#Mike Pomerantz

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 11, 2023 (Tuesday)

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

APR 12, 2023

The dramatic events in Nashville last week, when Republican legislators expelled state representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, two young Black men, for speaking out of turn when they joined protesters calling for gun safety, highlighted a demographic problem facing the Republican Party. Members of Gen Z, the generation born between 1997 and 2012, grew up doing active shooter drills in their schools, and they want gun safety legislation. And yet, Republicans are so wedded to the gun industry and guns as part of party members’ identity that today, one day after five people died in a mass shooting in Louisville, Kentucky—including a close friend of Kentucky governor Andrew Beshear—the Indiana Senate Republicans passed a resolution honoring the National Rifle Association (NRA). Later this week, Republican leaders will speak at the NRA’s annual convention in Indianapolis, where firearms, as well as backpacks, glass containers, signs, and umbrellas, are prohibited. Those speakers will include former president Trump and former vice president Mike Pence. The resolution and the speeches at the NRA convention seem an unfortunate juxtaposition to the recent mass shootings. Abortion rights are also a place where the Republican Party is out of step with the majority of Americans and especially with people of childbearing age. Last Tuesday, Janet Protasiewicz, who promised to protect reproductive rights, won the election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court by an astonishing 11 points in a state where elections are often decided by less than a point. Victor Shi of Voters of Tomorrow reported that the youth turnout of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, increased 240% since the last spring general election in 2019. Youth turnout at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, increased 232%. Almost 90% of those young people voted for Protasiewicz. And yet the party needs to grapple with last Friday’s ruling by Trump-appointed Texas federal judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk that the Food and Drug Administration improperly approved mifepristone, a drug used for more than 50% of medically induced abortions, and that it must be removed from the market. The party also must grapple with a new Idaho law that makes it illegal for minors to leave the state to get an abortion without the consent of their parents. In New York today, Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg pushed back against Republican overreach of a different sort when he filed a lawsuit in federal court against Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) in his official role as chair of the House Judiciary Committee, the committee itself, and Mark Pomerantz, whom the committee recently subpoenaed, in response to a “brazen and unconstitutional attack by members of Congress on an ongoing New York State criminal prosecution and investigation of former President Donald J. Trump.” The lawsuit accuses Jordan of engaging in “a transparent campaign to intimidate and attack District Attorney Bragg” and to use congressional powers to intervene improperly in a state criminal prosecution. Like any defendant, the lawsuit says, Trump had every right to challenge his indictment in court. But rather than let that process play out, Jordan and the Republican-dominated Judiciary Committee “are participating in a campaign of intimidation, retaliation, and obstruction” that has led to multiple death threats against Bragg. Bragg’s office "has received more than 1,000 calls and emails from Mr. Trump's supporters,“ the complaint reads, “many of which are threatening and racially charged." “Members of Congress are not free to invade New York’s sovereign authority for their or Mr. Trump’s political aims,” the document says. “Congress has no authority to ‘conduct oversight’ into District Attorney Bragg’s exercise of his duties under New York Law in a single case involving a single defendant.” While Jordan and the Republicans defend Trump, there is a mounting crisis in the West, where two decades of drought have brought water levels in the region’s rivers to dangerously low levels. According to Benji Jones of Vox, who interviewed the former director of the Water Resources Program at the University of New Mexico, John Fleck, last year about the crisis, the problem has deep roots. One hundred years ago, government officials significantly overestimated the water available in the Colorado River System when they divided it among Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming through the Colorado River Compact of 1922. The compact provided a formula for dividing up the water in the 1450 miles of the Colorado River. It was designed to stop the states from fighting over the resource, although an Arizona challenge to the system was not resolved until the 1960s. On the basis of the water promised by the compact, the region filled with people—40 million—and with farms that grow much of the country’s supply of winter vegetables. Now, after decades of drought exacerbated by the overuse permitted by the Colorado River Compact and by climate change, Lake Powell and Lake Mead have fallen to critical levels. Something must be done before the river water disappears not only from the U.S., but also from Mexico, which in 1944 was also guaranteed a cut of the water from the Colorado River. The seven states in the compact have been unable to reach an agreement about cutting water use. Today the Interior Department released an environmental review of the situation that offered three possible solutions. One is to continue to follow established water rights, which would prioritize the California farmland that produces food. This would largely shut off water to Phoenix and Los Angeles. Another option is to cut water distribution evenly across Arizona, California, and Nevada. The third option, doing nothing, risks destroying the water supply entirely, as well as cutting the hydropower produced by the Glen Canyon and Hoover dams. There is a 45-day period for public comment on the plans, and it appears that the threat of the federal government to impose a solution may light a fire under the states to come up with their own agreement, but it is unlikely they will worry much about Mexico’s share of the water. Historically, states have been unable to agree on how to divide a precious resource, and the federal government has had to step in to create a fair agreement. Meanwhile, back in Tennessee, the fallout from last week’s events continues. Judd Legum has reported in Popular Information that Tennessee House speaker Cameron Sexton, a Republican, doesn’t live in his district as state law requires. And Tennessee investigative reporter Phil Williams of News Channel 5 reports that state representative Paul Sherrell, “who recently suggested bringing back lynching as a form of capital punishment, has been removed from the House Criminal Justice Committee.”

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[ifucankeepit]

@mrddmia

For the first time in American history, Soros-funded Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg indicted a former president. And the leading opposing presidential candidate. Using federal funds. And a laughable legal theory under federal election law. Previously rejected by the prior Manhattan DA (at Bragg's urging), the Manhattan U.S. Attorney, the Federal Election Commission, and Bragg himself. Rogue leftwing prosecutors -- including Mark Pomerantz -- unethically went public with their political grievances. So Bragg colluded with the Biden Justice Department -- including recruiting senior Biden political appointee Matthew Colangelo -- to resuscitate the "zombie case" against Trump. Bragg is denying Trump due process and equal protection of the law. Bragg is endangering New Yorkers by diverting federal funds from real crimes -- like carjackings, robberies, assaults, rapes, and murders -- to interfere in a presidential election. Congress has a duty, under Section 5 of the 14th Amendment and its oversight of the federal purse, to investigate. Bragg is now trying to cover up his brazen violations of civil rights and his obvious election interference, through today's frivolous lawsuit to obstruct a congressional investigation. https://nytimes.com/2023/04/11/nyregion/bragg-lawsuit-jim-jordan-trump-indictment.html?smid=tw-share

Soros-funded Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's (frivolous) lawsuit against House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan is already off to a bad start for Bragg: The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York declined to even enter a temporary restraining order.

9:06 PM · Apr 11, 2023

[moviesandmania]

Epidemic - USA, 2018

Epidemic – USA, 2018

Epidemic is a 2018 American body horror film directed by Stephen Michael Giglio from a screenplay co-written with Adam Romanchik.

The Pomerantz Pictures production stars Andrew Hunsicker, Amanda K. Morales, Gina Destra, Mike Sutton, Chloe Carroll, Daniel Byrne, Marquis Valdez, Shelley Brietling, Joe Walz, Gabby Scarantino, and Grant Behmke.

A deadly pathogen is unleashed and unknowingly carried…

[go-redgirl]

Spygate Indictments Coming, Says Former Intelligence Operative Tony Shaffer

180,377 views

American Thought Leaders - The Epoch Times Premiered Aug 10, 2019 What is the status of the different investigations into the investigators headed by Attorney General William Barr, and what should the attorney general do next?

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iNDIVIDUALS/COMMENTS/POSTS:

Hello everyone!! Welcome to Jan's interview with Tony Shaffer! Let us know if you have any questions about the interview!

REPLY

John Naples The main victim here was the president. But the coup failed, they got caught and the Trumps, the voters, and moral people should be DEMANDING justice. The facts are now well known. All this "investigating" is B.S.

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REPLY Mike Eckert it's absolutely clear why the dems want Trump out in 2020, simply because if they win the presidency they can make this all go away.      #MAGA#KAG

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REPLY

The Postman John Brennan converted to islam. Why is that not mentioned ever? He's as corrupt as hell.

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D. J. Until I see deep state operatives in orange jumpsuits, this is all just political theater.

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REPLY Main 1 better be indictments. If many gop could be indicted on perjury under a gop admin and dem who commit perjury continue to walk. There's no faith in the justice system anymore

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REPLY magnus pym Have we crossed Hillarys "statute of limitations" date yet???????I know that's what all the delays are about: Oh yeah last night child abuser Epstein died in his cell; how convenient.

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REPLY Ed Cummings Great stuff. Would love to hear from Devin Nunes too

American Thought Leaders - The Epoch Times

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REPLY singmicro14  Investigate the connection between democrats, mass shootings and the media.. They are always right there together.

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REPLY jules kinkead mueller report was a 35 million dollar book report on trumps behavior....an andrew weissman production....

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REPLY Wes Anderson We The People need rope....There’s plenty of trees☠️

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REPLY Lili Tincher If only we had our whole government full of Shaffers'!

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REPLY Arthur Clarke Thank you "American Thought Leaders" for the truth.  We need desperately to have your revelations available to more of America.

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American Thought Leaders - The Epoch Times Harold Pomerantz Indictments coming?  I'll believe it when it see it.

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REPLY Mike Carus Indictments coming.  So is manned travel to other galaxies.  But which one first?

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REPLY Number Six Son I absolutely love Tony Shaffer. Thank you for your service. God Bless You. Terrific interview Jan.

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REPLY ogenmatic Kamala Harris begging for bucks & buying an ad so I can watch your vid. Hilarious.

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REPLY

Dwaine Castle

Susan Rice has never been more than a quota queen.

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REPLY CabinBills They may throw 1 or 2 low level people under the bus but the real criminals will never be held accountable

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REPLY the jaywezee Joe Biden working with the party heads in China that are causing distributions there to cover dirt players in Chinese government.

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REPLY Chat Replay is disabled for this Premiere.

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‘No Way Obama Was Not Told’ - Former Intel Officer Tony Shaffer on Spying on Trump Campaign American Thought Leaders - The Epoch Times 363K views

5:44

Obama knew about the Russian dossier: Tony Shaffer Fox Business 203K views

[papermoonloveslucy]

Lucy Gets Her Maid

S3;E11 ~ November 30, 1964

Synopsis

To impress a local women's club, Lucy hires a maid.  But to afford a maid, she must take a job – as a maid!  When her new employer hosts a dinner party she recruits Viv to help out – only to have to serve dinner to the very women she is hoping to impress. A quick-change parade of international costumes is contrived to remain incognito.

Regular Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Vivian Vance (Vivian Bagley), Gale Gordon (Theodore J. Mooney)  

Jimmy Garrett (Jerry Carmichael), Ralph Hart (Sherman Bagley) and Candy Moore (Chris Carmichael) do not appear in this episode.

Guest Cast

Kathleen Freeman (Miss Putnam) previously played the character of Kathleen, but is making the third of her appearances playing various other characters on the series.  Freeman was ‘born in a trunk’ to a family of vaudevillians. She made her stage debut at age two in her parents’ act. Equally at home on screen and stage, Freeman was appearing on Broadway in The Full Monty in 2001 when she died of lung cancer.

Freeman gets entrance and exit applause from the studio audience!

