Author: TSA Press

Both Houses of Parliament Will be Sitting This Week

The 2020 National Budget Presentation will be on Thursday 14th November

The Senate and the National Assembly last sat on Thursday 24th October.  Since then MPs have been occupied mainly with Budget business.  From 30th October to 4th November their time was committed to the Pre-Budget Seminar at the Victoria Falls – an occasion for interaction between MPs and Ministers, particularly the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, and advisers on the priorities and content of the coming 2020 National Budget.  The Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon Jacob Mudenda, opened the Seminar with a thoughtful keynote address [full text available on the Veritas website [link]].

This week it will be business as usual in both Houses on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons – unless the Speaker is ready to clarify two current thorny issues, both of them referred to in Bill Watch 57/2019 of 7th November [link]:

• the penalty he imposed on MDC-A MPs for disrespecting the President at the opening of the session on 1st October [forfeiture of sitting allowances] and
• his ban on MDC-A asking questions during National Assembly Question Time on 23rd October.

Budget Presentation on Thursday

On Thursday afternoon the Minister of Finance and Economic Development will present the 2020 National Budget to the National Assembly.  Senators will listen by media link to the presentation in the comfort of the Senate, instead of the usual Thursday afternoon Question Time.

In the remainder of this bulletin we cover the latest developments on the group of Bills passed by Parliament in the last session but not yet gazetted as law.  This will be followed by what is due to come up in both Houses under the heading of business as usual on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Bills Sent to the President for Assent and Gazetting as Acts

Parliament sent three Bills to the President on 5th November, and gave public notice of this action [as required by section 131(5) of the Constitution] in General Notices 2040, 2041 and 2042/2019 published in the Government Gazette of 8th November:

Microfinance Amendment Bill

Maintenance of Peace and Order Bill

Companies and Other Business Entities Bill.

Section 131 allows the President 21 days in which to decide whether to assent to a Bill or to return it to Parliament for reconsideration.

Note: Only one Bill passed by Parliament during the last session still has to go to the President – the Consumer Protection Bill. 

Coming Up in the National Assembly

Lapsed Bills to be restored to the Order Paper

On Tuesday 12th November item 1 on the Order Paper will be a motion by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs seeking the approval of the House for the restoration of six lapsed Bills to the Order Paper at the stage reached in the last session.  The following list shows the stage reached previously for each of these Bills:

Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency Bill [Committee Stage in National Assembly to be completed, including consideration of amendments proposed by the Portfolio Committee on Industry and Commerce]

Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Amendment Bill [for Second Reading stage]

Coroner’s Office Bill [for continuation of Second Reading debate]

Marriages Bill [waiting for Parliamentary Legal Committee [PLC] report]

Freedom of Information Bill [waiting for PLC report]

Education Amendment Bill [waiting for resolution of last-minute disagreement between the Houses, the National Assembly having rejected an amendment made by the Senate]

All these Bills lapsed at the end of the last session because they had not been completed.  Standing Order 161(1) allows the House to approve the Minister’s motion – a means of avoiding wasting work devoted to a Bill by MPs and Parliamentary staff – and the expense incurred in carrying out that work.

Note: The Zimbabwe Media Commission Bill also lapsed at the end of the last session while it was under consideration by the PLC after its First Reading [but is missing from the Minister’ motion]. 

Gazetted Bills Now Ready to be Presented

The following Bills, having been gazetted more than fourteen days ago, all qualify for presentation and First Reading and then automatic referral for consideration by the Parliamentary Legal Committee – which means that presentation may occur this week:

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Amendment Bill

International Treaties Bill

Constitutional Court Bill

The Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Bill, which was only gazetted on 1st November, does not yet qualify for presentation and First Reading.

International Agreements for Parliamentary Approval

Two international agreements are listed for approval in terms of section 327(2) of the Constitution.  Approval by both Houses of Parliament will clear the way for Zimbabwe to ratify these agreements.

