Monday, April 06, 2009

Bad times for lawyers

The Herald's business section has a long piece on how the tough economy is affecting lawyers. And Julie Kay makes a special guest appearance here. (UPDATE -- Julie wrote the long piece as well, but they cut her name out of the byline!). One of the recruiters quoted in the article has this happy thought for lawyers who have been laid off: "Think about learning a new practice area or even a new career."


In other news, Jay Weaver has the latest on the Helio Castroneves case. Here's a small part of the article and the necessary picture:

Castroneves' lawyers maintain he owes no taxes on the Coimex earnings because the payments were made to his father, who lives in Brazil and once supported his son's career. As for the racer's Penske income, the money went to a Dutch annuity account -- income that Castroneves will start receiving next month, when he intends to pay his taxes.
The prosecution's portrayal of Castroneves as a chiseler could undercut his charismatic profile -- he's also known for winning the Dancing With the Stars reality TV show -- in the eyes of 12 federal jurors. As his trial wraps up this week, they will soon decide the fate of Castroneves, 33, his sister/manager, Katiucia Castroneves, 35, and his attorney, Alan R. Miller, 71, of Michigan.
They're charged with conspiring to evade paying taxes on $5.5 million in income between 1999 and 2004. If convicted, they could each face five to 10 years in prison.
Such an outcome would crush the racing star's career.
Whatever their decision, the jurors' verdict will come just after the start of the IndyCar Racing season, which got under way Sunday with the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg -- a race that Castroneves won in 2006 and 2007. For this season, Penske has replaced Castroneves, a two-time Indy 500 winner, with Will Power.




13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty sure that's not Julianne. If it is, that's the worst picture she's ever taken. Here's a much better one: Link

David Oscar Markus said...

No, that's Jenny Garth!

Anonymous said...

David, dude, get with the program. No one visits your Blog to see pictures of Jenny Garth. Stick with Julianne and the Blog gods will continue to reward you.

Anonymous said...

10:54 AM DUDE:

No one uses "dude" anymore. It's lame. And for the record, you're lame for leaving such a stupid comment.

The Blog gods hate you.

David Oscar Markus said...

Easy there 2:12. I found the comment sorta funny, and I use the word dude....

Rumpole said...

First you have bloggers block. Then you slip a post in on Sunday and steal my turf.

What's going on dude? You don't see me blogging on about tax cases. Come on dude.

Anonymous said...

va va va voom....great link 9:44

Anonymous said...

dude we need some more brooke burke photos

Anonymous said...

Here you go Chumps.

http://image003.mylivepage.com/chunk3/15616/14/BrookeBurke001vv1024.jpg

Anonymous said...

FOLKS: People need to listen up as to how dangerous this prosecution of Castroneves is. This should have been a civil case. There is no evidence that Helio or his sister are tax experts and did anything but rely on their accountants and others. They will be acquitted. Indicting Helio and his lawyer without evidence that they personally had any intent to commit a tax fraud sets a very dangerous precedent. This U.S. Attorney's Office is completely out of control.

Anonymous said...

Hey 6:25: This US Attorney's office does not decide who to indict in tax cases. The are permitted or directed to by DOJ. There seems to be ample evidence to convict, but clearly enough to go to jury. Especially in light of the second omitted item. An acquittal if one be had, will not be indicative of actual guilt. The defendants' shenanigans are rather pedestrian for tax evaders and easily recognized. This will be a civil case, and Helio will lose his ass. Dont matter, if he is convicted and not remanded, he will likely scoot.

Anonymous said...

6:25p: that is what a jury is for - to decide if they had intent to commit tax evasion or not, you twit.

Anonymous said...

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/04/07/washington/AP-Stevens.html

How bout' getting on this one. Yikes. If prosecutors in the SD Fla. were ever prosecuted for Criminal Contempt:

(1) Who do you think a judge is likely to appoint to handle it;

(2) Which judge would be most likely to order it; and,

(3) Who would be most likely to be approached to defend it?