Natural Disasters Archives - Home Safety Tech Pros

Law prof’s dying father leads family out of the Palisades wildfire

homesafetytechpros — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 19:56:03 +0000

Editor’s Note: When a parent is in hospice, there may be wishes to voice things that have been unsaid and for your loved one to somehow return to at least a bit of their old selves, for conversations if nothing else. Dan Caldwell, a 76-year-old retired political science professor who died in January, gave his family that gift during the recent Southern California wildfires. His daughter Beth Caldwell, a Southwestern Law School professor, shared their story with the ABA Journal.

My father, Dan Caldwell, a distinguished professor emeritus at Pepperdine University, was diagnosed with an incurable form of blood cancer several years ago. We were very close. In fact, my husband; our two children, ages 9 and 11; and I lived with my parents in order to support them with their needs and spend as much quality time together as possible. We knew our time was limited given my dad’s cancer diagnosis; in addition, my mother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. She is still very sharp and aware but cannot drive and needs some support with cooking meals and remembering daily tasks.

In the week leading up to the fire, my father’s body had started shutting down. He entered hospice care at our home in Pacific Palisades, which was where I had grown up and my parents lived for 46 years. By Tuesday, it seemed clear that his hours were numbered. He gathered me, my mom and my brother and sister around him on his bed, had us hold hands and said a poignant goodbye. He told us the word he wanted us to think of when we think about this experience is “aloha,” which means hello, goodbye and I love you all at once. My mother grew up in Hawaii, so this was a particularly meaningful concept for all of us. His eyes were rolling back in his head, and his breathing was labored. It was clear that the end was near.

And then we looked out of his bedroom window and saw flames in the hills. They were moving quickly down the hillside. My dad always told us that if you can see flames, a fire was dangerously close and you had to get out. But at the same time, in all of the 46 years we had lived in the Palisades, a fire had never come down the hill and into the town itself. We lived in a residential neighborhood, not in the hills, and evacuated in an abundance of caution a handful of times in our lives. But we didn’t think a fire could really reach our home.

We didn’t know if we could move my dad, how much pain it would cause him to move or if he would die during a car ride. We didn’t think we could really leave. Then the planes that my dad told us Canada generously lends to fight fires in the United States started flying very low right over our house picking up water from the ocean, dumping it on the fire and circling back again. My father was aware enough to express his chagrin at the anti-immigrant sentiment so many Americans seem to have, in contrast to the generosity of Canada sending its planes to come to our aid in times of need. He undoubtedly would have felt similarly if he had known about Mexico’s generosity in sending its firefighters to aid a country whose leader has boasted about building a wall to divide us.

Then the kids’ schools called and said they were evacuating. I rushed to pick them up and brought them home. We kept watching the fire, sure that it would be extinguished soon. The wind was blowing toward the ocean, so the fire was moving in the opposite direction. But then the winds changed direction and the fire was headed toward us. We realized we had to leave. We started running around the house frantically grabbing things—some photo albums, a binder of important financial information my dad had prepared to guide us after his death, a few framed photos.

We were still running around grabbing things when my dad somehow appeared downstairs. He had gotten out of bed, gotten dressed, packed his wallet and medication in a bag and walked down the stairs on his own. We didn’t know how—he hadn’t been able to get out of bed without help before. He said, “It’s time to go,” and we left.

We drove about four hours to a family home in San Clemente, California. Somehow, my dad’s awareness kicked in during the ride. He gave my husband directions for shortcuts, informed by nearly 50 years of navigating Los Angeles traffic. He told my kids stories about his childhood and shared information about landmarks we passed. We listened to his favorite songs. He said he couldn’t believe how surreal it was to be close to death, in his bed and then all of a sudden be on a road trip with his grandkids.

Dan Caldwell on a family trip to Costa Rica.

When we made it to our home in San Clemente, he wanted to take “one last view” of the ocean, which you can see from the living room. It was his favorite view in the world. When we were on vacation in Hawaii and Costa Rica, he would often say, “This is great, but I would rather be on the deck in San Clemente.” He said goodnight and goodbye to my children, and I tucked him into the bed where he would die the next day.

He was spared the knowledge that his home had burned down. Spared the worry about what we would do without our home. And I am so grateful for that.

