- law dawg
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The Tradition of Festivus begins with the Airing of Grievances. I got a lot of problems with you people! And now, you’re gonna hear about it.” –Frank Costanza
Happy Festivus! (Technically, it is on Monday, but we couldn’t wait to get the festivities started!) Gather your family, friends, co-workers, enemies, judges, opposing counsel, etc. because it’s time to kick off the holiday fun with a tradition that some of you do on the blog all year long, the Airing of Grievances!
For some of you, this is what you were born to do–this is your moment to shine. Your gift of complaining is finally welcomed and wanted on this one occasion. This is your chance to civilly (meaning work appropriate and slander free) whine and complain about your salary, your job, your boss, billable hours, the courts, nepotism, the Board of Governors, bar counsel, UNLV Boyd Class of 2013, the annual boondoggle, this blog, all the thwacking, and/or anything else that 2024 threw at you this year. It’s also your chance to provide some feedback about the way things are done in the Las Vegas legal community. Believe it or not, there are a lot of people who read this blog and see your comments and suggestions (including administrators, judges, and other lawyers). If you want a refresher on what types of things you were disappointed in or complained about in years past, use the search box and enter “airing.”
Have a Judge sit on a proposed judgment for over 6 months after a trial.
I hate that it took us so long to normalize and realize there is a family law cabal. I hate that some people still deny it and children suffer for it. I believe that those who do not fight it are partly responsible. #FightTheCabal
I still hear from clients about the damage family court has done to their children. Our family court is so corrupt. The judges are incompetent and/or so burned out they have devolved into do-nothings in black robes. The family court bar is no better. They are financially incentivized to generate conflict and strife because then they can charge for more motion practice. They pay good donations so the judges allow it. The only people denying that family court is in crisis are those that are directly benefiting from the current system.
Help! I’ve been forced by the cabal to only represent clients with new significant others where the new sig others want to blow up custody orders just to claim their territory! Madness!!
No dislikes on this thread today!
The fact that 8th Jud District Court Odyssey logs you off after what seems like 5 seconds of inactivity is ridiculous, especially when you’re trying to do appellate work and figure out what the hell happened in the past 8 years of proceedings. I recognize there’s confidential information in some filings, but good God.
Everything about the 8th’s online system is trash. The filing system sucks. The portal logging us off after 5 seconds is ridiculous. The websites all look and function like they were designed at the height of 1998 technology.
I love to bellyache and caterwaul on this Blog. I really do and probably do more than my fair share. However today is the day after attorney Chris Anthony’s funeral on what would be or have been his birthday. When you are ready to get wound up to bitch, moan and complain, at least for next week just appreciate the family and friends around you.
Wtf is a caterwaul – this is ‘merica man, speak with real words!
This is Caterwaul.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J8qsm7toZM
I encountered the word “caterwaul” on at least three distinct occasions in the course of my caselaw reading in law school. But, then again, I did the hard work of reading my cases in law school.
It was a joke people, lighten up.
RIP Chris.
What was his cause of death? Way too young.
Traffic accident
-Judges who, after you have donated to them during their campaign, throw an event and ask for more money to “retire their debt.”
-All the cars with no license plates or extremely expired dealer paper plates
-Dumb client’s who you get a great deal for, they can’t stay out of trouble, and violate the deal.
Single drivers in the HOV lane.
allowed, except between 6-8 am and 4-6 pm. look it up
Actually, you’re wrong. Carpool lane use is during the off hours, crossing the double white is NEVER allowed.
Don’t think you are actually disagreeing with 9:59. The HOV is restricted to HOV vehicles between 6-8 and 4-6. At all other times, it’s available for use by others, but you are correct in saying the access is still controlled by the entrance/exit signage.
The reply appeared to be to the double white line comment. Perhaps it was my mistake.
Reasonableness? A willingness to concede error? What is this Festivus Madness?
you’re welcome. enjoy the carpool lane, kids
Similarly, drivers who cross the double whites of the HOV lane.
The ticket , parking, and concessions cost for our pro sports teams are too darn expensive. And the A’s are still going to be the worst professional sports franchise in the nation if and when they arrive. I wish we had a pro sports team for locals.
