The Latest Headlines

A couple of headlines that I don't see mentioned in the comments yet today...

Someone started a fire at Family Court. Perhaps Judge Moss was purging her naughty and nice list? You know, if she had one.

Awand was held in contempt for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury. Anyone surprised?

Sandoval has pets. Steve Wynn has Monegasque citizenship. These are both news, but neither the Sun nor the RJ has yet to cover Vega's antics. Oh, wait, it was in the RJ's forums. That counts, right?

2010 Wrap Up: Asshat of the Year

Who is your asshat of the year? Preferably a member of the legal community.

(I can't wait to see how many votes that Righthaven guy gets...)

2010 Wrap Up: Lawyer of the Year

Let's do something positive for once. Who is your lawyer of the year? Why? Let's try to be nice. The next post is negative, so you'll get your chance.

2010 Wrap Up: Favorite or Most Annoying Comment Trend

Here's your chance to shine, Double Kickstands! Or, FIRST! What was your favorite trend, as the trolls slowly took over?

2010 Wrap Up: Best Legal Story

Unless you are trapped as a juror for 20 hours, the year is winding down and most of you are probably on vacation, so let's have some fun over the next couple of days and do a year-end wrap up.

What was your favorite legal story this year? Does one stand out? (There will never be another Halverson.)

Friday Open Thread: Have at it

Like a rainbow, it's the Friday open thread!

I'll start. Who is your favorite for the three finalists for Judge Wall's open seat? Peyton, Davidson or Tao.

Troy Peyton wins the coveted Elle Woods endorsement. He is in the top three opposing counsel that I've ever had. Davidson is second. I have no clue who Tao is.

Double cartwheels and round-off for Peyton! (No? It can only be a double kickstand? Fine.)

It's That Time of Year

You guys are doing a damn good job posting links to the news in the comments. I'm not going to post the same things here. I'm tired. From being a judge. Or being Joe's JEA. Or from mourning Joe. Or from being Joe's boss and firing him for finding out who he was so that he wouldn't find out who I was.

So let's talk about what people really want to know at this time of year.

Bonuses. How much did you get? Does the economy still suck or are the bonuses bouncing back?

And don't worry. I'm scheduling an open thread for tomorrow morning. You can talk about bonuses here and other stuff there.

(And for the person who said that we should stop paying for our servers and cancel everything - Blogger is free. That's how we keep it anonymous. Otherwise, don't you think Stokes would have sued our asses by now?)

The State of the Blog: Elle's View

I realize that Joe handles the bulk of the posting and I just jump in now and then. Although, what you don't realize is that I am typically adding content to the comments anonymously. Real content. I'm not adding "first." I'm not speculating on the plastic surgeries of any judges. I'm not rehashing the same gossip that went on a year ago.

A lot of people are bitching that the site has lost its edge. But, here's what you need to remember - you have attorneys who are writing the content. As our workloads ebb and flow, so will our ability to post. You may notice that there aren't ads on the site. This is an unpaid position. I'm not here all of the time because I can't be. I have clients, just like you have clients. (Except the law students who read the blog.)

In recent months, readers have stated that the blog has jumped the shark, but I want to make a note about the comments. What in the hell is happening in the comments? (Anonymous said? Come on, now.)

This used to be a site where people could discuss legal gossip and the legal community. We discussed jobs, salaries, billing requirements, judges, etc. For a taste of the current comments, scroll through the Thanksgiving Open Thread. It isn't as simple as the post content changing. The readers and comments are also changing the dynamic.

Here you go. Here's your forum. Here's your open thread to discuss the state of the blog.

As always, you can email actual tips to ewoodsesq@gmail.com.

Taking a Vacation

Let me start out by saying, I love you guys ... I really do.

I love that you check in on my humble little blog and keep us up to date on what's going on in our wild little legal world. I love providing a forum for our legal community to converse about the things that can't be said in public forums.

I love that you provide information that keeps some of our less scrupulous peers on their toes.

