We’ve Got a Dog In This Fight: A Few Thoughts On Vick
As you will have noticed, this is Billy Merck, filling in once more for Lat so that he can attend the ACS National Convention.
As you will have also noted if you’re a regular reader, we are from Georgia. As a native Georgian and an Atlanta Falcon fan, we therefore feel obligated to touch upon this whole Michael Vick thing.
Initially, we note that the media coverage of yesterday’s arraignment was typically laughable. We must have received at least 25 separate headlines in our RSS feeder with some version of “Vick pleads not guilty to dogfighting charges.” Yeah, no kidding. It’s an arraignment, people! Everybody pleads not guilty at an arraignment, unless you have already worked out a plea agreement. It would have been news if he had NOT pled not guilty. But because of the 24-hour news cycle and/or a fundamental misunderstanding of legal proceedings on the part of the press, it’s a story either way.
More discussion after the jump.
This leads us to speculate: will Vick consider a plea deal? Given the all-star legal team he has been putting together, it doesn’t look like that’s what he’s getting ready for. He has, of course, kept longtime family lawyer Lawrence Woodward, Jr. on board. Woodward has a lifetime of criminal defense experience just from representing the Vick brothers.
Vick then added Billy Martin, probably best known for his representation of former New Jersey Nets forward Jayson Williams on manslaugter charges. He’s also represented Allen Iverson, Riddick Bowe, and currently Wesley Snipes on those tax evasion charges, among other superstar clients.
And yesterday Vick also hired Daniel R. Meachum, whose site boasts that he “has successfully tried 122 out of 126 major jury trials and arbitrations.”
So it looks like Vick is preparing for trial. And, as any legal-hack-of-the-week-cable-news-commentator will tell you, he is “innocent until proven guilty”, and so we should not prejudge the situation. Remember Mike Nifong, they will say.
All of which is true insofar as the criminal charges and potential jail time go. But I’m a little tired of these hacks insinuating that this is the same standard required of the NFL or the Atlanta Falcons before they take any action. Nonsense! Mike Nifong notwithstanding, prosecutors generally don’t take cases to grand juries until they either have the evidence to convict or can reasonably foresee obtaining the rest of that evidence during the continuing investigation and the discovery process. The fact that the prosecutor felt he had enough evidence to get an indictment, and indeed obtained that indictment, is evidence enough for a suspension.
And even if it is not, it is easily enough for Falcons fans to jump ship in supporting Vick, as many (myself included) have already done. Whether he was intimately involved in the dogfighting operation, as the mounting evidence seems to indicate, or whether he simply knew about and allowed his thug friends to do it at the house he owned, we don’t want this guy leading the Falcons.
As a loyal Atlanta Falcons and University of Georgia football fan, our vote for Falcons QB is with D.J. Shockley. The current #1, assuming Vick will not be playing, is Joey Harrington, but we’ve never been very impressed with him. We prefer Shockley, who plays a lot like Vick but with a more accurate arm. With a little grooming and experience, Shockley may just turn out to be everything Vick promised to be but wasn’t, and without the dogfighting and the attempted smuggling of marijuana unknown substances in fancy water bottle devices.
Finally, we leave you with this amusing link that will provide you with a Ron-Mexico-esque incognito name under which to do all your dirty little deeds. Ours is Philippe Benin.
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Comments
to hell with georgia.
Looks like I don't need to read ATL today.
is terrible. what is this?
Way too long of a post. Link to part of it from the front page. Otherwise good post.
We really, really care about your support for and views about the Falcons. Really. I especially want to read all about it on a legal freaking tabloid.
Lat, the Merck experiment has failed.
"U[sic]GA football fan"? That explains a lot.
Despite being overly long before the fold, this post is interesting and relevant to the extent it identifies the players of Vick's growing legal team.
Where it loses all credibility is its suggestion that Shockley has a more accurate arm than Vick.