Economic Partnership Agreement between the UK and Eastern and Southern African States

This agreement was signed on behalf of Zimbabwe on 31st January 2019.

Framework Agreement of the International Solar Alliance

This agreement was signed on behalf of Zimbabwe on 17th July 2018.

Motions

Two partly-debated motions are items 4 and 5 on the Order Paper:

• the vote of thanks for the President’s speech at the opening of this session;
• the anti-sanctions motion, debate on which terminated abruptly in great disorder on Thursday 24th October, just as Hon Biti entered the chamber to make his contribution [see Bill Watch 57 of 7th November [link]].

Take note motions on reports

Items 6 to 15 on the Order Paper are motions for the House to take note of various reports including include the report of the Public Accounts Committee [PAC] on Compliance Issues for the Reserve Bank, and a report on the Benchmarking Visit to the Parliament of Zambia by a delegation of some members of the PAC.

These reports will be posted on the Veritas website when they become available, which will be once the take note motions have been moved.

Question Time

This is due to go ahead on Wednesday, Questions Without Notice being allotted the first hour and Questions With Notice the next hour.  Hon Madzimure has 7 questions with notice listed, including asking the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare for details of distribution of food to the elderly in his Kabuzuma constituency and several for the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing seeking information on a large number of allegedly irregular land allocations and transfers in the constituency.  Hon S. Chamisa has 5 questions listed, including some for the same Minister seeking information on progress with issuing of title deeds to Mbare residents and construction of a secondary school in Mbare, and the official attitude towards returning vehicle licensing functions to local authorities to enable them to maintain roads.

Coming up in the Senate

The Senate will continue debating the motion for a vote of thanks to the President for his address opening this Parliamentary session and the anti-sanctions motion.  Both debates started during the first working sittings of the Houses on 22nd, 23rd and 24th October.

As already noted above, the Senate’s usual Thursday afternoon Question Time will not take place.  Instead, Senators will remain in their own chamber to listen by media link to the 2020 Annual Budget presentation in the National Assembly.

Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied.

Post published in: Featured

At least 200 elephants have already died at two other parks due to lack of food and water, along with scores of buffalo and antelope, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) said on Monday.

“They will continue (to die) until the rains come. The biggest threat to our animals right now is loss of habitat,” Zimparks spokesman Tinashe Farawo told Reuters.

The El Nino-induced drought has also taken its toll on crops, leaving more than half of the population in need of food aid.

Farawo said Zimparks and private partners planned to move 600 elephants – as well as giraffe, lions, buffalo, antelope and spotted wild dogs – from Save Valley Conservancy in southern Zimbabwe to three other national parks.

“This is the biggest translocation of animals in the history of wildlife movement here because we are talking of distances of more than 1,000 kilometers,” said Farawo.

It will start once the summer rains come. Those are expected to start this week, which would offer major relief for the stricken animals and for farmers who are preparing for the 2019/20 planting season.

The migration will also help to save the conservancy’s ecosystem by depopulating it because the animals “are now becoming a threat to their own survival,” Farawo said

Zimbabwe is home to some 80,000 elephants, around a fifth of Africa’s total, conservationists estimate. Overall numbers have declined sharply in recent years, mostly due to a combination of poaching, illegal hunting and drought.

Farawo said Zimparks, which does not receive government funding, requires $40 million annually for conservation efforts but only generates half the amount.

Zimbabwe, together with South Africa, Botswana and Namibia, unsuccessfully lobbied the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species for controlled sales of their ivory stocks at a meeting in August.

Trade in ivory is banned to deter poaching. Zimparks says its ivory stockpile is worth $300 million, money it can use for wildlife conservation.

Zimbabwe has also exported nearly 100 elephants, mainly to China, earning $3 million, Zimparks statistics show.

Post published in: Featured

Many of Africa’s best known kinds of wild animals are dying from lack of food and water in Zimbabwe’s Mana Pools National Park.

