Hours of Operation 2016

  • Law

A few years ago, some commenters were discussing the fact that some judges are off the bench quite a bit more than you might expect. That’s not to say that they might not be justified–you have to remember that they are government employees with certain benefits. But excuses aside, are our judges generally spending enough time in the courtroom? Which judges should be spending a little more time on the bench? Is there a minimum standard? Which judges would you commend for making the best use of your time? 

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Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 5:29 pm

This Rob Graham thing involves millions. Stay tuned.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 5:52 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Yes it does and its going to be ugly. What do they say– if you are going to steal money, steal ALOT of money.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 6:29 pm
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 6:35 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Once again, Law dawg's humble blawg's commentariat scoops the local news media, and the blawg gets exactly zero credit for it. Not even some linkback love.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 7:00 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

After all the money Rob Graham poured into Channel 3, can't a brother get some love?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 7:05 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Wait wait, Channel 3 interviewed Norm Reed (who is not in private practice) about the standards for an attorney in private practice to run a law firm? I mean, I know this is standard MPRE stuff but c'mon! Hey Channel 3, as a commercial litigator, I would like to comment on the ineffective assistance of counsel provided by the Clark County Public Defenders Office.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 8:21 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Are you talking about this Norm Reed: http://lasvegassun.com/news/1997/jan/06/attorney-convicted/ or public defender Norm Reed? They couldn't possibly be one and the same… the NV Bar wouldn't allow that.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 8:33 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Yes, it involves millions and potentially dozens of victimized clients. This is going to be a nightmare for the legal community once everthing comes out.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 8:40 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Norm Reed is an excellent lawyer and a great guy. He also gave an appropriate answer about ethics so who cares that he is a PD. Pulling the snobby civil attorney card won't fly on this one. And I watched several days of his federal trial. I'd say congrats Norm on going full circle and doing it right.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 9:40 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Linda Brown Warnick was right about Rob Graham!!!!!

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 9:43 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

How can someone get convicted of fraud, serve prison time and still keep his license?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 10:10 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

BYU grad….explains a lot.

anonymous
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anonymous
December 9, 2016 10:38 pm
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This comment has been removed by the author.

anonymous
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anonymous
December 9, 2016 10:40 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Memo to Norm Reed: If you are being interviewed on television, pants are optional, but for God's sake button your collar and cinch up your tie.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 11:12 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Is the News 3 Norm Reed disciplined or suspended years ago by the Bar?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 11:16 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Wolfman Jack says Robert Graham sucks……Let me get my jug.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 11:42 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Does BYU law school accept women? All I see are white men who go or went there.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 10, 2016 12:21 am
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I think only 51% of the BYU law grads are women.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 11, 2016 1:29 am
Reply to  Anonymous

State Bar says Rob Graham's trust account should have $13 million, but has "a lot less." Oh, shit. Also, Supremes have already suspended him

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 11, 2016 4:41 am
Reply to  Anonymous

I've read the complaint and the order, and I don't see any indication of money discussed. Was this from a statement issued by bar counsel? Where did the $13M number come from, other than the RJ? I'm glad they froze the accounts to make sure he didn't get any more funds. This is not going to end well for a lot of people, especially his clients (former clients.)

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 11, 2016 5:02 am
Reply to  Anonymous

Found it – I thought you were referring to the district court case. The Bar counsel complaint for suspension lists a LOT of details. Wow…… Case 71849.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 11, 2016 5:24 am
Reply to  Anonymous

12-13 Million. M-I-L-L-I-O-N.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 5:34 pm

Coming from someone who forgot to go into the office during July and August, I think it's total bullshit that these judges are not working through the holidays. How the hell am I supposed to hit my numbers for the year if they are not available to hear all my last-minute, end of year motions?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 5:43 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Hey, the judiciary cannot be held responsible for your lazy work ethic. You have all year long to make your billable's. Grow the fuck-up asshole.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 5:52 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Perhaps the sarcasm detector just was not registering on that one.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 11:14 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Go to the Bongiovi Law Firm Christmas party, more entertaining than anything on reality tv.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 5:39 pm

"Which judges should be spending a little more time on the bench?" All of them. Bunch of overpaid ne'er-do-well hacks.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 5:45 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Sounds like someone might be a little jealous. Tell you what, run for Judge in 2018. And stop being a little fucking cry-baby.

Dan
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Dan
December 9, 2016 6:00 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

@9:45 Or maybe your sarcasm meter is off.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 6:11 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

@10:00 Not sarcasm. If you want to know what it's like to be a Judge, then run.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 10, 2016 12:22 am
Reply to  Anonymous

@10:11 Okay, maybe your meter isn't off. Maybe you just don't know what it is. I wasn't talking about your comment. I was talking about your response.

