Law Archives - Page 6 of 24

Real Attorneys, Working

May 5, 2018

Real Attorneys, Working

Rudy Giuliani

From time to time I write about subjects, even though I lack a deep, personal knowledge base. G-d bless the Internet, which provides ready access to reliable sources. (Yes, I believe the MSM. Working journalists—people, mostly underpaid relative to societal value, who seek truth—get the story right, mostly.) With a functioning brain which can string together sentences and organize them into paragraphs, I write posts people read. And I sleep well, comfortable that I am not offering Fake News.

Then there are those moments when I write with first-hand knowledge. Like, about real attorneys, working.

So, what do we—working attorneys—do all day? Lots. My days include telephone conferences with clients and other, along

attorneys, Donald J. Trump, Mayor Rudy Guiliani, Robert Mueller

Law, The Rest of Everything

Textualism and the Courts

April 26, 2018

Mark Rubin

Textualism and the Courts (A Wee Bit Wonky)*

Justice Antonin Scalia, Textualist

The Book

I finished The Justice of Contradictions: Antonin Scalia and the Politics of Disruption by Richard Hasen recently. Dealing with complex matters, Mr. Hasen offers lucid analysis and a fine read!

Straightaway, Mr. Hasen tells readers he has not written a Scalia biography, or a “comprehensive examination of all of [Justice] Scalia’s opinions and ideas.” Instead, he promises “an examination of [Justice Scalia’s] jurisprudential theories of textualism and originalism, his inimitable and caustic tone in dealing with his adversaries on and off the Court, and his key areas of modern American law.” And he delivers, in plain English!

I’m focused here on textualism, the legal

Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice John Paul Stevens, Justice Sonia Sotmayor, Richard Hasen, textualism

Law, The Rest of Everything

Attorneys Addicted to Attention

April 25, 2018

Mark Rubin

Attorneys Addicted to Attention

Mark Rubin

Attorneys—some, anyway—live in heady times. I follow some blogs and nearly every story touches matters legal. Unfortunately, in too many instances I find myself embarrassed and ashamed of too many fellow attorneys.

Before I go forth, let me clarify what I mean by attention. I’m not focused on attorneys doing good deeds. Writing principled, illuminating articles. Representing their clients well. The attention which bothers me involves television interviews. Press releases. And, yes, sometimes even statements made during book tours.

I’ve written lately—and often—about client confidentiality. Fundamentally, confidentiality and attention—as I have defined it—mesh poorly. We’re supposed to do our jobs quietly and, when we speak, we should be trying to illuminate, and we ought

attorneys, James Comey, Joseph DiGenova, Michael Avenatti, President Donald Trump, Rudolph Giuliani, Stormy Daniels, Ted Olson, Vicotira Toensing

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Confidentiality and Hannity the Client

April 17, 2018

Mark Rubin

Confidentiality and Hannity the Client

New York’s version of ER 1.6 of the Rules of Professional Conduct got shredded yesterday. Oh well … but for the fact that confidentiality represents a core aspect of the attorney-client relationship.

Some background might be helpful. Search warrants, executed last Monday, generated a bunch of material from Michael Cohen. He’s an attorney who works for President Donald J. Trump. And Everett Broidy. And one more client, Sean Hannity.

The government and Judge Kimba Wood needed to know who Mr. Cohen represented. Why? To determine the scope of the claimed attorney-client privilege. The privilege only applies to communications between Mr. Cohen and his clients; whither, the need to know the identity of

attorney-client privilege, confidentiality, Michael Cohen, Sean Hannity

Law, The Rest of Everything

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Search Warrants, Confidentiality, and More

April 15, 2018

Mark Rubin

Search Warrants, Confidentiality, and More

That Client

In Donald J. Trump, Goner I promised some “basic facts about attorney-client privilege and attorney confidentiality issues.”* The promise grew out of the extraordinary search warrants directed to premises controlled by Michael Cohen, an attorney who does work for President Donald J. Trump.

Extraordinary search warrants? Yes. Mr. Cohen does have a license to practice law, and the warrants relate broadly to that client of his I mentioned previously.

Judges issue search warrants. Routinely.** Judges reject warrant requests rarely and, only slightly more often, they will modify them. So, the fact that warrants issued does not, alone, make them extraordinary.