We, is course, from Georgia, which is inherently in doubt when we is a blog of more than one (and possibly more than three) people blogging.
-- Billy Merck
Merck, I don't usually bash you but every attorney with a brain (or any dummy who has watched Law and Order) knows that a prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich with ease if they are so inclined.
Stupid Merck! Be more funny!
Since we can't expect quality in the posts, how about we make this interesting.
Lat spends his days investigating and reporting on biglaw associates make nationwide. But what does he make?
Any commercial bloggers have an idea of what revenue stream a blog of this size is capable of generating? He pulls some heavy hitters ad-wide (i.e., NBC), so I'm assuming he generates a sizeable amount of traffic.
So, what does Lat clear? 50k? 80k? Six digits? I have no concept; please enlighten me.
"Finally, we leave you with this amusing link that will provide you with a Ron-Mexico-esque incognito name under which to do all your dirty little deeds. Ours is Philippe Benin."
What is this? "dirty little deeds"? You're fired you doodle-kabob.
Everybody make sure to get in as much bashing as you can, so you can feel better about your pathetic, cowardly selves.
I like Merck, lay off him (of course, I am biased because I (or we) am (are) also from Georgia).
WE are from Georgia, born and raised. I appreciate hearing this from a true legal aspect not just the media. I personally think they need to hang him. I know you Biglaw guys have nothing better to do, than rant about anything not Biglaw. But just STFU for a minute and let the ones who appreciate news like this enjoy it. Don't worry, you can go back to wondering if Joe blow is making $2.00 more a year than you shortly.
Thanks Merk for your point of view.
And thanks 10:56 for that semi-literate post. No wonder you enjoy Merck.
I just did "the Shocker" hand signal. The sad thing is I didn't even think about it.
Damn it feels good to be a Bulldog. (not a pit bull)
11:00
Don't you have a partner to blow to keep earning that office?
10:52 - curious as well and no clue. maybe he got a couple grand for the NYO article? This is a guess - I know someone who ghost writes op eds and claims his take is 1500-2000 a pop.
WAY TOO LOND. DID NOT READ.
11:06: I imagine he did make a couple grand for the NYO article. Which raises a question: is the blog the end or the means? I assume that, in the past, any serious aspiring journalist would aim to find his way into print. But is the paradigm changing? I blog notoriety enough in the new media landscape? Can you make a living simply running a blog like this? Is that a career (as opposed to stepping stone) someone with Lat's background is OK with?
Still curious as to ad revenue.
Also, Merck is bad but not horrible. Which is exactly who Lat should have fill in for him. Merck is the Leno to Lat's Carson: he makes Lat look better without driving away too much traffic (or, to complete the metaphor, depressing ratings).
uggggh. merck is ruining my entire day.
Your entire day is based on the quality of an ATL post? Sad.
How about an update on that Georgia Asst DA who likes to distribute kiddie porn? Now there's a guy we can all agree to hate. Any action against him yet?
Hey SEC Champ 2007, why does it feel good to be a Bulldog? If I recall rightly, Georgia didn't even go to the SEC Championship in 2007...
11:20: No kidding. That shows you the uselessness of these douchebag Merck-haters.
Actually, 11:15's statement was a lie, anyway. His day was ruined by Merck, but then rescued by the tingle of self-satisfaction from posting an anonymous cheap shot.
11:15 -
Maybe he's hoping for a book deal and TV gigs out of it. The original Wonkette, Ana Marie Cox, got a book deal - not sure how the book did. It seems that blogging helped others - think what apartmenttherapy.com did for Maxwell whatever his name is. Book deal, home & garden TV gigs, etc. Wonder when/if blogging will run its course?
11:15: That's my question exactly. Is ATL a means to an end for Lat? No doubt three years ago it would have been; blogging had barely gone commercial, and certainly didn't enjoy the respectability it (arguably) does now.