Norma Varden (Mrs. Van Vlack) last appeared with Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance in “The Ricardos Change Apartments” (ILL S2;E26) as Mrs. Benson, the weepy woman in apartment 3B who swapped apartments with Lucy and Ricky after her daughter got married and moved out. She is probably best known for playing Frau Schmidt, the somewhat circumspect housekeeper at the Von Trapp mansion in 1965′s The Sound Of Music. She first met Lucille Ball when she played Lady Maude in Fancy Pants in 1950.

Van Vlack is the surname of one of Lucille Ball's childhood friends, Marion Strong Van Vlack, who was also a character on several episodes of “I Love Lucy.”  

The Danfield Art Society members are played by:

Jean Vachon making the fifth of her six appearances on “The Lucy Show,” all but this one uncredited.

Paula Ray making the first of her three appearances on the series. This is the only one where she gets screen credit.

Caryl Lincoln was one of Lucy’s friends from her Goldwyn Girl days. This is the fourth of her seven appearances on the series, often appearing with her husband, fellow extra Bert Stevens.  This is the only episode where she receives screen credit.

Luree Wiese makes her only appearance on “The Lucy Show” but will make a single appearance on “Here's Lucy” in 1970.  

As a movie star and mother, Lucille Ball had a maid named Harriet McCain. She was employed by Lucy from the late 1940's until the 1980s. Because Harriet was a woman of color, Ball insisted that the elevators in her townhouse be integrated, a first for her neighborhood. When McCain was hospitalized before her death, Ball paid all her medical expenses.

Lucy says that the Danfield Art Society is the most prestigious club in town. This is the group’s first mention on the series.

Viv says she doesn't want to work that hard to become a member of an organization that is comprised solely of woman.  Now the YMCA, on the other hand....  Danfield's new YMCA was often mentioned during the first season, with scenes set there during “Lucy Digs Up a Date” (S1;E2).  

Lucy figures it costs $3.00 for popcorn and candy at the movies.  Today, popcorn and candy can cost as much or more than the movie ticket itself.  

A maid will cost Lucy $40 a week. In today's money that would be a salary of $365.

Lucy mistakes the Social Register with Social Security.  The United States Social Security act was signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1935. In 1961, the early retirement age was lowered to 62 from 67 for reduced benefits.  

Mrs. Van Vlack decides to call Lucy 'Hilda,' after her former maid. Coincidentally, Verna Felton (who played Mrs. Porter, Lucy Ricardo's short-lived maid) played a character named Hilda on the radio show “December Bride” (1952) and its TV sequel “Pete and Gladys” (1960). On those shows, Hilda was the best friend to the main character – much like Ethel Mertz and Vivian Bagley.

Hoping to impress the new maid, Lucy replaces all their Mickey Spillane detective paperbacks with encyclopedias.  Mickey Spillane (1918-2006) was an American crime novelist, whose stories often feature his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 million copies of his books have sold internationally. In 1964 alone Spillane released four novels.

Miss Putnam asks Lucy whether there's a color TV in the kitchen. Viv says yes, “If we drag it in from the living room.”  Lucy replies that it is a “light beige walnut.” CBS was still airing “The Lucy Show” in black and white, despite it being filmed in color.  

Miss Putnam gets a telephone call from Gladys Wentworth who gives her a stock market tip.    

So they won't be recognized by the members of the Danfield Art Society, Lucy and Viv don a series of disguises to serve their 'international' dinner:

Russian Borscht (actually Viv’s consommé with ketchup) - Lucy wears a napkin as a babushka and puts on a shawl.  She hums “The Song of the Volga Boatmen,” a traditional Russian folk song as she ladles out the soup.

French Bread – Lucy makes a beret from a black pillow and ties a red checkered table cloth around her waist.  She sings “Frere Jacques” as she distributes the baguettes.

Italian Antipasto – Viv makes an Italian chef's outfit from uniforms found in the kitchen closet, making a mustache from the fringe on a throw pillow. She sings “O Solo Mio” while presenting the platter.  The Neapolitan song was written by Giovanni Capurro and Eduardo di Capua in 1898.  

Spanish Wine – Lucy puts a lace curtain on her head and wraps herself in a lace tablecloth. Holding a bunch of parsley in front of her face, she sings “In a Little Spanish Town,” a song by Mabel Wayne, Sam M. Lewis, and Joe Young written in 1926.  

Turkish Shish-Ka-Bob – Viv wraps a pink and red silk scarf around her head and cinches a print table throw around her waist.  She hums "The Streets of Cairo, or the Poor Little Country Maid" (also known as “The Snake Charmer Song”) written by James Thornton in the late 19th century.  Vivian Vance gyrates her hips with her back to the camera, earning a few surprised gasps and laughs from the studio audience.

Baked Alaska – Lucy puts a dust mop on her head and wears a powder blue fur jacket while Viv throws potato flakes in the air from the kitchen door.  She sings “Jingle Bells” - a song Ricky Ricardo called “Yingle Bells” on “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”  Ball and Vance sang the song on the long-lost Christmas episode of “I Love Lucy.”  

Colombian Coffee – Viv takes the same pink and red scarves and wraps them around her waist while putting a floral arrangement on her head like Carmen Miranda. She chants “Cha-cha-cha” as she serves the coffee.  

Callbacks!

In “Lucy Hires a Maid” (ILL S2;E23) Lucy Ricardo hired Mrs. Porter, a maid who intimidates her and behaves more like the employer than the employee. Both maids dislike children, are overly concerned about their own meals, and demand to be addressed by their last names. As in 1953, Lucy ends up waiting on the maid, not the other way around.

In “Pioneer Women” (ILL S1;E23) Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz go out of their way to please The Society Matrons League headed by Mrs. Pomerantz (Florence Bates, left) and Mrs. Pettibone (Ruth Perrot, right), a very close model for the Danfield Art Society, but much snootier. It was based on a similar organization on Lucille Ball’s radio show “My Favorite Husband.” 

Lucy Ricardo pretended to be a maid to impress Fred's vaudeville partner in “Mertz and Kurtz” (ILL S4;E2, right) while Ethel pretended to be a maid to impress Tallulah Bankhead in “The Celebrity Next Door,” a 1957 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”  

Blooper Alerts!

Lucy buys Miss Putnam's lunch from the delicatessen and brings it home in a pink box.  This is one of the same cake boxes used in “Lucy's Contact Lenses” (S3;E10) from Hoffstedder's Bakery.  

“Lucy Gets Her Maid” rates 5 Paper Hearts out of 5 

[marymosley]

Gangland Lawyering? Featuring Pierce Bainbridge & Hecht Partners

Rudy Giuliani tied himself to Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht LLP with a tweet announcing the firm would represent him for the Ukraine fiasco. The man formerly known as “America’s Mayor” made his chops taking on “The Five Families,” a New York City Organized Crime syndicate. The revelations coming out of Pierce Bainbridge have many opining that Pierce Bainbridge operations are more akin to a criminal enterprise than a reputable law firm. A bombshell accusation from an ex-firm associate has increased the already searing spotlight on the firm, as well as its current and former partners.  The accusations – which sound like something that could be found in Rudy’s bag of tricks – include alleged fraud on a federal court and related intimidation tactics.

 “Intimidation” & “Fraud on the Court” Accusations

A new outside lawyer for Pierce Bainbridge, Ed Altabet of Cohen Seglias, has been accused of attempting to “intimidate” the ex-associate from coming forward with accusations that ex-Pierce Bainbridge named-partner David L. Hecht (Hecht Partners) intentionally defrauded a federal court.  The issue arose in connection with a putative class action against Boeing and Southwest Airlines.  The story is covered by LawFuel.com here.

Hecht has been so loyal to Pierce, his ex-partner Christopher N. LaVigne (Withers Bergman) said “David would toss dogs off of cliffs,” if Pierce said it was a good strategy.  To be fair, LaVigne clearly has a low opinion of Hecht, LaVigne has also opined in writing:  “David is an embarrassment to lawyers everywhere.  Some of the worst lawyers I know are better than David.”  Similarly, Mike Masnick of Techdirt.com, referred to a complaint Hecht filed on behalf of Tulsi Gabbard as “laughable” and said Hecht should be “embarrassed.”

Notwithstanding these views, Hecht recently started his “own firm,” Hecht Partners LLP.  Oddly, seven (7) of the eight (8) lawyers are from Pierce Bainbridge, certain administrative personnel from Pierce Bainbridge have reportedly joined, and Hecht puzzlingly said in open court that while he is no longer a partner at Pierce Bainbridge, he still works with the firm.

This, as well as related events such as the Boeing Southwest fiasco, the reported $65,000,000 Pierce Bainbridge debt to litigation funder Virage Capital Management, and the at least six lawsuits currently facing Hecht’s former firm, has led to suggestions that the two firms, and perhaps a third-party, are involved in Gangland-like shell-game shenanigans.

The Bombshell Filing does nothing to help the image of the newly established Hecht Partners.  It has Gangland tactics written all over it.  The former associate took direct aim at Altabet and Hecht.

Altabet replaced long-time Giuliani ally, and a lawyer intricately connected to Donald Trump, Mark Mukasey. Even for Mukasey, the Pierce Bainbridge environment appears to have been unacceptable; he withdrew citing ethics concerns.  In came Altabet, and the unethical conduct did not skip a beat.

In a filing in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in front of the Honorable Judge Amos L. Mazzant, the ex-associate said:

“After reviewing the transcript from the May 13th hearing in this matter, I have confirmed what I believe are numerous statements of material fact by David Hecht which are inaccurate, and may have been made to intentionally mislead counsel and the Court.”

“[I]n light of an email I received from Pierce Bainbridge’s outside counsel, Ed Altabet, today, in which he made several baseless accusations against me in what appeared to be an effort to intimidate me and hamper my efforts to correct the record, I request an In-Camera ex parte hearing before the Court.”

The John Pierce, Keyboard-Fueled Gangland Tactics

Pierce’s bombast proclamations of global domination, and overwhelming lack of candor, have rendered the Harvard Law School graduate a laughingstock in many legal circles.

Pierce is still, however, commonly seen as the straw stirring Hecht’s actions, as well as the driving force behind the intimidation tactics.  Pierce, who claims to have been a tank platoon leader in the United States Army, takes his faux machismo passionately; for example, a report by Meghan Tribe in Law.Com, quotes Pierce:

“We are building an army of killers on a highly collaborative platform. In addition, we have a culture obsessed with winning and bringing maximum value to clients.” – John Pierce, January 3, 2019

Pierce subsequently attacked Tribe on LinkedIn in a falsehood-ridden post with his disciples lending support.  Former Pierce Bainbridge partners Michael Pomerantz, Thomas Warren (Warren Terzian), Johanthan Kortmansky (BraunHagey & Borden) and, you guessed it, David Hecht endorsed Pierce’s nonsense.

Indeed, the Pierce modus operandi seems to be to threaten by e-mail.

For example, Pierce threatened a former client by email, the client reported Pierce to the California State Bar and included an opinion that Pierce is a “menace to the legal society.”

Pierce threatened a lending company named Newtek by email in September 2018; in early October 2018, Newtek denied Pierce’s request for a $ 1 million SBA loan secured by a client’s $ 6 million home;  the denial was related to Pierce’s obligations to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as well as California state tax authorities.  (Public records show Pierce has around $1.5 million in tax liens, e-mails show he owes $21,000 month alimony, and Pierce claims to be the sole guarantor of a $65,000,000 Pierce Bainbridge debt to Virage Capital Management.)

