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3. Giuliani contempt decision blocks him from…

Tort Law

Giuliani contempt decision blocks him from doing this, putting his Florida condo at risk

By Debra Cassens Weiss

January 7, 2025, 10:34 am CST

Disbarred lawyer Rudy Giuliani is “in dire jeopardy” of having to turn over his Palm Beach, Florida, condo to two Georgia election workers who sued him for defamation after a federal judge held the former New York City mayor in civil contempt Monday, according to a report by Politico.

U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman of the Southern District of New York barred Giuliani from presenting evidence on the primary defense that would allow him to keep the Florida condo after he failed to provide information that would help determine whether the property was his primary residence, Politico reports.

Liman’s decision allows him to draw negative inferences about Giuliani’s Florida residency, report the New York Times and Law.com.

The trial on whether 80-year-old Giuliani is entitled to keep the condo is scheduled for next week before Liman. At issue is whether the condo is Giuliani’s homestead entitled to protection under the Florida Constitution.

Publications with coverage, in addition to Politico, Law.com and the New York Times, include Reuters, the Associated Press and CNN.

The election workers, Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, won a $148 million defamation verdict against Giuliani after he accused them of election fraud in the 2020 election. Giuliani was formerly a lawyer for President-elect Donald Trump.

Giuliani had claimed in now-dismissed bankruptcy proceedings that his New York co-op apartment was his homestead residence, which protected a portion of it in bankruptcy proceedings, according to a Dec. 27 decision denying Giuliani’s motion for summary judgment. After the bankruptcy dismissal, Giuliani declared Florida to be his domicile.

The contempt finding was for Giuliani’s failure to provide evidence about his primary residence, according to the New York Times.

Giuliani did not turn over full names of his doctors or provide a full list of other professional service providers, leading the judge to conclude that none was in Florida before Giuliani changed his residence there in January 2024, the AP explains. Liman also barred Giuliani from presenting testimony or electronic communications to establish the Florida homestead.

Giuliani could also be held in contempt separately for failing to turn over property, the New York Times says.

Giuliani has already turned over designer watches and a 1980 Mercedes-Benz convertible. He is also moving to turn over his Manhattan apartment in New York City. He did not provide a framed jersey of baseball player Joe DiMaggio, however, which he said he can’t find. Nor did he turn over his grandfather’s pocket watch, which he pulled out during the hearing Monday, saying he fears that it will be lost.

The liability verdict was delivered in a trial held only to determine damages after a different federal judge entered a default liability judgment against Giuliani for failing to provide meaningful discovery. That federal judge, Judge Beryl A. Howell of the District of Columbia, has scheduled a separate contempt hearing against Giuliani for Friday for alleged violation of an agreement not to make new defamatory claims about the election workers, Politico reports.

Giuliani said in his podcast Monday evening the New York court’s request for information was “enormously burdensome,” and he had already released “hundreds and hundreds of pages of discovery.” according to reporting by CNN. He said he didn’t have to testify because the judge “had already made up his mind.”

Giuliani’s spokesperson, Ted Goodman, released a statement. Freeman and Moss “might be happy to fight to take away Mayor Giuliani’s most cherished personal belongings, including his signed baseball jersey of his childhood hero and his grandfather’s pocket watch, but they can never take away his extraordinary record of public service,” Goodman said.

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3. Does judge’s reference to ‘little Chinese…

Judiciary

Does judge’s reference to ‘little Chinese woman’ show bias? Appellate concurrence sees ‘pure stereotyping’

By Debra Cassens Weiss

December 19, 2024, 1:42 pm CST

A California judge who said he was almost amused when a “little Chinese woman” stared him down did not rule against her based on ethnic bias, but his comment was “pure stereotyping,” according to two concurring judges in an appellate opinion.

The California Courts of Appeal’s Second Appellate District certified the Nov. 27 opinion for publication Dec. 17 after receiving requests that it do so from the California Civility Task Force and the Orange County Asian American Bar Association, Law360 reports. Published opinions can be cited as precedent.

The case involved a dispute between the plaintiff, Natalie Lloyd Merrick, and her mother over funds from the sale of a condo in China. Merrick was awarded more than $242,000 from the sale, leading to a dispute over the amount of prejudgment interest.