Losing our home with all of our possessions pales in comparison to losing my dad. But the things also matter. So many special mementos he had kept for his entire life to pass down to us—letters, photos, memories from our childhoods. Things from our grandparents, from our mother’s childhood. Scrapbooks from our parents’ youths, which, thankfully, we had looked through in the week before the fire because of our father’s impending death. We had spent a lot of time reminiscing and looking through these gems that are now all gone.

In the aftermath, the losses keep hitting us. Sometimes it’s something practical, like we realize we don’t have any socks. Other times it’s more devastating, like the illustrated children’s Bible my parents had read with us and I had just started reading with my son.

The semester had just started, and I shared what happened with my students in an announcement, in which I asked for some patience and empathy if I was slower to respond to emails than I otherwise would be. The outpouring of support from my students touched me profoundly. My father was a professor for more than 40 years, and every day since his death I have received emails from his former students talking about how much he touched their lives. And I’ve found correspondence he shared with his former students about how much they touched his life in return. I can only hope to have that kind of lasting impact—and relationships—with my students.

Beth Caldwell is a professor of law at the Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, where she worked as a public defender before becoming a professor. She is the author of Deported Americans: Life After Deportation to Mexico, which was a 2021 finalist for a PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction.

ABAJournal.com is accepting queries for original, thoughtful, nonpromotional articles and commentary by unpaid contributors to run in the Your Voice section. Details and submission guidelines are posted at “Your Submissions, Your Voice.”

This column reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.

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“I am incredibly relieved and gratified to hear the news that the New Jersey Supreme Court has seen the right side of this issue,” Donahue said.

A new policy adopted after the ethics complaint was filed allows law clerks and secretaries to work remotely up to four days per month with judicial approval, according to Law.com.

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Florida lawyer says she used trust account funds to avoid becoming homeless

homesafetytechpros — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 09:00:56 +0000

Ethics

Florida lawyer says she used trust account funds to avoid becoming homeless

By Debra Cassens Weiss

October 17, 2024, 1:58 pm CDT

An Orlando, Florida, lawyer accused of client trust account violations has said she used some settlement funds during the COVID-19 pandemic to avoid becoming homeless when she lost her primary job as a schoolteacher. (Image from Shutterstock)

The Florida Supreme Court placed the lawyer, Natalie Renee Jones of Florida, on emergency suspension in a Sept. 16 order summarized by the Florida Bar News.

The Miami Herald covered the suspension and Jones’ explanation.

Hurricanes Helene and Milton are further compounding Jones’ troubles, Jones said in a motion for an extension of time to comply with the suspension order. The hurricanes have displaced Jones from her home and law office, and she has limited access to essential documents and records, she said.

The ethics investigation began when Bank of America notified the Florida Bar of an overdraft of about $2,400 in Jones’ client trust account in March, according to the Sept. 11 motion for the emergency suspension. The bar determined that the overdraft stemmed from Jones’ payment of fees to herself from trust account money two weeks before she deposited the settlement check.

The bar initiated an audit. It found shortages in the trust account ranging from $3,333 to $37,052 from December 2020 to June 2024, according to the suspension petition.

Jones told disciplinary authorities in a June letter that she used client settlement funds for personal expenses because “the alternative would have rendered my son and me homeless.”

The letter said Jones began working as a schoolteacher a year before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. She also began drafting demand letters for attorneys and took on two significant accident cases against Walmart and Lyft, as well as some smaller cases.

After the pandemic shut down schools and courts, Jones wrote, “I was without a steady income and in an exceptionally precarious situation.” Because her “finances were depleted,” she had to refer her two best cases to large litigation law firms.

When smaller cases settled, she said, she did not immediately compensate medical providers and used the money for living expenses.

In her answer to the petition for an emergency suspension, Jones said there was no threat to the public because all clients received their full settlement funds. Medical providers impacted by delayed funds were contacted and informed.

Jones said she is an attorney with a 30-year career that is “devoid of bar violations or complaints.”

Since the bar inquiry began, Jones said, she has taken a continuing legal education course on emotional resiliency, has sought counseling, and has listened to podcasts on managing client trust accounts.