Thus, the ad revenue question becomes critical. If Lat can make close to six figures in ad revenue by driving significant traffic, could the blog be an end in itself, and not merely a launch point to a more "bound" print journalism career?
I'm thinking here of celebrity gossip sites, like Perezhilton or pinkisthenewblog, which both generate considerable ad revenue and appear to be full-time, ends-not-means jobs for their webmasters.
Lat's a bright guy; his gameplan is interesting to me.
MERCK SUCKS BALLS. MERCK SUCKS BALLS. MERCK SUCKS BALLS. MERCK SUCKS BALLS. MERCK SUCKS BALLS. MERCK SUCKS BALLS. MERCK SUCKS BALLS. MERCK SUCKS BALLS. MERCK SUCKS BALLS. MERCK SUCKS BALLS. MERCK SUCKS BALLS
VIVA RON MEXICO!!!!!! AAAAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAAAA
I admit it. I suck balls.
-Billy Merck
I hope he gets the chair. Seriously...and I'm a liberal.
Torturing animals and babies are up there on the "never ok" list.
10:49, it took me a second, but I laughed.
Merck is the David Pollack of legal blogs. He doesn't have the most God-given talent, but his motor never stops running.
White Guys With Rabid Pit Bulls
tl;dr
Most of that post could have gone under the fold. But the "Ron Mexico Name Generator" was priceless.
Really, what's up with the freaking nine paragraphs on the front page. Under the fold that stuff. Are you compensating for something by eating up more real estate?
Please, for health reasons, circumcise this post.
How many editors does this guy have?
Uh, I'm going to chalk up the "racist" remarks (12:07; 12:10) to being directly related to your small dicks and also to your irrational need to belittle others. It's weird and it's sad and it's clear that you revel in the anonymity of the internet. It absolutely reeks of desperation.
However, it should be noted that I'm from the South, and the dogfighters down here are almost uniformly white. And I hope they get the chair, too. Happy, little dicks?
#1. Dogfighting is no worse than fox hunting, trophy fishing or trophy hunting. Probably better.
#2. Pit bulls have been trained and bred for hundreds of years for just this purpose.
#3. These are animals. Your priorities are in the wrong order.
Merck - for your bar review notes on how difficult it is to get an indictment:
Ham sandwich!
Ham sandwich!
Michael Vick!
Ham sandwich!
Hundreds of years? Are you serious? Do you ... I'm sorry, this may come off as mean, but do you know how to read? Or did you dictate that to someone? It's ok - my dad does the same thing, he won't use the computer. But then again, he's 70.
so pit bulls were not bred specifically to fight dogs and other animals? Do some research. I have a lab - its not going to fight other dogs no matter how you train it. Pit bulls will, so who really cares if they do what they enjoy and were bred to do?
Yea, 1:19, you're a certifiable Svengali. Cheers all around to your huge accomplishment.
Dear 10:52, 11:15, and 11:26:
I too have wondered what Lat takes home but have been too shy to ask.
However, Dead Horse Media Kit (ATL home page, click on advertising, then media kit or cut and paste this link http://www.abovethelaw.com/DHM07.pdf) informs that the average annual household income of ATL readers is $118,000 (ALT to $160k!!!), and the average reader age is 29, 64% are men. Half are lawyers, 19% law students, and 14% are law clerks. 41% work in firms with 1000 employees or more. However, circulation figures (or whatever passes for that in the Blogosphere) are not given.
(It is interesting to compare the average household income of the Deal Breaker (also owned by Dead Horse Media): $246,000, with a 28 year old average age, and a whopping 95% of its readers being men.) Apparently we should have gone to B-school.
It looks like there is money to be made for Dead Horse Media, but Lat’s compensation package remains a mystery.
So, readers, HOW MUCH DOES LAT TAKE HOME?
Your rank speculation and unconfirmed gossip on this subject is welcome.
Why has no one said anything about how the last name partner in Larry Woodward's firm is called "Morecock"?
Someone needs to put Vick under the jail.