside the Capitol, lawyers tell Fox News' Tucker Carlson.  Instead, you're believing your own lying eyes.  And if you don't hep-to and apologize for stating what's on video that was captured on those days, then we'll sue you.  So goes the gist of the letter sent to Tucker Carlson and Fox News from Epps' new attorney.  The letter from Epps's lawfare lawyer, formerly of Perkins Coie, to Carlson claims, [...]

Philadelphia Reaches $9.25M Settlement with Anti-Police Rioters.  On Monday, the city of Philadelphia agreed to pay $9.25 million to over 200 rioters who claimed to have been injured by police during the Black Lives Matter riots of 2020.  As reported by Fox News, the settlement was announced by the law firm Mincey Fitzpatrick Ross, LLC, which represented the 237 activists who participated in the riots between May 31st and June 1st, 2020, following the fentanyl overdose death of George Floyd.  In addition to the financial compensation, the city has also agreed to stop participating in a federal program that provides the police department with extra military equipment.  The city will also pay about $500,000 for counseling services for residents of the 52nd Street corridor, located in West Philadelphia, where most of the violence occurred.  The rioters complained about superficial injuries sustained during their clash with police, including "scars" from rubber bullets and "nerve damage" from being restrained with zip ties, as well as exposure to tear gas as police attempted to disperse the violent gatherings.

Donald Trump, Regime Foe.  The funniest thing I have read in, well, at least the last several hours, comes from Manhattan's George Soros-funded affirmative-action district attorney, Alvin Bragg.  Responding to the uproar that greeted Donald Trump's all-caps Truth Social warning that he would be "arrested" on Tuesday, Bragg sent 'round a memo to his staff informing them, and the world, that "This office is full of the finest public servants in the country."  The comedy didn't end there, however.  "I am committed to maintaining a safe work environment where everyone is able to continue to serve the public with the same diligence and professionalism [!] that make this institution so renowned.  In the meantime, as with all of our investigations, we will continue to apply the law evenly and fairly ..."  What a card!  And, yes, that's my emphasis but his credulity-breaking bluster.  "Evenly and fairly," forsooth.  Everyone knows that Alvin Bragg does not apply the law at all evenly or fairly.

Welcome to the Uncle Sam School of Law.  Harvard University recently co-hosted a Department of Education event with over 100 of the nation's law school administrators in attendance, to discuss how law schools must be more open and equal, not only in admissions criteria, but in the nature of how law is perceived and applied. [...] But the key theme and take-away from this particular event that Harvard and Yale hosted made it clear where all the sudden posturing over equity is coming from concerning law schools: the U.S. Government.  And the law schools are quickly and eagerly complying with the current administration's ideology out of self-interest and, to some extent, institutional survival.  What was especially fascinating about this get-together by federal government and law school deans was the Department of Education's mission to make law schools "share data" on all student applicants, in an effort to create an even, homogenous applicant pool that is not segmented by test scores, grades, essay strength or experience but is filtered by race, ethnicity, wealth, and legacy status.

Delaware dumbs down bar exam to increase diversity.  The Delaware Supreme Court is reducing the minimum score, length, and practice areas covered by Delaware's bar exam, citing a desire to make the legal profession more racially diverse.  This is occurring in tandem with lower-quality applicants:  fewer applicants have been passing the Delaware Bar exam have also fallen.  A larger percentage of applicants are black or Hispanic than used to be the case.  The minimum passing score for the multiple choice portion of the exam has been reduced.  The number of essays included in the exam will fall from eight to four, and the practice areas covered by the exam will be reduced from 14 to 10.  And instead of the exam taking two and a half days, it will take only two, reports Reuters.

Delaware Literally Lowers The Bar To Increase Racial Diversity Of Lawyers, Judges.  The Delaware Supreme Court literally lowered the bar this week by changing the grade needed to become a certified lawyer in The First State as part of its attempt to increase racial diversity among lawyers and judges.  Yet, those responsible for the change insist that it has not lowered standards.  Of course, certain barriers are put in place to keep unqualified people from doing very important jobs.  Nonetheless, Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz Jr. said via a news release, "the bar exam is not supposed to be a barrier to entering the profession but is supposed to be a test of an applicant's ability to successfully practice law in Delaware, and I believe these reforms will help better reflect that purpose."  Despite lowering the standards, Seitz added "this is not a lowering of the standards but a modernization of the process to better reflect how other states handle admission to the bar."  Delaware has one of the strictest bar exams in the country, and Seitz insists that will remain.

Delaware lowers passing score on bar exam in push for racial diversity: 'Not supposed to be a barrier'.  The Delaware Supreme Court lowered the passing score on the state's bar exam amid other changes reportedly intended to increase racial diversity among the state's lawyers.  The 200-question multiple-choice exam will be offered twice instead of once a year beginning in 2024 — and its passing score will be lowered from 145 to 143, according to local outlet WHYY.  The number of essays on the exam will be decreased from eight to four, and the number of essay topics will be reduced from 14 to 10.

Let's play the Lawsuit Lottery!
Family of Malcolm X to Seek $100M from CIA, FBI, NYPD over His Assassination.  Malcolm X's family announced on Tuesday — the 58th anniversary of his assassination on February 21, 1965 — their plan to sue the CIA, FBI, New York Police Department (NYPD), and other institutions "for their handling" of his murder.  Benjamin Crump — an attorney known for his involvement with deaths focused on by news media, such as those of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and George Floyd — joined two of Malcolm X's daughters for a livestreamed announcement of the family's planned lawsuit.

Florida lawyer argues pregnant inmate's fetus is being illegally detained.  A few months after becoming pregnant, Natalia Harrell sat in a corrections van without air conditioning, according to a recent petition in Florida's appellate courts.  It was more than 100 degrees inside the van, the petition says, and a Miami-Dade County jail employee opened a door only after hearing Harrell banging against the walls.  Harrell, 24, has been jailed without bond since July, when she was accused of fatally shooting another woman and charged with second-degree murder.  She was six weeks pregnant at the time and, now eight months along, says the jail staff has endangered the fetus by refusing proper prenatal care and putting her in situations like the incident in the inmate transport van.

How Many Americans Will Woke Soros Prosecutors Get Killed?  My colleagues and I spend a lot of time writing about the various ways woke people are trying to destroy the United States of America.  At times it seems like we could devote our efforts to just that and still not cover everything.  [Indeed], we could just focus on what the woke plague is doing to our schools and have our hands full.  And it would be a most noble endeavor.  The left, however, tries to overload us on multiple fronts, especially when it comes to the woke wars.  The battle against radical woke ideology isn't just about the supremacy of ideas.  Woke policies put people in physical peril.  Crime is spiking in blue cities and counties that have had woke, progressive prosecutors installed by evil billionaire George Soros.  That's not just a complaint by rightwing nutjobs like me.  Things got so bad, so quickly in San Francisco under Soros DA Chesa Boudin that the far-left loons there recalled him.  Another Soros plant has left a legacy, this time it's a body count.

Christian Students Sue Smithsonian for Kicking Them Out over Pro-Life Hats.  Christian students are suing the Smithsonian National Air Space Museum (NASM) for allegedly violating their First and Fifth Amendment rights by kicking them out for wearing pro-life hats following the 50th annual March for Life.  The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) filed the lawsuit on Monday in the federal district court for the District of Columbia on behalf of nine students and three parents it says were "unlawfully targeted for their religious pro-life views" on January 20, 2023.  According to the complaint, students, parents, and chaperones from Our Lady of the Rosary Church and School in South Carolina went to the museum following the March for Life.  The group members were wearing hats that said, "Rosary Pro-Life."

The Editor says...
Error #1:  What happened to "turn the other cheek," etc.?  Error #2:  The "rosary" is what the Bible calls a vain repetition, in Matt. 6:7.

Biden uses his lawyers to find his classified docs — to shield from the FBI.  The discovery of a fourth set of classified documents, at the Biden residence in Delaware, has further undermined the White House's virtual mantra that the president "takes classified documents very seriously."  Putting aside the repeated movement of highly classified documents over six years, one curious element has emerged in this scandal:  the use of private counsel.  Not only did President Joe Biden enlist lawyers to clear out his private Washington office; he then used them — rather than security officers or the FBI — to search for additional classified documents.  The initial use of lawyers is notable.  While it seems a fairly pricey moving crew, Biden could argue a trove of documents might require a judgment on where they should be sent and whether they belong to Biden, the Penn Biden Center or the government.

California Now Allows Private Residents to Sue Gunmakers.  California's SB 1327 went into effect on January 1, 2023, allowing private residents in the state to file suits against gun manufacturers who violate the state's "assault weapons" ban or ban on gun sales to anyone under 21.  The Los Angeles Times reported that supporters of the new law view the lawsuit option as a way of "enlisting an army of grass-roots enforcers" to safeguard the state's "assault weapons" ban and minimum age requirement.

Court orders airline to pay for psychotherapy for Brazilian plus-sized model.  A court has ordered an airline to pay for therapy for a Brazilian plus-sized model who claimed she was stopped from boarding a flight 'because she was too big for her seat'.  Social media influencer Juliana Nehme, 38, claimed earlier this year that she was stopped from boarding a Qatar Airways flight because she was too large and accused the middle eastern airline of discriminating against her due to her size.  In a post to her 167,000 Instagram followers, Juliana said at the time:  'They are denying my right to travel... I'm desperate, help me, they don't want me to board because I'm fat.'

What does Martha's Vineyard have to do with Southern poverty?
Southern Poverty Law Center sues Gov. DeSantis over migrant flight to Martha's Vineyard.  Yesterday the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit against Gov. DeSantis arguing that Florida's flight of about 50 migrants to Martha's Vineyard was unconstitutional. [...] I'm not an attorney but at first glance the claim that Florida was usurping the US government's role in immigration policy doesn't make a lot of sense to me.  There's plenty of evidence that once the border patrol has walked migrants through the process of claiming asylum the federal government mostly takes a hands off approach to what happens next.  If migrants want to catch a bus to New York or Chicago or San Francisco the federal government isn't stepping in to prevent them from doing that, at least not that I've seen.

Woman Sues After Her Microwavable Macaroni Takes More Than Three and a Half Minutes.  If you're authentically American and sufficiently short in the tooth, you've likely enjoyed the palatable pleasure of Velveeta Shells & Cheese.  It's a delicious delight, and the prep time is paltry.  However, Hialeah microwaving maestro Amanda Ramirez recently noticed something about the entree she was ionizing:  Despite its package's promise, it wasn't eligible to be eaten within 180 seconds.  Yet the creamy cup claimed, "Ready in Three and a Half Minutes."

The Editor says...
In my opinion, a lawyer should be considered unscrupulous if he or she fails (among other things) to tell a client that his or her claim is without merit, and to proceed with a lawsuit is frivolous and a waste of everyone's time.

DA says charges dropped against nearly 300 people with no public defenders.  In a sign of mounting frustration, Multnomah County's top prosecutor Monday released a list of the cases of nearly 300 people who have had charges dismissed against them this year because no public defenders were available to represent them.  People accused of car theft, fleeing police and illegally carrying guns were most likely to walk free, according to the list.  But dropped cases also include accusations of lower level assaults, domestic violence, burglary, identity theft, intoxicated driving and hit-and-run driving.  District Attorney Mike Schmidt said in a statement that he wants the public to understand the severity of the public defense crisis and that without a long-term solution the emergency will continue to pose an "urgent threat" to the community's safety.  Schmidt's move to publicize all cases that judges have dismissed — believed to be a first in Oregon — raises public awareness but also clearly is a gambit to put public pressure on the state to find a remedy.

Jury Duty.  The case involved injuries that occurred in an automobile accident.  We were told that the evidence would include differing testimony from two neuroradiologists.  So when the questioning of the potential jurors began, I was asked about my background.  I told them that I had two sons, one who was an investigator for medical malpractice lawyers and one who was an orthopedic surgeon.  I then said I was a radiologist and would be the perfect juror for the trial because I could fully understand the medical evidence to be considered.  I assumed I would be dismissed on that basis, but it actually took many long arduous hours before I was dismissed.  After every potential juror was questioned, I knew who would be chosen.  They were the dumbest people in the room.  I don't know if any juror chosen had an IQ over 100.

Lawyer launches class-action lawsuit against Italian restaurant chain for 'deceptive' $2 inflation fee.  A Hawaii-based attorney is bringing a class-action lawsuit to a popular restaurant chain for implementing an 'inflation fee.'  The $2 inflation fee is being added to patrons' bills in a way that the attorney, Brandee Faria, characterizes as "deceptive."  "Restaurants and corporations like to add on these fees that are supposed to look official and somehow required, and in fact it's just a way for them to increase their bottom line and decrease their overhead," Faria told Fox Business of the lawsuit she's filed against Romano's Macaroni Grill earlier this year.

George Floyd's family may sue Kanye West for claiming death was an overdose.  George Floyd's family has said it may sue Kanye West for suggesting Floyd's brutal, caught-on-camera death under the knee of a murderous Minnesota cop was really a fentanyl overdose.  "While one cannot defame the dead, the family of George Floyd is considering suit for Kanye's false statements about the manner of his death," their attorney, Lee Merritt, confirmed late Sunday.  "Claiming Floyd died from fentanyl not the brutality established criminally and civilly undermines and diminishes the Floyd family's fight."

George Floyd's gold-digging family looks for payday, sues Kanye West for $250M.  The family of George Floyd has announced they are suing rapper Kanye West for $250 million after he exercised his freedom of speech and stated that he believed Floyd died of a drug overdose rather than from a cop kneeling on his neck.  The gold-digging family evidently sees dollar signs over all this and is looking to cash in on West's millions in court.  West claimed on the "Drink Champs" podcast that Floyd actually died as a result of a fentanyl overdose, not because a former police officer placed his knee on his neck for approximately eight minutes.  "Kanye's comments are a repugnant attempt to discount George Floyd's life and to profit from his inhumane death," attorney Pat D. Dixon III proclaimed in a statement Tuesday.  He also said the goal of the lawsuit was to "hold Mr. West accountable" for his "flagrant remarks."  The family is not just going after the rapper.  They are also going after West's "business partners" and "associates."  They are asserting that the comments made by West resulted in "harassment, misappropriation, defamation, and infliction of emotional distress."

ACLU, legal groups suing Biden admin for denying legal representation to detained migrants.  The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other legal groups filed a lawsuit against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Thursday, alleging that migrants detained in four detention facilities in Florida, Louisiana, Texas and Arizona have been denied legal representation.  In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs allege that attorneys face "numerous obstacles" in attempting to communicate with detained migrants.  These obstacles, the lawsuit says, make representation "extremely difficult and, sometimes, impossible."  The lawsuit alleges that attorneys have had difficulty scheduling legal calls and having meetings with their clients in confidential settings.

Texas Pete hot sauce faces lawsuit for being made in North Carolina.  A man in California is suing the popular hot sauce brand after he learned it was manufactured in North Carolina rather than the Lone Star State.  Philip White bought a bottle of Texas Pete at Ralph's supermarket in September 2021, believing it was made, as its label suggests, in Texas, according to the complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court.  The suit alleges White wouldn't have purchased the sauce if he knew that it is actually made in North Carolina, where manufacturer TW Garner Food Company has its headquarters in Winston-Salem.  While the manufacturing location is not a secret since it's printed on the bottle's back label, the lawsuit alleges that a consumer would likely not notice.

Mother of Daunte Wright's son sues his parents and lawyer Ben Crump.  The woman who shares a child with Daunte Wright Sr. has filed a lawsuit against Daunte's parents and lawyer, Ben Crump, alleging that she has not seen any of the money raised in a GoFundMe allegedly dedicated to helping his family.  Chyna Whitaker, the mother of Daunte Wright Jr., recently filed a lawsuit in Hennepin County, Minnesota, claiming that she hasn't received 'one single penny' of the more than $1 million raised in a fundraiser following Wright Sr.'s death.  The 23-year-old says that Crump 'promised and assured her up-front that any GoFundMe monies raised through The Daunte Wright Sr.  Memorial Fund would be split 50/50 between Daunte Jr. and the Wright family.'

DC Bar Does Democrats' Dirty Work By Tarring Opponents Right Before Midterms.  In an unprecedented move, the D.C. Bar opened an investigation into a former top Justice Department lawyer for advice he gave former President Donald Trump, with documents indicating a Democrat senator prompted the probe.  The timing of the procedures, and the complicity between elected officials and the bar, suggest a concerted attempt to create an October surprise.  Even more troubling than this election interference, however, is how dangerous the threat of punishing executive-branch attorneys for providing a legal opinion is to the country.  The Democrats' ploy also risks irreparably cementing America's partisan divide in the governance of our great country.

Radical DOJ Lawyer Kristen Clarke Targeted Pro-Life Dad and Other Conservatives.  Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) warned us about Kristen Clarke.  Cruz called the radical lawyer "completely unfit to serve," but serve she does as the Biden Administration's chief of the civil rights division of the Department of Justice (DOJ).  Her department is where equal justice now goes to die.  Clarke considers her calling in Biden's Justice Department one of score-settling for past decisions, holding contemporaries responsible for historical injustices, and chasing ghosts of the past.  She greenlit the federal case against Mark Houck, a Pennsylvania Catholic pro-life author, whose seven children screamed for mercy for their "best friend," their dad, as an estimated 20-25 FBI agents trained their rifles on him after beating on the family's door at seven in the morning last Friday.  According to LifeSiteNews, Houck was already aware that the Feds were after him and had offered to come in and talk with them.  But gun-toting agents dragged him out and took him to a federal facility.

Nonprofits Violate IRS Rules to Wage a Legal War for Illegal Aliens.  Three of the migrants who were flown in by Gov. DeSantis to Martha's Vineyard filed a lawsuit against the Florida governor claiming that they were somehow lured to the sanctuary island.  The lawsuit is completely baseless since the "false promises and false representations" that the migrants would get "employment, housing, educational opportunities" were actually copied by Florida from a brochure put out by the Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants.  It's Massachusetts and the elites of Martha's Vineyard who refused to honor their promises.  The lawyers representing the migrants, Yanet Doe, Pablo Doe, and Jesus Doe, are from the Boston chapter of Lawyers for Civil Rights.  The national organization was created at the behest of JFK and RFK and funded by the Ford Foundation making it an obviously partisan group.  Despite its partisan agenda, it functions as a 501(c)(3).  As do many other leftist lawfare groups.

Unpacking the deadly discipline problem in public schools.  To put it bluntly, many school systems are afraid of being sued, and many teachers are afraid of losing their job.  As stated before, parents will vehemently fight discipline action against their child and are very quick to threaten lawsuits.  Teachers are afraid of being called a racist, being accused of sexual harassment, being charged with assault, or just receiving a letter in their file because some action was deemed inappropriate.  Imagine the safety issues when a fight breaks out in a public school.  Since some male students are much bigger and stronger than some teachers, it would clearly take physical force and multiple teachers to break up a fight.  What happens if one of the students is injured as teachers are trying to stop the fight?  Well, you probably already know the answer to that.  This issue is compounded if two female students are involved in a fight.  Some may think a fight between female students is easier to handle, but trust me:  this is not the case.

Soros-Funded Group Behind Lawsuit Targeting DeSantis for Flying Illegal Aliens to Martha's Vineyard.  A left-wing non-governmental organization (NGO) partially funded by billionaire George Soros is behind a lawsuit targeting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for flying illegal aliens to the elite coastal island of Martha's Vineyard.  Late last week, DeSantis sent two flights packed with 50 illegal aliens from Venezuela to Martha's Vineyard, where former President Obama has a sprawling 29-acre summer estate.  Despite having the capacity to house six million new arrivals, the illegal aliens were bused off Martha's Vineyard less than 48 hours later to Joint Base Cape Cod.  A handful of illegal aliens flown to Martha's Vineyard have since filed a class action lawsuit against DeSantis, alleging their Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated.

The Editor says...
Did the authors of the Constitution as written and as amended intend to have constitutional rights extend to illegal aliens?  The border jumpers are present in this country illegally and are presumably subject to deportation at any time.  The courts frequently tell U.S. citizens that they don't have "standing" to sue, so why are illegal aliens in a better position?

"Sue And Settle': Biden Admin Agrees To Cancel Oil And Gas Drilling After Settling With Eco Activists.  The Biden administration will stop oil and gas drilling on more than 58,000 acres of federally-issued land after reaching a legal settlement with environmental activist groups on Sept. 6.  The Interior Department's (DOI) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) agreed to halt drilling permits on 113 oil and gas leases across 58,617 acres of land in Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota, according to the settlement.  The DOI agreed to stop drilling after a coalition of environmental nonprofits led by WildEarth Guardians and the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against the agency in January 2021.  "This is a sue and settle case," Paul Seby, a lawyer who specializes in environmental issues at Greenberg Traurig, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.  "It's an abuse of the system and is being used to advance the policy goals of the Biden administration at the expense of the law."

Excessive Litigation is Destroying Innovation and the Economy.  [Scroll down] Shortly after the inception of the deal, Amrock and HouseCanary each stated the other failed to deliver on its contractual requirements.  Instead of accepting that the deal was over as a result of mutual deficiencies, HouseCanary decided to take Amrock to court to the tune of $740 Million — several times more than the value of the original contract.  Ultimately, an appellate court deemed that the damages and costs awarded on the basis of a breach of the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act ('TUTSA') of $740 million was inappropriate.  The court found HouseCanary's case rested on an incorrect definition of a pivotal part of that act.  What followed was a series of abysmal decisions that reveal the cracks in the TUTSA, the problems with the U.S.'s intellectual property laws, and the overall modern commercial practice of extorting as much money as possible when things don't go as planned.  What should have been just damages in breach of contract was protracted over years of needless litigation.

What if Your Attorney Is an Illegal Alien?  There are currently eight states where illegal aliens can practice law (CA, CT, FL, IL, NE, NJ, NY, and WY).  Joining this dubious list on October 1 will be New Mexico.  There are federal civil and criminal penalties for knowingly employing an illegal alien.  Here is the statute.  8 USC 1324 (a)(4) provides for civil penalties and section (f) for criminal penalties.  So the Supreme Courts of these states are actively aiding and abetting the commission of a federal crime.  Let this sink in.  The Supreme Courts of nine states know that it is against the law for an illegal alien to be present in and work in the United States, but they are saying, "We don't care."  So much for the rule of law in general and the Supremacy Clause in particular.

Suspended By DeSantis, Florida State Attorney Andrew Warren Has A Pathetic Response.  [Scroll down]  Mr. Warren, who is a Democrat, apparently didn't approve of the laws passed by the Florida State Legislature, an elected branch of government tasked with the sole responsibility of making laws... that's why they're called lawmakers.  And Warren evidently didn't care that the head of the Executive Branch of the state government, namely Ron DeSantis, had signed those bills sent to him by lawmakers, which established them as laws.  Both DeSantis and the majority of the legislature are Republican, incidentally.  Included in the laws with which Warren has publicly stated his disagreement and has promised not to enforce are laws restricting abortion, banning transgender surgeries for children, and various other laws which Warren feels are too tough on criminals.  Indeed, it seems that Warren, whose campaign was largely financed by far-left billionaire activist George Soros, felt that he could simply pick and choose which laws he enforced and which laws he ignored.

DeSantis Exposes Soros' Plot to Corrupt America with 'Total End-Run Around Our Constitutional System'.  Governor Ron DeSantis on Thursday [8/4/2022] immediately dismissed a Soros-backed District Attorney for subverting the rule of law in the State of Florida.  DeSantis has suspended and is now seeking the termination of Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren for his 'neglect of duty' regarding his willful disregard of lawful directives pertaining to abortion and transgender surgery.  DeSantis joined Tucker Carlson on Fox News primetime on Thursday night to discuss the executive action and exposed how billionaire philanthropist George Soros is corrupting America with his financial support for radical district attorneys.  [Video clip]

DeSantis Sends Cops To Physically Remove Suspended 'Soros-Backed' State Attorney.  Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has suspended State Attorney Andrew Warren for 'picking and choosing which laws to enforce based on his personal agenda,' and has appointed Susan Lopez as his replacement during the suspension.  Warren, who had served the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, has most recently refused to follow state policy criminalizing abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade — and repeatedly refused to enforce laws cracking down on child sex-change surgeries, according to DeSantis.  The liberal state attorney also declined to prosecute 67 protesters arrested in George Floyd demonstrations, and said in 2017 that he would only pursue the death penalty "in the very worst cases," and not where "mental illness played a role."

Florida Governor Suspends State Prosecutor Who Vowed Not to Enforce the Law.  Florida's governor on Aug. 4 suspended a state prosecutor who has vowed not to enforce laws related to abortion.  Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended State Attorney Andrew Warren of the 13th Judicial Circuit due to "neglect of duty."  In the order outlining the move, DeSantis cites Warren recently declaring he wouldn't enforce laws that largely prohibit late-term abortions.  Warren and other prosecutors signed a document in June that said "enforcing abortion bans runs counter to the obligations and interests we are sworn to uphold."  "We decline to use our offices' resources to criminalize reproductive health decisions and commit to exercise our well-settled discretion and refrain from prosecuting those who ... provide, or support abortions," the prosecutors stated.  No other state attorneys in Florida signed the document.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspends 'Soros-backed' state attorney who refused to enforce abortion ban.  Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended liberal State Attorney Andrew Warren on Thursday [8/4/2022].  DeSantis made the announcement during a Thursday press conference broadcast on social media.  DeSantis argued that Warren has repeatedly refused to enforce laws passed by the legislature cracking down on child sex change surgeries and abortion restrictions.  "We are suspending Soros-backed 13th circuit state attorney Andrew Warren for neglecting his duties as he pledges not to uphold the laws of the state," DeSantis' office said in a statement.  The 13th circuit falls over Florida's Hillsborough County.  "The constitution of Florida has vested the veto power in the governor, not in state attorneys," DeSantis said.  "We are not going to allow this pathogen of ignoring the law get a foothold in the state of Florida."

New California law allows civil litigation against gun manufacturers.  A California bill signed into law Tuesday will allow residents to sue the manufacturers of guns that are used in crimes.  A 2005 federal law prevents gun manufacturers from civil litigation when their products are used in crimes.  The office of Gov. Gavin Newsom said the new state law uses an exemption to the federal law that allows firearms makers or sellers to be sued for violating state laws on the sale or marketing of guns.

Lawyers Who Won Major Gun Rights Case Forced Out of Firm.  Kirkland & Ellis LLP, one of the largest law firms in the country, is dropping all Second Amendment cases after pressure from clients and other lawyers at the firm.  This left the two primary attorneys who successfully argued New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen before the Supreme Court with no clients and no jobs.  Former Solicitor General Paul Clement and Erin Murphy, a regular Supreme Court litigator, resigned from Kirkland & Ellis and announced they were opening their own shop in Washington, D.C. Clement has been a high-profile litigator of conservative causes since he left the administration of President George W. Bush.  In 2011, he argued the Defense of Marriage Act on behalf of Republican lawmakers before the Supreme Court.

Mass Shooting by Racist Criminal Leads to Lawsuit Against Gunmaker.  In April, a black nationalist terrorist named Frank James opened fire on the downtown N subway train in Manhattan.  While the racist gunman had a large stockpile of weapons, he happened to use a Glock pistol that he had bought over ten years ago.  Now Glock is being sued.  James bought the gun in Columbus, Ohio in 2011.  So he quite clearly didn't purchase it, intending to shoot up a New York City subway train.  Nevertheless the lawsuit blames the gunmaker for having "contributed to creating and maintaining a public nuisance in the State of New York" even though the gun wasn't even sold in New York.

Molotov Cocktail Lawyers Plead Guilty to Reduced Charges, Likely Will Get Only Two-Year Sentences.  The two former lawyers who threw a Molotov cocktail at a police car during the George Floyd riots have pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and are expected to receive reduced sentences.  As we noted previously, they were originally facing a much harsher sentence. [...] Prosecutors in this case have bent over backwards to ensure shorter sentences for these two.  Good thing they're not Trump supporters.

ADA Shakedown Lawsuits Are on the Rise.  Before Roozbeh Farahanipour became chair of the West Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, his restaurant was sued because the bathroom was non-compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  "It lacked guard rails and the bag hook was too high on the bathroom door," he said.  Farahanipour settled with the law firm that filed the complaint for $11,000.  "That was really hard on me because we did not have that money and I had to borrow the money," he said.  "I did not know the legal system or how to even answer the lawsuit when it was served."  Farahanipour, whose country of origin is Iran, was sued again by the same law firm at a second restaurant he opened in 2021.  He paid $17,000 to settle the claim[.]  "Immigrants are the best target because they are more scared," Farahanipour told The Epoch Times.  "They don't know the law.  They are not comfortable with the language and many other issues."  Farahanipour is not alone in having been sued twice for allegedly violating the ADA.

Top Law Firms Are Hosting Drag Queen Bingo.  Will They Really Shun the SCOTUS Leaker?  Many Supreme Court-watchers said the person responsible for leaking a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade committed career suicide.  If that's so, the top law firms aren't saying a word about it.  The Washington Free Beacon contacted partners and corporate staff at six top law firms which regularly hire Supreme Court clerks.  All declined to say whether they would hire the leaker or even condemn the breach itself.  Though an internal probe has yet to identify the source, reports indicate that clerks are the focus of the investigation.  Recent months have seen other unusual disclosures — such as the leak of Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement plans — which point to a newcomer with loose lips.  The steely silence approach to the unprecedented leak highlights growing tension in elite law firms between their white-collar pedigree and increasingly left-wing staff.

Following Biden's Gun Control Speech, An Inconvenient Story Surfaces.  Thursday night's news programs were dominated by the story of President Biden's speech earlier in the evening, in which he pressed for more stringent gun control measures. [...] When it comes to inaccuracies, it's also important to zero in on Biden's call for "Repeal of the immunity that protects gun manufacturers from liability."  This repeats a theme he brought up in his State of the Union address, one that sees him advocating for the repeal of "the liability shield that makes gun manufacturers the only industry in America that cannot be sued.  The only one."  That was wrong then and it was wrong Thursday night.  The truth is that the firearms industry is far from the only industry that enjoys liability protections.  Those liability protections are the same ones that keep you from suing General Motors just because the driver who smashed into your car happened to be driving a Chevy.  Manufacturers are liable for badly made products, not for well-made products that are used badly.

The Takeover of America's Legal System.  In 2017, the super lawyer David Boies was at a corporate retreat at the Ritz-Carlton in Key Biscayne, Florida, hosted by his law firm, Boies, Schiller and Flexner. [...] Most of the questions were yawners.  Then, an associate in her late twenties stood up.  She said there were lawyers at the firm who were "uncomfortable" with Boies representing disgraced movie maker Harvey Weinstein, and she wanted to know whether Boies would pay them severance so they could quit and focus on applying for jobs at other firms.  Boies, who declined to comment for this article, said no.  That lawyers could be tainted by representing unpopular clients was hardly news.  But in times past, lawyers worried about the public — not other lawyers.

The Lawyers Who Ate California:  Part I.  [Scroll down]  In the spirit of California, long the cradle of American innovation, a small group of government litigators spent nearly a decade dreaming up an aggressive new vision of corporate regulation, one that's seen agencies like California's DFEH act like high-end plaintiffs' firms.  They laugh off mediation, jump quick as you can to litigation they may be mandated to avoid, then couple blunt public accusations with eye-catching damage demands that open at ten or fifteen times the size of previous record awards.  Also in the California spirit there are ruthless box-outs of other regulatory agencies, private attorneys, and even the agency's own in-house lawyers for the sole rights to be claimants in each of the target firms' stories, told by media pals who act more like production partners than journalists.

Law School is a Tort.  [Scroll down]  In these ways the law school is also like a money-laundering business: it takes taxpayer funding (501c3 status and federal tuition finance flows) and washes millions of dollars a year into "lawfare" programs and subsidizes special interests, which then distribute hundreds of millions of dollars annually to the family of capos and captains like the teachers unions: and you are their student mules.  The beauty, perhaps, of this operation is that no real convincing or even selling is effectively needed:  it sells itself.  Indeed, the inductees want to be deceived and are schooled in self-deception.  That is the great power of language, and words: law is centered in language and meaning is at the pleasure of the syndicate.  Like the gang, it has its mottos, oaths, tattoos and secret passwords.  It swears allegiance to the Bar and its edifice which then prints the currency of the legal trade, the fiat money of authority, rules, punishment and reward.  In due time its debts must be extinguished and inflated away.  Everyone will forget and the endless train of followers will finally receive what they really pined for:  final absolution from inconvenient thoughts.

Arizona Supreme Court Rejects Junk Lawsuits To Remove Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Mark Finchem From 2022 Ballot.  The Arizona Supreme Court has rejected an attempt by the radical left to remove three conservative legislators from the 2022 ballot for attending the protest at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.  This is a losing issue for the Democrats, so they're weaponizing the courts to suppress conservative speech all across the country. [...] The American people know that the 2020 election was stolen, and a majority of Republican voters say the January 6 protest was a patriotic event.  On Monday, the court ruled that Representative Andy Biggs, Representative Paul Gosar, and State Rep. Mark Finchem are qualified to remain on the 2022 Primary ballot, affirming the superior court's judgment.  Reps Biggs and Gosar are seeking reelection to the U.S. House, and Mark Finchem is running for Arizona Secretary of State to secure elections in Arizona.

