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New Technology Without Adoption Is Worse Than Doing Nothing

New Technology Without Adoption Is Worse Than Doing Nothing

Rohit Parekh – Matter365

It seemed impossible that the post-election litigation cycle could get any stupider. Rudy Giuliani melted down figuratively and literally on screen. His other Elite Strike Force^TM lawyer’s resume is… far from elite, though she is a doctor! Sidney Powell’s legal theories proved so baseless and bonkers that she was kicked out of the band and launched her own Team Kraken. Then Texas sued other states because Ken Paxton wants a pardon OF VERY IMPORTANT CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES and the Supreme Court laughed at them, prompting a wingnut theory that John Roberts yelled and cursed at the other justices in the conference room despite not having met in person in months.

But Team Kraken’s bass player Lin Wood is here to take it up another notch.

I’m sorry, what?

Can we get some more clarity on that, Lin?

If only Umberto Eco were alive to see The Plan become real. In Foucault’s Pendulum, the characters make up a stupid series of conspiracies as a lark and eventually find the intertwining conspiracies metastasize and dangerously drag more people into the nonsense. Trump’s electoral defeat is now tied to Jeffrey Epstein and Pizzagate. The grand unified theory of batshit is right around the corner.

Be sure to check “Hunter Biden’s laptop” off on your Bingo card. Fantastic email by the way… with grammar that impeccable there is no way it could be mistaken for a Russian apparatchik trying to draft an email through Google translate. Nope.

And now QAnon enters the chat. We’re through the looking glass here people!

The implication here is that Roberts could sue Wood for defamation… but TRUTH is a defense to defamation… so the fact Roberts hasn’t sued him yet proves everything Wood is saying must be true. QED, mofos! Or maybe it’s because Roberts is a public figure requiring an uphill climb to prove defamation and there aren’t any damages because these claims are so absurd that they aren’t damaging his reputation? Who’s to say?

You know, how people always play chess, perpendicular to the board for a photo op. The board’s a little hard to see, but it certainly looks like Trump intentionally moved his Queen into a place where Barron could take it on this move and instead the kid is moving a random pawn and exposing his other Knight. So… yeah, this does look a lot like January 6, 2021.

Wood then spends an hour going after Dan Crenshaw and then an hour going after Mark Meadows. And Moderna and Bill Gates. It’s like the 12 Days of Christmas of wild accusations. I’m just waiting for the classic “FIVE. GOLD. RINGS!!!! (Forged by George Soros in the fires of Mt. Doom).”

But thankfully, Wood isn’t finished with John Roberts yet.

Well, that took a turn, didn’t it.

Happy 2021!

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Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

On the one hand, the idea of prosecutors using social media to troll criminal defendants feels problematic. On the other hand, this is hilarious.

The anonymous Twitter handle @MotiontoLit took to Twitter to keep us all up to date on his latest trial. In a sense, this is just the 21st century equivalent of the deeply democratic principle of keeping court proceedings open to all. Though it does seem like exclusively hearing the prosecution’s running commentary skews things a bit.

I have mixed feelings about the pro se world. I agree wholeheartedly with the critiques forwarded by Judge Posner and James Sandman that the courts are unduly hostile to litigants, making justice functionally inaccessible as the cost of legal representation continues to rise. Though I also agree with Judge Posner that a lot of these pro se litigants are vexatious cranks. In the criminal context, where even indigent defendants can get access to attorneys, the only people who go it alone are folks who’ve devoted a lot of time and energy to becoming a proficient armchair lawyer and people who are about to crash and burn. This is the story of that second type.

In fairness, based on how the rest of this story goes, the state probably did waste a lot of time on voir dire.

Apparently, a fool and his freedom are also soon parted. I’m beginning to think this case could have really benefited from a defense attorney.

I think what he’s trying to say — I hope — is that the prosecution claimed that defendant’s testimony was unreliable, but if the video evidence is also inconclusive, then the prosecution has failed to meet its burden. But since this appears to be a drunk driving case, this might not be the most felicitous phrasing.

Remember when that guy showed up to his own disbarment proceeding dressed as Thomas Jefferson? Or the lawyers who tried to get away with pajamas or nothing at all? I think we can cut the defendant some slack for a tracksuit. Though why anyone would want to look like Paulie Walnuts in front of a jury is beyond me.

The defendant was found guilty on all counts. Probably because he admitted to drinking 3 shots and 2 beers.

Congrats.

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Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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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. She founded the Women Serve on Boards movement that advocates for women to participate on corporate boards of Fortune 500 companies. She authored Get on Board: Earning Your Ticket to a Corporate Board Seat and Fundamentals of Smart Contract Security. You can follow Olga on Twitter @olgavmack.

