For anyone who didn’t watch this you should. Guy called officers a bitch after the officers started talking to them and officers went hard arresting him for speech. Not ok.
Calling a police officer a “bitch” is both repugnant AND absolutely protected by the First Amendment.
Metro needs thicker skin and to better train their officers on the Constitution.
Guest
Anonymous
June 13, 2025 11:19 am
RIP Brian Wilson.
Not law related (well, kind of), but I saw a video of Mike Love (sort of) memorializing Brian Wilson, but of course it was really just ML reminding everyone that he “co wrote” with Wilson. There’s a long legal history behind this. Nobody denies that Mike Love made contributions to the Beach Boys, especially during their surfer music era. But man, fuck that guy for constantly trying to make it sound like Brian Wilson and Mike Love were equals like McCartney and Lennon or something. Mike Love’s contributions were the equivalent of me letting my kids slather some bbq sauce on ribs while I’m BBQing. Nobody is confused about who the real artist is. Mike Love should just go into hiding for a couple of weeks while the rest of the world celebrates Brian Wilson.
Love claims he wrote most of the lyrics to “California Girls.”
Guest
Anonymous
June 13, 2025 11:39 am
Re: the conference – mainly people have anxiety about the parade tomorrow, I don’t think the organizers knew when they decided but it is very tense right outside. Everyone has been super nice as far as attendees and presenters go. I have this one issue with bar section conferences and this conference, which is that they don’t make time for people to talk to one another. I’m not a drinker so I prefer to talk to people at the CLE portion versus after hours.
Thanks for the contribution. You are anonymous so I feel OK asking: what is the all-in cost for this conference for you? Putting airfare, hotel, taxi/Uber, cost of the conference, etc all together– what is it costing you to spend 3 days in DC?
I would not go if my employer did not send me, this is my first time at one of these. It is wildly expensive and I’ve been part of the chorus saying these far flung locations really price out what could be a bigger pool of people. When I checked in my credit card was charged $2,500 which is mind boggling even if I’m going to get reimbursed. The flight was $800 round trip, Lyft from the airport was $50 including tip, food isn’t too expensive but the conference food is not great so I’m buying more than I thought I would. The conference I think is $600. You can’t get full CLE for the year unless you watch the competing sessions you missed after the fact.
I know some people have said that when the conference is in Nevada people won’t go, or employers won’t pay because it is too close. From people who have been to other instances I’ve heard Santa Fe was great – not too far away but lots of culture. They were not fans of NY. I’ve heard a rumor Hawaii is next year.
I genuinely would not have the funds, nor would I be able to justify them, to go to the annual conference on my own power. Mainly pleasantly surprised it isn’t hoity toity given the cost.
Tonight we have a dinner at the Library of Congress – attendees have that included but if they bring an adult guest it is $200. Kids are $50 each to add. It sounds like a very cool venue, there’s not really a way after 5 to see things here and the day is taken up with CLE sessions.
Happy to answer questions, I was similarly curious prior years.
I also object to this, “You pay upfront, the firm will reimburse you” stuff. When I asked to be reimbursed for a convention, I had to fill out a form, put it in a particular tray in the bookkeeper’s office, only to be told I had not filled out the form correctly. I would have to wait another week for payment. Left firm shortly thereafter.
In my opinion the firm should register the attorney for the convention and pay for the extra meals and cocktail parties. It should also call the hotel and make the hotel reservation and say to bill that card for the room. Wishful thinking. Our firm screws up
every time.
So what was the total for how much you spent? including flights, hotels, food, etc.
Guest
Anonymous
June 13, 2025 11:57 am
Has anyone else ever told their opposing counsel “you can blow your brains out” during a mandatory meet and confer? Or is it just the same guy that brought a gun to a deposition, brandished it, asking the deponent if he was “ready for it” ? (Case 90799)? NV Bar is asking for 5 years and 1 day suspension, referred to NV Bar by USDC Judge Dorsey. Mercy.
