“Now more than a half a year into his house arrest, environmental attorney Steven Donziger received a passionate recommendation to receive his law license back on Monday from the officer presiding over his bar proceedings in New York. ” reports Adam Klasfeld in Courthouse News Service.

“My recommendation is that his interim suspension should be ended, and that he should be allowed to resume the practice of law,” bar referee John Horan declared.”

“For his role in obtaining a $9.8 billion judgment against Chevron, Donziger has faced the threat of financial ruin from enormous legal fees, criminal prosecution and the suspension of his law license. He has spent more than six months wearing an ankle bracelet in his apartment in New York’s Upper East Side, pursued for the better part of a decade by one of the world’s most powerful oil companies after zealous litigation that one judge labeled a fraud.”

Read the article.

“What makes an expert witness persuasive to a jury? Is it their background and training? The work that they did on the case? Their communication skills in teaching the jury?” asks Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm in the Persuasive Litigator.

“The research suggests that expert influence depends on a variety of factors, and a scale even exists to measure these factors: the Expert Persuasion Expectancy (ExPEx) framework. That framework includes many of the variables that experts and the attorneys who sponsor them would expect: Foundation, Field, Specialty, Ability, Opinion, Support, Consistency, and Trustworthiness. Even as the items are potentially unsurprising, it is still helpful to keep the whole list in mind.”

“Recent research  shows that these factors matter, and also suggests that there may be a ‘Big 3’ in this list.”

Read the article.

“Have you ever considered the possibility that you might be the next person your contract attorney sues?” asks in Vinson & Elkins’ Insights.

“As frightening as that sounds, that’s exactly what happened in the bizarre dispute leading up to a recent Fifth Circuit  decision, Faludi v. U.S. Shale Solutions, L.L.C. There the plaintiff was an unlicensed attorney who contracted with the defendant to be a legal consultant. The defendant paid him on a day rate basis, required him to sign a non-compete, and treated him as an independent contractor. Once the plaintiff left the company, he immediately filed a Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) lawsuit where he claimed that he had actually been an employee who was misclassified as exempt and was entitled to unpaid overtime wages.”

“Fortunately for the defendant, the Fifth Circuit concluded that the plaintiff had been properly classified as an independent contractor. Fortunately for us, the case demonstrates several lessons about certain business practices and FLSA compliance.”

Read the article.

On Monday, a grand jury declined to indict Angela Elleman, a Kentucky defense lawyer, “accused of digging up shell casings linked to a murder case and keeping them in a safe for more than six years,” reports Debra Cassens Weiss in ABA Journal’s Criminal Justice.

“Elleman is a lawyer with the Louisville public defender’s office… A special prosecutor had presented the case to the grand jury.”

“Elleman represented Anthony Hogan, who told prosecutors in 2018 about the shell casings when they spoke with him about testifying against a co-defendant. Hogan and the co-defendant were charged in the April 2012 killing of 15-year-old Gregory Holt.”

Read the article.

“A lawyer who led the child molestation investigation and prosecution of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky lost his law license for a year Wednesday over his handling of a grand jury witness in the case, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled,” reports Mark Scolforo in ABC 6 News.

“The justices issued a 5-1 decision to suspend Frank Fina’s license for a year and a day, agreeing with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel that Fina’s actions were improper in obtaining grand jury testimony about three top university officials by then-Penn State General Counsel Cynthia Baldwin.”

“Baldwin, who also was accused of violating professional rules for lawyers in her representation of the officials, was given a public reprimand by the high court Wednesday. Messages were left for her lawyer and at her home.”

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“A Cleveland-area lawyer had to show his contrition with a $500 fine and a written mea culpa as a result of a judge’s order last week,” report Debra Cassens Weiss in ABA Journal’s Ethics section.

“Cleveland.com describes the contempt sanction for lawyer Anthony Baker of Lorain, Ohio, as a “Bart Simpson-esque dose of punishment,” imposed for leaving the defense table as a protest during jury instructions.”

“On Thursday, Judge Nancy Fuerst ordered Baker to write 25 times, in legible handwriting, that he will not engage in conduct that violates ethics rules.”

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“Michael Avenatti, the failed presidential candidate and lawyer who represented adult-film star Stormy Daniels in her suit against President Trump, was found guilty by a federal jury in New York on Friday of all three counts he faced over an attempt to extort Nike. The disgraced attorney could now spend a maximum of 20 years in prison, and his epic downfall hasn’t ended either, since additional trials await for other alleged crimes.” reports Chas Danner in the New York Intelligencer.

