Corrupt Reno Police bring God's Wrath [or at least the wrath of a crazy cult of hatred]

Ever wonder why Nevada has so much corruption? or why cities like Reno and Las Vegas have a negative reputation with the rest of the country?

Well, the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka has found the answer. According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, the "church" [or cult of hatred--depending on your viewpoint] issued the public statement:

“God hates Reno, Nevada”

Never a group to shy from controversy, the "church," which is known for its picketing of gay funerals (and Mormon funerals?), has decided to help the Reno police locate missing 19 year old college student Brianna Denison. And by help, I meant holier than thou [and insane] judgment:

“Reno is a dangerous place to be, with the curse of God upon Reno,” the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., said in a news release this week. “God hates Reno, Nevada.” Police Chief Michael Poehlman called the church’s statement “despicable,” especially because it begins with references to Brianna Denison, a 19-year college student who has been the target of a search since police believe she was abducted from a Reno home on Jan. 20. “If Brianna Denison dies, blame the corrupt Reno Police,” the church’s statement said, adding that church members will “picket her funeral, in religious protest & warning.”

What the hell does a cult of hatred from Kansas know about Reno? Maybe they're big fans of Reno 911.

[Sorry the snarky comments are so weak. I think its universally agreed these people are fucked up. There's very little response to this level of hatred]

Politician and her Lawyer misplace [ahem] $15,940

Alleged felon and former Clark County Commissioner Lynette Boggs has been paying her attorney, Bill Terry, out of a fund of campaign contributions according to her financial reports. Since retaining counsel, Boggs reported that she paid $15,940 out of her campaign fund for her defense. Problem is: her attorney says he hasn't seen a dime.

The Las Vegas Sun reports:

Boggs did not hold office in 2007, but that didn’t stop her from raising and spending campaign money. That money came from five companies controlled by
developer John Ritter, CEO of Focus Property Group.

Boggs’ report says that in May she paid $10,000 to Terry, whom she retained to fight four felony counts stemming from accusations that she lived outside her commission district and used campaign cash to pay her children’s nanny.

It wasn’t the first time she dipped into her campaign account to pay Terry, a legal step but one that sometimes exposes public officials to contentions that they are using political dollars for personal reasons. She also listed a payment to Terry on Dec. 29, 2006.

Terry’s statements in court, however, seem to contradict Boggs’ campaign finance reports. He appeared before Hearing Master Kevin Williams in September and told the court he would no longer be representing Boggs. “I’ve received no compensation for any work that I’ve done on this,” he said. That statement raises questions about the $15,940 that Boggs’ campaign finance reports indicate she paid Terry.

Nice to see the old boys club has expanded to include the ladies. We deserve a shot at embezzlement and financial mismanagement too!

ACLU and Public Defenders challenge Prosecutor loophole on Juvenile guilty pleas

Nevada's criminal laws are soon to make the national spotlight again. This time, it's how the Courts handle juvenile pleas. The ACLU and Public Defenders from Washoe and Clark county are challenging a procedural loophole for Prosecutors.

Nevada Appeal reports:

National and state groups and individuals are challenging a Nevada law that makes juveniles admit guilt to charged crimes in efforts to avoid trial as an adult - but lets prosecutors use those admissions if juveniles end up in adult court anyway. . .

The legal brief is in support of an appeal filed by two youths, identified only as William and Marques, from the Las Vegas area who were certified as adults in November, at age 17, in robbery cases. They were a year or two younger when the robberies occurred.

"Extorting an admission from juveniles for the purpose of avoiding transfer (to adult court) and then allowing the use of such admissions to support transfer and ultimately guilt at the trial stage is completely at odds with the standard of fundamental fairness required in juvenile proceedings," the brief states.

The article goes on to state:

Another group, the National Juvenile Defender Center, plans a separate document arguing that juveniles in such cases can't get proper legal representation since attorneys must advise juveniles to admit guilt to avoid adult certification.

"That's not how a productive attorney-client relationship usually goes," [according to attorney Lee Rowland of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada].

The ACLU-Juvenile Law Center brief notes that at least 19 other states have laws protecting juveniles against self-incrimination when a judge determines whether they should be tried in juvenile or adult courts.

Nice. So if you're young in Nevada, plead guilty to the crime to avoid the harsh penalty of being tried as an adult. Unless, of course, the judge decides to try you as an adult anyway. Then you're screwed because you already plead guilty. Good, old-fashioned Silver State justice.

