A Central Feature

  • Law

  • Judge Nancy Allf allows Nick Carter, represented by Liane Wakayama, to move forward with counterclaim against second accuser. [KTNV]
  • A Henderson couple, represented by Jennifer Braster, are suing a pool service, claiming chemicals killed valuable koi. [RJ]
  • Nevada official issue consumer alert on real estate fraud, theft. [8NewsNow]
  • Chief Bar Counsel Daniel Hooge is presenting a CLE webinar called Trust Accounts 101 on September 12. [NVbar]
  • Land shortage limits potential of Southern Nevada’s manufacturing sector, official says. [TNI]
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 5:31 pm

Remind me again Hooge's professional experience running a private law firm and having to manage client monies. (I will hang up and listen).

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 9:09 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I was thinking the same thing. He was a DA in a county with a tiny population and then became Bar Counsel. Period.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 10:15 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Yeah…has that guy even had an IOLTA?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 6:08 pm

Hooge explaining the intricacies of Trust Accounts is like my Goldfish writing an AI program – I think I just shat myself haha

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 6:10 pm

11:08 back, next up "Mike Pence Explains How to be Personable at Debates," "Fani Willis Explains How to Undercharge," and "Rudy Giuliani Explains How to Keep One's Career On-Track."

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 6:17 pm

Give credit to Hooge for trying. Trust fund accounting is pretty simple, but still trips up a lot of us and is a common bar complaint.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 6:27 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

11:17 congratulations on just passing the bar! Welcome to the club. Once your naiveté sheds you will understand that it is not the trip ups that harm usually well-intentioned attorneys (usually, not always) but the prosecutorial bent of the bar counsel focusing on their non-buddies.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 6:32 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

IDK about y'all Gen Z and Millennial attorneys like 1117, but we Gen X'ers were taught in school how to balance a checkbook and were taught by our parents not to take anything that didn't belong to us. Problem solved without getting "tripped up".

Sorry if your lack of education gets you tripped up from time to time.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 6:37 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Boomers are functionally and morally equivalent to Millennials, minus the avocado toast. Two of the worst generations in American history and we're sandwiched right in the middle, trying to provide moral clarity, like 11:32. It really is that simple. Reconcile your trust account. Monitor it. Don't steal.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 7:05 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

11:37 hit it on the head, I will only add that if you are not one of the gang down on Charleston, reconcile it twice because they are the Wyatt Earps of the Bar (see DH LinkedIn for his self-description).

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 7:22 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

11:17,

Which is why I don't mind if the State Bar sponsors it, but let's get someone who knows what the hell they are talking about. Who can speak from experience, provide sample forms, etc.

If you want actual, useful information, try looking into a State Bar that isn't focused on scalp-hunting.
https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Attorneys/Conduct-Discipline/Client-Trust-Accounting-IOLTA/Client-Trust-Accounting-Resources

Let me give you an example. I opened my firm and set up a trust account. I made it very, very clear to the bank that under no circumstances

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 7:32 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

(Continued) – were they to take any service fees or payments, etc. out of the IOLTA. They did anyway, to pay for checks, even though they had personally and repeatedly assured me the payment was coming from another account. Which, because I hadn't taken on clients and had a zero balance, overdrew the account. This caused an absolutely massive headache, which the OBC did nothing to assuage until I eventually got the letter that they weren't going to pursue it further.

So, after that, I put money into my own trust account as a safety cushion. The rules say you can put it there to pay for fees. Am I commingling funds if I never anticipate any fees? Is this against the RPC? Don't know. The ethics hotline absolutely refused to provide an answer. So, what experience can DH draw on to guide practitioners?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 7:55 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I'm a boomer but would have to admit 11:37 has a point. Me and my cohorts are rather despicable.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 8:04 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

My understanding is that it IS against the rules because of comingling but I know several people that do this. Not advising it but I know a couple people who always had a "family project" for the exact amount of the overage that could be "in process" if the obc came calling. In other words, had an overage amount to prevent a bank error, etc. but that could be justified "haven't earned that $1,000 yet from Family Member Z" if it was questioned. Shame that people have to plan for false grievances in NV.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 8:05 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

1:04 cont. referring to 12:32 putting own money in account.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 8:17 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Okay zoomers.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 8:27 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Aren't "boomers" in their mid to late 70's by now? What are the birth year ranges for all these labels?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 8:35 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I’m a Thwackoomer i.e. one who lives during the time of thwackery on this blog.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 9:06 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

We are a whole generations of this ☝️☝️

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 9:23 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Boomers are a 20 year range from 1946 post-war babies to 1964. That puts them at age 59-77. Gen Xers are from 1965 to 1980, so they are 43-58. Millennials, aka Generation Y were 1981-1996, making them 27-42. The Millennials aren't teenagers anymore. The teens of today fall in the category of "Zoomers" 1997-2012.
Now get off my lawn.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 9:34 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I drank from a garden hose and ran barefoot on the hot asphalt streets of Vegas in the 70s-80s.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 9:50 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I just found out I’m a Boomer wtf?!