Judge Don Willett has graced Above the Law’s pages for years as a prolific Twitter user under the handle @JusticeWillett. Unfortunately, once he departed the Texas Supreme Court for the snootier environs of the Fifth Circuit, he’s curbed his tweeting and legal Twitter is all the poorer for it.

But there is some good news for the judge: the Forney, Texas school district where Willett graduated high school in 1984 is building a new elementary school and naming it after the jurist.

That’s an intense elementary school! My elementary school was a single row of classrooms connected by an outdoor covered walkway. This thing looks like a palace. Especially this random hallway where I’m pretty sure junior Will Hunting here just cracked Cayley’s Formula.

Congratulations to Judge Willett on this honor. Maybe if we’re all lucky he can retweet this story.

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Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

The year 2020, plagued by COVID-19, has exposed all of our vulnerabilities to disease and death, regardless of age, gender, or socio-economic class. As a trusts and estates attorney I am used to planning for the worst-possible, albeit remote, scenario for most people. Over the past several months, I couldn’t allay clients’ concerns in the same way. More than ever, I am like a broken record, repeating, urging, and advocating that all individuals over the age of 18, regardless of age, level of wealth, or familial structure execute last wills and testaments, powers of attorney, and healthcare proxies. Sight unseen, everyone needs these documents, to protect wealth, children, spouses, family, and yourself.

The execution of legal documents comes at a financial cost. Sometimes this deters individuals from consulting with counsel. Other times, individuals are too busy and put the matter off for a later time. Sometimes people do not want to address issues of sickness and mortality and cannot bring themselves to think about the important matters that are the subject of the estate-planning documents.

Such issues plague all kinds of people, and even if they can afford to plan, addressing such difficult issues may deter document execution. In recent months, we have learned that several celebrities have died intestate, without a last will and testament.

Argentinian soccer star Diego Armando Maradona died in November at the age of 60. Many believe him to have been one of the greatest soccer players of all time. Argentina issued a three-day period of mourning in honor of his passing. He had amassed a fortune, including real estate and jewelry. Maradona’s life was filled with drama, and it is anticipated that events after his death will be just as, if not more, tumultuous. He had eight children from six different partners.

As no last will and testament has been produced, his eight children will divide the estate. Familial fighting is expected given the breadth of the estate and the various individuals who are now forced to review and distribute their deceased father’s estate.

Interestingly, Maradona has publicly stated that he wishes to donate his estate and not leave his children anything. Unfortunately, he died of a heart attack prior to putting such a plan in place. Under the laws of intestacy, next-of-kin, not charities, receive the decedent’s monies. Argentine law also holds that a spouse and children must receive a certain amount of a decedent’s estate under a last will. This is known as “forced heirship” meaning only a certain percentage may be willed outside of next-of-kin.

It has also been reported that former Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh died without a last will and testament. His estate is valued at approximately $840 million. He died at age 46 from smoke inhalation following a fire in New London, Connecticut. His brother and father have applied to serve as special administrators of his estate in Nevada where he was a resident. His estate administration will now be public, filed in probate court, and subject to court supervision. Hseih was survived by his two brothers and parents. Hsieh recently purchased eight houses in Park City, Utah. The purchase of real estate across state lines will make the administration of his estate even more complicated with a last will and trust. It has been reported that Hseih may have had drug and alcohol issues. He allegedly was fixated with fire. He also had instances of extreme dieting. His family was encouraging him to enter rehab, however, he died before receiving treatment. Hsieh at one point said he was going to a shed that was attached to the home, and asked the people in the house to check on him every five minutes, by the people’s account. They said he used a heater in the shed to lower the oxygen level.

It isn’t clear what started the fire. When the others at the house tried to get to him, they couldn’t. One emergency worker was heard telling others he was barricaded inside. Hsieh died from complications of smoke inhalation, the coroner said.

His death was ruled accidental.

Chadwick Boseman’s wife, Simone Ledward, has petitioned the California courts to be named the administrator of her husband’s estate. Boseman and Ledward, who had dated for five years, married in early 2020. The marriage gives Ledward the standing to petition the court for control of the estate, and it also positions her as the estate’s sole beneficiary as Boseman does not have any children.

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Cori A. Robinson is a solo practitioner having founded Cori A. Robinson PLLC, a New York and New Jersey law firm, in 2017. For more than a decade Cori has focused her law practice on trusts and estates and elder law including estate and Medicaid planning, probate and administration, estate litigation, and guardianships. She can be reached at cori@robinsonestatelaw.com.

The bar was low when I voted for Joe Biden. My top goal was to get Donald Trump out of the White House and put a grownup back in charge. That seems to be proceeding as planned.

Another goal was to undo the extensive damage that the Trump administration has done to the basic human rights of immigrants. I had every reason to expect that Biden would do this, because he directly said he would. In particular, he said his administration would, within its first 100 days or “on day one,” end “Remain in Mexico.” That’s the program that forces asylum-seekers to wait months in dangerous parts of northern Mexico before they are even permitted to make an asylum claim.

