Kiwi Camara: He’s Baack
Remember Kiwi Camara? He’s the legal Doogie Howser who graduated from Harvard Law School at the tender age of 19, reportedly making him the youngest graduate in the school’s history. But K.A.D. Camara, as he’s also known, may be best known for a youthful indiscretion: referring to African Americans as “nigs,” in a class outline that was posted to an HLS website. (For more background on the controversy, see here.)
Well, everyone’s favorite Flip — present company excluded — is back in the news. From p2pnet news (via Slashdot):
I’ve just spoken with a jubilant Jammie Thomas, the woman Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music’s RIAA tried to nail to the wall with a bill of almost a quarter of a million dollars.She’s over the moon because only days after learning Brian Toder, her previous legal representative, had decided discretion was the better part of valour, leaving her fend for herself against the Big 4 music labels, another lawyer has come forward with an offer of pro bono help.
He’s K.A.D. Camara from Camara & Sibley in Houston, Texas, says Jammie. And, “He’s the youngest person in history to graduate from Harvard Law school with honors,” she points out.
Nor will her trial — or, rather, her retrial — be delayed, as was expected. It’ll now go forward on June 15, as slated. “I’m so happy!” Jammie said.
And so is Kiwi. We chatted over the phone with our fellow Filipino-American lawyer — about the Thomas case, how he plans to prepare for a trial less than a month away, and his new law firm, Camara & Sibley (which is hiring, by the way).
Read about our conversation, after the jump.
Here’s some background about the Jammie Thomas case, from Copyrights & Campaigns:
Camara has now thrust himself back in the national spotlight — this time as trial counsel to accused peer-to-peer infringer Jammie Thomas, who faces a June 15 re-trial in Duluth, Minnesota. (The record label plaintiffs won the first round in 2007, convincing a jury to award them $222,000 in statutory damages, only to have that verdict overturned when the judge decided one of his jury instructions was faulty.)Today Thomas’ current counsel Brian Toder filed a motion to substitute out of the case and be replaced by Camara, now a partner at Houston’s Camara & Sibley, and Garrett Blanchfield of Reinhardt, Wendorf & Blanchfield of St. Paul. The motion indicates that Thomas will not request a continuance of the June 15 trial date….
It’s not clear to me whether either Camara or Blanchfield has previous copyright experience. Blanchfield’s firm specializes in plaintiffs’ class action work, and his own bio does not mention any copyright matters.
Camara may not be a copyright specialist per se — but specialization is not what his firm is about. In February of this year, he and partner Joe Sibley started Camara & Sibley, a Houston-based firm that will handle a wide range of litigation and corporate matters. Camara described the firm’s caseload as “commercial litigation, and commercial transactions with contested acquisitions.”
“We’re generalists who handle the most complex, unique, one-off matters,” explained Camara. “If you take a complex matter to a big firm, you’ll be routed to twenty different hyperspecialists. You’ll end up settling for partial advice — ‘Do this, but we haven’t considered this aspect’ — or you’ll end up paying huge fees, because you’re getting specialized advice from twenty different people who don’t work well as a team.”
Camara & Sibley’s model is different, according to Kiwi: “The idea here is that you get generalists who learn the intricacies of your one-off, unique case. You don’t want a hyperspecialist. You just want a good lawyer.”
But good lawyers are all over the place (and all over the street, thanks to rampant lawyer layoffs). Camara added that his firm takes cases earlier and pays attention to business as well as legal considerations: “We target people with business problems who want lawyers to help solve them. That has been good in this business climate, because companies are shopping around [for less expensive legal services].”
Okay, enough PR for KAD; let’s look at the Thomas case. We asked Camara how he got involved. He explained that the firm is litigating against the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in three matters: the Thomas case, in Minnesota; the Brittany English case, in Ohio; and the Joel Tenenbaum case, in Massachusetts.
Camara’s colleague, Timothy Nyberg, read last week about Jammie Thomas’s prior counsel withdrawing from the case. Over the weekend, the firm reached out to Thomas, offering to represent her pro bono. She agreed, and the court granted a motion to substitute them in as counsel.
