Abruptly Terminated

  • Law
  • Concerns raised after head of state’s indigent defense efforts fired by governor’s office. [TNI]
  • Lawsuit: More than $4M stolen from ATMs throughout the Las Vegas Valley. [RJ]
  • The Commission on Judicial Discipline has a hearing regarding Michele Fiore today at noon. [Judicial.nv.gov]
  • Family of slain 12-year-old hostage sues Henderson police. [RJ]
  • A’s ballpark price tag could grow before construction begins. [RJ]
  • UNLV explores $60K studio homes to help students. [News3LV]
  • Not Nevada, but New Hampshire Supreme Court justice is indicted. [ABA Journal]
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 10:12 am

Based.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 10:27 am

Looks like the “Honorable” Michele Fiore is pro se. It will be interesting to see if she shows up.

anon
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anon
October 18, 2024 10:44 am
Reply to  Anonymous

not pro se

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 12:21 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Paola Armeni representing Fiore. Fiore not present.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 5:58 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I thought that was for the criminal case not the judicial discipline matter.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 19, 2024 9:09 am
Reply to  Anonymous

She was appointed by the court to represent Fiore in the post-trial matters. It is interesting that Paola extended that to the hearing yesterday. However the hearing yesterday was nothing more than the Commission taking roll and letting Paola make a statement. It took all of 10 minutes.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 19, 2024 10:42 am
Reply to  Anonymous

She can probably “extend” unpaid assistance to whatever she wants. Would CJA pay for work unrelated to the criminal case? Very unlikely.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 10:50 am

Question for the group re: advertising.

I know that paid advertisements must be submitted to the bar for review. Websites are not required to be submitted for review.

If I make an ad for my firm and only post in on my firm’s facebook or instagram page (just posting, not paying for it to be displayed as an advertisement), am I still required to submit that video to the bar for review? Seems like it would be more like a webpage/blog post that doesn’t need to be submitted.

I’ve read all the info from the bar and this isn’t explicitly answered. Anyone have any experience with this?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 12:26 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

It depends. If you are a small firm that cannot afford to hire one of the former Bar Counsels then you will be sanctioned no matter what the rule is. If you are not, then do as you please. #FightTheCabal

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 2:05 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Not exactly the same, but maybe helpful.

Some years ago I mailed postcards, one postcard with printing on both sides. It really was no more than the “tombstone” that is supposed to be exempt. Nevertheless, I had on the front side of the postcard, printed in 12 pt. red ink, “Attorney Advertising”. In an abundance of caution, I also paid the $100 fee and submitted it to SBN. My submission was 45 days BEFORE the cards were mailed. I had assumed, wrongly, that the submission would have been reviewed before my purposely delayed mailing date.
About 3 or 4 months later, I received a phone call from OBC. The assertion was that the “attorney advertising” had to be on every page, and OBC was counting the postcard as two pages. I just received a verbal, but there was placed a note in my file.

Consider, that if I had not submitted the print material to SBN, OBC would never have noticed.
At my home, I regularly receive print material from law firms advertising, often from well established firms. Often the “Attorney Advertising” appears not at all, or only on one side, or multipage letters, only once.

Lesson learned? Even doing the best that can be done for compliance, you still may have a problem.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 2:29 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Lesson learned: OBC is a bunch of bullies. 3-4 months to review a postcard? And claiming that the FRONT and the BACK of a tiny postcard count as separate pages? Fuck that. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I am making plans to leave this jurisdiction and OBC plays a big role in that. I cannot wait to tell them to suck it.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 5:04 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

The State Bar submits an “annual” report in ADKT 0380 about attorney advertising statistics. They’ve been to busy doing who knows what to submit one for 2023, so the most recent report covers 2022. During 2022, the Ad Comittees (11 members, 8 of which are attorney) reviewed 240 ads. 76 of those ads were referred to OBC for some perceived violation, none resulted in discipline.

To answer 10:50 directly, there are two things you are required to submit: copies of anything you send out into the world in exchange for money, and “written or recorded communications” the lawyer sends out “for the purpose of advertising legal services.” If you’re advertising your services, and it isn’t your firm’s website, OBC can and will take the position that you to need to clear it, even if you aren’t paying for it. Absurd? Ridiculous? Welcome to Nevada’s regulation of attorney advertising.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 7:18 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

The impetus for advertising regulation, and particularly mailing letters to prospective clients, arose from abuses where accident victims names were obtained and an attorney would send a letter, on letterhead, that used scare tactics to sign the injured client. Think airline disasters and train wrecks.

Except for that limited circumstance, the present requirement to print on an envelope “attorney advertising” is an antiquated. I think everyone today would recognize advertising when they see it.

I cringe when I see TV ads and billboards. It seems that SBN and OBC allow almost anything and everything, the ads go far beyond what would be allowed in a web ad or print media. It is absurd and the rules need to be overhauled.

