Trial Mix, Episode 7
Welcome to my review of interesting events in law, literature and film.
1. Uncivil Litigation
Most lawyers conduct themselves in a civil, professional manner. A few do not. This case out of the Northern District of Texas is an example of the latter. The offending lawyers won a jury verdict in favor of their client, but their behavior was so egregious, the Fifth Circuit reversed the Judgment and remanded the case for a new trial.
Among the remarks made during closing arguments were these gems:
“I don’t care if I was half-blind or half-lame, I would have found the strength to kick his ass.”
The expert witness was referred to as a “paid prostitute.” Opposing counsel was called “low class” and “disgusting.”
The opinion from the Fifth Circuit, in remanding the case for a new trial, stated: “In this case, repeated improper statements…… abandoned all ‘dignity, honor and decorum.’”
I’m more than a little surprised that the jury returned a verdict in favor of the party with the offensive lawyer.
I tried a case in San Antonio many years ago against a lawyer who shall remain nameless. He was a complete jackass during discovery — belittling, arrogant, demeaning. I knew that if he displayed those same traits at trial, I could use it to my advantage. He was unable to control himself. In closing arguments, he offered similar comments about me and my client. He called me an “ambulance chaser” and my client a “low life,” a “money grubber,” and a “faker.”
The jury was so repulsed by his behavior (partly at my urging), they ruled (quite significantly) in our favor.
Maybe this is the new norm? Juries are typically a reflection of society at large. Are we so calloused to such vitriol that we look right past it? I hope not.
Here is the Fifth Circuit opinion.
2. Article of the Week
It’s not just lawyers who are behaving coarsely. Conservative Christians are getting in on the act.
You can read more here.
3. What I’m Streaming
Slow Horses is a series starring Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, an MI5 agent who has been relegated to Slough House, the purgatorial destination for agents who have screwed up. Lamb is the foul-mouthed, foul-behaving boss of a bungling band of misfits. It is fantastic.
Here is the trailer for Season 1.
3. What I’m Reading
In my last Trial Mix, I wrote about The Liars’ Club, the wonderful memoir by Mary Karr. My son recommended another memoir that he insisted is just as compelling, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. He is right. Here is the opening line:
“I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a dumpster.”
That single sentence will draw you into the stunning dysfunction, adventure and brokenness of a nomadic American family as it navigates a bleak landscape. It is a story of family, poverty, alcoholism, mental illness and, ultimately, resilience. Highly recommend.
5. Legal Clip of the Week: Inherit the Wind
The Glass Castle has a few passages which contain “offensive language” and sexual innuendo. It is frequently the target of censors, which reminds me of this movie. Inherit the Wind is a courtroom drama which was based on the Scopes Monkey Trial. A young English teacher, Bertram Cates, is on trial for violating a law which prohibited the teaching of evolution. In this scene, Cates’s lawyer, Henry Drummond (played marvelously by Spencer Tracy) conducts a masterful cross examination of the Biblical scholar, Matthew Harrison Brady. Not only does Drummond expose the fallacy of Creationism, but he also presents a thesis where Creationism and Evolution can co-exist. Click here for the link.
Episode 7 is complete. Many thanks for reading and feel free to reach out with any comments, questions or suggestions.
Trial Mix, Episode 5
TRIAL MIX, EPISODE 5
Welcome to my weekly review of interesting events in law, literature and film …
1. Lawsuit of the Week: Is a Content Curator a Content Creator?
Doe v. Snap, Inc d/b/a SNAPCHAT, LLC
John Doe, a minor child, was repeatedly sexually assaulted by his high school science teacher in Houston. Among other defendants, Doe sued Snapchat alleging that its social media platform aided the abuser by designing algorithms that target minors and conceal illegal solicitations.
Snapchat relied on the Communications Decency Act in defending against Doe’s claim. The Communications Decency Act states in part, “No provider or user of an interactive computer services shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”
This statute gives blanket immunity to any platform that merely republishes or broadcasts speech in any manner.
Doe argued that social media platforms do more than just republish information from third parties. They have sophisticated algorithms that curate content and aim it toward vulnerable populations, like minors. Snapchat has a feature that allows the sender to engage in illegal behavior through a disappearing message feature. These constitute a design defect that would impose liability outside of the context of the Communications Decency Act. Doe also argued that Snapchat is not just a publisher of information. By curating and specifying where and how the information is used, Snapchat is a “distributor.”
Alas, Doe lost. The case is certain to be appealed to the US Supreme Court. The opinion can be found here.
2. Legal Article of the Week: Realtor Real Talk
Have you sold a home in the past 50 years? When doing so, did you also have to pay a commission to the buyer’s agent? A class action lawsuit brought on behalf of 500,000 home sellers in Missouri led to a $1.8 billion verdict against the National Association of Realtors and other real estate brokerage houses. The NAR is unlikely to survive the verdict, and the ripple effect throughout the industry will be enormous. Read more here.
3. Funny Article of the Week: Pepe Le Pew Gets #Metoo’d
Remember Pepe Le Pew, the French skunk who dedicated his life to the relentless pursuit of amour? He finally ran into the #MeToo movement. Here’s his hilarious mea culpa.
4. Movie Clip of the Week: Inherit the Wind
One hundred years ago, John Thomas Scopes was arrested and tried for teaching evolution at a local high school in rural Tennessee. His criminal trial was a battle between fundamentalists who believed in the literal word of God as set forth in the Bible and Modernists who believed that evolution was not inconsistent with its interpretation of the Bible. Inherit the Wind fictionalizes the trial and stars Spencer Tracy as the lawyer for the teacher. Click here to watch as he cross examines opposing counsel, the prosecutor, about the Bible. It is as relevant today as it was in 1925. Maybe even more so.
5. Book of the Week: Fire Weather by John Valliant
Regardless of where you stand on climate change and emerging weather patterns, this book will frighten you. It is the story of the 2016 Fort McMurray fire, called “the Beast” by locals. The backstory wanders a bit but the payoff is gripping. The latter one-third of the book reads like a thriller. Several times I had to put it aside. It’s that frightening.
Episode 5 is complete. Many thanks for reading and feel free to reach out with any comments, questions or suggestions.