To complete the trifecta, Pierce also threatened former partner and whistle blowing Don Lewis by email.  Lewis’s ex-partners, all who have been sued by him, were on the email. Lewis says, “despite their fiduciary duties of care, they all did nothing.”  (Denver G. Edwards pictured, joined after Lewis, but has been accused, along with Christopher N. LaVigne (Withers Bergman) of “lying under oath” to smear Lewis.)

The group are experienced attorneys who now practice at Armstrong Teasedale, Braunhagey & Borden, Withers Bergman, Hecht Partners, among other firms.  Their prior experience is at reputable law firms such as BakerHostetler, Baker & McKenzie, Browne George & Ross, Brown Rudnick, Covington & Burling, Davis Polk, Fish & Richardson, Gibson Dunn, Glaser Weil, Grais & Ellsworth, Grant & Eisenhofer, Kasowitz Benson, Kirkland & Ellis, Kaye Scholer, Kobre Kim, Margolis & Tinsman, McKool Smith, Murphy & King, Murchison & Cumming, Reid Collins & Tsai, Steptoe & Johnson, Sullivan & Worcester, Quinn Emanuel; White & Case, Wachtell Missry, Wilson Sonsini, and White & Case.

Next Stop Jail?

Many have speculated if Pierce may eventually wind up behind bars, consistent with a warning he received from Oscar De La Hoya’s long-time lawyer in the Fall of 2018.

Lots of Questions:  What Was Virage Told? 

As for the Virage $65 million, what convinced the litigation funder to risk such a large investment in Pierce Bainbridge remains a mystery. Pierce appears to be running a decent con, perhaps even Giuliani with all his Gangland experience was impressed.

The question persists:  What was Virage told?  What representations were made? Who made them? How could Virage get in so deep behind:

a $9.1 million declared default against the firm.

issues with paying creditors.

no track record of meaningful litigation success.

a “leader” – John Pierce – with “brutal credit”.

a “leader” – John Pierce – with issues with “substance abuse and other addictive behaviors.”

The Mysterious Richard Silverstein of Loan Annex

An individual who may have some answers, but to date has largely stayed out of the fray, is Richard Silverstein the Founder of Loan Annex.

Silverstein is pictured above with promotional material from his LinkedIn page.  The Loan Annex founder filed a sworn affidavit in federal bankruptcy court at the end of last year stating:  “Throughout 2019, I was engaged by Pierce Bainbridge as their consultant for the purpose of arranging financing for the firm.” 2019 is when both tranches of the $65 million Virage deal were struck.

Interestingly, Silverstein’s affidavit was filed to support the claims of a lender named Counsel Financial; Pierce Bainbridge was allegedly in discussions with Counsel Financial about financing in March 2019.  In line with the Gangland theme, the underlying debtor claimed in an affidavit:  “A colleague of mine derided these tactics as ‘Mafia-style’ intimidation, but even the Mafia had a code about attacking family members.”  The tactics had to do with alleged e-mail threats from a lawyer for Counsel Financial.

More Questions:  What’s Going on with Talon LF, LLC

Recently leaked solicitation materials for potential investors in a litigation fund intricately intertwined with Pierce Bainbridge may also shed light; the name of the fund is Talon LF, LLC.

Two ex-Pierce Bainbridge partners, Doug Curran (BraunHagey & Borden) and Thomas D. Warren (Warren Terzian), as well as Pierce are listed as closely affiliated.

The Talon investor solicitation materials appear to have several issues, but there are two glaringly puzzling representations.

“Vertically integrated with PB w/ a success rate on contingency cases of 97%”. (From cover e-mail accompanying the materials)

A chart which represents a positive investment rate of return (“IRR”) for litigation funder Pravati Capital, which apparently failing to indicate that Pravati declared a $9,157,072.95 default.

Are these representations true?  Are they materially misleading? Are they fraudulent?

Issues surrounding the clearing of the Pravati default raise more Gangland type flags.  A former firm client, Gustavo Escamilla, President of Greenway Nutrients, says he “has strong reason to believe that Mr. Piece and his firm Pierce Bainbridge accepted bribes ”from individuals with “criminal backgrounds” and  “used this bribe money to pay down some, or all, of an over $9.1 million [Pravati] default.”

Escamilla has also developed a compelling timeline, which suggest his claims may be valid.

The General Counsel & Blind Eye:  Carolynn K. Beck

On the issue of Pravati, ex-firm General Counsel, Carolynn K. Beck, now a partner at Goldstein & McClintock, was intricately connected to Pravati.  She is alleged to have misrepresented, with Pierce, a case value to Pravati by well over $900,000,000.00, and documents appear to support the same.  In addition, a Philly lawyer has sued Beck individually, the other named partners and Pierce Bainbridge claiming the case value presented to Pravati was wildly overinflated. The Philly lawyer worked the same case for 16 months before Pierce Bainbridge took over.

Beck joined her new firm with Craig Bolton; the duo reportedly worked very closely together at Pierce Bainbridge. Bolton was apparently involved in litigation funding efforts, including the alleged discussions with Counsel Financial in March.

A cavalcade of severe misconduct happened under Beck’s watch:  lies under oath, violations of ethical rules, deletion of evidence, misogyny from the top, potential double-pledging of firm collateral, Pierce siphoning funds from firm accounts, the list goes on.

Beck as General Counsel for the firm, appears, at best, to have done nothing to stop it.  A type of Gangland consigliere who seems to have made an internal oath to never get in the way.

As an example, written communications indicate Beck was aware of Pierce using firm accounts as a personal piggy bank back in October 2018.  A text that Lewis received from the firm’s bookkeeper, just days before being banished, strongly suggests the Goldstein & McClintock partner was in the know.

Subsequent to this October 2018 message, the Firm, under Beck’s watch, would go on to rack up a $65 million debt from April 2019 – April 2020, find itself a defendant in three cash advance lawsuits (where upfront cash was provided in exchange for alleged firm receivables) and see a mass exodus of attorneys starting in October 2019.  Beck’s apparent willful turn of a blind eye is not consistent with the role of a General Counsel.

Camille Varlack, Kevin Cash & The Future

Beck left the firm around a month ago; a Law360 article said Chief Operating Officer and Deputy General Counsel Camille Varlack and Chief Financial Officer Kevin Cash were running Pierce Bainbridge while Pierce was on a forced leave of absence. Both Varlack and Cash are not part of the original Pierce Bainbridge inner circle; but their role in leadership positions, with apparent visibility into the firm’s finances is noteworthy.

With a firm boasting so many red flags, the possibility of a wide-ranging Pierce Bainbridge bloodbath seems more likely by the day. Cash and Varlack may be subjected to some hard questions about what they knew, when they knew it and what they did about it.

Giuliani, some would say, has learned from the mobsters he used to prosecute and has pulled off Gangland tactics for years, while remaining relatively unscathed.  It remains to be seen if this brat pack of attorneys Rudy hired have what it takes to keep ahead of the tsunami of severe issues that are closing in on them.

The post Gangland Lawyering? Featuring Pierce Bainbridge & Hecht Partners appeared first on Legal Desire.

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[gigglesndimples]

Boston Freedom Rally: Three Days of Weed & Music

The 29th Annual Boston Freedom Rally commences on Friday, Sept. 14 on Boston Common and continues until Sunday, Sept. 16. More than 40 bands will perform on the two stages and over 100 speakers will address the crowd from the stages and Education Village. Freedom Leaf’s Steve Bloom will be there, speaking and reporting back from the East Coast’s No. 1 cannabis event. Thousands of supporters are expected to attend the rally. No rain is in the forecast and temps will be in the high 70s and low 80s. Here’s the schedule:

FRIDAY, SEPT. 14

Charles Stage

3 pm – welcome**

3:05 – DJ D Good*

4:05 – Dr. Uma Dhanabalan**

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4:10 – DJ Slim*

4:45 – Kamani Jefferson**

4:50 – Kate Phillips**

4:55 – Greg Joslin*

5:25 – Beth Waterfall**

5:30 – Hope Marian**

5:35 – Judith Foster**

5:40 – Morah*

6:10 – Kebra Smith-Bolden**

6:15 – Scott Churchill**

6:20 – Takiya Anthony-Price**

6:25 – Millyz*

7 pm – Samson Racioppi**

7:05 – Mike Whiter**

7:10 – Real One/Busy Bee*

The Boston skyline hovers behind Boston Common, home of the Freedom Rally (photo by Russ Belville)

Parkman Stage

3 pm – welcome**

3:05 – DJ Cakewalk*

3:50 – George Armstrong**

3:55 – Kevin Young**

4 pm – Loppside*

4:30 – Martha Sorensen**

4:45 – Unbalanced*

5:30 – Shokazoba*

6 pm – Robby Blaze**

6:05 – Michelle Herman**

6:10 – Perry Bailes**

6:15 – Whale Tail*

6:45 – Ed DeSousa**

6:50 – Adam Sutton**

7 pm – Doom Lover*

* band

** speaker

Freedom Leaf’s Steve Bloom speaking at the 2017 Freedom Rally (photo by JENuineVision)

SATURDAY, SEPT. 15

Charles Stage

12 pm – Bill Flynn**

12:05 – Justin James Bridges*

12:30 – Joe Gilmore**

12:35 – TaShonda Vincent-Lee**

12:40 – Dan Pomerantz**

12:45 – Resonate*

1:15 – Mike Hsu**

1:20 – Andy Gaus**

1:25 – Merch giveaway

1:30 – Luke Bars*

2 pm – Ed Forchion (a.k.a. NJ Weedman)**

2:05 – Kyle Corrao (a.k.a. Elmo)**

2:10 – Chief S. Samura**

2:15 – Myster DL*

2:45 – Ebony Knight**

2:50 – Cara Crabb-Burnham**

3 pm – The Quins*

3:30 – Sean Black**

3:45 – Van Gordon Martin*

4:15 – “Big Mike” Straumietis**

4:25 – Mendo Dope*

4:55 – Zairilla Bacon**

5 pm – Danny Danko**

5:05 – Diane Fornbacher**

5:10 – Steve Bloom**

5:15 – The Rupert Selection*

5:45 – Theresa Nightingale**

5:50 – Nichole West**

5:55 – Merch giveaway

6 pm – Crooked Coast*

6:45 – Michael Latulippe**

6:50 – Laura Beohner**

6:55 – Ellen Brown**

7 pm – The Elovaters*

The Parkman stage (a.k.a. the Gazebo) at Boston Freedom Rally (photo by JENuineVision)

Parkman Stage

12 pm – welcome**

12:05 – Tutta Crumbs*

12:30 – Michael Maloney**

12:35 – Claire Walsh**

12:45 – Contact*

1:15 – Krystal Lopez**

1:20 – Christian Palermo**

1:30 – panel discussion

2 pm – Viondy Claude Merisma**

2:05 – Carol-Anne Renee Sabol**

2:10 – Hillary King**

2:15 – One Drop (Bob Marley tribute)*

2:45 – Brian Essenter**

2:50 – Scott Brodsky**

2:55 – Kathleen McKinnon**

3 pm – panel discussion

3:30 – Grant Ellis**

3:35 – Crosby**

3:45 – Denroy Morgan*

4:20 – Matthew Gordon**

4:25 – Haley Games**

4:30 – Hybrid Thoughts*

5:15 – Yesai*

5:45 – Terry Hopper**

5:50 – Chris Mueller**

6 pm – Rival Roots*

6:45 – Joe Passy**

6:50 – Eric Bevivino**

6:55 – Kyle Gairhan (a.k.a. Tuna) **

7 pm – HeartAFiya*

* band

** speaker

The MassCann tent at Boston Freedom Rally (photo by JENuineVision)