Arizona state judge shuts down leftist junk lawsuit to disqualify Reps.  Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar from the ballot.  With Democrats in a bind as midterms approach, the worst of them have turned to sleazy tinpot-dictator measures to try to disqualify popular Republicans from the ballot itself, knowing they can't win otherwise.  They've already put Georgia's popular Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in the dock.  Now it turns out they were also active in Arizona, seeking to prevent Reps.  Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar[,] as well as Republican state Rep. Mark Finchem, who is running for secretary of state in charge of counting elections from putting their names on the ballot.

'Shady Trial Lawyer Pipeline' Gives $17.5M to Pro-Democrat PACs After Lucrative Government Contracts.  A group of political action committees affiliated with plaintiff-side trial law firms donated $17.5 million to left-wing candidates and causes after those firms received lucrative government contracts, according to a recent report by Alliance for Consumers.  Alliance for Consumers calls this web of PACs the "Shady Trial Lawyers PAC," and it involves "politicians handing out lucrative public contracts to trial lawyers who give millions of dollars to liberal political campaigns."

Gun Control Dem Helps Free Alleged Mall Shooter.  "How many more times are we going to watch this on the news?  How many times are we going to read about it and say, 'Oh we can't do nothing to stop it?'" House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford demanded three years ago while pushing for gun control.  "It's time that we do all that we can to protect our children, to protect the lives of other people's children, to protect the lives of people that simply want to go to Wal-Mart and go back-to-school shopping."  Now, acting as the lawyer for Jewayne Price, the suspect in the Columbiana Centre mall shooting in which 14 people, as young as 15 and as old as 73, were injured, the South Carolina Democrat watched as his client was released with an ankle monitor so he can go back to work.  All that we can do to protect our children involves banning guns while freeing criminals.  "We've got to take common-sense approaches towards controlling gun ownership to make sure bad people don't get guns," Rutherford has insisted.  Except when those bad people are his clients.

A homeless man files suit over his accommodations.  Until recently, [James] Hellard lived on whatever streets he wished, irrespective of the effect his urban camping had on San Rafael, a city in Marin County, California.  Now, though, because the city worked with Caltrans (the California Department of Transportation) to make a more permanent encampment, complete with amenities, under a Highway overpass, he's suing both San Rafael and Caltrans for injuries suffered from noise and pollution. [...] Faced with this problem, rather than disincentivizing homelessness and returning to an earlier era of mental health institutes for people with intractable mental illness and substance abuse problems, Democrat-run cities have done their best to make street living more palatable... and it's still not enough.  We've created a generation of homeless people who feel that their rights transcend those of the people who make a city livable:  Workers and regular residents, including the families that have a true stake in a city's future.

Jussie Smollett attorney Tina Glandian faces defamation lawsuit for 'whiteface' comments.  A judge in Chicago ruled Friday [3/18/2022] that an attorney for Jussie Smollett might have defamed two Black brothers who testified that they participated in a fake racist and homophobic attack on the actor when she suggested they had been wearing "whiteface."  The Chicago Tribune reported that U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland's ruling centers on comments Tina Glandian made on NBC's "Today" show in March 2019, shortly after the Cook County State's Attorney announced it was dropping charges accusing Smollett of lying to police about the incident two months earlier.  Discussing how Smollett had told police that one of his attackers was white, Glandian said that the very dark-skinned brothers might have "put makeup on" to disguise their color.  Further, she criticized Chicago police for their alleged failure to investigate an online video showing one of the brothers "in whiteface doing a joke monologue with white makeup on."

New group aims to disbar attorneys who aided Trump 2020 election lawsuits.  A new dark money group with ties to Democrats known as the 65 Project is attempting to disbar more than 100 lawyers who worked on former President Donald Trump's post-election lawsuits.  The 65 Project describes itself as "a bipartisan effort to protect democracy from abuse of the legal system by holding accountable lawyers who engage in fraudulent and malicious lawsuits," according to its website, which said it was given its name after an "army of Big Lie Lawyers filed 65 lawsuits based on lies to overturn the election."

The Prosecutors Who Resigned Over Trump Criminal Probe Completely Expose Themselves.  No president in history has faced more corrupt lawfare than Donald Trump, and that didn't end once he left office.  Numerous criminal probes are going on in various far-left districts, including New York City and Atlanta, in an attempt to throw Trump in prison for anything they can come up with.  You see, unlike most criminal investigations, these probes didn't start with a clearly defined crime that demanded justice.  Rather, they started with a political target, and everything else has flowed from there.  As you'd expect, those corrupt practices have led to some hiccups, most recently with the probe happening out of the Manhattan DA's office.  In February, RedState reported on the resignation of two lead prosecutors who were upset the newly elected DA (a Democrat) was expressing reservations about their case.

The Most Comprehensive List of U.S Lawsuits on COVID Vaccines, Mandates and Treatments.  Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic over vaccines, mandates, lack of access to inexpensive and effective treatments, natural immunity, informed consent and more.  These challenges have been brought in both state and federal courts by attorney generals, individuals and entities seeking to preserve the liberties and individual freedoms of Americans.

Mask-Optional Schools Hit with Suspiciously Identical Suits Alleging ADA Violations.  On the heels of a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling that put the kibosh on a statewide school masking mandate, lawyers in the Keystone State are trying a new tack to reinstate a classroom mask requirement — suing individual school districts in federal court on the grounds that they are failing to protect medically vulnerable students.  Over the last month, at least four nearly identical lawsuits have been filed in Pittsburgh- and Philadelphia-area school districts that recently made masks optional, accusing them of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, a civil-rights law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability.

Groups tied to George Soros pump cash into NYC's John Jay College.  Left-wing billionaire George Soros has pumped more than $500,000 into the New York City college that serves as a breeding ground for woke district attorneys.  The Dem donor's charities have funded research and financed programs and a workshop at CUNY's John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, according to public records reviewed by The [New York] Post.  Tom Anderson, director of the Government Integrity Project at the National Legal and Policy Center in Virginia, said Soros' team uses cash to throw money into institutions "and make a massive impact that no one realizes that they're making."

ABA National Lawyer Population Survey.  Lawyer Population by State

American Taxpayers [were] Charged Millions to Provide Illegal Aliens with Free Lawyers.  American taxpayers, often unbeknownst to them, are being charged to the sum of millions to provide illegal aliens in various cities with free legal representation, an investigation exclusively shared with Breitbart News reveals.  The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) reviewed expenditures for cities that have implemented a deportation defense program that provides illegal aliens and foreign nationals with free legal representation to fight their deportations from the United States.

The Editor says...
Obviously, it isn't "free legal representation" if somebody is paying for it.

When elections don't go your way, resort to a lawsuit!
Prominent Dem Lawyer Predicts Lawsuits To Remove GOP Members From House Seats Next Year.  Between Joe Biden's poor poll numbers and his party being increasingly out of touch with the American public, the Democratic Party is widely expected to suffer devastating losses in the 2022 midterms.  But prominent Democrat lawyer Marc Elias is predicting that Democrats will try to use litigation to prevent some duly elected Republicans from serving.  "My prediction for 2022: Before the midterm election, we will have a serious discussion about whether individual Republican House Members are disqualified by Section 3 of the 14th Amendment from serving in Congress," Elias tweeted last week.  "We may even see litigation."

Progressive DA Larry Krasner's office in chaos after 261 attorneys quit during his first term.  As you may have heard, shootings and murders are up around the country.  That's especially true in Philadelphia which had already recorded more murders this year than either New York City or Los Angeles.  Progressive DA Larry Krasner's response to that spike in violence has been denial.  "We don't have a crisis of lawlessness, we don't have a crisis of crime, we don't have a crisis of violence," Krasner said earlier this month.

How Trial Lawyers Team With Leftist Activists to Hurt Consumers.  It's a topic that few people know about, but that has far-reaching consequences.  Trial lawyers across the country are cozying up to the left, advancing their radical agendas while lining their pockets with government money.  The result?  The average consumer pays the price.  "It affects [consumers] in part because you've got governments handing out big-deal contracts to politically active people on probably the wrong side of the aisle," says O.H. Skinner, executive director of Alliance for Consumers.  "And I think that alone should be something that people pay attention to."  "But on a basic level," Skinner adds, "these contracts are the kind of things where there's millions of dollars that are often not tied to individual cases, not tied to case outcomes, where consumers get money."

Jussie Smollett's Lawyer Starts Crying In Awkward Court Moment.  Things are getting stranger and stranger in the trial of actor Jussie Smollett who was charged with lying to police and staging his own attack.  Details are emerging that Smollett's defense attorney called for a mistrial on Thursday, "after a wild few moments in which she accused the judge of lunging at her" reports CBS 2 Chicago.  Defense attorney Tamara Walker reportedly began crying after a comment that Judge James Linn made to her during a sidebar conversation between the judge and attorneys.  Linn not only denied the motion for a mistrial but also denied the lunging accusation.

Smollett's Lawyers Accuse Judge of "Lunging" and "Snarling" at Them and Move for Mistrial.  Jussie Smollett's trial is lit AF, although none of us can see it since it's not being broadcast on television or YouTube for some unknown reason.  Hoaxer Smollett's attorneys seem to be the perfect match for him and are now accusing the judge of "lunging" and "snarling" at them, even calling for a mistrial over how they allege the judge is acting.  If that sounds far-fetched, you're not the only one who thinks so.  The New York Post had a reporter in the courtroom.  That reporter didn't see the alleged lunging.

Consequences Needed for Rittenhouse Prosecutors.  Prosecutors, especially those with political ambitions, will latch on to socially popular issues such as fear of witches in the seventeenth century or sex crimes and racially-charged controversies today.  [Examples omitted for brevity.]  If they can do this to Rittenhouse, the Amiraults, Grant Snowden, the Duke Lacrosse players, and countless others, then they can do it to you and me.  This is why there needs to be social consequences for prosecutorial overreach even if the overreach does not violate the ABA's Rules of Professional Conduct.

Woman with spina bifida sues mom's doctor for millions, says she never should have been born.  An English woman with spina bifida is suing her mother's former doctor for millions of dollars in health care costs and damages claiming that she should never have been born.  Evie Toombes, a 20-year-old equestrian show jumper from Lincolnshire, is suing her mother's general practitioner, Dr. Philip Mitchell, for "wrongful conception" after he allegedly failed to advise her mother to take folic acid supplements before getting pregnant that she claims resulted in her birth defect, according to The Telegraph.

Kyle Rittenhouse says fired lawyer John Pierce 'set him up' to pose with Proud Boys in Wisconsin bar.  Kyle Rittenhouse says that he did not know he was posing with members of the far-right group Proud Boys and that he had no idea the hand gesture he was making symbolized white supremacy as he blamed former attorney John Pierce for the mishap.  Rittenhouse insists he didn't know the meaning of the 'okay' hand gesture, which he made as he was photographed standing alongside members of the Proud Boys at a bar in Wisconsin on January 5.  'I didn't know that the "okay" hand sign was a symbol for white supremacy — just as I didn't know those people in the bar were Proud Boys,' Rittenhouse says.

The Editor says...
A good lawyer can save your life.  A bad lawyer can hang you out to dry.

Knucklehead Of The Week:  Rittenhouse Prosecutor Thomas Binger.  The most publicized incompetence displayed by Mr. Binger, the lead prosecutor in the murder trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, happened on Wednesday.  It's not often, after all, that we hear a judge admonish a lawyer the way in which Judge Bruce Schroeder ripped into Binger.  Such scenes are especially rare when it's done by a Democrat-appointed judge like Schroeder to a prosecution attorney in a case against an alleged white supremacist; an absurd allegation, by the way.  Binger was hammered for, among other things, not following the proper process regarding his attempt to admit evidence that had already been ruled inadmissible; particularly concerning a line of questioning of Rittenhouse.  But most egregious was Binger's "commenting on the defendant's post-arrest silence," for which Schroeder stated he was "astonished."  Anyone who has ever watched five minutes of Law and Order, or L.A. Law, or any of the other lawyer TV shows, knows that prosecutors can't bring that stuff up.  The whole, "you have the right to remain silent" and the Fifth Amendment thing.  But Binger's demonstration of prosecutorial mastery didn't end there.

They just got here, and they're already playing the Lawsuit Lottery.
Team Biden wants to give millions to illegal immigrants — and their lawyers.  To satisfy predatory lawyers and radical activists, the Biden administration is in talks to give nearly half a million dollars each to illegal immigrant separated from family at the border during two months of the Trump era.  It's a pure pander to progressives:  Such cases have been settled before at just over a tenth of that sum.  Three federal departments are negotiating to settle lawsuits the American Civil Liberties Union and others brought on behalf of families separated when President Donald Trump's zero-tolerance policy on illegal immigration meant all adults unlawfully crossing the border were charged with a misdemeanor in May and June 2018.  Before that, adults accompanying children were treated with kid gloves — which is why there was suddenly a surge of them, including opportunistic migrants bringing kids who weren't their own.

Brooklyn lawyers who made Molotovs plead guilty to one count each, face years in prison.  The two Brooklyn lawyers who made Molotov cocktails and tossed one under a police car last year pleaded guilty to one count each of "possession of a destructive device." [...] Last July when these two were let out on bail I argued that the federal charges leveled against them, including one charge of "use of explosives during a crime of violence" which carries a 30-year minimum sentence, was too much.  Ultimately, what these two did was throw a firebomb at an empty car.  They deserve prison time for that but let's face it, a lot of murderers don't get 30 years.  That said, I'd hate to see the judge go too far in the other direction.

Why are BMW and Daimler being sued over climate change?  German activists have filed a lawsuit against automakers BMW and Daimler for refusing to tighten carbon emissions goals, the first time German citizens have sued private companies for exacerbating climate change.  The lawsuit from the heads of Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), a non-governmental organisation, is similar to one being lined up for Volkswagen by the heads of Greenpeace's Germany division in collaboration with Fridays for Future activist Clara Mayer and an unidentified landowner.  However, this group has given Volkswagen until Oct. 29 to respond.  DUH also challenged energy firm Wintershall to restrict its emissions targets, but no suit has been filed against the company as of yet.

The Editor says...
If you were to sue an oil company or an automobile maker for changing the climate, you would have to prove that anything they do (excluding their customers and everyone else) is having a measurable impact on the global climate, and prove that the Sun, the volcanos, the termites and the coal-burning Chinese government didn't make that change.  That's not going to happen.

Biden Campaign Staffers Target, Attempt to Bankrupt Another Trump Supporter.  When the Biden campaign bus drove through Texas last October, it was greeted by cars bearing big pro-Trump flags and banners at every turn.  Nobody was violent. [...] Joeylynn Mesaros, her husband Robert and their ten-year-old son drove with the New Braunfels Trump Train alongside the Biden bus on interstate 35 for approximately 15 minutes on October 30 before they pulled off the freeway and went home.  Months later, Mesaros found out from a friend who was watching CNN that she and Robert were being sued.

Minneapolis man, 29, who opened fire on cops after they shot him with a rubber bullet is acquitted of attempted murder.  A Minneapolis man charged with attempted murder after firing at police officers during the George Floyd protest was acquitted of all charges after claiming he shot back in self defense.  Jaleel Stallings, 29, was acquitted on Wednesday of multiple charges stemming from a shooting last summer where he shot at the Minneapolis Police Department after they opened fire on him with rubber bullets.  The US Army veteran argued the shooting was in self-defense.  He testified that he fired three shots at an unmarked white van after he was struck in the chest with what turned out to be a nonlethal rubber bullet fired by the MPD, the Associated Press reported.

Minnesota Man Who Shot At Cops During George Floyd Protests 'Acquitted' After Claiming It Was 'Self Defense'.  There is no justice system in the United States and certainly not in Minneapolis.  A Minnesota man who shot at police is acquitted because it was self-defense. [...] When I was young, we were taught to respect police.  In the mad world Obama/Biden built, you can shoot at police and get off claiming self-defense.  Police in Minnesota will soon be a thing of the past.  No one will want to be one.

This week's winner of the Lawsuit Lottery:
Man With Long History Of Drunken Arrests Got Drunk, Got Beaten Up, Got Arrested For DUI, Sues And Wins 5.5 Million For Being Served Booze.  A Texas man with a history of arrests for public intoxication has won a $5.5 million lawsuit alleging that he was overserved alcohol at a restaurant.  Daniel Rawls of Andrews, Texas, won his civil suit against La Fogata Mexican Grill and Bar after claiming he sustained a 'serious and debilitating' head injury during a fight with another drunk patron in May 2019, according to the Houston Chronicle.  [Video clip]

Watch As Defense Attorneys Conspire Against Their Own Client To Get Him Convicted.  On March 19, 2018, Luis Sanchez had arrived early to court.  He said he spent a few minutes waiting in his car to kill time before entering the courthouse.  Sanchez states he was outside the courtroom doors by 9 a.m.  He also claims he attempted to walk inside but that the courtroom was overcrowded.  This was evident from courtroom video recordings.  Sanchez says he waited outside the courtroom doors so that it would clear up a little before he attempted to find a seat.  He explains he did not go in because he had many times in the past been instructed to wait outside and not block the doors for it being a safety hazard.  [Video clip]

Julianna Zobrist Wins The EGM Award For The Most Asinine Claim In A Divorce Proceeding.  We previously discussed the bizarre divorce case of former Chicago Cubs player Ben Zobrist and his estranged wife Julianna Zobrist.  The case took a nasty turn when it came out that Zobrist was suing his former pastor Bryon Yawn for $6 million.  He is accusing Yawn of sleeping with his wife, Julianna, a contemporary-Christian singer, after they came to him for marital counseling.  Yawn, former pastor at Community Bible Church in Nashville, is also accused of stealing money from Yobrist's charity.  Now Julianna has come forward with a claim of $4 million that is breathtaking in its audacity and, in my view, lunacy.

Maybe you should switch to Talcum X.
Lawsuit citing baby-powder cancer concerns alleges Johnson & Johnson targeted Blacks.  Civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced this week he filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson, alleging the company targeted Black women with its sales of baby powder that allegedly caused cancer.  Representing the National Council of Negro Women, Mr. Crump said the company's talcum-based baby powder has links to ovarian cancer and it was specifically marketed to Black women.  "It is about the lives of our grandmothers, our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, our nieces and our wives and how they were cynically targeted by Johnson & Johnson, this multi-billion dollar corporation," Mr. Crump, best known for representing the family of George Floyd, said at a press conference.

The Editor says...
If there was a National Council of White Women, do you think they'd be accused of racism?

Ohio Supreme Court refers request to unseal Gibsons v. Oberlin College evidence to mediation.  The Ohio Supreme Court has referred a request by several media outlets and support organizations to unseal evidence to a mediator in the lawsuit by Gibson's Bakery in Oberlin against Oberlin College.  WEWS-TV in Cleveland and other petitioners had requested a writ of mandamus from the Ohio Supreme Court to force Lorain County Common Pleas Judge John Miraldi to release photos of Facebook posts by Allyn D. Gibson, the son and grandson of the owners of Gibson's Bakery, that were included in an exhibit during the 2019 civil trial, but never introduced in court.  An attorney for The Reporters Committee For Freedom of the Press joined WEWS-TV's request for a writ, according to court documents filed July 15.

The rise of a generation of censors.  Free speech on American college campuses has been in a free fall for years.  From high schools through law schools, free speech has gone from being considered a right that defines our society to being dismissed as a threat.  According to polling, the result is arguably one of the most anti-free-speech generations in our history.  The danger is more acute because it has reached law schools where future judges and lawyers may replicate the same intolerance in our legal system.  A recent controversy at Duke Law School highlights this danger.  "Law & Contemporary Problems" is a faculty-run journal that recently decided to do a balanced symposium on "Sex and the Law" — including transgender issues — and asked Professor Kathleen Stock of the University of Sussex (who has criticized transgender positions) to participate.  Protests erupted over allowing such intellectual diversity.

Jack Phillips to appeal Colorado judge's decision over gender transition cake.  The conservative group representing Colorado baker Jack Phillips vowed to appeal after a judge sided with the plaintiff, a transgender woman, on Tuesday [6/15/2021] following Phillips' refusal to make a cake celebrating a gender transition.  "In this case, an activist attorney demanded Jack create custom cakes in order to 'test' Jack and 'correct the errors' of his thinking, and the activist even threatened to sue Jack again if the case is dismissed for any reason," Alliance Defending Freedom General Counsel Kristen Waggoner said in a statement.  "Radical activists and government officials are targeting artists like Jack because they won't promote messages on marriage and sexuality that violate their core convictions."

Colorado court:  Masterpiece Cakeshop has to bake the cake after all.  No it doesn't, but once again Jack Phillips will have to resort to federal court to make this point.  For some reason, Colorado courts can't read Supreme Court precedent, and ruled that a trolling effort to force Masterpiece Cakeshop to bake a cake celebrating a gender transition actually should be upheld.  The judge fined Phillips $500 for violating the state's anti-discrimination law: [...] This case popped up a few months ago, a bad-faith effort by attorney Autumn Scardina, who first attempted it on the same day that the Supreme Court took the previous Masterpiece Cakeshop appeal in 2017.  Scardina admitted that this was essentially trolling.

Could Lawsuits Stem the Tide of Violence Sweeping the Big Cities That Defund the Police?  Last summer, eight-year-old Secoriea Turner got killed because the SUV she was riding in came too close to a particular Wendy's in Atlanta.  Her parents have now filed a lawsuit alleging that city leaders Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Police Chief Rodney Bryant, and City Council member Joyce Sheperd had been negligent in controlling the area, leading to their daughter's death.  The lawsuit also names the city government of Atlanta.

The Lawsuit Donald Trump Is Facing Regarding COVID.  This was bound to happen.  I'm sort of shocked it didn't happen sooner, but here we are with the triggered left-wingers tossing around lawsuits like candy because they found something offensive.  That thing was a phrase Donald Trump used to describe the coronavirus.  It's accurate.  It's not offensive, but that's not the point.  This is about the Left's unhealthy and unhinged obsession with the former president.  Even when he's gone, he's facing criminal investigations into his business dealings, but this one deals with two words:  China virus.  Yes, Trump is being sued because he said that.

Investigation finds massive wrongdoing by prosecutor in case against ex-Missouri governor.  Missouri's chief legal disciplinary officer accused St. Louis' top prosecutor of sweeping misconduct in the failed prosecution of former Gov. Eric Greitens, saying she lied to judges in court filings and testimony, withheld exculpatory evidence from the defense, misled her own prosecution team and violated the constitutional right to a fair trial.  St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner, one of the early local prosecutors bankrolled by liberal megadonor George Soros since 2016, engaged in 62 acts of misconduct that resulted in 79 false representations during Greitens' now-dismissed criminal prosecution, according to Chief Disciplinary Counsel Alan Pratzel's memo obtained Wednesday [5/5/2021] by Just the News.

No matter how indefensible your case may be, you can always find a lawyer who will help you out.
Teen with AK-47 in Times Square subway confused about NYC gun laws: lawyer.  The Ohio teen allegedly caught with an AK-47 in a Times Square subway may have just been confused about New York's gun laws, his lawyer tried to argue in court on Sunday [4/18/2021].  But Manhattan judge Melissa C. Jackson rejected that argument — and the prosecutors' request that bail be set at $25,000 — as she ordered that 18-year-old Saadiq Teague stay behind bars until his next court date.  "This is an extremely serious case.  The case is up to 15 years in prison," Jackson said.  It was the teen's first appearance in court since he was busted around 12:30 p.m. Friday on the mezzanine level of the A, C and E station, allegedly with the weapon out next to him in plain sight.  The AK-47 was unloaded, but Teague had a fully loaded magazine in his backpack, along with a gas mask, sources previously told The [New York] Post.

Attorney for Floyd, Wright Families Is Already Peddling a Lie About Police Shooting of Columbus Teenager.  Shortly after civil rights attorney Ben Crump celebrated the verdict in former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's trial in the death of George Floyd, he moved on to commenting about the police shooting of Ma'Khia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio.  Crump, who represented George Floyd's family as well as Michael Brown Jr., Breonna Taylor, Jacob Blake, Ahmaud Arbery, and Daunte Wright's families, framed the shooting as another case of an "unarmed" person of color being killed by police.  "As we breathed a collective sigh of relief today, a community in Columbus felt the sting of another police shooting as @ColumbusPolice killed an unarmed 15yo Black girl named Makiyah Bryant," Crump tweeted.

Benjamin Crump:  A Legacy of Lies and Racial Division.  On his website, it is clear that celebrity attorney Benjamin Crump is most focused on one aspect of practicing law:  Financial settlements.  Images of total payouts and a list of lottery-like payouts adorn the homepage.  He clearly wins; whether his victories advance justice is undecided.  The site quietly notes that his commission is one-third the total settlement. [...] Recently, the family of George Floyd's survivors, aided by the legal counsel of Crump, earned a tidy $27 million.  This news was shocking for a few reasons.  On top of representing a record settlement, the announcement also came in the midst of jury selection for the criminal proceedings.  (Two jurors were dismissed by the judge after learning of the news).  Of course, records were made to be broken, and the settlement for the Floyd family might very well be eclipsed by another suit filed by Team Crump and on behalf of the family of Dijon Kizzee, a black man killed by police in Los Angeles.  They are seeking $35 million.

New Yorker who wants to marry [his or her] adult biological child sues to overturn laws banning incest.  A New York parent who wants to marry their [sic] adult biological child is suing to overturn laws banning incest, saying marriage is a matter of 'individual autonomy'.  The parent filed the lawsuit in Manhattan federal court on April 1 asking a judge to declare incest laws 'unconstitutional' and unenforceable so that they can wed their [sic] offspring in a ceremony in New York City.  The identities of both the parent and the child are not known, with the gender, ages, hometowns and nature of their relationship not detailed in the suit, seen by the New York Post.

Stephen Miller Launches MAGA-Minded Legal Network to Counter Democrat Lawfare Group.  This is long overdue, and worthy of support.  Most CTH readers are now aware what the Lawfare group is all about.  Inside the Lawfare network the far-left political ideologues organize and launch attacks against anything they view as adverse to their interests.  The Lawfare network is made up of Obama ideologues and former DOJ officials who manipulate the legal system for their political agenda.

Transgender student to receive $300K in discrimination suit.  Minnesota's largest school district will pay $300,000 to settle a discrimination lawsuit with a transgender student who was barred from using the boys' locker room, school officials and supporters of the student said Tuesday [3/23/2021].  The Anoka-Hennepin School District also agreed to make several policy changes, including a rule that allows every student to use all facilities consistent with their gender identity, along with a complaint procedure and prohibition on reprisals.

Student Surveillance Vendor Proctorio Files SLAPP Lawsuit to Silence A Critic.  During the pandemic, a dangerous business has prospered:  invading students' privacy with proctoring software and apps.  In the last year, we've seen universities compel students to download apps that collect their face images, driver's license data, and network information.  Students who want to move forward with their education are sometimes forced to accept being recorded in their own homes and having the footage reviewed for "suspicious" behavior.  Given these invasions, it's no surprise that students and educators are fighting back against these apps.  Last fall, Ian Linkletter, a remote learning specialist at the University of British Columbia, became part of a chorus of critics concerned with this industry.  Now, he's been sued for speaking out.  The outrageous lawsuit — which relies on a bizarre legal theory that linking to publicly viewable videos is copyright infringement — will become an important test of a 2019 British Columbia law passed to defend free speech, the Protection of Public Participation Act, or PPPA.

Law School Deans Chastise Student Body as Too White.  The deans of an Ohio law school chastised their students for being too white after the release of a study ranking "the whitest law schools in America," emails obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show.  Two deans at Case Western Reserve University Law School emailed students Tuesday to alert them of "The Whitest Law Schools in America 2021," a study that rates schools based on how "inappropriately white" their student bodies are.  Although Case Western's law school ranked 144 out of 200, making it the second least-white law school in the state of Ohio, deans Jessica Berg and Michael Scharf told students they should not be satisfied.  "First, we should not be satisfied with the diversity of our student body, even on the measures used in this study," Berg and Scharf said.  "It does not mean we have an equitable number of students who identify as Black, Native American, Latinx, Asian American, Pacific Islander, or other under-represented groups."

The Editor says...
The next time I'm arrested, I'll sit there and rot in the county jail until I can find a lawyer who's an LGBTQWERTY+ Native American, Latinx, Asian American, and/or Pacific Islander.

Eric Swalwell Sues Donald Trump and Allies over Capital Riots.  Ex-House impeachment manager Eric Swalwell (D-CA) confirmed Friday he will sue former President Donald Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani and Republican Rep. Mo Brooks in a second major lawsuit seeking to hold Trump and his allies accountable for the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6.  Swalwell's action follows a similar suit filed last month by Rep. Bennie Thompson against Trump, Giuliani and the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys groups.

Family Of Boy Who Died In Frigid Texas Trailer Sues ERCOT For $100M.  The family of a Texas boy who apparently froze to death — after the family's mobile home lost power during an intense cold snap — have filed a $100 million lawsuit against the region's utility providers, blaming them for the tragedy.  Cristian Pavon Pineda, 11, was found lifeless in a bed next to his toddler brother Monday [2/15/2021], as temperatures inside plunged into the single digits and the family struggled to keep warm.  Power grid operator ERCOT and electricity provider Entergy failed to warn people of the dangerous conditions and gave incomplete guidance to customers during the recent historic cold, the family charges, according to reports.

The Editor says...
The responsibility for the safety and well-being of your young children is yours alone.  Not the power company.  Not the government.  Not the landlord.

Trump Impeachment Attorney Canceled by Law School, Civil Rights Law Group.  An attorney who represented President Donald Trump during the recent impeachment trial says a law school canceled a civil rights law course he was going to teach and he was suspended from a civil rights lawyer email discussion list.  "I was hoping to teach a civil rights course at a law school in the fall.  We've been in talks about it, kind of planning it out.  I wrote to them and I said, 'I want you to know, I'm gonna be representing Donald Trump in the impeachment case.  I don't know if that impacts on your decision at all,'" David Schoen, one of the three attorneys who argued before the Senate, told The Epoch Times.  "And they said, you know, they appreciated my writing and, frankly, it would make some students and faculty uncomfortable, so I couldn't do it.  "That was sad for me because I really want to go more and more into teaching.  I like doing that," Schoen said.  Schoen, an Alabama-based lawyer recognized for his civil rights litigation, declined to name the school that canceled his course.

Rioting for profit:
CNN And NBC Both Paid $35,000 To Left-Wing Activist For Footage Of Fatal Capitol Shooting.  A left-wing activist facing criminal charges for his involvement in the Capitol riots received $35,000 from both CNN and NBC for footage he recorded of a Trump supporter being fatally shot inside the Capitol building, according to records he filed in federal court on Tuesday [2/16/2021].  Lawyers for John Sullivan, a 26-year-old Utah native, disclosed the payments as part of the activist's argument that he was acting as a journalist in the Capitol rather than a rioter.  "Defendant is legitimately self-employed as a documentarian and it is oppressive to require that he not be allowed to continue his primary area of employment for an extended period of time," Steven R. Kiersh, the Sullivan lawyer, wrote in a court filing in which he argued for Sullivan to be allowed to continue using Facebook and Twitter.

Lawyer Lin Wood Asked to Undergo Mental Health Evaluation by State Bar.  Attorney Lin Wood, a lawyer who filed third-party lawsuits on behalf of former President Donald Trump's election challenges, said he would not undergo a mental health evaluation requested by an attorney licensing organization.  The move to refuse the evaluation would potentially put his law license at risk.  Wood wrote on Telegram on Thursday that the State Bar of Georgia informed him that he would have to submit an evaluation to keep his license to practice law.  "I have done nothing wrong.  I have only exercised my right of free speech," Wood wrote in his post.  "I will not allow the State Bar to persecute me for doing so and thereby violate my Constitutional rights."

Girl Scouts Sue Boy Scouts over Gender-Inclusive Rebranding, Alleging Recruitment Confusion.  Lawyers for the Girl Scouts claimed in a court filing on Thursday [12/24/2020] that a recruitment drive by the Boy Scouts was "highly damaging" to the Girl Scouts.  The Boy Scouts renamed itself Scouts BSA and removed the word "boy" from their recruitment materials in 2018, when the organization decided to open certain programs for female participants.  (The new Boy Scouts programs for girls remain separate from the boys-only programs.)  However, the Girl Scouts filed suit against the organization in November 2018 over trademark concerns, contending in the suit that the Boy Scouts' rebranding would be "uniquely damaging" to Girl Scout operations.  In the latest filing in the suit, the Girl Scouts asserted that Scouts BSA recruitment efforts caused confusion among parents who wished to send their daughters to Girl Scouts.

