A reader wants to know what measures your firm has taken with regard to cyber security. Apparently, some firms in town have been hit by hackers and taken for cyber ransom. Do you have a plan in place? Are you the victim of breach? Here is a recent article about legal cybersecurity from the National Law Review for your consideration.
Judge Joe Hardy got after Metro for withholding public records requested by the RJ regarding sex trafficking and prostitution. [RJ]
The lewdness case against Mark Peplowski was dismissed. [RJ]
The City of Henderson is hiring four firms (Garman Turner Gordon LLP; Peterson Baker PLLC; Holley, Driggs, Walch, Fine, Wray, Puzey, and Thompson; and Snell and Wilmer LLP) at $350/hr for attorneys and $100/hr for paralegals in the lawsuit brought by former police chief Patrick Moers. [RJ]
An SEC filing reveals that outgoing Wynn general counsel Kim Sinatra is getting a $1.8 million settlement; it also reveals that her successor Ellen Whittemore will be paid $600K a year plus benefits. [RJ]
The I-11 bypass will open today cutting about 30 minutes off the trip to Arizona. [news3LV]
We’re going to take advantage of that bypass opening and get out of Vegas to enjoy this last weekend before school starts. We’ll be back next week. Remember to watch out for school kids on Monday morning!
Snell and Wilmer blames Ford for playing politics when he should have been billing.
Guest
Anonymous
August 9, 2018 4:31 pm
I emailed a co-counsel asking for an invoice, and 15 mins later I got an email from his paralegal with an attachment saying please download excel spreadsheet from microsoft cloud drive. The timing was so perfect I clicked on it, and got a whole bunch of red alert warning from my mac. thinking I was smarter than my mac, i kept dismissing the warnings. Finally I called the paralegal and she told me she hand't sent anything yet. Props to MacOS for protecting me from my own stupidity.
Guest
Anonymous
August 9, 2018 4:53 pm
Kudos to the Nevada Supreme Court for again taking the entire month of August off it seems. Last decisions came out on August 3rd. You lazy pieces of crap.
Sure it is less than a week but it is also indicative of this time every year when those sloths decide that they no longer need to be productive to a docket which is already far behind. Just watch their lack of productivity for the month of August.
THE COMPLETE IRONY of this is the attachment letter which is from the state bar, in which the state bar Quotes Matthew 7:15. This is a layered irony. wow
Interesting that she seems to be representing herself. I mean, if that's your thang and you have nothing better to do, then knock yourself out. But, I'd want to employ experienced defamation counsel.
Oh the irony of the State Bar and its band of ravening wolves. You mean the sheep who tell you to trust us and just hand yourselves over, only to breach their very promises? The OBC are liars who do not abide by the very statements they make and then have no one to regulate them.
It astounds me that one of Sisolak/Laxalt is going to be the governor of this state. So incredibly sad. A choice between two absolute morons.
Guest
Anonymous
August 9, 2018 10:48 pm
Interesting that Myers & Gomel last week had their discipline case decided. $1MM went missing from their Trust Account. Stayed suspension of one year approved.
Malik Ahmad had $25,000 in sanctions awarded to his clients which he liened and took as fees. One year stayed suspension rejected.
Message: Lose $1MM in client funds, you might walk. Lien $25,000 in sanctions and you will be spanked. That is the state of discipline in this state presently.
Guest
Anonymous
August 9, 2018 10:56 pm
To the department who made out of state counsel for Plaintiffs and Defendants fly into Las Vegas for a Calendar Call, at which time the court clerk (not the judge) asked both sides to announce ready for trial, required all parties to provide the Clerk with their exhibits, jury instructions and voir dire and then and only then announced that the Judge had a medical procedure two weeks ago, has been out of commission and will be conducting no trials for the foreseeable future so here are your exhibits back, there are no nice words for you.
You wasted $10,000 in legal fees for all of the counsel traveling to Nevada for a Calendar Call that you have known for over one week would not result in a trial and for what purpose? Just to hold everyones' feet to the fire to get ready for a trial that you knew would not be occurring? It is garbage like this that make Nevada courts the laughingstock of the West.
No he spent 3 hours practicing saying the name of main counsel from Kirkland & Ellis so he wouldn't get the introduction wrong, and then after the hearing he faced an hour of third degree questioning from main counsel why he didn't have enough local knowledge to anticipate the judge's move (but at least he know how to pronounce their names right while groveling for forgiveness).