Cannabis Education Village Roundtables, Discussions & Demonstrations

12:25 – “Small Business Start Up” with Chris Cote, Hillary King, Hope Marian, Zach McInnis, Marie Robinson, Beth Waterfall and Nichole West

1 pm – “Nora’s Story and Patient Pediatric Rights” with Jessica Montville

1:25 – “Cannabis in the Media” with Sean Black, Steve Bloom, Diane Fornbacher, Mike Hsu, Bobby Nuggz, TaShonda Vincent-Lee and Mike Whiter

2 pm – “Tinctures and Herbal Medicine” with Rachel Foti

2:25 – “Docs and Jocks” with Riley Cote, Dr. Uma Dhanabalan, Eric Martin, Jim McMahon and Viondy Claude Merisma

3 pm – “Patient and Caregivers” with Donna Hackett, Rob Marcelonis and Sam Marcelonis

3:25 – “How to Grow” with Eric Bevivino, Peter Dougherty, Ben Hadley, Steve OG, Eric Schwartz and Adam Sutton

4 pm – Mila Jansen

4:25 – “Extraction” with Daniel de Sailles, Kyle “Elmo” Corrao, Frenchy Cannoli, Kyle “Tuna” Gairhan, Mr. Bond, Nikka T and Bobby Nuggz

5 pm – “Bath and Body Essentials” with Krystal Lopez

5:25 – “Families and Cannabis” with Melissa Bouchard, Cara Crabb-Burham, Theresa Nightingale and Carol-Anne Renee Sabol

6 pm – “Consumer to Connoisseur” with Kate Phillips

6:25 – “Edibles” with Zairilla Bacon, Fred Karp, Captain Kirk, Chef Joe, Emily Ellman, Devin Tellier and Kevin Young

7 pm – “Cannabis Science” with Scott Churchill and Sam Milton

One of the more colorful performers on the Charles stage at a previous Freedom Rally (photo by Russ Belville)

SUNDAY, SEPT. 16

Charles Stage

12 pm – welcome**

12:05 – DJ D Good*

12:40 – Sonia Erika**

12:45 – Wordsmith*

1:15 – Melissa Bouchard**

1:30 – The Space Cade7s*

2 pm – Eric Schwartz**

2:05 – Michael Maloney**

2:10 – Jordan Carlson**

2:15 – Phokus*

2:45 – John Dvorak**

2:50 – Shaleen Title**

2:55 – Stanley Atkins II**

3 pm – BuddahFly*

3:30 – Uncle Stoner**

3:35 – Mila Jansen**

3:45 – Higher Education*

4:20 – Mike Clinton**

4:25 – Addison Demoura**

4:30 – Over the Bridge*

5 pm – Brett Cogill**

5:05 – Wendy Love Edge**

5:15 – Joe Sambo*

5:45 – Bobby Nuggz**

5:50 – thanks from MassCann**

6 pm – Fortunate Youth*

Huge crowd at Boston Freedom Rally (photo by JENuineVision)

Parkman Stage

12 pm – welcome**

12:05 – Fresh Perspective*

12:35 – Marie Robinson**

12:40 – Kris Burnes**

12:45 – panel discussion

1:15 – Will Luzier**

1:20 – Glenn Lewis**

1:30 – Christina Holmes*

2 pm – Chris Cote**

2:10 – David Sorgman**

2:15 – panel discussion

2:45 – Erik Hunter**

2:50 – Sylvia Zelaya**

2:55 – Captain Kirk**

3 pm – The Party Band**

3:30 – Christina Miyabe Shields**

3:35 – Robin Striar**

3:45 – Leon Trout*

4:15 – Kyle Ricci**

4:20 – Hannah Jane**

4:30 – MDMA*

5 pm – Yong Soo Kim**

5:15 – Woke/AJ Reynolds**

* band

** speaker

The production tent (that’s Bill Downing inside) at Boston Freedom Rally (photo by JENuineVision)

Cannabis Education Village Roundtables, Discussions & Demonstrations

12:25 – “Veterans” with George Armstrong, David Duhart, Chris Mueller, Lisa Silver Crow Perreault, Sarah Stenuf and Devin Tellier

1 pm – “Reiki Healing” with Kyle Ricci

1:25 – “Mental Health for Entrepreneurs” with Laura Beohner, Haley Games, Jen Grue and Kebra Smith-Bolden

2 pm – “How to Set Up a Co-Op” with Kamani Jefferson and Eric Schwartz

2:25 – “Social Media for the Cannabis Community” with Laura Beohner, Derek Cloutier and Bobby West

3 pm – “Cancer Patient and Caregiver” with Catherine Lewis and Glenn Lewis

3:25 – “How to Grow” with Ellen Brown, Addison Demoura, Matthew Gordon, Mendo Dope and Kevin Young

4 pm – Danny Danko

4:25 – “Social Justice and Activism” with Sonia Erika, Joe Gilmore, Tito Jackson, Nicole Snow, Robin Striar and Shaleen Title

5 pm – “Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine” with Kris Burnes

5:25 – “Cannabis Is Medicine” with Brooke Andrade, Lyle Craker, Wendy Love Edge and Hannah Jane

6 pm – “Cannabis Curriculum” with John Dvorak

6:25 – “Opiates” with Brian Essenter and Christina Miyabe Shields

7 pm – “Prohibition Then and Now” with Samson Racioppi

Related Articles

The Persecution of NJ Weedman

High Times Article Leads Feds to Massachusetts Grow Ops

More Events

Sept.-Oct. Cannabis Events Calendar

Celebrating Canadian Legalization at ICBC Vancouver

CannaMexico World Summit Focuses on Phasing Out Cartels

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The post Boston Freedom Rally: Three Days of Weed & Music appeared first on Freedom Leaf.

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[marymosley]

Gangland Lawyering? Featuring Pierce Bainbridge & Hecht Partners

Rudy Giuliani tied himself to Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht LLP with a tweet announcing the firm would represent him for the Ukraine fiasco. The man formerly known as “America’s Mayor” made his chops taking on “The Five Families,” a New York City Organized Crime syndicate. The revelations coming out of Pierce Bainbridge have many opining that Pierce Bainbridge operations are more akin to a criminal enterprise than a reputable law firm. A bombshell accusation from an ex-firm associate has increased the already searing spotlight on the firm, as well as its current and former partners.  The accusations – which sound like something that could be found in Rudy’s bag of tricks – include alleged fraud on a federal court and related intimidation tactics.

 “Intimidation” & “Fraud on the Court” Accusations

A new outside lawyer for Pierce Bainbridge, Ed Altabet of Cohen Seglias, has been accused of attempting to “intimidate” the ex-associate from coming forward with accusations that ex-Pierce Bainbridge named-partner David L. Hecht (Hecht Partners) intentionally defrauded a federal court.  The issue arose in connection with a putative class action against Boeing and Southwest Airlines.  The story is covered by LawFuel.com here.

Hecht has been so loyal to Pierce, his ex-partner Christopher N. LaVigne (Withers Bergman) said “David would toss dogs off of cliffs,” if Pierce said it was a good strategy.  To be fair, LaVigne clearly has a low opinion of Hecht, LaVigne has also opined in writing:  “David is an embarrassment to lawyers everywhere.  Some of the worst lawyers I know are better than David.”  Similarly, Mike Masnick of Techdirt.com, referred to a complaint Hecht filed on behalf of Tulsi Gabbard as “laughable” and said Hecht should be “embarrassed.”

Notwithstanding these views, Hecht recently started his “own firm,” Hecht Partners LLP.  Oddly, seven (7) of the eight (8) lawyers are from Pierce Bainbridge, certain administrative personnel from Pierce Bainbridge have reportedly joined, and Hecht puzzlingly said in open court that while he is no longer a partner at Pierce Bainbridge, he still works with the firm.

This, as well as related events such as the Boeing Southwest fiasco, the reported $65,000,000 Pierce Bainbridge debt to litigation funder Virage Capital Management, and the at least six lawsuits currently facing Hecht’s former firm, has led to suggestions that the two firms, and perhaps a third-party, are involved in Gangland-like shell-game shenanigans.

The Bombshell Filing does nothing to help the image of the newly established Hecht Partners.  It has Gangland tactics written all over it.  The former associate took direct aim at Altabet and Hecht.

Altabet replaced long-time Giuliani ally, and a lawyer intricately connected to Donald Trump, Mark Mukasey. Even for Mukasey, the Pierce Bainbridge environment appears to have been unacceptable; he withdrew citing ethics concerns.  In came Altabet, and the unethical conduct did not skip a beat.

In a filing in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in front of the Honorable Judge Amos L. Mazzant, the ex-associate said:

“After reviewing the transcript from the May 13th hearing in this matter, I have confirmed what I believe are numerous statements of material fact by David Hecht which are inaccurate, and may have been made to intentionally mislead counsel and the Court.”

“[I]n light of an email I received from Pierce Bainbridge’s outside counsel, Ed Altabet, today, in which he made several baseless accusations against me in what appeared to be an effort to intimidate me and hamper my efforts to correct the record, I request an In-Camera ex parte hearing before the Court.”

The John Pierce, Keyboard-Fueled Gangland Tactics

Pierce’s bombast proclamations of global domination, and overwhelming lack of candor, have rendered the Harvard Law School graduate a laughingstock in many legal circles.

Pierce is still, however, commonly seen as the straw stirring Hecht’s actions, as well as the driving force behind the intimidation tactics.  Pierce, who claims to have been a tank platoon leader in the United States Army, takes his faux machismo passionately; for example, a report by Meghan Tribe in Law.Com, quotes Pierce:

“We are building an army of killers on a highly collaborative platform. In addition, we have a culture obsessed with winning and bringing maximum value to clients.” – John Pierce, January 3, 2019

Pierce subsequently attacked Tribe on LinkedIn in a falsehood-ridden post with his disciples lending support.  Former Pierce Bainbridge partners Michael Pomerantz, Thomas Warren (Warren Terzian), Johanthan Kortmansky (BraunHagey & Borden) and, you guessed it, David Hecht endorsed Pierce’s nonsense.

Indeed, the Pierce modus operandi seems to be to threaten by e-mail.

For example, Pierce threatened a former client by email, the client reported Pierce to the California State Bar and included an opinion that Pierce is a “menace to the legal society.”

Pierce threatened a lending company named Newtek by email in September 2018; in early October 2018, Newtek denied Pierce’s request for a $ 1 million SBA loan secured by a client’s $ 6 million home;  the denial was related to Pierce’s obligations to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as well as California state tax authorities.  (Public records show Pierce has around $1.5 million in tax liens, e-mails show he owes $21,000 month alimony, and Pierce claims to be the sole guarantor of a $65,000,000 Pierce Bainbridge debt to Virage Capital Management.)

To complete the trifecta, Pierce also threatened former partner and whistle blowing Don Lewis by email.  Lewis’s ex-partners, all who have been sued by him, were on the email. Lewis says, “despite their fiduciary duties of care, they all did nothing.”  (Denver G. Edwards pictured, joined after Lewis, but has been accused, along with Christopher N. LaVigne (Withers Bergman) of “lying under oath” to smear Lewis.)