“Last March, federal prosecutors alleged that while Avenatti was representing a youth basketball coach, he and an associate threatened to publicly accuse Nike of illegally paying amateur basketball players if the company didn’t hand over millions of dollars. Avenatti was arrested in March after the FBI recorded him threatening Nike representatives.”

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“A tip to an FBI hotline launched an eight-month investigation by the state police organized crime unit that ended this week with a Uniontown lawyer being accused of offering to launder drug money for clients.” reports Paul Peirce in TRIBLIVE’s Regional News.

“Authorities on Thursday arrested Tancredi Calabrese, 32, who is charged with dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activities, criminal attempt to deal in the proceeds of unlawful activities, unsworn falsification to authorities and tampering with public records. He is free on $50,000 unsecured bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled Feb. 26.”

“The investigation began in June after the FBI received a tip about Calabrese’s alleged activity, Trooper Craig Yauch reported in court documents.”

Read the article.

Eversheds Sutherland is pleased to announce that the TCPA litigation and counseling subgroup of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group has published its 6th annual REDIAL: 2019 TCPA Year-in-Review – Analysis of Critical Issues and Trends in TCPA Compliance and Litigation. REDIAL reflects the team’s thought leadership and in-depth analysis of significant Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) court cases, regulatory developments and compliance issues.

“In 2019, the insurance, financial services, energy and telecommunications sectors, among many others, were all uniquely affected by the TCPA,” said Lewis S. Wiener, US partner and leader of Eversheds Sutherland’s TCPA practice. “Keeping up with developments in the TCPA area has never been more important. At the start of 2019, there was no more TCPA plaintiff-friendly jurisdiction than the 11th Circuit. By the end of the year, the 11th Circuit had become the least plaintiff-friendly jurisdiction. As TCPA cases continue to be filed at a record rate, compliance becomes more important for businesses in every sector. REDIAL and Eversheds Sutherland’s continuing thought leadership in the TCPA area helps to highlight these developing trends and analyzes the key legal issues affecting these industries.”

Among other things, a few interesting facts within the publication include:

• The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association estimates that 6 billion texts are sent daily in the United States
• As many as 100,000 cell phone numbers are reassigned every day
• More than 3,000 TCPA lawsuits were filed in 2019

View the full 2019 TCPA Year-in-Review publication.

Eversheds Sutherland’s Litigation Practice Group, which includes more than 100 litigators, has tried and argued cases in the US Supreme Court, all 13 circuits of the US Court of Appeals, the Court of Federal Claims, the Tax Court, and hundreds of federal district and state trial and appellate courts across the country. The team represents regional, national and global clients from a broad range of industries, including financial services, securities, insurance, energy, construction, manufacturing, automotive, distribution, education, professional services, data privacy, electronics, technology and defense. The experienced team of TCPA and class action attorneys aggressively defends clients and counsels on how to set up and structure communication programs to comply with the TCPA and minimize litigation risks.

“Bayer AG has asked a California appeals court to overturn an $86 million verdict that found it was responsible for a couple’s cancer caused by its glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup.” reports Tina Bellon in Reuter’s Environment News.

“Bayer in a statement on Monday said U.S. regulators had consistently found glyphosate to be non-carcinogenic and that the Pilliods’ lawyer during trial repeatedly violated court orders in an attempt to inflame jurors.”

“The company denies the allegations made by more than 42,700 plaintiffs in the United States, saying decades of studies have shown Roundup and glyphosate are safe for human use.”

Read the article.

“Federal officials on Monday arrested an Orange County lawyer accused of illegally selling firearms, including to an undercover agent.” reports Kristina Bravo in KTLA 5 News.

“Melinda Romines, a 41-year-old Anaheim resident, has been charged with conspiracy to engage in the business of dealing in firearms without a license. She was also charged with possession of an unregistered firearm, as well as two counts of distributing methamphetamine.”

“Romines has an active attorney’s license as of Monday, state records show. Her website says she owns a Fountain Valley-based boutique law firm that handles criminal defense, business and entertainment, and child custody cases, among others.”

Read the story.

“Most lawyers have a general understanding of the “no-contact rule”  — with a few exceptions, you can’t communicate directly on the subject of the representation with someone you know is represented by counsel.  But where does in-house counsel fit in?  Is in-house counsel “fair game” for ex parte contact by opposing counsel?” asks Karen Rubin in Thompson Hine’s Communication.