The Girl V. Boy Scouts War Is Heating Up Again.  In February of 2019, the Boy Scouts (now officially known as Scouts BSA) changed their name and began accepting membership applications from girls.  A lot of people opposed that change, with some parents pulling their sons from the program.  It was particularly unpopular with the Girl Scouts, who were already having enough trouble recruiting new members without this sudden appearance of competition from a larger and better-funded operation.  The hurt feelings haven't really abated since then, and now the Girl Scouts are taking Scouts BSA to court in an attempt to sue them for "infringing" on their recruiting efforts and using false or misleading marketing tactics in targeting girls for membership.

Marc Elias, Democrat Lawyer Behind Russia 'Dossier,' Involved in Seven Lawsuits over Georgia Senate Runoff.  Marc Elias, the Democrat lawyer behind the Russia "dossier" in 2016, and a slew of lawsuits to expand vote-by-mail in the 2020 presidential election, is involved in seven lawsuits regarding the rules for the Georgia Senate runoff to be held Jan. 5.  Elias's website, Democracy Docket, is a clearinghouse of information for fellow Democrats on current election litigation around the country.  He lists five cases of interest in the runoff, which pits incumbent Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler against Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, respectively.

Rogue US Attorneys Coming to a City Near You?  Rachael Rollins, the rogue prosecutor in Boston, may want to be the United States attorney for the District of Massachusetts.  According to news reports, Rollins says people working on the Biden transition team have approached her about the position.  It is irrelevant whether she is just playing the "look at me, I'm important" political game or is serious about wanting the job.  She could be the nation's first rogue U.S. attorney.  The more disturbing thought is the possibility that we might end up with several rogue U.S. attorneys in key areas around the country.  If you thought things were bad in cities with elected rogue prosecutors — and they are — just imagine how crime rates will explode across the country if a President Joe Biden nominates, and the Senate confirms, rogue U.S. attorneys.

Inside Soros DA George Gascon's Office:  Deputy DA's Threatened, Intimidated to Uphold New Policies.  Soros-funded Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, as we've reported, made major waves during his first week in office.  On day one, he issued nine Special Directives instituting "criminals first" policies like failing to prosecute many misdemeanors, a blanket prohibition on seeking the death penalty or life without parole, and a ban on charging juveniles as adults.  Throughout the week, victims, law enforcement officers, and court personnel were shocked to see the results of those policies in action in the courtroom (including a failure to charge enhancements or "strikes" against a man accused of decapitating two of his children).

The Honor of the Legal Profession.  [Scroll down]  Anyone who reads the complaint filed by Texas (and rejected by the Supreme Court) must conclude that there are serious reasons to believe that this election was characterized by massive fraud in certain swing states and that this fraud was prepared and executed by partisan party operatives who used litigation to erode mechanisms of ballot security and control of the counting to consummate the win.  Note that I do not claim that the evidence is conclusive, though I personally think it overwhelming.  I use the softer "reason to believe", which means only that it needs investigation.  A legal establishment dedicated to upholding process values would regard itself as honor-bound to demand an investigation of these charges. [...] This is not the reaction of the real legal establishment, which is demanding not just that the charges not be investigated, but that any lawyer who represents the president be damned.

Homeless families sue the city over Wi-Fi installation, demand internet by January 2021.  A group of homeless families is suing the city over the de Blasio administration's plan to install Wi-Fi in family homeless shelters across New York, arguing the effort won't get students internet fast enough, the Daily News has learned.  Filed in Manhattan Federal Court, the lawsuit calls for a judge to force the city to get Wi-Fi in all family shelters across the city no later than Jan. 4, 2021 — the first day of school after winter break.  "My son still struggles with completing his classes.  One minute he's online, the next he's not," said one of the homeless parents suing, who asked to remain anonymous.

Lawyer Indicted on Multiple Felonies?  If You're Connected on the Left, the State Bar Doesn't Care.  A typical example of state bar bias regarding lawyers involves a trial attorney in California, Philip Ganong, who has been indicted on 94 counts of medical fraud involving $22 million.  This is clearly not a small accusation.  The Ganong family operated multiple businesses, including a medical testing lab and a staffing agency that were used as a "front to overbill insurance companies," Orange County prosecutors said.  It probably falls under "body-brokering, a practice plaguing Southern California "where addiction centers lure substance abusers into treatment and max out their insurance benefits..." The State Bar of California has taken no action against Ganong even though one defendant has already served time in prison and it's been three and a half years since the felony complaint warrant was filed against Ganong.  In fact, he bragged about his good standing with the bar as a defense to the media.

Under Pressure, Trump Lawyers Quit in Pennsylvania.  Lawyers for President Donald Trump from the Porter Wright firm have withdrawn as of Friday from representing him in challenges to election results Pennsylvania. [...] The [New York] Times reported Monday [11/9/2020] that lawyers at the firm "have held internal meetings to voice similar concerns about their firm's election-related work for Mr. Trump and the Republican Party, according to people at the firm.  At least one lawyer quit in protest."  Trump's opponents have been attempting to pressure his attorneys, with some targeting his lawyers from the Jones Day firm earlier this week.

Keep Fighting in the Courts, and Start Fighting the Libertarian Party.  It is remarkable watching the Democrats — the party of litigation and trial lawyers — attacking the Trump team for challenging election results and filing court challenges.  Through four years of the Trump presidency's first term, the Left ran to the courts to challenge virtually every presidential initiative, every executive order, every policy.  They ran to the courts to protect illegal immigration, to protect the illegal violations of Sanctuary Cities, to attack, attack, attack.  They knew and know where to find their Clinton-Obama judges, in federal districts in the Ninth Circuit and elsewhere, and they played the courts like a fiddle to get rulings they wanted.  They ended up with progressive judges who always found a way to stretch and interpret the law to fit the Left agenda.  These judges did not look for the target bull's-eye at which to aim their arrows but instead looked at the Left's arrows and just painted bull's-eyes around them.

El Chapo Sues Media Outlets for Publishing His California Driver's License.  The infamous drug lord "El Chapo" sued a cartel news focused-blog and several Mexican newspapers for publishing a photo of his California driver's license in 2013. Univision originally exposed the matter, but it is not named in the recent suit.  The document in question revealed that the cartel leader managed to receive a valid ID using a fake name.  While the Univision story and reprints were published in 2013, it wasn't until September 2020 when California attorney Jeffrey Mendleman filed a lawsuit against Borderland Beat, Blogger.com, Google LLC, and several Mexican newspapers including Reforma and El Manana.  Several social media accounts publishing citizen journalism are also named. [...] What the lawsuit does not mention is that in November 2013, Univision ran a special segment about El Chapo revealing that despite being a wanted drug lord in the U.S., he managed to get a California driver's license in 1988.

The Editor says...
The man is in prison.  He no longer has any expectation of privacy.  He has no need of a driver's license.  He's very fortunate that the newspapers (and everybody else) haven't forgotten all about him.

The Battle Royal of 2020.  Like two navies angling for a better broadside, the legal teams of Donald Trump and Joe Biden are already sparring over the integrity of the 2020 vote before a single vote has been counted.  While a presidential incumbent barnstorms in the Lower 48, and his opponent wrestles with self-inflicted scandals in his Wilmington hideaway, hundreds of lawyers from both camps are squaring off.  Across the country, eleventh-hour election rulemaking and changes to voting practices are being challenged in state and federal courts by manicured combatants in pinstripes and wingtips.

What Happens if No One Wins?  The Constitution provides for election crises, and its provisions favor Trump.  [Scroll down]  In one plausible scenario, Trump appears to be the winner on the morning after Election Day, but a "blue wave" begins in the days and weeks after, and Biden claims a belated, overtime victory.  Both Democrats and Republicans have sought either to enlarge or restrict the opportunities for absentee voting.  A massive amount of litigation is already taking place.  At last count, 279 Covid-related election cases are currently underway in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico — and that tally does not include other litigation over other election issues.

Biden Is Allegedly Raising Money For Post-Election Litigation.  According to the Daily Beast, the Biden campaign is still raising money for the November 3rd election despite the fact that they still have a massive amount of cash to spend.  The Daily Beast explains that the campaign currently has $435 million in cash and is still raising another $150 a minute.  A Biden spokesperson however told the outlet that they are now raising money for a post-election legal battle to contest the 2020 election results.

The Editor says...
Something tells me Doodad Pro [1] [2] [3] [4] has already contributed his share.

Soros-Funded Prosecutors Put 'Social Justice' Above Law and Order, Analysts Say.  Self-styled progressive political activists who win election as district attorneys with financial support from wealthy donors have made "social justice" initiatives more important than public safety, legal analysts say.  George Soros, the Hungarian American billionaire investor, stands out as the big donor behind a super PAC that helped elect district attorneys who have overseen a dramatic increase in crime.  The Justice and Public Safety super PAC feeds into a larger network of local political action committees.  Some of the district attorneys elected with its support have attracted media attention for their antipathy toward law enforcement.  "I refuse to call them progressives," Charles "Cully" Stimson, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, said in an interview with The Daily Signal, adding:  "There's nothing progressive about what they're doing."

Tish James' endless anti-Trump suits betray the AG's mission.  As the chief legal officers of our states, attorneys general possess a tremendous power to shape public opinion and make official decisions that can affect the outcomes of cases.  Regardless of party affiliation, when it comes to exercising the prosecutorial function of our offices, there are certain rules that every attorney general agrees to — and certain lines that should never be crossed.  We should never weaponize our office for political gain, regardless of the situation, even when the sitting president of the United States is a citizen of the state we serve.  Unfortunately, some of my colleagues across the aisle have done just that.  During her campaign, New York Attorney General Letitia James threw out numerous vague and baseless allegations, promising to harass and investigate President Trump's family and businesses that "may be engaged in illegal conduct." Although Trump was duly elected, she claims he is an illegitimate president.  This is nothing less than a gross abuse of her office.

Attorney Gets Life in Prison for Ex-Wife's Cruise Ship Murder.  A former Irvine attorney was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing his ex-wife and throwing her body overboard while on a Mediterranean cruise to solve his financial disputes with the victim.  Lonnie Loren Kocontes, 62, was convicted June 15 of murder with a special-circumstance allegation of murder for financial gain in the killing of 52-year-old Micki Kanesaki, whose body was recovered by the crew of a research vessel on May 28, 2006, in the Mediterranean Sea near Italy.

Two Lawsuits That Could Kill Yale.  The current state of higher education is so insane and irrational that a sensible observer must conclude that colleges will not reform unless they are forced to.  If rational self-interest or conscience had any sway in today's universities, they would have gotten off their highway to destruction three exits ago.  There are two lawsuits currently attempting to nudge higher ed away from being a soulless parasite on the middle class and onto a more sustainable path.  Unfortunately, the two are pushing in opposite directions.  The first lawsuit is the California case that last week produced an injunction blocking the University of California system from using SAT or ACT test scores in admissions.  A group of students and activist groups sought to ban the tests on the grounds that they are racially discriminatory and also because many disabled students were prevented this year from taking the tests by the Covid crisis.  Judge Brad Seligman ruled that UC's decision to make admissions "test-optional" was not enough.  To prevent non-disabled students from having an unfair advantage, admissions must be "test-blind," meaning students cannot submit scores even if they have them.

The Abysmal Record of Benjamin Crump.  Trial lawyer and ambulance-chaser Benjamin Crump needs to go away.  Formerly the president of the Florida Bar — which reflects poorly on the Florida Bar — Crump has risen to fame defending black victims of our racist society.  A lot of the words in that last sentence are subjective.  As the following rundown will show, he's either a terrible lawyer or just a scumbag looking for a quick payday.  It could also be both.  You surely recognize his name, but do you know his record defending black criminals?  It is appalling.  In fact, history almost guarantees that when Crump signs up to defend a client, you can be sure that the police actually did act appropriately.

Trial lawyers looking for a $100 billion coronavirus jackpot.  Not everyone is suffering job loss, income declines and financial devastation from the coronavirus pandemic.  Some people are looking to get rich off the tragedy.  Trial lawyers see COVID-19 casualties and images of asbestos and tobacco lawsuits dancing in their heads.  They are drooling over the prospects of a $100 billion COVID-19 jackpot.  The Democrats in Congress who the trial bar has spent years buying and paying can't wait to help in the grand heist.  They aren't wasting any time.  The Wall Street Journal reports, "Employers across the country are being sued by the families of workers who contend their loved ones contracted lethal cases of Covid-19 on the job, a new legal front that shows the risks of reopening workplaces."  Who's in the bull's-eye?  So far, the deep pockets include Walmart Inc., Safeway Inc., Tyson Foods Inc., nursing homes and hospitals.  They are seeking millions for gross negligence or wrongful death, and the cases are mounting.  So far, the number of suits is approaching 5,000.

The Prosecution Never Rests.  In our constitutional system of checks and balances, ambition counteracts ambition.  But what happens when prosecutors are the most ambitious of all? [...] Of course, there are many kinds of prosecutorial ambition.  Some might be ambitious for lucrative law-firm partnership seats, or judicial appointments; others might simply like sending a message to criminals that they are the toughest guy on the block.  And others — surely the vast majority — are simply ambitious to do the best possible job they can, using all the legal tools at their disposal.  But here is the problem: there are many tools — and few practical limits upon their use.  While a prosecutor can't put a defendant in jail without a judge, or a jury, or the defendant's own guilty plea, there remains much that he or she can do to secure such convictions or plea bargains, or at least to make the defendant feel the pain of the criminal process.

Doubts.  [Scroll down]  Let's face it, liberals have been bumptiously demanding benefit of all residual doubts for... well, it's difficult to say when exactly that all started.  The Earl Warren Supreme Court had a lot to do with it.  You didn't tell him his rights.  The evidence is fruit of the poisoned tree.  It's conceivably possible someone else might have a knife that looks just like that.  Maybe he ran because a police dog was chasing him.  Maybe maybe maybe, possible possible possible, you have to pretend you don't know even though you do... my guilty-as-hell client gets to walk.  Our side wins!

Why Has Biden Hired 600 Lawyers?  During a recent fundraiser, former Vice President Joe Biden announced that his campaign had recruited an army of 600 attorneys to prepare for expected legal battles pursuant to the upcoming election.  Biden says he needs all these lawyers to fend off "voter suppression," which he defines as any opposition by the Trump campaign to Democratic calls for a dramatic expansion of mail-in voting.  The president believes that such a precipitous change in our electoral process will create chaos and encourage election fraud.  He's right.

How the Democrats Collude to Enable Voter Fraud.  One of the most pernicious phenomena of modern times is the collusive lawsuit.  This is how it works:  a left-wing organization sues a government agency that is also controlled by the left.  The lawsuit alleges that the agency is obliged to do something that the agency would like to do, but the Democrats can't get it passed.  Then the parties — supposedly adverse, but actually in collusion — "settle" the case by having the agency agree to do what it wanted to do all along.  If all goes well, a court enters an order enforcing the settlement.  So the net effect is that a policy that the Democrats couldn't get passed is now a court-ordered mandate.  This happens often.

Antifa's Most Important Enabler Is Its Legal Arm, the National Lawyers Guild.  [Scroll down]  Busy alongside Antifa this year will be the movement's unofficial legal arm:  the National Lawyers Guild.  Although much lower profile than their enablers within the establishment media and among the more extreme elements of the Democratic Party, the National Lawyers Guild is actually far more important when it comes to keeping Antifa's program of extreme political violence going.  Made up of thousands of hard-left lawyers spread out in over 150 chapters across the country (not including over 100 student chapters), and funded by giant philanthropists like the Ford Foundation and George Soros, the NLG explicitly and openly coordinates legal action and public relations in support of the Antifa movement.  As one chapter states online, the guild's member-lawyers "understand that legal support is critical in the planning and aftermath of any action," and "can usually mobilize NLG volunteer lawyers to handle initial court appearances, and ... often continue to defend activists pro bono."

Ivy League Graduate Corporate Attorney And Another Lawyer Reportedly Charged For Throwing Molotov At NYPD During Riots.  A corporate attorney who graduated from an Ivy League school along with another attorney are facing federal charges after throwing a Molotov cocktail at an NYPD vehicle Saturday [5/30/2020] during protests over the death of George Floyd that turned violent, the New York Daily News reported.  Colinford Mattis, 32, and Urooj Rahman, 31, were charged in the attempted attack on an empty police vehicle parked outside a police station in Fort Greene, according to the Daily News.  Mattis is a Princeton University and New York University law school graduate and an associate with Times Square corporate law firm Pryor Cashman, the Daily News reported.

Accused Molotov cocktail hurler is Ivy League-educated lawyer, community board member.  An Ivy League-educated lawyer and member of a Brooklyn community board was among those arrested for hurling a Molotov cocktail at a marked NYPD vehicle amid George Floyd protests, it was revealed Sunday [5/31/2020].  Colinford Mattis, 32, was allegedly behind the wheel of a tan minivan as his passenger, fellow attorney Urooj Rahman, allegedly hurled the incendiary at an empty NYPD vehicle outside the 88th Precinct stationhouse in Fort Greene early Saturday.  Mattis, a graduate of Princeton University and the New York University School of Law, is an associate at corporate Manhattan firm Pryor Cashman.  He was furloughed in April amid the coronavirus crisis, his employer confirmed.

Two lawyers hit with federal charges for throwing Molotov cocktail at NYPD car.  A pair of Brooklyn lawyers are facing federal charges for throwing a Molotov cocktail into a New York Police Department cruiser during riots following the death of George Floyd in police custody.  Colinford Mattis, 32, a Princeton graduate and member of a New York community board, and Urooj Rahman, 31, a lawyer and Fordham alumnus who recently lost her job, were arrested and charged with attempting to damage or destroy law-enforcement vehicles on Saturday after a surveillance camera recorded the incident.  "Molotov Cocktails are violent tools of individuals looking to inflict harm and damage our city.  Crimes like these are devastating to their targets and also to the protestors and their right to free speech that police are working hard to protect," NYPD Commissioner Dermot F. Shea said in a Department of Justice press release.  "I'm confident that the severest penalties under the law will be sought."

Lawsuit blaming Fox News for coronavirus is a threat to press freedom.  A judge on a Washington state court has a chance May 21 to quash a dangerous, outlandish lawsuit against Fox News that would eviscerate First Amendment media freedoms.  He should indeed quash it.  The suit is brought by a 3-year-old group of leftist provocateurs called WASHLITE, which stands for the Washington League for Increased Transparency and Ethics.  They are suing Fox News for alleged violations of the state's Consumer Protection Act, which outlaws deceptive practices in the course of commerce.  WASHLITE says Fox should be punished because some of its on-air personnel, like many other members of the media, spent weeks downplaying "the danger of the international proliferation of the novel Coronavirus, COVID-19."  The result, says the group, was that its members' health and livelihoods were put at risk, and indeed, it says one of its members contracted COVID-19.

Is It Time for a Revolution?  It's time for America's business owners to fight back against a tyrannical government.  Some might call that a revolution.  But in this case, I'm talking about a war fought in the courts.  I'm talking about a legal battle.  It's time for lawsuits — lots of them.  It's time to defend our civil rights.  It's time to defend our property rights.  It's time to make tyrant governors understand this isn't a dictatorship and we're not their serfs.

Federal judge in Miami has no jurisdiction over ICE detention practices, lawyers claim.  Lawyers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told a federal court in Miami that it has "no basis" for any oversight of "ICE's administration of its sound policies."  The Miami Herald reported Monday that the agency's response was to a recommendation by Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman who said earlier that the agency should prove that it is working to speed up the release of non-criminal detainees during the coronavirus pandemic.Goodman wrote a 69-page report and determined that the court could not grant the petitioners' request for an immediate release of the "1,400 noncitizen detainees," but called on steps to be implemented to speed up the process, Law 360 reported.

The Lawyer Whose Clients Didn't Exist.  [Scroll down]  A strange industry has grown up around mass torts, consisting of middlemen who bring potential suits to big-deal lawyers, contractors who do the legwork of finding clients, and investors who help pay the expenses in return for a portion of the award from any victory.  This last element — a form of legal financing called third-party litigation funding — proliferated during the 2008 recession, in part because lawsuits are somewhat insulated from the vicissitudes of the market.

Harvard Law students want licenses without having to take bar exam.  Approximately 200 Harvard Law School students have signed a letter asking administrators to "publicly advocate" on their behalf for being granted law licenses without taking the bar exam.  The reason for the "emergency diploma privilege" request, according to The Crimson, is the ongoing coronavirus situation.  Letter co-author Donna Saadati-Soto said "it would be unfair to ask students" to take the bar exam since the pandemic "limits the ability of some students to prepare."

$20 trillion lawsuit filed against China for 'creation, release of coronavirus'.  A Washington-based lawyer Larry Klayman has filed a USD 20 trillion lawsuit against China for the "creation and the release of the novel coronavirus" that has infected more than 334,000 people globally.  Klayman and his advocacy group 'Freedom Watch and Buzz Photos', a Texas-based company, has filed the lawsuit in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, alleging that the novel coronavirus was "designed by China to be a biological weapon of war", and that whether or not the country intended to release it, China violated "US law, international laws, treaties, and norms."

Lawyers look for loopholes and excuses.  That's what they do best.
Execution halted for Texas man who killed family after lawyer argues it could "assist in spreading" coronavirus.  The outbreak of the novel coronavirus prompted the top Texas criminal appeals court on Monday to stay for 60 days the scheduled execution of a man condemned for killing his family.  The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected all grounds of John William Hummel's appeal but said it would postpone the scheduled Wednesday execution "in light of the current health crisis and the enormous resources needed to address the execution."  One of the issues that Michael Mowla, Hummel's attorney, had raised in his efforts to stop the execution was a concern that the process involved with putting Hummel to death "may itself assist in spreading COVID-19."

States sue Trump administration at record pace.  State attorneys general have filed an unprecedented number of lawsuits against the Trump administration, as Democratic-led states exercise new levers of power to block some of President Trump's most controversial initiatives.  States have formed coalitions to file 103 multi-state suits against the administration in its first three years, according to data compiled by Paul Nolette, a political scientist at Marquette University.  The vast majority of those suits, 96, have been led by Democratic attorneys general.  By contrast, states filed 78 multi-state suits in the eight years of President Obama's administration, and 76 multi-state suits during President George W. Bush's eight years in office.

Bloomberg's climate lawyers promote green agenda behind scenes in state governments.  Other Democratic presidential primary contenders may push the Green New Deal, but Michael R. Bloomberg is advancing his climate change agenda behind the scenes with the help of one Democratic state attorney general at a time.  Since its founding in 2017, the billionaire's State Energy & Environmental Impact Center at New York University School of Law has quietly planted climate lawyers — paid by the center — with Democratic attorneys general in nine states and the District of Columbia despite alarm over what Republicans call his "liberal mercenaries."  The next state may be Michigan.  A cache of emails obtained by Energy Policy Advocates showed the office of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel entering into discussions to bring on a Bloomberg-funded "special assistant attorney general" as her staff considered climate litigation against Exxon Mobil.

The Disturbing Dismissal of the Kiddies' Climate Lawsuit.  On a 2-1 vote, the Ninth Circuit Court finally dismissed Juliana v. United States, the lawsuit brought on behalf of child plaintiffs demanding their constitutional right to "a climate system capable of sustaining human life."  The children, and the environmentalist group Our Children's Trust that's using them as lawfare puppets, were demanding a court order compelling the U.S. government to "swiftly phase out fossil-fuel use" and develop and implement "a national plan to restore Earth's energy balance ... to stabilize the climate system." [...] Juliana is only one of a "wave" of climate lawsuits proceeding on the basis "that climate science itself isn't up for debate."  Even when a court gets it right as a matter of law, as happened this time in Juliana, widespread allegations that apocalyptic climate theories are "settled science" have a cumulative effect across the Judicial Branch.

Woman sues TripAdvisor after falling off runaway camel.  A woman is suing TripAdvisor after a runaway camel tossed her to the ground during a tour in Morocco.  Breanne Ayala, 24, is accusing Massachusetts-based TripAdvisor and its subsidiary Viator of negligence and breach of contract for failing to ensure the camel tour company was operating safely, The Boston Globe reported on Friday, citing the lawsuit.

Lies Law Professors Tell.  [A] whole generation of law students has been trained to think that the 19th Century courts were heartless tools of malicious capitalists, and that enlightened reform came only with the virtuous 20th Century "progressives."  Does this kind of indoctrination have real world consequences?  You bet it does.  Law school is the only time when most attorneys undertake full-time education.  Many carry their law school experiences with them throughout their professional careers.  Law school affects how they serve clients and argue to judges and juries.  It probably affects how they vote.  If they become judges, it may affect how they decide cases.  Fortunately, some lawyers overcome the damage, but many never do.

Transgender worker suing Nike for $1.1 million cites pronoun abuses.  A transgender former Nike contractor is seeking $1.1 million in damages from the sporting goods giant for allegedly allowing gender identity-based harassment.  According to a civil lawsuit filed this week, Nike and Mainz Brady Group, a staffing firm that hired workers for Nike, discriminated against computer engineer Jazz Lyles, who identifies as transmasculine and prefers the pronouns they/them/their.

The Hashtag Prosecution against Exxon.  It was a hashtag prosecution, a social-media campaign posing as a legal case: #ExxonKnew.  And like yesterday's media balloon become today's litter, its deflated remains floated back down to earth last week in a New York courtroom.  Whatever you think of them otherwise, ExxonMobil's communications on climate change had neither the intent nor the effect of wronging the company's investors.  New York's since-disgraced attorney general Eric Schneiderman had no business bringing a securities-fraud case on that basis, and there was nothing his successor, Letitia James, could have done to rescue the case.

Michael Avenatti Hit with Fresh Wire Fraud Charge in Nike Extortion Case.  An indictment charging California attorney Michael Avenatti with conspiring to extort Nike has been rewritten to drop two conspiracy counts. [...] The refreshed indictment returned Wednesday [11/13/2019] in Manhattan federal court adds an honest services wire fraud charge.

The Shameless Hypocrisy Of Cities Suing For Climate Change 'Damages'.  History records that conquistadors embarked on expeditions throughout the Americas in pursuit of El Dorado and legendary riches.  Ultimately their quests yielded nothing but misery and loss.  A modern-day parallel exists among several municipal governments and Rhode Island, which have set out on an equally unrealistic quest for a modern-day "jackpot justice" — a scheme to reap billions from several energy companies.  Using an already discredited "public nuisance" legal claim, Rhode Island and several cities have filed lawsuits that blame all of Earth's climate change on a few profitable energy companies. [...] Aside from the shameless hypocrisy of mayors wooing potential investors while claiming pending climate disaster in court, the motivation behind these lawsuits is clear.  Many cities filing lawsuits against energy companies are financial train wrecks, seeking billions to offset their mismanagement.

Heroin addict allegedly drags NYPD cop with his car — and wins $11 million in court.  A heroin addict with nearly 20 arrests to his name allegedly dragged a cop along a busy Bronx street while fleeing a traffic stop, forcing another lawman to shoot him — and a jury just handed him an $11 million payday, The [New York] Post has learned.  Raoul Lopez took the city to court over the harrowing 2006 run-in that left him partially paralyzed on his right side, and was awarded the eight-figure sum by a Bronx jury on Tuesday [10/29/2019].  Lopez, 27 when the encounter happened, was in the midst of "a two-week long bender" and had just scored his latest fix on February 1, 2006, when he rolled through a stop sign at East 169th Street and Grand Concourse, a city lawyer wrote in papers filed in the Bronx Supreme Court case.

Sidney Powell Announces Breakthrough in DOJ Case Against General Flynn.  Another shoe dropped this week and it ain't looking good for the Mueller legacy.  General Michael Flynn's lawyer, the Honey Badger Sidney Powell, filed on Wednesday (23 October) a formal request that Judge Sullivan order the publication of Flynn's Reply to the Government's Opposition to the Motion to Compel. [...] The Government lawyers argument was simple and moronic — i.e., they said that because Flynn pled guilty to a charge where the Government knew he had not lied bur insisted he was still guilty.  Stupid logic like this is, I believe, one of the reasons the average person hates lawyers.

Tesla dashcam saves owner from legal trouble after motorcyclist crashes into him.  Rajetta says that when the police and prosecutor saw the Tesla dashcam footage, they dropped charges against him.  Under normal circumstances, the combination of eyewitnesses and police testimony would have resulted in a sure-fire loss in court for the Tesla driver.  This could also have also led to a civil lawsuit by the motorcyclist, who could recoup medical costs and pain and suffering costs from the Tesla driver (or his insurance company) potentially in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.  These sorts of cases are not abnormal in the American justice system.  [Video clip]

Teens suing state to impose their climate agenda.  An Alaska law promoting fossil fuel development infringes on the constitutional rights of young residents to a healthy environment, a lawyer told Alaska Supreme Court justices on Wednesday [10/9/2019].

The Editor says...
[#1] If you're concerned about global warming, Alaska is the perfect place for you, so quit complaining.  [#2] You cannot prove that there is any extraordinary global warming underway, or how much warming there will be in the next 100 years.  [#3] Oil exploration miles away from your neighborhood is not harmful to you.  Spend a week or two in oil country — Odessa, Texas, or Hobbs, New Mexico, or Port Arthur, Texas (in the summer, of course) — and you'll never complain about the environment in Alaska again.

Frivolous Lawsuits Once Again Threaten the Gun Industry.  In 2005, a wave of lawsuits threatened to bankrupt the gun industry.  These suits were based on — pick your adjective — "creative," "novel," "inventive," and "imaginative" legal theories that rarely held up in court, and they did their damage primarily by forcing gun companies to incur the costs of defending against them.  Congress, seeing the problem, stepped in to put a stop to it — or at least tried to — by passing the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA).  A decade and a half later, anti-gun activists have responded with yet more new legal theories, and the Connecticut courts have bought one of them.

Illegal Aliens Sue Trump Administration To Ensure They Can Get Taxpayer Money Via Welfare.  Two illegal aliens who were granted the right to stay in the United States by Barack Obama have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to make sure they can continue to receive taxpayer money in the form of welfare and still be able to obtain green cards to permanently stay in the country.  "The open borders group CASA de Maryland and two DACA illegal aliens are suing the Trump administration over its soon-to-be enforcement of the 'public charge' rule, which would save American taxpayers billions by effectively ending welfare-dependent legal immigration to the U.S.," Breitbart reports.

Lawfare Group Begins Delegitimizing Supreme Court.  By now everyone is familiar with the Lawfare network; an alliance of ideological political interests inside and outside government who use the law to achieve their objectives.  During the Obama administration the Lawfare group: (1) weaponized the IRS for political targeting; (2) weaponized the DOJ and FBI for political targeting; (3) weaponized the intelligence community for political activism; (4) created new legal theories around 'disparate impact' to weaponize the National Labor Relations Board; and generally used embedded officials to advance far-left political interests across the spectrum of govt.

The Enemies of American Infrastructure.  In less than 20 years, the Chinese have completely transformed their rail transportation network.  This is typical for the Chinese.  China is also building three new airports — offshore. [...] To argue that Americans don't need high-speed rail, or massive new airports on ocean landfill, or yet another massive hydroelectric dam, is beside the point.  Americans can't do any big projects.  A perfect example is the Keystone Pipeline, which, if it's ever completed, will be capable of transporting 830,000 barrels of oil per day south from the tar sands of Alberta to existing pipelines in Nebraska.  This pipeline has been tied up in permitting delays and litigation since 2008.  Eleven years later, not one mile of pipeline has been built.  Even with aggressive support from the Trump Administration, will Keystone ever get built?  Not if an army of environmentalist plaintiff attorneys have their way.

Jussie Smollett lawyers:  Even if actor faked attack, it was cops' call to investigate it so vigorously.  The actor, once a star of the hit-TV series "Empire," is making one last attempt to get a city lawsuit against him tossed out of federal court before it proceeds to trial.  Sneed learned exclusively that late Tuesday night [9/3/2019], his attorneys filed a motion responding to the city's claim that he should pay the city more than $130,000 to cover police overtime and other costs.

If Anyone Can Be A Woman, Then No One Is a Woman.  The transgender movement is before the Supreme Court of the United States, seeking a redefinition of the term "sex" under Title VII.  The case is R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. EEOC.  The funeral home company was sued by the EEOC after they fired a funeral director, Anthony Stephens / Aimee Stephens.  The company's employees, upon commencement of employment, "agree to follow a professional, sex-specific dress code," their lawyers explain.  The dress code is considerate of the delicate needs of grieving families.  After about six years of employment as a male funeral director, Stephens informed the company that he is now going to live as a female named Aimee and dress as a female at work.  The company carefully considered the impact this would have on their clientele and how Stephens sharing a bathroom with grieving widows would cause them further discomfort.  The company asked Stephens to continue dressing like a man and to use men's bathroom facilities while at work, something he agreed to do when he accepted the terms of employment as a male.  Stephens declined to do so and filed a complaint with the EEOC, which then sued the funeral home company for discrimination under Title VII.