Britney has Vegas lawsuit to defend when she gets out of hospital

While Britney made headlines last night for being committed to the UCLA psychiatric ward at 4 in the morning, her prior actions in Vegas produced a legal Complaint:

USA Today reports:

A fashion consultant who bought clothes and had them delivered to Britney Spears has sued the wayward pop star for failing to pay her.

A lawyer for Las Vegas resident Nancy Rosu filed suit in Clark County District Court for damages in excess of $50,000 on Jan. 18.

Rosu claims Spears stopped paying her for the service in August, about a year after the two began doing business.

Even after the payments stopped, Rosu alleges that Spears continued to request her services and ask for custom-made items.

This isn't Britney's first foray into the Clark County Court system. Lest we all forget her 55 hour marriage drama, the annulment Complaint is posted here.

Another Pacman Jones defendant sentenced

Sadia Morrison, another one of Pacman Jones' co-defendants, was sentenced yesterday in the criminal case resulting from the shooting at Minxx strip club during the NBA All Star game.

From the Review-Journal:

"I am sorry for what happened that night," Morrison told the judge.

Morrison is accused of biting and hitting someone with a champagne bottle during the fight, which broke out in the early morning hours of Feb. 19 during the 2007 NBA All-Star Weekend.

Sadia Morrison, who pleaded no contest to battery in connection with the incident at Minxx topless club, was given a suspended sentence of 12 to 33 months in jail by District Judge Michael Villani.

Villani also ordered the 25-year-old New Yorker to take impulse control counseling.
Morrison, wearing all black, remained mostly silent until the judge questioned whether she was truly remorseful for the fight inside the club.

I wonder if New Orleans will have this much fun hosting the NBA Allstar game.

Sleeping Judges covered by the ADA?

Judge Halverson's attorneys responded yesterday to the Complaint filed before the Judicial Disciplinary Commission. In addition to claiming that none of her bizarre and questionable actions were in violation of Nevada law, Halverson's attorneys claim that the Judge's inability to stay awake while presiding over trial (including during a criminal trial) would be a protected activity under the Americans for Disability Act.

The ABA Journal reports:

Halverson, who uses a scooter and breathes from an oxygen tank, also claims she is protected by the American With Disabilities Act. . . She also cites her First Amendment right to free speech and her 14th Amendment right to due process.

Halverson has filed a separate petition that claims the discipline commission violated her due process rights by taking too long to file a complaint against her.

The Complaint against Halverson contends she fell asleep on the bench three times, had improper conversations with deliberating jurors, made comments to the media that could have affected a pending case, tried to hack into a computer system to access other employees’ e-mails, and created a hostile work environment for court employees.

If she's allowed back on the bench, I'm sure criminal defendants will be relieved to know their judge's civil right to fall asleep during their criminal trial was protected.

Judge proposes he be sent to ethics classes

The Review Journal is reporting that Judge Lee Gates has submitted a proposal to the Judicial Discipline Committee to settle the claims that he improperly donated $10,000 to two judicial campaigns. The two donations of $5,000 came from money leftover from Gates' 2002 election campaign.


According to the Review Journal:

The settlement, proposed by Thomas Pitaro, Gates' attorney, and Dorothy Nash Holmes, special prosecutor for the commission, would require Gates to acknowledge that the two $5,000 donations he made in 2004 from his unspent campaign funds were improper.

The contributions were made to Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Karen Bennett-Haron and Nevada Supreme Court Justice Michael Douglas. The donations used contributions left over from Gates' 2002 re-election, when he was unopposed.

Under the proposed settlement, Gates would be required to attend at his own expense a course on ethical issues in the law offered by the National Judicial College. He would have to accept full responsibility for the violation, issue a public apology, and receive and accept a public censure from the commission.

The commission has to approve the proposed settlement before it can take effect. No date for a vote has been set.

Gates could not be reached for comment. He announced earlier this month that he would not seek re-election to the court this year.

All in all, a rather dull ethics violation for Las Vegas, but it's nice to see the wall of silence protecting judicial ethical violations is starting to come down.

Support Staff feeling the [economic] burn

Yesterday, I asked whether how or when the slowing economy would hit Vegas firms. East coast firms are already laying off real estate and financing divisions of the firm, and there are predicitons that the lower-billing associates will soon be cut.

Well, apparently the economy has had an impact on staff at firms: the support staff. Rather than letting go of associates or lowering associate bonuses, some Vegas firms are asking support staff to carry the brunt of the economic downturn.

