Larry Craig

I am a bit perplexed as to what exactly Larry Craig did that was illegal. I fully understand that it is fun gossip and great fodder to show the hypocrisy of the Republican Party. You Can read the actual reports here: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/28/craig.arrest/index.html

I would be concerned as to the peeping allegation, provided it is true. The rest of the finger wagging, foot tapping, rubbing and all don't seem to add up to too much in my mind. The recent tapes show that there clearly was a dispute as to what actually happened. What I have read and heard do not amount to conduct that will tend to provoke an assault or breach of the peace. I see worse and have been exposed to worse in almost any bar/nightclub I have been in.

What I see is a police officer targeting homosexuals for what appears solicitation of consensual sex. Again I see worse with heterosexuals in my favorite bar every weekend. I do not see any allegation of prostitution. What is the crime?

As far as the fact he plead guilty - most people would if they thought it would avoid having everyone know their business. Assuming Larry Craig is in fact gay and in the closest - of course he would plead guilty to keep his sexual orientation a secret. Many of people arrested for solicitation of a prostitute do the same thing - plea to avoid the embarrassment.

I thought this was funny and completely unrelated to the law

http://www.defectiveyeti.com/archives/002224.html

I love the actual snopes site. I love to reply to dumb forwards with a link explaining how the email was a joke. BTW what ever happened to that little boy who was going to get Bill Gates kidney if you just saved all of the tabs from your cokes and drove them in your car blinking your head lights at gangstas looking to kill people so they could join the gang?

What Roman power slowly built, an unarmed traitor instantly overthrew.

What Roman power slowly built, an unarmed traitor instantly overthrew.
Author: Claudian (Claudianus)
Source: In Rufinum (II, 52)

I am at once proud to be a trial lawyer and yet ashamed of it due to the eve increasing bad reputation we have allowed to be assigned to the profession. Over the past several years I have been asked about, and sometimes attacked for, representing criminals and getting them off on a mere technicality. Now bear in mind that the mere technicality is normally a violation of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights – most notably the 4th through the 8th amendments. (did you know you can hit someone in the back of the head with a phonebook and not leave a bruise? A favorite tactic to get a confession). Most people do not see such violations as a problem as long as the bad guys are caught. That tune changes when all of a sudden it is the good guy in the cross hairs.

But as of late my statements about the value of the U.S. Constitution have become meaningless, even to me – a person who believes that this document is the most important thing there is in our government. I saw a cartoon in the op-ed section of my paper that sums it all up for me. The Constitution was drawn as a doormat for the White House.

I do not care what your political affiliation is – the current occupant of White House has betrayed the power given to him by the voters (or U.S. Supreme Court). We have been a nation of laws with three branches of government – administrative, legislative and judicial. Each branch is to act as a check and/or balance to the other. In the last 7 years that has not been the case.

Yes I said seven, even though Bush has only been president for 6 1/2 years. See regardless of your political affiliation the U.S. Supreme Court usurped the power of the electorate to appoint Bush president. Understand, much to my own disgust I did in fact vote for him in 2000, but still disagreed with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Since then he has lied to us, the people of his nation as well as to the rest of the world. He has overseen the systematic dismantling of your civil liberties piece by piece. The cry that it is to protect us from terrorists is a weak one. The "Terrorists" have always been here. The Klan, the Militia, skin heads, weathermen – the unibomber and McViegh were all home ground. Islamic terrorists are new to our soil. But to dismantle out way of life, our cherished freedoms is to do the terrorists job for them and is an insult to all of those men and women, husbands and mothers, children that have EVER fought for this nation. I could not imagine "fighting to protect our American way of life" as this President has said only to see that while I am fighting the jackass who couldn't be bothered to show up for drill in the national guard was taking those freedoms away.

