A Personal Note From David Lat

My hospital bed selfie on my day of discharge.

Greetings, dear readers. It’s David Lat, founding editor and current columnist here at Above the Law. I hope you are all weathering the current storm well.

There’s so much news to discuss within the legal world, especially in terms of how various sectors of our community — including law firms, law schools, and courts — are dealing with the coronavirus crisis, as well as its associated economic fallout. But I will invoke my privileges as “editor emeritus” and talk about … me, if that’s okay.

As some of you might have seen — in this story by Kathryn Rubino, this column by Steven Chung, or on social media (if you follow me at @DavidLat) — I have spent much of the past month or so battling coronavirus. And it has been quite the battle.

It all began around the weekend of March 7-8. I felt a bit out of sorts, intensely fatigued. But at that point in time there weren’t even 50 confirmed cases in New York City (a city with a population over 8 million), making the idea that I could have coronavirus seem far-fetched.

By the following weekend, March 14-15, my symptoms had worsened to include fever, chills, and most disturbingly of all, difficulty breathing. And the number of cases had increased, making me think that perhaps I did have COVID-19.

I went to the emergency room at NYU Langone Health on Sunday, March 15, in the hope of getting a coronavirus test, but the stories are true: it’s very difficult to get tested. I was told that due to the limited number of testing kids and CDC guidelines, I could not get tested for COVID-19.

I was given a cold/flu test that day to see if my symptoms could be a result of a common strain already out there, as opposed to the novel coronavirus. Having a negative cold/flu test is, along with having traveled to certain countries or interacted with a known carrier, another path to getting tested. My cold/flu test came back negative, meaning that my symptoms were caused by something else (cough cough, coronavirus) — but I was nevertheless told to go home and return tomorrow to be tested for COVID-19.

My symptoms worsened overnight. By the time I returned to the ER the next day, Monday, March 16, I could barely walk or even stand. I remember needing to support myself on the counter as they conducted patient intake. I was admitted to the ER, given emergency oxygen, and (finally) given a coronavirus test — which came back positive in short order.

I’m writing a longer essay about by COVID-19 experience (which I’ll post on my Twitter feed once it’s published), so I’ll offer an abbreviated version here. I spent the next 17 days in the hospital — including almost a week in the intensive care unit, hooked up to a ventilator. Early research suggests that the majority of coronavirus patients who get put on ventilators don’t survive, but I was one of the lucky ones; I made it. After getting off the ventilator, I spent another week or so in the hospital, getting supplemental oxygen and learning how to breathe again. I was discharged on April 1 — April Fools’ Day — but my COVID-19 struggle was no joke.

(For more on my coronavirus battle, see this segment from yesterday’s Today Show, when my husband and I spoke with Savannah Guthrie — my fellow lawyer turned journalist and Zach’s fellow Georgetown Law grad — about what we went through.)

So how does this relate to Above the Law? Over the past few weeks, as I have fought my very public battle with coronavirus — which I have discussed openly with both traditional media and over social media — I have been overwhelmed by an incredible amount of support. I’m guessing that thousands of people were praying for, thinking of, or otherwise pulling for me — and a sizable portion of those people have been members of the ATL community. I can’t count the number of supportive calls, texts, emails, tweets, Twitter DMs, Facebook messages, and LinkedIn messages that I have received during my difficulties from ATL readers, sources, sponsors, and supporters.

At its heart, Above the Law has always been about community. And when we go through difficult experiences — such as the Great Recession, which ATL covered in great detail, and our current crisis, which ATL now chronicles — community becomes more important than ever.

My struggle has been difficult. And it’s far from over; I’m still very weak, with a lot of recovery ahead of me. I have a residual cough, my voice remains very hoarse (from the ventilator), and I get winded from walking across a room or up a flight of stairs.

But I do think, knock on wood, that the worst is behind me. And from the comfort of a couch in my parents’ house, where I’ll be spending the next few weeks of my recovery, I’d just like to say to the Above the Law community: thank you.

I don’t know that my family and I would have made it through this ordeal without your support. And I will always, always be grateful.

