Cocaine / Crack

Revelations continue to spill forth regarding Stephen McDaniel, the recent Mercer Law School graduate accused of killing his former classmate and neighbor, Lauren Giddings. Was he framed? Is he innocent? Take our reader poll and find out more....

* Urging people to kill the president is protected speech, according to the Ninth Circuit. So if you are playing along at home, judges think that talking about killing judges is wrong, but they don’t care if you threaten the executive branch. [Wired] * Did anyone start Dewey & LeBoeuf in their Dodger lawyers fantasy […]

Paul Bergrin, the New Jersey federal prosecutor turned notorious criminal defense attorney, just may be the most scandalous alumnus of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark. Our very own David Lat pretended to be a woman while he wrote a mildly snarky blog about federal judges, but what Bergrin stands accused of doing is much, much worse.

Maybe it’s time for us to have a national conversation about legalizing drugs. It’s interesting to see how many folks in charge of enforcing and administering our nation’s drug laws seem to have drug problems themselves. We all recall the sad story of former federal judge Jack Camp. After years of sending offenders off to […]

It was quite shocking last October when word first surfaced that then-federal judge Jack Camp, at the time a senior judge for the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta), might have indulged in cocaine, marijuana, and sex with a prostitute. The charges were hard to believe, especially given Judge Camp’s judicial office. But, as it turned […]

We’ve already shown you what it looks like when an associate gets laid off from a law firm. It’s not pretty. What does it look like when a law firm fires — or tries to fire — a partner? Well, that is even uglier….

In December 2008, then-Chief Judge Jack Camp (N.D. Ga.) gave an interesting interview to the Fulton County Daily Report. In explaining his decision to enter the semiretired state available to certain federal judges known as senior status, Judge Camp said that senior status would allow him to do some things “I really want to do, […]

The allegations against Judge Jack Camp (N.D. Ga.), which we mentioned earlier today, are far more salacious than we expected. In fact, they’re hard to believe. “Learned Paw” posted this tongue-in-cheek comment, inspired by Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, on our earlier post: I am not surprised by the bust of […]

Last month, Marin broke down the Paris Hilton defense to a drug possession charge. Put simply, saying “it wasn’t me” when confronted with drugs found on your person strains credulity. Especially if those drugs are found in your ass. Which is what happened to a Florida man over the weekend…

Would you want your lawyer to do everything in his power to zealously represent you during your trial? What if doing all he can involves snorting a line during your trial? Hey, don’t be too quick to judge. Coke heads tend to be alert and aggressive — and those are good qualities for a trial […]

It’s hard out here for an immigrant. Arizona has immigrants in the crosshairs, as we all know. Immigrants might also be unable to clerk for federal judges (or at least get paid for it). And when they commit crimes and get sentenced, immigrants are sometimes subjected to snide remarks by judges. The Seventh Circuit recently […]

As you’ve probably heard, last week Las Vegas cops arrested partying hag Paris Hilton for cocaine possession, after pulling her over in a Cadillac Escalade that was trailing marijuana smoke. And as you’ve probably also heard, the police would have never found the coke in the first place if Paris hadn’t been such a vain […]

Last decade — back in the aughts — a Holland & Knight real estate partner got up to some very bad things. While we have heard that coke can be an aid for sleep-deprived attorneys, it caused problems for Theodore Silva Jr. Silva was formerly a partner in Holland & Knight’s D.C. office. According to […]

Congratulations to Akin Gump, winner of Above the Law’s inaugural holiday card contest. Check out their very funny and clever card over here. The voting wasn’t even close. There were seven entrants, but Akin walked away with over 44 percent of the vote. It was the commenters’ favorite, too: “I work at HayBoo [Haynes and […]

Back in the eighties, the popular myth was that all Manhattan attorneys had a leather briefcase, a good blue pen, and a Scarface-sized bowl of cocaine on their desk. Sadly, by the time I got to Biglaw the briefcase had been replaced by a canvas bag with a gaudy firm emblem emblazoned on the side […]

A candy company’s been under some scrutiny lately about their new drink mix, which they innocently named “Blow.” It comes in little clear packets and supposedly gives you lots and lots of energy. Athough it probably doesn’t work as well as that Adderall you have in your desk, it is likely much cheaper. In any […]

Oh goodness. And you thought Paris Hilton was troubled. From the AP: Lindsay Lohan, who just finished a second stint in rehab for substance abuse treatment, was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving early Tuesday, authorities said. Lohan, who is already facing a drunken driving charge in Beverly Hills, was pulled over near the Santa […]

The following comes from a trial in the Southern District of Alabama, Chief Judge Ginny Granade presiding. It’s from an assistant U.S. attorney’s examination of an accomplice in a bank robbery: Q: Well, let me just as an aside right now, what kind of a high, what kind of feeling do you get from smoking, […]