Neither Jones nor her lawyer, Christopher L. Clark of the First Neighborhood Law Firm, immediately responded to an ABA Journal request for comment sent to email addresses used in the disciplinary case.

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Judge suspended without pay after indictment for alleged fake layoffs

homesafetytechpros — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 07:29:16 +0000

Judiciary

Judge suspended without pay after indictment for alleged fake layoffs

By Debra Cassens Weiss

October 15, 2024, 9:10 am CDT

A common pleas judge in York County, Pennsylvania, has been suspended without pay following his indictment for allegedly urging four law firm employees to collect unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic while continuing to work from home. (Image from Shutterstock)

The Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline suspended 61-year-old Judge Steven Stambaugh of Pennsylvania from the bench Oct. 9, report Law360 and the York Dispatch.

The Judicial Conduct Board of Pennsylvania sought Stambaugh’s suspension earlier that day, citing a 31-count indictment alleging mail and wire fraud, witness tampering and obstruction of justice, according to an Oct. 9 press release that included the petition and indictment. The U.S. Department of Justice summarized the allegations in an Oct. 8 press release.

Stambaugh began service as a judge in January 2022.

The Oct. 8 indictment, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, says beginning in March 2020, Stambaugh urged his employees to collect unemployment benefits. He allegedly promised to make up the difference between the benefits and their usual pay. The benefit payment was expanded during the pandemic.

The employees were instructed to falsely say they had been laid off in March 2020 and later to file false certifications that they did not work during preceding weeks, the indictment says.

Stambaugh’s alleged aim was to “unjustly enrich himself by using government funds to pay the employees of Stambaugh Law,” according to the indictment.

Stambaugh is also accused of omitting information about the ostensible layoffs in applications for government loans and loan forgiveness during the pandemic.

The indictment also alleges that Stambaugh tried to persuade an employee to state that any work that he performed for the firm was voluntary, if he was questioned by federal investigators. He also asked the employee to meet with him in advance of grand jury testimony to ensure that they were “on the same page,” according to the indictment. Those actions allegedly happened from April 2021 through November 2022.

Jerry Russo, Stambaugh’s lawyer, told the York Dispatch after the indictment that he and his client were evaluating the charges.

“We’re doing our own investigation of the facts,” Russo said.

Stambaugh did not immediately respond to a request for comment submitted through his firm website. Russo did not immediately comment when the ABA Journal reached him by phone.

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Supreme Court orders reconsideration of appellate decision on youths carrying guns

homesafetytechpros — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 06:57:50 +0000

U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court orders reconsideration of appellate decision on youths carrying guns

By Debra Cassens Weiss

October 15, 2024, 2:46 pm CDT

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday told a federal appeals court to reconsider its decision that blocked a Pennsylvania ban on youths openly carrying guns during a state of emergency. (Image from Shutterstock)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday told a federal appeals court to reconsider its decision that blocked a Pennsylvania ban on youths openly carrying guns during a state of emergency.

The high court vacated the decision by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Philadelphia and directed it to reconsider in light of U.S. v. Rahimi.

In the June Rahimi decision, the Supreme Court upheld a federal ban on gun possession by those who are subject to domestic-violence restraining orders.

The 3rd Circuit ruled in January that youths who are 18 to 20 years old are among the people protected by the Second Amendment, and they can’t be barred from openly carrying guns during a state of emergency.

Pennsylvania requires people carrying concealed firearms to be at least 21 years old and to have a license. Those who want to openly carry guns are generally allowed to do so. But in states of emergency, they must have a license, or they must qualify under other exceptions. The practical effect of those laws is to ban those who are 18 to 20 years old from openly carrying guns during states of emergency.

When the suit was filed, Pennsylvania had been in a state of emergency for nearly three years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid addiction crisis and Hurricane Ida.

CNN and Bloomberg Law have coverage of the Supreme Court’s order in the case, Paris v. Lara.

