Looking to Hire a Federal Law Clerk?

By John R. Byrne

As more and more national law firms open up shops in Miami, the market for hiring federal law clerks is more competitive than ever. If only there was a convenient place where said law clerks might congregate one evening to be pitched by prospective employers. Wait--there is! Each year, the Federal Bar Association puts on a Law Clerk Reception. This year, it's being held on April 16, 2026 at the Gunster law firm in Fort Lauderdale between 6 and 8 p.m. More details here.

Tom Goldstein moves for JOA

The federal criminal justice system is so messed up -- there are no motions for summary judgment.  There are no depos.  So if you want to get rulings about the validity of a case, you pretty much have to go to trial and risk a sentence 5x as long as if you plead.  It's so wrong in so many ways.  

This leads us to SCOTUSblogger's Tom Goldstein's motion for judgment of acquittal.  Bloomberg covers it here:

Tom Goldstein, the US Supreme Court advocate and ultra high-stakes poker player convicted of tax and loan-related offenses in late February, is asking the judge who presided over the six-week trial to toss the jury’s verdict.

Goldstein’s motion for acquittal or, in the alternative, a new trial challenges, among other things, the court’s jury instructions on accessory liability and willful blindness. It was filed Monday in the US District Court for the District of Maryland.

The error in the instructions on accessory liability alone requires a retrial on every every count, Goldstein claims. General “charging instructions” failed to advise the jury that aiding and abetting liability required finding another guilty principal; willful conduct by Goldstein; and an affirmative act, not merely an omission, the motion says.

The instructions also failed to advise the jury that finding him guilty for causing “an act that would be an offense if directly performed by him or another” required it to find that Goldstein intended that the substantive offenses be committed.

Further, Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby granted the government’s request to eliminate the accessory instructions detailing aiding and abetting requirements after the parties delivered their closing arguments. It’s a violation of a procedural rule that Goldstein says was “undoubtedly prejudicial” in this case.

Doing so “changed accessory liability from essentially a non-issue in the case to a serious basis on which to convict,” the motion argues. If defense counsel had known the jury would be permitted to find accessory liability without finding that some other principal committed every element of the substantive offense, they would have taken the issue on at closing, the motion said.

Cafecitos on Capitol Hill

 By John R. Byrne

Each year, the Federal Bar Association heads to Capitol Hill to talk to lawmakers about issues facing our federal judges. The focus this year was an increase in funding for judicial security and getting more judgeships to deal with the rising caseload. The judgeships issue is somewhat of a political football--neither party wants the other one to get to fill the first set of new ones. So, we discussed another solution, increasing the amount of controversy for federal diversity cases. Congress, apparently, is toying with the idea of $150,000 or even, possibly, $500,000. Stay tuned.

An issue that wasn't controversial? The naming of the new federal courthouse in Broward. The plan is to introduce a bill to name it after Judge Dimitrouleas and all the staffers and reps we spoke with were enthusiastically on board with the dedication (and that was even after lawyer Oliver Ruiz spelled Judge D's entire name for the staffers). The bill, which Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is taking the lead on, could be introduced very soon.

One of the day's highlights was Congressman Carlos Gimenez, Congress's only Cuban-born representative, serving the Miami contingent his special brand of cafecito (pictured above). Best one I've ever had. Must be his secret weapon when trying to swing votes. 

Report from the Rivera Trial

By John R. Byrne

I couldn't stop by the King building to catch the action myself. But a few SDFLA blog "special correspondents" were on the scene and reported the following:

AUSA Harry Schimkat's direct examination of Secretary Rubio was well-done--"concise, direct, efficient, and organized." It also produced some moments of levity. Take the following:

Question:  "Sir, are you employed?" (Laughter)

Answer: “Yes, I actually have two jobs. Secretary of State of the United States of America and National Security Advisor for the President of the United States." (More laughter) 

Later, Secretary Rubio testified that he served as a U.S. Senator for Florida until he was confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of State “99-0.” That prompted this line from Judge Damian: “Better than me.” (Laughter again)

On cross, defense attorneys scored some points too. In response to questioning from David Markus, Rubio agreed that Esther Nuhfer, Rivera's co-defendant, was "trustworthy," "acted in good faith," was "generous as a person," and was "strongly opposed to socialism in Venezuela." And, more specific to the charges, Rubio agreed that Nuhfer never lobbied him for anything. Jay Weaver for the Herald covers it here.

