Former Regent and Cliven Bundy attorney, Bret Whipple, is facing off against the State Bar (minus a recused Dan Hooge) next month over a seven-count complaint accusing him of professional misconduct. [RJ]
Two women get probation as part of a plea deal in an animal cruelty case. [RJ]
Jordan Smith opines on “Socially distance separation of powers.” [TNI]
Here’s a nice little piece on Lloyd George. [KNPR]
Recorded phone calls give a glimpse of what is like when you finally get through to DETR. [KTNV]
There were 57 COVID-19 related deaths in Nevada yesterday. [8NewsNow]
Boohoo, I got the Kungflu, too. Kids didn't feel a thing. Wife did better than me. I survived just fine, and got lots of sleep and caught up on reading (and fell behind on billables). Wish I was in Sweden.
Sincerely, A Member of the Bar who is still suffering aftereffects of covid, and who has seen clients and at least 1 parent of my kids' friends die from it (young and otherwise healthy).
No, fuck you. Shutting down the economy and letting children and adults rot is so evil that your incapacity to grasp this suggests you are evil.
The human condition is to live among danger and disease. We distinguish ourselves and our souls by our response. A shutdown of the productive capacity of humans is the same as a sentence of death and surrender.
Take your millennial "everyone gets a trophy" and "no one ever gets sick" attitude and shove it.
I have clients losing everything because power-mad SOB's like Sisolak are taking it. Covid didn't. Sisolak did.
11:04, Need more people like you to speak up and say "enough". It's disturbing that so many folks have aligned themselves with the imperialistic shutdown mentality. It's as though they feel that, through their allegiance, they themselves will be considered separate from the masses and therefore yield the power of those that they grandstand for. Almost like a Stockholm syndrome, ala Patty Hearst. Not a good behavioral model of how to work through difficult issues.
There are competing interests in tension with each other during the pandemic. Leaders are in an impossible position. This is a deadly, highly contagious infectious disease. Government intervention is necessary. At the same time, that government intervention is economically devastating in very uneven ways.
I tire of emotional rants from people on either side who can't see the tension at play. Yes, we want to protect the public from the virus, but we can't shut everything down in perpetuity. Yes, we want people to make a living, but there are some businesses and activities that, from a public health perspective, are just flat out unsafe.
Emotional outbursts, like those above, are unenlightened and unhelpful. I sympathize with people who are so affected by the pandemic that they are overcome by emotion and can't think straight anymore. But that doesn't make them right, no matter how strident they become or how much they turn up the volume.
11:04 It is NOT Sisolak's fault. You need look no further than the Republicans in the Senate, led my Moscow Mitch "da Bitch" McConnell. They have NO PROBLEM giving a yuuugge tax cut to their fat cat friends who don't need the money, but they double down to refuse to supply relief to people who are out of work. The solution, 11:04, is to have people NOT go to work spreading the virus and instead rely on GENEROUS unemployment benefits until a vaccine sees this through. 11:04, do you wear maroon underwear? And Postscript — it is better that people "rot" than die.
Guest
Darren Chaker
December 17, 2020 8:27 pm
This comment has been removed by the author.
Guest
Darren Chaker
December 17, 2020 8:28 pm
A Las Vegas attorney, Thomas Michaelides, was sanctioned $51k, where he had literally forged the clerk's seal and judge's signature to remove links critical about him online. The FBI is involved since it is a federal crime – 18 USC 505 – to forge any public officials signature or seal.
Here is a link to the judgment and anti-SLAPP, https://www.scribd.com/document/476160887/Thomas-Michaelides-Media-Forged-Order
Also, a leading First Amendment professor with multiple US Supreme Court wins, Eugene Volokh, was a consultant on my case and just published an article on this case, https://reason.com/volokh/2020/12/16/nevada-lawyer-accused-of-complicity-in-forging-a-court-order-to-vanish-online-criticism/
Read the record. You used the term "sanctions" but wasn't it just an uncontested Motion for Attorneys Fees? Second you filed a Motion to Seal the Record and are now publishing the pleadings online. How do you reconcile this?
Michaelides is going to get disbarred for this, right? I can't remember seeing discipline for forging a judge's order before, but if this is true this seems like it would be an auto-disbar even without a disciplinary history.
Did his felony conviction cause Michaelides office to forge Judge Crockett's signature?