I would cheer someone who had the resources to challenge SBN on these silly requirements up to the 9th Circuit or higher.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 2:58 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

There was an article in the nevada lawyer a bit ago about online advertising. It basically said “yes, you should submit online ads too, but we don’t have the ability or resources to actually police this, so you kinda don’t have to for online stuff.” Here is the actual quote:

“It is difficult to police internet ads primarily because they are transient. They pop up or are driven by clicks. We continue to focus our review of advertising on print ads, mailings,
commercials, billboards, and other similar media. This does not mean that the guidelines and rules do not apply to the internet. Rather it just means that lawyers are often on their own
to self-police and apply the rules to their advertising, wherever it is. The general ethical considerations set forth in the rules and guidelines should extend to what we put onto the internet. Enforcement is a possibility – just a little less likely at this time, given the amount
of internet advertising.”

https://nvbar.org/wp-content/uploads/NevadaLawyer_Sept2022_Lawyer-Advertising.pdf

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 7:41 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

So helpful! *eyeroll*

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 1:17 pm

Bummed that the Indy isn’t looking into what happened at the Department of Indigent Defense and just reporting unchecked on the uninformed tantrums of the board.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 19, 2024 9:13 am
Reply to  Anonymous

I like Patty but she is waaaaaay out of her depth in this job. The Indy asked the Governor’s Office and Rew for comments; they declined. What part of the story do you believe the Indy is not looking into by running the story and giving all sides the chance to comment? So if you know what you believe to be the real story, we are all ears.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 21, 2024 8:02 am
Reply to  Anonymous

That Ryba destroyed the State Public Defender’s Office which was the beginning of her problems.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 21, 2024 8:16 am
Reply to  Anonymous

That State Public Defenders will never have a chance at succeeding until it fixes its pay scale. Salaries are $30k to $50k below other public defender offices. Unless someone doesn’t actually need a salary, and wants to live in Carson City or nearby, there is zero reason to go to that office – and especially now when it is being ran by someone with no experience in public defense or competent trial work.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 21, 2024 8:38 am
Reply to  Anonymous

The State PD has a long history of problems.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 21, 2024 10:00 am
Reply to  Anonymous

Salaries are not the only problem with the State PD. The other problem is coverage in the rurals like Ely, White Pine County. The rural judges want in person appearances for routine matters. Meanwhile others have allowed remote appearances when necessary.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 1:20 pm

There are a number of politicians in the community who have been convicted of federal offenses. After club fed, some live amongst us, now. Convicted felons have the right exist in society. That said, I would not knowingly socialize with or employ a convicted felon. There are consequences for actions.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 1:55 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I take the opposite approach. I do not automatically outlaw anyone. Literally, some of the best people that I know have made mistakes and paid for their mistakes. Especially non-violent crimes. I occasionally work with Jon Ponders group Hope for Prisoners and the Prison Reform group Right on Crime as well.

Open your mind a little and recognize that second chances are a real thing and need to be extended occasionally.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 2:03 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I support you 1:55. I’ll say this as it’s anon. I cheated on my wife 30 years ago. She divorced me. I lost my children. I’m married now and there is not a force on earth that could make me cheat. People do learn.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 6:02 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I think it has to be a case by case approach. A person convicted of a lower to mid level crime should be able to pay their debt to society and rebuild.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 2:03 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Name a current politician that has been convicted of a federal offense.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 3:26 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Dear OBC Counsel st 2:03. A felony does not have to be a federal offense.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 21, 2024 8:57 am
Reply to  Anonymous

OP said “convicted of federal offenses”. I am the furthest thing from OBC, though I have danced with them in the past and contentedly left alone at the end of the evening.

anonymous
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anonymous
October 18, 2024 3:51 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Ian Bayne is a (non-federal) convicted felon and will become a Nye county commissioner in January, if that counts.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 2:04 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Last edited 6 months ago by Anonymous
Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 19, 2024 9:24 am
Reply to  Anonymous

Oh boo hoo that you will not socialize with someone who has paid their debt to society (and in the case of someone with a federal conviction has served all of the time). There are consequences; they paid for those consequences. Just like we work in a profession in which persons are hit with criminal or civil judgments that we require them to fulfill and then give them a Satisfaction of Judgment and then we do not get to keep collecting and punishing.

I am certain that they miss the friendship of someone as pious as you. When you are smugly sitting in the pew tomorrow saying the Lords Prayer about forgiving our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, crack that blue book in front of you to John 8:7-11.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 4:58 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Hey, it’s Las Vegas baby! We have all kinds of outlandish stuff going on.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 6:07 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

You guys getting the vapors and heading to your fainting couches over James Dean obviously weren’t around for Judge Seymour Brown.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 7:04 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Hey Junior, Judge Harry Claiborne

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 19, 2024 11:36 am
Reply to  Anonymous

Hey sonny, Judge Mendoza.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 19, 2024 11:36 am
Reply to  Anonymous

JP Hafen.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 21, 2024 11:29 am
Reply to  Anonymous

Judge Tom Foley

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 22, 2024 2:50 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Paul Goldman?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 18, 2024 7:48 pm

If you’re thinking of running for family court bench next election, dept G is looking vulnerable

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 19, 2024 9:36 am

For those complaining about the NSC website, the Nevada Supreme Court apparently heard you.

Nevada Supreme Court
4,328 followers4,328 followers
4d • 4 days ago

Are you a tech expert with strong problem-solving skills? We’re seeking a proactive individual to optimize and support our business applications. Based in Carson City or Las Vegas, with potential for hybrid remote/in-office work after training, you’ll diagnose complex issues, enhance system performance, and collaborate with various teams.

Apply now to make a significant impact in the Supreme Court of Nevada: https://lnkd.in/gW_mH_gi

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 19, 2024 1:59 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

LOL. No thanks. That’s the kind of job announcement that screams “We don’t know what we need, what to do, or how much the solution will cost, but you’re expected to fix it and we’ll blame you for any problems in the future.”

Which, now that I think about it, is 100% on-brand for the NSC.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 21, 2024 1:55 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Website’s public search function broken, again.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
October 22, 2024 1:56 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Still broken.

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