The group are experienced attorneys who now practice at Armstrong Teasedale, Braunhagey & Borden, Withers Bergman, Hecht Partners, among other firms.  Their prior experience is at reputable law firms such as BakerHostetler, Baker & McKenzie, Browne George & Ross, Brown Rudnick, Covington & Burling, Davis Polk, Fish & Richardson, Gibson Dunn, Glaser Weil, Grais & Ellsworth, Grant & Eisenhofer, Kasowitz Benson, Kirkland & Ellis, Kaye Scholer, Kobre Kim, Margolis & Tinsman, McKool Smith, Murphy & King, Murchison & Cumming, Reid Collins & Tsai, Steptoe & Johnson, Sullivan & Worcester, Quinn Emanuel; White & Case, Wachtell Missry, Wilson Sonsini, and White & Case.

Next Stop Jail?

Many have speculated if Pierce may eventually wind up behind bars, consistent with a warning he received from Oscar De La Hoya’s long-time lawyer in the Fall of 2018.

Lots of Questions:  What Was Virage Told? 

As for the Virage $65 million, what convinced the litigation funder to risk such a large investment in Pierce Bainbridge remains a mystery. Pierce appears to be running a decent con, perhaps even Giuliani with all his Gangland experience was impressed.

The question persists:  What was Virage told?  What representations were made? Who made them? How could Virage get in so deep behind:

a $9.1 million declared default against the firm.

issues with paying creditors.

no track record of meaningful litigation success.

a “leader” – John Pierce – with “brutal credit”.

a “leader” – John Pierce – with issues with “substance abuse and other addictive behaviors.”

The Mysterious Richard Silverstein of Loan Annex

An individual who may have some answers, but to date has largely stayed out of the fray, is Richard Silverstein the Founder of Loan Annex.

Silverstein is pictured above with promotional material from his LinkedIn page.  The Loan Annex founder filed a sworn affidavit in federal bankruptcy court at the end of last year stating:  “Throughout 2019, I was engaged by Pierce Bainbridge as their consultant for the purpose of arranging financing for the firm.” 2019 is when both tranches of the $65 million Virage deal were struck.

Interestingly, Silverstein’s affidavit was filed to support the claims of a lender named Counsel Financial; Pierce Bainbridge was allegedly in discussions with Counsel Financial about financing in March 2019.  In line with the Gangland theme, the underlying debtor claimed in an affidavit:  “A colleague of mine derided these tactics as ‘Mafia-style’ intimidation, but even the Mafia had a code about attacking family members.”  The tactics had to do with alleged e-mail threats from a lawyer for Counsel Financial.

More Questions:  What’s Going on with Talon LF, LLC

Recently leaked solicitation materials for potential investors in a litigation fund intricately intertwined with Pierce Bainbridge may also shed light; the name of the fund is Talon LF, LLC.

Two ex-Pierce Bainbridge partners, Doug Curran (BraunHagey & Borden) and Thomas D. Warren (Warren Terzian), as well as Pierce are listed as closely affiliated.

The Talon investor solicitation materials appear to have several issues, but there are two glaringly puzzling representations.

“Vertically integrated with PB w/ a success rate on contingency cases of 97%”. (From cover e-mail accompanying the materials)

A chart which represents a positive investment rate of return (“IRR”) for litigation funder Pravati Capital, which apparently failing to indicate that Pravati declared a $9,157,072.95 default.

Are these representations true?  Are they materially misleading? Are they fraudulent?

Issues surrounding the clearing of the Pravati default raise more Gangland type flags.  A former firm client, Gustavo Escamilla, President of Greenway Nutrients, says he “has strong reason to believe that Mr. Piece and his firm Pierce Bainbridge accepted bribes ”from individuals with “criminal backgrounds” and  “used this bribe money to pay down some, or all, of an over $9.1 million [Pravati] default.”

Escamilla has also developed a compelling timeline, which suggest his claims may be valid.

The General Counsel & Blind Eye:  Carolynn K. Beck

On the issue of Pravati, ex-firm General Counsel, Carolynn K. Beck, now a partner at Goldstein & McClintock, was intricately connected to Pravati.  She is alleged to have misrepresented, with Pierce, a case value to Pravati by well over $900,000,000.00, and documents appear to support the same.  In addition, a Philly lawyer has sued Beck individually, the other named partners and Pierce Bainbridge claiming the case value presented to Pravati was wildly overinflated. The Philly lawyer worked the same case for 16 months before Pierce Bainbridge took over.

Beck joined her new firm with Craig Bolton; the duo reportedly worked very closely together at Pierce Bainbridge. Bolton was apparently involved in litigation funding efforts, including the alleged discussions with Counsel Financial in March.

A cavalcade of severe misconduct happened under Beck’s watch:  lies under oath, violations of ethical rules, deletion of evidence, misogyny from the top, potential double-pledging of firm collateral, Pierce siphoning funds from firm accounts, the list goes on.

Beck as General Counsel for the firm, appears, at best, to have done nothing to stop it.  A type of Gangland consigliere who seems to have made an internal oath to never get in the way.

As an example, written communications indicate Beck was aware of Pierce using firm accounts as a personal piggy bank back in October 2018.  A text that Lewis received from the firm’s bookkeeper, just days before being banished, strongly suggests the Goldstein & McClintock partner was in the know.

Subsequent to this October 2018 message, the Firm, under Beck’s watch, would go on to rack up a $65 million debt from April 2019 – April 2020, find itself a defendant in three cash advance lawsuits (where upfront cash was provided in exchange for alleged firm receivables) and see a mass exodus of attorneys starting in October 2019.  Beck’s apparent willful turn of a blind eye is not consistent with the role of a General Counsel.

Camille Varlack, Kevin Cash & The Future

Beck left the firm around a month ago; a Law360 article said Chief Operating Officer and Deputy General Counsel Camille Varlack and Chief Financial Officer Kevin Cash were running Pierce Bainbridge while Pierce was on a forced leave of absence. Both Varlack and Cash are not part of the original Pierce Bainbridge inner circle; but their role in leadership positions, with apparent visibility into the firm’s finances is noteworthy.

With a firm boasting so many red flags, the possibility of a wide-ranging Pierce Bainbridge bloodbath seems more likely by the day. Cash and Varlack may be subjected to some hard questions about what they knew, when they knew it and what they did about it.

Giuliani, some would say, has learned from the mobsters he used to prosecute and has pulled off Gangland tactics for years, while remaining relatively unscathed.  It remains to be seen if this brat pack of attorneys Rudy hired have what it takes to keep ahead of the tsunami of severe issues that are closing in on them.

The post Gangland Lawyering? Featuring Pierce Bainbridge & Hecht Partners appeared first on Legal Desire.

Gangland Lawyering? Featuring Pierce Bainbridge & Hecht Partners published first on https://immigrationlawyerto.tumblr.com/

[marymosley]

Gangland Lawyering? Featuring Pierce Bainbridge & Hecht Partners

Rudy Giuliani tied himself to Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht LLP with a tweet announcing the firm would represent him for the Ukraine fiasco. The man formerly known as “America’s Mayor” made his chops taking on “The Five Families,” a New York City Organized Crime syndicate. The revelations coming out of Pierce Bainbridge have many opining that Pierce Bainbridge operations are more akin to a criminal enterprise than a reputable law firm. A bombshell accusation from an ex-firm associate has increased the already searing spotlight on the firm, as well as its current and former partners.  The accusations – which sound like something that could be found in Rudy’s bag of tricks – include alleged fraud on a federal court and related intimidation tactics.

 “Intimidation” & “Fraud on the Court” Accusations

A new outside lawyer for Pierce Bainbridge, Ed Altabet of Cohen Seglias, has been accused of attempting to “intimidate” the ex-associate from coming forward with accusations that ex-Pierce Bainbridge named-partner David L. Hecht (Hecht Partners) intentionally defrauded a federal court.  The issue arose in connection with a putative class action against Boeing and Southwest Airlines.  The story is covered by LawFuel.com here.

Hecht has been so loyal to Pierce, his ex-partner Christopher N. LaVigne (Withers Bergman) said “David would toss dogs off of cliffs,” if Pierce said it was a good strategy.  To be fair, LaVigne clearly has a low opinion of Hecht, LaVigne has also opined in writing:  “David is an embarrassment to lawyers everywhere.  Some of the worst lawyers I know are better than David.”  Similarly, Mike Masnick of Techdirt.com, referred to a complaint Hecht filed on behalf of Tulsi Gabbard as “laughable” and said Hecht should be “embarrassed.”

Notwithstanding these views, Hecht recently started his “own firm,” Hecht Partners LLP.  Oddly, seven (7) of the eight (8) lawyers are from Pierce Bainbridge, certain administrative personnel from Pierce Bainbridge have reportedly joined, and Hecht puzzlingly said in open court that while he is no longer a partner at Pierce Bainbridge, he still works with the firm.

This, as well as related events such as the Boeing Southwest fiasco, the reported $65,000,000 Pierce Bainbridge debt to litigation funder Virage Capital Management, and the at least six lawsuits currently facing Hecht’s former firm, has led to suggestions that the two firms, and perhaps a third-party, are involved in Gangland-like shell-game shenanigans.

The Bombshell Filing does nothing to help the image of the newly established Hecht Partners.  It has Gangland tactics written all over it.  The former associate took direct aim at Altabet and Hecht.

Altabet replaced long-time Giuliani ally, and a lawyer intricately connected to Donald Trump, Mark Mukasey. Even for Mukasey, the Pierce Bainbridge environment appears to have been unacceptable; he withdrew citing ethics concerns.  In came Altabet, and the unethical conduct did not skip a beat.

In a filing in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in front of the Honorable Judge Amos L. Mazzant, the ex-associate said:

“After reviewing the transcript from the May 13th hearing in this matter, I have confirmed what I believe are numerous statements of material fact by David Hecht which are inaccurate, and may have been made to intentionally mislead counsel and the Court.”

“[I]n light of an email I received from Pierce Bainbridge’s outside counsel, Ed Altabet, today, in which he made several baseless accusations against me in what appeared to be an effort to intimidate me and hamper my efforts to correct the record, I request an In-Camera ex parte hearing before the Court.”

The John Pierce, Keyboard-Fueled Gangland Tactics

Pierce’s bombast proclamations of global domination, and overwhelming lack of candor, have rendered the Harvard Law School graduate a laughingstock in many legal circles.

Pierce is still, however, commonly seen as the straw stirring Hecht’s actions, as well as the driving force behind the intimidation tactics.  Pierce, who claims to have been a tank platoon leader in the United States Army, takes his faux machismo passionately; for example, a report by Meghan Tribe in Law.Com, quotes Pierce:

“We are building an army of killers on a highly collaborative platform. In addition, we have a culture obsessed with winning and bringing maximum value to clients.” – John Pierce, January 3, 2019

Pierce subsequently attacked Tribe on LinkedIn in a falsehood-ridden post with his disciples lending support.  Former Pierce Bainbridge partners Michael Pomerantz, Thomas Warren (Warren Terzian), Johanthan Kortmansky (BraunHagey & Borden) and, you guessed it, David Hecht endorsed Pierce’s nonsense.

Indeed, the Pierce modus operandi seems to be to threaten by e-mail.

For example, Pierce threatened a former client by email, the client reported Pierce to the California State Bar and included an opinion that Pierce is a “menace to the legal society.”