Judge Randolph M. Hammock of Los Angeles County, California, ruled against Merrick on the interest issue in June 2022 and awarded mandatory attorney fees of about $2,000 to the mother.

During the final hearing, Hammock made these comments: “I already rejected those arguments. OK. I know your client was not happy with my ruling [at a previous hearing]. I mean, she was there, you know, mad dogging me, which didn’t bother me at all. It was almost amusing to see this little Chinese woman stare me down because she didn’t like the ruling. But again, it’s just business. I didn’t take it personally.”

The appeals court opinion by Judge Elizabeth A. Grimes said there is no reason to believe that Hammock harbored any bias against Merrick. She added, however, that “unnecessary references to a litigant’s ethnicity and gender are certainly to be avoided.”

In a concurring opinion, Judge Maria E. Stratton agreed that Hammock’s “gratuitous comments” did not influence his ruling. His findings were supported by evidence, and his decision was based on a realistic evaluation of facts. But his comments “cannot pass without censure,” she said in the concurrence joined by Judge Victor Viramontes.

Stratton asserted that Hammock’s “patronizing description” of Merrick violated judicial canons requiring judges to be dignified and courteous, to act in a manner that promotes confidence in the judiciary, and to refrain from conduct that would reasonably be perceived as biased.

“Beyond being generally demeaning,” Stratton wrote, “the trial judge’s fatuous comment traded on racist and sexist tropes.” Hammock found it almost amusing that Merrick, “a little Chinese woman,” stared him down, she wrote.

“Implicit in the court’s identification of these characteristics as what made Merrick’s conduct funny was the concept that her behavior was incongruous; that is, someone like Merrick was neither expected nor supposed to act in a certain manner. This is pure stereotyping. How should a ‘little Chinese woman’ have acted? Like the stereotype of an Asian woman—demure, meek, eager to please, deferential to men?”

Stratton acknowledged that Hammock’s comment may have been “unwitting” and said such remarks implicate implicit bias, which can influence behaviors without awareness.

Stratton added that “being mindful of the stereotypes we all carry” is part of a judge’s job.

“Reining in impulses, our inner autopilot, to make random comments that personally denigrate a litigant is also part of our job,” she wrote.

Hammock told the ABA Journal that he couldn’t comment because there is no final judgment yet.

Hammock apologized for his conduct to his presiding judge after the appellate opinion was issued.

“Suffice it to state, I am extremely embarrassed and regretful of those comments,” he said in a letter self-reporting his conduct to the judge.

Hammock’s letter said he accepts that his comments violated judicial canons.

“I have certainly thought long and hard as to my actions in this regard, and moreover, I have considered what I need to do myself in order to take the appropriate ‘corrective actions’ needed to ensure that such violations do not occur again by me,” Hammock wrote.

The first step, Hammock wrote, was to self-report. He has also read publications on implicit bias mentioned in the concurrence and plans to take the next judicial course offered on the subject.

“You can rest assured that I will strive to do my best to learn a serious lesson from this incident and to act accordingly,” Hammock wrote. “I must and will do better.”

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3. Texas lawyer allegedly killed and cremated…

Criminal Justice

Texas lawyer allegedly killed and cremated son, saying he mistook him for intruder

By Debra Cassens Weiss

December 9, 2024, 9:52 am CST

A Houston lawyer is accused of waiting about 17 hours to call police after allegedly killing his son and burning his body on a woodpile at his weekend home in Sabine County, Texas.

Texas lawyer Michael C. Howard, 68, was charged with murder and tampering with evidence after telling a Sabine County sheriff’s deputy that he shot his son, Mark Randall Howard, on Dec. 1 after mistaking him for an intruder, report Houston Public Media, the Independent, KBTX, KTRE and Fox 26 Houston.

Howard said he placed the body in the front-loading bucket of a backhoe tractor before taking it to a wood trash pile more than a mile away where he cremated it, sheriff’s investigator JP MacDonough said at a press conference. Howard said his son would have wanted cremation.

MacDonough also said the crime scene appeared to have been hosed off, which “I would take as indicative of nefarious purposes,” according to Houston Public Media.