Word on the street is that management at some Vegas firms have put a hiring freeze on support staff and are choosing not to issue support staff bonuses in 2007. In the meantime, associates and partners receive their bonuses on time.

Not a smart business move by management. Every firm attorney knows that without skilled support staff, the associates would be worthless. Most of them have no idea how to draft an Answer or file a Complaint. I wonder how hard they can squeeze the secretaries and paralegals before they look for new work?

Let me know if you're job is cutting back on perks or laying off associates and/or support staff: nevadalegal@gmail.com

Judge Halverson Denied

The Nevada Supreme Court denied Judge Halverson's appeal for reinstatement on the basis of due process violations by the Disciplinary Commission. The Review-Journal reports the Supreme Court ruled that procedurally the Judicial Disciplinary Commission should consider Judge Halverson's appeal before it is considered by the Supreme Court.

Procedural rulings are never that exciting, but this one keeps Nevada's biggest embarrassment off the bench a little while longer.

Will Economic Downturn Affect Law Firms?

Last week, Above the law reported that east coast firms have started downsizing to deal with the lack of real estate and financing business in light of the country's economic woes.

Todat, the Wall Street Journal's Law Blog reports that the slowing economy is affecting litigation departments as well:

Legal consultancy Hildebrandt and Citi Private Bank are due to issue a report today, based in part on financial data furnished by 247 firms, indicating that the subprime mortgage crisis and fears of a recession have triggered not only a decline in corporate legal work but also litigation, a practice area that typically gathers steam in down
economies. “The current downturn has thus far been a ‘perfect storm’” for law firms, according to Hildebrandt and Citi.

Many firms will increase revenue and profits by only modest amounts in 2008, and “some firms will be down a lot in 2008, with decreases in income,” predicts consultant Brad Hildebrandt.

Few firms have so far resorted to layoffs or other drastic cost cutting, in part because many experienced healthy growth in 2007, consultants and lawyers say. But layoffs raise another concern: if attorneys are laid off en masse, firms may be caught flat footed when demand for their services picks up again.

But firms are likely to become more ruthless about “weeding out those attorneys who are not performing as well as they should,” says Mr. Hildebrandt. Firms may be particularly apt to prune at the partner level, even though partner firing were once rare, because partners are costlier and sometimes less productive than more junior lawyers, says Dan DiPietro, of Citi Private Bank.

Will Vegas see a similar pruning of lower billing associates? Has the economy affected the Vegas firms yet? Let me know if you're job is cutting back on perks or laying off associates: nevadalegal@gmail.com

Another part of the Halverson story

The Las Vegas Sun has an article on the incident where Judge Halverson asked a tech guy to hack into her support staff's email. Not new news, but it's still interesting to hear the details from the tech guy himself:

Computer whiz Gregory Klassoff remembers the request he got last spring from a Las Vegas district court judge.

“I was told a file was lost on the computer,” said Klassoff, an employee of Supertech Computers on West Sahara Avenue. He went to see judge Elizabeth Halverson at the Regional Justice Center expecting to help her retrieve the file.

But when he arrived on that day last May, “the job changed,” he told the Sun recently, laughing. “Halverson didn’t want a missing file,” Klassoff said. She sought the e-mails of employees she was at odds with, including those of former executive assistant Ileen Spoor, according to Dorothy Nash Holmes, an attorney working on behalf of the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline, which later investigated.

Klassoff refused to help. “If you get locked out of your computer, I’m more than happy to get you back in,” he said. “If you want me to break into a computer that’s somebody else’s, I’m not going to do that.”

Judge Halverson remains suspended, but has a motion pending before the Supreme Court to stay the suspension due to the Disciplinary Commission's delay in bringing specific charges against the country's favorite 500 lb jurist.

In other Halverson news, a columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Judge Halverson has continued to list endorsements from 2006 as current endorsements on her relection website.

UPDATE: The Halverson4judge website has taken down the 2 year old endorsements after the article in the Review-Journal criticizing the use of outdated and potentially expired endorsements.

Update on the case of the Missing Heavy Hitter

UPDATE on the story of the missing criminal defense attorney

Well, add the 4 ft 10" Heavy Hitter's name to the list of Nevada Bar members who have achieved national attention for their embarassing legal actions:


The ABA Journal has an article detailing Glen Lerner's choice to stay on "sabbatical" rather than represent his criminal client charged with murder.