Pierce threatened a lending company named Newtek by email in September 2018; in early October 2018, Newtek denied Pierce’s request for a $ 1 million SBA loan secured by a client’s $ 6 million home;  the denial was related to Pierce’s obligations to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as well as California state tax authorities.  (Public records show Pierce has around $1.5 million in tax liens, e-mails show he owes $21,000 month alimony, and Pierce claims to be the sole guarantor of a $65,000,000 Pierce Bainbridge debt to Virage Capital Management.)

To complete the trifecta, Pierce also threatened former partner and whistle blowing Don Lewis by email.  Lewis’s ex-partners, all who have been sued by him, were on the email. Lewis says, “despite their fiduciary duties of care, they all did nothing.”  (Denver G. Edwards pictured, joined after Lewis, but has been accused, along with Christopher N. LaVigne (Withers Bergman) of “lying under oath” to smear Lewis.)

The group are experienced attorneys who now practice at Armstrong Teasedale, Braunhagey & Borden, Withers Bergman, Hecht Partners, among other firms.  Their prior experience is at reputable law firms such as BakerHostetler, Baker & McKenzie, Browne George & Ross, Brown Rudnick, Covington & Burling, Davis Polk, Fish & Richardson, Gibson Dunn, Glaser Weil, Grais & Ellsworth, Grant & Eisenhofer, Kasowitz Benson, Kirkland & Ellis, Kaye Scholer, Kobre Kim, Margolis & Tinsman, McKool Smith, Murphy & King, Murchison & Cumming, Reid Collins & Tsai, Steptoe & Johnson, Sullivan & Worcester, Quinn Emanuel; White & Case, Wachtell Missry, Wilson Sonsini, and White & Case.

Next Stop Jail?

Many have speculated if Pierce may eventually wind up behind bars, consistent with a warning he received from Oscar De La Hoya’s long-time lawyer in the Fall of 2018.

Lots of Questions:  What Was Virage Told? 

As for the Virage $65 million, what convinced the litigation funder to risk such a large investment in Pierce Bainbridge remains a mystery. Pierce appears to be running a decent con, perhaps even Giuliani with all his Gangland experience was impressed.

The question persists:  What was Virage told?  What representations were made? Who made them? How could Virage get in so deep behind:

a $9.1 million declared default against the firm.

issues with paying creditors.

no track record of meaningful litigation success.

a “leader” – John Pierce – with “brutal credit”.

a “leader” – John Pierce – with issues with “substance abuse and other addictive behaviors.”

The Mysterious Richard Silverstein of Loan Annex

An individual who may have some answers, but to date has largely stayed out of the fray, is Richard Silverstein the Founder of Loan Annex.

Silverstein is pictured above with promotional material from his LinkedIn page.  The Loan Annex founder filed a sworn affidavit in federal bankruptcy court at the end of last year stating:  “Throughout 2019, I was engaged by Pierce Bainbridge as their consultant for the purpose of arranging financing for the firm.” 2019 is when both tranches of the $65 million Virage deal were struck.

Interestingly, Silverstein’s affidavit was filed to support the claims of a lender named Counsel Financial; Pierce Bainbridge was allegedly in discussions with Counsel Financial about financing in March 2019.  In line with the Gangland theme, the underlying debtor claimed in an affidavit:  “A colleague of mine derided these tactics as ‘Mafia-style’ intimidation, but even the Mafia had a code about attacking family members.”  The tactics had to do with alleged e-mail threats from a lawyer for Counsel Financial.

More Questions:  What’s Going on with Talon LF, LLC

Recently leaked solicitation materials for potential investors in a litigation fund intricately intertwined with Pierce Bainbridge may also shed light; the name of the fund is Talon LF, LLC.

Two ex-Pierce Bainbridge partners, Doug Curran (BraunHagey & Borden) and Thomas D. Warren (Warren Terzian), as well as Pierce are listed as closely affiliated.

The Talon investor solicitation materials appear to have several issues, but there are two glaringly puzzling representations.

“Vertically integrated with PB w/ a success rate on contingency cases of 97%”. (From cover e-mail accompanying the materials)

A chart which represents a positive investment rate of return (“IRR”) for litigation funder Pravati Capital, which apparently failing to indicate that Pravati declared a $9,157,072.95 default.

Are these representations true?  Are they materially misleading? Are they fraudulent?

Issues surrounding the clearing of the Pravati default raise more Gangland type flags.  A former firm client, Gustavo Escamilla, President of Greenway Nutrients, says he “has strong reason to believe that Mr. Piece and his firm Pierce Bainbridge accepted bribes ”from individuals with “criminal backgrounds” and  “used this bribe money to pay down some, or all, of an over $9.1 million [Pravati] default.”

Escamilla has also developed a compelling timeline, which suggest his claims may be valid.

The General Counsel & Blind Eye:  Carolynn K. Beck

On the issue of Pravati, ex-firm General Counsel, Carolynn K. Beck, now a partner at Goldstein & McClintock, was intricately connected to Pravati.  She is alleged to have misrepresented, with Pierce, a case value to Pravati by well over $900,000,000.00, and documents appear to support the same.  In addition, a Philly lawyer has sued Beck individually, the other named partners and Pierce Bainbridge claiming the case value presented to Pravati was wildly overinflated. The Philly lawyer worked the same case for 16 months before Pierce Bainbridge took over.

Beck joined her new firm with Craig Bolton; the duo reportedly worked very closely together at Pierce Bainbridge. Bolton was apparently involved in litigation funding efforts, including the alleged discussions with Counsel Financial in March.

A cavalcade of severe misconduct happened under Beck’s watch:  lies under oath, violations of ethical rules, deletion of evidence, misogyny from the top, potential double-pledging of firm collateral, Pierce siphoning funds from firm accounts, the list goes on.

Beck as General Counsel for the firm, appears, at best, to have done nothing to stop it.  A type of Gangland consigliere who seems to have made an internal oath to never get in the way.

As an example, written communications indicate Beck was aware of Pierce using firm accounts as a personal piggy bank back in October 2018.  A text that Lewis received from the firm’s bookkeeper, just days before being banished, strongly suggests the Goldstein & McClintock partner was in the know.

Subsequent to this October 2018 message, the Firm, under Beck’s watch, would go on to rack up a $65 million debt from April 2019 – April 2020, find itself a defendant in three cash advance lawsuits (where upfront cash was provided in exchange for alleged firm receivables) and see a mass exodus of attorneys starting in October 2019.  Beck’s apparent willful turn of a blind eye is not consistent with the role of a General Counsel.

Camille Varlack, Kevin Cash & The Future

Beck left the firm around a month ago; a Law360 article said Chief Operating Officer and Deputy General Counsel Camille Varlack and Chief Financial Officer Kevin Cash were running Pierce Bainbridge while Pierce was on a forced leave of absence. Both Varlack and Cash are not part of the original Pierce Bainbridge inner circle; but their role in leadership positions, with apparent visibility into the firm’s finances is noteworthy.

With a firm boasting so many red flags, the possibility of a wide-ranging Pierce Bainbridge bloodbath seems more likely by the day. Cash and Varlack may be subjected to some hard questions about what they knew, when they knew it and what they did about it.

Giuliani, some would say, has learned from the mobsters he used to prosecute and has pulled off Gangland tactics for years, while remaining relatively unscathed.  It remains to be seen if this brat pack of attorneys Rudy hired have what it takes to keep ahead of the tsunami of severe issues that are closing in on them.

The post Gangland Lawyering? Featuring Pierce Bainbridge & Hecht Partners appeared first on Legal Desire.

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[marymosley]

Delusions or Reality at Pierce Bainbridge: An “Embattled” Law Firm or a Team of Militaristic Elite Special Legal Forces

Head Scratching Quotes from Pierce Bainbridge Managing Partner John Pierce

Legal Desire has been on the forefront of the dispute between former partner Don Lewis and the Pierce Bainbridge law firm.  It has been a never-ending rollercoaster with Lewis’ revelations of Pierce’s own personnel taking direct aim at their boss John Mark Pierce on dishonesty, financial strains, substance abuse and general stability.  The firm and its partners have been swamped in negativity. Looped into that group are Michael D. Yim of Putney Twombly and Sylvia Jeanine Conley of Littler Mendelson.

Pierce Bainbridge Managing Partner John Mark Pierce. Photo from a Law360 article with Credit to Brandon Lowrey.

Pierce, who claims to have been a “tank platoon leader” in the United States Army, has an affinity for applying military-speak to law firm practice.   Just this week this was on full display.

In response to questions from the American Lawyer about the recent departures of six Pierce Bainbridge partners (Legal Desire covered them here), Pierce suggested the six departed partners were not tough enough to make it, according to Pierce, at “the fastest growing law firm in the history of the world.”

Despite the partner exodus, Pierce repeated an oft stated objectively perplexing statement that the “embattled firm” plans to overtake litigation powerhouse Quinn Emanuel.  Pierce did not stop there, however, in what appears to be a clear shot at the departed six partners, Pierce declared: “not everyone is cut out for SEAL training or Ranger School.”

Pierce was almost certainly referring to Michael Winograd (Brown Rudnick, formerly of Ropes & Gray), Susan Winkler (formerly of the United States Attorney’s Office), Jeffrey Alexander (formerly of Kasowitz Benson), Joan Meyer (formerly of Baker McKenzie), Deborah Renner (former “lead attorney” assisting Bernie Madoff trustee Irving Picard) and Robert Allen (formerly of McKool Smith).

Perhaps even odder than the boasting and bravado, are the traits Pierce declares his attorneys must possess. In the words of the Pierce Bainbridge commander:

“The only lawyers who should join our firm are the ones who . . . can swallow some risk.”

“Our people must have not only thick skin, but skin made of kevlar combined with titanium at times.”

The “risk” line caught our attention, the “kevlar and titanium skin” one, we imagine caught everyone’s.

All we know is that the Pierce Bainbridge partners sticking to their platoon commander appear to be in a hot mess. Partners Denver G. Edwards and Christopher N. LaVigne have been accused of knowingly lying in sworn affidavits with potential personal felony exposure.

New York Office Managing Partner David Hecht violated the Ethical Rule of Professional Conduct on attorney deceit, was admonished by a federal judge, boasted about it on LinkedIn, casted aspersions at the Jones Day law firm and lost the case a few months later.  Caroline Polisi and Eric Creizman were apparently ultimately ok with having $9.1 Million default liens filed against them individually, as were Edwards and LaVigne.

Perhaps this is what is understood by “swallowing the risk.” Or perhaps it is about blind loyalty to the seemingly reckless platoon leader. For instance, LaVigne said – in writing – of his office boss David Hecht: “If (Pierce) said kicking dogs off of cliffs was a good strategy, David would be there tossing them off.”

Other Pierce Bainbridge partners who are defendants in Lewis’s lawsuits include:  Amman Khan, Andrew Lorin, Caroline Polisi, Carolynn K. Beck, Conor McDonough, Craig Bolton, David L. Hecht, Doug Curran, Eric M. Creizman, James D. Bainbridge, Jonathan Sorkowitz, Maxim Price, Melissa Madrigal, Mike Pomerantz and Patrick Bradford.