Earlier:


DBL square headshotDavid Lat, the founding editor of Above the Law, is a writer, speaker, and legal recruiter at Lateral Link, where he is a managing director in the New York office. David’s book, Supreme Ambitions: A Novel (2014), was described by the New York Times as “the most buzzed-about novel of the year” among legal elites. David previously worked as a federal prosecutor, a litigation associate at Wachtell Lipton, and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at dlat@laterallink.com.

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What it’s like to treat Covid-19 in New York: Zimbabwean doctor tells her story – The Zimbabwean

More needs to be spent on health workers’ physical and mental wellbeing amid the Covid-19 pandemic, says Monalisa Muchatatu, a Zimbabwean doctor based in New York.
Image: 123RF/Yuriy Klochan

Dr Monalisa Muchatatu, 38, an emergency medical practitioner based in Brooklyn — which by Friday last week had 102,863 Covid-19 cases — told TimesLIVE that not even the best treatment money can buy is enough to save all lives.

“It is quite distressing to work knowing that even with all these resources, sometimes patients will succumb to the illness. I, like other emergency doctors, battle with a sense of helplessness because we are essentially ‘doers’ but the cycle of the disease management is mostly supportive, so all the resources in the world sometimes make no difference,” she said.

Muchatatu said watching patients lonely and facing death has been traumatic.

“The hardest thing for me to digest is just how incredibly sad and lonely I perceive our patients to be in this tough time of their lives — and to be fighting alone without family, as we cannot allow visitors … It makes me sad,” she said.

“Days are spent receiving new patients and trying to stabilise them to prevent them from declining, but also because all hospitals have had an unprecedented influx of patients.”

While safety is key for health-care workers because they are at the highest risk of infection, she said their mental health cannot be ignored.

“We need to wearpersonal protective equipment where available all the time and at a bare minimum N95 mask and gloves, and assume all patients are Covid-19 positive until proven otherwise,” she said.

“This stance saves you from being infected and potentially falling out of the available pool of providers during the pandemic, becoming the vector spreading the virus between patients, and also decreases your chances of bringing it home to your loved ones.

“Mental health checks with your colleagues are important. This is a very stressful time in our careers and there is no shame in seeking help to ensure we are at our best for our patients at their worst.”

Back home in Zimbabwe, meanwhile, doctors on Sunday took the government to court over its failure to provide protective clothing to about 1,500 doctors, almost 15,000 nurses and general staff on the front line.

“We bear the brunt of this pandemic and are vulnerable, despite the first respondent [the ministry of health and child care] telling the world that Zimbabwe is ready — to the extent of even offering to assist other countries in distress,” said Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights in their court application.

“We have observed with trepidation that Zimbabwe is not ready for the pandemic and the measures taken so far fall short of the steps that are necessary to prevent, contain and treat the incidence of Covid-19.”

Muchatatu said the Covid-19 pandemic has for the fight time brought the health profession together in fighting its biggest threat this century.

“This pandemic has yielded a very strong, inter-border, collegial relationship between health-care providers. We learn more about possible management regimens from international colleagues treating patients in other parts of the world,” she said.

Above all, she said humanity would pull through this critical stage.

“The human race is resilient. We have survived other pandemics in the past. We must follow the guidelines we are being given by our public health specialists. This will help to flatten the Covid-19 case curve to controllable numbers and decrease the magnitude of loss of life,” she said.

Zimbabwe finished its first week of the 21-day lockdown period with nine confirmed Covid-19 cases and one death.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa said he would review the lockdown progress after the 21-day period ends. Depending on the results of the effort, he could extend or call off the lockdown.

Post published in: Featured

Zimbabwe COVID-19 Lockdown Monitoring Report: 5 April 2020 – Day 7 – The Zimbabwean

Emmerson Mnangagwa  Photograph: Valery Sharifulin/Tass

On day 7 of the National Lockdown declared by President Emmerson Mnangagwa on 27 March 2020 followed by the gazetting of SI 83 of 2020 Public Health (COVID-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment) (National Lockdown) on 28 March 2020, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (the Forum) continued to monitor the implementation of this declaration. According to official statistics by the Ministry of Health and Child Care as at 4 April 2020, positive COVID-19 cases have increased to nine (9) whilst 340 individuals tested negative for COVID-19.
It has been noted with concern that attacks on journalists in the line of duty by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers continue despite the designation of journalists as an essential service. Between 30 March and 6 April 2020, the Forum has documented 4 cases of attacks on journalists which include assault, detention and arrests.