But the President and his lap dogs are not the only ones to blame. Where the hell has Congress been? Both parties – Republican or Democrat. YOUR FUCKING MISSION IS TO BE A CHECK ON HIS POWER! Yet there has been no check or balance. Even today, everyone is more worried about winning election than actually doing anything. If I were as incompetent as almost evyer single member of Congress has been I would be fired and lose my license. It is unreal. The Vice-President says he is not part of any branch of government and you fucks let it slide? Why? Does he have 8x10 glossies of you sodomizing a goat? The President openly states you can pass a law but he doesn't have to obey it. Show me where a signing statement is authorized in the Constitution. I seem to recall the line item veto was actually passed, signed into law and then declared unconstitutional.

This jackass has openly challenged Congress and they have done nothing except talk and bitch only to quietly rubber stamp everything.

It makes me sick to watch how we have let our government begin the decline into failure.

The song on my mind tonight - 37th birthday

I just cracked the top on some Jim Beam I just bought. Took a big ol' swig an' I just set her down.It's a foolish thing to think, that you could kill the hurt with drink,But it's the only thing that I can think of now. Got her down to the top of the sticker, I wish this stuff would kick in a little quicker.

I can still see us on that tiltawhirl, spinnin'.Cotton-candy and then when she had mustard on her chin, From that corn-dog that slipped right off of the stick, And that top of the Ferriss wheel kiss. I ain't forgot about that yet, But I still have some whiskey left.

Sure thought I'd be able, once I reached the middle of the label, That some of those memories would somehow wash away. Now I'm pushin' toward the bottom, an' thoughts of her, yeah, I still got 'em. Those shots, I've shot 'em, but they ain't killed yesterday.Just a little below the sticker. Yeah, I must've got a bad batch of liquor.

I can still see her standin' there on that sidewalk, Yellin' out for the taxi that would take her away, From the arms of the one that still loves her With all of his heart. I ain't forgot about that yet, But I still have some whiskey left.

I just tipped it up an' took the last sip from the cup. Threw that bottle on the ground an' started to cry. I know that I've had plenty an' now there just ain't any, An' I'm just as empty as that bottle inside.

Trent Thomlinson

Follow up on legal ethics question

For those that are concerned - this little drama played out two years ago. All is well and safe. the crimes were not more serious than stalking and domestic violence, which are serious enough. He was not living in the house.

If you are going to law school, prepare yourself for the ever shifting fact pattern - a favorite tool of law school teachers. In fact I use it when talking with associates who are discussing the facts of their current "perfect" slam dunk with me. It helps to expose flaws in the theory of the case and in your own thinking.

Law school tips

This is aimed at Ole Miss Law, but some of it will apply to any school.

The 1st thing you need to understand - law school is not like college. It is a job. You will spend more time studying than you ever have. Your reading assignments will be posted on the boards about now. Go get them and Begin reading and making case briefs as you go.

Your 1st day of class will not be a "hi, my name is Professor Bradley, this is what we Will cover in the class, see you next time. You will fill out a seating chart and class will begin. Expect to answer questions and explain why you think that is right. It is not fun, but it is not as brutal as you may have heard. Expect an ever shifting fact pattern - it is designed to make you consider how the postion you just took may not be the right postion is just one of the facts changes ever so slightly.

Let me repeat this - school will be your job in the 1st semester. You need to understand that and your significant other needs to understand that. This school will put strain on your relationship. If significant other is in law school then they are now also competition and if they are not in law school they will not understand the difference between law school and college.

Also, it is only school - do not become so wrapped up in the crap that is law school that you forget to be a person, to have fun and socialize AWAY from classmates. Lawyers and law students tend to be boring and just talk about the "big case" or a certain class. Away from work I only socialize with two lawyers - one is a fishing buddy and the other is a college football fanatic. We do not talk about or cases.

If anyone still reading this, if you have questions about Ole Miss and certain profs, email me and I will do my best to answer them.

Legal ethics question

Ok, this is for the lawyers, law students and soon to be law students out there. Or anyone else who cares enought to read this and comment.

Lawyer represents scumbag in divorce from ms. scumbag. Lawyer handles/gets sucked into or learns about scumbags being fired for sexual harrassment, stalking of Ms. scumbag, drug and alcohol use and large porn collection of fetish type stuff. Finally lawyer fires scumbag as a client for continuing to stalk ms. scumbag. It was bad enough that lawyer changes his retainer agreement to ad clauses about domestic violence and stalking being grounds for lawyer to cease all representation in domestic cases.