The 2,196- square-kilometer wildlife reserve gets its name from the four nearby bodies of water that the flooding Zambezi River fills every rainy season. The area is home to elephants, zebras, hippopotamuses and many other kinds of wildlife.

But the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority reports that at least 105 elephants have died in Zimbabwe’s wildlife areas recently. Most of the deaths have been in Mana and the larger Hwange National Park in the past two months, the agency said.

Many animals are moving out of the parks and into nearby communities in search of food and water.

Mana Pools is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site known for its beauty. The area experiences hot, dry weather at this time every year. But this year, the dry conditions have been much worse. Even the river’s flow has reduced.

The drought hitting southern Africa is also affecting people. The World Food Program reports that hunger threatens an estimated 11 million people in nine countries. The organization is planning large food distribution projects. The countries of southern Africa have experienced normal rainfall in only one of the past five growing seasons, the group says.

Hopes for rain

Each morning, Munyaradzi Dzoro, a parks agency wildlife officer, hopes for rain.

“It’s beginning to be serious,” he told the Associated Press, standing next to the remains of a dead elephant and buffalo. “It might be worse if we fail to receive rains” by early November.

The last major rainfall came in April, he said.

Mel Hood works with the Feed Mana project, which is providing food support to animals in the area. She said an early end to a “very poor rainy season” has limited the growth of plants the animals need.

The area’s once dependable water resources have turned dangerous for the animals. Many have gotten stuck in the soft soil or clay while trying to reach Long Pool, a five-kilometer-long watering hole. It is one of the few remaining water resources in the park but is only five percent of its normal size.

There are more than 12,000 elephants in Mana’s flood plains. Lions, buffaloes, zebras, wild dogs, hyenas, 350 kinds of birds and many water animals live in the park, the parks agency reports.

“We used to say nature should take its course,” Dzoro said of the park’s normal policy of not getting involved and letting the ecosystem find its own balance.

Now, he said, officials are getting involved to avoid losing animals and maintain population sizes.

Local plant life such as acacias, as well as other trees and grasses, provide most of the food for big animals like elephants and buffaloes. But the lack of rain has severely reduced the amount of plant life, so officials began bringing food to the park in July.

Mel Hood says The Feed Mana project has been asking for “urgent” donations of animal feed such as soy bean hay and grass.

“Although it may not be enough to stave off all the hunger…it is certainly giving these animals a chance to survive until conditions improve,” Hood said.

I’m ­Pete Musto.

Farai Mutsaka reported this story for the Associated Press. Pete Musto adapted it for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter Jr. was the editor. We want to hear from you. How do officials protect endangered animals in your country? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

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Words in This Story

reserve – n. an area of land where animals and plants are given special protection

drought – n. a long period of time during which there is very little or no rain

distribution – n. the act of giving or delivering something to people

plain(s) – n. a large area of flat land without trees

take its course – expr. to permit something to happen without trying to control it

ecosystem – n. everything that exists in a given environment

stave off – p.v. to keep someone or something away usually for a short time

George Guvamatanga, secretary of Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, said the Zimbabwean government met a delegation from China Eximbank in October to review current and future projects.

Thousands gather in Zimbabwe for Mugabe’s funeral

Cramming for the CCPA

Cramming for the CCPA

Axiom & Above the Law

“Are pilots running airlines?” asks Lourdes Slater, the CEO of Karta Legal, a woman-owned consultancy firm with a focus on legal process improvement. “Lawyers are skilled at their art but many not possess the business know-how or time transform their practices,” she says. 

Lourdes’s mission is simple — to innovate the practice of law following this sequence: People, process, and then technology. She uses design thinking and business process improvement tools such as Lean Six Sigma and Agile Legal Project Management to get you there. So, how do you teach the proverbial old dog new tricks? Lourdes shared three insights.

