Thursday, April 12, 2012

Bob Dylan, Judge Goodman, and my dad

OK, so it's a very blurry picture. Sorry!

Anyway, Magistrate Judge Goodman spoke this afternoon at the federal bar luncheon series on Rock & Roll and judicial opinions. Fun stuff. Prizes were even given away...

Of course, Bob Dylan was referenced a bunch.

Speaking of Bob Dylan, check out this opinion from the 11th Circuit dealing with Dylan's song "Hurricane."

 My dad, Stuart Markus, represented the plaintiff and got to take Dylan's depo. The way he tells the story is that he was on one side of the conference room table, and Dylan with a dozen lawyers were on the other side...

Here's the song:

5 comments:

Calli said...

Stu is the embodiment of the old- school Miami trial attorney. He would try anything, at the drop of a hat. Fearless. Not flashy. Toiled in relative anonymity, and liked it that way. Most comfortable in a court room. Discovery or bad facts never got in the way of the defense he crafted and delivered in concise fashion. Juries love him.

When you were still in law school (Miami for your first 5 semesters, before you transferred to night school at Harvard for one semester) Stu and I represented the same client who had two separate cases. Johnny Sanders. The client was a charming, charismatic person, who happened to be an habitual offender. Two serious cases against him, one more serious than the other. Either one would have earned him a 15 year min man, and likely more. Stu took the more defensible case and a reasonable fee (for a reasonable doubt), the client was declared indigent and I was appointed to the less defensible case. Stu then filed a demand for speedy trial (I think he hand wrote the demand in court and had the clerk stamp the "motion") so he could try his case before mine, took no depos, seated 5 women his age on the jury, and the kernel of his defense was "WHERE'S THE BEEF!" which he bellowed often in his opening and closing (anyone over 45 remembers the Wendy's commercial...) The juoros giggled. The young prosecutor didn't understand.

After the Not Guilty Verdict, he shook my hand, gave me the Stu smile and said "ok kid, its all up to you."

The whole trial I had to listen to Johnny say "Stu would've done it this way...."

Rumpole said...

True story- I quoted from length from the song in a federal trial and my client was acquitted. I remember the trial well as the verdict was on the Friday before new years eve 1999. My opening line of the closing: "welcome to the last trial of the millennium"

It's a great song.

Anonymous said...

"ME, ME , ME , ME, ME! FEDERAL TRIAL! ACQUITAL!"

N.B.

Narcissistic personality disorder is a pervasive disorder characterized by self-centeredness and an exaggerated sense of self-importance.

Nuff said. Stay on your state court blog.

Anonymous said...

If anything is clear from Rumphole's blog is that he's never tried a case.

Anonymous said...

totally agree. poseur wannabe. cause if youre the real deal, you dont have to go around telling people so....and being stupid and talking about your ski trips and plane flights and federal trials.

tickey lawyer. no page ese ticke