Mark Rubin

Indiana’s Mess

March 29, 2015
Mark Rubin

Republican Governor Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act on March 26. The law allows religious beliefs to trump individual rights; if it matters at all—more below—it will likely impact the LBGT community most greatly.

Why was this law passed? Was there a problem? Somebody’s religious rights being trampled? You decide, based on a brief Q and A between Governor Pence and conservative talk show host Greg Garrison:

Garrison: Just real quickly – Is the answer to my question about whether or not religious freedom has been threatened in Indiana yes or is it no?

Governor Pence: I’m not aware of cases and controversies. I mean as I travel around the state one thing I know for sure —Hoosier

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Musings on the First Amendment

March 23, 2015
Mark Rubin

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc., No. 14-144. The case involves specialty license plates, and a state’s right under the First Amendment to limit the messages. In a nutshell, almost, the Sons of Confederate Veterans want a specialty license plate in Texas. The state said no, the trial court said no, the Fifth Circuit said yes, and the Supreme Court said “let’s take a look.”

Lyle Denniston for SCOTUSblog provides his usual first-rate analysis in Assuming the Answer, Up Front. As it is with so many issues, the premise will often determine the conclusion. Here, as Mr. Denniston notes, the case turns on whose speech appears

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A Primer on Statutes of Limitations

March 16, 2015
Mark Rubin

If you’ve been involved with a lawsuit you’ve likely heard the term “statute of limitations.” Statutes are laws, passed by legislative bodies and signed by the executive. (On occasion, a statute comes about as a result of an overridden veto of a passed law.)

Statutes of limitations limit the time for filing lawsuits. (But for murder, there are limitations statutes for criminal laws, but we’re focused on civil claims.) They matter whenever the time for filing might pass, for a missed statute results in a dismissed case, almost always.

Two issues matter with respect to a limitations analysis:  which statute applies, and when the claim accrued. In Arizona limitations statutes are codified in Title 12 (Courts and Civil Proceedings),

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47 Again – The Letter to Iran

March 13, 2015
Mark Rubin

Remember 47? in case you don’t, Fact-checking Romney’s “47 Percent” Comment by Lucy Madison for CBS on September 25, 2012 will refresh your memory.

I mention 47 because the number is back in the news, brought to you again by the Rs. On Monday, March 9, Senator Tom Cotton (Rep.-Ark.) authored a letter to the Iranian government about the nuclear proliferation deal being negotiated between Iran, the U.S., and five other nations. Here’s the letter, signed by Senator Cotton and, you guessed it, 46 other Republican senators. If one more or less senator’s signature was on the letter, my theme would have been blown!

Numbers, theme, and kidding aside, the conduct at issue should shock anyone who

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Complete Estate Planning

March 9, 2015
Mark Rubin

“Get your affairs in order” is a euphemism for estate planning. Some tasks do involve traditional notions of estate planning. They include making sure your will, trust, or both, are in good order, assets are titled in the trust if you have one, and health care and general powers of attorney are current.

Two or three years ago I had a case in which “affairs in order” meant much more. A couple had wills from many years earlier. Unexamined for decades, seemingly, and not reflective of their intentions. Those matters certainly affected certain people; still, that issue is not my concern here. Instead, I want to discuss how the couple owned their many assets.

The assets were several: a home,

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The Spreadsheet, Apple Co., and Change!

March 6, 2015
Mark Rubin

Last Friday I heard How the Electronic Spreadsheet Revolutionized Business by Jacob Goldstein for Planet Money on NPR. It’s four+ minutes long, it’s about change, and it’s worth your time. The big moment for me in the story comes through in this short paragraph from Jacob Goldstein:

GOLDSTEIN: When the software hit the market under the name VisiCalc, [Alan] Sneider became the first registered owner, spreadsheet user number one. The program could do in seconds what it used to take a person an entire day to do. This of course, poses a certain risk if your job is doing those calculations. And in fact, lots of bookkeepers and accounting clerks were replaced by spreadsheet software. But the number of

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Writing Matters … Mostly!

March 5, 2015
Mark Rubin

When I was a young man I recall some discussion—today it would be Internet buzz—about how writing didn’t matter anymore. We all talked to one another, and that made writing unnecessary.

Wrong! Writing matters greatly, almost always. Very recently, I got a decision in a case. My clients were right on both the facts and the law; however, the case was complicated. I filed a motion for summary judgment. It’s a request to the court, asking the court to accept the other side’s version of the facts and still rule in your side’s favor, on account of the law being on your side.

My clients prevailed. The right decision, although I was concerned until I got the ruling, as I’m

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Write-A-Will Month and Estate Planning

March 2, 2015
Mark Rubin

Write-A-Will Month started on Sunday. Yes, it’s a bit of a contrivance, advanced by the Planned Giving Roundtable (now called the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning) and championed by nonprofits, but the month provides an opportunity to think about estate planning and getting your affairs in order.

I’ve shared pieces about estate planning on several occasions. (Click on Probate and Estate Planning under Categories on the right side of your screen for links.) Today, I want to address some myths about estate planning, probate, and end of life issues. Some have been mentioned before but here are my Great Eight (in reverse order):

8.  My Power of Attorney Has Me Covered. A power of attorney is cheap, and it

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Big Week at the Supreme Court!

March 1, 2015
Mark Rubin

It’s a big week at the Supreme Court. The Court here’s oral arguments on March 2 in Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, No. 13-1314. (I was a finalist for the Redistricting Commission; often, we are blessed in failure!) The Court has framed the issues as follows:  (1) Whether the Elections Clause of the United States Constitution and 2 U. S. C. § 2a(c) permit Arizona’s use of a commission to adopt congressional districts; and (2) whether the Arizona Legislature has standing to bring this suit.

The “Elections Clause” provision is located in Article I, Section 4. It states:  “The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in

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Judicial Selection, Redux

February 24, 2015
Mark Rubin

I believe I last ranted fully about elected judges in October 2014, in Judicial Selection: It’s Merit-Based in Arizona. (More recently there was some explaining about how many courts in Alabama ignored the same-sex mandate from the U.S. Supreme Court.) I do try to avoid same-subject posts, but I ran across Running for Their Robes and could not resist.

Running for Their Robes is a clip from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, which appears on HBO on Sunday nights. Truly funny, and in my humble opinion, fresher and better than Colbert or Stewart! Fresher because, well, Mr. Oliver’s show is new, and better because he does in-depth work in a way that did not suit either

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