Live blogging the federal bench and bar conference

Most of you won't be reading this right now because you all are here at the Hollywood Diplomat. This isn't the most exciting way to spend my birthday, but what are you gonna do?

All the judges and magistrates are here. And there are over 500 lawyers here. Pretty unbelievable.

The morning panels were interesting. I was only at the criminal law panels, which were lively and engaging. I hear the civil panels were also good.

Judge Fay is about to do the lunchtime talk. More soon.
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Ben Kuehne event

Just a quick post about the Ben Kuehne fundraiser tonight at Christabelle's Quarter in the Grove. It was extremely well-attended -- of course there were many criminal defense lawyers there, but there were also many civil lawyers and even lawyers from out-of-town, from as far as Pennsylvania. It was packed and it was a nice tribute to Ben. The buzz: will the new administration dump this ridiculous case?

(Full disclosure -- I filed the NACDL amicus brief in favor of the motion to dismiss the case)

Pine Crest swimming coach in huge trouble

Here's Vanessa Blum's coverage of Fort Lauderdale's swimming coach Roberto Caragol, who is accused of having sex with minors and trading porn pictures. Here's the criminal complaint.

Jay Weaver wins award

Well dear readers, I am in the Atlanta airport waiting to come back to Miami after arguing in the 11th Circuit before Judges Carnes, Tjoflat, and Hood. It was an interesting argument concerning venue and multi-object conspiracies. I am sure you all are fascinated.

In any event, here is a link to an article about Jay Weaver's award for his Medicare coverage. Congrats to Jay. Hat tip to BT.

I hope to see you all tomorrow at Ben Kuehne's fundraiser and on Friday at the bench and bar conference.

Justice Stevens and Judge Gonzalez

U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens and District Judge Jose Gonzalez spoke yesterday at the University of Florida. Here's the UF newspaper article about the event:

Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, of the U.S. Supreme Court, and Jose A. Gonzalez Jr., U.S. District Court Judge, agreed on a litany of legal issues at an on–campus discussion Monday.Stevens and Gonzalez gave advice and commented on the legal system to about 1,000 people at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in the inaugural event of the Marshall Criser Distinguished Lecture Series.Two UF law professors and a third–year law student asked the two men questions submitted by law students during the “conversation.”
Stevens and Gonzalez both agreed that legal opinions have gotten too long, and that it might be influenced by the introduction of computers.“It’s a lot easier to type something up than it is to write it out, especially if you have lousy handwriting,” Stevens said.When Stevens said he was a fan of footnotes, but thought they were optional reading, Larry Dougherty, the third–year law student, interjected.“Justice Stevens, some of our professors here have us under the impression that footnotes are required reading,” he said to laughter from the audience.Sharon E. Rush, one of the two law professors asking questions, assured the audience she still wants her students to read footnotes.Getting a little more serious, Gonzalez talked about the issue of judges’ salaries, saying they are not paid what they are worth.“We’re spending billions of dollars on the war in Iraq, and we can’t afford to compensate a handful of federal judges. That’s crazy,” he said, to perhaps the loudest applause of the conversation.Stevens agreed and complimented Gonzalez on his eloquence.When asked what advice they would give to the law students, Gonzalez joked he would give the same advice he’s given other people: “Don’t sue people that don’t have any money because there’s no future in it.”Stevens advised students to develop a reputation as a person of honor.“Nothing is more important to a lawyer than his word,” he said.In one of the last questions of the event, both judges agreed on which Supreme Court justice in the nation’s history they would speak to if they had the chance: Justice John Marshall.“He was a very interesting man who lived in very interesting times, and he had a very interesting personality,” Gonzalez said.

"We are the red-headed, jug-eared freckle-faced, buck toothed bastard stepchildren of the federal government."

That's Kathy Williams, the Federal Defender of our District, in The Daily Business Review article that covers her and her office here. Another great quote from Kathy in this glowing article: "Your mechanic and your plumber makes more than a CJA lawyer."

She is the best federal defender in the nation so this article is well-deserved. And yes, she is my former boss so I am biased.

Friday news and notes

1. Ellen Podger's wish list for Obama and the next AG on white collar criminal issues.

2. Julie Kay covers Ben Kuehne's fundraiser.

3. Vanessa Blum is all over the federal courts.

4. Jay Weaver is on top of medicare fraud.

5. Lanier Anderson is taking senior status in January. Who is going to take his slot?

6. Justice Scalia is sorry for being mean and wrong.

UBS exec indicted in tax probe

Very interesting case. (Here's the AP and the Daily Business Review) All of the criminal defense lawyers in town were scanning the paper this morning to see who represented defendant Raoul Weil, a top executive at UBS. Weil isn't here in the US, but he hired New York lawyer Aaron R. Marcu from Covington & Burling. Here's the indictment.

I still haven't figured out formatting with this new Blackberry Bold, so I will post more info and the indictment when I get to the office later today. In the meantime, anything going on that you all wanna discuss?