“Last month, the Virginia Supreme Court approved Legal Ethics Opinion 1890, and answered “Yes,” in an opinion that also covered some other issues of concern to in-house counsel.”

Read the article.

“The president of Texas Southern University may be out of a job after TSU regents alleged that he failed to promptly report information about an admissions scandal at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law.” reports Debra Cassens Weiss in the ABA Journal.

“The regents said in a Feb. 4 termination notice that Lane failed to promptly report to the board or internal auditor allegations of fraudulent and dishonest conduct by an assistant law dean.”

“The assistant law dean was accused of taking a $14,000 payoff for facilitating a scholarship and fraudulent admission for a law student. The assistant law dean was also accused of facilitating a fraudulent transfer application for a second student.”

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“The Biglaw firm of Dentons is facing a $25 million lawsuit alleging self dealing, conflict of interest, and gross overbilling. ” reports Kathryn Rubino in Above the Law’s BigLaw.

“The lawsuit alleges that both Dentons and partner Shane Stevenson told Venning that “within a short period of time” of the Regent Energy sale, Stevenson would come in-house at Venning Group. While that move never materialized, the complaint alleges that in anticipation of the move, Stevenson became involved as a shareholder or director in numerous of its companies.”

“Additionally, the complaint alleges that Stevenson has a substance abuse problem and that Dentons was aware of the issue and failed to provide proper supervision of his legal work. The allegations against Stevenson include ones that he provided legal advice under the influence of alcohol and cocaine and that Venning was not warned the legal work they got from Stevenson may be under the influence.”

Read the article.

“A former partner at Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker has been suspended after an ethics panel concluded that he wrote himself checks from the law firm’s operating account and then lied about a gambling addiction,” reports the ABA Journal.

“Las Vegas lawyer Kym Cushing was suspended for nine months in a Jan. 31 opinion by the Nevada Supreme Court.”

“According to findings of fact in the case, Cushing wrote three checks from his law firm’s operating account and deposited them into his personal bank account. When the law firm confronted him about the checks, Cushing lied and said he was reimbursing himself for payments made to an expert witness.”

Read the ABA Journal article.

“In a recent case before Justice Andrea Masley, Corporate Electrical Technologies, Inc. v. Structure Tone, Inc. et al., Plaintiff Corporate Electrical Technologies, Inc. (“CET”), a subcontractor, was hired by Structure Tone, Inc. (“STI”), a general contractor, to perform electrical work on a multi-million dollar renovation project at a Macy’s flagship store in Herald Square, in anticipation of the holiday shopping season.” reports Sonia A. Russo in Farrel Fritz Attorney’s New York Commercial Division Practice Blog.

“CET argued that soon after the renovation work commenced, the project was delayed to the point that Macy’s took over the day-to-day running of the renovation project. Once Macy’s took over, it directly negotiated with CET and requested that CET perform extra work beyond CET’s subcontractor agreement with STI. Based on the additional work performed, CET submitted numerous unpaid change orders and brought this action against STI and Macy’s, alleging that it was owed over a million dollars for the project.”

Read the article.

“At some point, every custom integrator will run into a litigious client. Fortunately, your written contract protects you against basic errors and omissions on the job. But it can get dicey when the client claims the work you performed was ‘grossly negligent.’ Even with a specific clause in your contract stating you are not liable for gross negligence, it is not legally enforceable and might result in the entire contract being deemed invalid by a judge. So what should you do and what is gross negligence anyway?” asks Jason Knott in CEPro’s Business Support.

“Legal expert Ken Kirshenbaum, says the definition of gross negligence is somewhat murky. He notes that every client contract should include a clause that excludes the integrator from liability for negligence on the part of the company or its subcontractors.”

“Unfortunately, gross negligence is defined differently by the courts in different states. ”

Read the CEPro article.

Read INFORUM’s article.

Charles Richard Martin, an Indiana attorney, was arrested early Thursday after an Indiana State Police trooper pulled him over. He was “arrested on drunken driving charges shortly after announcing his candidacy for the state Legislature.” reports The Tribune.

“The 50-year faced misdemeanor charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and was cited for speeding 65 mph in a 45 mph zone, among other things.”

Martin has held several positions in the Republican Party. On Tuesday the attorney sent an email to supporters and journalists announcing his bid to succeed Republican Rep.

Read The Tribune article.