What is Camara’s theory of the Thomas case, as well as illegal download litigation more generally? Here’s what the firm had to say about the Brittany English case, from Copyrights & Campaigns:
Armed with the threat of $150,000 in statutory damages per illegal download (a $1.5M judgment in a small, 10-song case, where the actual damages are about $10, the price of 10 songs on iTunes), the recording industry has obtained more than $100M in settlements from individuals like Brittany. We are asking the courts to declare that statutory damages like these — 150,000:1 — are unconstitutional and that the RIAA’s campaign to extract settlements from individuals by the threat of such unconstitutional damages is itself unlawful, enjoin the RIAA’s unlawful campaign, and order the RIAA to return the $100M+ that it obtained as a result of its unlawful campaign.
The Jammie Thomas case was — and is — scheduled to go to trial on June 15. Camara & Sibley agreed not to seek a continuance when it entered the case. Having just joined the litigation, will the firm be ready by trial time?
Camara did not seem fazed. He cited the firm’s involvement in the English and Tenenbaum cases, whose issues substantially overlap with those raised in the Thomas case. “And we don’t sleep,” Camara added.
At the same time, he acknowledged, “it’s going to be an all-hands effort at the firm.” Camara & Sibley’s two summer associates — see, not everyone is killing their summer program — will be pitching in.
“If you’re a summer associate at a big firm, you might have a bowling party,” he said. “If you’re a summer associate here, you have a jury trial in Duluth.”
If this sounds exciting to you, take note: Camara and Sibley are hiring. They are especially interested in junior corporate lawyers, with one to four years of experience, to help build the transactional side of the firm. But they are also open to hiring exceptionally talented litigators. To learn more, check out their website.
If you’ve garnered some unwanted attention early in your legal career — e.g., for an ill-considered email, a la the Quinn associate, or the Stroock associate, or the granddaddy of them all, Jonas Blank — then the rise, and fall, and rise again of Kiwi Camara should be encouraging. It is possible to live down your misspent youth and find professional success after scandal. Good luck to Kiwi Camara and his colleagues as they gear up for trial.
Jammie Thomas has a new lawyer! [p2pnet news]
RIAA Victim Jammie Thomas Gets a New Lawyer [Slashdot]
Jammie Thomas gets new counsel; Kiwi Camara back in the spotlight; a Nesson connection? [Copyrights & Campaigns]
Camara & Sibley [firm website]
Kiwi Camara [Wikipedia]
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Comments
I love this guy.
You're welcome!
I hope there aren't any *you know whats* on the jury.
William Howard Taft should have glassed the Philippines when he had the chance. "Brown buddies", my ass.
Kiwi Camara is well on track to being the head of a Minor House. If all goes well, the Emperor will ennoble him with an irrevocable CHOAM directorship.
Can anyone explain the New York Bar location system? I am coming from out of state and didn't even have Albany as a choice. Now I have to take it in either Saratoga or Buffalo.
What a nut!
Here's Kiwi's muscle:
Mr. Radbil is a third-year law student at South Texas College of Law. . . . While an undergraduate at the University of Texas at Austin, Mr. Radbil was head of security at the popular nightclub Spill on Sixth Street.
I hope the RIAA goes down - HARD. Their litigation against music downloaders is a flagrant abuse of process.
Wait.
So you can’t call nigs nigs? What can you call them?
I know, from personal experience, that 'afro-dumpling’ is out of bounds too. Is there a code word or something that you're supposed to use in class outlines now?
"We are asking the courts to declare that statutory damages like these -- 150,000:1 -- are unconstitutional and that the RIAA's campaign to extract settlements from individuals by the threat of such unconstitutional damages is itself unlawful....."
If the damages are provided BY STATUTE, how can awarding them be unlawful?
Kiwi Camara for SCOTUS
12
Mr. Radbil is a client of the House Harkonnen.
Hmm.
