Category: News Feeds

It really wasn’t that long ago that Rep. Devin Nunes was a co-sponsor of the Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act. Of course, since then, he’s been filing a whole bunch of frivolous lawsuits against news organizations, journalists, political operatives, critics, and, most famously, a satirical internet cow.

At times he’s admitted that these lawsuits are about fishing for journalist’s sources, but it certainly seems pretty clear that this is all an intimidation campaign, by a silly little man who is an elected representative in Congress and simply can’t handle criticism. Of course, as more evidence comes out that, at the very least, suggests that Nunes is somehow tied up with all of the mess around impeachment — including reports revealing that the indicted Lev Parnas spoke by phone with Nunes — he seems to be getting more and more upset with anyone calling him out.

The latest is that fellow California Representative Ted Lieu noted on Twitter that Nunes’ lawyer sent him a letter threatening to sue Lieu for saying “that Nunes conspired with Parnas.”

Unfortunately, Lieu hasn’t yet released that letter, but I’m hoping he does. I’d be curious to see if Nunes tries to sue Lieu in Virginia like most of his other lawsuits, rather than California. Also, I’d love to see how Nunes and his lawyer think they can get around the Speech or Debate Clause.

In the meantime, Ted Lieu, we really could use more people in Congress supporting a federal anti-SLAPP law. Seems like now might be a good time for you to support such a law, right?

Rep. Devin Nunes Now Threatening To Sue Fellow Congressional Reps

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China’s foreign minister Wang Yi has pledged to strengthen cooperation with Zimbabwe despite a hitch in bilateral ties last year.

The two countries were at loggerheads after Zimbabwe’s government said it had only received $3.6 million in aid from Beijing in 2019 – 40 times lower than the figure claimed by China.

Yi met his Zimbabwean counterpart Sibusiso Moyo on Sunday during the final leg of an Africa tour that also took him to Egypt, Djibouti, Eritrea and Burundi.

He did not mention financial assistance, but hailed China and Zimbabwe’s “win-win cooperation in infrastructure, agriculture, and mining” and vowed to explore new areas of cooperation.

China’s relationship with Zimbabwe dates back to the liberation struggle of the 1970s, when Beijing supported some of the top guerrilla leaders.

After the end of white-minority rule in 1980, China was one of the first countries to establish a diplomatic mission in the capital Harare.

Beijing remained one of Mugabe’s most powerful allies and a major trade partner, even as the West shunned him over human rights violations.

Zimbabwe’s opposition parties are not excited with this renewed friendship. China’s influence and accused the government of giving away minerals and other natural resources in exchange for aid.

Chinese companies are alleged to abuse and underpay local workers.

Zimbabwe’s economy has been reduced to tatters by decades of mismanagement under Mugabe, who died of cancer in September last year.

Years of rampant hyperinflation have rendered life unaffordable for most and basic goods such as bread and fuel are hard to come by.

* Harvey Weinstein is attempting to move his criminal trial outside of New York City, citing the intense publicity of the matter. Fairly sure every community in America knows about Weinsten’s case. [Fox News]

* Lawyers in a class action against Aramark are getting more than just free food, filings provide for $5 million in cheddar as counsel fees. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

* The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that felons need to pay all costs associated with their sentences before having their right to vote restored. [CBS News]

* A attorney has been disbarred for continuing to practice law despite being suspended for failing to pay bar dues and neglecting to register with the New York Bar. This is a stern reminder for every lawyer to pay all bar dues. [Albany Times Union]

* A man serving life in prison has been granted a new trial because his lawyer was racist. [San Francisco Chronicle]

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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.

Zimbabwe and China this week signed a currency swap deal aimed at strengthening trade between the two nations.

The swap arrangement will enable an investor in China to pay a Chinese business in Zimbabwe which is looking for foreign exchange. The Chinese-owned business in Zimbabwe would release the Zimbabwe dollar equivalent of the US dollar to a local bank account of the payer in China.

The local currency is the legal tender for all domestic transactions except for a few business operators particularly those in the tourism sector who can trade in US dollar.

Nonetheless, the monetary policies are not attractive to investors specifically when they want to remit their profits back to China as Zimbabwe is facing foreign currency shortages.

This currency swap deal, which follows a visit by Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, will make it easier for Chinese businesses in Zimbabwe to move their funds out of the country. Yi was on an official visit to Zimbabwe and other four African nations including Egypt, Djibouti, Eritrea and Burundi.

“The idea is those individuals (Chinese investors) will then swap (currency) so that those who are investing in Zimbabwe are able to give them a domestic currency-which they are bringing in for investment-to pay those who are exiting,” said finance minister Mthuli Ncube in an interview with journalists in Harare at the end of Yi’s visit.

The southern African nation, which is experiencing its worst economic crises in decades-with shortages of fuel and other basic commodities, is putting hopes on China to help turn around its struggling economy after efforts failed to have US and EU economic sanctions removed last year.

Zimbabwe has joined other nations in Africa including South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana that also have currency swap arrangements with China.