Flash forward about 2 years. Lawyer and wife are having issues and things get worse. Lawyer learns that wife is having an affair with scumbag. A divorce is filed on the grounds of adultery and full custody is sought by lawyer. Wife denies affair until she is confronted with photographs and the like.

The question is this - what, if anything, can lawyer tell his attorney about scumbag? Does the child custody issue change anything? what if the crimes were more serious? What if scumbag was living in the home with the child after lawyer moved out?

This was a real question about legal ethics faced by our bar. See the lawyer is a cigar smoking, beer drinking lawyer.

Money

I am being besieged with people calling about their bills. It seems to to me that in each of these cases they came to me in some kind of legal mess, talked to me at length signed a contract to pay for legal services and my hourly rate was fully disclosed as was the fact we bill a minimum of 12 minutes per billing entry, and then on six minute increments thereafter. And I normally "No Charge" for short phone calls, emails etc.

I seldom hear any complaints early on. It is when there is a huge bill that they have not been paying on, or after the case is done that the complaints start coming in. I understand that that people think it is unfair that I make such huge amounts of money, but the truth is I don't make that full amount.

Lets say I charge $200 per hour (I don't). People, when they bitch about the bill, always say something to the effect "well I don't make $200 an hour like you do". I normally reply that I don't either. I have to pay for the building, all the secretaries, receptionist, bookkeeper and all of the associate attorneys, as well as the light bill, photocopier, paper and pens. I even pay for the candy they are eating out of the basket. That coke they are drinking during our meeting. Yep I pay for that too. And just for good measure each partner gets a cut as well.
If I am feeling nasty I point out even if I didn't have to pay for all of that, the only way I truly would make $200 an hour is if all of my clients actually paid me in full and on time. That normally shuts up THAT type of complaint.

I hate collecting my money I am owed. This is the part they don't tell you about in law school and never show on T.V.

Small town law

One of the things I like about practicing law in this area is the small town feel. Now don't get me wrong, this is considered a large city by this states standards, and this is a county with an exploding population, but it still has a small town feel.

I like the fact most of the counties I go to in my circuit have a courthouse square with the old quaint courthouses. In some places in the summer that can be bad - at least two that I can think of only have window unit acs so it gets very hot. But mostly it is something out of To Kill a Mocking Bird or a John Grisham novel - which is to be expected I guess since John set almost all of his novels in this county but under a different name.

I love the smell of the flowers and tree blooms in the spring as I walk over to the courthouse, I like that almost all of the attorneys knew each other by name. I like that with very few exceptions we all get along outside of court. I have worked in a big city and have tried immigration cases all over the US so I do have things to compare this to and I would much rather do what I am doing than working in the glass tower high above the city like I used to.

New scandal in local lawyer circles

Yesterday in court there was quite a stir. Seem ten sets of clients showed up thinking they were getting divorced and their attorney was a no show. His office was locked up and no one was answering the phones. That much I know to be true.

Other rumors abounded that this lawyer had bounced trust account checks to clients. For those not in the the know law firms must have at least two check accounts - the firms operating account and the trust account. These accounts can never be the same account. The trust account holds a clients money only. No part of the money in that account if for use by the firm. To bounce a trust check means that somehow the clients money is not in that account - i.e. a big no no. This is also were an attorney can find lots of money to cover his own expenses and the temptation cane great, but it is unethical and illegal to use a clients money. The one sure way to get disbarred.

Anyway that is the rumor. I hoe for his sake it is not true, but I hope for the local economy he is out of business.

This guy is a hack. I have had to clean up many of the messes he has made with his $200 irreconcilable differences divorces. The going rate among most competent attorneys is $750.00-$1000.00, so this hack has been way undercharging people. I guess in hopes that shear volume will make up for it or that those clients will bring other legal matters to him. I don't know.

Anyway he is gone at least for now and hopefully it is something legal - like rehab or death that made him miss court and vanish and not something illegal.