Wheels within wheels.
12
Mr. Radbil is a client of the House Harkonnen.
Hmm.
Wheels within wheels.
This guy is smart.
If you want a guy to win your trial, hire him.
If you want someone with no skeletons in his law school career, don't hire him.
Pretty simple.
On his website he has "IN HOC SIGNO VINCES"...what a douche...
Why should a company get so much money just for music piracy? Piracy is no big deal.
Elie called the Pope of the Catholic Church "Pope Fuhrer" in one of his posts and Lat still lets him work.
Plus, Elie never gave an apology for the post where he did that. I wonder if Lat even knows about it.
Elie called the Pope Hitler when Lat was on vacation.
the pope was in the Hitler youth, it's all fair game.
20,
Since some african americans call each other the "n" word, is that fair game?
Idiot.
I think Elie is Catholic. He showed up to a speaking event with ashes on Ash Wednesday.
"We're generalists who handle the most complex, unique, one-off matters," explained Camara. "If you take a complex matter to a big firm, you'll be routed to twenty different hyperspecialists. You'll end up settling for partial advice -- 'Do this, but we haven't considered this aspect' -- or you'll end up paying huge fees, because you're getting specialized advice from twenty different people who don't work well as a team."
This is called a general practice. This is so that our clients don't have to pay for us to come up to speed on every aspect of their transaction. Good luck dispensing tax and regulatory advice.
Perhaps Camara is the Voice From The Outer World who will know all aspects of the law as if born to him.
The "why not to work here" section of Camara's website is fantastic. No bullshit here.
Reduced hours. We are not a lifestyle firm. You will work harder here than you would at any large firm in Texas or New York. 2400 hours a year is not unusual. On the up side, the work you do will be real work that affects the outcome of the case.
A better chance at partnership. It will probably be harder to make partner here than at any large firm in Texas or New York. This is because we only make equal partners: we have to think you’re someone we’re happy to split governance and profits equally with before we’ll consider you. On the up side, whether or not you make partner, you’ll get the experience you need to leave for another firm or start your own firm and you’ll always know where you stand with us.
Job security. If you don’t measure up, we’ll fire you. We’ll do it quickly. And we’ll do it even if you happen to be profitable because you’re working on hourly cases. On the up side, we won’t be mean about it; we’ll do our best to help you find another position; and we will make clear, if it’s the case, that the problem was fit with us in particular, not something wrong with you in general.
It is funny how some people have a knack for surfacing in the news / reinventing themselves.
IRONICALLY, I'm sure many of the downloaded songs at issue are from musicians who repeatedly scream the word that got our little Kiwi in trouble.
BTW, walking out of a speech is SO for little crybaby grade-school girls.
Can someone please explain why ATL permitted Saiger's name (the "Stroock associte") to be posted but not the Quinn guy? Perhaps ATL's concern on such matters has only recently changed; so why not go back and strike his name to protect his "google footprint"?
22
Elie always has stuff on his face after lunch. You just happened to see him on a day when such poor table manners and hygiene could be mistaken for piety.
I wish these lawyers (and their client) best of luck, but arguing that a federal statute is unconstitutional is not a great trial strategy. It 's more of a issue for appeal from an adverse judgment & damages, and that's a considerable uphill battle even then.
6, I would avoid Colgan Air if I were you.
Everyone is a 'little' racist. Just no one likes to admit it. It's reality deal with is. As for using "the N word", N's use worse words in relation to other races. (cite: any african american's comedy routine, urban genre song, or barber shop convo)
That poor, poor client. She probably thinks that she is getting a great deal: a Harvard genius representing her pro bono. But, in reality, she got some young chump of an attorney who is using her misery and pain to advance an absurd legal argument. If it fails, Kiwi will be no worse for wear - but Thomas will be stuck with 100K of statutory damages.
27 = The Stroock associate.
Buddy, email ATL and ask them to remove your name. They might do it.
Well, he did get one of the name partners from Sibley Austin to defect to his new firm, that's a pretty big deal.