Why v. Way: Identify Your Challenges

“The first step is to identify the nature of the barrier to innovation,” Lourdes says. She continues, “We collaborate with our clients to determine if the barrier is a lack of will — not being sold on the ‘why’ — or not knowing the ‘way’ — lacking the know-how to get there.” According to Lourdes, those are different challenges that should be addressed differently.

Shift From Warrior to Business Mentality

If motivation is intertwined with reward value and reward value is influenced by past experience, we can easily see why lawyers need a reboot. “Lawyers traditionally have been rewarded for perfection. The ‘leave no stone unturned’ approach is taught early and forcefully. Mistakes are frowned upon, a missed legal authority in a brief is not easily forgiven, and the consequences can be serious.” Lourdes observes. 

She explains, “We are never taught efficiency, but the opposite. Early on with the Socratic method in law school, what we are taught are the virtues of resiliency and over preparation. Generally speaking, lawyers don’t see themselves as business people but as warriors.” Lourdes believes that lawyers must shift their mindset from warriors to business professionals, who get rewarded on efficiency and value creation.

A Third-Party Facilitator May Be a Perfect Reality Check

According to Lourdes, “For innovation to take hold in your organization, we need to make the business case loud and clear and present the innovative behavior as rewarding.” She explains, “There are many ways we can accomplish this depending on the type of innovation and organization implementing it. In every instance, however, you have to start at the top of the chain. Without ‘the will’ of the owners and stakeholders, your initiative will fail.” 

She recommends, “If you are neither the owner or the stakeholder, but are tasked with change management at your organization, because the owner/stakeholder has heard this is the ‘thing to do,’ not because they are truly ‘willing’ to change, seek outside help to facilitate the engagement and commitment of the key players, owners or stakeholders of your organization.” According to Lourdes, a facilitator with the experience and ability to communicate the reason for the “will” and the path for the “way” to your owners and stakeholders may be the key to success.

Pilots, in fact, do not run airlines. Likewise, in the era of the Digital Revolution, lawyers can’t afford to run firms and departments in the same way we have been doing in the past. We need to bring strong business and operational skills into the mix. With that in mind, Lourdes’s mission is to work with organizations to facilitate innovation. Finding the obstacles, whether internal or external; changing the mindset, from warrior to business person; and assisting you to get the buy-in you need to get you there. 

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Olga V. Mack is the CEO of Parley Pro, a next-generation contract management company that has pioneered online negotiation technology. Olga embraces legal innovation and had dedicated her career to improving and shaping the future of law. She is convinced that the legal profession will emerge even stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive than before by embracing technology. Olga is also an award-winning general counsel, operations professional, startup advisor, public speaker, adjunct professor, and entrepreneur. Olga founded the Women Serve on Boards movement that advocates for women to participate on corporate boards of Fortune 500 companies. Olga also co-founded SunLaw, an organization dedicated to preparing women in-house attorneys to become general counsels and legal leaders, and WISE to help female law firm partners become rainmakers. She authored Get on Board: Earning Your Ticket to a Corporate Board Seat and Fundamentals of Smart Contract Security. You can email Olga at olga@olgamack.com or follow her on Twitter @olgavmack. 

When it comes to trademarks, descriptiveness is not good thing.  It makes sense — when a term or phrase describes some ingredient, quality, or characteristic of the goods or services in question, it does not lend itself to being a source identifier.  When terms or phrases are so descriptive that they cannot function as a source identifier, then such terms or phrases are deemed “generic.”  For domain names that operate as trademarks, this begs the question: Can the addition of a generic top-level domain extension (such as .COM) to an otherwise generic term create a protectable trademark?  This seems to beg the question presented to SCOTUS in United States Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com B.V.