Additionally, Las Vegas Review-Journal has an article today suggesting the Heavy Hitter may face criminal as well as civil sanctions:

[Boyd Law School Professor Martin] Geer said the District Court judge presiding over the case, Michelle Leavitt, could hold Lerner in civil or criminal contempt. That means Leavitt could order Lerner to pay the county costs associated with the delay in the trial. If she makes a complaint and it's upheld by the State Bar, he could even have his license to practice law taken away.

But Leavitt also could hold Lerner in criminal contempt and require him to spend upwards of 25 days behind bars as a way of punishing him, Geer said.

"A lot of judges would have issued a warrant for his arrest immediately. I've seen it happen when someone is late," Geer said.

Can you live the "life of a rock star" without a license to practice law and in prison?

In Vegas, even Salvation Comes with a Tight Black Sweater

Ok, nothing to do with the law (except maybe the law of a higher authority), but I couldn't resist:

Apprently in Vegas, even salvation is sexy.

From the UK Telegraph:

With their peroxide blond hair, contour-hugging outfits, and surgically-enhanced chests, they do not look so different from their former incarnations in the city’s notorious sex industry.

But the strategically-located message adorning their tight black T-shirts gives away their new mission - as born-again Christians.

Embossed in gaudy pink, the word "Hookers" appears above the Christian symbol of the fish across Ms Lobert’s chest, while Ms Veitch’s shirt bears the legend "Holy Hotties".

God, I love this town.

Contract killing of a Judge and Prosecutor?

The Review-Journal reported this week that a Clark County jail inmate tried to hire another inmate to murder several public officials:

Authorities allege [Daimon] Hoyt, 42, offered to pay a fellow county jail inmate $30,000 to kill District Judge Michelle Leavitt [pictured left], county prosecutor Sandra DiGiacomo and Las Vegas police detective Bradley Nickell.

Hoyt [pictured right]appeared in court on Thursday for a hearing on alleged murder-for-hire attempt:

With the misspelled message "Stop the coruption" scrawled on his arms, the man accused of plotting to kill a judge, a prosecutor and a police detective appeared in District Court on Thursday morning wearing shackles and a grin.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/14309787.html

Why try to murder the Judge and Prosecutor? Hoyt thought he would get a tough sentence from Judge Leavitt for the burglary charge that put him in jail in the first place.

Even without the misspelling, this guy sounds like a genius.

Continuing Alverson Taylor coverage

Emails and comments I've received about the change to hourly compensation (although under the mantle of "salary") at Alverson, Taylor, Mortensen & Sanders suggest the change may not entirely unwelcome by the associates and may not be a violation of U.S. labor law.

One anonymous associate writes:

Everyone in town knows Alverson requires a large number of billable hours (2000). That requirement has always been there and associates that want to stick around work long hours to keep their average billable hours worked at 43-44 hours for the week. All that's changed is we now get the cash in hand for every billable hour worked over 40 hours in a week. It's not the revolution you make it out to be. In fact, I welcome the extra cash in hand for each hour over 40 that I bill for. I'll take home more money this year thanks to the change so I have no complaint.

Sounds like not everyone at Alverson Taylor is bothered by the change. I have received a report, however, that three associates have left the firm due to the new policy.

In regards to allegations that paying associates "hourly" wages based on billable hours does not constitute salary and therefore may violate U.S. labor law, an employment attorney writes:

I don't think there's anything illegal per se about the compensation plan. While compensation paying someone on an hourly basis would not fall under the Dept. of Labor regulatory definition of salary, attorneys or law firms are exempted from the strict definition of salary. As a result, the compensation structure probably doesn't violate labor law even if an associate has earned less than their salaried income at the end of the year.

Well there you go: it's not unlawful. But is it a step in the wrong direction? The New York Times Style section published an article this week on the growing attempts by east coast firms to make their associates more comfortable and happy at work, including the growing movement to bring down the billable hour.

If it's happening out east, the wave of change should hit us here in Vegas in about 5 years.

Judicial Round-up

It's a fun news day for the stars of the Nevada Judiciary:

Everyone's favorite 500lb Judge may be a little closer to reinstatement because the Nevada Supreme Court states the disciplinary proceedings are moving too slowly against Judge Halverson who is currently suspended and currently running for re-election : http://www.lvrj.com/news/14023102.html

In addition, Judge McGee, arrested and jailed for drunk-driving in 2003, is returning to the bench with the requirement that he be monitored for alcohol and substance abuse:

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080123/NEWS01/801230434/1321/NEWS

Heavy Hitter on a Retreat, Leaves Murder Defendant to Fend for Himself

Glen Lerner, the Vegas attorney known as the Heavy Hitter ("One call; that's all"), failed to appear in court for the defendant in a murder trial.