40% contingency fee and costs are all put on the client. Sounds like a scam to me.
6, you should have signed in sooner. Albany's a small location. It's likely all filled up. Saratoga's a nicer town, though.
27 FTW
35 -- nothing unusual about that fee/costs.
Part of what disgusts me about this little twerp is that he managed to make hay over his little "indiscretion." I was at HLS when the racial crap erupted (started by KC, but just the beginning really). To me the real shame was that he seems to have lapped up the notoriety without ever really having gotten the point. In my opinion, a child did something cheap and destructive, and caused a lot more damage than he would have had he not been prematurely given the keys to the kingdom. At the time, seeming to me almost smug about the distress he had caused, he took credit for "starting a discourse" that actually led nowhere and ended up costing him nothing. Looks like he's found another low cost option. Good luck, lady.
The Recruitment section of this "firm's" web site is nothing short of repulsive. You can be direct and honest without being a d_ _ _, but whoever wrote this is a d _ _ _, plain and simple.
I'd rather make $50K a year in some backwoods D.A. office than work with complete a-holes like these.
Kiwi Camara is a gigantic tool. I don't think he thinks the (absurd) legal argument he's making has a fool's chance in hell of succeeding ... I think this is just to try to garner national attention for his otherwise destined-to-fail two person Texas law firm in which he's a "partner." The guy loves attention - even back in the day at HLS, he had a website describing the circumstances under which he would "give interviews." The sooner people start ignoring him, the quicker he will go away.
Just for clarification: is his real name Kiwi? I don't care what nationality you are - if your parents name you Kiwi, it's because their plans for you involve the child-sex trade.
His full name is Kiwi Alejandro Danao Camara.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi_Camara
From the looks of it, he made his own Wikipedia page, too. What a fucking tool.
18--
"Elie called the Pope of the Catholic Church 'Pope Fuhrer' in one of his posts and Lat still lets him work."
That would be because the Pope was a Nazi as a kid. Just sayin'.
I had a Kiwi Camera once. That shit broke after like 2 rolls of kodak film. Worst part, the film was exposed! Eek
The consitutional argument seems strained, and a better argument is the district court erred by accepting the RIAA's jury instruction that having music in a share folder is a copyright violation. It's not a copyright violation when I don't lock my car and there is music inside, same thing here with merely puting a file in a folder others could access.
Funny thing is that from all indications, a genius he isn't, or at least he isn't reaching his potential. Any number of kids with IQs over 160 (and thousands exist) could skip highschool, get summa in math at Harvard and then do well at HLS. Thankfully, most parents of such children don't want this to happen and so MOST of those kids have fun in highschool and then goof-off in University... and eventually do something they enjoy. This kid seems to have been fast-tracked through life (likely under immense pressure from overbearing parents). And look what happend. His immature behavior is just another reminder of how the competitive BS that some parents have (and pass on/through their kids) can be so destructive. He may be a tool, but his parents are likely even bigger tools...
48 - Going after the parents, thats low man. Even for you.
He simply has to be very smart by what he has accomplished before you lost your virginity to Gary at Prom.
Anyway, I digress, keep parents out of it friend. One shouldn't make assumptions lest ye be incorrect.
- Dr. Acula
48 here. I apologize. I was out of line. It was just speculating as to why such a bright young man would make such racist comments in a published outline. Speculation is speculation... But you are right, I could only assume that his parents pressured him. Like I said it was in my view "likely" that his parents were overbearing. This is based just on what I've witnessed happen to other bright folk.
48 here one last time. Has he ever apologized for using that word and posting those outlines???
God, what a fucking tool.
But he's got an open mouth in that picture. That's a third of the way to the solution. Here, will someone give him this? Instructions are simple--insert then fire.
Jeez. He was 16/17 years old when he made those outlines. Give him a break. His social intelligence hadn't caught up to his academic intelligence yet.