The idea that the lawyers make money no matter what is what is wrong with the profession. It is a waste of time, and it is a waste of money that hurts clients. I am 3:56 and never said that the parties whose money was wasted was Steve Wynn or Microsoft or that $10,000 in wasted costs was absorbable by the client.
Not sure what more local knowledge could be undertaken when we spoke with the Court Clerk on the 3 days immediately preceding the Calendar Call and were never told any of this information. We confirmed with the Court that the Calendar Call was proceeding. Not sure what "local knowledge to anticipate the judge's move" was missing.
I can see one minor benefit from the exercise but do not think it was worth the value of the monetary costs to the parties.
It forces all of the counsel (and some clients) to be physically present in the same location. Once there, and cooling their jets waiting to be called, it provides an opportunity for the parties to discuss the case and engage in informal settlement discussions.
It is amazing how many times the parties are so dug in for discovery and trial preparation that the idea of discussions to actually resolve the matter or to narrow the issues fails to dawn on them. Many times it takes the heat of a quickly approaching trial, along with it's uncertainty, to get them out of that mode.
Seeing the various juries milling around the courthouse waiting for their cases to resume tends to remind people that your case, no matter the actual merits, will unless voluntarily resolved be decided by 6 out of the dumbest 8 people in the county unable to figure out how to avoid jury duty… A somewhat scary thought.
Guest
Anonymous
August 9, 2018 11:04 pm
I am waiting over a month on court minutes, Judge Cadish. Why?
Come on … she is campaigning. Give her some slack. How can she be expected to do her job (and supervise her clerk) and campaign at the same time. You expect too much 4:04 PM, too much I say!
Court clerks are supervised by the clerks office and are independent of the judge and the rest of the chambers staff. But regardless, a month for minutes is pretty ridiculous.
It would be great if all of our elected officials were honest, forthright, and transparent. And hammer Laxalt for not responding, sure. I'm no fan of his either.
But I'm skeptical that there is any duty, whether the PIO is taxpayer funded or not, for an elected official to respond to requests for comments or inquiries (other than public records requests ) from the press. But I'm sure who will foot the bill to defend the lawsuit – the taxpayers.
I'm glad we have the Indy and I even donated to them (and probably will again). But I'm getting ever more tired of the press's entitled whining about not getting interviews, comments, etc., from electeds. Jeez, get over yourselves already. No one owes you a damn comment.
Accessible Amodei? You mean the douche who had his accessible staff call a high school to rat out a kid for participating politically? That is the accessibility you want?
Guest
Anonymous
August 10, 2018 2:25 pm
Nevada's U.S. Attorney's Office had some job openings about a month or two ago. Has anyone been called for an interview? I applied but haven't heard.
Why do you say that? I go against the government a lot, and government lawyers definitely wield tons of power over my clients and some have a bit of a god complex, which can be annoying when you're on the other side. But I externed at a USAO, and AUSAs appeared before a judge I clerked for, and both experiences made me think being an AUSA would be a great place to work–court time, early responsibility, cases that impact the community by, e.g., getting violent murderers and drug dealers off the streets, pursuing your own idea of justice instead of the interests of a non-always-squeaky-clean client. I don't have as much experience with Nevada's USAO, though. Do you think you're opposed to federal prosecutors in general? Or is there something wrong with the Nevada office in particular?
Federal prosecutors are subject to the dictates of the Attorney General and get marching orders about plea negotiations, charging decisions and priorities which may conflict with what you think is the right thing to do.
While there is a new USA coming in from the outside, the Nevada office has been toxic for awhile—mostly in Las Vegas–the people hate each other, there have been findings of gender bias, people quitting and being demoted. It just is not a happy place.
The Nevada's USAO's office is a nightmare. If you want to get violent murderers off the street, apply with the Clark County DA's office – which has a much better reputation as a decent place to work (although there are few minorities – an issue which should definitely be addressed by Steve). The feds are uptight, have few opportunities for making their own decisions, and all seem pretty miserable.
I definitely worked on prosecution of murderers when I was a lowly intern in another state, but I take your point. The cases were robberies or organized crime cases, and the murders were collateral. I should definitely be a little tighter if I get an interview.