Apparently, the Heavy Hitter is currently "on sabbatical" in Pennsylvania after "living the life of a Rock Star" and refuses to come back to fulfill his duties as defense counsel in the murder trial.

Courtesy of the Review-Journal:

[The Defendant] Mario Lino faces a life sentence. He told [Judge] Leavitt that no one from Lerner's office had contacted him even after he had family members call the attorney's office. "He (Lerner) hasn't made any effort to work with me," Lino said.

Reached in Pennsylvania, Lerner said he didn't attend the trial because he was out of state and wasn't prepared to go to trial. He said he called the district attorney's office last week to work out a deal for Lino, and when that failed he told the prosecutor that he wanted the trial delayed while he prepared for the case.

So did he appear in court and ask for a continuance because he wasn't ready to proceed? Nope. The Heavy Hitter (who stands about 4 ft 11") left a message on the Prosecuting attorney's voice mail stating that he wouldn't be returning to Las Vegas and "if the judge wants to sanction me, she can sanction me."

One call. That's all [to serve life in prison].

Battle over the 2nd Amendment Right to . . . Kill Judges?

From the Reno Gazette Journal:

Darren Mack plead[] guilty by reason of insanity to killing his estranged wife, Charla, and shooting their divorce judge, Chuck Weller, on June 12, 2006. In mid-trial in November, he entered guilty pleas. He later fired his lawyers, and he now is seeking a new trial.

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080117/NEWS01/801170363/1321/NEWS

Part of the basis for seeking a new trial: the 2nd Amendment Right to bear arms includes the right for citizens to shoot their family court judge:

Darren Mack's former lawyer David Chesnoff testified Wednesday that Mack suffered from "a form of insanity" and believed that the Second Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution gave him the right to shoot a judge. Although Mack objected to his former lawyers pursuing an insanity defense, Mack's position about his rights made it their only option, Chesnoff said. "It's delusional to shoot family court judges who you don't like," Chesnoff said.

Caucus-Vegas style

Apparently, some groups are bothered by the stranglehold the Cullinary Union holds on Vegas casinos and the potential impact that could have if primary caucuses can be held within casinos. From the AP:

The Nevada State Education Association, its president and five people identified as Democrats planning to attend the Jan. 19 caucus filed the lawsuit late Friday against the Nevada Democratic Party.

The suit claims that party rules making it easier for Las Vegas Strip shift workers to attend the precinct meetings violate Nevada law and federal equal protection guarantees. Most of those shift workers are members of the Culinary Workers Union, Local 226, a group that endorsed Democrat Barack Obama on Tuesday.

The Culinary is the largest union in Nevada and one of the few with the organizational muscle to have a major impact on the caucus. Caucus rules boost that influence by allowing shift workers employed within 2.5 miles of the Strip to attend one of nine "at-large" precinct meetings in casinos, rather than return to their home precinct. The suit claims that the system for determining the number of delegates up for grabs at the at-large meetings is unfair.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gyvInzNqbVlZRinR5LP_RYQ8CU1AD8U4LR400

Seems like more of a political battle than a legal one, but it is interesting to note the issue has gone unnoticed by Nevada officials until the process received national attention. Not a-typical in the Silver state.

Making hundreds of millions on the backs of med mal clients?

Las Vegas Personal Injury attorney Noel Gage has been indicted for a conspiracy with doctors to make millions on medical malpractice cases at the expense of the injured Plaintiffs. The Las Vegas Review Journal is reporting Plaintiff's attorney Noel Gage is accused of being at the heart of the conspiracy:

The new 22-count indictment alleges [Howard] Awand [of Indiana], who will be tried separately from Gage, recruited a network of doctors and lawyers who worked secretly together to cheat and deceive their clients and enrich themselves. The doctors referred cases to Awand's stable of attorneys and agreed to be paid through medical liens rather than insurance. Awand bought the liens at a discount, but the medical malpractice clients paid the full amount, unaware Awand owned the liens.

The most horrifying claim is that Awand recommended medical treatments to bump up the amount of potential settlements and judgments. Awand also prepped doctors, who lied on the stand and in depositions, the indictment said. Another benefit to being on Awand's side: Doctors who committed malpractice didn't get sued.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/13762612.html

This is so messed up I can't even find a snarky comment to offer. The initial indictment apparently came down in 2006, but the FBI's probe has grown wider and there are whispers of other Plaintiff's firms being indicted for the same scam.