As his opposing counsel, this alleged comment in both the context of Prince’s still-fresh murder and Pengilly’s prior suspension, would be terrifying.
I have some compassion for Pengilly as well. If the alleged statement was actually made, it would suggest that there may be some raw, festering mental health issues.
You know I always found Jim to be a very difficult litigator to deal with. But this prosecution is way over the line.
90 minutes into a meet and confer and he tells the Opposing Counsel who is droning on to “knock himself out” in an inartful way and we want to disbar the guy and recommend 5 year suspension? The opposing attorney was so traumatized that he never reported it to the State Bar. The Opposing Attorney is exactly as obnoxious as Pengilly portrays him to be. Pengilly did not threaten the Opposing Counsel that he was going to do any violence; he merely told the guy to knock himself out. Judge Dorsey could have sanctioned him if she thought it was abusive; she didn’t.
We are going to police non-threatening speech like that? 5 years for that? The Civility Creed that we never adopted as a state into the NRPC results in effectively a disbarment? People are stealing money and do not get close to 5 years. Think bad things about Pengilly and I probably share your opinion. Man are our priorities as an OBC completely out of whack.
1:28 PM, Unfortunately, I think you have to consider the context of Pengilly having brandished a gun (!!!!) in a deposition in the past. And in that context, it has to be taken seriously. If this were an attorney without that history, I would agree with you. And let’s be honest that in pretty much any other state Pengilly would have been disbarred for that shit. As much as OBC does sometimes overreach, we also still have some real wild west shit going on in this state in the practice of law (literally, in this case).
I understand what you are saying and if he brandished a gun in this case, my opinion would be different. But brandishing a gun and actually threatening a person was worth 18 months. Using an awkward idiom over the telephone cannot be 5 years and a day or even worse, disbarment. The first is arguably a felony; the second is awkward speech in the heat of litigation that even Judge Dorsey according to the record said that Opposing Counsel was really overzealous.
According to the complaint, there was a lot more to this case than just the use of the phrase go blow your brains out. There was a pattern of other boasting and attempted intimidation, even Jim mentioning his prior suspension when first introducing himself to opposing counsel and later saying he was going to make a deposition “the most uncomfortable experience your client has ever had.”
I suspect it never would have gotten here had Jim just apologized. He doubled down instead, so here we are. Civility (or the lack thereof) is a major issue in our practice.
Precisely why it is out of whack. Mentioning a suspension is not a violation. Boasting is not a suspendable offense The record says that Opposing Counsel had made discovery an utter nightmare (backed up by Judge Dorsey’s ruling regarding the opposing counsel’s conduct); sounds like Pengilly wanted to establish a presence that whatever had occurred previously was not going to be tolerated.
I do share your opinion that civility is a major issue in our profession. I don’t share your confidence that an apology would have stopped the train from rolling. I also think we have way bigger civility issues that a*holes responding to a*holes by telling them to knock themselves out. We do nothing about civility and then ask for disbarment in this case. It makes no sense.
If there are “way bigger civility issues,” then where are the grievances? No one reports civility. They just move on to the next case. The State Bar had a matter here involving incivility and sought what they believed was the appropriate discipline. You may disagree and that’s fine, but I’m unsure how someone is this upset over them actually attempting to do their jobs with a grievance from a federal judge.
Without bringing up one of the “third rail” topics that get thwacked on this Blog, there was an attorney who routinely had complaints made against him involving threats of violence that the OBC said that there was nothing they could do. This went to the top of the pile because it came in the door from a USDC judge.
No one is upset about them opening a grievance. Thinking violation of the Creed of Civility in this manner merits disbarment is ridiculous overreached. This is not all that different from the discussion above regarding protestors’ speech being utilized as grounds for arrest. If I were Pengilly I would trot out Gentile v. State Bar of Nevada, 501 U.S. 1030 (1991) to remind the SBN and NSC that vague standards of regulating speech is a tricky area.