Still a lot more to come in this case. But yesterday made some history. According to Newsweek, Secretary Rubio is the first sitting member of the president's Cabinet to testify in a criminal trial in 43 years. The last one? Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan, who testified at a mafia trial in 1983.

Secretary of State Testifies Today

By John R. Byrne

We have a Secretary of State testifying this morning. Marco Rubio will be at the King building to testify in the trial of David Rivera. Rivera is accused of unregistered lobbying for the Venezuelan government during the first Trump administration. David Markus and Ed Shohat for the defense. CBS covers it here. This has to be the first time a sitting Secretary of State has testified in a SDFLA trial, but maybe one of our SDFLA historians will say otherwise.

I hear space in Judge Damian's courtroom is at a premium, so good luck to those trying to get a seat. 

Miami's Women in Leadership

By Jordi C. Martínez-Cid

Miami is unique in that it is the only major U.S. city founded by a woman. Julia Tuttle, the Mother of Miami, would be proud to know that Miami is (probably) the only major U.S. city with a woman in nearly every leadership role. On Friday at Amal in Coconut Grove, the Cuban American Bar Association recognized those women, including Chief Judge Altonaga. The other honorees were: Ariana Fajardo Orshan, Chief Judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit (and former U.S. Attorney for our district); Daniella Levine Cava, Mayor of Miami-Dade County; Eileen Higgins, Mayor of Miami; Rosie Cordero-Stutz, Miami-Dade Sheriff; Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade State Attorney; and Alina Garcia, Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections. Congratulations to all the honorees.

(Left to right: Haydee Sera, Chief Judge Altonaga, Amanda Fernandez)

Judge James W. Kehoe

 By John R. Byrne

Happy Friday, everybody. Today we remember Judge James Kehoe, who served on our court for nearly twenty years (from 1979 to 1998). Before his federal judicial service, Judge Kehoe had a long career on the state court bench. He served fourteen years as a state circuit court judge (1963-1977) and two years as a state appellate judge on the Third DCA (1977-1979). 

Then there was football. Judge Kehoe attended the University of Florida on a football scholarship and served as a college football referee during his years of judicial service. I'm thinking the penalty flags he threw may have carried a bit more heft than those thrown by his fellow crew members. 

At the time of his death, one of his law clerks recalled that, while on the state court bench, Judge Kehoe commented that he hoped to have earned the following inscription on his gravestone:  “Good Lawyer, Nice Guy.” By all accounts, he did. 

FBA write up below:

Judge Kehoe was nominated to the district court by President Carter; he served on the court from 1979 to 1998. He served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1946. In Meek v. Martinez, 724 F. Supp. 888 (S.D. Fla. 1987), Judge Kehoe held that Florida’s intrastate funding formula for allocating Older Americans Act funds violated both the Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by failing to adequately target services to low-income minority elderly and by producing a racially disparate impact, and accordingly enjoined further implementation of the formula until it was revised to comply with federal law.

Court Event for Women's History Month

 By John R. Byrne

Back in 1978, a county in Sonoma, California came up with the idea of a "Women's History Week." It caught on, eventually leading Congress to designate the month of March "Women's History Month" in 1987.

Now, just about forty years later (yes, 1987 was almost forty years ago), the SDFLA is holding its first Women's History Month event. It's a great lineup of speakers (see below). Date is March 31, 2026 at the Wilkie D. You can register to attend by emailing FLSD_Program@flsd.uscourts.gov. 

Also, good luck to the Hurricanes and Gators in the NCAA tournament, which tips off today. I see Duke winning it this year.