Satire:
ACLU Sues Steinway Because Piano Has Only 36 Black Keys.  The American Civil Liberties Union has brought a discrimination lawsuit against legendary piano manufacturer Steinway & Sons, charging that the company's products show a "clear racial bias" by having only 36 black keys versus 52 white keys — over 44% more.

Lawfare Expects McCabe Arrest — That Explains Why CNN Hired Him.  The Lawfare group are the external influence agents for corrupt politically motivated lawyers working in government.  The group fingerprints show up everywhere including among "beach friends" and legal schemes hatched from the premise of their assembly.  Lawfare = use the law as a tool in warfare.  The Lawfare group is headed by Comey's friend Benjamin Wittes; and the group give resistance advice to ideologues inside government as well as outside organizations who are resisting (suing) the Trump administration.

Transgender insanity:  Another big battle in the war on common sense.  A women's shelter is being sued for turning away a man dressed in a nightgown.  Really.  According to the reports, a very large and very inebriated man dressed in a nightgown showed up at a women's shelter in downtown Anchorage, Alaska seeking entry.  He was not admitted to stay the night.  As a result, the shelter is now embroiled in a legal battle.  The Anchorage Equal Rights Commission (AERC), an administrative agency within the municipality of Anchorage, has brought a discrimination case against the shelter.

554-year-old Boys' Cathedral Choir Sued for 'Gender Bias'.  A 9-year-old girl is suing a centuries-old Berlin boys' choir, arguing that her bid to join was only rejected because of her gender, in a case that has sparked debate over equal rights versus artistic freedom.

Judge dismisses DNC hacking lawsuit against Trump team, says claims 'entirely divorced from the facts'.  A federal judge in frank terms Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) against key members of the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks over hacked DNC documents, saying they "did not participate in any wrongdoing in obtaining the materials in the first place" and therefore bore no legal liability for disseminating the information.  The ruling came as Democrats increasingly have sought to tie the Trump team to illegal activity in Russia, in spite of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's findings that the campaign in fact refused multiple offers by Russians to involve them in hacking and disinformation efforts.

Trump Just Got Another Win In Court, Democrat Party Lawsuit Is Dismissed With Prejudice.  Ridiculous lawsuits have become the norm during the Trump era in regards to targeting a Presidential administration.  Just a few weeks ago, a judge threw out a lawsuit brought by various activists alleging that Trump was violating the emoluments clause.  While there are still quite a few outstanding, another frivolous lawsuit bit the dust today [7/30/2019] and this one was filed directly by the Democratic party.

Posting a negative review online can get you sued.  Posting reviews has become second nature for many consumers nowadays — 82 percent of adults say they read online reviews at least some of the time, according to a Pew Research Center Study — so when they have a bad experience with a business, up goes a review, to share it with others.  But for one man in Florida, what he thought was a simple review turned into a year-long battle in court.

Playing the lawsuit lottery:
Refugee mothers separated at border to sue Trump administration for $3 million each.  Like thousands of Central American parents seeking asylum in the United States, Patricia panicked when, after she and her son crossed the Rio Grande into Texas last year, U.S. border agents took the boy away.  For weeks, she was crushed by fears that then-6-year-old Alessandro was lost forever.  Though they were eventually reunited, Patricia isn't ready to put the past behind her.  She wants the U.S. government to pay for her family's ordeal, and she has become part of a novel legal strategy to achieve that goal.

Trump Clears Democrat Smokescreen with Removal of Acosta.  [Scroll down]  Even if you accept the worst accusations against Acosta coming from Democrats and the mainstream media, that he and his people knuckled under to Epstein's team of high-powered legal talent, so what?  This happens, which is why there aren't more multimillionaires and billionaires in jail.  High-powered legal talent makes a difference.  Exhibit A — a guy named Orenthal James Simpson.  That Epstein ended up in prison at all a decade ago is pretty good.

Trump responds to big win; appeals court dismisses Emoluments Clause case attacking his brand name.  The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed an Emoluments Clause claim against President Trump on Wednesday [7/10/2019], questioning whether the lawsuit was an "appropriate use of the courts."  "The District and Maryland's interest in enforcing the Emoluments Clauses is so attenuated and abstract that their prosecution of this case readily provokes the question of whether this action against the President is an appropriate use of the courts, which were created to resolve real cases and controversies between the parties," wrote Judge Paul Niemeyer, speaking for the court.

The Canadian version of the Chevron Shakedown is officially dead and buried.  When we last checked in on suspended New York City attorney Steven Donziger and his merry band of wannabe racketeers back in March, things weren't going so well.  He was facing contempt of court charges and had been ordered to repay a significant amount of money back to Chevron, the company he's spent years trying to fleece for billions of dollars based on a fraudulently obtained judgment in Ecuador.  He was also facing fines that would double every day he continued to refuse to comply.

Irony: Ultra-liberal Oberlin College will save millions on Gibson's Bakery verdicts under Republican Tort Reform.  The massive compensatory and punitive damage jury verdicts in favor of Gibson's Bakery and its owners Allyn W. Gibson and David Gibson, against Oberlin College and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo, continue to reverberate.  This case is a big shock to the higher educational system and already is giving rise to a rethinking of the role of administrators in participating in student activism.  Yet think of the jury verdict as the end of the beginning.  The most legally dangerous territory for the Gibsons is ahead.  The facts of the case were so strong for the Gibsons that in some ways the easiest part is behind them.

The Orwellian Attack on Section 101.  [Scroll down]  Let's be absolutely clear:  this bill, and the coalition of leeches pushing it, is anti-American garbage.  It is impossible to sustain the rule of law surrounding intellectual property in a world where almost everything can not only be patented, but also be the subject of contradictory, overlapping patents, with the only way to tell which of those patents is legitimate being a legal war of all against all.  And while the patent bloodsuckers like to wrap their policies in the mantle of property rights, a world where those property rights are the subject of endless haggling is one where the concept of property rights will come to be seen as useless, when properly applied, it should be the fruit of innovation.

Masterpiece Cakeshop is Sued for the Third Time.  Something here for everyone to hate.  If you're on Jack Phillips's side you're outraged that the campaign of harassing him with lawsuits is now in its seventh year, undeterred by a Supreme Court decision that sided with him over Colorado's antidiscrimination tribunal on grounds that the panel showed anti-religious bias in evaluating the claim against him.  If you're in the gay-rights camp, you should be pissed that SCOTUS may get a second crack at Phillips's case with new facts that make him appear even more sympathetic than he did before.  The Court's conservatives will not only have to decide next time whether free speech and free exercise require exemptions to public accommodations laws in the case of gay weddings, they'll need to do so knowing that ruling against Phillips would effectively reward the decision to hound him with new bouts of litigation for the better part of a decade.  The process has been the punishment; SCOTUS would be asked to validate that by requiring Phillips, after everything that's happened, to bake the cake after all.

Masterpiece Cake Shop sued for discrimination a THIRD time:  What are the limits of lawfare?  As noted by The Daily Wire, Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cake Shop in Denver, is being sued for refusing to make a cake for a customer for an unspecified event.  In the past, Phillips was unsuccessfully sued for refusing to make a special cake for a gay wedding, saying such unions are against his Christian beliefs.  The Supreme Court did not agree or disagree; rather than ruling for Phillips under the First Amendment's freedom of religion clause, the high court merely took issue with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the entity that brought the suit, for its 'harassing' and 'discriminatory' actions.  That suit was brought by the Colorado 'Human Rights' Commission, staffed by Leftist zealots who don't believe Christians in the state deserve any protections at all.

PG&E Is Cutting Off Power In California So They Don't Get Sued Over Another Wildfire.  There have been a series of blackouts in northern California recently, but these don't have anything to do with storms or equipment failure.  Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) has been intentionally, proactively shutting off the juice in areas where red flag warnings for potential wildfires have been posted.  This has led to numerous complaints (mostly justified or at least understandable) from people losing service, particularly those who rely on electricity for home medical equipment.  But the actions by PG&E are equally understandable.

Third Discrimination Suit Filed Against Masterpiece Cakeshop.  Attorneys for a Denver woman greased the pan for yet another legal battle against a Lakewood bakery already burned around the edges from a series of heated civil rights fights.  Jack Phillips, owner of the Masterpiece Cakeshop, refused in 2012 to bake a wedding cake for Charlie Craig and David Mullins, a same-sex couple from Denver, on the basis of his religious beliefs.

Anti-Trump AG Sued For Using Bloomberg-funded Attorneys To Promote a Climate Crusade.  Virginia-based law firm sued Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey Monday for using attorneys financed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to engage in a climate crusade against Exxon Mobil.  Government Accountability & Oversight (GAO) filed the lawsuit against Healey for using two privately funded attorneys to focus on prosecuting oil and gas companies.  The attorneys are paid through a $6 million grant from Bloomberg and have ties to the anti-Exxon campaign.

Gibson's Bakery v. Oberlin College trial reflects Higher Ed disconnect from the lives of most Americans.  Within the limitations of our ability to know, I've come away with some overall impressions, in no particular order:  First, from the start of this case I have questioned the aggressive and demeaning attacks on the Gibsons as a defense strategy.  There is no evidence that the Gibsons did anything wrong, unless you consider stopping people from stealing something wrong.  That lawful act of protecting one's property nonetheless has devastated a 5-generation business because of Oberlin College racial politics.

Gibson's Bakery v.  Oberlin College — Trial Day 12 — Defense says Bakery worth only $35k, less than one semester at Oberlin College.  In many civil court cases, it is not the liability of the defendant that causes the jury the most trouble.  It is how they measure that liability in dollar amounts.  In previous testimony by plaintiff's expert Frank Monaco, an accountant with about 40 years experience doing businesses valuations and income streams calculations, testified Gibson's was set to lose about $5.8 million over the next 30 years from the defendant's alleged racist accusations.  Defendants today [5/30/2019] presented their own expert's findings.  That expert, an accountant, stated his opinion that $5.8 million quite a bit off, and told the jury that the 135-year-old small business was only worth $35,000.

Media Matters Employees Aid Watchdog Hitting Trump With Dozens of Lawsuits.  A "nonpartisan" government watchdog group that has generated a steady flow of litigation against President Donald Trump shares employees with the left-wing Media Matters for America, according to an independent audit.  Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed lawsuits against Trump and government agencies nearly every month since he was sworn into office.  These actions follow a plan that was laid out in a confidential memo from David Brock, the liberal operative who founded Media Matters, American Bridge, and Shareblue, that was handed out to deep-pocketed liberal donors as Trump was taking office.  Brock stepped away from CREW in 2016 because he did not want the group to appear overtly partisan as Trump was coming into power.

Illegal immigrants [are] now working as lawyers in California, Connecticut, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Penn, Oklahoma, Illinois.  Illegal immigrants who have two-year work permits under DACA have now been admitted to the bar to practice law in several states.  The latest state to admit an illegal immigrant is Oklahoma, whose bar association recently admitted Javier Hernandez, who came to the United States illegally from Mexico with his family when he was a child. [...] The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) called it "utterly mind-boggling" that bar associations in some states are now willing to admit illegal aliens "who have begun their relationship with the United States via a blatant violation of U.S. law."

Crushed by the Leftist Juggernaut:  One Lawyer's Story.  I went from almost a judge to being fired within the space of forty-eight hours.  Why?  Because it came out that I was a conservative.  I had read stories about conservatives being blacklisted, fired, having their careers and reputations destroyed because of their political views.  Never once did I dream it could happen to me, an insignificant lawyer in an insignificant part of the country.

Michael Avenatti Indicted On 36 Counts By Grand Jury.  One day after it was reported that Michael Avenatti was the subject of a federal warrant that resulted in the seizure of his $4.5 million private jet, CNN's favorite guest was indicted by a federal grand jury in California on 36 counts.

Avenatti Allegedly Scammed Paraplegic Client Out of $4 Million Settlement.  Michael Avenatti was indicted Thursday on 36 charges of tax fraud, bribery and embezzlement, including in a case in which the embattled celebrity lawyer allegedly hid $4 million of settlement money from a mentally ill, paraplegic client.  Avenatti's alleged scam caused his client, Geoffrey Ernest Johnson, to miss two months worth of Social Security Administration disability payments earlier in 2019, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Michael Avenatti is hit with 36 counts of fraud for 'stealing from clients and lying to the IRS' and now faces 335 years in prison.  Michael Avenatti has been hit with a 36-count federal indictment which alleges that for almost a decade, the loud-mouthed lawyer has been stealing from clients, hiding money from the IRS and lying.  The new charges were brought on Thursday [4/11/2019] by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles and make the prospect of Avenatti spending the rest of his life in prison a more realistic one.

Feds seize $4.5 million Avenatti plane amid tax scandal.  Embattled lawyer Michael Avenatti was the subject of a federal warrant Wednesday that resulted in the seizure of his private jet, worth about $4.5 million.  A U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman, Thom Mrozek, confirmed to Fox News that federal agents seized a Honda HA-420 twin-engine jet from Santa Barbara Airport about 10 a.m. after a federal judge issued a warrant.

Avenatti charged with embezzlement, fraud, cheating on taxes.  Federal prosecutors painted a picture of attorney Michael Avenatti on Thursday [4/11/2019] as a scheming operator who stole millions of dollars from clients, cheated on his taxes, lied to investigators and tried to hide money from debtors in bankruptcy proceedings.

Harry Reid Loses Battle Against TheraBand, Accused Of Struggling To Tell The Truth.  Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) lost his battle against a medical device manufacturer this week, and failed to recover from injuries he says he sustained when an exercise band snapped back at him during a workout. [...] The Daily Wire reported on the case last month.  Reid was claiming that he was using the band as directed, looped around a doorknob in his bathroom, when the band slipped from his grasp and he fell on a marble floor, sustaining "a concussion, broken orbital bones, severe disfigurement to his face, bruising and lacerations on his face, hand injuries, scarring and broken ribs."

Critics See 'Equality Act' as [an] 'Endless Lawsuit Machine'.  New civil rights legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would extend protection to LGBTQ individuals would also undermine First Amendment free speech rights while opening the door to religious-based discrimination, according to conservative critics.  The proposed "Equality Act," known as H.R. 5, was introduced March 13 by Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.).  The measure would add "gender identity" and "sexual orientation" to the classes protected against discrimination by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, outlawing discrimination against all protected classes in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, jury service, banking and credit, and retail stores.

Woman sues Chick-fil-A after she spills coffee on her lap.  According to WPXI-TV, Leigh Mehalick alleges that one of the store's employees handed her a steaming cup of coffee with a defective lid during an August exchange.  Mehalick filed the negligence suit on Tuesday [3/26/2019] in Fulton County Court.  The station reported that Mehalick purchased two hot coffees at the drive-thru.  One of the cups reportedly spilled in Mehalick's lap due to either a defective lid or lid that was not affixed to the cup properly.

The Bogus Lawsuit against Remington.  Rule No. 1 of tort law:  The bad guy is the one with the most money to pay you.  On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza murdered 26 people, 20 of them schoolchildren ages six and seven.  Lanza killed himself, too.  Can't sue him.  Lanza had a history of mental illness — a long one.  He'd been treated under the New Hampshire "Birth to Three" program and later by the Yale Child Study Center.  But it would be hard to make a case against those institutions, which enjoy a great deal more sympathy than gun manufacturers do.  The schools couldn't handle Lanza, either, and he was left to the care of his mother, Nancy, who seems to have been a bit of an oddball herself and an enabler.  But he murdered her, too, so she's not around to sue.

Bay Area mother files $500 billion lawsuit in alleged college admission bribery scam.  A $500 billion lawsuit has been filed in the alleged college admissions scam.  There are 45 people named in the suit, including the parents now accused of cheating to get their kids into the nation's top schools.  Among those named, celebrities Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin.

Class Action Food Lawsuits Are Booming.  Class-action litigation targeting food companies is still a growth industry.  That's the conclusion reached by attorneys with Perkins Coie, a law firm that defends many food companies facing class-action lawsuits, in its annual report on class-action food litigation, published last month.  The report, Food Litigation: 2018 Year in Review, notes 2018 was "one of the most active years on record" for food class actions (or "FCAs" as I've dubbed them).  That's not a good thing.  Last year, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) reported that food "class actions result from lawyers shopping for cases, not consumer fraud."

U.S. judge dismisses boys' lawsuit against Trump climate rollbacks.  A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by two Pennsylvania boys and an environmental group seeking to stop U.S. President Donald Trump from rolling back regulations addressing climate change, saying the court does not have power to tell the White House what to do.

Separated illegal immigrant families sue U.S. government, demand $3 million each.  Six illegal immigrant families filed multi-million dollar claims Monday [2/11/2019] against the Trump administration over last year's family separations, saying they need the money to pay for counseling and other medical care to heal from the "torture" they said they suffered.  The legal claims are the latest effort by immigrant-rights groups to punish the administration for the separations of thousands of children, which resulted from the Justice Department's zero tolerance policy for illegal border crossers.  The families and their lawyers say the policy intended to inflict "emotional distress" on the parents and children, hoping it would make attempting to sneak into the U.S. so uncomfortable that fewer people would attempt it.

The Editor says...
Any suffering and "torture" could have been easily prevented by the plaintiffs, by obeying U.S. immigration laws and staying out of this country.  Obviously, with nothing to lose, they are hoping to win the Lawsuit Lottery.

27-year-old man plans to sue his parents for having him without his consent: 'They had me for their joy and their pleasure'.  Raphael Samuel of New Delhi said that children aren't indebted to their parents and that children should ask their mothers and fathers "for an explanation as to why they gave birth to you."  "I want to tell all Indian kids that they don't owe their parents anything," Samuel told India's The Print.  "I love my parents, and we have a great relationship, but they had me for their joy and their pleasure."  He added, "My life has been amazing, but I don't see why I should put another life through the rigamarole of school and finding a career, especially when they didn't ask to exist."

The Editor says...
Through what mechanism would someone ask to exist?

Domino's Pizza legally required to make app and website accessible for blind people.  Domnio's Pizza has been legally required to makes its app and website fully accessible to the visually impaired following a years-long legal battle with a blind customer who was left unable to order a pie with personalized toppings through his iPhone.  Guillermo Robles in a lawsuit filed back in September 2016 first accused the popular pizza chain of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act "for its failure to design, construct, maintain, and operate its website to be fully accessible and independently usable" for those who are blind.

Ninth Circuit Finally Hands Trump A Big Win Against Youth's Global Warming Lawsuit.  The Trump administration's battle against a global warming lawsuit brought by 21 youths will continue into 2019 after a federal court handed the government a big win over the holiday season.  The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the Department of Justice (DOJ) in a Dec. 26 ruling largely missed by major media outlets.  The court granted DOJ's petition for interlocutory appeal that decreases the chances of the climate lawsuit going to trial anytime soon.

Louisiana voters reject trial lawyers' shakedown.  As reported [...] at the Washington Examiner on Tuesday [12/11/2018], Louisiana was just listed as one of the top 5 official "Judicial Hellholes" in the whole country by the American Tort Reform Association, a business-backed group known for fighting against what it calls "lawsuit abuse."  One of the major examples of absurd lawsuits — but one supposedly to the benefit of, and popular among Louisiana citizens — is a series of court actions by lawyers acting for Louisiana government entities.  The suits, sold to the public as a miracle cure for state budget woes, aimed to force "Big Oil" to pay retroactively for coastal erosion that largely wasn't the oil companies' fault.  Earlier iterations of such lawsuits suffered ignominious defeats, even at the hands of Obama-appointed judges assumed to be unfriendly to corporate interests.

Al Sharpton's daughter gets $95K settlement for sprained ankle.  Dominique Sharpton, daughter of shakedown artist Al Sharpton, scored a $95,000 settlement from the city over a sprained ankle — even though she had posted snaps of herself on social media climbing a mountain in Bali and strutting around in high heels just seven months after the fall.  It took nearly four years, but de Blasio administration lawyers finally threw in the towel in the case.

Blind man sues Playboy over photos on its website.  A legally blind Queens man is suing Playboy.com, saying the website is incompatible with his screen-reading software.  Donald Nixon's class action lawsuit charges the entertainment website with violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Nixon says he's prevented from perusing the site's articles and that he can't enjoy the centerfolds because the website lacks "a text equivalent for every non-text element."

Trump attorneys ask Stormy Daniels to pay nearly $800G in legal fees, penalties.  Attorneys for President Trump asked a court Monday for nearly $800,000 in lawyers' fees and penalties from adult-film actress Stormy Daniels for the failed defamation lawsuit against him.  Attorney Charles Harder defended more than 500 hours his firm spent that rang up a nearly $390,000 legal bill for the president and asked for an equal amount in sanctions as a deterrent against a "repeat filer or frivolous defamation cases."  Harder said the fees and penalties were earned because of the extraordinary nature of the defamation case.

Jay-Z wins arbitration delay after arguing panel was 'too white'.  Lawyers for Jay-Z have persuaded a Manhattan judge to press pause on an arbitration case involving the rapper after his camp argued that the American Arbitration Association was too white to handle the matter fairly.  Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Saliann Scarpulla halted the Brooklyn impresario's battle with Iconix Brand Group until a hearing on the arbitration issue next month.  The rhymer's legal crew contended that there weren't enough blacks in the AAA's pool and that the dearth would pose a "discriminatory disadvantage" to their client.

The lawsuit lottery:  It's the American Way!
Illegal immigrant mother sues U.S. government for $60 million over child death.  The mother of a toddler who died weeks after being released from the nation's largest family detention center filed a legal claim seeking $60 million from the U.S. government for the child's death.

New Mexico woman sues hospital for resuscitating her.  A New Mexico woman who was brought back to life is suing the hospital for violating her rights.

Ninth Circuit allows Mexican citizens to sue American Border Patrol agents.  It's bad enough that foreign nationals can invade our border, make demands on our agents, demand welfare, demand schooling, be counted in the Census, and claim citizenship for their children.  Now foreign nationals can sue our border agents for doing their jobs and protecting us from the perils they foist upon our brave men and women.  In another case of a GOP-appointed judge siding with the most radical legal theories of the Left, Ninth Circuit Judge Andrew Kleinfeld ruled earlier last week that border agent Lonnie Swartz is not covered by qualified immunity, thereby allowing a Mexican woman to sue him for shooting her teenage son during border violence in 2012.

'If you see a white person... say something'.  What complicates this "if you see something..." message is when race and ethnicity enter the picture, plus the existence of organizations that thrive on turning molehills into lucrative mountains thanks to false accusations.  It is one thing to call security when a slovenly dressed white male repeatedly visits Tiffany's asking to handle expensive diamond rings without buying anything, but the same behavior from a poorly dressed black man is not comparable.  Putting "a tail" on the white customer is just prudent security; doing the same for the black "customer" is easily construed as racial profiling, an invitation to public outrage and possible lawsuits.

Migration Lawyers Recruit Caravan Migrants to Defeat Trump's Asylum Reform.  Pro-migration lawyers have recruited several Honduran caravan migrants to demand judges block President Donald Trump's asylum reforms, due for release next week.

Caravan migrants get their very own Avenatti?  With U.S. troops manning the U.S. border, caravan migrants rolling up from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, hoping to use legal loopholes to gain entry to the U.S., seem to have switched tactics.  They're now using lawfare against the Trump administration instead of muscle.

Caravaners Sue.  A half dozen members of the Honduras caravan have filed suit against President Trump and various other federal officials in a putative class action.  You can read the complaint, which is venued in the District of Columbia, here.  It is largely a Democratic Party screed against the President, with paragraphs like this: [...] You may well be surprised that Hondurans currently located in Mexico have rights under the U.S. Constitution.  The complaint appears to be premature at best.  But the reality is that asylum represents a massive loophole in our immigration laws.  Asylum is supposed to be available to people who face persecution in their home countries on grounds of religion, race, etc.  It was never intended to apply wholesale to entire populations on the ground that their country is poorly governed.

Migrants traveling to US sue Trump, government; claim violation of constitutional rights.  A dozen migrants traveling by foot from Honduras to the U.S. to seek asylum filed a class-action lawsuit Thursday against President Trump, the Department of Homeland Security and others, claiming a violation of their due process under the Fifth Amendment.  The Fifth Amendment states that, "no person... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."  A recent PBS report cited former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who ruled in 1993 case that "it is well established that the Fifth Amendment entitles aliens to due process of law in a deportation proceeding."

Will the Feds flip Julie Swetnick against Michael Avenatti?  If you were a federal prosecutor, and given the choice, would you prioritize prosecuting:
  (a) a clearly disturbed woman with a long history of flimflam, but who in herself has no important societal role but for her outlandish and possibly perjurious sworn statements against a Supreme Court nominee, or
  (b) the high-profile lawyer who helped her and a second woman submit possibly perjurious sworn statements, who is a fixture on cable TV, and who has presidential ambitions.
If you say, 'get the lawyer' — come on down.

Finally, a day of reckoning for Michael Avenatti?  [Scroll down]  The entire Avenatti episode left [Senator] Grassley angry that the publicity-seeking lawyer had hijacked the committee's time and energy at a critical time with claims that were obviously untrue.  So on Oct. 25, Grassley formally referred Avenatti (and Swetnick) to the Justice Department for a criminal investigation into their conduct.

New York sues Exxon Mobil, claiming it hid climate change risks.  New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood filed a long-awaited lawsuit against Exxon Mobil on Wednesday, claiming that the oil giant hid the financial risks of climate change from its investors — and that former CEO Rex Tillerson had signed off on the deception.  The civil suit, filed in state Supreme Court, claims the Texas-based company was "deceiving" investors by essentially using two sets of books to account for the rising costs of environmental regulations around the world.  The 97-page suit also makes an explosive claim against Tillerson, who left the company to become secretary of state under President Trump in 2016, only to get fired this spring.

Grassley sends criminal referral for attorney Michael Avenatti and Kavanaugh accuser.  Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said Thursday he has referred attorney Michael Avenatti and client Julie Swetnick — who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct — for criminal investigation regarding a potential "conspiracy" to provide false statements to Congress and obstruct its investigation.

California Judge Hits Creepy Porn Lawyer with $4.85 Million Judgement.  Creepy Porn Lawyer and potential 2020 Democrat presidential candidate, Michael Avenatti, was hit with a $4.85 million judgement today awarding the settlement to an attorney for his former law firm.  Last week CPL said it was unlikely he would lose, stating: "nothing's gonna happen on Monday" and the claims against him were "bogus"; whoopsie.  Today's [10/22/2018] judgement is in addition to a previous award of $10 million to the same lawyer, Jason Frank.

After a harrowing night, this Pinellas cop backs body cameras: 'They can't lie'.  Officer Matthew Holm shined a flashlight at the oncoming car, the bright beam cutting through the early morning darkness in this sleepy beach town.  He motioned for the driver to pull over.  Instead, the car accelerated right at him.  Holm fired his gun once at the black Mazda before it hit him.  The Indian Shores police officer landed on the hood, rolled up the windshield and then fell off the side.  Four months later, a defense attorney took aim at the officer.  The driver, who was arrested in the May 1 incident and is now in jail, got a bail hearing in August.  A public defender challenged the officer's account.  "They didn't believe it happened the way I said it did," Holm said.  "She basically said I don't have any integrity."

Boston Cop Files Suit Against Site He Blames For Being Shot.  The firearm industry is an unusual place.  After all, if a car is used to run over someone, even if it's an intentional act, no one thinks to sue Toyota or the dealership that sold the car.  The idea of doing so is ridiculous.  But with guns, it happens.  In fact, it happens despite federal law protecting companies that sell firearms.  One of the latest examples is a police officer in Boston who is suing Armslist for supposedly being responsible for him being shot.

Kavanaugh could end theft by lawyer.  Three lawyers sued Google on behalf of 129 million people whose privacy Google compromised.  The lawyers then settled for $8.5 million or less than 7 cents per person.  The trio of lawyers are the worst negotiators since the chief who gave the Dutch Manhattan for $24 worth of costume jewelry.  The lawyers then gypped their clients out of the first quarter of the money, reducing the award to less than a nickel each.  It gets worse.  "But no class members other than the named plaintiffs received any money!  Instead, the remainder of the settlement fund was awarded to six organizations that 'promote public awareness and education, and/or... support research, development, and initiatives, related to protecting privacy on the Internet.'  Three of the recipients were alma maters of class counsel," Ilya Shapiro reported.  This was a nuisance suit — a slip-and-fall suit — that Google settled for pennies on the thousand.  To settle for $700 a victim, Google would have had to pay more than a trillion bucks.  Even a buck a client would have cost the company $129 million plus legal fees.  This is piracy by people who are less flamboyant and more ruthless than the pirates of yore.

Judicial Watch Files Bar Complaint Against Christine Ford's Lawyers.  Conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch filed a bar complaint against Christine Blasey Ford's lawyers on Friday [10/19/2018].  Judicial Watch argued Christine Ford's lawyers, Debra Katz and Michael Bromwich neglected to inform their client she could have been interviewed about the sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh in the privacy of her own home in California rather than a public hearing in D.C.  Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) offered to arrange interviewers to travel to California to give Ford the privacy she wanted, yet her lawyers never informed her of the option.

Billionaire Bloomberg's Radical Green 'Fellows' Use States To Sue Corporations.  We all know what a bang-up job President Trump has done in fulfilling his campaign pledge to "drain the swamp" in Washington.  Unfortunately, he can't do the same at the state level.  There, wealthy leftist activists are inserting privately-funded progressive lawyers into state attorneys general offices.  Why?  To sue energy companies and others for "global warming" related crimes, of course.

Chevron Shakedown Lawyer Loses His License To Practice In D.C..  While the years-long tale of the Chevron Shakedown has mostly drawn to a close (with Chevron as the clear winner and the would-be conspirators being the losers), there was another interesting development in the story last month.  You likely recall the New York attorney who helped mastermind the entire scheme, working in concert with corrupt judges and government officials in Ecuador.  His name is Steven Donziger.  He assembled the army of environmental activists who joined in on the assault, as well as the herd of "investors" who put up money to cover the costs of bringing the suit with the expectation of receiving a cut of the haul when Chevron paid them off.

Mom files federal lawsuit after son doesn't make high school soccer team.  A St. Louis mom is making a federal case over the fact that her son didn't make the high school soccer team.  The unnamed woman, whose son is a junior at Ladue Horton Watkins High School — located in the most affluent section of the city — filed a lawsuit in federal court this week, claiming the coach's decision discriminates against her child.  The boy, called John Doe in the Wednesday [9/26/2018] filing at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, played on the junior varsity team last year, and the suit claims he's good enough to do so again[.]

Treat Brett Kavanaugh as good as illegal alien criminals.  Why is Kavanaugh, against whom there is no evidence, treated like the world's worst person, while the powers that be in these hopelessly corrupt blue districts bend over backward trying to shield Third World fiends from being brought to justice for their savage crimes against females?  Is it because they're future, if not present, Democrat voters?  The vast majority of them are on one form of welfare or another, they're not married to the women they impregnate (so they won't be on the hook for child support), they live totally on the arm — no insurance, no driver's licenses, no responsibility for anything whatsoever.  In other words, undocumented Democrats.  American taxpayers pick up the tab for these layabout career criminals' lawyers when they get arrested over and over, as well as their translators, and the court psychologists to say that they can't be held accountable for their crimes since they come from such primitive backgrounds.

Lawyer with Obama, Clinton ties may face federal charges: report.  A lawyer with ties to the Obama and Clinton administrations may face federal charges for failing to register as a foreign agent, according to a report.  Greg Craig, 73, a former White House counsel during the Obama presidency, is under investigation regarding whether he improperly worked as a lobbyist for a group associated with Ukraine, without first registering with the Justice Department, CNN reported, citing unnamed sources.

O.J.'s Lawyer and the Woman-Abusing Princeling of Silicon Valley.  Robert Shapiro had this to say about tech start-up princeling Gurbaksh Chahal, who now faced six months of actual jail time after a domestic violence charge while on probation for an earlier attack.  A surveillance camera recorded him with startling clarity pummeling and kicking his then girlfriend 117 times.  The woman in the first attack had survived even though the video also shows Chahal smothering her with a pillow with such determination that it was deemed a deadly weapon.  "I don't know anyone who has been punished more than he has in this case," Shapiro actually said of his client to the court on Friday [8/31/2018].

New Yorker's lawsuit says Florida's Natural OJ 'not natural'.  A Brooklyn woman has fired a legal arrow straight toward the heart of Florida's Natural Growers.  Alexandra Axon has challenged the Lake Wales juice processor's claim that its premium product, Florida's Natural Growers orange juice, is indeed "natural" as declared in its name and images on the OJ carton.  Axon claims the acts of processing the juice and trace levels of a common herbicide in it mean the product cannot claim to be natural.

Frivolous climate change lawsuits could leave cities in ruin.  As much as we hear nowadays about making America great again, it's worth asking what made America great in the first place Whenever asked, I point to two often overlooked pieces of the puzzle:  Our foundation of private property rights, and a strong rule of law to support them.  After all, if government can arbitrarily take your property, how can one build wealth or plan for the future?  Unfortunately, this very thing is happening right now.  Trial lawyers and liberal activists are recruiting cities from California to New York to sign up for litigation against the oil and gas industry.  They hope to find a court that will hold the industry solely responsible for "projected damages from climate change" — the key word here being "projected."