But for some reason, the Biden transition team is backpedaling on ending it. Just before Christmas, incoming domestic policy advisor Susan Rice and incoming national security advisor Jake Sullivan gave a detailed interview to EFE, a Spanish-language wire service (like the AP), that included a lot of comments about immigration. Some of those comments are deeply disappointing. Take Sullivan’s answer when the interviewer asked how soon “remain in Mexico” will be canceled:

MPP [the Trump administration’s Orwellian name for the program] has been a disaster from the start and has led to a humanitarian crisis in northern Mexico. But putting the new policy into practice will take time. The current administration dismantled much of the necessary capacity to ensure the safe and orderly processing of migrants. We need time to increase processing capacity and to do so consistent with public health requirements.

Or Rice’s answer to a similar question about the pandemic-related public health order that the Trump admin used to keep asylum-seekers out. The order has so little legal (or public health) basis that a federal judge in November ordered the Trump administration to stop, although they’ve apparently been ignoring that order:

Processing capacity at the border is not like a light that you can just switch on and off. Migrants and asylum seekers absolutely should not believe those in the region peddling the idea that the border will suddenly be fully open to process everyone on Day One. It will not.

Look, I’ll admit that it is going to take some time to rebuild the asylum system, which Trump pretty much set on fire, and modify it to deal with COVID-19. But “processing capacity” was also the Trump administration excuse for Remain in Mexico and the related policy of “metering,” which limits the number of asylum seekers CBP will accept on any given day. It is nonsense. There is no reason why U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which has seen budget increases almost every year of its 20-year existence, should lack “processing capacity.” I also doubt that the people who work there have lost all record of how things were done five years ago. This doesn’t need to take six months.

Nor should it. It’s not an exaggeration to say that lives are at stake. Parts of northern Mexico are so dangerous that the State Department tells Americans not to go there. Most of the people who appear at the border asking for asylum are extremely poor, so they’re not waiting it out in hotels; they often live in tent cities where they lack basic hygiene and are sitting ducks for crime and COVID-19. This (intentionally, I’m sure) incentivizes people to try crossing illegally, which has a decent chance of killing them, and allows the government to tar them as “criminals” and steal their children if they’re caught. It’s an obscene human rights violation with no basis in the law.

I hate with every fiber of my being that my tax dollars are were used to create this situation. I voted for Biden because I thought that provided my best chance of ending it. And — despite the gleeful criticisms they are now facing from the left — I still think so. Dragging a center-left president left is clearly more possible than attempting to reason with an authoritarian racist who hates facts. But this interview shows that it’s going to take some work.

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Lorelei Laird is a freelance writer specializing in the law, and the only person you know who still has an “I Believe Anita Hill” bumper sticker. Find her at wordofthelaird.com.

* An appellate court was divided about whether a lawyer should be given slack for missing a filing deadline because of COVID-19. The judges not giving this attorney a break are real “juristicklers”… [Texas Lawyer]

* A West Virginia lawyer has been disbarred for attempting to barter sex in exchange for handling a stripper’s divorce case. [Bluefield Daily Telegraph]

* The Manhattan District Attorney is reportedly hiring forensic accountants as the criminal probe into President Trump’s activities deepens. [Washington Post]

* A new lawsuit alleges that a black man was misidentified and jailed due to facial-recognition technology. [NBC News]

* The Space Force is delaying a $12 billion deal after a court found that a contractor may have engaged in fraudulent conduct. Steve Carrell must be behind this conscientious move… [Hill]

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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.

Today is the second-to-last day of 2020, and what a year it’s been. It’s had a few highs, but it’s had oh so very many lows. On the first day of 2020, I was on maternity leave, and by the time I returned to work, I was only able to venture to the Above the Law office in Manhattan a few times before the city was shut down. Working parents, I’ve felt your pain, because like many of you, I’ve been working full-time while homeschooling and taking care of a baby at the same time. Thankfully, I’ve had Joe Patrice and Kathryn Rubino on my “quaranteam” (plus all of our wonderful columnists), and I’m happy to say we made it out of this cursed year happy, healthy, and able to bring our readers the latest and greatest in legal news.

Since I started working for ATL in 2010, we’ve wrapped up the year that was with a list of our top 10 stories. Because this year was so different, we’re doing things differently — each of the editors will be making their own top 10 lists. You’ve seen Joe’s, you’ve seen Kathryn’s, and now it’s my turn. Get ready for some of our best human interest stories, law school rankings, and your favorite thing of all: CHARTS.

10. This Lawyer Has New York’s Second Confirmed Case Of Coronavirus

The legal profession was tied to the pandemic from the moment it started in New York. Often referred to as “patient zero” for community spread of COVID-19, Lawrence Garbuz went from being in critical condition to making a full recovery. To this day, he still doesn’t know how he caught the coronavirus.