The continuous increase in the prices of basic commodities in most of the few shops that are operating is a cause for concern. Informal workers have been forced to clandestinely resume their businesses to be able to afford food for their families. To a greater extent, the increase in community members violating the lockdown can be attributed to the need to provide for their families.

While most churches seem to have heeded the call for the lockdown as demonstrated by the fact there were no mass processions usually associated with a day referred to as Palm Sunday within the Christian religion, same cannot be said for some of the apostolic churches in Harare who were not abiding by the lockdown directive as some were seen congregating and without abiding by the COVID-19 measures.This report encompasses reports covering the 10 provinces of the country through reports received from the following Forum Members:

  • Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP)
  • Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
  • Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
  • Counselling Services Unit (CSU)
3.0       General Atmosphere 
President Emmerson Mnangagwa drove through high-density suburbs of Harare including Tafara, Mabvuku, Kuwadzana, Highfields and Mufakose. He also proceeded to Chitungwiza where he passed through Zengeza and Seke.  He was said to be on a tour to establish if the public had generally complied with his Lockdown declaration.  However, his tour excluded all places where people were queuing for basic commoditiesIn Harare’s Adbernnie suburb, long queues of shoppers who wanted to buy groceries at OK supermarket were observed. Community members were ignoring the social distance policy as they were packed in queues at the entrance.

In Chitungwiza, vendors were selling their goods in the streets at St Mary’s Chigovanyika shops and Zengeza 2 Shopping Centre. In Zengeza 4 and Unit J, vendors were patrolling the streets selling their goods. Heavy police presence was observed at Chikwanha shopping centre and Makoni shopping centre. In Chiwundura members of the apostolic sect of more than 200 people were gathered between 0800hrs to 1500hrs near Muchakata shopping centre. It was reported that the gathering included people of all age groups including children and the elderly. The interactions observed indicated a total disregard for COVID-19 recommended guidelines in social interactions.
In Mbare, police and military patrols were observed at Mbare Musika, Stoddart Hall and Matapi residential flats. In some areas, groups of people sitting at street corners were observed, most of which were drinking alcohol being sold in illicit bars. Some vendors have resorted to selling their commodities from their yards.

At Murombedzi Growth Point in Zvimba, there was less movement of people and some of the shops were open from 9am to 3pm. After shops closed, police officers were seen moving around with sjamboks and baton sticks chasing away people from the shopping areas. Some community members had to walk for more than 5km back to their homes as there was no transport to ferry them.

In most high-density suburbs nationally, there was an increase in the number of people who defied the lockdown to pursue economic activities.  Police officers on patrol are a risk factor in aiding the spread of COVID-19 by patrolling streets without protective clothing and bundling those defaulting on the 21-day lockdown in crammed trucks where social distancing is not observed.

4.0       Arrests
On the 6th day of the lockdown, during a raid, ZRP officers arrested 7 sex workers at Magaba, Matagarika and Nenyere in Mbare flats for violating the lockdown. It was reported that the 7 women were taken to Matapi police station where they paid admission of guilt fines of ZWL500 before being released.

5.0       Assaults

In Zaka, it was reported that soldiers in an army truck at Chinorumba Business Centre assaulted people who were buying groceries with sjamboks. It is alleged that people were accused of loitering and violating the national lockdown. Four (4) people were reportedly assaulted during the incident. At Nyagambu Business Centre in Zaka North, ZRP officers forced all shops to close down around 1100hrs due to the long queues that were forming.

6.0 Summary of Violations

The table below summarises human rights violations documented by the Forum Secretariat and Forum Members from 30 March 2020 to 5 April 2020.