So, why extraordinary? Mr. Cohen’s law license, and that client I mentioned.

attorney-client privilege, Karen McDougal, Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump, search warrants, Stormy Daniels

Law, The Rest of Everything

Confidentiality, Attorneys and Prospective Clients

March 27, 2018

Mark Rubin

Confidentiality, Attorneys and Prospective Clients

Mark Rubin

On August 17, 2014 I posted Professional Responsibility; Confidentiality. Confidentiality represents a core part of the attorney-client relationship. Too often, unfortunately, we—yes, attorneys—ignore it or don’t understand it.

Plainly and simply: matters belong to clients, and not to their attorneys.* I work for you. The Rules of Professional Conduct and other sources set standards for me. And one of those standards—set forth in E(thical) R(ule) 1.6—tells me I can’t reveal “information relating to the representation of a client” without your consent. (There are several exceptions. They’re discussed in the 2014 piece, and not relevant here.)

“Information relating to the representation of the client” includes the very fact that an attorney-client relationship

Law, The Rest of Everything

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Lowell Rothschild RIP

December 29, 2017

Mark Rubin

Lowell Rothschild RIP

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Lowell Rothschild died on Friday, December 29, 2017. Survivors include his children, Jonathan (Karen Spiegel) and Jennifer (Julian Izbiky), grandchildren Isaac Rothschild (Tanya Miller), Nathan Rothschild (Jenny Stash), Molly Rose Rothschild, and Alex Izbiky, two great-grandsons, and scores and scores of friends and colleagues and admirers.

Many words will be written about Lowell. They will surely understate the depth and breadth of his impact on so many lives. He was – he’d never use this word about himself, but used it often to describe others – a magnificent attorney. Bankruptcy gave him his reputation, but he was a leader nationally in the field of law office management. In other areas he worked at a high level on

Lowell Rothschild

Law, The Rest of Everything

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U.S. District Court Appointments

December 15, 2017

Mark Rubin

U.S. District Court Appointments

Matthew Petersen

An SNL-not sketch has been circulating in the last couple of days. It’s here, and it’s a Q and A between Senator John Kennedy (R – La.) and U.S. District Court nominee / Federal Elections Commissioner Matthew S. Petersen. And if I’m understanding Poe’s Law correctly – it’s Friday evening, I’m alone, and I’m into liquid refreshment – we’re looking at reality mimicking parody. (This dude knows eff-all about being a trial judge!)

The Problem

At the trial level our systems, state and federal, offer the greatest number of jobs and the hardest challenges. Like a funnel in reverse, the greatest number of judges handle trials. A much smaller number do

Brett Talley, John Kennedy, Matthew Petersen, Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. District Court

Law, The Rest of Everything

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Exit Strategies for Business and Complex Asset Owners

October 26, 2017

Mark Rubin

Exit Strategies for Business and Complex Asset Owners

Mark Rubin

I am hosting a session on Exit Strategies for Business and Complex Asset Owners on November 16, 2017, in Tucson at 4:00 p.m. The session will entail a presentation and discussion of practical preparations, strategies, markets, and considerations vital to embarking on these transactions. Refreshments, too!

I have been practicing law in Tucson for nearly 40 years, focusing primarily on business and real estate law. Estate planning and fiduciary matters are also part of my practice. (I have been a Licensed Fiduciary—License No. 20546—for a dozen years, dealing mostly with cases involving complex assets, dysfunctional families, or both.) During my practice, I have worked with myriad situations involving a principal’s

exit strategies, Law Office of Mark Rubin, Mark Rubin, MarkRubinWrites, theodore bernstein

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Mr. Joe Arpaio, President Donald Trump, and the Pardon Power

August 14, 2017

Mark Rubin

Joe Arpaio, President Donald Trump, and the Pardon Power

What a Pair!

Trump says he’s considering pardon for Joe Arpaio by Matt Zapotosky for the Washington Post gives you today’s disgraceful news.* And it’s our jumping off point!

I wrote Pardon! and No Egos at Mark Rubin Writes. Pardon? in June and July, respectively. When I wrote the pieces I really expected President Donald Trump would give his family his first high-profile pardons. No matter, for those pardons will surely follow. For now, the Arpaio pardon raises some interesting issues.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio was sued several years ago.** The suit involved racial profiling. Judge Murray Snow, a U.S. District Judge in Phoenix, held the sheriff and others in civil

Chief Justice William Howard Taft, Joe Arpaio, Mark Rubin, MarkRubinWrites, pardon, President Calvin Coolidge, President Donald Trump, President Warren Harding, Prohibition, U.S. Supreme Court

Law, The Rest of Everything

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