New York woman sues Canada Dry, claims its ginger ale soda doesn't contain actual ginger.  A western New York woman has decided to sue soft drink maker Canada Dry after she discovered the drink isn't made with actual ginger.  Yes, this is real.  Julie Fletcher filed a federal lawsuit in Buffalo, New York, earlier this month, claiming that Dr Pepper Snapple Group, the parent company that owns Canada Dry, misled customers by allegedly advertising its ginger ale soda as containing real ginger.  Because of Canada Dry's advertising, Fletcher believed the soda was a "healthier alternative" to other sodas.  Turns out, that's not true.

The Editor says...
Guess what.  Cream Soda doesn't have any cream.  Root Beer isn't beer.  Mountain Dew doesn't come from the mountains.  Dr Pepper (with no period) isn't really a doctor.  Get over it.

Trump's Secret:  How A Can-Do Businessman Roils The 'Proper Order' In A Town Immobilized By Attorneys.  In Washington, lawyers oppressively rule and any measurable outcomes are merely an inconsequential byproduct of a vast bureaucratic infrastructure, which has been built to perpetually churn out mountains of the most arcane analysis; justify, write, and then re-write mind numbing rules and regulations; as well as establish, codify and argue legal positions, all with no urgency or concern of cost, not to mention whether or not these exercises have any demonstrable effectiveness.  Clearly the legal profession, by design, is risk averse and set up to protecting us; therefor Washington immediately dismisses any departure from well-established legalistic processes and procedures, as Trump is prone to do.  Most citizens wrongly assume the president's political appointees run the federal government agencies.  However, anybody who has worked in these organizations or with these organizations knows the real power always resides with their general counsel's offices.

Doctors, hospitals sue patients who post negative comments, reviews on social media.  Jazz singer Sherry Petta used her own website and doctor-rating sites to criticize a Scottsdale, Arizona, medical practice over her nasal tip surgery, laser treatment and other procedures.  Her doctors, Albert Carlotti and Michelle Cabret-Carlotti, successfully sued for defamation.  They won a $12 million jury award that was vacated on appeal.  Petta claimed the court judgment forced her to sell a house and file bankruptcy.  The parties would not discuss the case and jointly asked for it to be dismissed in 2016 but declined to explain why.

Baltimore Files Climate Lawsuit Against Oil Companies After Similar Suit Dismissed.  Officials with the City of Baltimore announced a lawsuit Friday [7/20/2018] against major oil producers such as Exxon, BP, and Shell Oil, claiming the companies caused damages by contributing to global climate change.  "This lawsuit which we filed this morning is aimed to hold the fossil fuel companies accountable for the harm that has been inflicted on our community," said Baltimore City Solicitor Andre M. Davis said.  The lawsuit is extremely similar to others filed by the cities of San Francisco, New York City, the city and county governments of Boulder, Colorado, and the state of Rhode Island, but some of these efforts haven't fared well in recent weeks.

Blue states' SALT lawsuit is as baseless as all their others.  New York and three other deep blue, high-tax states last week filed yet another of those just-for-show lawsuits — this time to overturn the new federal $10,000 cap on state- and local-tax deductions.  Once again, they're long on posturing but woefully short on any solid legal basis.  And they're likely to suffer the same fate as the city's just-dismissed attempt to make oil companies pay for climate change.

Wheelchair-bound man demands $50K from inaccessible shops.  A Queens man who uses a wheelchair to get around has been demanding $50,000 a pop from dozens of Manhattan businesses — or else he'll sue them over their lack accessibility for the disabled.  Arik Matatov, 24, lives in Rego Park, but that didn't stop him from targeting nearly 50 Manhattan shops — from Christian Dior to a designer bridal salon — over a six-week period last winter.  He huffed it out to each location with a pal, who photographed him outside the establishments, which lacked ramps or elevators, according to his Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuits.

Copyright Troll Law Firm Broke Copyright Law, Disciplinary Board Finds.  A law firm deeply entrenched in so-called copyright troll activities in Finland broke copyright law itself, a disciplinary board has found.  Hedman Partners sent out letters demanding large sums to make supposed lawsuits disappear but according to the Finnish Bar Association, it committed an offense when it obtained private subscriber data for one client but then used it with others.

Steven Donziger Gets His Due.  Plaintiff attorney Steven Donziger's attempted looting of Chevron for spurious environmental crimes in Ecuador ranks among the biggest legal scams in history.  The law finally caught up to Mr. Donziger this week as a New York court pulled his legal license.  Readers may recall Mr. Donziger's years-long effort to shake down Texaco (now merged with Chevron) for its alleged failure to clean up oil pits that it had drilled in Ecuador during the 1970s.  Chevron claimed it had cleaned up the pits, but the plaintiff attorney exploited the left's loathing of Big Oil and Ecuador's shaky legal system.  Many in the American media fell for it too.

If Johnny Can't Read, Who's to Blame?  When a federal court dismissed on June 29 the class-action lawsuit claiming the State of Michigan had deprived Detroit public schoolchildren of "their right to literacy," the left was all set to react in faux shock.  The court's key finding hardly came as news to most of us, but the headlines in the New York Times sounded as if someone had denied climate change:  "Access to Literacy' Is Not a Constitutional Right, Judge in Detroit Rules."  These days, when everything progressives want government to provide free is defined as a "right," i.e., healthcare, housing, a guaranteed income, American citizenship for illegal aliens, etc., etc., it stands to reason that literacy may as well be thrown in there, too.  It's only obvious, provided you've never read the Bill of Rights.  Hence this lawsuit, brought by public-interest lawyers (who know better) on behalf of several students of low-performing Detroit schools, claiming that "access to literacy" is a fundamental right under the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause.

Rhode Island Opens Up New Front in Climate Change Lawsuit Offensive.  The Rhode Island attorney general filed a lawsuit in state court against ExxonMobil (Exxon), BP, Shell, and others, arguing that the energy producers knew their product contributed to climate change, but "engaged in a coordinated, multi-front effort to conceal and deny their own knowledge" of possible resulting threats.  Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin asked for a jury trial in the Monday [7/2/2018] filing, seeking compensatory and punitive damages he believes the state "has sustained and will sustain" as a result.  The case bears similarities to a handful of other cases from around the nation, most of which originate from governments that have oceanfront boundaries.  One of those lawsuits was tossed out of federal court in California just last week.

Judge throws out SF and Oakland climate suits against big oil.  A federal judge Monday [6/25/2018] tossed out two groundbreaking lawsuits by San Francisco and Oakland that sought to hold some of the world's largest oil companies liable for climate change.  In an exhaustive, 16-page ruling that touched on such scientific matters as the ice age and early observations of carbon dioxide, U.S. District Judge William Alsup acknowledged the problem of a warming planet but said it is just too big for the courts to solve.  The cities are trying to get five oil and gas giants, including Bay Area-based Chevron, to help cover the costs of dealing with sea-level rise, like picking up the tab for seawalls.

The Editor says...
If the sea level is rising a few millimeters per year, how big should the wall be?

When PC Comes Back to Bite You.  The municipalities of Oakland and San Francisco have famously sued various oil companies for contributing to climate change and the projected flooding of those port cities, but simultaneously have sought to minimize the threat in legal representations accompanying their issuance of municipal debt.  In plain English, they're trying to scare juries into awarding them huge judgments on the basis of apocalyptic predictions on the one hand, but reassuring the people who hold their debt on the other ("we are unable to predict if ... impacts of climate change ... will occur").

Somehow a refugee has money enough to file a lawsuit.
Guatemalan mother reunited with 7-year-old son after suing federal government to find him.  A 7-year-old boy and his migrant mother who had been separated last month were brought together in a tearful reunion early Friday after she sued in federal court and the Department of Justice agreed to release the child.  The mother, Beata Mariana de Jesus Mejia-Mejia, and her son, Darwin, were reunited around 2:30 a.m.  Friday [6/22/2018] at Baltimore-Washington International Airport in Maryland.

The Climate-Change Tort Racket.  Liberals want to use racketeering laws to prosecute so-called climate-change skeptics.  But the real conspiracy may be between plaintiff lawyers and Democratic politicians who have ganged up to shake down oil companies.

You Won't Believe What McDonald's Is Being Sued For Now.  There are more than 1.3 million lawyers in the United States today, and it is estimated that those lawyers produce more than 40 million lawsuits each year.  Many of those lawsuits are completely frivolous, but frivolous lawsuits are often settled because it can be much cheaper to settle them than to defend against them in court.  So it is essentially a form of "legal extortion" that has gotten wildly out of control.  Earlier today I came across another shocking example of this phenomenon.

Quarter Pounder with Cost Theory.  Today in stupid lawsuits we have two Florida men suing McDonalds for not giving them a discount for asking for a Quarter Pounder with Cheese without the cheese.  They are asking for $5 million in damages.

Trump lawyer prober bills $47K for 6 days of work.  The "special master" appointed to review documents seized in the criminal probe of President Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen is seeking $47,390 for the first six days of work — a cost that will likely be shared by the president.  Barbara Jones — a 16-year veteran of Manhattan's federal court — submitted her first bill on Tuesday tied to the job of combing through Cohen's records for documents protected by attorney-client privilege and therefore off limits to the feds.

KFC sued by Maine man claiming he found bone in chicken pot pie.  A man in Maine filed a lawsuit against Kentucky Fried Chicken on Wednesday [5/23/2018], alleging that he found a bone in his chicken pot pie, The Sun Journal reports[.]  According to the lawsuit, on Oct. 28, 2015, Willie A. Blanchette ordered a chicken pot pie from KFC's Scarborough location.  After taking a few bites, he "sustained significant damage to several teeth when hit [sic] down on a large piece of bone that was contained" in the dish, according to his complaint filed in Androscoggin County Superior Court.

The Editor says...
If I were on the jury in this case, I would have to wonder why the plaintiff waited 2½ years to file a lawsuit.  Or why the suit was filed at all.  Chickens are not boneless.

"Downplaying" is a crime now?
King County sues big oil companies for downplaying global warming.  King County is pressing for damages against the oil companies for the impacts of climate change.  This is part of a broader wave of lawsuits alleging that fossil-fuel producers knew the risks of global warming, but discounted them.

Florida day care slaps parents with lawsuit for negative review.  A Florida day care is suing a couple after they allegedly posted a false, negative review online about their two-year-old child being bitten by another child.  Mrs. B's Daycare, in Spring Hill, lawyered up just days after parent, Daniel Dameron, posted multiple reviews of the child care center on several websites, FOX 13 reported.  "I tried not to chuckle because it was just so absurd," Dameron told FOX 13 after receiving the lawsuit from the nationally accredited daycare that has been in business for 24 years.  "You're supposed to be able to write these reviews because you're supposed to be able to alert the public as to a good or bad business."

Michael Avenatti Threatens Daily Caller Reporter For Publishing Public Records On Him.  I've been saying for weeks to anyone who would listen that Michael Avenatti is an embarrassment to lawyers everywhere.  His actions over the course of the last few months have been unprofessional, undignified, and perhaps even unethical.  But now he's crossed a new line: sending threatening emails to a journalist.  Yesterday, The Daily Caller published an article essentially recounting the legal and business troubles that followed after one of Avenatti's companies purchased a Seattle coffee company.  The Daily Caller article seems fairly straightforward and is mostly a fact-based review of public records.  The article does, however, cast Avenatti in a bad light because it recounts some of his past failures.  It should not surprise you for a minute that someone like Avenatti does not want to be called out for his lack of success.

Porn Star Lawyer Michael Avenatti Threatens To Sue Reporters Who Checked Into His Background.  Michael Avenatti is threatening to sue the Daily Caller and its reporters for defamation.  In an email sent out Monday [5/14/2018], Avenatti railed against the journalists who have been uncovering his shady past and unethical business dealings.

Report:  Michael Avenatti, Attorney Behind Stormy Daniels, Has Long History Of Fraud, Bankruptcy, Allegations.  He's an attorney unfettered by concerns of morality or fair play.  A man who, "...honestly believes he can get up and say or do anything he wants and there's no repercussions."  Yet because Michael Avenatti is the legal push behind the anti-Trump Stormy Daniels attacks, Establishment Media have up to now ignored his shady past and placed him time and again as a legal "expert" on various news program panels.

Michael Avenatti Hasn't Corrected False Allegations Made Against The Wrong Michael Cohens.  Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for Stormy Daniels, has yet to correct false claims he made last week about two men who happen to share the same name as President Donald Trump's attorney, Michael Cohen.  In a seven-page dossier released May 8, Avenatti listed details of "possible fraudulent and illegal" payments to two Michael Cohens who are not the Trump attorney.  One of the men lives in Israel; the other lives in Canada.  The dossier included other legitimate payments made to the actual Trump attorney, who lives in New York City.  Avenatti's Twitter feed still includes a link to his dossier.  It includes no corrections about the payments.

Climate Alarmists Use Children to Sue Florida Governor Over Climate Change.  Having witnessed the use of children to promote gun control after the Parkland, Florida, mass shooting, a group of Florida lawyers has decided to do the same thing with regard to climate change.  On April 16, a squad of politically-minded ambulance chasers used a group of children as human shields by filing suit against Florida Governor Rick Scott because of Scott's "deliberate indifference to their fundamental rights to a stable climate system in violation of Florida common law and the Florida Constitution."  Also named as defendants in the suit are Noah Valenstein, the head of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection; Adam Putnam, the commissioner of the Florida Department of Agriculture; the Florida Board of Trustees of Internal Improvement Trust Fund, and the Public Service Commission.  The suit claims that Governor Scott's inaction on climate change is "immoral" and that he and the various state agencies named have "endangered" the plaintiffs' future.  Among the plaintiffs are 18-year-old Delany Reynolds and 21-year-old Oscar Psychas.  The rest of the plaintiffs are ages 10-15.

Transgenders Sue to Force Medicaid to Pay for Gender Surgery.  LGBT has been harping on for years about how their LGBTness wouldn't affect you.  Their gender confusion is none of your business.  Outside of you footing the bill for their elective surgeries .

Transgender residents sue over Wisconsin's Medicaid rule.  Two Wisconsin residents who want gender reassignment surgeries paid by Medicaid filed a lawsuit Monday against the state, contending their denials of service are discriminatory and violate the federal health care law.

Ingraham: Activist Attys Holding 'Seminars' for Honduran Caravan to 'Game Immigration Law'.  Laura Ingraham said that while President Donald Trump is sending additional ICE attorneys and other resources to combat a possible stream of asylum-seekers from a Honduran caravan transiting through Mexico, American lawyers are holding "seminars" to help those folks potentially fight the government in court.  Ingraham said the caravan initially numbered at about 1,000, while 600 remain now and 100 have made it to the border.  She said that activist lawyers are trying to help the caravan members successfully claim asylum and enter the United States.  [Video clip]

Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, 1990, page 14:

Democrat on Internal DNC Call About Russia Lawsuit Asks Why DNC Is Spending Money to Sue Russia.  On Friday [4/20/2018], the Democratic National Committee filed a lawsuit against Russia, WikiLeaks, and several figures from the Trump 2016 campaign.  The suit, prepared by the law firm Cohen Milstein, seeks damages related to Russia's hack of DNC computer systems and the Trump campaign's alleged involvement therein.  However:  [#1] Russia and WikiLeaks are unlikely to cooperate with a U.S. civil proceeding.  [#2] The DNC's evidence of Trump participation in the scheme is limited to suggestive but not conclusive information that has already appeared in media reports.  [#3] There's already an investigation into Trump-Russia collaboration being led by the special counsel's office — which not only has subpoena power, as the DNC conceivably could during legal discovery, but can apply for search warrants and threaten uncooperative witnesses with jail time.  The question that naturally arises, then, is... what's the point?

Democrats are getting desperate as Mueller stalls.  It's not just Hillary Clinton who can't quit Russia.  The whole Democratic Party keeps going back to 2016.  In a move that reeks of desperation, the DNC filed a civil suit Friday [4/20/2018] against President Trump's campaign, Russia and WikiLeaks, alleging a vast (right-wing!) conspiracy to tip the election to Trump.  The suit's flamboyant charges made headlines, but that only served to obscure the real meaning.  Namely, that top Dems are giving up their fantasies that special counsel Robert Mueller will deliver them from political purgatory by getting the goods on Trump.

Tom Perez:  DNC didn't ask Hillary Clinton for permission to file collusion lawsuit.  Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez said failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has not been consulted on the DNC's civil lawsuit alleging collusion between Russia, WikiLeaks, and the Trump campaign.  Perez said on NBC's "Meet The Press" Sunday he hadn't talked to Clinton ahead of the DNC filing the lawsuit.  "I have not consulted Hillary Clinton to ask her permission to file a complaint.  The buck stops with Tom Perez and we filed this complaint because our democracy is at risk," Perez said.  "This was an assault on our democracy and we have to protect that."

The Editor says...
[#1]  If you filed a lawsuit on my behalf, and for my benefit, would you not consult with me first?  [#2] What are the plaintiffs asking for?  The reversal of the last presidential election?  Would the benefits outweigh the enormous consequences?  This is the political equivalent of a chess player throwing a tantrum upon realizing he can't win.  Civilized people don't act that way.

The DNC goes to court.  The Democratic National Committee has just filed a civil lawsuit seeking millions of dollars in damages against the Russian government, WikiLeaks, the Trump campaign, and a supporting cast of thousands arguing that the parties conspired to influence the 2016 presidential campaign.  The lawsuit is filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan).  The DNC alleges a multitude of claims including conspiracy and violations of everything from conspiracy to violations of copyright law and the Trade Secrets Act.  "One of the most notable things about the complaint," says CBS News is the sheer number of defendants — the 66-page complaint lists WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Donald Trump, Jr., former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, former campaign worker George Papadopoulos, former campaign associate Rick Gates and 'John Does 1-10,' among others."

Trump and the attorney-client privilege.  [Scroll down]  The federal prosecutors also argued that [Michael] Cohen was not truly performing legal work for Trump; rather, they said, he was a fixer of Trump's image and a trickster to Trump's adversaries.  Then they revealed that the source of their purported knowledge of the Trump-Cohen relationship was surveillance of Cohen, whose telephone calls, emails and text messages the feds had been capturing for months.  That means that federal prosecutors have overheard the president of the United States in telephone conversations he believed were protected by privilege, in which he was talking to a man under criminal investigation who he has said was his lawyer.

Kids sue Rick Scott for 'immoral' silence on climate change.  A group of kids is suing Florida Gov. Rick Scott, claiming he "endangered" their future and violated their constitutional rights by not doing anything to combat climate change.  The youngsters filed their lawsuit on Monday [4/16/2018] in Leon County Court.  "It is the responsibility of the state to uphold the constitution, and these young people have a fundamental right to a stable climate system," said Guy Burns, lead counsel for the eight plaintiffs, most of whom are teens.

Young people sue Florida governor to force action on climate change.  A group of young people on Monday [4/16/2018] sued Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) to force him to take action on climate change.  The group of eight young Florida residents — represented by Oregon-based Our Children's Trust — sued Scott to demand that the state begin working on a court-ordered, science-based "Climate Recovery Plan," the Miami Herald reported.  The group, which is reportedly made up of individuals ranging from 10 to 20 years old, is alleging Scott is not taking steps to combat climate change.

Lefty mayors' frivolous climate change lawsuits need to stop.  Who or what is actually responsible for "global warming" and how should the individuals, businesses or industry sectors be held accountable?  If you listen to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the California mayors of San Francisco, Oakland, Richmond and others, the entire blame rests exclusively with our oil and natural gas industry.  Conveniently, these money-hungry mayors and their equally greedy trial lawyers accuse only the largest, most profitable oil and natural gas companies of wrongdoing.  Their municipal lawsuits allege that global warming is a local, "public nuisance" issue and the sole perpetrators of our planet's "warming" are no farther away than the local refinery or natural gas plant.  Sound unfair?  Add this insane reasoning to the fact that dozens of other industrialized nations are apparently blameless for any of the planet's climate-related woes.  Operators of airlines, asphalt factories, cement plants, auto dealerships and heavy machinery in New York or California are likewise off the hook for any climate change-related issues.

Jury Buys Lawyer "Simple" Defense, Wife Of Nightclub Shooter Not Guilty.  On June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen walked into the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida.  Armed with a rifle, he opened fire on the people enjoying the club, killing 49 and wounding 58, before local police killed him in a shootout.  When he died, Mateen had repeatedly pledged allegiance to Islamic extremist organizations and leaders, such as ISIS and ISIL, and suspicions quickly settled on his wife as a possible accomplice.  Noor Salman, Mateen's wife, was accused of assisting her husband in planning the terrorist attack at the Pulse nightclub.  That case is coming to a close now, almost two years later, and Salman's defense attorney has chosen a strange defense for his client, suggesting that she has a "low IQ" and is too unintelligent to know that her husband planned to attack the nightclub.  Apparently, the jury bought it, finding her 'not guilty.'

Kate Steinle's killer launches new battle to sue America and stay in the U.S..  After firing a stolen gun and killing Kate Steinle on the San Francisco waterfront in 2015, and then getting away with it in front of a leftwing jury which signaled motivation to strike back at President Trump, do you think Jose Ines Garcia-Zarate, is going away quietly?  Do you think the five-times-deported illegal alien drug dealer and transient, with a record of seven felonies, will just allow himself to be deported, and then come back as he always does?  Nope, not the case.  He's apparently gotten a pile of leftwing-lawyer backing to sue the federal government over his 'vindictive prosecution.'

Schwarzenegger Wants To Sue Oil Companies For Murder?  They've Helped Lift Billions Out Of Poverty.  Climate change expert Arnold Schwarzenegger recently declared that he will be suing oil companies for murder because use of their product is warming the planet.  Here's a better idea:  Thank the oil industry for contributing to unprecedented prosperity around the world.

Lawyer Suing Gateway Pundit, Alex Jones, Allen West Works for Same Firm That Placed 4 Lawyers — Including Mueller — On Special Counsel.  Now isn't this interesting — unhinged leftie hack and State Department employee Brennan Gilmore traveled to Charlottesville, Virginia on August 12, 2017 to counter protest a group of white supremacists defending a Confederate statue in the city.  Gilmore filmed Alex Fields Jr. drive his car into a group of counter protesters marching in the street.  Gilmore was then interviewed on several far left mainstream media outlets about the events in Charlottesville.  But Mr. Gilmore did not mention his work with the State Department, his far left activism or his extreme Trump hatred. [...] The Gateway Pundit — along with Alex Jones, Allen West, Lee Stranahan, Infowars reporter LeeAnn McAdoo, Derrick Wilburn and others — are being sued by Mr. Gilmore.

Schwarzenegger to Sue Big Oil for 'First Degree Murder'.  Arnold Schwarzenegger's next mission:  taking oil companies to court "for knowingly killing people all over the world." [...] "This is no different from the smoking issue.  The tobacco industry knew for years and years and years and decades, that smoking would kill people, would harm people and create cancer, and were hiding that fact from the people and denied it.  Then eventually they were taken to court and had to pay hundreds of millions of dollars because of that," Schwarzenegger said.  "The oil companies knew from 1959 on, they did their own study that there would be global warming happening because of fossil fuels, and on top of it that it would be risky for people's lives, that it would kill."

The Editor says...
Show me a death certificate on which the cause of death is listed as "global warming."

Baltimore Has Somehow Found Money To Pay For Lawyers For Illegal Aliens.  The City of Baltimore, Maryland has been dealing with their fair share of budget problems lately, the same as many other municipalities.  In their recently completed 2018 budget negotiations, they wound up having to make cuts so deep they eliminated funding for things like new street lights and trash cans.  And all of that was happening at the same time as they struggled to fund law enforcement efforts aimed at tamping down their historic murder rate.  But somehow, in a bit of financial legerdemain, they came up with $100K to pay for attorneys for illegal aliens fighting deportation orders.  There's a lesson here about priorities somewhere, but I get the feeling that the City Council wouldn't listen even if someone stopped by to brief them on it.

Schadenfreude: Enviros' Lawyer From Chevron Shakedown Ordered To Pay Them "Bigly".  Those of you who have been following our years-long coverage of what's become known as the Chevron Shakedown are probably already familiar with Steven Donziger.  He's the New York attorney who worked with a corrupt court in Ecuador and several environmental groups in the United States to achieve a bogus judgment against the energy giant valued in the billions of dollars.  That fell apart completely under court scrutiny and instead of winding up with a huge payday, Donziger found himself on the losing end of a RICO trial in New York.  Now, adding insult to injury, that same court has come back and determined that someone does indeed need to pay.  But it's not Chevron.

The Ninth Circuit Just Allowed Children To Sue Trump Over Global Warming.  A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday [3/7/2018] in favor of 21 children and young adults suing the U.S. government for not doing enough to protect their constitutional right to a stable climate.  The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals judges refused to grant mandamus relief and block the U.S. District Court in Oregon from hearing the suit, which was originally filed by the environmental group Our Children's Trust in 2015.  A federal judge in Oregon ruled in 2016 the 21 youngsters had standing to sue.  President Donald Trump's administration and oil and gas groups appealed the decision in June 2017.  They asked judges to "end this clearly improper attempt to have the judiciary decide important questions of energy and environmental policy" and upset the balance of powers.  The Ninth Circuit disagreed.

The Editor says...
What part of the Constitution establishes and guarantees a right to a stable climate?

Judge to lawyer: 'I am very concerned that you have conducted this trial high'.  Watching from her bench during a recent trial, Pinellas Circuit Judge Chris Helinger noticed defense attorney Tobias Pardue's bizarre behavior.  Pardue, 47, was making snorting sounds and resting his head on the lectern while questioning witnesses.  He also left the courthouse during jury deliberations.  "I am very concerned that you have conducted this trial high," Helinger told him in court on Feb. 14.  "All of these things are abhorrent and bizarre and strange."  Helinger gave Pardue two options:  Take a drug test, or spend 10 days in the Pinellas County jail.

Medicaid recipients find $1 premiums too confusing to pay.  Imagine having to eat dog food to pay $4 a month in premiums!  Or, alternatively, imagine working a minimum wage job for 20 minutes, long enough to earn $4.  Some people would rather eat dog food.  But Ms. Penny is fighting back!  ["][S]he's a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed last month to stop Kentucky's new requirements from taking effect.["]  Ms. Penny says she is too "mentally ill" to work, but she is not too mentally ill to file a lawsuit.

Bronx public defenders walk off job after 'Dreamer' detained.  More than 100 public defenders — attorneys for people who can't afford lawyers — walked out Thursday [2/8/2018] in protest of their clients getting detained by federal immigration officers.  The civil disobedience happened at the courthouse in the Bronx, with the attorneys saying Immigration and Customs Enforcement has adopted new standard operating procedures under President Donald Trump.

The Editor says...
If Ronald Reagan could fire all the air traffic controllers, Trump could fire all these public defenders.  Chances are, they'd all be happier chasing ambulances.

When Federal Prosecutors Go Bad.  [Sidney] Powell and [Harvey] Silverglate write about the horror faced by regular, even prominent citizens whom the FBI and DOJ destroyed, or tried to destroy, using their unlimited resources and the trust of the courts and the public.  From the very beginning of the prosecution when the affidavits for charges are submitted to the court, the honesty and fairness of the prosecutors is tested, and all too often, ambitious and aggressive prosecutors betray that trust.  Most of all, these books warn that the character and virtue of prosecutors are the critical factor in the proper conduct of a prosecution, the choice of target, the charge made, and the conduct of the discovery and the trial.  Prosecutors have all the cards, and if they don't conduct an honest and fair prosecution, innocent people are harmed, destroyed by their striving for conviction at any cost, even by cheating or by abuse of the process.

White noise video on YouTube hit by five copyright claims.  A musician who made a 10-hour long video of continuous white noise — indistinct electronic hissing — has said five copyright infringement claims have been made against him.  Sebastian Tomczak, who is based in Australia, said he made the video in 2015 and uploaded it to YouTube.  The claimants accusing him of infringement include publishers of white noise intended for sleep therapy.

Convicted Muslim rapist sues state over failure to provide sharia meals.  An inmate has sued Oregon Department of Corrections staff for failing to serve meals that observe his Muslim faith.  Rashid Kambarov, 29, who is serving a sentence for rape, filed a complaint this week in U.S. District Court in Pendleton.  He is a legal permanent resident from Turkey and is incarcerated at Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla.  He is suing the superintendent of Two Rivers, Troy Bowser, and other administrators at the prison.

Tampa lawyer arrested on cocaine trafficking charges during undercover sting.  A Tampa lawyer was among three men arrested Wednesday by the Polk County Sheriff's Office on cocaine trafficking charges.  Robert Carr, 66, whose firm is the Resolute Law Group at 808 W Waters Ave., faces felony charges of cocaine trafficking, conspiracy to traffic cocaine and possession of a vehicle knowingly used to traffic cocaine.

Court Orders Antifa Organizer to Pay $11,000 for Filing Frivolous Restraining Order.  A court in California has ordered Antifa organizer Yvette Felarca to pay $11,000 after she filed a frivolous restraining order against former Berkeley College Republicans President Troy Worden.  In 2017, Antifa organizer Yvette Felarca filed a restraining order against former UC Berkeley College Republican president Troy Worden, citing two alleged incidents of harassment.  Worden's attorney alleges that Felarca made up two false accusations of harassment against him.  He claims that Felarca used two incidents in which Worden made eye contact with her on campus as a basis for the restraining order.

Muslim attorney drops frivolous $100M Little Caesars halal lawsuits.  An Arab-American [read:  Muslim] attorney has dropped two lawsuits against the Little Caesars pizza chain after receiving threats against him and his daughter on social media.  Majed Moughni, a Dearborn-based attorney, chose to drop the lawsuits after a man made threats against him and his 11-year-old daughter on Facebook and Instagram.  Moughni had filed lawsuits against Little Caesars on behalf of Michelle Meade and her husband, Mohamad Bazzi, a Dearborn couple who said the pizza chain had sold fake halal pizzas at its Schaefer Road location.

Teens File Lawsuit Claiming Government Violated Their Rights By Not Addressing Climate Change.  How many times did citizens witness challenges to the Obama presidency, based on the requirement of him not being a "natural born citizen," be discarded by the courts because the individuals bringing the challenge lacked standing?  While not many, there were some.  How many times have individuals seeking relief from the court system, on one issue or another, been told one has to be injured and have proof of injury to proceed forward?  Plenty.  However, that may no longer be the case if a group of teenagers are successful in suing the Trump administration for the failure of government to act on the devastations of climate change.

Sheriff: Tampa lawyer used Pinellas jail to film porn videos.  A Tampa lawyer had sexual relations with a female inmate inside the Pinellas County Jail several times in a private room reserved for attorneys to meet with their clients, investigators said.  He is also accused of soliciting sex from another incarcerated woman, according to deputies, offering to put money in her commissary account and saying he was filming the acts for a pornographic video titled Girls in Jail.

In New York, Lawyers Rule.  Is it just another tax?  Or is it just the price of living in the Big Apple?  One might note that it is a singularly regressive tax, just what a city that has enormous wealth disparity doesn't need.  What is it?  It's the cost of civil lawsuits, brought against the city and against businesses.  Those of us who live in the city pay it.  It adds a cost, like a tax, to everything you buy in the city, from cheeseburgers to condos.  It even increases taxes.  It's a pass-along economy.  When your physician pays exorbitant malpractice insurance premiums he simply raises his fee to you.  When the drugstore pays high liability premiums it passes the cost along to you... in the price of toothpaste.

Lawyer: Free Speech Isn't For Conservatives.  Lawyers have to defend their clients.  It's what they do.  But there are limits to what they should do.  To claim outside a courthouse that there's legal justification for snatching the papers containing the words of someone else's talk because the talk is somehow "hate speech" and therefore not protected is laughable.  Except it's not a laughing matter.  Chipping away at free speech isn't in the best interests of anybody, except for totalitarians.  But there was Jon L. Schoenhorn, the lawyer for speech-snatcher Catherine Gregory, walking out of a courthouse Wednesday [12/13/2017] in Vernon, Connecticut and defending the act of walking up to a lectern and grabbing someone else's papers and then trying to leave the room.  That's what Gregory did November 28 during an appearance by Gateway Pundit correspondent Lucian Wintrich at the University of Connecticut.

Being your own lawyer: bad idea.  People in Tampa Bay do it anyway.  It's a right that defendants are advised of as soon as they're arrested:  You're entitled to an attorney.  But in a 1975 case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that they can also refuse counsel.  In legal terms, it's called pro se, which means "for oneself" in Latin.  "That's really their life that's on the line," said Charles Rose, a professor at Stetson University College of Law.  "If that's the way they want to deal with it, then they should be entitled to do that."  Judges ask defendants a series of questions to make sure they understand the rights they're giving up.  Do you understand that a lawyer is versed in court procedures?  That they can question witnesses, present evidence, and make objections on their behalf?

