U.S. District Judge Justin Quackenbush dismissed criminal charges with prejudice against Las Vegas personal injury attorney Noel Gage today. The order is available here.The Review-Journal reports:
Quackenbush followed through on his promise to dismiss the charges if the federal government did not comply with his order to offer immunity to Dr. Mark Kabins.
Quackenbush told prosecutors that Kabins' testimony was critical to the case. Gage and Kabins were accused of belonging to a network of doctors and lawyers who conspired to boost medical costs and inflate legal settlements, sharing the profits.
The government refused to offer immunity to Kabins because it had yet to decide whether to file charges against him.
So rest easy crooked Plaintiff's attorneys. Whether it was the result of a brilliant defense by Noel Gage's lawyers or a clusterf*ck by the U.S. Attorneys, today's result shows that in Nevada you can [allegedly] cheat your client and [allegedly] conspire with doctors to cover up their malpractice and not go to prison. Not only that, you'll be celebrated by the Plaintiff's Bar as one of the state's great attorneys.
Note: I just got an email forward from a reader. Mr. Gage apparently has an interesting take on the dismissal of his case. On the njamemberforum, he wrote that the case means that "a lawyer's strategy may no longer be subject to prosecution." Nice. The savior of Nevada plaintiffs thinks [alleged] collusion to protect doctors committing malpractice and [alleged] overcharging of clients is "strategy".
What a bunch of crud!! The Government should have given immunity to Kabins. There is definately something rotten in Denmark. All those named and not named are guilty and they know it. It is all about the all mighty dollar!
ReplyDeleteInteresting. You know, this blog rips on Noel Gage and he gets aquitted. It rips on Alverson Taylor and they get like 4 or 5 attorneys listed as the best in the state. Maybe, just maybe, you have no clue what you're talking about?
ReplyDeleteActually, I think I think the blog generally mentions specific attorneys when they are an embarassment to the legal community, are selling out their clients or continuing to give Nevada law a black eye.
ReplyDeleteAs for Alverson Taylor, a sweatshop with some of the best attorneys in the state is still a sweatshop.
But by all means, if you're at Alverson, keep on working and let us know how it feels to be at the bottom of the Vegas pay scare for medium to large firms, but working under the best attorneys.
Legal Eagle sounds like a disgruntled former Alverson Taylor employee who got fired for spending too much time "bloging" rather then doing what she was getting paid to do, ie work
ReplyDeleteHey, legal eagle - after a couple years at Alverson Taylor, some associates make more than people from the same bar class who work at firms like Snell Wilmer and Lionel Sawyer. Yeah, their starting salaries out of law school are low, but if you have talent (which most lawyers do not), they take very good care of you. Quit listening to disgruntled ex-employees, because they are ex-employees for a reason.
ReplyDeleteGood Alverson argument. I will admit to taking people's complaints about that firm at face value considering the low starting salary.
ReplyDeleteHowever, maybe a post on raises and bonuses would put Alverson Taylor in a different light. If we can get enough information from attorneys out there about the standard raises and bonuses at their firms, we will post a comparison.