Paul Robbins, the district attorney for Sabine and San Augustine counties, said he will seek a grand jury indictment with additional charges, including desecration or mishandling of a corpse, according to Houston Public Media.

A sheriff’s deputy was previously called to the property Nov. 29 in response to a report of a burglary in which a tractor and a trailer were stolen.

Howard’s son had been diagnosed with high-functioning Down syndrome.

According to the State Bar of Texas, Howard’s practice areas include ethics and legal malpractice, family law, litigation, personal injury, real estate and oil-and-gas law.

He was suspended in 1995 after pleading no contest to third-degree felony theft, according to the Texas Supreme Court Board of Disciplinary Appeals. The suspension was to last during the one-year probation term in the criminal case.

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3. Federal judge will no longer tolerate lawyers’…

Trials & Litigation

Federal judge will no longer tolerate lawyers’ barbed briefs and ‘expletive-laden phone calls’

By Debra Cassens Weiss

December 12, 2024, 9:00 am CST

A federal judge in Seattle is fed up with “hyperbole and bluster” in a lawsuit alleging that State Farm failed to pay full policy benefits to homeowners after a house fire.

Lawyers “traded barbs in their briefs and during oral argument” about lack of professionalism and motives, offering competing accounts about who is to blame for a breakdown in communications, said U.S. District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead of the Western District of Washington in a Dec. 4. order. Whitehead was appointed by President Joe Biden.

Law360 has the story.

No matter which story is to be believed, the lawyers’ actions fell short of the required collegiality standard, Whitehead said.

“Expletive-laden phone calls, hang-ups, backing out of prior agreements without explanation, and misleading emails purporting to ‘memorialize’ phone calls demean the integrity of the legal process and show disrespect to all concerned, including the court in having to resolve petty disputes,” Whitehead said in his order.

“Let it be clear: The court will not tolerate such conduct moving forward.”

Whitehead scolded the lawyers before ruling on the plaintiffs’ requests for financial information from State Farm. The plaintiffs hope to learn whether the insurer incentivized claim handlers to place their personal financial gain over the interests of policyholders.

“Setting aside the parties’ hyperbole and bluster,” the communications submitted into evidence show that the parties are at an impasse, Whitehead said. The judge allowed discovery on the incentives program but narrowed the documents that should be produced.

Law360 listed the lawyers for the plaintiffs as Heather N. Derenski of Cedar View Law and Karl E. Malling. The lawyer for State Farm is James D. Hicks of Sinars Slowikowski Tomaska.

None of the lawyers immediately responded to ABA Journal emails seeking comment. Nor did they respond to messages left in voicemails or with law firm personnel.

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3. Miles & Stockbridge will merge with 30-lawyer…

Law Firms

Miles & Stockbridge will merge with 30-lawyer firm

By Debra Cassens Weiss

November 14, 2024, 8:51 am CST

Miles & Stockbridge has announced that it will merge with 30-lawyer Krooth & Altman, a real estate law firm in Washington, D.C.

The combined firm will have more than 200 lawyers, according to a Nov. 12 press release and Law.com.

Krooth & Altman concentrates its practice on financing involving loans insured through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and loans processed through government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

“This highly specialized area completes Miles & Stockbridge’s real estate finance offerings,” said Miles & Stockbridge CEO Nancy W. Greene in the press release. “Our goal with this combination is to be better together.”

Miles & Stockbridge is No. 198 on the American Lawyer’s list of the nation’s top 200 firms based on gross income. It has offices in Maryland; Washington, D.C.; Virginia; and New York. The merger will take place by the end of the year.

Irene walked into the office of a young lawyer in a small town in Mississippi more than 40 years ago with an eviction notice and a two-page lease. Events that would follow turned the lawyer into a legal aid attorney and a believer in the power of pro bono legal work.

Irene was devastated at the prospect of losing her home in a rundown trailer park on the edge of town. She had fallen behind on rent. She had always caught up in the past, but this time, the landlord was not listening. Her eviction was imminent.

When Irene walked into the courthouse later that day, the landlord was stunned to see that she had a lawyer. The attorney showed the court that the owner had failed to give proper notice to evict Irene, and he vowed to sue for damages over the horrible condition of the rental property and trailer park. The landlord settled with Irene and with three neighbors who came to the court when they learned that Irene had legal representation.