Christian Teacher Suspended for 'Misgendering' Trans Pupil Sues School.  A Christian teacher is suing his secondary school after being suspended for referring to a biologically female pupil as a "girl".  Joshua Sutcliffe, 27, from Oxford, argues that he was not trained in the new, quickly evolving, gender politics and should not be forced to accept transgender ideology as a Christian.  He says he was investigated and suspended after he said, "well done, girls" to a group of female pupils, including a pupil who "identified" as a boy.

Roy Moore Accuser Admits She Forged Part of Yearbook Signature.  Roy Moore has been a man under fire lately.  He first gained national prominence as the pick of Steve Bannon in the Alabama Senate race against Trump's pick, Luther Strange, and shortly after Moore was declared the winner, women including Beverly Young Nelson have come up to claim that Moore had sexually abused her as a young woman.  Ms. Young Nelson's charge comes with the physical evidence of her high school yearbook.  She alleged that Moore had signed her yearbook when she was 16.  Now 56, she has been showing off the yearbook from 1977 with her lawyer, Gloria Allred.

The Editor says...
One would presume that a competent attorney would carefully examine the physical evidence in a case like this, before going on national TV to make sensational claims against a Senate candidate.  Otherwise the attorney might end up looking like an accessory to an obvious fraud.

Roy Moore accuser admits she forged part of yearbook inscription attributed to Alabama Senate candidate.  One of the women who accused Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore of making advances on her when she was a teen and he a local prosecutor admitted Friday [12/8/2017] to forging part of the yearbook inscription she offered as proof.  Beverly Young Nelson told ABC News she wrote part of the disputed note in her high school yearbook that she and famed attorney Gloria Allred presented as proof the then-30-something Moore sought an inappropriate relationship with her in the late 1970s.

Trump's Downsizing Utah's Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments Taken To Court.  Another decision made by President Donald Trump is being taken to court.  The president issued two proclamations Monday to reduce the size of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, as well as the Bears Ears National Monument, and to allow mining in the newly public lands, and conservation groups filed a lawsuit against it a few hours later.

Kentucky lawyer wanted for massive Social Security fraud captured in Honduras, officials say.  A prominent Kentucky disability attorney at the center of a more than $500 million Social Security fraud case, who became the subject of a massive manhunt after he vanished months ago, has been captured in Honduras, officials announced Monday [12/4/2017].  Eric Conn was captured by a SWAT team as he came out of a restaurant in the coastal city of La Ceiba, the Honduras public magistrate's office said in a news release.  The office added that the arrest was "the product of arduous intelligence, surveillance and tailing by the agents."  U.S. federal agents spent months tracking Conn, who cut off his electronic monitor in June.

Dillards Department Store under fire for refusing to hire a Muslim woman who wears an Islamic supremacist headbag.  No surprise, as always, it is designated terrorist group CAIR that has filed a complaint.  Somebody needs to tell these litigation jihadists that a retail store is permitted to have a dress code, and it is not discrimination not to hire someone who breaks it.

When Clinton Donors Prosecute And Judge Trump Associates.  In May, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson dismissed a lawsuit by the families of the victims of Benghazi against Hillary Clinton.  Judge Jackson decided that the families couldn't sue Hillary either for wrongful death or for defamation.  That isn't too surprising as Jackson is a former Clinton donor who had been appointed by Obama.  And a Clinton donor should never have been ruling on a Clinton case.  But now Judge Jackson will be presiding over the Paul Manafort case.  Presiding over Manafort's indictment is Judge Deborah A. Robinson.  Judge Robinson's most prominent previous case was the Berger trial.  Sandy Berger, Bill Clinton's former National Security Adviser, stole classified documents about the terror failures of the Clinton administration, hid documents under a construction trailer, lied about taking them and destroyed some of them.

Bergdahl's Attorney Wants Him to Receive POW Medal.  The lead defense attorney for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl said he wants him to receive the Prisoner of War medal.  His civilian lawyer, Eugene Fidell, on Friday said his client should be recognized for the five years he spent in Taliban captivity after deserting his post in Afghanistan, according to an article by USA Today.  "We have long felt he was entitled to the POW medal," Fidell said, the newspaper reported.

Failure to assimilate:
Atheist Immigrant Sues Government For Having 'So Help Me God' in Citizenship Oath.  Olga Paule Perrier-Bilbo is a French citizen who has lived in Scituate, Mass., since 2000. She says she has twice applied for U.S. citizenship and now she's ready to become an American.  There's just one problem.  She doesn't want to say the last four words of the citizenship oath.  As an atheist, she objects to "So help me God," claiming that the phrase violates her right to religious freedom.  So she filed a lawsuit.

Why We All Hate Lawyers.  Recently President Trump commented on the Bowe Bergdahl case — the guy who deserted in combat and thereby caused Americans to be seriously wounded trying to rescue him because he didn't have the guts to leave a note saying he deserted.  Lawyers, including conservatives at National Review, are now declaring that the President can't comment on an unclassified matter of national importance because he might keep a traitor from getting a fair trial.  In a sense they're right, but they don't realize why.

California Cities Sue Oil Companies over Climate Change.  City attorneys in San Francisco and Oakland, California, sued five oil companies in two coordinated lawsuits on Tuesday [9/19/2017], arguing that the courts should hold these companies responsible for climate change, and force them to financially compensate the cities for harm the plaintiffs claim those companies are causing to the planet's environment.  The two cities are suing five of the top petroleum companies from around the world:  BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobile, and Royal Dutch Shell.  These local municipalities are suing them under California law for being a public nuisance.

SF, Oakland sue top five oil and gas companies over climate change.  The cities of San Francisco and Oakland have filed separate lawsuits against five major oil and gas companies for allegedly contributing to the costs of climate change and sea level rise by producing massive amounts of fossil fuels, city leaders announced Wednesday [9/21/2017].  The lawsuits against Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, BP and Royal Dutch Shell claim the companies have known for decades that global warming and sea level rise were accelerated by the investor-owned producers of fossil fuels, but the companies still continued to "aggressively produce, market and sell vast quantities of fossil fuels for a global market," according to a news release from the San Francisco City Attorney's Office.

The Editor says...
As I understand it, the mean sea level is rising at the rate of less than two millimeters per year.  That's not enough for even a daily beachcomber to perceive, since the Pacific Ocean hits the shore with waves that are a hundred to a thousand times as large.  This lawsuit is nothing more or less than a shakedown.  Special message to California readers, if any:  If you consider oil companies to be a public nuisance, don't buy their gasoline!

Governments Turn Tables by Suing Public Records Requesters.  Government bodies are increasingly turning the tables on citizens who seek public records that might be embarrassing or legally sensitive.  Instead of granting or denying their requests, a growing number of school districts, municipalities and state agencies have filed lawsuits against people making the requests — taxpayers, government watchdogs and journalists who must then pursue the records in court at their own expense.

The Democrats' farfetched, laughable, thoroughly ridiculous and possibly successful DACA lawsuit.  President Trump's decision to rescind DACA was only hours old when the Democratic attorneys general of 15 states filed a lawsuit to stop him. [...] Together, they claim Trump's action is "arbitrary, unconstitutional, and contrary to statute."  There is one glaring, fundamental problem with their argument.  The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is a policy — not law — imposed by former President Barack Obama solely on his executive authority.  At the time it was imposed, in 2012, Obama conceded that a future president could undo it as easily as Obama imposed it.  There were serious questions about whether Obama had the authority to act — many felt the policy was Congress's to make or not make — but there is no question about a later president's authority to do away with it.  Obama's Justice Department took the same position.  In 2014, the Department published a legal analysis of DACA that noted on four separate occasions that "deferred action confers no lawful immigration status, provides no path to lawful permanent residence or citizenship, and is revocable at any time in the [Department of Homeland Security's] discretion."

Class action lawyers take a big hit for 'worthless' class action settlement over Subway 'foot-long' sandwiches being too short.  Class action lawyers have long shaken down big companies for ridiculous infractions and obtained settlements giving them millions, and pennies (or even discount coupons for future purchases) for the individual members of the classes they purportedly represent.  They are members of the powerful tort bar lobby that generates huge political donations as protection money, so this legalized extortion process has continued.  Perhaps the tide is turning?

U.S. judge tosses lawsuits about labels on Parmesan cheese.  A U.S. judge on Thursday [8/24/2017] dismissed lawsuits by consumers who had sued food manufacturers and retailers over their "100% grated Parmesan cheese" labels, alleging they were deceiving buyers because the products actually contained cellulose filling.

J&J Loses $417 Million Talc Verdict in First California Case.  Johnson & Johnson was ordered by a Los Angeles jury to pay $417 million to a 62-year-old woman who blamed her ovarian cancer on the company's talc, in the first California trial over the product.  The jury found the parent company and its consumer-products unit liable Monday [8/21/2017] for failing to warn a woman over the alleged risk of the baby powder.  The verdict includes $347 million in punitive damages.

Update:
Judge tosses $417M award against Johnson & Johnson.  A judge on Friday [10/20/2017] tossed out a $417 million jury award to a woman who claimed she developed ovarian cancer by using Johnson & Johnson talc-based baby powder for feminine hygiene.

American Bar Association Wants to Let Undocumented Immigrants Practice Law.  On Monday [8/14/2017], The American Bar Association's House of Delegates passed a resolution demanding that Congress let undocumented immigrants practice law. [...] It will be a huge surprise if this move succeeds under the current administration.  Republicans, who have a reputation for pushing stricter immigration laws than Democrats, maintain a (slight) majority in Congress.  And then there's the president.

ACLU sues Trump administration over arrests of immigrant teens.  The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a class action lawsuit against President Trump's administration over the detention of immigrant teenagers for "unsubstantiated claims of gang affiliation."  The lawsuit, announced on Friday [8/11/2017], targets Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement.  In a press release, the ACLU accuses ICE and the Office of Refugee Resettlement of detaining children and transporting them to detention facilities without notifying their parents or lawyers.

New CFPB Rule Legislates False Data to Help Trial Lawyers.  As if further evidence were needed, last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) demonstrated why it needs to be eliminated.  It announced a new rule that, if not overturned, will upend an effective way of addressing consumer claims against financial institutions, potentially flood the courts with cases, and increase costs to customers.  While getting rid of the CFPB may be a long-term project, Congress has a way to swiftly undo this new rule through the Congressional Review Act (CRA).  It should do so before the rule comes into effect.

Transgender Active-Duty Troops Sue Trump Over Military Ban.  President Donald Trump is being sued by five transgender people serving in the United States military who are requesting for transgender troops to be permitted to stay in the armed forces.  The lawsuit comes in response to Trump's July tweets announcing transgender troops would not be allowed to serve in the military in "any capacity," according to the New York Times.  The case, organized by the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, is filed under pseudonyms "Jane Doe" one through five.

Judge reinvigorates bar grievance against Clinton lawyers.  A Maryland judge has allowed a grievance to move forward against Hillary Clinton's lawyers, saying the bar's refusal to investigate the lawyers seems to violate the state's policy.  Ty Clevenger, the lawyer who filed the grievance, called the decision last week by Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Ronald A. Silkworth a surprise victory.  It's the latest twist in the fallout from Mrs. Clinton's secret email server, which she used during her time in the State Department.

"Devout Muslims" wage legal jihad after quitting jobs over lack of sharia accommodations.  Sixteen Muslims "involuntary resigned" from their jobs at an automotive supplier in Warren because the company refused to accommodate their planned religious observance, their attorneys said Wednesday [7/26/2017].  The ex-employees of Brose Jefferson, who worked the afternoon shift, had requested they be allowed to take their unpaid, 30-minute meal break at 9 p.m. instead of the usual 7 p.m., during Ramadan.  During Ramadan, which was celebrated worldwide from May 27 to June 25, Muslims observe strict fasting from sunrise to sunset.

Today in the Annals of Stupid, Climate Edition.  A group of "children" (as activist lawyers call their clients) filed a federal lawsuit a while ago claiming that a right to a stable climate should be enforced by judicial decree as a postulate of the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, and the federal district court judge in Oregon (figures) denied a motion to dismiss. [...] If the plaintiffs actually won this case, it would essentially mean the end of the Constitution.  Are we really supposed to think that federal judges should supervise climate policy?  It has worked so well in the case of public schools.  More likely it is intended as a way of prying open the doors for trial lawyers to extract tobacco-settlement style exactions from the energy industry.

California Counties Sue Oil Companies Over "Rising Seas" From Hotcoldwetdry.  San Francisco is [experiencing] a mere 1.94 mm per year in [sea level] rise, equating to .64 feet of rise over 100 years.  This pretty much covers for both the Marin and San Mateo areas.

California Sues Oil Companies For Rising Sea Levels.  Three California counties sued 37 of the world's largest oil and coal companies Monday for damages related to global warming-induced sea level rise.  Marin County, San Mateo County and Imperial Beach filed separate, but virtually identical, lawsuits claiming that oil companies bear responsibility for the sea level rise harming in coastal counties.  County lawyers claim flooding is more frequent and beaches are eroding more rapidly.  The counties want reimbursement for current and future financial losses from sea level rise, in addition to punitive damages.  The plaintiffs don't set a specific number for damages, but estimate they'll need at least $54 billion dollars over the coming decades.

Eric Holder Rallies Liberal Lawyers Against Trump in San Fran.  Former Attorney General Eric Holder told a group of liberal lawyers to keep fighting at a San Francisco fundraiser Wednesday, continuing his message about using state power to oppose the Trump administration.  Holder, who served during the Obama administration, told his audience not to be afraid of what President Donald Trump is doing, but he still affirmed that news from the White House is "disturbing," the San Francisco Chronicle reports.  He also said that he worries about the "moral arc of the universe" bending away from justice, not toward it as Martin Luther King Jr. said.  "It's the responsibility of all of us to keep our hands on that arc," he said.  "There is fighting to be done, there are lawsuits to be brought ... You can never underestimate the power of the American people."

President Trump sued for blocking people on Twitter.  President Donald Trump has been party to an eye-watering 4,000 lawsuits over the last 30 years, US media say.  And now the mogul turned commander-in-chief has attracted one more, after seven people sued him for blocking them on Twitter.  Mr Trump is an avid user of the social media forum, which he deploys to praise allies and lambast critics.  The lawsuit was filed by the Knight First Amendment Institute, a free speech group at Columbia University.  The seven Twitter users involved claim their accounts were blocked by the president, or his aides, after they replied to his tweets with mocking or critical comments.  People on Twitter are unable to see or respond to tweets from accounts that block them.

California Democrats Target Conservative College Students.  California state senator Josh Newman, Fullerton Democrat, was the key vote to approve Jerry Brown's recent $5.2 billion tax hike that jacks up what Californians will pay for gasoline, diesel fuel, and vehicle fees.  At the California State University in Fullerton, College Republicans Amanda McGuire, Ryan Hoskins and Brooke Paz led efforts to recall Newman.  The state Democratic Party responded by changing the rules on recall elections and targeting the three students with a lawsuit.  "This lawsuit intends to stop the petition from circulating and halt the recall process, falsely citing deceptive messaging as grounds for suing," explains a press release from the College Republicans.  According to the Republicans' secretary Ryan Hoskins.  "This lawsuit is the definition of frivolous and more than an obstruction of the very processes that every Californian should hold dear."

Flint's Water Crisis Has Law Firms Swimming in Cash.  Michigan's legal bills for the man-made water crisis in Flint are piling up.  At least $14 million has been spent hiring lawyers from at least 33 law firms, according to an Associated Press analysis of state records.  Costs are only expected to balloon as Attorney General Bill Schuette's outside team of two-dozen attorneys and investigators turns toward prosecuting a dozen current or former state employees or appointees whose criminal defenses are being covered by taxpayers.

Prosecute Steven Donziger's 'Egregious Fraud'.  Steven Donziger, a left-wing lawyer with connections to the Obama administration and Andrew Cuomo's administration in New York, attempted to orchestrate a multi-billion-dollar shakedown of Chevron in a case that was later thrown out by a federal judge as the product of "egregious fraud."  For once, the word "egregious" may not be quite strong enough:  In dollar terms, Donziger's case against Chevron may very well be the largest attempt at extortion in human history.  The case involves environmental damage in a remote part of the Ecuadorian rainforest.  What might be of some interest is that Chevron — this may strike you as odd — has never drilled for oil, or done anything else in the way of petroleum extraction, at the site in question.

Due Process Demands for College Men Are 'Propaganda,' Lawyer Claims.  When young men are accused of sexual assault on a college campus, should they be entitled to due process and a fair trial?  Should they be able to show evidence that shows their innocence?  Should they be able to cross-examine their accuser?  For students at most colleges, the answer is a resounding no.  No, they're not able to show text messages that might get them off the hook.  No, they can't cross-examine their accuser.  No, they don't have the right to a fair trial.  Because college courts are not criminal courts, the traditional conventions of the law do not apply — resulting in dozens of young men who are accused of sexual assault being unfairly punished by colleges every year and numerous calls from concerned parents, lawyers, and advocates to fix the situation.

Mueller legal team approaching size of entire US Attorney's Office for Rhode Island.  When Robert Mueller was first appointed Special Counsel, I thought, given his generally good reputation, that this might be a streamlined process with fewer leaks, focused on either proving or disproving allegations of Russian interference.  But I did acknowledge, for example in this radio interview, that there was a risk that in the wrong hands the powers vested under the Order appointing Mueller could be abused.

Mueller's Empire:  Legions of Lawyers, Bottomless Budget, Limitless Jurisdiction.  Why on earth does a prosecutor, brought in to investigate a case in which there is no apparent crime, need a staff of 14 lawyers?  Or, I should say, "14 lawyers and counting."  According to the press spokesman for special counsel Robert Mueller — yeah, he's got a press spokesman, too — there are "several more in the pipeline."  Concededly, none of Mueller's recruits requires Senate confirmation, as do Justice Department officials — notwithstanding that the former may end up playing a far more consequential role in the fate of the Trump administration.  But does it seem strange to anyone else that, by comparison, the president of the United States has managed to get — count 'em — three appointees confirmed to Justice Department positions in five months?

Open Borders Group Equipping Lawyers to Fight Deportations.  An open borders organization is working to train immigration lawyers to deal with the increased number of illegal immigrants facing deportation under President Trump.  The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has launched the "Immigration Justice Campaign" to quickly get more attorneys familiar with immigration law to stop the flow of deportations.

The lawyers' civil war.  The attempted massacre on June 14 of Republican congressmen and their staff by a deranged partisan of Sen. Bernie Sanders turned up the heat a notch, but it would be mistaken to attribute much importance to this dreadful outburst of left-wing rage.  The augury of American fracture will not be street violence, but a constitutional crisis implicating virtually the whole of America's governing caste.  The shock troops in the cold civil war are not gunmen but lawyers.

Indiana mom sues principal, teacher after son "forced" to recite Pledge of Allegiance.  An Indiana mom filed a lawsuit on Friday [6/9/2017] against an elementary school teacher and principal for allegedly forcing her son to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.  Jamie Porter said her son's first grade teacher removed the boy from class when he refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance back in March, according to Fox 59.  The lawsuit, filed by the ACLU on behalf of the family, alleged that the boy refused to recite it because he was "protesting" the government.  "He was doing it to protest the government of the United States, as it was racist, greedy and does not care about people," the lawsuit stated.

The Editor says...
Elementary school kids should stand and sit when they are told without regard to their parents' political views, or their own.  Moreover, those who do not vote should not protest against the government.  What does a first-grader know about government greed anyway?

TV Client Sues Celebrity Attorney Gloria Allred for Fraud, Legal Malpractice.  A former client of Gloria Allred has filed a lawsuit against the celebrity attorney for legal malpractice and fraud, claiming she negligently represented him during a case.  Kyle Hunter, a local television weatherman, hired Allred to go after CBS for allegedly discriminating against him in favor of younger, attractive female meteorologists.  His lawsuit filed on Tuesday [6/6/2017] contends Allred botched his legal case, and didn't properly notify him that she was working with CBS to produce a legal drama inspired by her life — an obvious conflict of interest, he claims.

The radical past of Diablo Valley professor Eric Clanton's left-wing lawyer.  The pro bono lawyer for Eric Clanton, the former Diablo Valley College professor who has been criminally charged with using a heavy bike lock to viciously beat three Trump supporters in the head during a rally for the president in Berkeley, Calif. last month, has himself espoused the use of violence in the cause of social justice.  Dan Siegel of Bay Area law firm Siegel & Yee is an aging '60s radical still fighting The System.  So it makes perfect sense that he would take on Clanton's defense free of charge, for his left-wing activism from almost 50 years ago was also grounded in the use of violence and destruction of property.

NYPD cops forbidden from breaking up noisy parties.  A new NYPD directive forbids cops from entering a residence in response to a noise complaint — unless they're given permission.  The directive, a copy of which has been obtained by The [New York] Post, means loud partiers can simply tell the cops who come to their door to just go away.  The bizarre constraint is the result of costly, successful lawsuits against the city by homeowners who complained that cops barged onto their properties without a warrant, multiple sources told The Post.

Fake Law.  Just as fake news spreads ideologically motivated misinformation with a newsy veneer, fake law brings us judicial posturing, virtue signaling, and opinionating masquerading as jurisprudence.  And just as fake news augurs the end of authoritative reporting, fake law portends the diminution of law's legitimacy and the warping of judges' self-understanding of their constitutional role.

Trump has been sued 134 times in federal court since inauguration.  President Trump, who has struggled to press his agenda in Washington but has shown a knack for unsettling opponents and triggering protests, has also become an unprecedented lightning rod for federal lawsuits filed by plaintiffs across the country seeking court relief on an unusually broad array of issues.  Trump has been sued 134 times in federal court since he was sworn into office, according to a Globe tally based on federal court databases, nearly three times the number of his three predecessors in their early months combined.

Democrats File Federal Lawsuit to Try to Steal the Georgia Special Election.  It is a standard rule in American election law for just about every single state that has runoffs.  There is a voter registration deadline before the first round of the election and if there is a runoff only the people registered before the first round can vote in the runoff.  Democrats and Republicans have abided by this rule for years.  But with Jon Ossoff failing to vote his Ossoff into office last Tuesday, it no longer works for Democrats.

Irvine woman sues Albertsons after clerk wrongly assumes she's on food stamps.  An African-American woman filed a civil rights lawsuit Monday, April 10, against Albertsons and its parent company, Safeway, alleging that its managers took no steps to correct or apologize for the actions of a checkout clerk at an Irvine store who incorrectly assumed the woman was on food stamps.  Jenna Watkinson, a spokeswoman for Safeway, said company officials have not seen the lawsuit and "do not comment on pending litigation."  "However, any time we interact with a customer, our goal is to ensure that they are treated with the utmost respect and courtesy," she said Wednesday.

Tucker Carlson demolishes hotshot lawyer hired to represent accused Rockville rapist.  Last night on his eponymous Fox News program, Tucker Carlson interviewed David Moyse, an attorney hired to defend 18 year-old Henry Sanchez-Milian, who is in this country illegally, against a charge of rape against a 14 year old girl in a bathroom at a Rockville, MD, high school. [...] In going on TV to make the case for his client, Counselor Moyse found himself being cross-examined and saying something he soon had cause to regret.  So far as I know, Tucker Carlson has never attended law school, but his questioning skills outpaced the experienced attorney's ability to answer.

Millionaire Lawyer and Wife Rake in $100,000 in Welfare.  You often hear of welfare abuse all over our country, with common sense Americans like you and I crying out that it's destroying our culture, our families, and our economy, while the media and the Democrat Party turn a blind eye.  And then you see a story like this, that is so outrageous it can hardly even be believed.  You have a prominent immigrant lawyer who made over $1.5 million last year, and to most of us that's a life of unimaginable luxury.  So why was his wife filing for and getting food stamps and Medicaid benefits for over six years?

The secret that Blind Sheik lawyer Lynne Stewart took to her grave.  Radical lawyer Lynne Stewart, who died of cancer on Tuesday [3/7/2017], took to her grave a bizarre mystery:  What did an aging leftist find so all-fired attractive in a leader in the war that is being waged against America in the name of radical Islam?  You would think the left would be on the barricades with the rest of America.  Our opponents in this war, after all, seek a system that oppresses women, imposes a theological dictatorship, seethes with anti-Semitism and opposes sexual liberation.  Yet Stewart, a onetime schoolteacher turned lawyer, became so ideologically besotted with Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman that she betrayed America's system of justice — and her own promises — when she carried out of prison messages from Rahman and helped deliver them to his followers.

Soros-Tied Obama Lawyers Form Group to Battle Trump.  Further evidence of Barack Obama's close association with efforts to oppose President Trump has emerged:  a group of former top lawyers for the Obama administration have formed an organization aimed at utilizing legal advocacy methods to oppose Trump's policies.  The organization is calling itself United to Protect Democracy, drawing on the theme of Obama's farewell speech last month.  The group is already partnered with an organization heavily financed by billionaire George Soros and is led by a former Obama lawyer who previously worked at a Soros-financed global activist outfit.

Lynch's Doubling of False Claims Act Fines Could Be Bonanza for Trial Lawyers.  Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch signed a final rule shortly before leaving her post that will effectively double penalties under the False Claims Act, which could stand to benefit trial lawyers, who overwhelmingly contribute campaign funds to Democrats.  Lynch, the attorney general under former President Barack Obama, signed the rule on January 13.  It doubles penalties under the False Claims Act, the main tool used by the government to combat fraud from persons or companies.  Under the 2015 Bipartisan Budget Act, it was required for Lynch's Justice Department to make annual inflation adjustments for civil penalties.  Additionally, the department had to make a one-time aggregate penalty adjustment.

Woman claiming injury from falling biscuits sues Kroger [for $1,000,000] in Cobb court.  Karla Wright wanted some cream cheese.  She was bent over reaching in the cooler of a Kroger in Ellenwood a few years ago when she noticed something.  She looked up to see tubes of biscuits coming toward her face.  Now, she wants justice.

Soros Fingerprints All Over Anti-Trump Lawsuits.  More than a dozen lawsuits and counting have been filed against President Donald Trump's executive order that temporarily blocks visas from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen.  Looking beyond the handful of emotional personal stories that are gaining the media's sympathy, there is a more predictable political power dynamic at play.  The lawsuits largely stem from organizations bankrolled by billionaire leftist George Soros and Democratic state attorneys general.  New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who has carried out a political vendetta against Trump, led 15 other state attorneys general in a joint statement condemning what they called an "unconstitutional, un-American and unlawful executive order."  The Democratic AGs also said, "Religious liberty has been, and always will be, a bedrock principle of our country and no president can change that truth," a curious statement from the party that targeted the Little Sisters of the Poor.

Implosion: 'Clock Boy' Lawsuit Against Shapiro Dismissed, Shapiro Awarded Attorneys' Fees.  On Thursday, the 162nd District Court of Texas ruled decisively against Mohammed Mohammed, father of Ahmed "Clock Boy" Mohammed, dismissing Mohammed's complaint against Daily Wire editor-in-chief Ben Shapiro and awarding Shapiro his attorneys' fees as well.  "This is an excellent day for free speech," Shapiro said.  "Using law as warfare is perhaps the most disgusting tactic of politically correct activists across the country, and we couldn't be more excited to stand up against such frivolous use of our court system.  My initial comments suggested that false charges of Islamophobia only muddy the waters when it comes to policing actual dangerous activity, and I'm proud to fight back against such charges."

Defense attorneys in Chicago torture video case complain that it's 'sad and unfortunate' that four suspects are receiving death threats.  Defense attorneys for the four suspects accused of tying up and torturing a mentally disabled man while they live streamed it on Facebook are complaining that the foursome have received death threats.  'It is sad and unfortunate that many have commented on these young men and women without knowing all the facts,' said Cook County Public Defender Amy Campanelli after a hearing on Friday [1/27/2017].  'They have been denounced in the media before anything has been proven.'

The Editor says...
Denunciation in the news media is a long way from being falsely accused and hastily convicted (i.e., lynched).  Notice also that the defense attorney doesn't deny the accusations.  It's hard to imagine how that would be possible anyway, given the abundant video evidence of the crimes which was provided by the perpetrators themselves.

The first (and frivolous) lawsuit against President Trump.  If you're in the mood for a good chuckle, try reading the first lawsuit filed against the new president since he was sworn in.  The man hasn't even unpacked his collection of red silk ties... and already he stands accused of corruption while in office.  Predictably, the plaintiffs are a clique of law professors serving as "arm candy" for a liberal group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (an oxymoron, to be sure). Their pleadings read like a dime novel.  Or a comic book.

Copyright Vultures Are At It Again!  The Copyright Industry, especially the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), and MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) have suppressed every form of innovation, and technology to protect their questionable rights.  In the 80s, they sued to stop video recorders, but were thankfully held back by the Supreme Court in the famous Betamax case.  The Media Industry forced manufacturers of blank cassettes, tapes, and CDs to pay a royalty to reimburse the industry because the blank recording media might be used to infringe copyright.  That is right; your preacher's sermon tapes actually were forced to subsidize Hollywood.  In 1998, the RIAA sued to stop the first portable Mp3 player, Diamond Rio, from being sold.  In 1999, they took down Napster, the breakthrough file sharing program upstart.  Then they cut a swath of destruction going after a plethora of file sharing services, with such vicious tactics as suing children who downloaded songs for unconscionable amounts of money.  Upping the outrage, they tried to gut the First Amendment with the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), which imperiled the whole Internet by making search engines and hosting companies liable for piracy that the technology companies had nothing to do with.

Car-theft victim handed over to immigration agents sues SF.  A car-theft victim who sought help from San Francisco police only to end up in federal immigration custody for two months filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday [1/17/2017] against the city, the Police Department and the Sheriff's Department for violating the sanctuary city ordinance.  Pedro Figueroa Zarceno, a 32-year-old Mission District resident, says officials breached the ordinance and his right to due process by alerting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, when he went to retrieve a police report about his stolen car at Southern Police Station on Dec. 2, 2015.

Transgender man sues Catholic hospital in Paterson for refusing hysterectomy.  A transgender man sued a Roman Catholic hospital in New Jersey on Thursday [1/5/2017] after he says it cited religion in refusing to allow his surgeon to perform a hysterectomy procedure he said was medically necessary as part of his gender transition.

The Editor says...
To prove that such an operation is "medically necessary," one would first have to prove that his/her sex-change was necessary.  Indeed, it is not necessary.  It is a choice that he/she made.  Any controversy resulting from that choice was completely avoidable.  Moreover, there are lots of other hospitals in New Jersey from which he/she can freely choose.

Black lawyer:  Free anyone charged with murdering whites.  In a new wrinkle in the "black lives matter" movement, an editor of a top-rated legal website is calling on blacks to scare whites by automatically acquitting African-Americans accused of murdering or raping whites, no matter what the facts.  On Above The Law, African-American editor Elie Mystal called for "jury nullification" by blacks when on juries in trials that focus on white victims.  "Jury nullification would get white people's attention.  Remember how [angry] white people were about O.J.?  And that was just one dude.  White people would notice if black jurors simply refused to play along," he wrote.

Youth in Washington state sue government over climate change.  Eight children asked a state judge on Tuesday [11/22/2016] to find Washington in contempt for failing to adequately protect them and future generations from the harmful effects of climate change.  The petitioners asked the judge to require the state Department of Ecology to come up with science-based numeric emissions reductions.  The state argued that it has complied with the court's prior orders and there's no basis for finding the Department of Ecology in contempt.

The Editor says...
Examination of the facts in this case will show that the students have suffered no actual damages.  They perceive (incorrectly) there is a possibility and perhaps even a likelihood of future trouble as a result of "climate change."  But there has been no abnormal climate change, and there are no tanglible recently-erupted problems that can be uniquely blamed on the climate.  When people complain about frivolous lawsuits, this is what they're talking about.

Knives Needed, Attorney Says After Choking On Popeyes Chicken.  A Mississippi attorney is suing Popeyes after he says he choked when he had to eat a piece of fried chicken with his hands because a knife wasn't included in his drive-thru order.

The Editor says...
Has this man never eaten fried chicken before?  If you need a knife, you can ask for a knife and they'll give you one.  It is not necessary to run to your lawyer's office for relief if you don't know how to chew your food.

Black Lives Matter Activist Sues Trump Campaign For Negligence.  Two black protesters filed a lawsuit against the Trump campaign and the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC) after being attacked by Trump supporters at a rally last year.  Mercutio Terrell Southall, Sr., a Black Lives Matter activist, and Carlos Montez Chaverst, Jr., a Birmingham activist, sued for $1 million in damages, reports AL.com.  The central tenet of their suit is the assumption that a ticket purchase to a Trump rally also comes with the reasonable expectation of protection, for which the Trump campaign would be responsible.

