Litigation

A U.S. Department of Justice lawyer argued Monday that the United States can kill its own citizens without judicial review when litigation would reveal state secrets.

Kareem’s attorney, Tara Jordan Plochocki, argued the government was radically expanding sovereignty, domestically and abroad, allowed under state-secrets privilege. 

“Whether that’s in a parking lot in the United States or abroad in Syria, the government has claimed — for the first time ever in this case — that it has unfettered and unreviewable discretion to kill US citizens at will,” Plochocki said. 

Even before all the votes are in, the Trump campaign is contesting them in several states. Some may wonder if this is Bush v. Gore all over again. But it’s a much different scenario. That race hinged on a few hundred votes in a few counties in just Florida.

Jeffrey Robinson was on the Gore legal team back then. He talks to KCRW about how the current challenges might proceed.

'Looking forward from this improbable ninth week of shutdown, I believe that litigation is about to enter another sea change,' writes Eric Lewis, a senior partner at litigation boutique Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss.

With the courts mostly closed, will sexual abuse plaintiffs get more time to sue? This article in City & State examines the effect of coronavirus-related court closures on Child Victims Act claims, quoting partner Jason Berland's recent piece in the New York Law Journal.

Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss PLLC is pleased to announce that three of its lawyers have been named to the 2020 Washington, DC Super Lawyers list. Each year, no more than five percent of the lawyers in each state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor. 

Creating a potential Catch-22 for the adult survivors given the opportunity to bring claims during the one year look-back period, the COVID-19 crisis has closed state courts to any new civil case filings and effectively stopped any of these cases from proceeding.

Six LBKM professionals have been selected to the 2019 New York and Washington, DC Super Lawyers lists - an honor limited to 5 percent of the lawyers in each state. In addition, one LBKM professional has been selected to the 2019 New York Rising Stars list. 

A New York-based law firm that has focused on insurance litigation matters allegedly pocketed $1 million that was meant as a settlement payment in another case, a New Jersey-based insurance carrier has contended in New York state court.

CBS2's Marcia Kramer interviewed former NYPD chiefs Diana Pizzuti and Joanne Jaffe regarding their discrimination lawsuit against the City of New York and NYPD officials.

An amended complaint filed in Miami-Dade County alleges that Amicorp, an international trust services company, actively participated in a multi-million-dollar real estate fraud which victimized many Latin American families. 

Citing “egregious” misconduct by state prison officials in trying to evade a court order to produce public records concerning its efforts to obtain lethal-injection drugs, an Indiana judge has directed the state’s Department of Correction to pay more than a half million dollars in plaintiffs’ attorney fees. 

Marion Circuit Judge Sheryl Lynch awarded $538,000 in attorney fees to plaintiffs who sued the DOC to obtain records pertaining to the lethal injection protocols that would be used at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City in the event an execution was carried out. Lynch’s order was issued Wednesday.

“We are gratified that the court recognized that, as a U.S. citizen, Mr. Kareem has the right to be heard in court before his government can decide to kill him, and we look forward to these proceedings continuing to a final resolution,” said Tara J. Plochocki, partner with the Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss law firm.

Eric Lewis is interviewed extensively in The Andorra Hustle, a documentary by Eric Merola about FinCEN's use of the USA PATRIOT Act to shut down Banca Privada d'Andorra.

The Second Circuit held that 28 U.S.C. § 1782(a) cannot be used to support petitions for discovery for use in private foreign commercial arbitrations, settling an issue that has lingered unresolved in the circuit since 2004. The new decision, In re Guo, puts the Second Circuit squarely at odds with recent decisions issued by other circuit courts, raising the possibility that the Supreme Court will take up the issue next session to resolve the split. While Guo does not impact the ability of parties to foreign public arbitrations and litigations to take § 1782(a) discovery, for now at least, parties to private foreign arbitrations may have to look to more favorable circuits outside New York for relief.

Creating a potential Catch-22 for the adult survivors given the opportunity to bring claims during the one year look-back period, the COVID-19 crisis has closed state courts to any new civil case filings and effectively stopped any of these cases from proceeding.

In these tough times, when clients are looking to protect assets and increase revenue, it is more important than ever to ensure that their arbitral awards are collectible. A truly successful outcome requires the ability to enforce and monetize the award that was won in the arbitration. When faced with a recalcitrant award debtor, it is imperative to think strategically and work closely with counsel and experts to enforce and identify recoverable assets.