But economists in Zimbabwe believe the move will benefit the Chinese while starving the country of much needed foreign currency. This currency swap deal will simplify an exchange control procedure yet it will help the Chinese traders move their business proceeds out of the country but Zimbabweans who might have had access to that money before will not have any more.

The potential foreign exchange inflows from investment will be cancelled as the foreign currency does not get into any of the country’s economic systems as it is given to a Chinese company that remits its profits to China.

The Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) executive director Janet Zhou told Quartz Africa the only benefit that comes to Zimbabwe from the deal could have been access to foreign currency and external finances at competitive interest rates, however, currency swaps work best in stable economies.

“In the case of Zimbabwe where there is hyperinflation, the deal is not going to benefit the country considering that a fixed exchange rate is agreed upon at the beginning of the contract and given the rate at which the local currency is losing value, the principal amount would have lost value by the time the contract matures,” she said.

“Moreover, Zimbabwe is currently desperate for foreign currency and it is high likely that the government will offer friendly terms in order to attract the much-needed foreign currency and investment. In any case, China will have more bargaining power considering their global political economy position.”

She said ZIMCODD’s fear is the source of Zimbabwe dollar to effect the currency swap since the only available options will be either printing of money or issuance of treasury bills which are highly inflationary.

Soon after his meeting with president Emmerson Mnangagwa in Harare on January, 13 this year, Yi claimed China has been Africa’s largest trading partner for 11 years in a row and the former’s stock of “indirect investment has reached $110 billion, and more than 3 700 Chinese enterprises have invested and started business in various parts of Africa”, providing a strong force for a sustained economic growth on the continent.

Post published in: Featured

On January 20, attorneys all over the country will have the day off in honor of civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr. To honor this great man on this day, and throughout the year, here are five ways attorneys can provide acts of service, uphold the civic values of the profession, and use their training to fight for the civil rights issues of today. 

The projects highlighted below are hosted by the innovative online platform We the Action and most of them can be supported remotely, from anywhere in the country. To find pro bono projects close to home, check out Pro Bono Net’s map of volunteer opportunities in every state, or check in with your local bar association. 

1. Advocate for Asylum Seekers in Bond Hearings. Many asylum seekers are kept in detention while they await their immigration court hearings, which can take months or years.  The Immigration Justice Campaign organizes pro bono attorneys to prepare bond motions and advocate for asylum seekers to be released at telephonic bond hearings. Volunteer here. 
2. Fight Workplace Sexual Harassment. The Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund is looking for attorneys across the country to join a new Legal Network for Gender Equity so that workers who are facing sexual harassment can access legal resources and other help to fight their case. Volunteers will receive training on trauma informed advocacy and other legal issues. Sign up here. 
3. Provide Local Counsel in Reproductive Rights Litigation. Access to reproductive healthcare is a critical civil right. Nationwide litigation requires the Center for Reproductive Rights to partner with local counsel all over the country. Volunteer here. 
4. Represent Workers Fighting Deportation. Lawyers in immigration cases don’t need to be admitted in any specific jurisdiction, so remote immigration work can be a great way for pro bono attorneys to give back. The Mississippi Center for Justice will train attorneys to remotely represent workers who were arrested in August 2019 in the largest ever single-state immigration raid, hundreds of whom remain in detention as they fight deportation. Sign up here.  
5. Translate Legal Information for Nonprofits & Aid Workers. Eliminating language barriers is crucial to helping people access their civil rights, benefits, and legal services. If you are a bilingual attorney, you can help the tech nonprofit Tarjimly provide translations for all kinds of legal documents. Get more information here. 

Finally, protecting the fundamental right to vote is vital work which all attorneys should support – especially in an election year. Sign up for Election Protection as a poll watcher or hotline volunteer, or to find out other ways you can help maintain election integrity in 2020. And remember, November 3 isn’t the only critical voting day this year – there are hundreds of primaries and local elections as well!

Related Content: 

1. Pro Bono Perspectives: Best Practices for Matters Serving the Public Good, Wherever You Work
2. Strategies to Improve Diversity and Interrupt Implicit Bias in the Legal Profession
3. Election Cybersecurity Update: Interference and Integrity Ahead of the 2020 Election

What fictional attorney — who appeared on both television and the big screen — the personal lawyer of the local hospitality concern the “Great Northern,” was a devoted family man until his inner demons compelled him to kill his daughter and niece?

Hint: He could’ve been caught earlier if people checked the log more.

See the answer on the next page.

Timing is everything! Just as Chief Justice Roberts is being sworn in for Trump’s impeachment trial, the non-partisan Government Accountability Office is here to officially label his conduct a crime. In a report issued this morning, the GAO found that Trump’s hold on congressionally-allocated defense funds for Ukraine, implemented by the Office of Management and Budget, was an illegal violation of the Impoundment Control Act.

Faithful execution of the law does not permit the President to substitute his own policy priorities for those that Congress has enacted into law. OMB withheld funds for a policy reason, which is not permitted under the Impoundment Control Act (ICA). The withholding was not a programmatic delay. Therefore, we conclude that OMB violated the ICA.

