Douglas Rathe

Benchslaps

Lawyer of the Month: August Reader Poll

The month of August brought us a slew of disasters, both natural and otherwise. At the end of the month, we faced off against the Great D.C. Earthquake of 2011. Shortly thereafter, we got slammed by Hurricane Irene. But August wasn’t just about natural disasters — there were plenty of man-made disasters to deal with […]

Crime

Mistrial in Massage Parlor Prosecution After Masseuse Recognizes Defense Lawyer — as a Client….

We have the makings of a trend: inappropriate contacts between participants in jury trials. These contacts can be problematic because a jury trial constitutes a delicate ecosystem, in which contacts and communications between actors are regulated strictly to ensure the fairness of the proceedings. Now we bring you news of, er, more intimate contact between a witness and a lawyer -- which culminated in a mistrial....