Yes this is disbarment material IF it comes out that Michaelides played a role. If he failed to supervise and can show it was a failure to supervise and that he was duped also, it is a suspension. He does have a disciplinary history but I do not believe it is related to misrepresentation.
Guest
Anonymous
December 17, 2020 10:29 pm
The SBN is a corrupt, political organization. Disbelieve me if you want as I am an anonymous poster on a blog. I have first hand knowledge that a couple lawyers were disciplined for the exact same thing that a Bar Counsel had done. No difference at all. Go back through the SBN magazine and look at the discipline. It is always a solo or small firm lawyer. I don't want to give too many details and out myself but I worked with them for a short while and the stuff I saw would make you vomit. And before you all go crazy with insults, I have never had discipline myself (did get a LOC once). I'm also licensed in AZ and UT and those bars seem nothing like the Vegas one.
You are correct, and you are correct. Corrupt, low-hanging fruit people. Steal money? 6 months. Advocate for the wrong client in a way or in a way that Hardesty or Hooge do not like you, see you in 5 years.
"Disbelieve me if you want" – While I'm sympathetic to your assertion that wealthier attorneys are not subject to the same degree of scrutiny as those of more modest means, this phrase was a pointless distraction from your argument. I couldn't get past the annoyance of it, which, in advance, I apologize for the pettiness of, but it's a fact. I'm first of all not certain if you meant the use of the word disbelieve to be used in this context as a transitive or intransitive verb and then there's the word itself. It's just awkward and should never have entered common usage to begin with. Just a friendly reminder that some who read what you write are linguistic dinosaurs such as myself.
SBN Discipline:
I read through the monthly bar magazine every month. I note the discipline given and the offense. Discipline has been sometimes "wild", but I think that the Committee is trying to even things out, predictable results.
However, it does appear to me to be true that only solos and small firm attorneys are disciplined.
Practiced in other jurisdictions and served as a screening panelist. Also served on the Southern Nevada Disciplinary Board. I beg to differ. I believe that we do a good job with bar discipline in Nevada. Be careful what you wish for. Rob Bare and Dave Clark were excellent Bar Counsels. Putting the Whipple situation aside, I think Dan Hooge is learning and getting better. Suspect he has developed very realistic approach to bar discipline and the limits of his powers. With Whipple, they should appoint a special bar counsel to handle but that will bankrupt the State Bar and bleed them white on attorneys fees and costs.
Guest
Anonymous
December 17, 2020 11:00 pm
Who cares if someone gets the book thrown at them by SBN, they are the infidel.
Guest
Anonymous
December 18, 2020 12:45 am
I'm really confused. Is it true that 4,000 undocumented people voted in Nevada the election? The other stuff seems crazy but 4,000 undocumented can probably be verified? I've tried ignoring the election. People at my office are Trump fanatics and I can hear them through thin walls. I'm also a little scared now.
There is zero proof of this that has been shown. Multiple cases have been brought, and no evidence has been presented. Look I voted for Trump and truly think (while not a great option) he is better than Biden. But come on. We lost. There is no evidence we won. There is no evidence that 4000 illegal immigrants voted. Take 4000 votes away from Biden and he still wins Nevada by almost 30,000 votes. We can be disappointed but lets not be stupid.
Wait, didn't Russia interfere with the election? Surely Putin would rather see senile Biden at the helm rather than sanction-heavy Trump. Hmmm. Russia, Russia, Russia.
The NV GOP had the opportunity to disclose witnesses, depose them, and present evidence of illegal voting. They chose to present an expert witness who didn't verify his numbers and submit lots of self-serving affidavits of people who were never subject to cross-examination.
So when they claim that "the evidence proves" something, keep in mind that their evidence is bullshit.
Guest
Anonymous
December 18, 2020 2:38 am
The separation of powers article was interesting. I was unaware of the more stringent NV constitutional SOP mandates.
The separation of powers has long been recognized as vital to the protection of liberty. James Madison recognized that “[t]here can be no liberty where the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or body of magistrates.”
Sisolak has gone power mad and the legislature is abdicating its role.
I am surprised to hear this about Brett Whipple. He always seemed decent when he was down at the RJC.
He is a decent guy but he had prior discipline in Arizona.
Hey, Brett, a former judicial law clerk you know wishes you well. I hope this all works out for you.
