Rest in Peace, Bob Rust

By John R. Byrne

Robert “Bob” Rust passed away over the weekend. He served as US Attorney in our district from 1969 to the mid 1970s (he and Willy Ferrer our are longest serving US Attorneys). Rust had a significant impact on the office, hiring lawyers like Pat Sullivan, who went on to prosecute Noriega in the early '90s.

 

Before becoming US Attorney, Bob was an AUSA. In that role he helped foil the assassination of then President-elect John F. Kennedy on December 15, 1960 in Palm Beach. The story is wild and worth a read. For his efforts, he received the Award of Merit from the Chief of the U.S. Secret Service. 

 

Rest in peace, Bob. You will be missed. 

Substantive Due Process Fight

By John R. Byrne

A little heavy in terms of content for a summer Friday but still notable. In Eknes-Tucker v. Alabama, the Eleventh Circuit declined to rehear en banc the challenge to an Alabama law that bars providing puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to minors as treatment for gender dysphoria. The order is 170-plus pages. It consists of an opinion from Chief Judge Pryor critiquing the doctrine of substantive due process (noting it "does violence to the text of the Constitution"), an opinion from Judge Lagoa, who issued the panel opinion, recapping specifics of the case as well as recent factual developments, and three dissents (Judge Jordan, Judge Rosenbaum, and Judge Wilson). 

Reading it will take you back to your Con law days.

College football begins in earnest tomorrow. Canes open at the Gators. There’s going to be a lot of trash talking on Monday from one of those fan bases.

Denial of Rehearing by John Byrne on Scribd

David Kendall for President Bill Clinton

FOR THE DEFENSE, SEASON 6, EPISODE 7: David Kendall for President Bill Clinton We have another incredible guest this week -- David Kendall of Williams & Connolly.  David is a friend and one of the best lawyers I know.  We take a deep dive into his defense of President Clinton during the impeachment proceedings back in the late 90s. One of the things we discuss with David on this episode is his cross of independent counsel, Ken Starr. You can read it here. As always, you can catch this and other episodes on the web or on every podcast platform, including Apple and Spotify.  Our thoughts remain with the loved ones of Chris Morvillo, who joined me on the last episode of the podcast.  I said a few words about his tragic loss here. My heart goes out to his daughters and family, his friends, and his colleagues. It's hard to get my head around what happened.  If you'd like to hear more about what an amazing person he was, the video of his interview is here.   One of the great things about this podcast is getting to know truly incredible people.  Chris was one of those.  I hope he, his wife, and the others lost rest in peace.     If you have a friend that would like to receive these updates, please have them sign up here. Thank you! --David   Hosted by David Oscar Markus and produced by rakontur

Life Tenure

John R. Byrne

Federal judges have life tenure. But how long should they serve? In 2023, the average retirement age in the United States was 62 years old. But, according to this recent article from NBC News, the average age of a federal judge is 69. And though federal judges can take senior status starting at age 65, many who are eligible choose not to do so. 

Is there a way to further incentive judges to take senior status when eligible? And is that even necessary? As the article discusses, the average age of those serving in other branches of government has also increased. And in cases where there are concerns about the competency of a federal judge, colleagues have stepped forward to gently (and sometimes not so gently) pressure them to step down. 

What do you think?

Burger King v. Burger King

By John R. Byrne

Know Burger King's connection to Miami? Though the company was originally founded in Jacksonville, it operated there as "Insta-Burger King." In 1954, two Miami-based franchisees bought the company, rebranded it "Burger King," and opened the first location at 3090 Northwest 36th Street in Miami. The rest is history, with Burger King becoming one of the titans of the fast food industry. 

But the company had a recent setback in India when it came up against a formidable opponent: Burger King. An enterprising couple opened an eatery in India in the late '80s and, in 1991, rebranded it "Burger King." When O.G. Burger King caught wind of it, they sued the couple for trademark infringement. An Indian Court just ruled for the couple, noting that they were using the Burger King name before Burger King entered the Indian market. Also, the India Burger King used different imaging, including the picture of a crown between the words "Burger" and "King" (why didn't O.G. Burger King think of that?!).

Maybe McDowell's should consider opening an India location? 

Chris Morvillo feared dead

I am devastated about today's news that superstar lawyer Chris Morvillo, who was set to celebrate the high profile acquittal of Mike Lynch on Lynch's yacht, is feared dead after a tornado hit the anchored ship.  Morvillo's wife and Lynch also are presumed dead. Adding to the tragedy, Lynch's co-defendant, who also was acquitted, died this weekend in an unrelated accident.

I am having a tough time processing what happened.  I had Chris on my podcast just last week.  We had never met before being introduced for the episode, but we became fast friends, emailing about the case and his upcoming adventure. We shared so many good stories about trial work.  We honestly could have made a 3 hour episode and we were both surprised that the hour flew by so quickly. I could tell right away what an amazing guy Chris was. Smart. A fighter. Passionate.  A family guy who spoke glowingly about his children.  

The story of this representation, which lasted over 10+ years, is amazing.  Chris dedicated over a decade of his career to obtaining justice for Mike Lynch.  He got it and then for this to happen.... it's tough to find the right words.

In the last few days, we emailed about the episode and the positive feedback we had been receiving.  He was so excited about the trip. He couldn't wait for his daughters to meet up with him and his wife.  I am so thankful the girls had not yet arrived when this tragedy struck.   

For a guy coming off the win of his career and about to celebrate with his client and family, I cannot imagine a worse tragedy.  I am sick about it.  I am thinking about his two daughters and the rest of his family, his colleagues, and everyone else who knew Chris -- a shining light in our white collar criminal defense world. He will be greatly missed. 

Update -- here's the raw video of the interview with Chris.  I thought it would help show what an incredible guy he was.

Chicken Wings

 Rumpole covers the case of the stolen chicken wings here.  But that wasn't the only chicken wing case in the news.  Apparently the Ohio Supreme Court said boneless wings can have bones.  Stephen Colbert wasn't having it at the 4:21 mark:

Chat with the Chair

By John R. Byrne

Judge Karen K. Caldwell, a district judge from Kentucky, is the Chair of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. That's the panel that decides whether to consolidate civil cases from different districts and, if they are consolidated, to which judge to ship those cases. Our district judges are currently presiding over some large MDLs. But, for many, the JPML's decision making process is mysterious. In the current issue of The Federal Lawyer, our own Judge Ruiz interviewed Caldwell about it. Worth a read, especially if you practice in the MDL space.

The JPML has been around since 1968. Seven district judges currently sit on the panel. Interestingly enough, we've never had a judge from the SDFLA serve as a panel judge and only one Florida district judge, Judge Hodges from the Middle District, has ever served. We need to get to work on that!

Summer2024 Caldwell by John Byrne on Scribd