Juice no longer on the loose

Looks like the O.J. circus is headed back to town, after the Juice had his bail revoked for allegedly violating the agreement that Simpson would not contact his co-Defendants. D.A. David Roger filed a motion alleging OJ left a "profanity-laced message with the [bail] bondsman" for co-DefendantClarence "C.J." Stewart. The Juice was squeezed/taken into custody today:

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN1131737620080111

It seems fitting that Vegas gets to host the absurdity of the O.J. trial [pt 2].

New Shareholders at Lionel Sawyer

Congratulations to the two new Shareholders at Lionel, Sawyer & Collins, Laura Thalacker and Doreen Hartwell. (Nevada Business Journal)

New Supreme Court candidates . . . and ethical change?

Judicial election season has begun with a number of judges announcing they will not be seeking re-election. All of which is bringing announcements from candidates for the bench.

Among the candidates throwing their hat in the ring for Justice Maupin's spot on the Nevada Supreme Court is prior Supreme Court candidate Don Chairez who is proposing judicial ethical reforms if elected to the court:

Chairez, 52, a former Clark County district judge, ran against Maupin for the Supreme Court B seat in 2002 but lost. He has run unsuccessfully for other posts as well, but worked successfully to get a measure on the ballot in 2006 to restrict the ability of governments to take private land through eminent domain. The constitutional amendment will be on the ballot again in November for a second and final vote.

Chairez said he is planning to file another constitutional amendment dealing with judicial reform for the November ballot. Among other changes, it would require judges to disqualify themselves from cases if they had received campaign contributions from the involved parties, and would let voters decide on judicial replacements instead of giving the governor the authority make such appointments.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/13672407.html

But how will Vegas maintain it's old boys network and ensure favorable treatment from judges if they can't openly donate to a judge's campaign fund and then appear before the same judge?

Drugs invade the wealthy suburbs?

Green Valley High School is joining the ever-growing ranks of hyper-paranoid educational institutions establishing a drug testing policy for student athletes:

http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/15007510/detail.html?taf=vegas

They are instituting the policy after two high school seniors at the school were busted for heroin last year.

All in all a pretty tame story for Vegas, but drugs covers at least one of the categories of intrigue and gossip that I collect on this site.

Station Casinos adheres to the law one trailer casino at a time

Story in the N.Y. Times today about how Station Casinos maintains the zoning status of 26 empty acres on the east side of town zoned for gaming by setting up a trailer with slot machines once every 24 months:

For eight hours on Tuesday, Station Casinos opened a nondescript 40-by-10-foot trailer on a vacant 26-acre plot about six miles east of the Strip with just 16 slot machines. The sole purpose was to comply with a state law that requires public gambling to occur on a property for at least one shift every two years in order for the landowner to retain the valuable zoning designation needed to conduct wagering.

“It just has to be open to the public,” said Lori Nelson, a spokeswoman for Station Casinos, which owns 16 casinos in Nevada and one in California. “You don’t need to promote it. You don’t need to really have people gamble here. But you do need to have that option.”

Adhereing the letter of the law, Vegas-style

Jennings, Strouss comes to town

Yet another of the Arizona firms is making a foray into Vegas. Jennings, Strouss and Salmon, PC merged with the three-lawyer Nevada firm of Berkley, Gordon & Goldstein to establish a Las Vegas branch of the Phoenix-based firm.

According to the Phoenix Business Journal:

The new Vegas office will focus on practice areas such as dispute resolution, finance, business formations, family law, real estate and litigation.

According to Infirmation, Jennings, Strouss and Salmon, PC starts associates out at $90,000 and require 2,000 billable hours for a bonus. I'd be interested to hear from the associates how many attorneys meet their annual billable requirement.

What's so wild about Vegas law?

Vegas is pure capitalism in action, with most of its residents always on the hustle for money, power, or influence. And this pursuit of ways up the financial, authority, and prestige ladder spills over into legal practice with attorneys committing ethical violations and judges collecting huge campaign funds.


In addition, the caseload is high in Vegas, so the District Court appoints Senior Judges to handle the overload of trials. The Senior Judges do not have to reveal their financial interests and cannot be removed from a case by a peremptory challenge. The lack of transparency in the Senior Judge system allows judges to preside on cases over parties who have engaged in significant financial deals with the judge (stock ownership, real estate, business ownership, etc).