Nature of Violation Number of Victims Location
Assault 56 Harare, Zvishavane, Masvingo, Bulawayo, Wedza, Chinhoyi, Zaka
Attack on Journalists 4 Mutare, Gweru, Chinhoyi, Harare
Arrests 118 Masvingo,
Gweru, Bulawayo, Chinhoyi, Hwange, Harare

7.0       Court Update
The Right to Water

  1. The High Court in Harare issued a provisional order, in favour of the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) ordering the City of Harare to provide safe constant and adequate water to residents during the period of lockdown and/or its extension. under case number HC2156/2020.The residents were claiming violations of their constitutional rights to water, health care, to life.Also, they argued that for them to fully comply with government COVID 19 regulations, measures must urgently be put in place for them to access water in their homes or at some points to enable them to practice personal hygiene and curb the spread of coronavirus.

    The City of Harare was ordered to present to the Court within 24 hours a maintenance schedule for all dysfunctional boreholes within the 46 wards of the City of Harare and to provide enforcement officers to protect the communal water points to ensure that people accessing water adhere to the social distancing guidelines.
    The Minister of Local Government, the Minister of Health and Child Welfare were ordered to play an oversight role over the implementation of the order.

    The High Court also ordered the Minister of Finance to ensure that the City of Harare has adequate resources to implement the order.

    1. Following this court judgment, the High Courts in Masvingo. Mutare Bulawayo and Harare have also been seized with similar applications from residents in Masvingo, Mutare, Hwange and Chitungwiza respectively.  The residents are represented by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.  Again today, the High Court granted to order requested by the Chitungwiza Residents Trust against the Chitungwiza Municipality, the Minister of Local Government, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Finance under Case No. HC2158/2020

    These are welcome and landmark judgments, which positively confirm the rights to water health and food for citizens as provided for in the Constitution of Zimbabwe 2013.   The Forum urges the responsible tiers of government to respect the rule of law and implement these court orders urgently to provide safe, clean and adequate water, not only in this period of the COVID 19 lockdown but also beyond the lockdown.

     8.0 Conclusion
    The Forum continues to call upon the citizens of Zimbabwe:

    • to take heed of the importance of social distancing as a measure to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The Forum also calls on the government:

    • To, in the wake of the judgments from the High Court, immediately provide all the necessary and adequate resources to ensure that the citizens of Zimbabwe can exercise their rights to water, food and health care to effectively deal with the threat of COVID-19.
    • To publicly denounce the excessive use of force and beatings by the police, and insist on methods of law enforcement that conform to the Constitution and international law.
    • To properly equip and resource law enforcement officers with proper protective clothing so that they can effectively implement the national lockdown.
    • To avail resources to support  the vulnerable households with access to safe, clean and portable water and food.
    • To ensure the protection  of arrested persons by taking note of prescribed social distance measures during transportation and detention.

Post published in: Featured

Half of Zimbabwe’s population could starve if aid is not received, IMF warns – The Zimbabwean

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that Zimbabwe needs urgent aid as the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic exacerbates the effects of a food shortage following the worst drought in nearly four decades.
Image: MOELETSI MABE

The latest Covid-19 coronavirus coverage

The Southern African nation needs hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid in coming months to fend off a humanitarian crisis that’s likely to leave more than half of the population hungry, the Washington-based institution said.

“The outbreak has greatly amplified uncertainty and downside risks around the outlook,” the IMF said in an Article IV report, released on Friday. To date, Zimbabwe has nine confirmed infections and, like much of the region, the government has imposed a lockdown to halt the spread of the virus.

An economic crisis marked by a dire shortage of foreign currency and power supply, coupled with the drought has increased the number of poor people in what was once one of Africa’s most industrialised countries. The fund estimates that the economy contracted 8.3% in 2019. The report was largely compiled before the virus reached Zimbabwe.

“Absent a scaling-up of donor support, the risks of a deep humanitarian crisis are high,” the IMF said. Only half of the humanitarian aid requested by the UN to help about eight-million people has been pledged, it said.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who promised far-reaching political and economic reforms after replacing Robert Mugabe in 2017, hasn’t moved fast enough to strengthen the rule of law, fight corruption and improve the business climate, the IMF said.

Without additional donor support in the first half of 2020, pressure will increase on the central bank to revert to printing money, which would in turn result in even higher inflation and loss of confidence in the new currency, the IMF said. Zimbabwe’s annual inflation rate is currently 540%.

Zimbabwe is also struggling to clear $16.9bn in arrears, while external public debt is expected to jump more than 10 percentage points in just four years to 52% of GDP in 2020, according to the IMF.