$22 million cash hidden in buckets is all legit, defense lawyers say.  A Miami Lakes man who had $22.6 million cash stuffed in buckets inside a secret room says the money is all legit — earned from sales of equipment to legal marijuana growers in other states.  Lawyers for Luis Hernandez-Gonzalez offered their defense in court as a Miami-Dade judge on Tuesday [10/4/2016] lowered his bond to $2 million.  He remains jailed.  "The prosecution of our client amounts to what we think is a war on marijuana and a war on legitimately earned cash," defense lawyer Philip Reizenstein said after Tuesday's hearing.

The Editor says...
Ordinarily, a businessman does not hide millions of dollars in cash, even if he earned the money legitimately.  The jury in this case has the right to draw a reasonable inference from the defendant's actions.

Dems laboring under delusions.  Democrats advocate for endless new regulations, claiming to protect workers.  Unfortunately, these regulations are strangling small businesses that create three out of every four new jobs in the commonwealth.  For example, more than a decade ago the Legislature enacted a law to stop managers from sharing in pooled tip money, like those collected in jars at coffee shops.  That sounds fair.  Well, the law hasn't exactly helped workers.  The unintended consequences resulted in a new cottage industry of lawyers suing doughnut shops.

Honduran woman and her child sue Obama administration over 'inhumane' detention.  An Honduran woman is suing the Obama administration over alleged mistreatment that she and her child suffered while held in a family detention center in Dilley, Texas.  The woman, Suny Rodriguez Alvarado, filed the lawsuit — on which her then-7-year-old son also is a plaintiff — in federal court in New Jersey.  Alvarado, who is 43, was kept in detention for more than four months last year.  The suit is believed to be the first of its kind to seek damages for harm suffered in Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention while seeking refugee status.

Last two lawyers disbarred in Diaco DUI setup.  Calling it "among the most shocking, unethical and unprofessional" conduct they had ever witnessed by lawyers, the justices of the Florida Supreme Court made it both official and unanimous Thursday:  All three Tampa attorneys who set up opposing counsel for a DUI arrest during a bare-knuckles trial in 2013 can never be lawyers in this state again.  Though they hoped for a sentence short of forever, Robert Adams, 47, and Adam Filthaut, 42, are now permanently disbarred.  Stephen Diaco, 47, was banned from practicing law for life in January.

And Just Like That, The Dumbest Trademark Suit Over Saying 'Thank You' Disappears.  It is with mostly pleasure, but a little bit of sadness, that I am here to inform you, dear reader, that the idiotic trademark lawsuit brought by Citigroup against AT&T because it dared to say "thank you" to its customers is dead.  Yes, what started only a couple of months ago as an unintentional test to see just how far a large corporation could twist trademark law out of its useful intentions has been dropped by both parties with prejudice, meaning that no further legal action can be taken on the matter.

US flags called 'liability,' ordered removed from New York fire trucks.  An upstate New York fire department was ordered to stop flying the American flag from trucks in the latest case pitting patriotism against protocol.  Firefighters from the Arlington Fire District in the town of Poughkeepsie were incensed when flags from three trucks were removed during a ceremony Tuesday [8/17/2016], The Poughkeepsie Journal reported.  "If we had to take them down, they had to be taken down the right way," firefighters' union President Joseph Tarquinio told The Journal.  "At the time when the country needs unity, to do something like this ... it's next to flag-burning in my mind."

Firefighters Stand With Dept That Was Told to Remove American Flags From Trucks.  After an upstate New York fire department was told to take American flags off its trucks, other firefighters are speaking out and standing in solidarity.  The Board of Fire Commissioners reportedly told the Arlington Fire District that the flags the flags were a "liability during normal operations for our people and other motorists."  Following a backlash, they compromised and allowed one truck to have a flag.

NY state fire chief is told he has to remove the stars and stripes from his station's trucks because they might distract drivers.  A fire chief has been told to remove US flags from his station's trucks because they could be a 'distraction' for other drivers.  Tory Gallante, fire chief of Arlington, New York, was told to have the flags taken down following a decision by the Board of Fire Commissioners.  Members of the board said the flags, which were requested by the firefighters union, are a 'liability'.

The Editor says...
Once again, city leaders toss common sense out the window for fear of litigation.  Thanks, lawyers!

Update:
Smaller U.S. flags to be reinstalled on New York firetrucks after being called a 'liability' by Board of Fire Commissioners.  American flags will be reinstalled on some firetrucks in a New York community after an outcry that followed fire commissioners' orders to take them down.  Fire commissioners of the Arlington Fire District in the town of Poughkeepsie had ordered the large flags removed from the back of three fire engines earlier this month.  The move was made over concerns about possible U.S. flag code violations and potential safety risks to firefighters and motorists.

Refugees sue Pa. district, charge school not good enough.  A group of refugees is suing a Central Pennsylvania school district, saying the academy they were put in after their arduous journey to America is not up to snuff.  Represented by the Pennsylvania branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, the six refugees sued Lancaster schools in federal court, saying they were dumped in a disciplinary school and are being denied access to a quality education.  The students range in age from 17 to 21, and hail from Somalia, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Burma.

Refugees sue Pennsylvania district: 'Did not find the school that I deserved'.  Somali refugee Qasim Hassan told a Pennsylvania court that upon his arrival in America, "I did not find the school that I deserved."  Hassan is among six refugees who are suing Lancaster schools with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, alleging that an alternative school where some older refugees were placed isn't good enough, and the inadequate instruction violates their rights, PennLive reports.  "We came to get a better education," Sudanese refugee Khadidja Issa told the court.

Justice Dept. lawyers ordered to take remedial ethics classes after misleading judge in amnesty case.  The Justice Department will order all of its civil division lawyers to take an hour[-]long remedial ethics class, hoping to head off even worse punishment from a federal judge who is furious about the way Obama administration attorneys misled him in the case involving the president's deportation amnesty. [...] But the lawyers pleaded with Judge Hanen not to slap any of them with sanctions, saying the errors were the result of groupthink and not attributable to any particular lawyer's goofs.

Soros-funded DNC 'superlawyer' challenges voter ID laws to 'protect the Obama coalition'.  The Democratic Party is fighting to protect what it calls the "Obama coalition" of African-Americans, Latinos, and young people by trying to overturn certain voter legislation, with the help of billionaire George Soros.  Marc Elias, described by the Washington Post as a "Democratic superlawyer," has been bringing a number of cases to battleground states where Republicans have tweaked laws to supposedly work in their favor.

Buying Justice:  Private Jets And Campaign Donations Jeopardize High Court's Integrity.  When attorney Michael fFuller's private Lear jet landed in West Virginia in June 2016, he brought millions of dollars worth of unwelcome memories with him.  Fuller is a named partner at the Mississippi-based McHugh Fuller Law Group, a small law practice wielding influence in multiple states that specializes in nursing home negligence and appearances of impropriety.  The five lawyer operation has proved remarkably effective — the firm boasts hundreds of millions of dollars in judgements in recent years.

There Has Not Been a Non-Lawyer on a Democratic Presidential Ticket for Three Decades.  Democrats nominated two lawyers for the ninth consecutive presidential election at last week's convention in Philadelphia, something Republicans have not done since 1972.  Both Hillary Clinton, who went to Yale Law School, and running mate Tim Kaine, who went to Harvard Law School, worked in private law practices before entering the political realm.  It has become a given for Democrats to nominate lawyers in recent decades.  All of the party's candidates going back to 1984 — Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John Kerry, John Edwards, Al Gore, Joe Lieberman, Bill Clinton, Michael Dukakis, Walter Mondale, and Geraldine Ferraro — went to law school.

The parents who didn't sue, Disney taught America a powerful lesson.  This week brought news that the parents of a senior at Leon High School in Florida are threatening to sue the school if their daughter doesn't make the varsity cheerleading squad.  The school, which was state runner up in the non-tumbling division at the National High School Cheerleading Championship last year, has a very competitive team.  When the young woman, whom the district has not yet identified, fell twice during her tryouts, the coaches decided she didn't make the cut.  Which is when her parents decided it was time to consult a lawyer.  It's not clear whether the parents have found a "right to be part of a human pyramid" in the US Constitution, but just the threat of litigation is enough to make even the most inefficient bureaucracy spring into action.  And so the school district is reviewing the decision of the cheerleading judges.

Intersex person who was denied a passport over gender designation sues U.S. government.  Dana Zzyym needed a U.S. passport, but the application offered only two gender choices: male or female.  For Zzyym, neither was accurate.  Zzyym was born with ambiguous genitalia and identifies as intersex, neither male nor female.  Zzyym — who uses the gender-neutral pronouns "they" and "them" — was denied a passport after the State Department declined to let Zzyym use the gender marker "X."  Zzyym, a Fort Collins, Colo., resident and Navy veteran, has sued the State Department, saying the federal government violated the Constitution's guarantees of due process rights and discriminated against Zzyym based on gender.  The suit names Secretary of State John F. Kerry as a defendant and alleges that in order to get a passport, Zzyym would have had to lie under penalty of perjury.

Rastafari Cook Ordered to Cut Dreadlocks, U.S. Sues for Discrimination.  The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency that enforces the nation's workplace discrimination laws, is suing on behalf of a Rastafari prep cook in an Orlando, Florida Walt Disney resort who was ordered to cut his dreadlocks because it didn't comply with the company's appearance standards.  Disney isn't the defendant, but rather the Orlando staffing company, Hospitality Staff, that provides workers for central Florida's huge hospitality industry.  When Disney complained about the employee's hair, Hospitality Staff management told the prep cook (Courtney Joseph) to cut his hair if he wanted to return to work, even though Joseph explained that he couldn't because he was a practicing Rastafarian and his dreadlocks were part of his religious beliefs.  Hospitality Staff violated federal law by firing Joseph over his Rastafarian religious practices, the EEOC charges in a lawsuit filed this week.  "Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits religious discrimination and requires employers to make reasonable accommodations to employees' sincerely held religious beliefs so long as this does not pose an undue hardship to the business," according to an agency announcement.

Thousands of immigrant kids added to class-action lawsuit over right to counsel.  Thousands of unaccompanied immigrant minors facing possible deportation will be swept into class-action status in a lawsuit filed by immigration rights advocates arguing that they are entitled to have attorneys during court hearings.  U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly in Seattle approved the class-action status on Friday in a case, filed in 2014, by the American Civil Liberties Union and immigration advocates challenging the government's failure to provide lawyers.  Zilly ordered that the plaintiffs in the case are now expected to represent thousands of children throughout the West who are under 18, can't afford legal representation, and are potentially eligible for asylum or U.S. citizenship.

Massachusetts man sued for $30G by serial litigator who bought used $40 printer off Craigslist.  A seemingly straightforward Craigslist sale of a $40 used printer turned into a six-and-a-half year court battle that ended up costing the seller $12,000 in lawyer fees — and he still may be on the hook for $30,000 if the buyer has his way.  In 2009, Doug Costello, 66, unwittingly sold the Brother laser printer, complete with a fax and a scanner, to a man that the Indiana Supreme Court describes as a "prolific, abusive litigant" who has brought dozens of high-priced lawsuits over online transactions, the Indianapolis Star reported.

Lawyers For Illegals Getting Taxpayer Dollars?  Republicans and Democrats introduced clashing bills last week related to the provision of taxpayer-funded legal services for Unaccompanied Alien Minors.  Fortunately for Republicans they already have similar laws in place that deny such funding.  Fortunately for Democrats, it's riddled with loopholes.

Law Graduate Gets Her Day in Court, Suing Law School.  Nearly a decade has passed since an aspiring young lawyer in California, Anna Alaburda, graduated in the top tier of her class, passed the state bar exam and set out to use the law degree she had spent about $150,000 to acquire.  But on Monday [3/7/2016], in a San Diego courtroom, she will tell a story that has become all too familiar among law students in the United States:  Since graduating from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in 2008, she has yet to find a full-time salaried job as a lawyer.  From there, though, her story has taken an unusual twist:  Ms. Alaburda, 37, is the first former law student whose case against a law school, charging that it inflated the employment data for its graduates as a way to lure students to enroll, will go to trial.

Democrats say illegal immigrant children should have constitutional right to lawyers.  Congressional Democrats introduced legislation Friday [2/26/2016] to grant illegal immigrant children taxpayer-funded lawyers to argue their cases, saying once they get into the U.S. they deserve constitutional due process protections to make sure their cases are fairly decided.  It's the latest battlefield as Washington grapples with the ongoing stream of illegal immigrants from Central America who have surged into the U.S. in the last few years, overwhelming the Border Patrol, social workers and the immigration courts.

Senators Push Bill Demanding Legal Aid for Immigrant Kids.  A group of Democratic senators on Thursday presented a bill seeking to guarantee immigrant, mostly Central American children access to legal advice and due process when facing deportation.  The bill was motivated by the fact that often Central American minors who illegally cross the southern U.S. border alone fleeing violence in their countries, and other "vulnerable individuals," must appear before immigration judges without access to legal advice.

'You don't add a bit of value, do you?': Texas judge berates government lawyers.  [Scroll down]  The case that caused the judicial kerfuffle involves Omar Faraj Saeed al-Hardan, 24, a Palestinian born in Iraq, who was charged with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State.  The prosecution got off to a bad start almost immediately.  At a detention hearing last month, a Department of Homeland Security agent testified that Hardan had wanted to blow up a pair of Houston malls.  Prosecutors subsequently had to correct that testimony and the FBI later issued an embarrassing news release saying that although Hardan had discussed future targets, "there was never any active or planned plot targeting a specific location in Houston or elsewhere."  The detention hearing also didn't pass without [U.S. District Judge Lynn Nettleton] Hughes counting what he considered 11 nonessential government employees in his courtroom, according to an account of the proceeding.

Prosecutor Who Sent Innocent Man to Death Row Is Disbarred.  A former prosecutor who used false testimony and withheld evidence to send a now-exonerated man to death row in Texas has lost an appeal to overturn his disbarment.

New Obama regulation: White males lose, lawyers and Democrats win.  Last Friday [1/29/2016], a new regulation was proposed by the Obama administration that will make it harder and more expensive for employers to hire and promote white males, enrich class action lawyers, and do absolutely nothing to accomplish the ostensible goal of raising the pay of women relative to men. [...] Just another way of making it more difficult and expensive to run an organization with employees.  Is it any wonder that job creation has stalled?

Obama's 'diversity' diktat is a giant gift to lawyers.  How will this new EEOC reporting affect you?  Your employer will have to lump workers into 12 salary bands.  If you're a white male up for a raise, but the band above yours already includes too many while males, tough luck.  Your boss will be pressured to give the raise to a woman or minority to avoid triggering EEOC scrutiny.  This data collection is a godsend for EEOC regulators looking for targets, and it hands class-action lawyers the statistics they need on a silver platter.  But not every difference in pay is actually caused by discrimination.  President Obama parrots the bogus claim that for every dollar men make, women make only 79 cents.  This so-called "wage gap" is shoddy statistics.  It merely averages what all men in America make, and compares that with what all women make, lumping together all kinds of jobs.  It proves nothing about what women and men earn when they do the same work.

Disgraced ex-politician John Edwards back practicing law and now vying to lead 'goldmine' case against Volkswagen over emissions cheating.  Former vice presidential candidate John Edwards is competing to lead private litigation against Volkswagen over its emissions cheating scandal. [...] The case, which lumps together class action suits on behalf of more than 500,000 Volkswagen owners or lease-holders, is being touted as a 'goldmine' for lawyers.

Despite New Limits, The IRS is Not Yet Under Control.  [A]n ongoing dispute between the tax collection agency and Microsoft demonstrates that the IRS continues to operate outside the bounds of the law.  The IRS is in the midst of an almost nine-year audit of Microsoft.  That's unusual given the three-year statutory limit for audits.  Sometimes they can be extended when necessary, but the IRS has asked and been granted permission by Microsoft to do so eight times already.  Most notable, however, is the fact that Microsoft just wants to pay its bill and move on, but the IRS has refused to submit one.  That might be due to the fact that the never-ending audit is proving quite profitable for a powerful, politically-connected law firm.

Capital One Files [a] 'Disturbing' Number of Lawsuits Against Its Cardholders.  No lender sues more of its customers than Capital One, according to ProPublica's review of state court data.  Over the past year, ProPublica has sought to illuminate the scope of debt collection lawsuits, which, though they are often filed by public companies in public courts, are a largely hidden part of the nation's financial life.  The suits hit workers who earn less than $40,000 a year the hardest, and federal garnishment laws provide scant protection.  Even workers near the minimum wage could have a quarter of their take-home pay taken or their bank accounts cleaned out.

What Happens If Two Driverless Cars Crash? Lawyers Drool.  Imagine a robot car with no one behind the wheel hitting another driverless car.  Who's at fault?  The answer:  no one knows.  But plaintiff's lawyers are salivating at the prospects for big paydays from such accidents.  If computers routinely crash, they say, then so will cars operated by them.  And with no one behind the wheel, lawyers say they can go after almost anyone even remotely involved.

Arrest Warrant Issued for Missing 'Affluenza' Teen Ethan Couch.  An arrest warrant has been issued for the Texas teen who avoided jail time in the drunken-driving deaths of four people two years ago because he has failed to check in with his probation officer, according to Tarrant County Juvenile Services and the teenager's lawyers.  There is an arrest warrant or "directive to apprehend" Ethan Couch, who was sentenced to probation, but his case is still in juvenile court, Randy Turner, the chief juvenile probation officer for the county, told ABC News today.

The Editor says...
It was easy to predict that the Affluenza kid would get in trouble again and blow his probation.  Here's a recap of the Affluenza case:

When the Chewbacca Defense Just Won't Do, There's Always Affluenza.  The far left invented the term "Affluenza" to goof on free markets and free choices of consumer consumption.  They shouldn't be too surprised an enterprising trial lawyer ran with the idea, Chewbacca Defense-style, and used it to successfully, albeit disgustingly, if the facts of the case are as CNN presents them, get his client off the hook, at least temporarily.

His mom and dad aren't likely to win the Parents of the Year award.
Liberal Affluenza.  In June, 16-year old Ethan Couch, driving his father's F-350 pickup truck while drunk on beer that he and friends had stolen from Walmart, plowed into four people on the side of the road in Burleson, Texas, killing them and grievously injuring two of his own teenage passengers. [...] Last week, a juvenile court judge sentenced Couch — who, when he was 15 years old had been found by police passed out in a car with a naked 14-year-old girl — to probation and therapy, without a single day in jail.

Affluenza teen lived in his own mansion.  The drunk driving teen who killed four people but was spared jail because he was too rich to know any better, regularly had wild, booze-fuelled parties in his own mansion, claims one of the troubled teenager's friends.  Ethan Couch, 16, was three times over the limit and high on Valium when he mounted a curb in Burleson, Texas earlier this year and plowed into a broken down car, taking four lives and injuring more.  And MailOnline can reveal the horror crash happened just a few hundred yards from a sprawling property where Couch boasted he was allowed to live alone and unsupervised.

Kids don't learn about civics and representative government in school any more, but they do know about lawsuits.
US kids' lawsuit over climate change gathers steam.  A lawsuit over climate change filed by 21 young Americans has gained the attention of the fossil fuel industry, which is joining the US government to oppose the kids' demands for sharper pollution cuts.  The plaintiffs, aged eight to 19, include the granddaughter of renowned climate scientist James Hansen, formerly of NASA and a well-known advocate of reducing the greenhouse gases that are causing the planet to heat up.

The Editor says...
[#1] Greenhouse gases are not pollutants, and the planet is only heating and cooling at imperceptible rates.  [#2] If the rest of the "kids" have parents and grandparents who are left-wing climate activists, then it's obvious the kids are being used as surrogates and pawns for emotional leverage.  After all, what eight-year-old files a lawsuit on his own?  TV news shows are much more susceptible to a story about children than a story about old men trying to solve a problem we don't have.

General Counsel for Al Jazeera America Appears to Be Unlicensed.  David W. Harleston, an executive who serves as general counsel for the media company Al Jazeera America, has had a busy year. [...] But according to court officials, there are no records that indicate Mr. Harleston is licensed to practice law in New York State, where Al Jazeera America has its headquarters.

Major Democratic Donor Claimed Dog, Dead People as Clients in BP Oil Spill Fraud Case, Court Documents Say.  Mikal Watts is regarded as a Democratic kingmaker and wealthy Texas trial lawyer who even hosted a private $35,000-a-plate fundraiser for President Obama at his home.  He is now under federal indictment for allegedly fraudulently representing thousands of clients — including a handful of dead people and a dog — in litigation against BP after the 2010 Deep Water Horizon oil spill.  Watts appeared in federal court Thursday in Mississippi along with his brother, David[,] who is also charged.  Both men, along with five others, allegedly used stolen and false identities of people to sign up as plaintiffs in their case against BP, eventually claiming to represent more than 40,000 individuals making claims against BP valued in excess of $2 billion.

Fossil fuel companies risk plague of 'asbestos' lawsuits as tide turns on climate change.  Investors in the City are increasingly concerned that fossil fuel groups and their insurers are on the wrong side of a powerful historical shift and could be swamped with exhorbitant class-action lawsuits along the lines of tobacco and asbestos litigation in the US.

Global Warming Goes To Court.  After years of testifying before administrative agencies and lobbying in legislatures with disappointing results, many climate activists see the courts as their last best hope.  Over the past few years, lawsuits have been filed in almost every American state and in many foreign countries asserting that the judiciary has the authority and the responsibility to order the executive and legislative branches of government to take more aggressive actions to combat climate change.

America's Six Worst Attorneys General.  State attorneys general (AGs) are their state's chief lawyer, tasked with representing state agencies in court, defending state laws, and giving legal advice to state officials.  But in recent years, many AGs have taken on a role as self-serving politicians who neglect these duties and instead seek to expand their own power — from using their office to enrich themselves or their trial lawyer friends to filing lawsuits attacking political opponents or law-abiding businesses.  These and other AG abuses are chronicled in the Competitive Enterprise Institute's latest report, The Nation's Worst State Attorneys General 2015, which names six of the worst offenders.

The Rule Of Law In America: An Autopsy.  The best indicator for the unbearable luxuriance of law is the legal library even the humblest practitioner is required to maintain.  Hundreds of thick volumes populate the shelves... but even perfect knowledge of their contents would not be a sufficient guide to the law, for today's lawyer is perforce a specialist.  He operates in a corner of the law, defined by subject matter and geographical application, and dares not venture beyond it without consulting another lawyer whose specialty would adequately supplement his.  If the heavily educated, licensed practitioners of law are so confined, what, then, could the common citizen know of it?

Customer sues 'Throwed Rolls' restaurant after being hit, injured by roll.  A well-known Missouri restaurant, known for being the "Home of Throwed Rolls," may be in some hot water over a guest who allegedly received a roll-related injury.  Lambert's Cafe, which features dinner rolls being thrown across the room by servers to guests, is being sued.

Customer sues 'Throwed Rolls' restaurant after being hit, injured by roll.  A well-known Missouri restaurant, known for being the "Home of Throwed Rolls," may be in some hot water over a guest who allegedly received a roll-related injury.  Lambert's Cafe, which features dinner rolls being thrown across the room by servers to guests, is being sued.

Judge: Permanently disbar all three lawyers involved in DUI setup.  Three lawyers who orchestrated the DUI arrest of an adversary should receive a professional death sentence — permanent disbarment, a judge recommended Thursday [8/27/2015].  "This malicious tampering with another person's personal life and career was not only unprofessional, it was inexcusable," Judge W. Douglas Baird wrote in his withering opinion, capping a scandal that titillated Tampa with a flirtatious paralegal and outrageous radio personalities whose bombast and shock value were eclipsed by the behavior of lawyers.  Baird recommended that the state Supreme Court find lawyers Stephen Diaco, Robert Adams and Adam Filthaut guilty of numerous ethical violations that amounted to "a deliberate and malicious effort to put a heavy finger on the scale of justice" in connection with the January 2013 arrest of opposing attorney C. Philip Campbell.

Tsarnaev Lawyers: Boston Marathon Bombing Wasn't 'Crime of Violence'.  Federal public defender Miriam Conrad the other attorneys on his defense team argue the attack wasn't a "crime of violence" within the meaning of the law.  As a result, they say, the court should redo the trial's penalty phase.  Here, they're not challenging his conviction of using a weapon of mass destruction, the most serious offense.  But they say the more than dozen counts dealing with "possession and use of a firearm ... in relation to a crime of violence" should be tossed.

Despicable conduct by attorneys in Bubba the Love Sponge slander case deserves severe punishment.  Thank goodness a judge saw through the chicanery and came down hard on the three Tampa attorneys accused of conspiring to have an opposing attorney arrested on drunken driving charges.  Judge W. Douglas Baird's unequivocal finding Tuesday [7/7/2015] that the three were guilty of unethical conduct means the lawyers — Stephen Diaco, Robert Adams and Adam Filthaut — face severe sanctions when their professional fates are decided by the Florida Supreme Court.  Disbarment should be seriously considered.  Their behavior played into every bad perception the public has about lawyers.  So did their refusal to own up to the depth of the misconduct.

Gay Man Files $70M Suit Against Bible Publishers Over 'Homosexual' Verses.  A homosexual man filed a $70 million lawsuit against Bible publishers alleging that their version of the Bible that refers to homosexuality as a sin violates his constitutional rights and has caused him emotional distress. [...] In his hand-written suit, 39 year old Fowler makes many claims against Zondervan including malicious negligence, strict liability, malice, libel, and violating his civil rights.  He's seeking $60 million from Zondervan and $10 million from Thomas Nelson Publishing.

Punctuation enables parking.  An appeals court has agreed with an Ohio woman who said her parking citation should be tossed because the village law was missing a comma.

Man sues Chinese actress over her intense stare in TV show.  Rules making it easier to file lawsuits in China have led to a new concern over frivolous claims, such as one in which a man says actress Zhao Wei stared at him too intensely through his TV set.

Transgender student sues school, citing restroom policy.  A transgender teenager said in a lawsuit Thursday [6/11/2015] that he has been stigmatized by a policy that bars him from using the boys' restrooms at his eastern Virginia high school.

Police Practicing Defensive Medicine.  Defensive medicine is how physicians protect themselves from lawsuits.  Whether ordering extra and unnecessary tests or avoiding high-risk patients, these measures reduce the chance of physicians facing a malpractice lawsuit for a bad outcome or missed diagnosis.  At least 75 percent of physicians practice defensive medicine at an annual cost estimated to be $650 billion per year.

When District Attorneys Attack.  The GOP should turn its attention to prosecutorial misconduct. [...] Exhibit A:  Orange County, California.  The sunny Southern California county with a population surpassing that of nearly half the states has a Republican district attorney, Tony Rackauckas, and a big problem on its hands:  Its entire prosecutorial apparatus — all 250 lawyers in the district attorney's office — have been disqualified from participation in a high-profile capital-murder case following revelations that the office colluded with the Orange County sheriff's department to systematically suppress potentially exculpatory evidence in at least three dozen cases, committing what legal scholars have characterized as perjury and obstruction of justice in the process.  One of the questions involves a secret database of jail records related to confessions obtained via informants.

Man burned in blast making hash oil sues butane businesses.  An Oregon medical marijuana patient who was badly burned in an explosion while he was legally using butane as a solvent to make hash oil is suing the makers and sellers of the fuel.

The case for conservative civil disobedience.  [Scroll down]  In parallel, the legal system has become a vehicle for progressive social aims, growing arbitrary and subjective.  Murray points to lower bars for bringing lawsuits, broader rules of discovery and the rise of strict liability that doesn't require specific negligence to find guilt.  All this has conspired to create a system in which defending yourself is prohibitively costly, laws are so complex as to be unintelligible and prosecutors enjoy corrupting discretionary power.  Instead of a world where acts are criminalized because they are malum in se (wrong in themselves), Murray argues that a large proportion of crimes in the federal code are "malum prohibitum — not things that are bad in themselves but things that warrant criminal penalties because the government has said they do."

Al Sharpton's daughter told not to delete hiking pics prior to $5M NYC ankle injury lawsuit.  New York City lawyers have ordered Rev. Al Sharpton's daughter Dominique not to delete Instagram photos of her recent hiking trip in Indonesia.  Ms. Sharpton has filed a $5 million lawsuit against the city for "permanent" injuries she claims are attributable to falling on an uneven sidewalk.  The city Law Department sent Ms. Sharpton a letter telling her to preserve all of the evidence posted on her social-media accounts, the New York Post reported Saturday [5/23/2015].

Al Sharpton's daughter sues city for $5M after spraining ankle.  She learned at the feet of a master.  Shakedown artist Al Sharpton's eldest child wants $5 million from city taxpayers after she fell in the street and sprained her ankle, court records show.  Dominique Sharpton, 28, says she was "severely injured, bruised and wounded" when she stumbled over uneven pavement at the corner of Broome Street and Broadway downtown last year, according to a lawsuit.

Al Sharpton's daughter hiked up a mountain on 'sprained' ankle.  The Rev. Al Sharpton's daughter unwittingly proved that her $5 million sprained-ankle suit against the city is a mountain of BS.  Dominique Sharpton posted pictures to Instagram showing she completed a difficult mountain climb in Bali, Indonesia — even though her suit says that "she still suffers" debilitating pain after twisting her ankle in a street crack in Soho last year.  She didn't seem to realize that her mountaineering exploits might undermine her legal claims as she bragged online about the difficulty of her ascent.

Children Facing U.S. Deportation Allowed to Sue for Lawyers.  A group of unaccompanied immigrant children who face deportation from the U.S. can proceed with a lawsuit to have government-paid lawyers represent them at their removal hearing.  U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly in Seattle on Monday denied the government's bid to throw out the American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit on behalf of the juveniles, saying the case can proceed over an alleged violation of the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of due process.

Supreme Court grants unanimous win for common sense.  For the Supreme Court to issue a unanimous opinion, legal minds as vastly different as Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, must find agreement, as well as everyone in between.  That rarely happens on contentious or unclear issues.  Unanimity on the court usually signals that the resulting opinion is a simple application of common sense with which no reasonable person could disagree.  This has occurred many times at the Obama administration's expense, but this week the court issued a unanimous opinion that instead puts a key White House ally — the trial lawyer lobby — on the spot.

Please Explain 100,000 Deferrals for Illegal Aliens.  Many lawyer jokes play off the premise that lawyers are congenitally incapable of telling the truth.  But in reality, lawyers have an obligation to be honest in their dealings with a court:  They have to tell the truth.  Under the American Bar Association's Model Rule of Professional Conduct 3.3, attorneys have an ethical obligation of "Candor toward the Tribunal."  They shall not knowingly "make a false statement of fact or law to a tribunal or fail to correct a false statement of material fact or law previously made to the tribunal by the lawyer."  This is particularly important because judges often make their decisions — or delay making a decision — on the basis of what they are told by lawyers.

When you need to lawyer up....  Mr. Archie may a true marketing genius.

Silver's law firm rakes in millions from judges he controls.  Sheldon Silver has perverted the courts as well as the Capitol.  His law firm, Weitz & Luxenberg, gets its asbestos cases — and paydays — moved more quickly than those of other attorneys, and reaps a fortune from favorable rulings by friendly judges, charge lawyers and tort-reform advocates.  Silver's East Village firm handles more than half the cases in a special section of Manhattan Supreme Court called NYCAL (New York City Asbestos Litigation).  So dominant is the firm, the court's Web site refers to cases as "Weitz" or "non-Weitz."

Confessions of a Public Defender.  I am a public defender in a large southern metropolitan area.  Fewer than ten percent of the people in the area I serve are black but over 90 percent of my clients are black. [...] The media invariably sugarcoat black behavior.  Even the news reports of the very crimes I dealt with in court were slanted.  Television news intentionally leaves out unflattering facts about the accused, and sometimes omits names that are obviously black.  All this rocked my liberal, tolerant beliefs, but it took me years to set aside my illusions and accept the reality of what I see every day.

Lawyers Create Big Paydays by Coaxing Attorneys General to Sue.  When they met at the J. W. Marriott Hotel two blocks from the White House, Linda Singer, a former attorney general turned plaintiffs' lawyer, approached Attorney General Gary King of New Mexico with an unusual proposition.  Ms. Singer wanted him to sue the owner of a nursing home in rural New Mexico that Mr. King had never heard of and Ms. Singer had never set foot in.  She later presented him with a proposed lawsuit that did not cite any specific complaints about care.  What she shared with him were numbers on staffing levels gleaned from records suggesting that residents were being mistreated there and at other facilities.

Public defenders appear in 'kill cops' rap video.  Taxpayers pay their salaries — but that hasn't stopped two Bronx public defenders from appearing in a vile online rap video that urges black people to kill NYPD cops.

Drug Smuggler Sues U.S. Over Dog Bite.  A man transporting marijuana over the border with Mexico says a Border Patrol dog mauled him — and the U.S. needs to pay.

Ferguson protesters lawyer up after scores of arrests.  "Occupy Wall Street is the gift that keeps on giving," said Wylie Stecklow, a New York-based lawyer.