Why I don't tell people I am attorney

To start off, I have to say that I am proud to be an attorney.Having said that, I seldom tell people what I do for a living in a social setting. I am sure it is the same with doctors, tradesmen and the like, but every time someone finds out what I do for a living I get to hear all about what ever legal trouble that person may have and get hit up for free advice, OR I get to listen to tirades against attorneys and the law. Either way it kills a good mood.For the record, I do not go out to hear everyoneâs legal troubles and give free advice. NEW FLASH - I get paid to give advice, so why would I give it free to a stranger?! So please don't ask and please don't be offended when I give you my card and tell you call me for an appointment. I am out to have a good time and forget about my day, not to drum up business.The other side is the almost constant criticism of what the legal profession. I will freely admit there are problems and it can be nasty, but guess what - not once has a client ever told me "I don't care if I win and don't want to do whatever it takes. Just let them have it allâ I am normally asked to do whatever I can to win and get the most from the other side. I have had clients ask me to serve their spouses with divorce on Christmas morning, thanksgiving, their birthday, wedding anniversary etc. I have yet to do any of that. I do fight hard, and I can be very mean and difficult and even nasty in a trial, but it is what my clients want me to do.For those of you who believe in "tort reform" because the greedy trial lawyers are getting rich and doctors can't afford insurance and companies are going broke I say F*** you. Thatâs right f*** you; you have no idea what you are talking about. Come talk to me when your daughter gets killed by a doctor gives her the wrong medication or cuts off your good leg my mistake, the insurance companies have convinced the state to cap damages at $250,000.00.In all of the states that have passed damage caps, no insurance premiums for doctors have gone down - just the opposite. The dirty secret is that insurance companies make money. period.

For law students and wannbes

If you want to practice in Mississippi and are at Ole Miss, you need to take Mississippi Civil Practice taught by Guth Abbott. It is offered once a year at 8 AM, but you need to get your lazy ass out of bed and take it. If you don’t you will behind the eight ball for years once you get out.
For you geeks and law journal dweebs - in the real world "blue booking" is not that big a deal. The real issue knowing what the law is and how it applies to the facts, not how to properly punctuate the abbreviations for some obscure legal journal article written by an academic. The Judge doesn’t give a shit but I am sure looks pretty.
If you decide to litigate - learn the damn rules of court - local rules, civil/criminal procedure and rules of evidence. I guarantee I know them and will beat you up all day long with them if you don't. Remember an attorney who knows the rules will be able to beat one who doesn't regardless of the evidence. The court never will hear your evidence if you can’t properly present it and I will object to every thing you do that is in violation of the rules.
Lastly, know who you are interviewing with. If you want to work in a corporate law firm don’t interview with a litigation firm, or vice versa. We expect our associates to be ready, willing and able to get into a court room. BTW for you corporate wannabe types – your big firm will probably hire me to actually try the case because your client will want someone who knows the judges and juries.
As far as the idea that corporate lawyers make all the money, I assure you I make a decadent amount of money.

Let me introduce myself

This is a repost from another blog I have and thought it might be a good idea to post here as well.

I have noticed I have some new readers that may not really have a clue as to who I am so I figured I would introduce myself to them.

Yes, in fact I am an attorney. I practice mainly in the areas of family law and criminal law (and believe me they often overlap). I also at one time was a very good immigration lawyer. Now I just take a few cases here and there to help people out.

I do smoke cigars. I normally have my first one on the way to work along with a diet coke. It is the breakfast of those who are going to die young. In all on a bad day I might have 3 or more cigars, on a good day 2. I also drink beer (and whiskey) - in fact I am probably a high functioning drunk, but at least I am functioning.
I tend to write about my life mostly, but there are times I get off on political rants and just off the wall junk.
The firm I work for is a bit screwed up and dysfunctional. The boss is "billbert" and the other partner is "the frumpy snort laugher". Codger and youngin seldom rate being mentioned, but from time to time they will be. The support staff has such a high turn over I hardly know their real names, much less have taken the time to give them fake one. Everything I write about work is true - believe me you cannot make this stuff up.

If at anytime you have a question and want to know something about me just ask.

And oh yeah I don't really type so get used to typos and spelling errors - it is part of my charm.