Post published in: Business

Anxiety over rights violations as Zimbabwe enforces lockdown – The Zimbabwean

People leave a vegetable wholesaler after buying their fresh produce under the watch of a joint military and police patrol in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe [Tendai Marima/Al Jazeera]

Bulawayo, Zimbabwe – Off the open-air market in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second city, armed soldiers and police controlled a modest queue of vegetable traders, scuttling people away as soon as they make their purchase.

On a normal day, the marketplace would be a bustling hive of activity. But on Monday, as Zimbabwe entered its second week of a 21-day lockdown aimed at mitigating the spread of the new coronavirus, activity was sharply reduced.

Standing near a neglected mass of open-air empty stalls covered in black sheeting is Mary Gumbo. The 69-year-old usually sells tomatoes here, but now she has to bundle her wares for resale in her neighbourhood. She complains the tight security and transport controls have reduced her earnings.

“I had to get off the bus and walk to get into town because I didn’t have a letter to explain why I was coming to the market. I’ve bought a crate to resell at home, but I need to quickly search for a box and get out of here before the police come back and take my things,” Gumbo said.

“They’ve already told me to leave,” she added, before trying to negotiate with a two-wheeled cart driver to reduce the fare to carry her goods.

But with no loitering allowed, Gumbo did not have much time.

Police arrest a man for loitering at the market in Bulawayo [Tendai Marima/Al Jazeera]

According to police records, nearly 2,000 people were arrested during the first week for defying lockdown laws across Zimbabwe. Scores of people have been rounded up and crammed into police trucks to be held at Bulawayo’s central police station.

Since President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday appealed to the security services to “ensure [the] pathway of food supply” and for agricultural trade to continue “undisturbed”, trading controls have slightly eased.

However, the increased security measures to ensure the public comply with lockdown laws risks stoking tensions between the police and an urban populace already buckling under the weight of Zimbabwe’s complex and long-standing economic problems.

And some struggling vendors like 38-year-old Precious Mutasa who survive on their day-to-day earnings, it is uncertain whether Zimbabweans can maintain the lockdown for another two weeks with limited financial means, prolonged water rationing and food shortages.

Zimbabwe enters second week of Covid-19 lockdown

Police round-up people for being unable to explain why they don’t have written permits to be in the city centre during Zimbabwe’s COVID-19 lockdown [Tendai Marima/Al Jazeera]

Meanwhile, human rights groups say they fear police are abusing their mandate to make people stay at home as they scale up operations across the country.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), an NGO, said they have received individual complaints alleging police harassment, while videos circulating on social media show security forces in various cities assaulting civilians and disposing of fresh food produce.

Roselyn Hanzi, executive director of ZLHR, said the NGO has issued a letter to the police expressing concern about their conduct during the 21-day lockdown.

“The constitution is very clear that some rights must be limited during this time that the government is undertaking an emergency public health measure,” she told Al Jazeera.

“However, some rights are not limited no matter the circumstance, police cannot subject people to cruel and degrading treatment or torture and they must respect the right to life.”

Paul Nyathi, assistant police commissioner, denied that the police are in breach of human rights laws and urged the public to cooperate with law enforcement officers.

“We are saying people should just comply, there is no need for people to play with their health. There is no need for the people to disregard measures that have been put by the government so that the nation will be able to contain COVID-19,” Nyathi said, referring to the highly infectious respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Zimbabwe enters second week of Covid-19 lockdown

Businesspeople and government officials look at a sample bed for Ekusileni Hospital, an unused private medical facility in Bulawayo that is set to be turned into a COVID-19 testing and treatment centre [Tendai Marima/Al Jazeera]

While municipal workers continue to clean up Zimbabwe’s empty cities and the first steps towards mass disinfection of public areas and busses take place in the capital, Harare, questions still loom over the country’s preparedness for a full-blown COVID-19 outbreak.

So far, Zimbabwe has registered nine cases and one death. Some medics complain of the lack of preparedness and accuse the government of underplaying the numbers of those infected, a charge the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare strongly denies.

However, Health Minister Obadiah Moyo has said the discovery of faulty test kits has slowed down the testing process.

