Category: News Feeds

Ed. Note: Welcome to our daily feature Trivia Question of the Day!

According to data collected by Law.com’s 2020 Go-To Law School Ranking, which law school did Kirkland hire the most associates from last year?

Hint: 22 members of the Class of 2019 went to Kirkland from this top law school.

See the answer on the next page.

I know you’ve heard this before, but just so we’re all clear: wear a fucking mask, people. It’s truly not that big of a deal. I wear one at work any time I am not seated in my office. It’s crazy easy and you can even get a little fun out of it by wearing a personalized one like our Techdirt masks.

But, if you’re not going to wear a mask, don’t also be an insufferable jerk like Amber Gilles. Amber got really mad when a Starbucks barista named Lenin Gutierrez refused to serve her because she wasn’t in a mask. She decided to take a picture of Gutierrez and post it on Facebook, complaining about it. When the internet saw the post, it did its thing.

A stranger in Orange County, Matt Cowan, said he wanted to donate a few dollars to the barista in tip money, so he started a GoFundMe. As the photo on Facebook filled with hundreds of thousands of interactions and comments from people supporting the barista, the tip money eventually hit more than $100,000 to be donated to the barista. Lenin said he plans to use that money to further his education and also follow his dreams of dancing.

It should have ended there: a nice little story about the kindness of strangers responding to one self-important dolt. But Amber Gilles claims that the real reason she refused to wear the mask is because medical conditions exempt her from the requirement. I’d normally point out that medical exemptions don’t necessarily remove a business’ right to refuse service by policy, but instead I think I’ll give you the deets on Gilles’ proof of her condition.

She went on to describe the symptoms that prevent her from wearing a mask, saying “One of them I get shortness of breath, dizziness and it messes with the heartbeat. And I do have asthma as well, and I do get mask-acne. So there’s several things going on and not only that but it doesn’t even work.”

She provided KGTV with two documents to prove her medical exemption. One is a pelvic exam from 2015 with results that say “probable exophytic fibroid arising from the anterior wall of the uterus measuring 2.9 cm size,” and “simple 2.5 cm left ovarian cyst.” A second piece of paper is a handwritten note with letterhead from a San Diego chiropractor who she asked not be named. The handwritten note reads “Amber has underlying breath conditions that prevent her from wearing a mask or any type of facial covering whatsoever. Please contact me if have any questions.”

I shouldn’t have had to do this, but the Mayo Clinic’s list of symptoms for uterine fibroids includes absolutely nothing about breathing. And no offense to chiropractors out there, but I somehow don’t think your scribbles mean Starbucks can’t require a mask to be serviced.

But the real upshot of all of this is that Gilles would like half of that GoFundMe money, please.

Gilles said she now wants half of that money.

“It was discrimination and everybody is OK with it and enabling and rewarding that behavior,” said Gilles.

That’s obviously not how any of this works. She could consider suing Starbucks, but she’d lose. Suing an employee for sticking to company policy doesn’t somehow mean you get half of a gift given to him by strangers. Also, lawyers are expensive, but Gilles has a plan for that.

Gilles said she’s spoken to a few lawyers about taking her case for getting half of the money but said they’re all expensive so she started her own GoFundMe to try to raise money.

Here’s hoping that the Starbucks barista is going to ask for half that money, too. It’s like a crowdfunding Inception!

Woman Who Refused To Wear Mask At Starbucks Wants Half The $100k In Tip Money Barista Got From GoFundMe Campaign

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Recently, I was one of three partners preparing a colleague in a moot of an upcoming argument. The associates on the case, playing both our side and that of the adversary, were prepared and did a pretty good job. Then one of the partners raised a particular arbitration issue he encountered regarding motions. The associate arguing for our side had not thought of the issue prior to the moot, largely due to lack of experience. He had a good response on his feet. But then, once we were out of character, we discussed the issue, which ended up being one of the key issues in the arbitration argument. At the argument, the associate dealt with the issue handily, and we obtained a small victory for our client.

But the only reason that my colleague could win for the client is that he was very, very expansive. The adversary in his argument — a partner years senior to my colleague — didn’t do a great job of arguing for his side, helping us win. The point is that the adversary hadn’t thought of everything in his preparation, so then he didn’t have the answers ready in the actual argument.

However, being expansive is not easy when you’re in a room by yourself. It was not simply the experience of that senior partner at our firm who had the great idea. It was that the senior partner, and two other partners, and two associates batted around ideas and practiced, all together. And it didn’t take forever. The entire moot and discussion lasted under a half hour. The arguing lawyer then spent his time in prep and research, sure. But the key preparation I’m advocating for here, where you really think creatively, didn’t take long. But it did take teamwork.

Perhaps nothing is more essential to winning in trial work than simply grinding away and working hard. But open, creative thought, with your colleagues, can be what puts you over the edge so that you can win for your client.

John Balestriere is an entrepreneurial trial lawyer who founded his firm after working as a prosecutor and litigator at a small firm. He is a partner at trial and investigations law firm Balestriere Fariello in New York, where he and his colleagues represent domestic and international clients in litigation, arbitration, appeals, and investigations. You can reach him by email at john.g.balestriere@balestrierefariello.com.

Cancelling the bar exam with no clear plan demonstrates how far removed from the reality of bar study the Court of Appeals is. Adding more chaos to this uncertain time is devastating and traumatizing. But you will get through it.

— Professor Allie Robbins of the City University of New York School of Law, commenting on the fact that would-be bar examinees in New York now have absolutely no idea what their futures hold because the Court of Appeals canceled the in-person September exam without announcing an alternative test date.