The facts here are quite simple. Amsterdam-based Booking.com (a division of Booking Holdings, Inc.) is a travel aggregator website operating as a metasearch engine for hotel reservations.  The website began using the name back in 2006 and began its journey for federal trademark protection in 2011.  To make a long story short, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rejected the applications claiming that the term “booking.com” was generic for hotel booking services.  For example, the USPTO did not mince words in its final Office Action refusing the trademark application Ser. No. 79122365, claiming that the addition of the .COM top-level domain to “the generic wording adds no source-identifying significance but retains only its significance as a TLD,” thereby failing to serve as a source identifier.  The refusal was affirmed on appeal to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and the matter proceeded to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

This is where things get bit interesting — the district court sided with the company.  Although the district court recognized that “the term ‘booking’ is generic” for hotel reservation services, the district court held that top-level domains (such as “.COM”) “are generally source identifying and that a mark composed of a generic [second-level domain] and a [top-level domain] is a descriptive mark eligible for protection upon a showing of acquired distinctiveness.” Yep — the district court basically relied upon favorable survey evidence to conclude that the trademark had acquired secondary meaning.  The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the finding, and now SCOTUS has granted certiorari to hear the case.

This case is interesting because it goes to the heart of whether generic terms can shed their “genericness” by the addition of a top-level domain and acquire secondary meaning over time.  We are not talking about merely descriptive terms here that describe the nature, quality, ingredient, or other characteristic of the term for the class of goods or services that are not inherently distinctive but can, in some cases, acquire secondary meaning in the marketplace. Unlike such merely descriptive terms, generic terms go a step farther.  Generic terms are common names that an ordinary consumer understands primarily as describing the family (or “genus”) of the trademark applicant’s goods and/or services.  By definition, such terms cannot indicate the source of goods and/or services, and cannot qualify for federal trademark registration.  This makes sense — the terms “corn flakes” or “restaurant” describe a general type of goods or service, not whose goods or services from which they emanate.

So what gives here?  As evident from the petition for certiorari to SCOTUS, it seems that the Fourth Circuit “concluded that BOOKING.COM, taken as a whole, is not generic because the relevant public would primarily understand the term to indicate [Booking.com’s] brand… [relying] in significant part on [the] Teflon survey, rejecting the USPTO’s argument that such survey evidence is irrelevant to the question whether BOOKING.COM is generic.”

Although the appeals court acknowledged that a term previously held to be generic cannot have that designation changed by subsequent consumer recognition of the term, the court nevertheless held that such a rule only applies where “a prior court” held the term to be generic or was “previously commonly used” by the public. In essence, a term that has been held generic or is otherwise commonly used by the public will not qualify for registration, but somehow miraculously does not qualify as generic (and can acquire secondary meaning) if it does not meet those criteria?  If you are scratching your head, rest assured, I am too.

At first glance, the district court and Fourth Circuit seem to have been persuaded by survey evidence that weighed in favor of the company.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t think that survey evidence can render a generic term like “restaurant” registrable.  Perhaps that is the point — the term “booking” may be a term well-known in the hospitality industry for placing a reservation, but maybe the term is not really generic.  For example, the term “booking” is not solely relevant to the hospitality industry; it arguably operates as a term of art in law enforcement for placing an arrestee into the criminal justice system.  I guess reasonable minds will differ. Let’s just hope that SCOTUS provides some much-needed clarification in the process.

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Tom Kulik is an Intellectual Property & Information Technology Partner at the Dallas-based law firm of Scheef & Stone, LLP. In private practice for over 20 years, Tom is a sought-after technology lawyer who uses his industry experience as a former computer systems engineer to creatively counsel and help his clients navigate the complexities of law and technology in their business. News outlets reach out to Tom for his insight, and he has been quoted by national media organizations. Get in touch with Tom on Twitter (@LegalIntangibls) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/technologylawyer), or contact him directly at tom.kulik@solidcounsel.com.

This year, bonus season came early, what with Milbank jumping the gun and announcing bonuses very early — November 7th, to be precise. But with bonus levels the same as last year, lots of folks were actually disappointed about the static amounts and thought Milbank had work to do to live up to its “Thrillbank” moniker.

