Changes

By Michael Caruso

The federal judiciary has recognized that diversity and inclusion are essential values in our legal system. "Diversity on the bench and among our courtroom and chambers staff is critical to serving a diverse population," said Judge Raymond A. Jackson of the Eastern District of Virginia. "It's important that the court is reflective of the community it serves." This is particularly true of those chosen to clerk on the United States Supreme Court.

Judge (soon to be Justice) Ketanji Brown Jackson has put these words into action. Judge Jackson recently hired Kerrel Murray, an associate professor at Columbia Law School, Natalie Salmanowitz, a law clerk at Hogan Lovells, and Michael Qian, an associate at Morrison & Foerster.

Judge Jackson's other hire is Claire Madill. Ms. Madill practices locally—at the Palm Beach County Public Defender's Office! I don't know the exact number of Supreme Court clerks who have been hired  from a public defender's office, but the number has to be exceedingly small. 

In addition to being a public defender, Ms. Madill also is a co-founder of Law Clerks for Workplace Accountability. This group advocates for stronger anti-harassment measures across the federal judiciary. Ms. Madill's hire and work with this group are timely, given the report this week about a disturbing workplace study conducted for the federal trial and appeals courts in D.C.

As the saying goes, "personnel is policy." Choosing a young public defender—one who has a proven commitment to the public interest—is an excellent policy. Praise to Judge Jackson, and congratulations to Ms. Madill!

 

Congrats to Clerk Noble

 

Great to get together again for the @federalbar PBC Ch Ryskamp Award lunch. Congrats to this year’s honoree, Angela Noble, Clerk of Court for the SD of Fl, who gave a memorable acceptance speech that got a standing ovation.@TheFlaBar @uscourts #barevents#federalpractice pic.twitter.com/Wbjl57bMrZ

— Herman Law, P.A. (@WhiteCollar_Law) May 17, 2022

RIP Jack Blumenfeld (UPDATED)

Papa Jack was a great guy and wonderful lawyer.

Rumpole has a nice post about him here.

UPDATE-- From the Blumenfeld family:

On Sunday, May 15, 2022, Jack R. Blumenfeld, loving husband, brother, father and grandfather, passed away at age 79 surrounded by his loved ones.
His funeral will take place on Wednesday, May 18 at 9:30am at Temple Judea,
5500 Granada Blvd, Coral Gables, FL. The service will be live streamed here
for those who can't make it: https://bit.ly/3lnfi1L
We ask that you give the family time to grieve during this difficult time.
We will be monitoring Jack's Facebook messages if you have any questions.

UPDATE 2-- From the comments by Michael Caruso:

This is very sad news. As David wrote, Jack was a kind and caring man in addition to being an excellent lawyer.

I first met Jack when I was a young-ish lawyer. I received a call from Judge Gold to represent a potential defense witness that Jack wanted to call.

Jack's client—Jose Miguel Battle, Sr., was on trial for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Apparently, Battle caught my client on his property, picking maymey. After a brief dust-up, they became friends. Because they were friends, Battle let my client hunt on his large property. After one such hunting adventure, my client left his shotgun at Battle's house. Of course, this shotgun formed the basis for the indictment. Despite my client's testimony, the jury convicted.

I'm grateful I had this experience. Spending this brief time with Jack and watching him in trial was a highlight of my early career. And I can't remember a subsequent encounter with Jack that didn't leave me with a smile on my face. He'll be missed.

Finally, for those old enough to forget or too young to remember—Battle led quite a notorious life—from the Bay of Pigs to being described as the "Cuban Godfather" here in the U.S. Here are some links to stories about his life. Jack's quoted prominently.

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2007-08-07-0708060320-story.html

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-cuban-gangster-who-mysteriously-refused-to-die

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/jose-miguel-battle-jr-head-of-cuban-mafia-ring-la-corporacion-released-from-prison-9830697

FACDL Banquet

It was the big FACDL-Miami shindig this weekend. 

It was a lot of fun and a wonderful group of award winners, including Judge Raag Singhal (The Gerald Kogan Award), Michael Caruso (President's Award), Elliot Scherker (Daniel-Pearson-Harry Prebish Award), and Frank Quintero (Against All Odds Award). 

Outgoing President Kevin Hellman gave very uplifting remarks and we welcomed Michael Davis as the new President, who was sworn in by Judge Kevin Emas. Margot Moss presented the Gideon's Hope Scholarship and Judge Milton Hirsch swore in the new officers. 

Brad Horenstein did a wonderful job officiating the entire event. Below are some pictures from the event.

 

New beginnings

 1.    Congrats to fellow blogger John Byrne and his new partner Frank Maderal for their new firm Maderal Byrne.  Two great guys.  The DBR covers it here.

 2.   UM has a new law dean, David Yellen.  From the DBR:

David Yellen, who has served as chief executive officer of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver since June 2021, is set to become the new dean of the University of Miami School of Law on July 1.

When Yellen departs later this month, Brittany Kauffman will serve as interim CEO of IAALS, where she has served as a director for nine years, according to IAALS’s announcement.

Patricia D. White had served as dean of Miami Law from 1999 to 2008 and again from 2009 to 2019. Succeeding her, Anthony Varona was dean for two years.

Varona, who is slated to become dean of Seattle University School of Law on July 1, was fired by the University of Miami in May 2021, a decision that riled the law school’s faculty and outraged many of Varona’s fellow law deans across the country.

University president Julio Frenk had said in a May 25 message to the law school community that Varona attributed Varona’s ouster to lackluster fundraising. Frenk’s vague explanation and refusal to provide additional clarity on the reasons for Varona’s firing prompted speculation among legal educators across the country and at the law school that other factors may be at play. Varona is the law school’s first Latino and openly gay dean.

Following Varona’s departure, Stephen J. Schnably served as dean for approximately six weeks until Nell J. Newton was appointed as interim dean in August.

 

Congrats to the two new magistrate judges

Ed Sanchez and Penny Augustin-Birch.

One prosecutor and one PD.

Two good people.

Excellent.

President Biden nominations for U.S. Sentencing Commission

 Finally!  See them here. Some great choices, like John Gleeson and Laura Mate.  You all know Gleeson well.  But you may not know Laura Mate.  Here's the summary:

Laura Mate has served as the Director of Sentencing Resource Counsel, a project of the Federal Public and Community Defenders in the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Arizona, since 2021 and from 2010 to 2021 was a member of Sentencing Resource Counsel. From 2001 to 2010, Ms. Mate served in the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Washington in various roles, including as Assistant Federal Public Defender. Ms. Mate was an associate at Perkins Coie LLP from 1998 to 2001.

Ms. Mate received her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1998 and her B.A. from Kenyon College in 1992.

Leaks

 Politico has another story this morning with more SCOTUS leaks.  This time, Politico reports that the Alito draft opinion in Dobbs is still the only opinion that has circulated.  No dissents yet.  Interesting.

Meantime, in our court, the district judges will have their meeting today to decide who the two new magistrate judges will be.  The two will be chosen from this list:

Augustin-Birch, Panayotta Diane

Brown, Bruce Ontareo

Katz, Randall D.

Marlow, Elena Margarita

Moon, Stefanie Camille

Sanchez, Eduardo Ignacio

St. Peter-Griffith, Ann Marie

Zaron, Erica Sunny Shultz

From what I hear, the district judges fought pretty hard at the last few selection meetings.  Perhaps not like the Dobbs justices, but still... 

I will let you all know as soon as I hear.  Good luck to the candidates.