Woman who fell on 'defective' sidewalk gets $2.25M from NYC.  Denise Giles fell on a "defective" sidewalk outside a clinic owned by the New York City Health and Hospitals Corp. in September 2006 — and ended up collecting $2.25 million to settle a lawsuit against the city.  Giles, then 41 and living in Manhattan, claimed she needed ankle surgery after the tumble and started her legal action in December 2006.  It ended seven years later, before going to trial, with the settlement check.  The payment was among 885 the city made — totaling $60 million — in the past 22 months that involved legal claims about defective sidewalks.

Brown attorney indicates civil suit planned.  An attorney for the family of Michael Brown indicated Sunday [11/30/2014] the family to sue either the Ferguson, Mo., Police Department, the police officer who shot and killed Brown, or both.  Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," lawyer Daryl Parks said in response to a question about a potential civil suit:  "We'll certainly give the parties involved a chance to work it out."  Parks further explained:  "It could be a settlement.  It could be a chance for litigation."

Attorney for Michael Brown family keeps open possibility of civil suit.  An attorney for Michael Brown's family said Sunday the grand jury proceedings that ended without an indictment for the police officer who shot and killed the unarmed 18-year-old was flawed — and left open the possibility the Brown family could pursue a civil rights case.  "They have that option," attorney Daryl Parks told "Fox News Sunday [11/30/2014]."  But "this is not something being discussed publicly."

More about Ferguson.

The BP oil spill and the rule of law (or the rule of lawyers).  A major development is coming in the legal battle surrounding the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.  The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide whether to review issues presented by BP's class-action case.  What's at stake here is important not just for BP, but for all of us; namely, whether the rule of law or the rule of lawyers will prevail.  The BP petition presents a narrow issue:  whether a class was properly certified consistent with Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Procedure and Article III of the U.S. Constitution.  In plain terms, it is whether a class action can be brought if substantial numbers of the class have not suffered any injury caused by the defendant.

Can Someone 'Win' a Lawsuit without Suffering Injury?  From the "Nice Work If You Can Get It" Department:  Being paid $100,000-plus for damages from an accident, even if neither you nor anything you own was actually damaged.  Such absurdities will be at issue soon at the Supreme Court, which as early as this coming Monday (November 17) is expected to decide whether to grant certiorari in a tremendously important challenge to one of the class-action awards involving the 2010 BP oil spill.  The high court ought to take the case.

Marijuana Patient Sues After Firm Won't Hire Her.  A graduate student has sued a textile company for refusing to hire her for a two-month internship because she uses medical marijuana to treat frequent and debilitating migraine headaches, a decision her lawyer calls discrimination.

Woman Sues Disney for $250M, Claims Frozen Is Stolen From Her Life's Story.  A woman is suing the Walt Disney Corporation for $250 million, claiming the blockbuster movie, Frozen, was actually stolen from her life story.  That's right — according to author Isabella Tanikumi, the storyline for Frozen was plucked not from the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, The Snow Queen, but rather from her autobiography, Yearnings of the Heart.

Woman Reaches Into Lion's Cage, Loses Finger, Sues Zoo.  One would think that "don't pet lions" is in the same league of advice as "don't take your toaster in the bathtub," but for one Michigan woman, the thrill of petting a real-life lion was too much temptation.  Ranae Ferguson was visiting Sunrise Side Nature Trail and Exotic Park when she decided to reach inside a lion's cage, resulting in the partial loss of her middle finger.

LA Lakers 'Showtime' Threatened by Class Action Over Text Messages.  On their home court at the Staples Center, the Los Angeles Lakers are known for giving their fans "showtime" in the form of exciting basketball.  One fan, however, wants to give back to the team in the form of a class action lawsuit.  Why is he suing the Lakers?  During a game, the team offered fans the chance to have their custom text message displayed on the "Jumbotron."  Because of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, a law originally designed to stop telemarketers from systematically calling huge batches of numbers, this fan and others are able to sue the Lakers and the Clippers for getting any text sent back to them, even though they initiated the first text to participate in the offer.

Alabama man gets $1,000 in police settlement, his lawyers get $459,000.  An Alabama man who sued over being hit and kicked by police after leading them on a high-speed chase will get $1,000 in a settlement with the city of Birmingham, while his attorneys will take in $459,000, officials said Wednesday [10/22/2014].

Trial lawyer industry tries to buy a Democratic majority.  If you follow the money in the 2014 election — if you look past the audacious nine figures of liberal billionaire Tom Steyer, and past the well-heeled tentacles of the Kochtopus, and past Karl Rove and Harry Reid — you will find a little-noted major player in the battle to control the U.S. Senate:  trial lawyers.

South Carolina teen sues DMV over license photo.  The family of a South Carolina teenager who was ordered to remove his makeup before taking a driver's license photo this year has filed a federal lawsuit against the state Department of Motor Vehicles, according to court records.  Chase Culpepper, a 16-year-old who identifies as male but wears makeup and women's clothing on a regular basis, was ordered to remove his makeup by DMV officials when he tried to obtain his driver's license in March.

Second Base — Mike Brown's Mom Lesley McSpadden Announces: "All We Want Is An Arrest".  In 2012 Benjamin Crump described getting the arrest as "getting to second base".  Second base is the arrest.  "All we want is an arrest".  You can hear it at the 4:15 point of the video.  Now that everyone in Ferguson Missouri is riled up they need to get to second base — quickly before anything happens that would deflate the momentum. [...] Once they get to Second Base (The Arrest) a financial hurdle will have been removed, as the arrest will suffice for probable cause of a wrongful death claim.

Double amputee continues legal spree by suing Ralph Lauren.  Zoltan Hirsch — a double amputee in a wheelchair dubbed "Hell on Wheels" by The Post in 2011 after he filed 87 federal claims in one year against city businesses, arguing they were not wheelchair-accessible — is continuing his campaign.  Hirsch last month sued Ralph Lauren Denim & Supply at 99 University Place, claiming he suffered injury because, according to papers filed in US District Court, he "continues to be discriminated against due to the architectural barriers."  The Brooklyn resident, who lost his legs in a car accident 10 years ago, previously hit a vast array of businesses ranging from a Brooklyn Dunkin' Donuts to Midtown's Lace strip club, Soho's Louis Vuitton and even a pedicure spa in Soho.

Serial Plaintiff Alfredo Garcia Deported to Mexico.  Alfredo Garcia, a notorious serial plaintiff, convicted felon and undocumented immigrant, has been deported to Mexico.  Garcia made it his business to sue small businesses, filing more than 800 lawsuits against businesses in the Los Angeles area for alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Garcia hasn't held a job since he fell out of an avocado tree while he was drinking and high on cocaine about 18 years ago.  Garcia's back was broken, his spinal cord severed.  Since then, he's made a living off these lawsuits.

Murder verdict tossed because his mom couldn't find a seat.  Meet Daniel Floyd — the luckiest "killer" in New York.  The 23-year-old Brooklyn man was tried, convicted and — after the jury found he shot a rival dead at a dice game — sent to prison for 15 years to life.  But the state's highest court overturned the guilty verdict — all because Floyd's mother couldn't find a seat in the courtroom during jury selection.  A juror who voted to convict Floyd was shocked to learn of the stunning reversal.

The Editor says...
Seems like someone could have said something during jury selection instead of waiting until after the defendant was convicted.  Thanks for everything, lawyers!

Shirley Sherrod v. Breitbart Update: Big Law Fuels the Left.  Liberal groups already enjoy a tremendous structural advantage over conservative groups in terms of foundation support, bricks and mortars institutions and a steady pipeline of youngsters eager to shape mankind to their own image.  There's another often overlooked advantage enjoyed by the left:  big law firms donating thousands and thousands of hours to help leftist causes far outside of the American mainstream.  There is no counterpart donation of time and money for conservative causes.  Big Law's ideological "lawfare" completes the architecture for attacks on election integrity laws, springing free Al-Qaeda terrorists and even suing conservative new media pioneers like Andrew Breitbart.

Pro Bono Law Morphs Into Left-Wing Lawfare.  Do you remember Shirley Sherrod?  She's the former Department of Agriculture official caught on camera saying she denied a white farmer the full measure of benefits she could have given him, before later describing how she ended up rejecting this racist approach to her job.  The late Andrew Breitbart posted excerpts of the Sherrod video that failed to include the part about how she overcame her racist impulse and ended up helping the white farmer.  The Obama administration fired Sherrod after Breitbart posted the video.  However, based on a review of the full video, Sherrod was offered a new position at the Department of Agriculture.  Even so, Sherrod decided to sue Breitbart.  And now that Andrew is no longer with us, she is pursuing her claim against his widow.

Man sues pizzeria for thwarting robbery.  The first time Nigel Sykes tried to get money from the Seasons Pizza in Newport, he did it with a gun, forcing his way into the business through the back door.  This time, Sykes is trying to get money from the pizzeria by suing the employees who tackled him and wrestled his gun away during the robbery.  Sykes alleges assault in a federal civil complaint claiming the rough treatment was "unnecessary" and that as a result of the injuries he suffered during his attempted hold-up, he is due over $260,000.

Issa questions involvement of trial lawyers in FDA rule change.  House investigators suspect the Obama administration catered to trial lawyers in the run-up to a proposal that would allow generic drug makers at times to change their labels without FDA approval.  Digging into the matter, skeptical Republicans asked the agency in writing last week how they settled on the plan, because the shift would expose the generic drug makers to lawsuits from which they currently are immune.  "It seems to us that the proposed rule is not designed to address a health or safety related concern; instead, it is designed to placate special interest groups and increase lawsuits," Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican and chairman of the House oversight committee, wrote last week with two other congressman.

Patent Trolls Account for Two-Thirds of All New Patent Lawsuits.  Companies that buy patents not to manufacture or design products but just to sue productive corporations, known as patent trolls, are a serious and growing problem.  How bad is it getting?  A new study indicates they may account for two-thirds of all patent lawsuits filed in the US.

Flood of lawsuits to follow wave of illegal immigrants?  Illegal immigrants pouring across the border could trigger a wave of lawsuits flooding the U.S. court system for years and costing taxpayers millions, according to legal experts.  The American Civil Liberties Union has already sued the federal government to ensure that each of the 60,000-plus unaccompanied children who have come across the border since November gets taxpayer-funded representation at deportation hearings.  But legal advocacy groups who represent illegal immigrants could file additional suits alleging improper treatment at the hands of the government.

Illegals Sue Obama Admin for Lawyers.  This week, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), immigrants rights groups, and a prominent law firm sued the United States government in a class-action lawsuit demanding legal representation for illegal immigrant children in deportation hearings. [...] The Obama administration has requested at least $15 million to provide illegal immigrant children with lawyers in the $3.7 billion in funds they have asked for from Congress.  And the Department of Justice also announced a $2 million program to provide illegal immigrant children with lawyers.

Lawsuits seek to stop work at coal mines in 3 Western states until more reviews done.  Coal industry representatives say lawsuits against mines in three Western states could have consequences across the U.S. as environmentalists seek changes in how mining is approved on federally owned reserves.

Supreme Court cracks down on the trial lawyer gold mine.  Trial lawyers, who make about $1 billion per year from these lawsuits (and then give multi-millions to Democrats), claim that the suits reduce fraud and do little harm because they merely return wealth to the company's owners, the shareholders.  But comprehensive data analyzed by the Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform, long an advocate for reining in such lawsuits, suggests otherwise.  Securities class-actions have historically destroyed between four and six times as much wealth as they have distributed back to plaintiffs.  ILR's study analyzed 1,456 such federal securities class action cases since 1996 that were settled out of court.  The data show a massive imbalance between investors' recoveries in such cases and the aggregate shareholder losses they inflict.

Chicago lawyer gets 15 years in big tax fraud case.  A Chicago-area lawyer and accountant labeled by the government as history's most prolific and unrepentant tax cheat was sentenced Wednesday [6/25/2014] to 15 years in prison, and the judge bemoaned the "incredible greed" of some of America's wealthiest people for taking advantage of the tax shelters he peddled.

Wacky warning labels of 2014.  We are the most litigious society on earth.  For 17 years, we've held the Wacky Warning Labels Contest to showcase the lengths that manufacturers have to go to in order to avoid those lawsuits.  A lot of the labels in our contest have been found on sports equipment, and this year, one of the "five finalists" in our contest was found on a sheet of decals given out to fans of the Buffalo Bills.

NJ woman sues employer over her anxious commute to work.  A NJ woman with serious commuter anxiety is suing her former employer after her bosses wouldn't change her work schedule so she could avoid rush hour.  According to a report in the Courier-Post Andrea DeGerolamo of Berlin "began to feel great anxiety and depression, which was especially aggravated by crowded roadways experienced during the heavy traffic of rush hour," the suit says.  Her medical condition qualified her as being disabled, according to the legal papers.

Plaintiffs' Lawyers Take Aim at GM for Recall.  Of all the problems haunting General Motors Co., over its handling of defective ignition switches, the one with plaintiffs' lawyers is just beginning. [...] More than 80 ignition-switch-related civil lawsuits have been filed against GM, most seeking alleged economic damages, such as repair costs and declines in resale value on about 2.6 million cars recalled since February.

U.S. to Provide Lawyers for Children Facing Deportation.  The Obama administration said Friday that it was starting a program to provide lawyers for children facing deportation as it scrambles to deal with the soaring number of unaccompanied minors illegally crossing the border from Mexico.  Under the plan, the federal government will issue $2 million in grants to enroll about 100 lawyers and paralegals to represent immigrant children making their way through the immigration court system.

Full employment for Obama's base:
Obama Administration Providing Illegal Immigrants Taxpayer-Funded Lawyers.  President Barack Obama's administration will spend $2 million dollars of taxpayer funds to provide illegal immigrant children with legal representation.  On Friday [6/6/2014], the Justice Department announced a "justice AmeriCorps" program that will fund nearly 100 lawyers across 29 cities with one-year grants and stipends so they can represent illegal immigrants who have been flooding into the country and being warehoused, most notably in Texas.

To help our furry friends, don't give nationally.  With 70 million households in America owning pets, it's no surprise that the TV ads with sad music showing needy cats and dogs tug at our heartstrings.  Americans give hundreds of millions a year to national animal charities.  Sadly, a good chunk of that money isn't going to help those animals.  It's going to pay a racketeering lawsuit settlement.  Last month, several animal-rights groups including the Humane Society of the United States agreed to pay $16 million to settle a suit over their alleged behavior in a different lawsuit.

John Edwards, chasing ambulances again.  Edwards has scored some of his biggest wins in medical malpractice suits; indeed, he was once so successful that he was accused of driving entire fields of medical specialists out of North Carolina and sending insurance rates through the roof.  The new Edwards Kirby firm is looking for the same type of business.

Judge finds pervasive fraud by trial lawyers in asbestos litigation.  Fresh evidence of the efficacy of transparency in public affairs recently came from an unexpected source — class-action litigation on behalf of people who claim to have developed mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos.  An estimated $37 billion has been set aside to compensate such victims since the litigation became common in state and federal courts in the 1980s.  Among the 100 or so companies that have been shut down at least in part by mesothelioma litigation is the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of Garlock Sealing Technologies.  Multiple trial lawyer firms have filed claims with the trust established to compensate Garlock victims.

Supreme Court case could open floodgates to 'patent troll' lawsuits.  President Obama's administration is a big friend of trial lawyers as well as a major fan of creative interpretations of existing laws and precedents, whatever the long-term consequences.  So when even this administration sounds the alarm bells that an upcoming Supreme Court case could uproot sound precedents and create an explosion of litigation, you know the potential consequences are dire.  That case is Limelight v. Akamai, and it could radically expand the legal definition of what constitutes patent infringement if the justices uphold a lower court's ruling.  That would in turn create a boom in what is known as "patent troll" litigation.

The Climate Inquisitor.  In a free and open society, the correct way to respond to the accusation that one's work is "intellectually bogus and wrong" is to attempt a rebuttal, not to file a lawsuit.

Chevron, Dole cases expose lawyer corruption.  A few years ago, the corruption convictions of several prominent plaintiffs' lawyers put a spotlight on dishonesty in American civil courts.  Now the sleaze has burst back into the news with cases involving Chevron and Dole Food Co., this time with an international twist.  Last month, a federal court in Manhattan found that a U.S. plaintiffs' lawyer had masterminded a multibillion dollar fraud and extortion scheme against Chevron in Ecuador.  Three days later, a California appellate court affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit against Dole as a "fraud on the court" perpetrated by U.S. and Nicaraguan plaintiffs' lawyers.

Trial Lawyers Mobilize for Democrats.  Iowa Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley is still taking flak for his recent put-down of Sen. Chuck Grassley.  That's all wrong.  Give the trial lawyer a medal for alerting the electorate to a big — if overlooked — issue in this year's midterm:  legal reform.

Time to derail the Democrats' gravy train for trial lawyers.  Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley has been spending a lot of time with his constituents lately as he seeks election to the Senate  — not the Iowa voters he would technically represent, but his real constituents:  trial lawyers.

ABA Conference Speakers: 'Litigation,' 'Public Health' Strong Avenues for Gun Control.  During a March 7th American Bar Association (ABA) conference in Philadelphia, speakers described "litigation" and "public health" appeals as strong avenues for securing more gun control.  According to the ABA Journal, Jonathan E. Lowy, director of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence's Legal Action Project, talked of how The Project has used litigation to close down gun shops, force manufacturers "to improve gun safety, and to challenge laws like the Florida law that barred physicians from talking about guns with their patients."

Chevron Gets Justice From Environmentalist Frauds.  A federal judge has ruled that a $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron in Ecuador was won through fraud.  It's a victory for Chevron, but at a cost of millions.  So why isn't someone in this environmental predator racket in jail?

Man sues McDonald's for $1.5 million after being given only one napkin.  Webster Lucas filed the suit, alleging he was caused 'undue mental anguish' after a Pacoima, Calif., restaurant only gave him one napkin and he claims the manager made a racist remark toward him when he asked for more.

Trial Lawyers Line Up Their Next Target: Big Food.  When lawyers were shaking down the tobacco industry in the 1990's, it was clear that it was just a matter of when they'd loot again.  The only question was who would be the next mark.  That picture is clearing up.

Neuter Employee Sues Company for $518,682 for Not Acknowledging its Lack of Gender.  It's not gay rights.  It's not even LGBT which includes men who dress up like women.  It's actually LGBTQIA which includes a bunch of people who don't know what they are, including "Queer" and "Asexual". [...] The supervisors chose not to waste everyone's time with the insanity of a crazy person.  And here comes the lawsuit because the catering company chose not to manufacture a single new gender consisting entirely of "Jones".  This whole thing [disproves] the notion that you can just sign on to gay marriage and be done with it.

$650 per hour for lawyer in bridge probe.  Attorney Randy Mastro is being paid $650 per hour to help Gov. Chris Christie's administration respond to the George Washington Bridge scandal, according to a letter of retention released by the governor's office Thursday night [1/30/2014].  Mastro, from the New York firm of Gibson Dunn, noted in the agreement that the price is more than a 40 percent discount off his normal rate.  But the price is nearly twice what is being paid to the attorney advising an investigative legislative panel.

James Holmes' Defense to Take Reporter to Supreme Court.  Lawyers for the man accused of killing 12 people at a Colorado movie theater said Friday [1/31/2014] they will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to require a Fox News reporter to reveal the confidential sources she used in a story about defendant James Holmes.

Little League baseball coach sues former player over victory celebration injury.  Former Lakeside Little League coach Alan Beck told Fox40.com the incident occurred last spring, when the teen threw his helmet up in victory after scoring a winning run, allegedly striking and tearing Beck's Achilles tendon.

Convicted Oregon pimp sues Nike over lack of shoe warning label.  An Oregon pimp has filed a $100 million lawsuit against Nike, claiming that the shoe manufacturer failed to warn consumers that the shoes could be used as a deadly weapon.

Walmart lawsuit regarding 'black people' announcement in Washington Township dismissed.  A judge has dismissed a $1 million lawsuit against Walmart regarding a 2010 incident in the chain's Washington Township store that led a customer to claim "severe and disabling emotional and physical harm" after racist comments were broadcast over the store's public address system.

Despite Outlaw Image, Hells Angels Sue Often.  Fritz Clapp, a 67-year-old lawyer with a bright red mohawk, practices intellectual property law.  Years ago, his clients were "small-time businesses that nobody had ever heard of."  Then he found something bigger.  Today, Mr. Clapp, an eloquent and irreverent man known to wear a purple fez during negotiations with other lawyers, represents the interests of a group not commonly associated with intellectual property:  the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.  His main role is not as a bulldog criminal defense counsel for the notorious group but as a civilized advocate in its relentless battle to protect its many registered trademarks.

Interview:  Daniel Flynn on the War on Football.  There's no question that football is the most popular sport in America.  For decades, NFL games have been the top-rated program on all of television even as hundreds of other networks have started up and fragmented the television audience. [...] The success of football has made it a target for the bottom-feeders known as the trial lawyers, however, and in recent years, there have been several enormous lawsuits launched against the NFL and against its official helmet manufacturer, Riddell.  These lawsuits, and the often shoddy science behind them have been seized upon in the media, even by some people who should know better.

Politician with cancer smoked for 40 years, sues over asbestos.  Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's law firm has filed a class-action suit on behalf of Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, accusing more than 70 companies of potentially causing the Long Island congresswoman to develop lung cancer from asbestos.  But the bizarre Weitz & Luxenberg suit fails to mention that the 69-year-old Democrat smoked heavily for 40 years — and that she never actually worked with the cancer-causing substance.

Chevron Vindicated As Evidence Points To 'Green Fraud' By Environmentalists.  So what happened to the $19 billion judgment against Chevron over rainforest pollution in Ecuador?  Seems the leftist lawyer behind it all now finds himself in the dock on a RICO rap for a massive fraud.

Chevron takes shakedown lawyers to court in RICO trial.  [Scroll down]  While such tactics have traditionally been successful against big corporations with deep pockets, choosing to simply pay off the pests rather than spending the time and money to fight them, not so with Chevron.  The plaintiffs, led in large part by Manhattan lawyer Steven Donziger, tried to dig too deep, racking up a $19 B[illion] judgement in an Ecuador court based on what turned out to be a staggering series of apparently fraudulent ploys.  Chevron fought back and refused to cough up a dime.

Conn Job.  Stanville, a tiny town in eastern Kentucky, seems an unlikely place for a multimillion-dollar empire.  Yet for decades, an unscrupulous lawyer named Eric Christopher Conn has been working the Social Security disability system, securing benefits for even the most undeserving of clients, according to a new report from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs.  The report describes a lucrative scheme that involved not only Conn but also a disability judge and several doctors with bad reputations — all of whom may have profited substantially.

A Nation of Lawyers.  America used to be a nation of laws.  Those laws served as guidelines for how we conducted business and ourselves.  They were powerful laws, to be sure.  But more importantly, they were fair, just, and judicious.  They were laws we could all believe in.  They were reasonable.  They were not onerous or overbearing.  That's no longer the case.  Our laws no longer guide our actions; they dictate them.  The problem is we've morphed from a nation of laws into a nation of lawyers.  And the simple truth is that lawyers aren't exactly judicious or minimalist about the laws and regulations they propose, draft, and implement.

Workers in Washington apparently must be paid a living wage, unless they are paid nothing.
Justice Department looking to employ experienced attorneys — for free.  The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice is looking to hire experienced, full-time, bar-certified lawyers.  The catch:  These attorneys will not be paid.

Binder on Binder & Binder.  The Social Security Administration pays an awful lot of money to people who aren't — and never claim to be — disabled.  When a person applying for disability secures a legal representative, then is successfully awarded benefits, the lawyer or advocate who helped him gets a generous cut of the money, paid directly from the SSA's disability fund.  In the first six months of 2013, the SSA has already forked over $642.6 million to these claimant representatives, who have a significant financial interest in getting people on disability.

Forcing Businesses to Hire Criminals.  [Scroll down]  The big winners, naturally, will be ambitious trial lawyers (nearly all Democrats, many of whom are major donors) trolling for clients claiming racial discrimination owing to past criminality.  Another beneficiary will be outside firms performing background checks.  Given the numbers, winning class-action lawsuits could mean a $100 million jackpot with a few lawyers splitting a $30 million contingency fee and thousands of plaintiffs at best receiving a few hundred dollars and no job.

Liberal State Bar Spends Three Years Going After Lawyer For Being Conservative Blogger.  Rachel Alexander was collateral damage in a liberal fight to ruin her former boss, then-Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas.  Thomas attempted in 2009 and 2010, with the help of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, to stop corruption by some judges and county supervisors in Arizona by filing criminal charges and a racketeering lawsuit against them.  Alexander, a Deputy County Attorney, performed some research and writing on the racketeering lawsuit after it had been filed.  However, since she was one of the best known conservative bloggers in Arizona, running Intellectual Conservative and IC Arizona, she was dragged into the court even though she was a minor player in the case.

95% of IRS Lawyers Donated to Obama.  And based on the Tax Prof's numbers the picture is like that across the rest of the government class which knows quite well which side of the party line its generous government benefits are buttered.

Our Partisan Bureaucracy — Lawyers Love President Obama.  The civil-service system was designed to replace the spoils system, which — in addition to creating chaotic rushes of office-seekers with each change of administration — packed political hacks into important administrative positions. [...] But what if the combination of increasingly activist government with strong bureacratic bias re-creates federal service as a kind of permanent spoils system for the Left?  Isn't it inevitable that this leftist bureaucracy will eventually view itself not as a servant for all citizens but as an instrument of its own righteous ideology?

Capital Powerball: Scandals Grease Washington's Wheels.  [Scroll down]  Clarice Feldman has a wonderfully atmospheric piece describing the the process of lawyering up.  Attorneys are scavengers of the DC ecosystem.  They feast on the fallen.  And what is more the fallen need them.  Still, scandals mean legal fees and legal fees mean lawyers.  The culture of the District is dog-eat-dog and for the first time in its long career Obama's sneak attack force is feeling the bite of the dogs.

For the People Who Gave Us Miranda, Miranda Is Never Enough.  Does anything tug at your heartstrings quite like the plight of Ropel Phillipos, the 19-year-old "adolescent" arrested and charged with lying to agents investigating the bombing of the Boston Marathon by his sometime pal, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev?  Fox News reports that, besides describing as "refutable" the allegation that he gave investigators conflicting accounts about the effort to cover Tsarnaev's tracks, his lawyers also contend: [...]

This is why we have lawyers and juries:
Social Security comes after man for $895 overpayment they made to his mom.  Imagine if your parent received an over-payment from the government but decades later, the government took the money out of your tax return.

The Premature Mirandizing of a Terrorist.  Miranda v. Arizona was part of a string of decisions by the Warren Court that had begun the year of Lois Ann Jameson's rape.  The decisions invented rights which not only obligated taxpayers to provide accused criminals with lawyers, but also made it impossible to question a suspect without his lawyer.  In the case of Lois Ann's rapist, Justice Earl Warren, who proved to be a bigger threat to the Constitution than King George III, went beyond inventing the right to a government lawyer, to invent the rapist's right to be told of a right to a government lawyer.

Deal Approved In Muslims' Suit Against McDonald's.  A judge has approved a long-awaited $700,000 settlement between a Dearborn McDonalds and people who say they ate chicken sandwiches, that should have been prepared as HALAL:  the Muslim equivalent of Kosher.  Ahmed Ahmed, the Dearborn Heights man who represents plaintiffs in the class-action suit, claims he bought a chicken sandwich in September 2011 at the restaurant but found it wasn't prepared according to Islamic law.

Jesus Portrait Removed From Ohio School.  A Jesus portrait that has hung in a southern Ohio school district's buildings since 1947 has been taken down, because of concerns about the costs of a federal lawsuit.

The Class Action Racket.  Have you ever received a notice in the mail informing you that you might be a member of a class action lawsuit?  You probably have.  Did you even bother to read it?  Probably not.  Did you ever file a claim for compensation?  Probably not.  Did you ever file an objection to the settlement?  Certainly not.  Did you know that the lawyers bringing these suits get paid regardless of how many people file claims and regardless of how many class members actually get anything out of the settlement?

Reforming the Law.  Only in the United States do tort lawyers chase ambulances with TV ads.  And tort law has become one of the royal roads to great riches, while tort lawyers are among the primary fundraisers for Democratic candidates. [...] Political interest groups, such as environmentalists, have learned how to game the legal system, with the cooperation of judges, not to obtain justice but to delay or prevent actions they disapprove of but cannot prevent by ordinary political means.

Legal Feeding Frenzy.  It's not news that countless bogus lawsuits are filed in this country every year.  What's less well known is that because of obscure procedural rules, even the most self-evidently absurd lawsuits typically cost blameless defendants plenty of money, time, and anguish before any judge even considers whether to throw them out.

'Jesus Christ' Banned from Council Prayers.  The mayor of a Washington town has directed pastors to stop invoking the name "Jesus Christ" in city council invocations.  Don Jensen, the mayor of Longview, Wash., told the Kelso-Longview Ministerial Association that prayers mentioning Christ were not acceptable because they could expose the city to a lawsuit.  The decision has sparked controversy in the city — located about 50 miles north of Portland, Oregon.

EPA's Secret and Costly 'Sue and Settle' Collusion With Environmental Organizations.  "Sue and Settle" practices, sometimes referred to as "friendly lawsuits", are cozy deals through which far-left radical environmental groups file lawsuits against federal agencies wherein courtordered "consent decrees" are issued based upon a prearranged settlement agreement they collaboratively craft together in advance behind closed doors.

Broken Justice.  [Scroll down]  [The writer says] that American prosecutors win 99.5 percent of their cases, a much higher percentage than those in other civilized countries; that 97 percent of them are won without trial, because of the plea-bargain system in which inculpatory evidence is extorted from witnesses in exchange for immunity from prosecution, including for perjury; that the U.S. has six to twelve times as many incarcerated people per capita as do Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, or the United Kingdom, comparably prosperous democracies; that the U.S. has 5 percent of the world's population, 25 percent of its incarcerated people, and half of its academically qualified lawyers, who take about 10 percent of U.S. GDP; that prosecutors enjoy very uneven advantages in procedure and an absolute immunity for misconduct; that they routinely seize targets' money on false affidavits alleging ill-gotten gains so they cannot defend themselves by paying rapacious American lawyers, most of whom in criminal-defense matters are just a fig leaf to provide a pretense of a genuine day in court before blind justice; [...]

Greedy class-action lawyers take it on the chin.  What do you call a plaintiffs' attorney who negotiates a settlement that secures $3 million for his clients — and pays him $14 million for his services?  Plenty of words come to mind, but none suitable for publication.  Happily, the federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals shares our dismay.  This week, the court threw out the settlement, which all told came to $35.5 million.

20 Reasons America Is Becoming An Increasingly Nonfunctional Society.  [#3]  Our legal system encourages frivolous lawsuits, is punitively expensive and because of the political inclinations of the judges, can often be almost random.

Hackensack officials can't say why violations at house owned by lawyers weren't pursued.  Multiple housing-code violations were discovered more than two years ago in a Hackensack house owned by politically connected lawyers, but the city never issued any summonses or demanded that the deficiencies be corrected.  Instead, the violations only came to light this month when a fire damaged a neighboring house also owned by the lawyers.

Occupy is back. In court.  As the year winds to a close, here's one name we haven't heard in a while.  Do you remember the Occupy movement?  You know... those folks that were going to be the much needed counterweight to the Tea Party?  Seems like they sort of disappeared there for a while.  But at least out on the Left coast, they're back.  And they've brought their lawyers.

What America's trial lawyers want from Santa:  Sometimes, you've got to spend money to make money.  For the American Association for Justice, the largest trial lawyers organization in the country, it costs a lot to keep getting the gift that keeps on giving.  The AAJ increased its federal lobbying expenditures by 42 percent — from $840,000 to $1.15 million — between the second and third quarter of 2012.  Its Christmas list includes anything that opens up or helps keep open opportunities for its members and other plaintiffs' lawyers to score enormous contingency fees from settlements or court judgments.

A Supremely Important Decision About America's Logging Industry.  On December 3, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider who is best suited to set national environmental policy — the experienced scientists and regulators at the Environmental Protection Agency or activist trial lawyers. [...] Under the Ninth Circuit ruling, a permit could be demanded for every drain and ditch that directs water from a logging road to a fish-bearing stream.  The U.S. Forest Service estimates that getting all its roads fully certified could take as much as a decade.

Update:
Ex-D.C. judge who filed suit against dry cleaner over lost pants may face sanctions.  A former D.C. administrative judge who in 2005 filed a $54 million lawsuit against a dry-cleaning business over a pair of missing pants, becoming a national symbol for frivolous litigation, could face disciplinary action by the D.C. Court of Appeals for alleged misconduct in the case.  Roy L. Pearson Jr., who for two years worked as an administrative judge with the District's Office of Administrative Hearings, sued the owners of a Northeast Washington dry cleaner after he claimed the shop lost his trousers when he took them in for alterations.  Pearson alleged fraud, claiming the cleaners did not honor the "satisfaction guarantee" sign that was displayed in their window.

"And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them."

— Luke 11:46 (NIV)