Gilberto Valle, aka the ‘Cannibal Cop’
Sitting in judgment of another human being is difficult. This case in particular has not been an easy one … [with] material that degrades the human spirit.
– Judge Paul Gardephe, thanking the jury that just convicted Gilberto Valle, the so-called “cannibal cop,” of conspiracy to kidnap.
(More about this grisly case, after the jump.)
Continue reading “‘Cannibal Cop’ Convicted in Kidnapping Conspiracy Case”
Thomas Edwards
Under the American criminal justice system all individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
– Thomas L. Edwards, a Florida lawyer who handles DUI defense, offering comment on his recent legal wranglings. Edwards was criminally charged this weekend in an alleged drunken hit-and-run accident, and a banner ad for his law firm appeared on the same page as his mug shot.
Nate Silver
As much as it pleases me to see statistical data introduced in the Supreme Court, the act of citing statistical factoids is not the same thing as drawing sound inferences from them.
– Nate Silver, statistician extraordinaire, rebuking Chief Justice John Roberts’s use of statistics during oral arguments in Shelby County v. Holder, and noting that the voting ratios cited weren’t “meaningful in either a statistical or a practical sense.”
Not pictured: Wall Street Journal.
[The article] lays it out. It gives motive, it gives you methodology, it reflects experts who think it’s valid. This is not the only piece. This article takes the same kind of approach that you have taken in this case.
I mean, frankly, I am totally puzzled, given that plaintiffs’ bar in this area uses the Wall Street Journal as their source of clients and cases, right? You guys read it every day, looking for scandal, right? Other people read People Magazine, but you read the Wall Street Journal.
– Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald (S.D.N.Y.), discussing inquiry notice of plaintiff’s claims with David Kovel of Kirby McInerney, counsel for plaintiffs in the Libor lawsuits, during Tuesday’s hearing.
(The article Judge Buchwald mentions ran in the Wall Street Journal in 2008 and raised serious questions about Libor’s integrity.)
I am not so sure if I would like to serve on a jury.
– A response generated by an artificial linguistic internet computer entity during an interview in response to whether the device, a program that simulates conversation, would ever go to jury duty. This interview was conducted because researchers are currently studying robots’ capability to gauge false testimony.
Stroking the gavel of justice?
Don’t come knocking if the jury room is rockin’.
– An instant message that was allegedly sent by Judge Eugenio Mathis to his wife, a court employee, prior to his resignation from the bench.
(The New Mexico Judicial Standards Commission notes that the good judge allegedly engaged in “communications of a sexual nature” with his wife during court proceedings, “including intimations that he had or would be having sexual relations with her during the workday and/or on court premises.” Mathis continues to deny those claims.)
The different jurisdictional treatments of same-sex marriage are not the only factor influencing businesses’ decisions about where to locate operations. As all businesses do, we make our decisions about where to locate our operations by balancing several relevant—and sometimes competing—factors. In light of the multiple criteria we utilized in deciding where to locate our new global services center, we remain very confident in and pleased about our choice of Lexington, Kentucky, for our new operational hub.
– A representative for Bingham McCutchen, commenting in response to criticisms about the firm’s decision to open a global services center in Kentucky, a state where gay marriage is outlawed. Bingham recently filed an amicus brief arguing that the Defense of Marriage Act is “bad for business.”
The first day I took up my place behind the counter was the last day I practiced law.
– Mark Russ Federman, a Georgetown Law graduate, commenting on his experience at his family business, Russ & Daughters, one of the last Jewish appetizing shops in New York. Federman is the author of a new book, Russ & Daughters: Reflections and Recipes from the House That Herring Built (affiliate link).
Yet many professional athletes are speaking up—both to clear the way for any teammates who may be gay and closeted, and from an understandingof how even seemingly minor acts by professional athletes can reverberate with the public. Tolerance is becoming the message in locker rooms and from teams that recognize they cannot countenance use of pointless slurs like “faggot,” “queer,” and “gay.” Regardless the intent with which those terms are spoken, they classify a group and particular people as synonymous with the lesser, and professional athletes are beginning to understand that.
– Minnesota Vikings Punter Chris Kluwe and Baltimore Ravens Linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo (congratulations on the Super Bowl) in an amicus curiae brief filed with the Supreme Court in Hollingsworth v. Perry, regarding the fate of California’s Proposition 8.
Continue reading “NFL Players File Amicus Brief in Prop 8 Case”
To date, defendant has evaded personal service and cannot be located in Belgium, Spain, or in any country in Europe.
– U.S. District Judge James Mahan failing to grasp the obvious hurdles involved with a lawsuit brought by Teller (of Penn & Teller) against another magician.
(You can see video of the trick below.)
Continue reading “Teller Silenced In Court By Elusive Defendant”
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Ed. note: The Asia Chronicles column is authored by Kinney Recruiting. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates, counsels and partners in Asia than any other recruiting firm in each of the past six years. You can reach them by email: asia@kinneyrecruiting.com.
Deal flow has clearly picked recently up for most US associates, counsels and partners in Hong Kong/China and Singapore. We are on the phone with a lot of these folks on a daily basis, many of whom we have known for years. Further, the head of our Asia team, Evan Jowers, and Kinney’s founder and president, Robert Kinney, frequently meet in person with leading US partners in Asia to assess their needs and keep on top of the inside scoop at as many firms as possible. The need for legal recruiting help in Asia from experienced recruiters appears to be live and well. In March, Evan and Robert were in Beijing at such meetings, in April, Evan was in Hong Kong, and for half of June Evan will be in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Thus its pretty easy for us to tell when there has been an across-the-market pick up in capital markets and corporate work.
On an average day in Asia when Evan and Robert visit firms, they typically have 5 to 9 meetings a day, mostly with US partners in the market. The reason they have these meetings is not simply because Kinney makes a lot of US attorney placements in Asia and that a particular firm may have openings; instead these are just visits with friends. After years of working together as business partners, the folks at Kinney are actually these peoples’ friends. The firms Kinney work closely with in Asia (which is just about every law firm – call us if you want to know the one firm in the world we will never place anyone with again, ever, and why) look forward to the visits, or at least act like they do. After seven years in the market, many of the client partners are former associate candidates. Also, these US partners see Kinney as a very good source of market information as well, because they know how deep their contacts are in the market and how frequently they are speaking to counterparts at peer firms.
Keep reading »
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