Judge Davis' memorial service

It was a real tribute. So many friends, colleagues, judges, family turned out to pay their respects. Judge Graham spoke beautifully about Judge Davis, as did Ned Davis (the judge's son). We all shared stories about him over drinks, as he would have liked.

Chief Judge Moreno was in Europe and sent this email regarding Judge Davis:

He was a great man and a good friend. I tried cases before him and found him to be the perfect example of a judge I should emulate but whose qualities of patience,fairness and moderation I could never attain. The 10 years we were colleagues were an incredible experience that made him my best friend on the court. When I became Chief we continued our friendship lunching at Abbracci often where I welcomed his sage advice. What a great human being. I consider this loss like losing a second father within 2 months, as I lost my dad in March. I have been in Europe for the last two weeks and do not return until after the funeral. Please explain my absence at the Biltmore to Pat Davis as well as those others (past law clerks,AUSAs, FPDs, private lawyers) personally or even through your blog.Have fun on Thursday and toast to him as that is what Ned would want all of us to do. FAM

Judge Graham and Judge Ungaro go to Uganda

Judges Graham and Ungaro recently participated in a training program for Judges, lawyers, law enforcement personnel, court administrators and others in Jinja, Uganda. Beth Sreenan also participated as the DOJ representative. From what I understand, it was a great experience.

In other Monday afternoon news, the DBR covers the honest services fraud debate here. And they even have a video:



AFTERNOON UPDATE -- Very sad news: there's been a shooting at the Las Vegas Federal Courthouse leaving a court security office dead, and a marshal in critical condition. The shooter has been shot dead. The link above is from the local Las Vegas paper, which also has a video. Terrible news.

Judge Graham is looking for a law clerk...

... to start now! Here's the vacancy posting.

Also check out SFLawyer for good coverage of Judge Jordan's recent dismissal of a case involving a lesbian woman and her children who were not allowed to visit her dying partner's bedside at Jackson. The Herald's story is here. The NYT piece is here.

I'm back

Hey everyone. I'm back. A big shout out to Vanessa Blum for filling in last week while I was out tending to the new Markus bambina.

Speaking of Vanessa, you all should go over here to the South Florida Daily Blog and vote for her and Dore for their guest-blogging on the interviews of the district judge and U.S. Attorney applicants. (UPDATE -- I just checked and we're in second. Come on people... Go vote!)

Judge Graham is back from his summer vacation and picked up the prestigious William H. Hastie award at the National Bar Association Convention in San Diego presented by the Judicial Council.

Another NG for the FPD's office last week. This time Ayana H. and Sowmya B. pick up the win in an illegal reentry case.

Good guy Dan Rashbaum has left the U.S. Attorney's office and has joined Matt Menchel in the Miami office of Kobre Kim.

Nick Bogert is moving to Chicago after 30 years of reporting in South Florida. He's having a party on Saturday, August 22 from 7-10PM at Pacific Time Restaurant 35 NE 40th St., Miami. Go wish Nick well. (I remember one exchange I had with Nick a couple years back, after the Gilberto Rodriguez-Orejuella plea. There was a mass of cameras waiting for us outside of court, and I said that Gilberto was honorable for saving his family and not snitching; Nick yelled "Are you claiming that Gilberto Rodriguez is an honorable man after everything that he has done?" It was a fair question, and I stood by my answer.)

Dore Louis is tall.

Here are the pictures from the FACDL banquet which took place a few weeks back, where Judge Hoeveler was honored. (So were the Liberty City lawyers and Ben Brummer). Hector Flores is the new president. And at the link, you'll see pictures of Judges Hoeveler and Graham, Magistrates Garber and O'Sullivan, former Florida Supreme Court Justice Kogan, FPD Kathy Williams and soon-to-be former USA Alex Acosta. And Dore Louis, who is very tall.

Ceremony for Judge Graham

Here are pictures (yes, they were taken with my phone so they aren't so good) from yesterday's really nice award ceremony for Judge Graham:

Judge Graham accepting the award, surrounded by his law clerks.

Judge Graham's staff, who he thanked during his acceptance speech.

Judge Reggie Walton, a district judge from DC, gave a really funny talk about Judge Graham. They were college roommates. George Knox, Chief Judge Moreno, and Martin Raskin also spoke.

There's the Chief and the back of Judge Palermo's head.

Judge Graham and Judge Hoeveler.

Helio Castroneves

I was at the courthouse today and popped into the Castroneves trial. I lasted there about 5 minutes. After the DOJ prosecutor asked the following question, I left: "Now, we've been discussing general ledgers for some time -- please explain to the jury what a general ledger is."

I promise that I am blogging this back at my office and not inside the courtroom.

Here's more on that issue from the Palm Beach Post.

And now I get to post another picture:

Speaking of the Castroneves case, Judge Graham is being honored today at the University of Miami: he's receiving the William M. Hoeveler Award for ethics and leadership in the legal profession.

Judge Graham to receive prestigious award

Congrats to Judge Donald Graham who is receiving the William M. Hoeveler Award for ethics and leadership in the legal profession from the University of Miami School of Law Center for Ethics & Public Service. The reception is at 4pm on March 25th and the ceremony is at 4:30. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to Susan Nelson at 305-284-3934.