1:28 PM-Pengilly. Isn’t “go blow your brains out” the equivalent of go” f*** yourself? ” There are some Judges that make referrals to the State Bar all the time. Unfortunately, when you are on the radar with prior discipline you are on what they call “double secret probation.” I wonder who is representing Pengilly. I hope he is not reping himself. Don’t think Peniglly is dangerous but needs anger management and civility classes. This is the kind of stuff OBC has a field day.
He is representing himself. Hence the comment made above that his biggest mistake was not tell a jerk to go fly a kite but in representing himself before the OBC.
Pengilly: Where is the record or reporting on the latest Pengilly case? How is it this is reported. Nothing posted on Pengilly’s bar history or anywhere that I can find. Curious to review. Unable to find- IN RE: DISCIPLINE OF JAMES W. PENGILLY 90799.
12:45 AM-Sorry I am lost in this thread. Is Pengilly in trouble again. He got a pass in the old case. Is there another complaint that is pending. I am out of the loop on this. Once you get tagged with discipline you have to be extra careful.
Reading the record:
-Pengilly was in federal court litigation with an obnoxious opposing counsel (some would say pot, meet kettle).
-90 minutes into a Meet and Confer conference, the opposing counsel said that the opposing counsel was going to file a motion to compel. Pengilly admits that he was so frustrated that he told the guy to do whatever he was going to do and “go ahead and blow your brains out, Miles”
-Opposing Counsel stated that he was not intimidated in the heat of battle but reported it to Judge Dorsey as part of the motion to compel.
-Judge Dorsey agreed that there was no grounds for the Motion to Compel but that she was concerned by the phrase “go ahead and blow your brains out” so she made a referral to the State Bar of Nevada
-OBC asked for disbarment but got a Panel recommendation of suspension of 5 years and a day which is the equivalent of what used to be a disbarment in this state.
Judge Dorsey referred Pengilly to the State Bar around April last year. Not only did he tell opposing counsel to go blow his brains out, he engaged in other intimidation and bullying during litigation. The State Bar argued that because Pengilly engaged in the “same or similar” misconduct as his prior suspension, a greater penalty was necessary. The panel agreed after finding Pengilly’s misconduct was serious and posed a serious injury and potential injury. The transcript is pretty wild from the two day hearing. Pengilly barely asked a question of most witnesses and only called his ex wife as a character witness.
I’ve known that guy since he came up here from SoCal near the start of the CD boom. He was always a iittle off, and the fact that he would do something like this again after the previous episode bespeaks someone who is just mentally unwell.
You have a duty to tell the truth also So if you have a Motion on your Chambers Calendar for April 30th and you have not issued a decision as of June 11th, don’t go putting into the Minutes on June 12th that you issued a Decision on April 30th. Date your Minutes making a Decision on June 12 with the date that you actually made a Decision.
Does anyone find it weird that Isreal is committing genocide on Palestinians and starting a war with Iran? It looks like Isreal is doing the persecution now.
MS Word on MS 365 not loading today. There are some reports of MS sites being down. Are you experiencing similar?
Yes. SaaS blows chunks. MS pushed a patch that caused a lot of problems. I’m glad I never got sucked into MS 365.
Just wondering if the count of 100 people arrested were including the number of people arrested for Disrespect of Cop. See, e.g.,https://www.tiktok.com/@itsmztoonz/video/7515328996360424750
And they wonder why songs like this exist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADdpLv3RDhA
For anyone who didn’t watch this you should. Guy called officers a bitch after the officers started talking to them and officers went hard arresting him for speech. Not ok.
Calling a police officer a “bitch” is both repugnant AND absolutely protected by the First Amendment.
Metro needs thicker skin and to better train their officers on the Constitution.
RIP Brian Wilson.
Not law related (well, kind of), but I saw a video of Mike Love (sort of) memorializing Brian Wilson, but of course it was really just ML reminding everyone that he “co wrote” with Wilson. There’s a long legal history behind this. Nobody denies that Mike Love made contributions to the Beach Boys, especially during their surfer music era. But man, fuck that guy for constantly trying to make it sound like Brian Wilson and Mike Love were equals like McCartney and Lennon or something. Mike Love’s contributions were the equivalent of me letting my kids slather some bbq sauce on ribs while I’m BBQing. Nobody is confused about who the real artist is. Mike Love should just go into hiding for a couple of weeks while the rest of the world celebrates Brian Wilson.