Donald Trump will shortly be tried in the Senate for withholding defense funding from Ukraine while his personal attorneys and fixers were leaning on that country’s government to announce an investigation of Joe Biden. We’ve all “Read the Transcript!”, as we have so frequently been exhorted by the President’s Twitter feed, so we’ve all seen him ask President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to “do us a favor, though” while choking off desperately needed cash to fend off the Russian army.

The White House and Office of Management and Budget insist that the delay was necessary for Donald Trump, who has long inveighed against the unfairness of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act’s ban on paying bribes overseas, to satisfy himself that Ukraine is a worthy recipient of American largesse. (Never mind that almost all of it was coming right back to us because it was earmarked for arms purchases from U.S. manufacturers.)

OMB staffers claim that the nine “temporary holds” they placed on the Ukraine funds were merely “programmatic,” and so, as long as the money was eventually spent during the fiscal year, that no reporting to congress of unspent money was needed. The Pentagon disagreed, and as the summer wore on, the Defense Department grew increasingly frantic that they wouldn’t be able to get the money out the door in time and it would wind up back in the Treasury. Then they’d have some serious ‘splainin’ to do!

And if wading through dozens of pages of emails where OMB’s national security program director Michael Duffey bullies the Pentagon’s chief auditor, Elaine McCusker is your thing, then Just Security has got you covered.

Truly, the September 9th nastygram where Duffey tried to pin the blame on the DOD was a masterwork of blame-shifting fuckery.

DUFFEY: If you have not taken these steps, that is contrary to OMB’s direction and was your decision not to proceed. If you are unable to obligate the funds, it will have been DoD’s decision that cause any impoundment of funds.

McCUSKER: You can’t be serious. I am speechless.

But it turns out McCusker was right all along, as the GAO reported today:

OMB’s assertions have no basis in law. We recognize that, even where the President does not transmit a special message pursuant to the procedures established by the ICA, it is possible that a delay in obligation may not constitute a reportable impoundment. However, programmatic delays occur when an agency is taking necessary steps to implement a program, but because of factors external to the program, funds temporarily go unobligated. This presumes, of course, that the agency is making reasonable efforts to obligate. Here, there was no external factor causing an unavoidable delay. Rather, OMB on its own volition explicitly barred DOD from obligating amounts. [Internal statutory citations omitted.]

Surely OMB staff are duly chastened and will resolve to cooperate with congress and ensure its spending power under the constitution faces no further encroachment.

Just kidding. These guys flatly refused to cooperate with the GAO and will keep stonewalling oversight forever. But if things don’t go their way in November, they might want to think about lawyering up.

And who says Admin Law’s not SEXY!

Decision: Office of Management and Budget—Withholding of Ukraine Security Assistance
Exclusive: Unredacted Ukraine Documents Reveal Extent of Pentagon’s Legal Concerns

Blockchain and bitcoin may seem like a married couple for those outside of tech circles. Without blockchains there would be no bitcoin, no crypto forums, no exchange platforms from the likes of Luno and their whole bitcoin experience would be unheard of.

In reality, blockchain is not married to bitcoin, rather bitcoin is one child of bitcoin – and dependent on it. That is because blockchains are a standalone technology that do more than power a new financial revolution. It has already been utilised to prevent car fraud, assign music royalties and prevent development aid fraud. Blockchains typify the Fourth Industrial Revolution which tears up the rulebook and offers a whole other way of doing things.

Another area that blockchain may be influencing is insurance. Blockchains may be the future of insurance in Zimbabwe too.

A Blockchain Recap

Blockchain technology is as the name suggests a chain of blocks with each block representing a piece of information. Once the information has been added to the chain, it cannot be changed and will always be visible to anyone consulting the blockchain. Blockchains are completely secure and publicly available. The information added can be any type of data from a transaction to something else. This is what makes them a viable option for different industries.

Current Problems with Zimbabwe Insurance

One of the major issues concerning insurance companies in Zimbabwe is that they are inefficient. This is a reflection of the country’s slow uptake in technological advancements. Another issue is that many Zimbabweans do not have access to financial services and insurance companies only target elite groups rather than the majority of the population.

There have been some improvements since the Insurance Council of Zimbabwe (ICZ) addressed the situation. They have steadily moved processes away from paper documentation to digitalised storage, and thus speeding up those inefficient processes. Simultaneously blocking questionable firms that were only offering to insure vehicles with paper documentation.

The Next Step? Blockchain

By only just witching to digital documentation, it could be argued that the Zimbabwe insurance industry has only just had its Third Industrial Revolution. Asking them to now have a fourth in quick succession by using blockchains may be a challenge, but it does offer some benefits:

• Blockchains will make sharing data easier and speed up processing times to tackle the industry’s reputation at being slow and frustrating
• Blockchains will secure up the industry and prevent rogue firms from rejecting claims or accounts – a build from the removal of paper documentation
• Blockchains cater to a more digital-savvy society developing among younger people in Zimbabwe who may want insurance but not be aware of their options

Blockchain technology is again proving that it has more uses outside of cryptocurrency. Although bitcoin may be its biggest success, no industry can seem to escape a revolution based on the use of blockchains.

Post published in: Business

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