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 9:53 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

2:34 I think I know you but remember many of the “streets” aren’t always asphalt and certainly many didn’t exist. Neither did Green Valley or Summerlin, etc. or to bring the comments full circle neither did Trust Account expert Daniel

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 10:14 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

234 here. I have always called the streets asphalt, because as a kid, I liked pronouncing it ASSfalt.

But GV and Summerlin were not even a thing when I was a kid.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 10:36 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

In high school we used to drive "way out" into the desert, take a dirt road into a wash, and drink beer, turn the radios of all the cars to the same station.
There is now a large tract of homes in that place. The desert is completely built over.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 10:56 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

We did exactly the same thing.

Of course, where we used to go, the houses are now Seven Hills.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 1, 2023 12:11 am
Reply to  Anonymous

Top of Sahara. Especially fun after they paved Rainbow, but before businesses went up, and we had a party pit and drag strip every Friday and Saturday night for the better part of a year.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 1, 2023 1:44 am
Reply to  Anonymous

Party pit, drag strip, and surfing the waves of Rainbow Blvd. out towards Blue Diamond.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 3, 2023 8:15 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

FWIW 3 days after this thread, RPC 1.15 (Safekeeping property) expressly allows keeping your own funds in a trust account for bank charges, "(b) A lawyer may deposit the lawyer’s own funds in a client trust account for the sole purpose of paying bank service charges on that account, but only in an amount necessary for that purpose."

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 6:44 pm

Sorry, can't have manufacturing, we're busy building an endless sea of single-family homes (that are so close together you can jo your neighbor through the second floor windows).

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 6:54 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

You can blame politicians and the planning department. Zoning does not mean anything. If a Developer waves some money around, high density R-1 and multi family developments are regularly approved over the master plan lower density zoning.
…and while I am on a rant, we do not need a stop and rob convenience store and gas station on every corner of every intersection.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 7:39 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

. . . and while you're at it, please build tons of shitty apartments on formerly awesome, now defunct golf courses. Because, ya know . . . . developers.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 8:18 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Yes, the newer apartment devs are gigantic 3 story wood frame construction, very high density, with little to no open space in the building for fire breaks. It is likely that some will become high crime ghettos in 20 years and unfortunately may become fire traps for residents.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 9:28 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

those apartments that burned for 4 days earlier this summer were like that.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 9:33 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

That was insurance fraud. Somebody going to prison over that one.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 1, 2023 12:17 am
Reply to  Anonymous

The last report I saw was that it was undetermined origin.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 1, 2023 1:08 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Exactly as they planned.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 9:16 pm

They just built Thrive condo complex near West Charleston and the 215. 131 units on 2.6 across. Each unit costs buyer around $500,000. So cramped you can't see anything but asphalt.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 10:26 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Yes, but they're luxurious to the CA buyers moving into them from the rickety shacks they're used to.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 10:38 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

California homes look pretty much the same as tract homes here.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 31, 2023 11:14 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I looked into pre-buying a Thrive unit but it was sold out before they broke ground. How much the handsome developer making per door? $250k?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 1, 2023 5:19 am

All of you are so annoying. It’s BAR! It’s Plaintiff! It’s Defense! It’s the Gov! It’s Mills/Booms/xooms. Can all of you fucking STOP bitching??? DO SOMETHING AND STOP CRYING.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 1, 2023 3:18 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

TF you talking about?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 1, 2023 8:29 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Who you people?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 1, 2023 10:39 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

@1:29 is a moron.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 1, 2023 5:25 am

To go off the title of this post, the Central Failiure is all you clowns. Stop being the reason stereotypes exist. Bitches. For fucks sake grow up.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 1, 2023 1:10 pm

LOL! 1019 was so mad that he/she/it had to post twice within 6 minutes, the same thing.

Here ya go, fella.

Cry harder.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
September 1, 2023 5:58 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Imagine bitching about bitching by being on a law blog at 10:30 at night.