Saw this one someone’s wall on the day he died which is Brian Wilson singing “Brian Wilson”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjeWqXyVLu4
11:19 AM-Can you post the Mike Love video. Would like to see.
Mike Love has one of the ironic names of all time. A total bully and asshole.
The late, great David Crosby minced no words about Mike Love. No love lost.
Honey Dave Crosby could not even get along with Joni Mitchell.
Love claims he wrote most of the lyrics to “California Girls.”
Re: the conference – mainly people have anxiety about the parade tomorrow, I don’t think the organizers knew when they decided but it is very tense right outside. Everyone has been super nice as far as attendees and presenters go. I have this one issue with bar section conferences and this conference, which is that they don’t make time for people to talk to one another. I’m not a drinker so I prefer to talk to people at the CLE portion versus after hours.
Thanks for the contribution. You are anonymous so I feel OK asking: what is the all-in cost for this conference for you? Putting airfare, hotel, taxi/Uber, cost of the conference, etc all together– what is it costing you to spend 3 days in DC?
I would not go if my employer did not send me, this is my first time at one of these. It is wildly expensive and I’ve been part of the chorus saying these far flung locations really price out what could be a bigger pool of people. When I checked in my credit card was charged $2,500 which is mind boggling even if I’m going to get reimbursed. The flight was $800 round trip, Lyft from the airport was $50 including tip, food isn’t too expensive but the conference food is not great so I’m buying more than I thought I would. The conference I think is $600. You can’t get full CLE for the year unless you watch the competing sessions you missed after the fact.
I know some people have said that when the conference is in Nevada people won’t go, or employers won’t pay because it is too close. From people who have been to other instances I’ve heard Santa Fe was great – not too far away but lots of culture. They were not fans of NY. I’ve heard a rumor Hawaii is next year.
I genuinely would not have the funds, nor would I be able to justify them, to go to the annual conference on my own power. Mainly pleasantly surprised it isn’t hoity toity given the cost.
Tonight we have a dinner at the Library of Congress – attendees have that included but if they bring an adult guest it is $200. Kids are $50 each to add. It sounds like a very cool venue, there’s not really a way after 5 to see things here and the day is taken up with CLE sessions.
Happy to answer questions, I was similarly curious prior years.
SANTE FE was incredibly boring. FURNACE CREEK, which is close, was wonderful.
Furnace Creek was close, secluded and not expensive. I have no idea why the convention is not held there more often.
Yep, next year is in Maui.
“Yep, next year is in Maui.”
Seriously fuck these people.
So the NSB and NSC get a free vacation while we pay through the nose.
I also object to this, “You pay upfront, the firm will reimburse you” stuff. When I asked to be reimbursed for a convention, I had to fill out a form, put it in a particular tray in the bookkeeper’s office, only to be told I had not filled out the form correctly. I would have to wait another week for payment. Left firm shortly thereafter.
In my opinion the firm should register the attorney for the convention and pay for the extra meals and cocktail parties. It should also call the hotel and make the hotel reservation and say to bill that card for the room. Wishful thinking. Our firm screws up
every time.
my firm registered me and then did not even sign me up for the free events.
How tough is it to write a check?
So what was the total for how much you spent? including flights, hotels, food, etc.
Has anyone else ever told their opposing counsel “you can blow your brains out” during a mandatory meet and confer? Or is it just the same guy that brought a gun to a deposition, brandished it, asking the deponent if he was “ready for it” ? (Case 90799)? NV Bar is asking for 5 years and 1 day suspension, referred to NV Bar by USDC Judge Dorsey. Mercy.
He’s a scary guy, most court reporters will not do depositions for him.
who is he?