While it is strange that a civilian law firm is aligning itself so closely with the rigors of Navy SEAL and Army Ranger training; it gets even more weird when Pierce’s own actions are compared to the values of those service units.  For example:

The Navy Seal Ethos includes: “Uncompromising integrity is my standard. My character and honor are steadfast. My word is my bond.”  But Pierce’s own personnel have stated in writing:

“(Pierce is) losing track of his lies” – PB Partner Christopher N. LaVigne

“(Pierce) talks out of every side of his mouth.” – PB Partner LaVigne

“All John (Pierce) does is lie to me.” – Pierce’s personal assistant Lauren Schaefer-Green

“Fiduciary duty means nothing to (Pierce)” – PB Bookkeeper

The Army Ranger Creed includes: “Never shall I fail my comrades. I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong and morally straight and I will shoulder more than my share of the task whatever it may be, one-hundred-percent and then some.”  But Pierce’s own personnel have stated in writing:

“John is probably deep in the sauce and coke.” – LaVigne when Pierce was AWOL during the workday.

“What’s his status?  Puking? Stinky? Incoherent?” LaVigne at 8:40 a.m. on a Tuesday allegedly twenty minutes before Pierce missed an important 9:00 a.m. meeting with a funder and a former LaVigne colleague from Skadden Arps because “he’s soooo drunk still,” according to a text from Schaefer-Green.

“i can’t handle the drinking again. this is the only area in which he threatens me . . .then his life implodes all over again.” – Schaefer-Green, one of several times she complained in writing about Pierce and the bottle.

“(PB is a) free for all with a narcissistic sociopath at the helm.” – Former PB Partner

With the bad news seemingly mounting on a regular basis, we are intrigued to see how far the loyalty and swallowing of risk will go.   With respect to accountability, so far, the listed defendants have taken the position they bear no responsibility for the wrongs against Lewis.

Lewis notes: “In my opinion, my former partners are anything but honorable.  They are complicit, enablers in all of the dysfunction and deceit surfacing about Pierce Bainbridge; they were and are complicit enablers in the lies Pierce peddled about me to cover-up for the financial malfeasance at the firm.”

****************

Links to Legal Desire’s prior coverage of the Lewis -v- Pierce Bainbridge dispute, including a Forbes article which linked to Legal Desire.

Forbes Links to Legal Desire

Accusation of Corruption and Cover-Up

Lewis Maintains Innocence

Alleged Lies in Sworn Affidavits by Pierce Bainbridge Partners

Potential Felony Exposure for Pierce Bainbridge Partners 

The post Delusions or Reality at Pierce Bainbridge: An “Embattled” Law Firm or a Team of Militaristic Elite Special Legal Forces appeared first on Legal Desire.

Delusions or Reality at Pierce Bainbridge: An “Embattled” Law Firm or a Team of Militaristic Elite Special Legal Forces published first on https://immigrationlawyerto.tumblr.com/

[marymosley]

Delusions or Reality at Pierce Bainbridge: An “Embattled” Law Firm or a Team of Militaristic Elite Special Legal Forces

Head Scratching Quotes from Pierce Bainbridge Managing Partner John Pierce

Legal Desire has been on the forefront of the dispute between former partner Don Lewis and the Pierce Bainbridge law firm.  It has been a never-ending rollercoaster with Lewis’ revelations of Pierce’s own personnel taking direct aim at their boss John Mark Pierce on dishonesty, financial strains, substance abuse and general stability.  The firm and its partners have been swamped in negativity. Looped into that group are Michael D. Yim of Putney Twombly and Sylvia Jeanine Conley of Littler Mendelson.

Pierce Bainbridge Managing Partner John Mark Pierce. Photo from a Law360 article with Credit to Brandon Lowrey.

Pierce, who claims to have been a “tank platoon leader” in the United States Army, has an affinity for applying military-speak to law firm practice.   Just this week this was on full display.

In response to questions from the American Lawyer about the recent departures of six Pierce Bainbridge partners (Legal Desire covered them here), Pierce suggested the six departed partners were not tough enough to make it, according to Pierce, at “the fastest growing law firm in the history of the world.”

Despite the partner exodus, Pierce repeated an oft stated objectively perplexing statement that the “embattled firm” plans to overtake litigation powerhouse Quinn Emanuel.  Pierce did not stop there, however, in what appears to be a clear shot at the departed six partners, Pierce declared: “not everyone is cut out for SEAL training or Ranger School.”

Pierce was almost certainly referring to Michael Winograd (Brown Rudnick, formerly of Ropes & Gray), Susan Winkler (formerly of the United States Attorney’s Office), Jeffrey Alexander (formerly of Kasowitz Benson), Joan Meyer (formerly of Baker McKenzie), Deborah Renner (former “lead attorney” assisting Bernie Madoff trustee Irving Picard) and Robert Allen (formerly of McKool Smith).

Perhaps even odder than the boasting and bravado, are the traits Pierce declares his attorneys must possess. In the words of the Pierce Bainbridge commander:

“The only lawyers who should join our firm are the ones who . . . can swallow some risk.”

“Our people must have not only thick skin, but skin made of kevlar combined with titanium at times.”

The “risk” line caught our attention, the “kevlar and titanium skin” one, we imagine caught everyone’s.

All we know is that the Pierce Bainbridge partners sticking to their platoon commander appear to be in a hot mess. Partners Denver G. Edwards and Christopher N. LaVigne have been accused of knowingly lying in sworn affidavits with potential personal felony exposure.

New York Office Managing Partner David Hecht violated the Ethical Rule of Professional Conduct on attorney deceit, was admonished by a federal judge, boasted about it on LinkedIn, casted aspersions at the Jones Day law firm and lost the case a few months later.  Caroline Polisi and Eric Creizman were apparently ultimately ok with having $9.1 Million default liens filed against them individually, as were Edwards and LaVigne.

Perhaps this is what is understood by “swallowing the risk.” Or perhaps it is about blind loyalty to the seemingly reckless platoon leader. For instance, LaVigne said – in writing – of his office boss David Hecht: “If (Pierce) said kicking dogs off of cliffs was a good strategy, David would be there tossing them off.”

Other Pierce Bainbridge partners who are defendants in Lewis’s lawsuits include:  Amman Khan, Andrew Lorin, Caroline Polisi, Carolynn K. Beck, Conor McDonough, Craig Bolton, David L. Hecht, Doug Curran, Eric M. Creizman, James D. Bainbridge, Jonathan Sorkowitz, Maxim Price, Melissa Madrigal, Mike Pomerantz and Patrick Bradford.

While it is strange that a civilian law firm is aligning itself so closely with the rigors of Navy SEAL and Army Ranger training; it gets even more weird when Pierce’s own actions are compared to the values of those service units.  For example:

The Navy Seal Ethos includes: “Uncompromising integrity is my standard. My character and honor are steadfast. My word is my bond.”  But Pierce’s own personnel have stated in writing:

“(Pierce is) losing track of his lies” – PB Partner Christopher N. LaVigne

“(Pierce) talks out of every side of his mouth.” – PB Partner LaVigne

“All John (Pierce) does is lie to me.” – Pierce’s personal assistant Lauren Schaefer-Green

“Fiduciary duty means nothing to (Pierce)” – PB Bookkeeper

The Army Ranger Creed includes: “Never shall I fail my comrades. I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong and morally straight and I will shoulder more than my share of the task whatever it may be, one-hundred-percent and then some.”  But Pierce’s own personnel have stated in writing:

“John is probably deep in the sauce and coke.” – LaVigne when Pierce was AWOL during the workday.

“What’s his status?  Puking? Stinky? Incoherent?” LaVigne at 8:40 a.m. on a Tuesday right before Pierce missed an important 9:00 a.m. meeting with a funder and a former LaVigne colleague from Skadden Arps because “he’s soooo drunk still,” according to Schaefer-Green.

“i can’t handle the drinking again. this is the only area in which he threatens me . . .then his life implodes all over again.” – Schaefer-Green, one of several times she complained in writing about Pierce and the bottle.

“(PB is a) free for all with a narcissistic sociopath at the helm.” – Former PB Partner

With the bad news seemingly mounting on a regular basis, we are intrigued to see how far the loyalty and swallowing of risk will go.   With respect to accountability, so far, the listed defendants have taken the position they bear no responsibility for the wrongs against Lewis.

Lewis notes: “In my opinion, my former partners are anything but honorable.  They are complicit, enablers in all of the dysfunction and deceit surfacing about Pierce Bainbridge; they were and are complicit enablers in the lies Pierce peddled about me to cover-up for the financial malfeasance at the firm.”

****************

Links to Legal Desire’s prior coverage of the Lewis -v- Pierce Bainbridge dispute, including a Forbes article which linked to Legal Desire.

Forbes Links to Legal Desire

Accusation of Corruption and Cover-Up

Lewis Maintains Innocence

Alleged Lies in Sworn Affidavits by Pierce Bainbridge Partners

Potential Felony Exposure for Pierce Bainbridge Partners 

The post Delusions or Reality at Pierce Bainbridge: An “Embattled” Law Firm or a Team of Militaristic Elite Special Legal Forces appeared first on Legal Desire.

Delusions or Reality at Pierce Bainbridge: An “Embattled” Law Firm or a Team of Militaristic Elite Special Legal Forces published first on https://immigrationlawyerto.tumblr.com/

[marymosley]

Pierce Bainbridge: $1,000,000,000 “LIE”, California Bar Investigation, Partners Running for the Exits

The Sky Seems to Be Falling at Pierce Bainbridge and Don Lewis’ Former Partners Appear to Believe They Have No Responsibility

Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht LLP has had tough several months. E-mails, texts and slack exchanges have surfaced portraying the firm in a negative light.  Former partner Don Lewis says the firm’s Managing Partner John Pierce uses “human pawns” to do his bidding.  The list appears to include Michael Yim of Putney Twombly — facing claims of legal malpractice, S. Jeanine Conley of Littler Mendelson — facing claims of “attorney deceit”, as well as Christopher N. LaVigne and Denver G. Edwards – facing potential felony exposure for allegedly lying in sworn affidavits.  Dishonesty at Pierce Bainbridge has also been a Lewis theme, a review of the “The Over the Top Rhetoric” below is remarkably illuminating.

An Ugly Two Weeks

 It has been a very rough two weeks for Pierce Bainbridge:

The $1,000,000,000 Misrepresentation.  Lewis said that Pierce and firm General Counsel Carolynn Beck told a litigation funder – Pravati Capital LLC in May 2018 – that a case had a prospective value of $1,000,000,000, which he says Pierce and Beck knew was not true.  United States District Court Judge Anita B. Brody just dismissed the case — threw it out completely — before it even went to trial.  The Pierce Bainbridge so-called $1 Billion Case resulted in zero dollars of recovery.  (The successful defense was led by Ambika Doran, Elizabeth A. McNamara and Alison Brooke Schary of Davis Tremaine LLP, and William T. Hangly and Bonnie M. Hoffman of Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller.)

Lewis said: “No one should be surprised by this, not even Pierce Bainbridge.  The prior lawyer advised his client after 16 months of working on the case to settle for $400,000.  Yet Pierce and Beck were concurrently telling a lender (Pravati) it was worth a mind-boggling $1 BILLION.”

The California State Bar Investigation.  The President of a former Pierce Bainbridge client advised that, after months of the preliminary investigation, the California State Bar has opened a “full-blown investigation” into Pierce and Pierce Bainbridge.  Pierce and Jonathan Sorkowitz handled the case; severe discipline up to, and including, disbarment has been requested.