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Judge tosses lawyer’s dueling lawsuit against Willkie partner in spat over New York Post story

homesafetytechpros — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 01:54:23 +0000

Trials & Litigation

Judge tosses lawyer’s dueling lawsuit against Willkie partner in spat over New York Post story

By Debra Cassens Weiss

October 1, 2024, 10:54 am CDT

A Connecticut judge has ruled that a solo practitioner accused of facilitating a negative story about a BigLaw partner in the New York Post can’t sue for a declaratory judgment that his actions were protected by the First Amendment. (Image from Shutterstock)

A solo practitioner accused of facilitating a negative story about a BigLaw partner in the New York Post can’t sue for a declaratory judgment that his actions were protected by the First Amendment, a Connecticut judge has ruled.

Judge Edward Krumeich II of Connecticut tossed a lawsuit filed by Eric Grayson of Grayson & Associates as a strategic suit against public participation that is barred by a state anti-SLAPP law, Law360 reports.

Grayson’s First Amendment retaliation suit had alleged abuse of process and vexatious litigation by A. Mark Getachew, a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, and his wife, DeNora Getachew.

The New York Post story had alleged that the Getachews stiffed their landlords on rent of $11,000 per month for a mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut; they contended that their repair costs for a pool, a hot tub and a waterfall that weren’t functioning had eclipsed their rental costs and their lease had been breached.

The landlords, who were Grayson’s former clients, were former Disney chief financial officer Lawrence Rutkowski and his company L&S Investments.

The Getachews were the first to sue for alleged abuse of process. They had alleged that Grayson and his then-clients had filed a court affidavit in their rental dispute, so that it could be used in the New York Post article, published in October 2020.

The Getachews filed a federal suit in October 2023 after first trying to add the abuse-of-process claim in their state court suit for breach of the rental lease.

A federal judge refused to dismiss the Getachews’ suit against Grayson and his landlord clients in April.

Krumeich said Grayson couldn’t sue because the underlying matter is about a case of public concern. Grayson’s suit admits that the New York Post article concerned a case of “public interest,” Krumeich said, because of similar situations in which wealthy tenants were accused of “squatting” in mansions to take advantage of eviction moratoriums during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Krumeich also said a declaratory judgment in Grayson’s suit would amount to a declaration that the Getachews’ pending federal suit is invalid, which amounts to an improper advisory opinion.

Grayson and his attorney, Proloy K. Das, did not immediately respond to ABA Journal emails seeking comment. Douglas J. Varga, a lawyer for the Getachews, also did not immediately respond to a Journal email requesting comment.

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After Hurricane Helene, court deadlines extended, misconduct hotline activated

homesafetytechpros — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 22:52:56 +0000

Natural Disasters

After Hurricane Helene, court deadlines extended, misconduct hotline activated

By Debra Cassens Weiss

October 2, 2024, 12:25 pm CDT

Satellite imagery captures Hurricane Helene swirling over Florida, illustrating the massive storm’s structure and impact on the region during its formation. (Image from Shutterstock)

Hurricane Helene is having a continuing impact on the courts.

The Georgia Supreme Court’s chief justice declared a statewide judicial emergency Monday to extend deadlines in cases where parties were affected by the hurricane.

The judicial emergency affects all courts, but deadlines are extended only in cases in which parties certify that they were unable to file or meet deadlines, according to the Sept. 30 order by Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael P. Boggs.

Law360 has coverage.

Boggs told Law360 that many chief superior court judges in Georgia began issuing emergency orders closing courthouses in advance of the storm.

In North Carolina, North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby issued an amended order extending court deadlines in 28 counties, according to a Sept. 30 press release.

Law360 has coverage.

In Florida, all courts had reopened by Oct. 1, according to the Florida Bar, which has activated a hotline for residents to report potential misconduct and solicitation by lawyers.

A Florida courts information page said orders will be issued to extend deadlines that happened during court closures.

ABA Young Lawyers Division Disaster Legal Services Resources

• Message from ABA President Bill Bay

• Volunteer Interest Form

• Donations for Providing Legal Services to Disaster Survivors

• Hotline Numbers for Legal Services Questions

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Lawyer censured after calling governor ‘tyrant’ and lawmakers ‘spineless tools’ in COVID-19 litigation

homesafetytechpros — Fri, 16 Feb 2024 05:51:46 +0000

Ethics

Lawyer censured after calling governor ‘tyrant’ and lawmakers ‘spineless tools’ in COVID-19 litigation

By Debra Cassens Weiss

February 6, 2024, 3:55 pm CST

A New Mexico lawyer has received a public censure partly for “inflammatory and misleading statements” in litigation opposing COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, including a claimed right to disqualify judges who had received COVID-19 vaccines. (Image from Shutterstock)

The New Mexico Supreme Court censured lawyer Nancy Ana Garner of New Mexico on Jan. 29 after imposing a deferred one-year suspension, subject to unsupervised probation.