IN RE: DISCIPLINE OF JAMES W. PENGILLY 90799
Saying “you can blow your brains out”, twice, and doing it 9 days after Dennis Prince was murdered…
Yeah that’s some shit.
As his opposing counsel, this alleged comment in both the context of Prince’s still-fresh murder and Pengilly’s prior suspension, would be terrifying.
I have some compassion for Pengilly as well. If the alleged statement was actually made, it would suggest that there may be some raw, festering mental health issues.
This is a hard profession.
You know I always found Jim to be a very difficult litigator to deal with. But this prosecution is way over the line.
90 minutes into a meet and confer and he tells the Opposing Counsel who is droning on to “knock himself out” in an inartful way and we want to disbar the guy and recommend 5 year suspension? The opposing attorney was so traumatized that he never reported it to the State Bar. The Opposing Attorney is exactly as obnoxious as Pengilly portrays him to be. Pengilly did not threaten the Opposing Counsel that he was going to do any violence; he merely told the guy to knock himself out. Judge Dorsey could have sanctioned him if she thought it was abusive; she didn’t.
We are going to police non-threatening speech like that? 5 years for that? The Civility Creed that we never adopted as a state into the NRPC results in effectively a disbarment? People are stealing money and do not get close to 5 years. Think bad things about Pengilly and I probably share your opinion. Man are our priorities as an OBC completely out of whack.
1:28 PM, Unfortunately, I think you have to consider the context of Pengilly having brandished a gun (!!!!) in a deposition in the past. And in that context, it has to be taken seriously. If this were an attorney without that history, I would agree with you. And let’s be honest that in pretty much any other state Pengilly would have been disbarred for that shit. As much as OBC does sometimes overreach, we also still have some real wild west shit going on in this state in the practice of law (literally, in this case).
https://youtu.be/mGi9VKMIPU4?feature=shared&t=93
I understand what you are saying and if he brandished a gun in this case, my opinion would be different. But brandishing a gun and actually threatening a person was worth 18 months. Using an awkward idiom over the telephone cannot be 5 years and a day or even worse, disbarment. The first is arguably a felony; the second is awkward speech in the heat of litigation that even Judge Dorsey according to the record said that Opposing Counsel was really overzealous.
Out of whack? How?
According to the complaint, there was a lot more to this case than just the use of the phrase go blow your brains out. There was a pattern of other boasting and attempted intimidation, even Jim mentioning his prior suspension when first introducing himself to opposing counsel and later saying he was going to make a deposition “the most uncomfortable experience your client has ever had.”
I suspect it never would have gotten here had Jim just apologized. He doubled down instead, so here we are. Civility (or the lack thereof) is a major issue in our practice.
Precisely why it is out of whack. Mentioning a suspension is not a violation. Boasting is not a suspendable offense The record says that Opposing Counsel had made discovery an utter nightmare (backed up by Judge Dorsey’s ruling regarding the opposing counsel’s conduct); sounds like Pengilly wanted to establish a presence that whatever had occurred previously was not going to be tolerated.
I do share your opinion that civility is a major issue in our profession. I don’t share your confidence that an apology would have stopped the train from rolling. I also think we have way bigger civility issues that a*holes responding to a*holes by telling them to knock themselves out. We do nothing about civility and then ask for disbarment in this case. It makes no sense.
If there are “way bigger civility issues,” then where are the grievances? No one reports civility. They just move on to the next case. The State Bar had a matter here involving incivility and sought what they believed was the appropriate discipline. You may disagree and that’s fine, but I’m unsure how someone is this upset over them actually attempting to do their jobs with a grievance from a federal judge.
Without bringing up one of the “third rail” topics that get thwacked on this Blog, there was an attorney who routinely had complaints made against him involving threats of violence that the OBC said that there was nothing they could do. This went to the top of the pile because it came in the door from a USDC judge.
No one is upset about them opening a grievance. Thinking violation of the Creed of Civility in this manner merits disbarment is ridiculous overreached. This is not all that different from the discussion above regarding protestors’ speech being utilized as grounds for arrest. If I were Pengilly I would trot out Gentile v. State Bar of Nevada, 501 U.S. 1030 (1991) to remind the SBN and NSC that vague standards of regulating speech is a tricky area.