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Don’t look now, but the Department of Homeland Security has apparently declared martial law in Portland, Oregon. For several days now, heavily armed federal troops without insignia or identification have been snatching American citizens off the streets and whisking them away in unmarked vans to prevent the dastardly crime of … graffiti. Literally.

For weeks, protesters demonstrating against police violence have scuffled with Oregon’s cops. They’ve also engaged in minor vandalism of federal property — mostly graffiti, a few smashed windows and damaged security cameras at the courthouse.

But with the president’s ratings in the tank and support for the Black Lives Matter movement rising, the Trump administration and Fox News have been blasting out dire warnings of dangerous cities where hapless Democratic mayors are held hostage by crowds of bloodthirsty anarchists.

“Far-left mayors are escalating the anti-cop crusade, and violent crime is spiraling in their cities. It’s all far-left cities where they have no understanding of what has to be done,” Trump said last week at a “Roundtable with Stakeholders Positively Impacted by Law Enforcement.”

Then he explicitly threatened to “take over” American cities using federal troops.

“Numbers are going to be coming down even if we have to go in and take over cities, because we can’t let that happen.”

And apparently he meant it, since Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf started gearing up to “take over” Portland shortly after. The pretext was “violent anarchists”, AKA racial justice protesters, with spray paint and laser pointers who “doxed” the heavily armed troops beating people exercising their First Amendment right to assemble.

“The city of Portland has been under siege for 47 straight days by a violent mob while local political leaders refuse to restore order to protect their city,” Wolf said yesterday. “Each night, lawless anarchists destroy and desecrate property, including the federal courthouse, and attack the brave law enforcement officers protecting it.”

Not sure how graffitiing Terry Schrunk Plaza counts as violent anarchy. But this right here seems to fit the bill pretty clearly.

Last Saturday, DHS put a protestor holding a BLM sign in critical care after firing a “less lethal round” at his head. Then on Wednesday at around 2 a.m., Wolf’s shock troops descended on the streets near the federal courthouse and started grabbing up protesters, including Mark Pettibone, who was thrown into the back of a van and blindfolded after agents pulled his beanie down over his face.

Oregon Public Broadcasting reports:

Blinded by his hat, in an unmarked minivan full of armed people dressed in camouflage and body armor who hadn’t identified themselves, Pettibone said he was driven around downtown before being unloaded inside a building. He wouldn’t learn until after his release that he had been inside the federal courthouse.

“It was basically a process of facing many walls and corners as they patted me down and took my picture and rummaged through my belongings,” Pettibone said. “One of them said, ‘This is a whole lot of nothing.’”

Pettibone said he was put into a cell. Soon after, two officers came in to read him his Miranda rights. They didn’t tell him why he was being arrested. He said they asked him if he wanted to waive his rights and answer some questions, but Pettibone declined and said he wanted a lawyer. The interview was terminated, and about 90 minutes later he was released. He said he did not receive any paperwork, citation or record of his arrest.

“I just happened to be wearing black on a sidewalk in downtown Portland at the time,” Pettibone said. “And that apparently is grounds for detaining me.”

And if you saw that scenario on your CrimLaw exam, you’d probably call it an arrest. Nonetheless the U.S. Marshalls Services insists that, “All United States Marshals Service arrestees have public records of arrest documenting their charges. Our agency did not arrest or detain Mark James Pettibone.”

This is, not to put too fine a point on it, some Gestapo shit. Or as Oregon Governor Kate Brown described it, “political theater from President Trump [that] has nothing to do with public safety.”

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was similarly alarmed.

Remember back in the first days of the Trump administration when Steve Bannon was homebrewing blatantly illegal executive orders in the back room and lawyers descended on American airports to fight the travel ban? Looks like it might be time for us all to bone up on the finer points of habeus petitions.

Counselors, start your engines.

Federal Law Enforcement Use Unmarked Vehicles To Grab Protesters Off Portland Streets [OPB]

Elizabeth Dye (@5DollarFeminist) lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.

Joe chats with Aaron Pierce, GM of CounselLink about its latest Enterprise Legal
Management Trends Report compiling client data on outside vendor spend. The report covers the whole year, meaning the impact of COVID isn’t really reflected, but Joe and Aaron discuss what to expect from the pandemic’s impact on the client side.

Things are a mess for the law school class of 2020. Their last semester of law school was online, to call the bar exam situation a snafu is an understatement, and most have found their Biglaw start dates pushed back. So to find out there’s more delays, well, it isn’t surprising.

A few days ago, we started hearing rumors swirling about what was going on with incoming associates who planned on taking clerkships at Munger Tolles & Olson. Some claimed offers were rescinded, others that the dates were pushed back and the clerk-associates would be given pro bono jobs rather than start at the firm. So Above the Law reached out to the firm to find out exactly what is going on. A spokesperson for MTO said:

Like many firms, we’ve made the difficult decision to delay the start date for our incoming class of associates until January 2021 as a result of the pandemic. We are exploring the possibility of pro bono secondments for a small number of incoming associates (four total) who are only able to join the firm for a short period before leaving for clerkships beginning in 2021. This opportunity would allow these young attorneys to gain valuable experiences during this timeframe and to make an impact on their communities. These plans are still being developed and we will continue to keep our future colleagues apprised of updates.

So, the fate of the clerk-associates is up in the air as the firm “explor[es]” options. But at least, as of now, the clerk-associates aren’t left out in the cold.

As always, our vast network of tipsters is part of what makes Above the Law thrive. If you have any additional information about new associate start dates, or how clerks are being dealt with at other firms please let us know. You can email us or text us (646-820-8477).

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).