And like any great wild west sideshow, we've got it all (via Las Vegas Review Journal):

• a judge threatened with indictment for blackmail unless he steps down, only to be put back on the bench by the NV Supreme Court as a Senior Judge (Judge James A. Brennan);
• judges issuing letters to other judges praising defendants alleged of drug smuggling (Judge Brennan, former NV Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Springer and former Justice of the Peace Dan Ahlstrom);
• a judge accepting comps from a casino owner/mobster, then presiding over an appeal from the Gaming Commission (Judge Joseph S. Pavlikowski)
• a judge presiding over a property dispute with a casino in which the judge owned 12,000 shares of stock (Judge Stephen L. Huffaker)

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jun-18-Sun-2006/news/7963570.html

• a judge borrowing $15k from a lawyer then hearing cases from that lawyer's firm (Judge Gene T. Porter)
• a judge giving his campaign contributions to his girlfriend as a gift (Judge Donald M. Mosely)

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jun-18-Sun-2006/news/7963657.html

And then there's Judge Halverson, but her wild west adventures have already become a national soap opera. All of which has led to criticism that Nevada has an old boy's network rather than a judicial system.

And then there was a Complaint

In response to the Judge Halverson's request that the Nevada Supreme Court lift its ban on her sitting on the bench, the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline struck back with a formal 12 pg Complaint against the infamous judicial queen of crazy.

Nothing new in the complaint, but it's some good daytime drama to see all the insanity spelled out in a formal legal document.

Courtesy of the Las Vegas Review Journal's Editorial Staff:

Everyone's Favorite 500 lb Judge Tries to Get Back on the Bench

Everyone's favorite embarassment to the Nevada judiciary, District Judge Elizabeth Halverson, requested on Friday that the Nevada Supreme Court revoke their order removing her from the bench. The Las Vegas Review Journal reports Halverson's lawyers are arguing the order should be lifted because the state's Judicial Disciplinary Commission has still not brought formal discliplinary charges against Halverson.

Judge Halverson has become Vegas' most infamous judge after making national headlines for:

• being banned from the courthouse by the Chief Judge of the District Court Kathy Hardcastle for Judge Halverson's decision to allow her two private body guards to bypass courthouse security
• complaints from staff that Judge Halverson treated them like servants, ordering one law clerk to give her footrubs
• allegations from a baliff that Judge Halverson repeatedly asked him to shoot her husband
• insulting lawyers for not contributing to her election campaign
• falling asleep during a criminal trial

And the soap opera continues. Thank you for not laying down Judge Halverson. You're just the kind of news that keeps a tabloid legal blog posting.

Won't Somebody Pleeeassse Think About the Strippers?!?

Friday, a complaint was filed in Clark Co. District Court to reclaim the $81,000 Adam "Pacman" Jones showered over strippers on stage at the Minxx Gentleman's Club. The money led to a melee, gunshots, a death, and Pacman's suspension from the NFL. As a result, the police seized the money from the strip club's promoter (who had it how?) as part of their investigation. Now Pacman and the strip club promoter are both claiming the money is theirs:

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=7581053

Am I missing something here? Pacman pours the money on strippers and the money isn't going to them . . . why? Won't someone please think about the strippers. Let's give the money to the needy strippers for all the joy they bring this city.

Supreme Court moves to save drowning Public Defenders and their clients

Via Harmful Error :

The Nevada Supreme Court concluded [ ] that "by any reasonable standard,
there is currently a crisis in the size of the caseloads for public defenders in
Clark County and Washoe County." . . .

The order adopts performance standards for public defenders that will help ensure that defendants are provided appropriate representation, but stopped short of setting caseload standards for public defenders, which would require additional attorneys in Clark and Washoe counties. . . .

The order noted that the average caseload for a public defender in Clark
County was 364 felony and gross misdemeanor cases and in Washoe County it was
327 cases, while the National Legal Aid and Defender Association has set the
recommended caseload standard at 150 cases.

http://www.harmfulerror.com/2008/01/nevada_supreme_court_adopts_pe.html

Interesting to note the Court ordered changes, but refused to set a caseload standard. I guess it depends on your view of the role of the judiciary, but it seems to me that the order diagnoses a problem and the remedy, but refuses to authorize the required prescription.

Moral of the story: don't get caught in Clark County if you're poor because your Public Defender may not be able to remember your name among the 363 others she has to know.

More news about Alverson's hourly attorneys

It looks like the partners had a lunch meeting with the Alverson, Taylor, Mortensen & Sanders associates to clear up any confusion about their new hourly status, but it didn't do much to improve the mood of associates at the firm. Another e-mail from an associate:

"We were told that we would have 10 days of paid vacation. What they really meant is the firm won't subtract from our 'hourly' paychecks for holidays when the firm is closed. However, if you take a week's vacation for the holidays, you just won't get paid for that week."