The Legal Profession Blog noted the censure, while the New Mexico Political Report has coverage.

Garner did not contest that that her conduct violated ethics rules.

Garner’s statements stemmed from her representation of the Backstreet Grill, which operated despite revocation of its food permit. She also approved a cease-and-desist letter sent to managers at Sandia National Laboratories that directed them to stop COVID-19 mitigation measures, even though they were represented by counsel.

In the Backstreet Grill litigation, Garner agreed to accept service for the business, according to the censure order. She filed an acceptance-of-service pleading asserting a “right to disqualify any judge who allowed themselves to be injected with an experimental gene therapy.”

Her acceptance of service also made statements that:

• Referred to Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham as “a tyrant.”

• Stated that: “Our Supreme Court justices are blind” or practicing medicine in the courts, “which is what their latest COVID-crap to come out of them is.”

• Stated that: “A restaurant refused to make its employees wear a face-diaper (because after all, you are breathing in your own s- – -), nor be the Nazi brownshirt enforcing any of the tyrant’s latest rules.”

• Said the governor “seized power with the glee of an adrenochrome addict,” which may be a reference to a conspiracy theory involving blood harvesting for the supposed youth-enhancing chemical.

• Called lawmakers “spineless tools.”

• Said the opposing counsel was an “unethical opponent.”

• Accused the opposing counsel of misleading the court “to imply, without exactly saying, nothing about the constitutionality of what began its attack on a citizen exercising constitution rights and duty to abolish or correct a government that has gone despotic.”

After a district court ordered Garner to withdraw her inflammatory statements, she apologized for “any offense taken.” She also filed a pleading titled, “Notice of Suggestion of Death of Another New Mexico Business.” The pleading said the Backstreet Grill had been “crushed out of existence by an overreaching government.”

The New Mexico Supreme Court said Garner “placed her personal interest in the subject matter of the litigation above her client’s interests,” which impaired her representation. Her “inflammatory and misleading statements made in court filings harmed her clients, opposing counsel, the public and various members of the judicial and the executive branches.”

Her statements were republished in news outlets, which “undoubtedly harmed the public’s perception of the legal profession” while “casting a negative light on New Mexico lawyers,” the state supreme court said.

Garner was licensed to practice law in 1981. She has no prior disciplinary history and expressed remorse for her conduct.

Garner did not immediately respond to the ABA Journal’s voicemail and email requests for comment.

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Natural Disasters Archives - Home Safety Tech Pros

Law prof’s dying father leads family out of the Palisades wildfire

Top news stories of 2024

Top news stories of 2024

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Horse-loving lawyer left the law to help run a Colorado ranch

Horse-loving lawyer left the law to help run a Colorado ranch

In This Podcast:

Judge who allowed secretary to work remotely didn’t violate ethics rules, state supreme court says

Judge who allowed secretary to work remotely didn’t violate ethics rules, state supreme court says

Florida lawyer says she used trust account funds to avoid becoming homeless

Florida lawyer says she used trust account funds to avoid becoming homeless

Judge suspended without pay after indictment for alleged fake layoffs

Judge suspended without pay after indictment for alleged fake layoffs

Supreme Court orders reconsideration of appellate decision on youths carrying guns

Supreme Court orders reconsideration of appellate decision on youths carrying guns

Judge tosses lawyer’s dueling lawsuit against Willkie partner in spat over New York Post story

Judge tosses lawyer’s dueling lawsuit against Willkie partner in spat over New York Post story

After Hurricane Helene, court deadlines extended, misconduct hotline activated

After Hurricane Helene, court deadlines extended, misconduct hotline activated

Lawyer censured after calling governor ‘tyrant’ and lawmakers ‘spineless tools’ in COVID-19 litigation

Lawyer censured after calling governor ‘tyrant’ and lawmakers ‘spineless tools’ in COVID-19 litigation