Happy Festivus....

...for the rest of us!

Names being floated for U.S. Attorney

According to the Miami Herald, there are 4 potential candidates:

▪[Roy] Altman, a lawyer with Podhurst Orseck, is a former federal prosecutor in Miami who obtained convictions in several major cases, including the trial of an international sex trafficker and the murder trial of a U.S. postal worker. He also served as deputy chief of the office’s special prosecutions section and played a lead role in its violence reduction partnerships in the communities of Overtown, Liberty City and Miami Gardens. A Yale Law School alumnus, Altman graduated from Columbia University and played on its football and baseball teams.
▪[John] Couriel prosecuted economic and major criminal cases at the U.S. attorney’s office before joining the law firm Kobre Kim, specializing in Latin America with a focus on allegations of foreign corruption violations, money laundering and tax evasion. He has also run twice unsuccessfully for the Florida Legislature. A native Spanish speaker, Couriel graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
▪ [Dan] Fridman, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Miami, prosecuted economic, financial and corruption cases before serving as senior counsel to the Deputy Attorney General of the United States and as special counsel for healthcare fraud at the Department of Justice. Now a partner at White & Case, Fridman is a native speaker of Spanish and Portuguese who helps multinational companies operating in the U.S. and Latin America investigate allegations of fraud, kickbacks and bribery of government officials. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Harvard Law School.
▪ [Jon] Sale is co-chair of Broad and Cassel’s white-collar defense and compliance practice, representing corporations and individuals in grand jury investigations and complex criminal cases. He is also a member of the Federal Judicial Nominating Commission that reviews and recommends prospective judges to Florida’s two U.S. senators and the president. Sale previously served as the second-in-command of the U.S. attorney’s office in South Florida, after prosecuting federal cases in New York and Connecticut. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and NYU Law School, Sale was also an assistant special prosecutor for the Justice Department in the Watergate case that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article122285379.html#storylink=cpy

John Schlesinger on Jury Service

State Circuit Judge John Schlesinger (and former AUSA in the SDFLA) wrote an op-ed in the Miami Herald about jury service.  The conclusion:

Jury service means sacrifice. Miami’s civil courthouse, built nearly 100 years ago, is in deplorable condition. Jurors arrive having steeled themselves for a day of waiting patiently in the jury assembly room before enduring the tedious process of questioning at the hands of the judge and lawyers, and then, at last, hearing the facts of a case and rendering a decision. For their trouble they get inadequate seating, inadequate parking, inadequate bathrooms and outdated and undersized courtrooms. Plus, they’ll have to go elsewhere to find a decent cup of coffee.

But the rewards of serving on a jury and ensuring that justice prevails in a courtroom are immeasurable. Jurors represent protection, a bulwark against powerful societal interests and a sometimes rapacious government, none of whom has a monopoly on the truth. And with today’s all-volunteer military, it is the only significant sacrifice, other than taxation, that our country still asks of us as citizens.

The next time that notice comes in the mail, don’t think of it as an imposition. Don’t call or text me to ask how to get out of it. Consider it an opportunity to be soldier in the cause of justice.

And, for God’s sake, bring your own coffee.

Merry Christmas from the White House

President Obama pardoned 78 people yesterday and commuted another 153 sentences (via the AP).  It's the big push before the end of the year.  Good for the President!  It will be interesting to see how the drug laws are enforced under the new administration and whether all of this work will be undone.

Here's the full list of pardons/commutations via the Washington Post.

What do judges think when a party uses "sic" to point out mistakes in the other lawyer's motion?

Everyone enjoyed making fun of PE Trump's "unpresidented" tweet this weekend.  Lawyers also like to [sic] their opponents (me included), but I wonder what judges and their clerks think of it.

SCOF and SCOTUS happenings

1.  Gov. Scott appointed Alan Lawson to the Florida Supreme Court.  Via The Miami Herald:

Gov. Rick Scott appointed C. Alan Lawson to be Florida’s next justice of the Supreme Court Friday, choosing a conservative appellate judge to leave the governor’s mark on a moderate court that has been responsible for some of sharpest defeats of his political career.Lawson, who currently serves as the chief judge on the 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach fills the seat on the seven-member court that is being vacated by Justice James E.C. Perry, a liberal jurist who is retiring at the end of the month because he has reached the mandatory retirement age. Perry was the the fourth African-American jurist to serve on Florida’s high court. Lawson is white.
***
Lawson attended high school in Tallahassee, went to Tallahassee Community College and Clemson University and earned his law degree from Florida State University.
Before law school he worked at the Florida Department of Corrections as a legislative liaison and was a candidate for the state House of Representatives from Tallahassee in 1986. After he passed the Bar he worked in private practice before becoming an assistant county attorney in Orange County in 1997. He was appointed to the trial court by former Gov. Jeb Bush in 2002.
He has worked for additional funding for the court system, particularly for technology.
Lawson’s wife, Julie, is a board member and volunteer for Mi Esperanza, a non-profit corporation that provides micro loans to underprivileged women in Honduras. They have two grown children.

2.  And for the Supreme Court of the United States, it's supposedly down to two candidates, including 11th Circuit's William Pryor.  Via CNN:

It will be some time before Donald Trump announces a nominee to fill the vacancy left by Antonin Scalia, according to transition insiders.

But two names continue to emerge to the top of the president elect's list of potential Supreme Court justices. Judges Diane Sykes and William Pryor are among the top contenders, according to multiple sources familiar with the process.

All in the family

Judge Moreno has named a new special master in the Takata Air Bag litigation.  Former law clerk John Delionado has resigned, and Judge Moreno handed the reigns over to another former clerk, Ryan Stumphauzer.  From the DBR:

U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno named Delionado's replacement hours after the Hunton & Williams attorney filed his resignation on Monday.
"My private practice has taken increasingly more of my time in recent months and I believe that I am no longer able to meet the time requirements that this matter demands," wrote the Miami lawyer, a former federal prosecutor who now defends businesses accused of corruption and fraud. "I have discussed this with Judge Moreno and want to extend to him my deepest appreciation for bestowing this honor upon me."
Stumphauzer also served as a federal prosecutor with a focus on health care fraud. His practice now concentrates on government regulatory enforcement, white-collar crime, internal investigations, whistleblower lawsuits and civil fraud, according to his firm's website.
Delionado and Stumphauzer's resumes have another thing in common: Both lawyers once clerked for Moreno.
Attorneys on the Takata case have two weeks to submit objections to Stumphauzer's appointment. He has assured Moreno that the case would present no conflicts for him. The parties will equally split the special master's $550 hourly fee.

Rapper Brisco in trouble with the Feds

From Paula McMahon:

South Florida rapper Brisco, wanted by the U.S. Secret Service since August, was arrested this week when he made a guest appearance with another musician in Broward County, agents said.

Brisco has performed and recorded with Lil' Wayne, Rick Ross and DJ Khaled. Lil' Wayne signed him to Cash Money Records.

Brisco, whose real name is British Mitchell, 34, is accused of selling counterfeit money to an undercover agent and taking part in a fraud ring that operated in South Florida, authorities said. Mitchell is linked to at least $200,000 worth of illegal activity, investigators said.

Agents testified that Mitchell led law enforcement on two high-speed chases when different agencies tried to arrest him in Broward County and in Miami-Dade County on Aug. 23. One of the chases reached speeds of 90 to 100 mph and both agencies abandoned their pursuits because of the potential danger to the public, investigators said.