Abridged translation of the firm website:
We are mediocre lawyers with egos so large the doors in our offices are extra wide to allow our heads through. If you decide to work for us, we will work you into the ground, fuck you over every which way and fire you if you choose not to leave voluntarily during your first year of employment. If you last the first year, your bonus will be free membership to the nastiest S&M club in town.
I once worked at a place like this. Was promised huge bonuses, fee splitting, etc. The only reason I lasted more than three months is I had a wife and young kid to support--had I been single I would have walked right the hell out of there. I left after 18 months of pure hell, after threatening to sue for unpaid fee splits and working out an agreement. Those 18 months probably set my career back 3-5 years.
This dude has got balls and smarts.
The poor blacks of harvard got insulted by a few words on his outline. Jeez. Grow up jackasses.
I live in NY. I still don't understand why every black calls the other a nigger, but if a white man utters the word, he is crucified. Ever listen to a conversation between blacks on the subway? Every other word is nigger!
The real issue with the blacks at Harvard is their latent insecurity versus everyone else in the school. EVERYONE knows how they got in to the school.
There's a kid in the NYU 1L class this year (2011) that's 19. Not quite as impressive, but still.
come on, honestly, 48, you have to give him credit for his accomplishments. he graduated summa from hls, was a appellate clerk, published on yls journal, published on a med journal at 11... those are impressive achievements.
he made a youthful indiscretion at 19. i will be interested to see if he's grown as a person since 2001. if he's still the same person, then we can find fault with that. but, if he's like me, he's probably matured since he was 19.
Kiwi Camara is funny! So what if he doesn't like blacks? A lot of people don't. It's not like he called a black student a "nig" to his/her face. I agree with 55 - many of the black students at Harvard cannot compete with the other students who were held to a much high academic standard during the admissions process, and they just complain to get attention.
@ 57 - he graduated magna, not summa. Just fyi.
53- that's garbage because if he'd grown as a person since then he would have apologized for the outline garbage (remember that he deliberately included it in there with a "disclaimer" as well).
55- Wow. Turn Rush back on and step away from the internets. Or maybe "crucify" yourself.
47 is right. This is not a difficult case.
Manny Pacquiao v. Camara -- choose your weapons.
you think this guy Kiwi is a tool? you don't know the meaning of the word.
check this one out; hasn't had a job since 1973 and continues to milk accomplishments that happened 40-50 years ago.
http://www.nicholasjohnson.org/
http://fromdc2iowa.blogspot.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Johnson
Does anyone know if Camara is gay? Hey what if Lat and Camara got together? Wait - they are both bottoms, not gonna work lol.
Kiwi Camara got his ASS KICKED. No other way to look at it. What was different this time? Same lady, same judge (actually more sympathetic), same evidence, same RIAA. Just different lawyers.
Camara should be ashamed of himself. If you graduate Harvard as a teenager, you have nothing in common with normal people or jurors. The jury hated this guy. From what I read, he was arrogant, talked down to the jurors, interrupted the lawyers and witnesses, and pissed off the judge.
You think he likes all this media now? He better like pro bono work because no one will ever pay this guy to represent them. Way to go, Doogie. 24 songs for $2 million. Your parents must be so proud.
Kiwi Camara got his ASS KICKED. No other way to look at it. What was different this time? Same lady, same judge (actually more sympathetic), same evidence, same RIAA. Just different lawyers.
Camara should be ashamed of himself. If you graduate Harvard as a teenager, you have nothing in common with normal people or jurors. The jury hated this guy. From what I read, he was arrogant, talked down to the jurors, interrupted the lawyers and witnesses, and pissed off the judge.
You think he likes all this media now? He better like pro bono work because no one will ever pay this guy to represent them. Way to go, Doogie. 24 songs for $2 million. Your parents must be so proud.
I saw this verdict coming a mile a way. Kiwi needs to learn that innate intelligence (to the degree we focus on his book and not social intelligence), although useful in the practice of law, is not a perfect (or even close) substitute for legal experience. Unfortunately, his arrogance has led to his client picking up the bill for this lesson.
yeah, what a douche tool.