Irene’s case showed the attorney, who went on to become a bestselling author of legal thrillers and an advocate for legal aid, the power of practicing law to help people. When you show up to represent someone who cannot pay, everything changes. They get respect and a fair hearing.

A veteran struggling with emotional scars after a terrorist attack on his unit in Beirut showed another attorney the power of providing legal assistance. The veteran’s mental health spiraled downward after he found himself near the Sept. 11, 2001, attack in New York. Legal aid helped the veteran get previously denied benefits, so that he could remain in his home, get a job and put his life back together. That case left a lasting impression on the attorney who went on to become the current and longest-serving board chair of Legal Services Corp.

These are our stories as we mark the National Celebration of Pro Bono in October and the 50th anniversary of the LSC—which supports 130 legal aid organizations providing legal representation for low-income people in every corner of the United States. Many lawyers have such stories about their pro bono service—volunteer efforts that expand the ability of civil legal aid to help low-income income people get a fair shake in court.

This added resource for civil legal aid is badly needed. A 2022 access-to-justice gap report from the LSC found that low-income Americans received no or insufficient legal help for 92% of their civil legal problems in 2022.

Evictions, like Irene’s case, and other housing issues dominate legal aid caseloads today, making up 39.5% of the cases closed by the LSC grantees in 2023.

Legal aid also helps low-income people find protection from domestic violence, get fair treatment around consumer and financial issues, and get access to public benefits, including benefits for veterans.

Attorneys have a responsibility to share their skills, knowledge and time to ensure that the justice system works for everyone, including people like Irene, her neighbors and the veteran. Legal aid organizations rely on attorneys to offer their pro bono services to help close the justice gap.

While we have a lot to celebrate in the 50 years of the LSC’s history, we have a long way to go in the struggle to ensure justice for all Americans.

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John Levi is Senior Counsel at Sidley Austin LLP and board chairman for the Legal Services Corp. John Grisham, an attorney and a bestselling author, serves on the LSC’s Leaders Council.

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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.”

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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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3. When queried by judge, chatbot had less faith…

Technology

When queried by judge, chatbot had less faith in its output than expert who used it

By Debra Cassens Weiss

October 16, 2024, 2:24 pm CDT

When confronted with evidence that an expert witness used a chatbot to cross-check lost-value calculations, a judge in Saratoga County, New York, decided to query the source.

“Are your calculations reliable enough for use in court?” New York Judge Jonathan Schopf asked Microsoft Copilot, a generative artificial intelligence chatbot.

“When it comes to legal matters,” the chatbot replied, “any calculations or data need to meet strict standards. I can provide accurate info, but it should always be verified by experts and accompanied by professional evaluations before being used in court.”

Schopf also asked Microsoft Copilot to calculate the value of $250,000 invested in the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund from Dec. 31, 2004, through Jan. 31, 2021. He posed the question on three different computers and got three different answers: $949,070, $948,209 and $951,000.

Ars Technica covered Schopf’s Oct. 10 decision.

Schopf “found that Copilot had less faith in its outputs than [the expert witness] seemingly did,” Ars Technica concluded.

The expert testified for a trust beneficiary who said a Bahamas rental property should have been sold as an estate asset in 2004, rather than by the trustee in January 2022. During that time, the trustee, the beneficiary’s aunt, had sometimes traveled to the property, combining upkeep with vacation use.

The property sold for $485,000 in 2022, netting $323,721 after operating losses. The son had contended that he could have invested the sales proceeds if the property had been sold earlier.

Citing inherent unreliability issues surrounding AI, Schopf concluded that lawyers have a duty to disclose its use and the evidence that it generated. The courts should then have a hearing to determine whether the evidence can be admitted based on general acceptance in the relevant field.

Schopf commented on the chatbot use, despite saying the son failed to prove that his aunt breached her fiduciary duties. And if she had breached her duties, the son failed to prove damages, the judge said.

Ars Technica spoke with Eric Goldman, an internet law expert, who told the publication that attorneys retain expert witnesses for their specialized expertise.

“It doesn’t make any sense for an expert witness to essentially outsource that expertise to generative AI,” Goldman said.