VGK?
I love the VGK and have been a STH since the announcement of the team. VGK is pricing itself out of the realm of possibility for many people which is why is presently cheaper to buy tickets on secondary sites than to be a STH.
We do. The Las Vegas Aces. Tickets are very reasonable, though concessions could be better.
The fact that you have to enter your email address to download e-filings/e-service documents is ridiculous. Not sure why that change was made. Sometimes I find myself entering 3 different emails on the service list just to download documents.
Why don’t we just one statewide e-filing service that gets maintained and updated?
It is so you do not forward the link to your client and the world to allow them to download documents that the Court could otherwise charge them for. Compare it with PACER that gives you one free look and then you have to pay for all subsequent looks. Pros and cons to each. But yes the poster below has it correct that e-filing should be standardized and also implemented for all courts
THIS!!!
Has Nevada, oh smart Nevada – in fact opened a new tax website that I’m required to utilize before the end of the year except I can’t even make an account because my 100% accurate information does not “match” what they have on file?
Omg this happened to me. You have to call them.
I hate the blog hijacked by (1) “Family Law Cabal” comments and (2) comments on Bar Counsel or bar convention (if you are bitching about the $500 you pay in dues – you have bigger problems than the out of state bar convention you can’t afford to attend) ….can you guys just start your own damn blog to bitch about these topics and leave me to complaint about things like:
Ungrateful clients after I got some ridiculous result for them (especially corporate clients – you know who you are Dave!);
Sharing my hard earned money with equity partners who are lazy and incompetent;
Anyone who leaves me a voice mail instead of just email or text;
Dammit Dave!
hear hear on the ungrateful clients, even after big settlements
FU
I can’t stand people who gaslight others in defense of shady people & the status quo. Gifting certain individuals with free trips to a different “Real Housewives of ____” location each year (under the false pretense of an annual convention open to all) is absurd. I do have much more important things to worry about, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still call out BS whenever I smell it.
I agree, how many family law articles have you ever read on this blog, its just a bunch of lawyers that don’t even really practice law, there are no rules in family court, so I think the lawyers are just desperately clinging to feeling like a lawyer by commenting on this blog all of the time.
I have come to believe that law is like contact sports. Runs the gamut from the grace and skill of commercial litigation to most family law which is the equivalent of slap fighting.
Accurate.
Take a couple family law cases and you will see exactly how right 8:26 is. Try filing a motion down there that cites anything other than a family law case, like Hallmark for instance. Pure stupidity. There are no standards and the judges have no interest in enforcing standards. They don’t know the law and they don’t apply the law.
The incompetence of local government leaders deserves much more attention. Both the City and the County have cost taxpayers hundreds of millions over bad decisions. County management rakes in quarter-million dollar salaries while continuously failing to do basic services, such as fixing Paradise road, finding a solution to F1 traffic problems, addressing corporate monopolization of home purchases, dealing with mental health and homeless issues, or even running a competent Human Resources department. Metro has millions of dollars in judgments against it every year, but changes are never made and it suffers none of the consequences.
And you can add (for those of us who live within the city limits) costing the taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars to fight the Badlands case, all because a bunch of local yokels who fancy themselves as royalty don’t want to lose their view of the abandoned golf course.
You are incompetent for thinking the County can fix the F1 traffic problem
Why? The County grants the licenses for the event, approves the road closures, and otherwise allows the event to happen. If the County prioritized residents and local businesses, it would demand that there be solutions to the traffic nightmare that occurs before, during, and after the race.
Pro Bono clients who act entitled. They have no skin in the game so they are unreasonable. I believe in helping those less fortunate. I have gladly taken dozens of Pro Bono cases. I will only take CAP cases going forward; I enjoy helping foster children. I air my grievance against pro bono clients who act entitled and Legal Aid for poor screening. Pro bono clients have no skin in the game so they are unreasonable. Additionally, they are usually dumber than a box of rocks. Legal Aid needs to screen better, when I still accepted a couple of pro bono cases year, once I was assigned a pro bono client through Legal Aid with a Porsche, Mercedes, and a $700k house. NEVER AGAIN.