But ... I'm tired, real tired. It may not seem like it, but posting on a semi-weekly basis takes a lot out of you. This is especially true once you lose interest in what you are posting about in the first place, which, if you've been paying attention to recent posts, it is obvious that I have.

Additionally, the level of discourse on this blog has, for the most part, dropped below a level that I am comfortable with. This is mostly my fault. I can't expect to maintain an interesting discussion by simply, half-assedly, regurgitating semi-interesting legal news. It's not you, it's me.

I am hoping that some of these issues will be remedied by my taking an extended hiatus from this blog. My thinking is that this will help in a couple ways: (1) by losing some of the riff-raff we seem to have picked up (hard to troll posts that aren't there); and (2) by giving me time to clear my head and relax, possibly rekindle that interest I seem to have lost.

I honestly feel a lot of guilt over this. We have many loyal and fantastic tipsters who are constantly emailing us with the latest scoop, and I feel like I'm letting all of them down. Unfortunately, I feel strongly this is something that has to be done.

Thanksgiving Open Thread

Happy Turkey-Eve!

Enjoy your long weekend (assuming, of course, you're caught up on billables).

Gobble! Gobble!

Pedo-Counsel

Las Vegas attorney Richard L. Crane has been "temporarily suspended" from practicing law after pleading guilty to one felony count of sexually motivated coercion. From the RJ:

Crane was arrested in August 2009 in a Henderson police sting that nabbed men seeking to meet underage boys and girls via Craigslist.com.

According to Crane's arrest report, he believed he was speaking to a 15-year-old girl, and asked when she would turn 16. Crane asked questions about the girl's sexual history and asked on several occasions to "hang out," the report stated.

Crane is was a member of the Willick Law Group, where his bio used to read as follows:

Richard “Rick” Crane

Mr. Crane received his B.S. degree in General Studies from Excelsior University in 1996 and his M.S. degree in Management from Troy State University in 1997 while serving overseas with the United States Navy. Upon his return to the United States, Mr. Crane received his J.D. degree in May 2005 from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California. Mr. Crane has represented the Government's interest in administrative hearings and performed an internship with the San Diego Public Attorney's Office prior to retiring from the Navy after 30 years of service.

Crane also authored a letter to the Editor of the June, 2007, Nevada Lawyer magazine entitled,
How Low Does the Bar Go? Surprising a guy like this chose to go by "Rick."

(Full Bio (PDF); LVRJ; Thanks, Tipsters!)

Friday Open Thread

Happy Friday everyone!

Don't forget to tip us with your firms' holiday party plans.

Always Name the Rent-A-Cop

Our Supremes reinstated a legal malpractice suit against Las Vegas attorney Dennis Myron Leavitt filed by a woman who accused him of professional negligence. The Court found that Judge Miley erred by finding the disgruntled client failed to file her claim within the two-year statute of limitations.

From the LV Sun:

Hall says in April 2005 she and her boyfriend were in the laundry room at the Casa Rosa apartments when a security guard entered, pulled a gun, cocked the pistol, yelled multiple profanities at the couple and threatened to kill them.

The security guard, employed by Security One, was arrested, says Hall, who alleges she was traumatized and forced to undergo extensive psychological treatment.

Leavitt apparently forgot to name the security guard personally as a defendant. Whoops.

(LV Sun)

The Perfect Gift?

A Tipster sent us the following photo:

For you old seasoned attorneys, the small print reads:

The perfect gift for law students and lawyers

A great gift for law students, both throughout law school and to help prepare for the Bar Examination. With "Passing The Bar" flashcards, your favorite law student will spend more time studying in an enjoyable, fun setting. Fun for lawyers too! The game includes 350 Multistate Bar Examination ("MBE") Cards (featuring legal questions modeled after the MBE), and 100 Justice Cards (featuring celebrity run-ins with the law, movie quotes from notorious and gripping courtroom dramas, outrageous verdicts and alike). Additional game cards (sold separately) includes 450 questions from previous Bar Examinations, released by the NCBE.