So with the first bonus volley welcomed, but a little lackluster, Biglaw waited for perennial compensation leader, Cravath, to make their move. If they up the ante, then that becomes the new industry standard for those firms wanting to prove their position at the top of the Biglaw heap. If they hold the line, well, with fears of a recession looming, who could blame them? But either course would shape the tone of the rest of the bonus season.

Well, the wait is over. This afternoon, they announced, and, well, here are the numbers:

Class of 2019 – $15,000 (pro-rated)
Class of 2018 – $15,000
Class of 2017 – $25,000
Class of 2016 – $50,000
Class of 2015 – $65,000
Class of 2014 – $80,000
Class of 2013 – $90,000
Class of 2012 – $100,000

Yup, it’s the same as Milbank (and last year’s bonuses). So, for the time being at least, Cravath is letting Milbank set the standard. It seems likely that now that these two compensation powerhouses have weighed in, the rest of the industry will fall in line. (Read the full memo on the next page.)

Early reactions from ATL tipsters are similar to the murmurings from Milbank’s announcement:

Cravath announces bonuses and they’re the same. Cravath associates disappointed given many recent successes for the firm and the fact that 2018 compensation was higher with summer bonus.

But the economy is in a precarious position, and this move is right on-brand for a traditionally risk adverse industry (and still generous despite them being the same as last year’s bonuses).

What do you think about Cravath’s 2019 bonuses? Sound off by text us (646-820-8477) or email, funny or otherwise interesting thoughts could make it into an update or follow up to this story. Speaking of contacting Above the Law, remember, we depend on your tips to stay on top of important bonus updates, so when your firm matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Matches”). Please include the memo if available. You can take a photo of the memo and send it via text or email if you don’t want to forward the original PDF or Word file.

And if you’d like to sign up for ATL’s Bonus Alerts (which is the alert list we also use for all salary announcements), please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. If you previously signed up for the bonus alerts, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll receive an email notification within minutes of each bonus announcement that we publish. Thanks for your help!

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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

I am sure that some of you (perhaps all of you) wondered whether Elie Mystal had finally spiked my column for good. No such luck, kiddos. I am presently recovering from extensive back surgery (not my idea of a fun time). I tried to keep up with what was happening, but with the anesthesia brain (yes, there is definitely such a thing, at least for me), the drugs (including but not limited to prescribed opioids), and the constant interruptions while confined to a hospital bed (a place populated by efficient and pleasant vampires), it was not just my eyes that were glazed over. As a wise man once said, “You don’t get any rest in a hospital.” So true.

I’ve provided unsolicited advice on any number of topics over the past few years, and so, here’s some more. The subject is one that we don’t want to think about, but shit happens, as it did to me.

What is your contingency plan if you become ill and are unable to work? What are you going to do? How will you keep your practice going? Who will make appearances for you?  Who will get the work done? How will you pay your bills?

These are not idle questions. They are questions that can and do bring you up short if you have never given them any thought, and I doubt that many of us have, especially the younger among us, who think and act as if they are invincible. They aren’t; we aren’t. Life can turn on a dime.

Not only do we have to have answers to these questions, we also need to be mindful that we need to make sure that our clients don’t think we’ve abandoned them if we are not responsive to their inquiries. Just pile on a disciplinary complaint to add to your misery at the same time you’re trying to recover so that you can return to work and respond to client inquiries, if someone hasn’t already done so.

How many complaints does a state bar receive about a lawyer’s lack of communication?  And how many of those could be prompted by a lawyer’s disability, whether temporary or permanent?

What I am suggesting is a different kind of succession planning, one not for a permanent transition, but for a temporary one, one that covers the time when you are unable to work. You can think — and many do — that it won’t happen to you, but don’t be overconfident. You are not immune. Slipping on a banana peel, a variation of what I did, is easier than you think and leaves you vulnerable, something that we all hate to be.

