- Quickdraw McLaw
- 15 Comments
- 164 Views
- As was mentioned in the comments yesterday, Judge Susan Johnson filed a complaint against Jacob Hafter in regard to an excessive campaign contribution from his law firm. [RJ]
- Want to know some of the candidates working with political consultant (and husband of Judge Nancy Allf), Dave Thomas? [Las Vegas Tribune]
- Bar exam results came out recently adding 130 to our ranks, 51 of which are from out of state. [Las Vegas Sun]
- Remember, taking a CLE on alcohol abuse and/or mental health is required now. To help you fulfill that requirement, the Bar is offering a CLE this afternoon called The Impact of Depression and Addiction on Professional Competence.
- Although it often seems like Boyd Law School and its professors aren’t really involved much in our legal community, thanks to a tip, we know they are standing up to be counted among those displeased with the Nevada Lawyer editorial by Bar President Alan Lefebvre as set forth in this letter. Dean Dan Hamilton is also taking a stand with this letter.
- Although it has nothing to do with Las Vegas law, Maya Angelou passed away today and it’s worth taking a minute to honor her contributions to the world. [NPR]
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
-Maya Angelou
I am upset to read Maya Angelou died. What an inspiration she will always be!
Me too. Thank you for posting the freedom quote above.
May you rest in peace, Maya Angelou. With regards to Mr. Hafter, is it not a violation of the Nevada Rules of Professional Conduct for a family trust to own a law firm? I have not researched the Rules in detail in a while, but at first glance, the non-lawyer ownership of a law firm would inherently violate the Rules as to fee splitting (at the very least).
I think he is probably okay. RPC 5.4(d) says
d) A lawyer shall not practice with or in the form of a professional corporation or association authorized to practice law for a profit, if:
(1) A nonlawyer owns any interest therein, except that a fiduciary representative of the estate of a lawyer may hold the stock or interest of the lawyer for a reasonable time during administration;
(2) A nonlawyer is a corporate director or officer thereof or occupies the position of similar responsibility in any form of association other than a corporation; or
(3) A nonlawyer has the right to direct or control the professional judgment of a lawyer.
Hafter practices law under HafterLaw LLC. According to the link, Hafter has disclaimed ownership of the HafterLaw LLC in an attempt to avoid his creditors, saying that HafterLaw LLC is actually owned by a family trust. A Family Trust is a non-lawyer entity. 5.4(d)(1) basically says that a dead lawyer's interest can be held for a bit by the executor. Since Hafter isn't dead, he has no estate, and even if he did, he specifically claimed he does not have an interest in the firm. So the exception under 5.4(d)(1) doesn't apply, a non-lawyer owns an interest, and Hafter is in violation of 5.4(d). Plus, since he doesn't own HafterLaw LLC, any loan from HafterLaw LLC has to comply with campaign contribution limits, which it didn't.
Dodging creditors leads to all sorts of sticky situations.
Thank you Your Honor.
The complaint against Hafter isn't dealing with the Rules of Professional Conduct but with a Nevada statute that says he can't accept contributions over $5,000.
You have to see this complaint, though. This should make anyone question whether Hafter should be disbarred let alone try for a judicial seat. It's a total of 150 pages with exhibits, but the complaint is only 5 pages.
Hafter is claiming that he and his previous firm are broke with over $1,600,000 in debt. He closed down his prior firm to get out of those debts and transferred all of the assets to HafterLaw. The guy isn't paying taxes to the IRS or a $250,000 judgment out of Arizona, claiming the money is tied up in a family trust. He is somehow claiming that he has no income because he has assigned all the fees and money from his work to HafterLaw which is somehow owned by his family trust. Despite how broke he is, he's able to lease a Jag, drive a Maserati, live in a $675,000 home that he paid off with cash, and hire a housekeeper,who is paid through his law firm, to work 5 days a week .
So he's claiming these assets are protected to get out of paying his debts, but still thinks he can use HafterLaw to pay for his campaign. Can anyone say illegal?
Here is the URL to a copy of the complaint. Just copy/paste:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2cb_IKo93KQdkJZa0VTWDZKSEU/edit?usp=sharing
So did Susan Johnson really take the time to do that Complaint herself or did she have a helper?
She typed it from the bench, I believe. Either that, or she had help. One of the two for sure.
Wow, that is some difficult writing. I hope Judge Johnson out-sourced that puppy, because it's not so good.
The CLE today is from 1-2 pm at the Lloyd George Courthouse. $40 for everyone except construction law section members who get in free.
Or, to save yourself an hour, you could pull out your copy of Nevada Lawyer from December, fill out a 20-second quiz, and send it in with $40.
If he did commit a felony, can the AG enforce that against Hafter? I bet she really dislikes that guy after what he did to her in the prior campaign (and for which he got reprimanded).
If what Hafter did is a felony, what are the chances of him being prosecuted? Anyone at the DA's office have any pull to get this investigated?
The deposition transcript is hilarious. One can imagine being the attorney taking the deposition and just laughing at Hafter's responses with a "Well played sir, but you're still an idiot". The part about the skull & crossbones attorney got me to look the guy up, a bit odd. Page 60 was great – the part about CR Title Services where Citibank was using the name but wasn't registered to do business, so he created a company matching the name in Nevada and used it against Citibank until they bought it from him to shut him up. I'm not a fan of this guy, but damn that was a great idea.