9. Law Students Forced To Urinate While Being Watched By Proctors During Remote Ethics Exam

Thanks to the pandemic, law students and recent law school graduates across the world were faced with a difficult decision: take exams online with stringent rules or sit the year out and delay starting their careers. Those who opted to take virtual tests were subjected to offensively embarrassing and demeaning situations. Take, for example, the would-be lawyer who had to urinate into a bottle without breaking eye contact with his screen — all while being watched by a proctor. Un-pee-lievable!

8. Florida Lawyer Shows Up To Federal Court In Full Hazmat Suit

How far would you go to help one of your clients during a pandemic? If you’d throw on a hazmat suit to represent one of them during a sentencing hearing, then you just might be a hero of the coronavirus crisis. Unprecedented times like these call for unprecedented measures — and this was one of the most unprecedented fashion choices for a court appearance we’ve ever seen.

7. Pregnant Woman Takes Bar Exam While In Labor, Finishes Test From Hospital After Giving Birth

Speaking of the extreme lengths that recent law school graduates went through to take online exams, Brianna Hill finished the first day of the bar exam while in active labor, gave birth to healthy baby, and then finished the second day of the test from the hospital. Not only did our original story go viral and spread across mainstream media and television outlets like CNN, the New York Times, the TODAY Show, and Good Morning America, but it has a happy ending — she passed the bar exam. Congrats!

6. All Rise: Hundreds Of Lawyers Protest On Steps Of Supreme Court To Demand ‘Impartial Justice’ In Trump’s Impeachment

In case you somehow forgot, Donald Trump was impeached by the House for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in late December 2019. His impeachment trial started in the Senate in January 2020, and lawyers gathered to protest when it seemed as though things were about to go sideways. Trump was ultimately acquitted by the Senate, but nonetheless, lawyers still did their best to stand up for justice.

5. Law School Grad Who Failed Bar Exam Files Lawsuit Against State Bar, Threatens To Beat Judges ‘Unconscious’ Unless They ‘Follow The GOT DAMN LAW!!!!!!!’

This legal work of art needs no introduction. Please sit back, relax, and enjoy reading one of the most entertaining pro se filings of 2020.

4. The 2021 U.S. News Law School Rankings Are Here

There’s nothing like a little rankings insanity to break up the regular insanity of a pandemic. Lawyers and law students alike love comparing their law school’s prestige to that of the competition, and in a year with little else to do while social distancing and living online, everyone truly relished the opportunity to do something normal again. (On a personal note, when the rankings were released, I wrote this story with one hand while rocking a baby … and now I’m writing this blurb with one hand while balancing a 1-year-old on my knee. Law moms: we get the job done!)

3. Associate Compensation Scorecard: Biglaw’s 2020 Bonus Bonanza

Considering the horrible year the legal sector has had, it’s a wonder that bonus season has been so bountiful. With regular year-end bonuses ranging from $15,000 to $100,000 combined with special bonuses ranging from $7,500 to $40,000, lawyers at many firms were able to rake in obscene amounts of cash, despite the ongoing pandemic. How does your firm measure up? Based on the number of times people have looked at this chart, that’s what every lawyer wants to know.

2. Law School To Permanently Close Its Doors

From closing their campuses to holding classes and exams online, law schools across the country have gone through an incredible amount of change in 2020 thanks to the pandemic. Unfortunately, one law school faced the greatest change of all, a permanent closure as it struggled under the weight of “financial distress,” stranding unsuspecting law students in the process. This story had a happy ending after all, when another law school swooped in to rescue all the students who’d been left without an alma mater.

1. The COVID Crisis Law Firm Layoff Tracker: What’s Your Firm Doing To Survive?

The coronavirus really took the legal world by surprise, and as the economy tumbled downhill at breakneck speed, law firms quickly attempted to manage their expenses by taking major cost-cutting measures ranging from salary cuts to furloughs to layoffs. Legal staff often took the biggest hit when firms decided to trim their headcounts, but lawyers suffered too, with some seeing salary cuts of up to 50 percent. This big chart was the big information hub that everyone in Biglaw needed to see in 2020, making it Above the Law’s most-read story of the year. (Don’t forget to take a look at its sister chart, the salary cut rollback tracker. After their initial cuts, many law firms not only survived, but went on to thrive as 2020 unfolded.)

Thank you so much for spending 2020 with us here at Above the Law. We look forward to sharing what we hope will be a happier and healthier 2021 with you!

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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.

Joe and Kathryn discuss the big stories in law this past year. Is it all COVID? Yes, it is. But there were several different repercussions to discuss from firm business to office architecture to bar exams. And there was a new Supreme Court justice whose nomination nearly destroyed the White House. So there was that.

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