This part of the record is something else:
“…Justice Pickering actually followed me into the bathroom during a break with a witness to make sure I didn’t talk with him.”
She went into the men’s room? No one ever said she was a piece of work.
She drove her car through 2 stores and then blamed the brakes. She got a pass.
1:28 PM-Pengilly. Isn’t “go blow your brains out” the equivalent of go” f*** yourself? ” There are some Judges that make referrals to the State Bar all the time. Unfortunately, when you are on the radar with prior discipline you are on what they call “double secret probation.” I wonder who is representing Pengilly. I hope he is not reping himself. Don’t think Peniglly is dangerous but needs anger management and civility classes. This is the kind of stuff OBC has a field day.
He is representing himself. Hence the comment made above that his biggest mistake was not tell a jerk to go fly a kite but in representing himself before the OBC.
Pengilly: Where is the record or reporting on the latest Pengilly case? How is it this is reported. Nothing posted on Pengilly’s bar history or anywhere that I can find. Curious to review. Unable to find- IN RE: DISCIPLINE OF JAMES W. PENGILLY 90799.
But Dennis Prince didn’t blow his brains out. How is this the same?
12:45 AM-Sorry I am lost in this thread. Is Pengilly in trouble again. He got a pass in the old case. Is there another complaint that is pending. I am out of the loop on this. Once you get tagged with discipline you have to be extra careful.
Reading the record:
-Pengilly was in federal court litigation with an obnoxious opposing counsel (some would say pot, meet kettle).
-90 minutes into a Meet and Confer conference, the opposing counsel said that the opposing counsel was going to file a motion to compel. Pengilly admits that he was so frustrated that he told the guy to do whatever he was going to do and “go ahead and blow your brains out, Miles”
-Opposing Counsel stated that he was not intimidated in the heat of battle but reported it to Judge Dorsey as part of the motion to compel.
-Judge Dorsey agreed that there was no grounds for the Motion to Compel but that she was concerned by the phrase “go ahead and blow your brains out” so she made a referral to the State Bar of Nevada
-OBC asked for disbarment but got a Panel recommendation of suspension of 5 years and a day which is the equivalent of what used to be a disbarment in this state.
In my next life, I am coming back as ChatGPT
Judge Dorsey referred Pengilly to the State Bar around April last year. Not only did he tell opposing counsel to go blow his brains out, he engaged in other intimidation and bullying during litigation. The State Bar argued that because Pengilly engaged in the “same or similar” misconduct as his prior suspension, a greater penalty was necessary. The panel agreed after finding Pengilly’s misconduct was serious and posed a serious injury and potential injury. The transcript is pretty wild from the two day hearing. Pengilly barely asked a question of most witnesses and only called his ex wife as a character witness.
I’ve known that guy since he came up here from SoCal near the start of the CD boom. He was always a iittle off, and the fact that he would do something like this again after the previous episode bespeaks someone who is just mentally unwell.
Scott MacDonald allegedly agrees to prison. https://www.8newsnow.com/investigators/disbarred-las-vegas-attorney-agrees-to-prison-time-for-foreclosure-fraud/
This is a very sad, inexplicable story.
Dear District Court Judges:
You have a duty to tell the truth also So if you have a Motion on your Chambers Calendar for April 30th and you have not issued a decision as of June 11th, don’t go putting into the Minutes on June 12th that you issued a Decision on April 30th. Date your Minutes making a Decision on June 12 with the date that you actually made a Decision.
Judge Israel?
Does anyone find it weird that Isreal is committing genocide on Palestinians and starting a war with Iran? It looks like Isreal is doing the persecution now.
Shhh! You’re not allowed to notice!
Committing genocide? I cannot even get him to issue a reasoned decision.
LOL.
It’s *Israel, as in Am Israel Chai.
OP gives off short king AK energy.