Month: February 2019

  • The Emergency Declaration: It’s About Character

    The Emergency Declaration: It’s About Character

    As you no doubt know, President Trump signed an emergency declaration on Friday that, he says, allows him to divert money Congress appropriated for other purposes and use it to pay for his wall on the southern border. I have thoughts about the legality of the declaration, but I am not going to discuss the……

  • Case of the Day: Brown-Thomas v. Hynie

    The case of the day is Brown-Thomas v. Hynie (D.S.C. 2019). James Brown, the hardest working man in show business, died leaving a will that made no provision for his wife, Tommie Rae Hynie, or their son, James Brown II, born in 2001. The two challenged the will and also sought statutory rights as the……

  • Lago Agrio: New York Appellate Court Reverses Referee’s Decision on Collateral Estoppel

    Lago Agrio: New York Appellate Court Reverses Referee’s Decision on Collateral Estoppel

    Back in November I noted a decision in the disciplinary case against Steven Donziger: the referee who was to decide the sanction Donziger will face had ruled that although Judge Kaplan’s findings of fact had had preclusive effect with respect to the question whether Donziger had violated the rules of professional conduct, the findings should……

  • Too Good Not To Post

    Too Good Not To Post

    I had to post this Manhattan lawyer ad—I’m not sure why I didn’t before. I love the firm’s motto: “Rapid Divorce, Easy Bankruptcy.” Perhaps the bar next door advertises “Hard Drink, Loose Living.”

  • New Draft Explanatory Report on the Judgments Convention

    The HCCH has released a revised draft explanatory report on the Judgments Convention, prepared by Prof. Francisco Garcimartín and Prof. Geneviève Saumier. In the current political climate, it is very difficult to imagine the President, who likes to tear up treaties with abandon, signing let alone ratifying the new Convention when it is promulgated.