The USAO is completely toxic. Bogden allowed Myrhe to make all of the real decisions; Myrhe instilled a win-at-all-costs attitude in the office which included "ends justifying the means." Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Sexual Harassment? Fine. Backstabbing? If that is what it takes. Burying Brady material? Sure, or at least not producing it until the eve of trial. No I am not against prosecutors. I like them. I used to be with them. But the AUSAs are a special breed of lamia.
Being an AUSA would be a great place to work if you have no ethics and no scruples (which works out well because AUSAs really have very little ethical oversight). Cases that impact the community? You will not be getting bad people off of the street; you will be sending non-violent offenders who screwed up their tax returns to unnecessary, mandatory prison sentences. You will be sending people in possession of minor levels of drugs to harsh and horrifying places.
Pursuing "your own idea of justice." Well now this one might be true if your idea of justice is that pelts on the wall make nice decorations. There is no question but that the concept of "justice" in our USAO is different than any concept of "justice" that I have ever seen anywhere else. I had an AUSA tell me that the philosophy of the office had changed to the cleaner someone was, the more the chiefs took pleasure in dirtying them because deterrence came from making the relatively law-abiding know that no one was immune from the Government. If you have a soul, you will withdraw your application and will live a good life.
I will say that your post is very on point when it comes to the leadership of that office. I disagree when it comes to the rank and file. By and large they are good people who weather the storm of Dan, Cristina and the others as well as they can
While there are some good underlings, the problem is that leadership completely fits that model so that the climbers also all fit that model. You become a Mini-Myrhe, or you move on.
Guest
Anonymous
August 10, 2018 5:01 pm
$600,000 salary for Wynn general counsel– overpaid, underpaid, or just right?
Guest
Anonymous
August 10, 2018 11:41 pm
Depends on how much you'd like Elaine Wynn to be your boss.
Does it really require four firms to fight a single plaintiff case?
The Sun City Anthem idiots deserve what they elect and the 4 law firms are suited to defend a case that appears to be meritorious.
Snell and Wilmer, isn't that the firm that Aaron Ford worked for? They had back taxes owed.
The firm owed back taxes, or just Aaron Ford?
Four firms can be necessary if you have four groups of defendants with potential conflicts of interest.
Ford blames Snell and Wilmer for the back taxes.
Snell and Wilmer blames Ford for playing politics when he should have been billing.
I emailed a co-counsel asking for an invoice, and 15 mins later I got an email from his paralegal with an attachment saying please download excel spreadsheet from microsoft cloud drive. The timing was so perfect I clicked on it, and got a whole bunch of red alert warning from my mac. thinking I was smarter than my mac, i kept dismissing the warnings. Finally I called the paralegal and she told me she hand't sent anything yet. Props to MacOS for protecting me from my own stupidity.
Kudos to the Nevada Supreme Court for again taking the entire month of August off it seems. Last decisions came out on August 3rd. You lazy pieces of crap.
Uh, that's less than a week.
Sure it is less than a week but it is also indicative of this time every year when those sloths decide that they no longer need to be productive to a docket which is already far behind. Just watch their lack of productivity for the month of August.
Nevada attorney to Virginia attorney: you licensed to practice law in Nevada, bro? https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/attorney-for-sisolak-demands-laxalts-legal-counsel-provide-proof-of-ability-to-work-in-nevada/
THE COMPLETE IRONY of this is the attachment letter which is from the state bar, in which the state bar Quotes Matthew 7:15. This is a layered irony. wow
Matthew 7:15 King James Version (KJV)
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
To whom are they referring, themselves?
Interesting that she seems to be representing herself. I mean, if that's your thang and you have nothing better to do, then knock yourself out. But, I'd want to employ experienced defamation counsel.
Oh the irony of the State Bar and its band of ravening wolves. You mean the sheep who tell you to trust us and just hand yourselves over, only to breach their very promises? The OBC are liars who do not abide by the very statements they make and then have no one to regulate them.
I don't know Laura, but her initial C&D letter is a beauty of a bitchslap to Laxalt.
1:07, well said!
Laura is one of the best lawyers in Nevada.
I really enjoyed that letter.
It astounds me that one of Sisolak/Laxalt is going to be the governor of this state. So incredibly sad. A choice between two absolute morons.