I quit taking LACSN referrals. Litigated 3 cases that other attorneys had volunteered for and then abandoned. I obtained good results for all. Barely got a thank you from the clients. In at least one of the cases, LACSN gave credit for the win to the attorney who abandoned the case. Also, regarding other pro bono clients, they seemed to think they were entitled.
There was no satisfaction in the work that I performed for them or LACSN. No more pro bono for me.
I realize this is a bit of a pivot, but it also applies to contingency fee clients. Entitled AF
Pro bono or not, may clients grossly underestimate how far a little gratitude will go. In fact, it’s one of the most effective low effort ways to manipulate your own attorney.
It is so gross that LACSN is receiving civil contempt money on criminal cases where nothing they do actually would help the defendants waiting for forensic services.
RIP flat fees (1928-2024). I had a new client come in this week. In a pre-Sull world, his case would have been perfect for a flat fee. Instead, I didn’t offer it. It’s hourly. He loses because he doesn’t know exactly how much it will cost. I lose because I can’t offer as many solutions to my clients.
Oh, but didn’t you hear? Bar Counsel is presenting a CLE on flat fees! He will surely draw on his years of private practice in discussing, as the ad put it.. “the advantages and potential pitfalls of flat-fee billing, examine how AI technology is reshaping traditional billing structures, and provide practical guidance on implementing flat fees while maintaining quality and profitability.”
Ah, Nevada. Where else can you gain access to that kind of quality CLE faculty for only $45 an hour?
Can’t wait to hear how benchmarks in cases relate to the work done. I know I’d like to wait, possibly forever, to collect fees for a sentencing that never occurs because the person disappears. No thank you.
Agree. The practice of law cannot reaonsably be broken down into milestones. It’s not like construction in which there are logical milestones ( foundation, slab, framing, electrical, etc.).
Say, for example you are hired for negotiating a settlement. Where is the milestone? Litigating a consumer fraud case? How to you apportion fees? Would you assign something to drafting the complaint, discovery, arbitration and trial. Even if you did break it down like that, you are left with a traditional billing model based on an advance fee deposit.
And… it takes away all of the incentive for the lawyer to accept the case and the advantage for the client of a known, reduced billing, fee.
Ah yes. I do love hearing how to conduct my law practice from a man who has never, not once in his teeny tiny miserable life held a job in private practice. Yes, Mr. Government Work, tell me about trust accounts and retainers and billing and flat fees. Might as well ask my dog for practice management tips.
Maybe he bases his flat fee opinions on his experience as a real estate agent and broker: you know, the “Do no real work and collect a 6% fee” world.
To be fair, every case is a flat fee for OBC
The collective inability of what are likely very smart attorneys here to contemplate how to build “milestones” into a flat fee retainer and disburse accordingly amazes me. I started doing this years ago and my clients loved knowing I was only billing, disbursing, or collecting an earned portion of that advance fee as the case progressed. It also incentivized the client to make rational decisions about his or her options rather than arbitrarily take a foolish case to trial/hearing because he or she was pot committed and paid me in full. Happy holidays, dinosaurs.
You do not have a flat fee arrangement, based on your description. What you have is the traditional billing model based on a pre-paid fee. At best, you accepted the case at a reduced rate because of the up front payment. If you are super efficient and very good at the work, you will have to refund a portion of the pre-payment.
Rumor that attorney Kerry Skaggs has died.
That’s what I heard
This is sadly correct. He passed away this morning at UMC following an apparent heart attack earlier in the week. RIP.
Rest In Peace – he was a good guy
I adored Kerry Skaggs!!! What a great guy!!!
my grievance is that i worked like crazy this year, one of the purposes to be able to take this week off with family and refresh, but inherited cases from colleagues and have been fully overloaded (again) during the holiday time to refresh.
My grievance is against myself for the husk of a human form that I’ve become. It didn’t have to be this way, and yet I arrived at this place through many choices of my own free will.
my grievance is with the new judges who came from the DA and have no clue what they’re doing in civil litigation.