We are reluctant to let colleagues know that we have workload issues; we are just as reluctant to ask for help on a temporary basis. We fear losing clients, losing work, losing income, but sometimes, we have no choice. For those in solo practice or small firms, benefits do not necessarily include short-term and/or long-term disability insurance.

There is no one right way to handle this situation. Should you continue to work while temporarily disabled? Are you on medication? Are you competent to practice while on drugs?  You tell me.

Remember that a state bar’s disciplinary body doesn’t give us a “get out of jail free” card if we screw up while using the “temporarily disabled” excuse.

So, here’s my unsolicited advice (isn’t it always?):

1. Have a contingency plan in writing (don’t rely on a drug-addled haze to communicate your plan).
2. Give copies of the plan to several colleagues you trust. Hopefully they have some inkling if not more of your practice areas. Don’t ask a transactional lawyer to handle your litigation calendar — and the reverse is equally true.  Some subject matter expertise is always a help.
3. Even if it pains you financially and personally, don’t go back to work until drugs are out of your system, and whatever anesthesia brain you may have had is gone. As a dinosaur, the effects of anesthesia can linger for some time and the cognitive effects are not to be dismissed.
4. Have a “rainy day” fund available. It may not be much, but every little bit helps for those copays and deductibles.

As for me, I get sprung out of my back brace in less than five weeks, but I am not taking any mediations right now. I think that to do so would be a disservice to the attorneys and clients who hire me to resolve cases. I’m not patting myself on the back for what I have decided. It’s a desire to limit reputational risk, and what I think is the right thing for me to do. It may not be the same for you. Anyway, patting myself on the back is not something that I can easily do these days.

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Jill Switzer has been an active member of the State Bar of California for over 40 years. She remembers practicing law in a kinder, gentler time. She’s had a diverse legal career, including stints as a deputy district attorney, a solo practice, and several senior in-house gigs. She now mediates full-time, which gives her the opportunity to see dinosaurs, millennials, and those in-between interact — it’s not always civil. You can reach her by email at oldladylawyer@gmail.com.

Another day, another court loss for Donald Trump in his ongoing attempts to shield his tax returns from lawful subpoenas.

In the gallery of epic benchslaps Trump has received from federal courts (so far my favorite is still the 75-page smackdown from U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero), the beating administered to Trump today is pretty tame. U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols kicked one of Trump’s arguments about the laws passed in New York regarding tax returns from his court in D.C. It was purely a jurisdictional ruling. Here’s the conclusion from the ruling:

Based on the current allegations, Mr. Trump has not met his burden of establishing personal jurisdiction over either of the New York Defendants. The Court therefore need not reach the question of proper venue. Accordingly, the New York Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED, and Mr. Trump’s Amended Complaint is DISMISSED without prejudice as to them. Mr. Trump may press his claims against the New York Defendants in this Court should future events support the exercise of personal jurisdiction over them, or he may opt to pursue those claims in an appropriate forum.

Trump’s legal arguments are almost always wrong and usually offensively bad. This one is no different. There was literally no reason for him to bring this suit in D.C., and Judge Nichols said so.

The only interesting thing here is that Nichols falsified records and switched the samples to bring you Provasic. Just kidding, that was Dr. Charles Nichols, not Judge Carl Nichols. But Judge Nichols is notable for being a judge appointed by Trump. Most of Trump’s federal losses are handed to him by judges who were appointed by other presidents. Nichols was confirmed this past May. Having one of Trump’s crazy and stupid arguments kicked by a fresh-faced Trump judge is not something we’ve seen before.

That’s probably also why Nichols’s decision was so openly begging Trump’s lawyers to refile in New York. But, I don’t think it will do much good in New York as the Second Circuit has already weighed in on the dumbass arguments Trump is making up there.

We’re all just waiting for the administration to ask different Trump judges — Neil Gorsuch and alleged attempted rapist Brett Kavanaugh — to bail him out.

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Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and a contributor at The Nation. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.