Interesting that Myers & Gomel last week had their discipline case decided. $1MM went missing from their Trust Account. Stayed suspension of one year approved.
Malik Ahmad had $25,000 in sanctions awarded to his clients which he liened and took as fees. One year stayed suspension rejected.
Message: Lose $1MM in client funds, you might walk. Lien $25,000 in sanctions and you will be spanked. That is the state of discipline in this state presently.
To the department who made out of state counsel for Plaintiffs and Defendants fly into Las Vegas for a Calendar Call, at which time the court clerk (not the judge) asked both sides to announce ready for trial, required all parties to provide the Clerk with their exhibits, jury instructions and voir dire and then and only then announced that the Judge had a medical procedure two weeks ago, has been out of commission and will be conducting no trials for the foreseeable future so here are your exhibits back, there are no nice words for you.
You wasted $10,000 in legal fees for all of the counsel traveling to Nevada for a Calendar Call that you have known for over one week would not result in a trial and for what purpose? Just to hold everyones' feet to the fire to get ready for a trial that you knew would not be occurring? It is garbage like this that make Nevada courts the laughingstock of the West.
Dear year 4 big-law associate who worked the entire month of July to get ready, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Uv4ftekaI
pay attention at 1:26.
No he spent 3 hours practicing saying the name of main counsel from Kirkland & Ellis so he wouldn't get the introduction wrong, and then after the hearing he faced an hour of third degree questioning from main counsel why he didn't have enough local knowledge to anticipate the judge's move (but at least he know how to pronounce their names right while groveling for forgiveness).
5:48 – good laugh. Thank you.
The idea that the lawyers make money no matter what is what is wrong with the profession. It is a waste of time, and it is a waste of money that hurts clients. I am 3:56 and never said that the parties whose money was wasted was Steve Wynn or Microsoft or that $10,000 in wasted costs was absorbable by the client.
Not sure what more local knowledge could be undertaken when we spoke with the Court Clerk on the 3 days immediately preceding the Calendar Call and were never told any of this information. We confirmed with the Court that the Calendar Call was proceeding. Not sure what "local knowledge to anticipate the judge's move" was missing.
I can see one minor benefit from the exercise but do not think it was worth the value of the monetary costs to the parties.
It forces all of the counsel (and some clients) to be physically present in the same location. Once there, and cooling their jets waiting to be called, it provides an opportunity for the parties to discuss the case and engage in informal settlement discussions.
It is amazing how many times the parties are so dug in for discovery and trial preparation that the idea of discussions to actually resolve the matter or to narrow the issues fails to dawn on them. Many times it takes the heat of a quickly approaching trial, along with it's uncertainty, to get them out of that mode.
Seeing the various juries milling around the courthouse waiting for their cases to resume tends to remind people that your case, no matter the actual merits, will unless voluntarily resolved be decided by 6 out of the dumbest 8 people in the county unable to figure out how to avoid jury duty… A somewhat scary thought.
I am waiting over a month on court minutes, Judge Cadish. Why?
That is a joke. I waited over 4 months om a 3 page order from her. You want more delay on the Supreme, vote for her.
Judges don’t write minutes…
Yeah, that is not a Judge issue, it's a clerk issue.
It is both.
Come on … she is campaigning. Give her some slack. How can she be expected to do her job (and supervise her clerk) and campaign at the same time. You expect too much 4:04 PM, too much I say!
Yes, expecting a judge who we overpay to do their job is too much to ask, that seems to be a recurring them for Ms. Cadish.
Court clerks are supervised by the clerks office and are independent of the judge and the rest of the chambers staff. But regardless, a month for minutes is pretty ridiculous.
Court clerks are supervised by the clerk's office and the judge. Clerks can be removed from a department by a judge.
According to the Indy (https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/accessible-amodei-shows-cocooned-laxalt-and-heller-how-to-do-their-jobs) they are "considering legal action" because Laxalt's taxpayer-paid PIO won't return their calls.
It would be great if all of our elected officials were honest, forthright, and transparent. And hammer Laxalt for not responding, sure. I'm no fan of his either.
But I'm skeptical that there is any duty, whether the PIO is taxpayer funded or not, for an elected official to respond to requests for comments or inquiries (other than public records requests ) from the press. But I'm sure who will foot the bill to defend the lawsuit – the taxpayers.