"In reality, as long as we never take vacation and always bill consistently 8 hrs a day, we'll get the same amount. But get sick, injured, have a death in the family, or have your firm partner give you less work and your paycheck gets docked. Chock one up for the bosses. They found a way to lean harder on their attorneys and pretty much ensure the firm pays less in 'salary' to the associates."

"Add in the fact the firm cuts billable hours off of the timesheets ofnew associates
when a project 'takes too long' and you have a Draconian system. Essentially, the firm can demand 80 billable hours a week, yet slash billable hours off that total at the partner's whim."

"Here's another thing we do not get for being hourly: overtime. They are still requiring 2,000 billable hours a year, broken down into 40 billable hours required a week. But if we bill 50 hours a week or 60 hours a week, we don't get time and a half. We still only get paid at our hourly rate times hours worked. I wonder how long it takes to make a lateral transfer."

Molestation or Extortion?

A Mormon missionary, claiming that he was falsely accused of molesting two girls under the age of 8, was sentenced in District Court yesterday. During the sentencing (for violation of the plea agreement), John Misseldine maintained that he was innocent and that the mother of the children made the allegation in order to receive money from the Mormon church.

As always in molestation cases where it is the child's word against the accused molestor's word, it's difficult to figure out what actually happened. But here, the mother opened a civil case against the church in the childrens' names:

Records show civil lawsuits filed in 2005 in Clark County District Court against Misseldine, the Mormon church and others were closed in 2007 after the church set up trust funds of $400,000 for the older girl and $382,000 for theyounger girl and her sister.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/13036317.html

I'd feel bad for for the missionary, like maybe he was completely innocent and took the plea deal because it's always hard to prove a small child is lying about molestation, but he had possibly the lightest plea deal available (counseling and community service) and he violated it.

Hourly Rate Attorneys?

So I was working on posting a list of the billable requirements of local firms and we heard a rumor that the law firm/perennial sweatshop of Alverson, Taylor, Mortensen & Sanders has moved its attorneys off of salary and onto hourly pay.

According to an associate at the firm, the attorneys were called into a meeting yesterday and told the firm would now pay associates at an hourly rate.

The associate's e-mail said:

"Only four associates met the 2,000 billable hours requirement in 2007, so the
partners decided to shake things up. As an 'incentive,' we have to make 80 billable hours every two weeks or we get a smaller paycheck. People are pissed and a lot of resumes are going out the door."

Interesting. Such a change in salary policy brings up a number of questions:

• Does this mean hourly wage associates will get overtime if they work more than 80 billable hours in two weeks?


• Will the firm change the tax status of their attorneys to 1099 employees?


• And, if they don't, is it legal to base bi-weekly compensation on hours worked/billed and still claim the attorneys are salaried employees?


• Will the firm let their next crop of bright-eyed UNLV graduates know that they will be coming in as hourly employees?

Anyone practicing employment law out there have an answer? Please let me know (nevadalegal@gmail.com). I'll keep you all updated on the Alverson hourly pay developments as I hear about them.

Death of the Billable Hour?

Is the billable hour dying? And if it is, is that something for attorneys to celebrate or fear?

It's been suggested by the ABA that law firms need to move beyond the billable hour because it is inefficient, inhibits imaginative legal solutions to client's problems, and it's slowly killing associates.

While the legal industry has not immediately moved to end the practice of billing in 6 minute intervals, some clients are rebelling:

Lawyers who work in-house for corporations—making only as much as a third or fourth-year law firm associate—think their companies, when they outsource legal work to firms, unintentionally fund the salary extravaganza. And so Cisco, Pitney Bowes, Caterpillar, and several other large corporations have begun to force their law firms into alternative billing arrangements. The companies push flat fees and volume-based discounts, and ban young associates from working on their business, hoping to avoid paying through the nose for work that could be done more cheaply by paralegals or temp lawyers. They say that by eradicating or at least limiting hourly rates, they avoid cost creep, cut their bills, and better predict their expenses.

http://www.slate.com/id/2180420/fr/rss/

Nevada law hasn't heard of any Vegas firms switching over to alternative billing arrangements. Any readers operating under alternative billing? Let us know (nevadalegal@gmail.com).

Even more important, if the billable hour is dying, is that good news or bad news for new associates? It could lift some of the billable pressure off their backs, but could also lead to a slash in salary if the clients are refusing to let new associates work on their business.