“We received some kits which we are not using because we found that they were defective. We are therefore waiting to receive definitive testing kits because some of the rapid results testing kits we have give defective results,” he told the Daily News.

Currently, the blood samples of those showing symptoms associated with COVID-19 are sent to Harare.

In the event of a confirmed case requiring hospitalisation anywhere outside of the capital, a patient will have to be transferred there for treatment, according to July Moyo, the minister of local government and public works.

Hospitals in other cities identified as potential treatment centres are still being equipped and undergoing major renovations.

Zimbabwe police accused assaulting journalists during lockdown – The Zimbabwean

Freelance journalist Panashe Makufa “was beaten up by members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police” in Harare’s Kuwadzana township “while undertaking his professional duties,” the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe office said.

Makufa told the media rights watchdog he was taking pictures Sunday of police as they dispersed people to enforce a stay-at-home order.

“Four police officers ordered Makufa to get into their truck where he was assaulted by two officers and forced to delete his pictures before he was dropped off,” MISA said in a statement.

‘No formal report’

Police spokesperson Paul Nyathi said they had received no formal report about the incident.

“We don’t condone the assault of people going about the legitimate work but we have had incidents of people who commit offences and then say they were arrested while performing their duties,” he told AFP.

“We are appealing to the journalist Makufa to come and make a formal report if indeed such an incident happened,” he said.

Makufa’s assault came after the arrest last week of two other journalists in separate incidents.

Police briefly detained freelance reporter Kudzanai Musengi in the central city of Gweru accusing him of working with an expired accreditation card, according to MISA.

In another case, the police arrested Voice of America (VOA) correspondent Nunurai Jena and charged him with disorderly conduct after he took pictures of police at a roadblock, the media watchdog said.

He appeared before a magistrate’s court and was released on bail.

Zimbabwe began a three-week total lockdown a week ago.

The southern African country says it has so far recorded nine Covid-19 cases, including one fatality.

Post published in: Featured

Morgan Komichi is not the 2014 Chairman of the MDC – The Zimbabwean

Morgan Komichi

So, the Supreme Court has ruled that the MDC-T must revert to its 2014 or 2016 structures, is that correct? My recollection is that Lovemore Moyo, not Morgan Komichi, was the then Chairperson of the MDC-T, and only resigned in 2018. So if the Court ordered the MDC-T to return to its 2018 structures, why does Morgan Komichi think he is the Chairman. And why does Advocate Douglas Mwonzora concur with that fraudulent claim by Komichi. Or was it the Court which mentioned Morgan Komichi by name in its judgement?

This revelation about Komichi imposing himself as Chairman of the MDC before the demise of Tsvangirai, or the Courts imposing him as such, should be exposed and stopped. And Advocate Mwonzora is expected to be a legal guru who should understand better,and for him to really call Komichi Chairman is mischievous.

Mr. Lovemore Moyo is still alive, and very much part of the 2014 MDC-T structures. Dr. Khupe must call Advocate Mwonzora and Mr. Morgan Komichi to order.

Slow down, Slow down Advocate Mwonzora and Morgan Komichi, you have already prostituted the Supreme Court judgement by claiming that Morgan Komichi was the Chairman of the MDC-T in 2014. Your hands are dirty, gentlemen, and through your mischievous utterances, you may have rendered the Supreme Court judgement null and void.

Post published in: Featured

Morning Docket: 04.07.20

* A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by musicians who had their work destroyed in a 2008 Universal Music Group blaze. Maybe the defendants listened to “We Didn’t Start the Fire” to celebrate their victory… [Variety]

* The top lawyer at CVS Health was paid over $23 million last year. Clearly, I’m in the wrong field. [Bloomberg]

* An attorney who spent two years in prison for wire fraud has been reinstated. Those are some forgiving bar examiners… [CT Post]

* Attorney General Barr has suggested that judges should consider COVID-19 when making bail determinations. [Politico]

* If you have not yet seen Tiger King on Netflix, you should watch it immediately. Then read this interview with an attorney from PETA. [Hollywood Reporter]

* Apparently in Boston, New York Sports Clubs are called Boston Sports Clubs, and like in New York, members are suing because they are being billed while gyms remain closed. [Boston Globe]


Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.

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