I'm glad we have the Indy and I even donated to them (and probably will again). But I'm getting ever more tired of the press's entitled whining about not getting interviews, comments, etc., from electeds. Jeez, get over yourselves already. No one owes you a damn comment.
You, the taxpayer, pay for a lot of things related to Laxalt. Don't worry though, your dark forces can't touch him.
Accessible Amodei? You mean the douche who had his accessible staff call a high school to rat out a kid for participating politically? That is the accessibility you want?
Nevada's U.S. Attorney's Office had some job openings about a month or two ago. Has anyone been called for an interview? I applied but haven't heard.
I heard they interviewed for one position but haven't done any interviews for a second position that opened up later.
Do you know if the interview was for Vegas or Reno? I thought I had enough of a story that I'd at least get an interview. Guess not.
Place is toxic.
Why do you say that? I go against the government a lot, and government lawyers definitely wield tons of power over my clients and some have a bit of a god complex, which can be annoying when you're on the other side. But I externed at a USAO, and AUSAs appeared before a judge I clerked for, and both experiences made me think being an AUSA would be a great place to work–court time, early responsibility, cases that impact the community by, e.g., getting violent murderers and drug dealers off the streets, pursuing your own idea of justice instead of the interests of a non-always-squeaky-clean client. I don't have as much experience with Nevada's USAO, though. Do you think you're opposed to federal prosecutors in general? Or is there something wrong with the Nevada office in particular?
Federal prosecutors are subject to the dictates of the Attorney General and get marching orders about plea negotiations, charging decisions and priorities which may conflict with what you think is the right thing to do.
While there is a new USA coming in from the outside, the Nevada office has been toxic for awhile—mostly in Las Vegas–the people hate each other, there have been findings of gender bias, people quitting and being demoted. It just is not a happy place.
The Nevada's USAO's office is a nightmare. If you want to get violent murderers off the street, apply with the Clark County DA's office – which has a much better reputation as a decent place to work (although there are few minorities – an issue which should definitely be addressed by Steve). The feds are uptight, have few opportunities for making their own decisions, and all seem pretty miserable.
Before you interview, you should study up on what kind of cases are brought by the USAO. Not murders.
And it won't be your own idea of justice, it will be Jefferson Beauregard Sessions' idea of justice.
I definitely worked on prosecution of murderers when I was a lowly intern in another state, but I take your point. The cases were robberies or organized crime cases, and the murders were collateral. I should definitely be a little tighter if I get an interview.
The USAO is completely toxic. Bogden allowed Myrhe to make all of the real decisions; Myrhe instilled a win-at-all-costs attitude in the office which included "ends justifying the means." Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Sexual Harassment? Fine. Backstabbing? If that is what it takes. Burying Brady material? Sure, or at least not producing it until the eve of trial. No I am not against prosecutors. I like them. I used to be with them. But the AUSAs are a special breed of lamia.
Being an AUSA would be a great place to work if you have no ethics and no scruples (which works out well because AUSAs really have very little ethical oversight). Cases that impact the community? You will not be getting bad people off of the street; you will be sending non-violent offenders who screwed up their tax returns to unnecessary, mandatory prison sentences. You will be sending people in possession of minor levels of drugs to harsh and horrifying places.
Pursuing "your own idea of justice." Well now this one might be true if your idea of justice is that pelts on the wall make nice decorations. There is no question but that the concept of "justice" in our USAO is different than any concept of "justice" that I have ever seen anywhere else. I had an AUSA tell me that the philosophy of the office had changed to the cleaner someone was, the more the chiefs took pleasure in dirtying them because deterrence came from making the relatively law-abiding know that no one was immune from the Government. If you have a soul, you will withdraw your application and will live a good life.
I will say that your post is very on point when it comes to the leadership of that office. I disagree when it comes to the rank and file. By and large they are good people who weather the storm of Dan, Cristina and the others as well as they can
While there are some good underlings, the problem is that leadership completely fits that model so that the climbers also all fit that model. You become a Mini-Myrhe, or you move on.
$600,000 salary for Wynn general counsel– overpaid, underpaid, or just right?
Depends on how much you'd like Elaine Wynn to be your boss.
I was wondering about the report on PD Phil Kohn. Looks like I'm not the only one wondering when it will be released –
https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/clark-county/sisolak-irked-at-slowness-of-query-into-public-defenders-office/