The case is Matter of Weber.

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3. Lawyer awarded $3.3M after crashing snowmobile…

Verdicts & Settlements

Lawyer awarded $3.3M after crashing snowmobile into negligently parked Army helicopter

By Debra Cassens Weiss

September 26, 2024, 2:28 pm CDT

A federal judge in Massachusetts has awarded $3.3 million in damages to a lawyer for injuries suffered when he crashed his snowmobile into a camouflaged U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter parked on a snowmobile trail at dusk.

U.S. District Judge Mark G. Mastroianni of the District of Massachusetts awarded damages to Massachusetts lawyer Jeffrey Smith in a Sept. 23 decision following a bench trial.

The Associated Press and Fox News have coverage.

Mastroianni found that the government was 60% responsible for the 2019 incident because it failed “to take any steps to protect against the obvious risk” that it created from parking the helicopter in the spot. Smith was 40% responsible for speeding and wearing tinted goggles at night, the judge said.

Mastroianni came up with the $3.3 million figure after reducing damages to account for Smith’s comparative negligence and to account for a settlement reached with the landowner. The judge also awarded $100,000 to Smith’s son and $150,000 to his minor daughter.

Smith “suffered life-changing injuries” from the crash in Worthington, Massachusetts, Mastroianni said. He had multiple broken bones, a puncture to his left lung, herniated discs and neurological damage. A neurosurgeon had testified that Smith’s nerves had been “pulled clean out of the spinal cord itself,” making breathing difficult and essentially robbing him of the use of his left arm.

Smith’s law practice suffered because of limited stamina and pain. His net earnings were $134,394 in 2018, before the incident. In 2022, after the incident, he had a net loss of $5,671 because of increased paralegal hours.

The helicopter crew had flown from New York to Worthington for night training before deployment to Afghanistan. The chief warrant officer chose the location to replicate what the crew would see in Afghanistan. He also chose the location so that he could meet and socialize with a friend who lived in the town.

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3. Judge tosses lawyer’s dueling lawsuit against…

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 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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3. Disbarred lawyer is sentenced for alleged…

Criminal Justice

Disbarred lawyer is sentenced for alleged forgery that facilitated deed thefts

By Debra Cassens Weiss

September 17, 2024, 9:12 am CDT

A disbarred attorney accused of impersonating a practicing lawyer to forge legal documents in a deed theft scheme was sentenced last week to 18 months to three years in prison for her actions.

Former lawyer Anyekache Hercules of New York was sentenced after pleading guilty to a scheme to defraud in May that garnered more than $1 million in illegal profits for Hercules and others, according to a Sept. 13 press release by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle has coverage.

In deed theft cases that involve forgery, scammers fake homeowners’ signature on a deed that is filed with the county clerk to make it appear that they own the property, according to an April 2023 press release by James’ office. The property may then be sold to an unsuspecting buyer, according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle’s description of the crime.

Hercules was accused of working with a crew that stole homes in poor or run-down condition from absentee owners in New York or from their estates, according to James’ press release. The victims were elderly or disabled. Hercules was involved in three sham sales, prosecutors alleged.

After Hercules forged legal documents, the crew would market the homes at below-market prices, resulting in quick sales. People were recruited to impersonate the owners at contract signings and closings.

After the sales, the crew used forged driver’s licenses and Social Security cards to open bank accounts in the names of the real owners to funnel sale proceeds to themselves, prosecutors alleged.

Marcus Wilcher, the alleged leader of the crew, was convicted of grand larceny and sentenced to three to nine years in prison for the thefts of five homes in July.

The press release credited James for fighting deed theft, citing in part her support for legislation to strengthen protections and remedies for victims.

The bills, which have been signed into law, create the crime of deed theft and add protection to pause evictions of scammed homeowners when deed theft is suspected, according to the April 2023 press release.

The new laws also allow prosecutors to file a legal action on properties where deed theft is suspected. The legal action acts as a legal “red flag” that will impair loans on the property and eliminate a good-faith buyer’s protected claim to the home. The bills also void good-faith buyer protections when a mortgage on the property was not paid off or transferred.

Updated on Sept. 27 to remove a reference to political affiliation.