COVID is a conspiracy comrade. Do not spread disinformation at a time like this. It brings great shame to the glorious socialist republik of Nevada
I like you.
A conspiracy that came with a 102-104 degree fever for 9 straight days. Hell of a contagious conspiracy.
Boohoo, I got the Kungflu, too. Kids didn't feel a thing. Wife did better than me. I survived just fine, and got lots of sleep and caught up on reading (and fell behind on billables). Wish I was in Sweden.
6:09,
Go fuck yourself.
Sincerely, A Member of the Bar who is still suffering aftereffects of covid, and who has seen clients and at least 1 parent of my kids' friends die from it (young and otherwise healthy).
Seriously. Fuck you.
No, fuck you. Shutting down the economy and letting children and adults rot is so evil that your incapacity to grasp this suggests you are evil.
The human condition is to live among danger and disease. We distinguish ourselves and our souls by our response. A shutdown of the productive capacity of humans is the same as a sentence of death and surrender.
Take your millennial "everyone gets a trophy" and "no one ever gets sick" attitude and shove it.
I have clients losing everything because power-mad SOB's like Sisolak are taking it. Covid didn't. Sisolak did.
Oh, and fuck you, ignorant fuck.
even money there wont be a civil trial in EJDC in 2021
https://normalamerican.com/posts/2020/stumbling-toward-national-divorce/
who ya got?
11:04, Need more people like you to speak up and say "enough". It's disturbing that so many folks have aligned themselves with the imperialistic shutdown mentality. It's as though they feel that, through their allegiance, they themselves will be considered separate from the masses and therefore yield the power of those that they grandstand for. Almost like a Stockholm syndrome, ala Patty Hearst. Not a good behavioral model of how to work through difficult issues.
There are competing interests in tension with each other during the pandemic. Leaders are in an impossible position. This is a deadly, highly contagious infectious disease. Government intervention is necessary. At the same time, that government intervention is economically devastating in very uneven ways.
I tire of emotional rants from people on either side who can't see the tension at play. Yes, we want to protect the public from the virus, but we can't shut everything down in perpetuity. Yes, we want people to make a living, but there are some businesses and activities that, from a public health perspective, are just flat out unsafe.
Emotional outbursts, like those above, are unenlightened and unhelpful. I sympathize with people who are so affected by the pandemic that they are overcome by emotion and can't think straight anymore. But that doesn't make them right, no matter how strident they become or how much they turn up the volume.
11:04 It is NOT Sisolak's fault. You need look no further than the Republicans in the Senate, led my Moscow Mitch "da Bitch" McConnell. They have NO PROBLEM giving a yuuugge tax cut to their fat cat friends who don't need the money, but they double down to refuse to supply relief to people who are out of work. The solution, 11:04, is to have people NOT go to work spreading the virus and instead rely on GENEROUS unemployment benefits until a vaccine sees this through. 11:04, do you wear maroon underwear? And Postscript — it is better that people "rot" than die.
This comment has been removed by the author.
A Las Vegas attorney, Thomas Michaelides, was sanctioned $51k, where he had literally forged the clerk's seal and judge's signature to remove links critical about him online. The FBI is involved since it is a federal crime – 18 USC 505 – to forge any public officials signature or seal.
Here is a link to the judgment and anti-SLAPP, https://www.scribd.com/document/476160887/Thomas-Michaelides-Media-Forged-Order
Also, a leading First Amendment professor with multiple US Supreme Court wins, Eugene Volokh, was a consultant on my case and just published an article on this case, https://reason.com/volokh/2020/12/16/nevada-lawyer-accused-of-complicity-in-forging-a-court-order-to-vanish-online-criticism/
Read the record. You used the term "sanctions" but wasn't it just an uncontested Motion for Attorneys Fees? Second you filed a Motion to Seal the Record and are now publishing the pleadings online. How do you reconcile this?
Come on, Darren, don't be modest. Tell everybody about your felony conviction in San Diego.
Michaelides is going to get disbarred for this, right? I can't remember seeing discipline for forging a judge's order before, but if this is true this seems like it would be an auto-disbar even without a disciplinary history.
Did his felony conviction cause Michaelides office to forge Judge Crockett's signature?