Steven Harris
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Steven Harris
December 9, 2016 5:55 pm

Be grateful you don't have to practice in the rural courts. Those lazy hacks (except for Goodsprings, she's a surprisingly good judge) make the urban judges look like slaves in a salt mine.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 5:57 pm

Think about this– all judges should be spending more time on the Bench EXCEPT if they are extending the morning Motion calendar with unnecessary arguments and EXCEPT if they are insisting to try cases all five weeks of their stack which means that I might have to try two cases per stack because I really do not want to have to gear up for trial more than once every 3-4 months max. Yes judges should spend more time in Court so long as it does not mean me having to spend more time in Court.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 6:03 pm

I'm surprised that one of our local media outlets hasn't followed a judge around during the day to see:

What time he/she arrives and leaves the court house?
Where he/she goes for lunch and for how long?
How much time is actually spent in the court room vs. chambers?

I've seen these types of stories in other metropolitan areas. Even it's a totally misleading story, it's funny to watch the judge's on their heels explaining why.

#fakenews

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 6:55 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Like Jackie Glass had her old cronies on TV do to Jeff Sobel? Got some great photos in his bathrobe.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 10:37 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

They did follow Judge Vega and found her taking time during her work day to attend her daughter's soccer games. Of course, she made up the time by having juries stay until 2:00 a.m. Boy am I glad that one is off the bench.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 6:38 pm

If they followed the judges around, the judges would be on stage and show how hard they are working. Some judges are working hard and others are not. It is hard to generalize. On most Fridays, you can throw a bowling ball down the courthouse hall and won't strike a thing. There is a lot of paperwork involved with being a judge. The trial stack system creates a lot of idle time. They need to have a system when a judge is free or their calendar loosens up they dispatch cases to open courts and judges. This is the system in most jurisdictions and venues. Judges do not sit by idling with nothing on their calendar in most big city courts

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 8:57 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Another concept used in other jurisdictions is to have a set group of judges hear all motions (except MIL) for all cases. This frees up the trial time for the other judges and gives a level of consistency to motion practice.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 9:42 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

This is more for the crim attorneys but I HATE the 7:30 courts with a passion. Why do I have to have child care issues because your morning person ass wants to be off the bench by 9:00? 7:30 court is bullshit and there is no legitimate excuse other than you want to be done and out well before noon.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 9:50 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I always thought that crim court was early so that they didn't have to mix with the rest of us when we come to court.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 9, 2016 11:08 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

It's my understanding they 'stagger' court start times for CCDC & NDOP to transport those inmates and not clog up the sole elevator/tunnel they use. I know there are times when they run late all of the time because all of the appearances that have to be made.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 10, 2016 12:04 am

The simple fact is that there are too many JPs. We have work for about 8 or 10 full time judges in vegas but we have 14. This means that some of them (not all) can game out the schedule so they work less than 30 hours a week. Baucum has been the worst lately with goodman a close second.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 13, 2016 8:36 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

30? More like 15-20 tops.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 10, 2016 12:20 am

Baucum sucks. Most of the JP pro tems suck, too. Who the hell picks them?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 10, 2016 4:35 am

Tey them the day before Thanksgiving. Lishner wanted her medical malpractice case done before the holiday. The jury found in favor of Dr Turner. Christian Morris/Nettles Law Firm did not get the 500k they asked for.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 11, 2016 5:44 am

The go fund me for 13 million posted re Lawyers West seems incredibly strange to me. Please tell me I'm not the only one. Not to sound snarky, I really do wonder if ethically there's a problem with the set up. Doesn't go fund me take a cut?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 11, 2016 5:41 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

C'mon man! Link!!!

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 11, 2016 7:07 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

What are you talking about? How did you bring GoFundMe into this?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 11, 2016 10:29 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

https://www.gofundme.com/victims-of-lawyerswest-fund?ssid=835738844&pos=1

Apparently, Jasen Cassidy is the one that started the campaign – or perhaps someone is using his name? I think this campaign *might* be a bit premature. But what the hell do I know?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 11, 2016 10:35 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

http://www.reviewjournal.com/local/las-vegas/fundraising-campaign-launched-clients-abandoned-las-vegas-lawyer

Apparently Rob is still in town. I wonder if he went to Church today.

The guy isn't just a crook, he's a hypocrite. There are smarmy pictures of him on Facebook not long ago at the Fort Collins Temple dedication, all the while he was ripping off his clients, who include some very vulnerable people, out of millions of dollars.

Rob has brought dishonor to himself, his family, his profession (especially the probate bar) and his faith. He has victimized those he was entrusted to assist and protect. They will feel the pain of his selfish actions the rest of their lives. Rob, you are a real piece of shit.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 12, 2016 3:58 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Holy Heck! This is terrible. I can't wait to find out how and why things went so bad for Graham and his clients.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 12, 2016 4:26 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Things went bad for Graham? Doesn't sound like it.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
December 12, 2016 5:18 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

The Bank of Cook Islands says things are looking mighty fine for the Rob Grahams of the world.