All yours for only $69.99 (game) and $59.99 (additional game cards)! Were any of you able to make it through that paragraph without cringing?

(Thanks, Tipster!)

Friday Open Thread

Happy belated Veterans Day everyone!

Hope you all enjoyed the 8.0 (or the odd, mid-week day off ... depending on your circumstances) in honor of the brave men and women who fought for our country.

Where is your firm's holiday party this year?

It's time once again for you guys & gals to report on the holiday shindigs your various firm will be throwing for their ungrateful attorneys and staff to under-appreciate this year!

Let us know where your firm will be holding its holiday party, along with any bonus perks that may be provided (open bar, limos, midget elves, Charo, etc.). We will post the results in a few weeks.

Past holiday party survey results can be seen here and here.

Who would be your top three?

A helpful commenter has provided a list of the names purported to be up to fill the vacancy left after Judge Wall sold his soul. According to our commenter, these are the names up to fill Wall's shoes:

• Lucinda L. Coumou, 47, Las Vegas, Clark County District Attorney’s Office
• Philip J. Dabney, 51, Henderson, Holland & Hart LLP
• Michael D. Davidson, 56, Las Vegas, Kolesar & Leatham
• Michael A. Federico, 39, Las Vegas, of Olson, Conner, Gormley & Desruisseaux
• Craig B. Friedberg, 52, Las Vegas, Law Offices of Craig B. Friedberg
• Bruce L. Gale, 55, Las Vegas, Law Offices of Bruce L. Gale
• Kurt K. Harris, 46, Henderson, Harris Law Office
• Martin Hart, 47, Las Vegas, Law Offices of Martin Hart
• James A. Kohl, 45, Las Vegas, Howard & Howard
• Michael A. Koning, 60, Las Vegas, Law Offices of Michael A. Koning P.C.
• Judge Chris Lee, 36, North Las Vegas, North Las Vegas Justice Court
• Charles J. Lybarger, 48, Las Vegas, Law Offices of Charles Lybarger
• Troy E. Peyton, 50, Las Vegas, Troy E. Peyton, P.C.
• Marc D. Risman, 55, Henderson, Law Offices of Marc Risman
• David J. Rivers, 63, Las Vegas, Leavitt, Sully & Rivers
• Beverly Salhanick, 52, Las Vegas, Law Offices of Beverly Salhanick
• Jerome T. Tao, 42, Las Vegas, Clark County Public Defender’s Office
• Jeffrey J. Whitehead, 50, Henderson, Jeffrey J. Whitehead, Esq.
• Bernard B. Zadrowski, 45, Las Vegas, Clark County District Attorney’ s Office

If that list is accurate, three names will be chosen from it by the Judicial Selection Committee and forwarded to the governor, who will then appoint Wall's replacement.

If it were up to you, who from the above list would make your top three?

(Thanks, Commenter!)

Plaintiff's Powerhouse Building on Hold

Looks like the Mainor Eglet and Vannah Vannah building will have to wait until someone can figure out what to do with the existing home already on the land, which once belonged to Charles P. "Pop" Squires, one of the founders of Las Vegas.

Any chance they'll call it "The Walsh Building?"

(LVRJ; Thanks, Tipster!)

Friday Open Thread

Happy Friday everyone!

Now that we have those pesky elections behind us, what else is going on?

Election Post-Mortem

We've already had some talk of this in our previous thread, but let's make it official now that we've had a chance to digest the results.

What are your thoughts on the way the elections turned out? We've previously listed the candidates that most affect our legal community; the results can be found, here. What do you think ... did the voters get it right?

Also, there were two ballot measures that went down in flames, as ATL commented:

In Nevada, the people voted to protect their right to vote for state judges. That’s not surprising, people who have no understanding about what judges do want to pretend like their [sic] not horribly uninformed every two years.

Here's to (at least) two more years of a "horribly uninformed" voting public.

(LVRJ; LV Sun; ATL)