Yes this is disbarment material IF it comes out that Michaelides played a role. If he failed to supervise and can show it was a failure to supervise and that he was duped also, it is a suspension. He does have a disciplinary history but I do not believe it is related to misrepresentation.
The SBN is a corrupt, political organization. Disbelieve me if you want as I am an anonymous poster on a blog. I have first hand knowledge that a couple lawyers were disciplined for the exact same thing that a Bar Counsel had done. No difference at all. Go back through the SBN magazine and look at the discipline. It is always a solo or small firm lawyer. I don't want to give too many details and out myself but I worked with them for a short while and the stuff I saw would make you vomit. And before you all go crazy with insults, I have never had discipline myself (did get a LOC once). I'm also licensed in AZ and UT and those bars seem nothing like the Vegas one.
You are correct, and you are correct. Corrupt, low-hanging fruit people. Steal money? 6 months. Advocate for the wrong client in a way or in a way that Hardesty or Hooge do not like you, see you in 5 years.
So how did the Bar complaint and Federal indictment against Eglet suddenly just disappear?
How did Eglet round up his money to pay off Aaron Ford's nearly 300k tax liens before Ford ran for Nevada Attorney General?
I give Brett Whi0ple street cred for taking on Hogge. What buffoon brought Boogie Nights Hoggee onto the notorious obc?
I don't know Whipple but the write-up strongly hints at retribution. I have as much faith in the State Bar as I do in Sisolak.
"Disbelieve me if you want" – While I'm sympathetic to your assertion that wealthier attorneys are not subject to the same degree of scrutiny as those of more modest means, this phrase was a pointless distraction from your argument. I couldn't get past the annoyance of it, which, in advance, I apologize for the pettiness of, but it's a fact. I'm first of all not certain if you meant the use of the word disbelieve to be used in this context as a transitive or intransitive verb and then there's the word itself. It's just awkward and should never have entered common usage to begin with. Just a friendly reminder that some who read what you write are linguistic dinosaurs such as myself.
SBN Discipline:
I read through the monthly bar magazine every month. I note the discipline given and the offense. Discipline has been sometimes "wild", but I think that the Committee is trying to even things out, predictable results.
However, it does appear to me to be true that only solos and small firm attorneys are disciplined.
Practiced in other jurisdictions and served as a screening panelist. Also served on the Southern Nevada Disciplinary Board. I beg to differ. I believe that we do a good job with bar discipline in Nevada. Be careful what you wish for. Rob Bare and Dave Clark were excellent Bar Counsels. Putting the Whipple situation aside, I think Dan Hooge is learning and getting better. Suspect he has developed very realistic approach to bar discipline and the limits of his powers. With Whipple, they should appoint a special bar counsel to handle but that will bankrupt the State Bar and bleed them white on attorneys fees and costs.
Who cares if someone gets the book thrown at them by SBN, they are the infidel.
I'm really confused. Is it true that 4,000 undocumented people voted in Nevada the election? The other stuff seems crazy but 4,000 undocumented can probably be verified? I've tried ignoring the election. People at my office are Trump fanatics and I can hear them through thin walls. I'm also a little scared now.
There is zero proof of this that has been shown. Multiple cases have been brought, and no evidence has been presented. Look I voted for Trump and truly think (while not a great option) he is better than Biden. But come on. We lost. There is no evidence we won. There is no evidence that 4000 illegal immigrants voted. Take 4000 votes away from Biden and he still wins Nevada by almost 30,000 votes. We can be disappointed but lets not be stupid.
Wait, didn't Russia interfere with the election? Surely Putin would rather see senile Biden at the helm rather than sanction-heavy Trump. Hmmm. Russia, Russia, Russia.
More like 130,000. And it was clearly premeditated.
The NV GOP had the opportunity to disclose witnesses, depose them, and present evidence of illegal voting. They chose to present an expert witness who didn't verify his numbers and submit lots of self-serving affidavits of people who were never subject to cross-examination.
So when they claim that "the evidence proves" something, keep in mind that their evidence is bullshit.
The separation of powers article was interesting. I was unaware of the more stringent NV constitutional SOP mandates.
Me too. Good quote:
The separation of powers has long been recognized as vital to the protection of liberty. James Madison recognized that “[t]here can be no liberty where the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or body of magistrates.”
Sisolak has gone power mad and the legislature is abdicating its role.