Partner Exodus.  Six partners hired at the firm within the last year apparently abandoned the Pierce Bainbridge ship.  Michael Winograd, Robert Allen, Jeffrey Alexander, Deborah Renner, Joan Meyer and Susan Winkler (the “Departed Six”).  It is rare for partners to come and go so quickly, for six of them to do so is alarming.

The Over the top Rhetoric

The Departed Six appear to have been duped by Pierce’s over the top embellishment.  In light of recent events, it is fascinating to revisit media coverage concerning their hiring.

Deborah Renner; article December 3, 2018

(Renner has prior law firm experience at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP; Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal; and Baker & Hostetler LLP; Renner was widely known as the “lead attorney” for Trustee Irving Picard in unwinding the fraudulent activity of Bernie Madoff).

Pierce:  “Pierce Bainbridge already has the best general commercial, intellectual property, and white-collar practices in the world by a wide margin. . .The most talented lawyers from the top Am Law 200 firms are seeing very clearly that we are the future. This is still just the beginning of the talent the market will see flood to our cutting-edge, mission-oriented, happy-warrior litigation platform in the months to come.”

Jeff Alexander; press release on February 4, 2019

(Alexander has prior law firm experience  at Latham & Watkins; Labaton Sucharow LLP; Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP and Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP)

“Our level of talent is simply unmatched at this point. We have built a better mousetrap, pure and simple.” – John Pierce, a former K&L Gates, Latham & Watkins and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan partner.

Pierce: “The traditional Am Law 100 firms simply cannot compete with us in the digital age. We litigate 10 times better, 10 times faster, and at a fraction of the cost. It is not a linear difference—it is exponential.”

Robert Allen; press release on February 13, 2019

Allen has prior law firm experience at Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP, Gradstein & Marzano, P.C., McKool Smith Hennigan PC

Allen: “I am excited and privileged to be part of such an energetic team of talented lawyers, unafraid of tackling cutting edge issues in pursuit of effective and efficient justice for its clients.”

Pierce:  “We could not be more thrilled that Tom (Warren) and Rob (Allen) have chosen Pierce Bainbridge as their new home,” said the firm’s Managing Partner John Pierce.  “Both are luminaries in their respective fields and deepen our white-collar and IP benches.  February 2019 has proven to be another huge month for the firm as we continue rocketing toward market domination.”

Michael Winograd and Joan Meyer; press release on March 4, 2019.

(Winograd has prior law firm experience at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP; Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati LLP and Ropes & Gray)

Winograd: “This was an opportunity that I just could not pass up. . . elite litigators cherry-picked from top firms and government offices. . . It’s an exciting time to join Pierce Bainbridge. As our current trajectory shows, the sky is the limit.”

Meyer: “It’s a privilege to join Pierce Bainbridge.  It is a dynamic, top-quality firm that has a new vision about how lawyers serve their clients.  It is growing so fast because clients want the drive and initiative this firm brings to the table.  I am proud to be a part of it.”

Pierce: “Mike (Winograd) and Joan (Meyer) take our white-collar and complex litigation capabilities to a whole new level . . . [it is] the best proof that our new way of doing things in the digital age works.”

Susan Winkler hiring; press release on March 12, 2019 

(Winkler previously worked for 25 years in the United States Attorneys Office in Boston, Massachusetts)

Winkler: “It is an honor to join Pierce Bainbridge as it opens the Boston office. . . the opportunity to join these elite trial practitioners with their vision for effective and efficient top-flight litigation was too exciting to pass up.  I am happy to be part of the team.”

Pierce: “With the addition of Susan (Winkler), Frank (Velie) and Jonathan (Kortmansky), our white-collar capabilities have become truly unparalleled.”

“Unmatched,” “Phenomenon,” “Elite,” “Top-Flight,” “Unparalleled,” “Best in the World,” “Most Talent,” “Wide Margin,” and “Sky is the Limit.”

Lewis says: “These words are better suited to John Pierce’s propensity to lie.  That is exactly what Pierce Bainbridge did about false allegations against me, they lied.”

Interestingly, Five of the Departed Six have experience in white-collar crime and/or fraud.

The lawyer for Lewis’ former partners (all of whom remain at the firm, with the exception of one) recently argued in Court that they bear no responsibility for the wrongs done to their former partner.   Lewis says: “They want the title, they definitely want the money, but they don’t want the responsibility.  That’s just not right.”

*** The Pierce Bainbridge Defendants – Lewis’ Former Partners — include: Amman Khan, Andrew Lorin, Caroline Polisi, Carolynn K. Beck, Christopher N. LaVigne, Conor McDonough, Craig Bolton, David L. Hecht, Doug Curran, Eric M. Creizman, James D. Bainbridge, John Mark Pierce, Jonathan Sorkowitz, Maxim Price, Melissa Madrigal, Mike Pomerantz  and Patrick Bradford ***

Links to Legal Desire’s prior coverage of the Lewis -v- Pierce Bainbridge dispute, including a Forbes article which linked to Legal Desire.

Forbes Links to Legal Desire

Accusation of Corruption and Cover-Up

Lewis Maintains Innocence

Alleged Lies in Sworn Affidavits by Pierce Bainbridge Partners

Potential Felony Exposure for Pierce Bainbridge Partners 

The post Pierce Bainbridge: $1,000,000,000 “LIE”, California Bar Investigation, Partners Running for the Exits appeared first on Legal Desire.

Pierce Bainbridge: $1,000,000,000 “LIE”, California Bar Investigation, Partners Running for the Exits published first on https://immigrationlawyerto.tumblr.com/

[marymosley]

Pierce Bainbridge: $1,000,000,000 “LIE”, California Bar Investigation, Partners Running for the Exits

The Sky Seems to Be Falling at Pierce Bainbridge and Don Lewis’ Former Partners Appear to Believe They Have No Responsibility

Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht LLP has had tough several months. E-mails, texts and slack exchanges have surfaced portraying the firm in a negative light.  Former partner Don Lewis says the firm’s Managing Partner John Pierce uses “human pawns” to do his bidding.  The list appears to include Michael Yim of Putney Twombly — facing claims of legal malpractice, S. Jeanine Conley of Littler Mendelson — facing claims of “attorney deceit”, as well as Christopher N. LaVigne and Denver G. Edwards – facing potential felony exposure for allegedly lying in sworn affidavits.  Dishonesty at Pierce Bainbridge has also been a Lewis theme, a review of the “The Over the Top Rhetoric” below is remarkably illuminating.

    An Ugly Two Weeks

 It has been a very rough two weeks for Pierce Bainbridge:

The $1,000,000,000 Misrepresentation.  Lewis said that Pierce and firm General Counsel Carolynn Beck told a litigation funder – Pravati Capital LLC in May 2018 – that a case had a prospective value of $1,000,000,000, which he says Pierce and Beck knew was not true.  United States District Court Judge Anita B. Brody just dismissed the case — threw it out completely — before it even went to trial.  The Pierce Bainbridge so-called $1 Billion Case resulted in zero dollars of recovery.  (The successful defense was led by Ambika Doran, Elizabeth A. McNamara and Alison Brooke Schary of Davis Tremaine LLP, and William T. Hangly and Bonnie M. Hoffman of Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller.)

Lewis said: “No one should be surprised by this, not even Pierce Bainbridge.  The prior lawyer advised his client after 16 months of working on the case to settle for $400,000.  Yet Pierce and Beck were concurrently telling a lender (Pravati) it was worth a mind-boggling $1 BILLION.”

  The California State Bar Investigation.  The President of a former Pierce Bainbridge client advised that, after months of the preliminary investigation, the California State Bar has opened a “full-blown investigation” into Pierce and Pierce Bainbridge.  Pierce and Jonathan Sorkowitz handled the case; severe discipline up to, and including, disbarment has been requested.

  Partner Exodus.  Six partners hired at the firm within the last year apparently abandoned the Pierce Bainbridge ship.  Michael Winograd, Robert Allen, Jeffrey Alexander, Deborah Renner, Joan Meyer and Susan Winkler (the “Departed Six”).  It is rare for partners to come and go so quickly, for six of them to do so is alarming.

  The Over the top Rhetoric

The Departed Six appear to have been duped by Pierce’s over the top embellishment.  In light of recent events, it is fascinating to revisit media coverage concerning their hiring.

  Deborah Renner; article December 3, 2018

(Renner has worked for Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP; Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal; and Baker & Hostetler LLP; Renner was widely known as the “lead attorney” for Trustee Irving Picard in unwinding the fraudulent activity of Bernie Madoff).

Pierce:  “Pierce Bainbridge already has the best general commercial, intellectual property, and white-collar practices in the world by a wide margin. . .The most talented lawyers from the top Am Law 200 firms are seeing very clearly that we are the future. This is still just the beginning of the talent the market will see flood to our cutting-edge, mission-oriented, happy-warrior litigation platform in the months to come.”

  Jeff Alexander; press release on February 4, 2019

(Alexander has worked for Latham & Watkins; Labaton Sucharow LLP; Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP and Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP)

“Our level of talent is simply unmatched at this point. We have built a better mousetrap, pure and simple.” – John Pierce, a former K&L Gates, Latham & Watkins and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan partner.

Pierce: “The traditional Am Law 100 firms simply cannot compete with us in the digital age. We litigate 10 times better, 10 times faster, and at a fraction of the cost. It is not a linear difference—it is exponential.”

  Robert Allen; press release on February 13, 2019

Allen: “I am excited and privileged to be part of such an energetic team of talented lawyers, unafraid of tackling cutting edge issues in pursuit of effective and efficient justice for its clients.”

Pierce: We could not be more thrilled that Tom (Warren) and Rob (Allen) have chosen Pierce Bainbridge as their new home,” said the firm’s Managing Partner John Pierce.  “Both are luminaries in their respective fields and deepen our white-collar and IP benches.  February 2019 has proven to be another huge month for the firm as we continue rocketing toward market domination.”

  Michael Winograd and Joan Meyer; press release on March 4, 2019.

(Winograd worked for Sullivan & Cromwell LLP; Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati LLP and Ropes & Gray)

Winograd: “This was an opportunity that I just could not pass up. . . elite litigators cherry-picked from top firms and government offices. . . It’s an exciting time to join Pierce Bainbridge. As our current trajectory shows, the sky is the limit.”

Meyer: “It’s a privilege to join Pierce Bainbridge.  It is a dynamic, top-quality firm that has a new vision about how lawyers serve their clients.  It is growing so fast because clients want the drive and initiative this firm brings to the table.  I am proud to be a part of it.”

Pierce: “Mike (Winograd) and Joan (Meyer) take our white-collar and complex litigation capabilities to a whole new level . . . [it is] the best proof that our new way of doing things in the digital age works.”

  Susan Winkler hiring; press release on March 12, 2019

(Winkler worked for 25 years in the United States Attorneys Office in Boston, Massachusetts)

Winkler: “It is an honor to join Pierce Bainbridge as it opens the Boston office. . . the opportunity to join these elite trial practitioners with their vision for effective and efficient top-flight litigation was too exciting to pass up.  I am happy to be part of the team.”

Pierce: “With the addition of Susan (Winkler), Frank (Velie) and Jonathan (Kortmansky), our white-collar capabilities have become truly unparalleled.”

“Unmatched,” “Phenomenon,” “Elite,” “Top-Flight,” “Unparalleled,” “Best in the World,” “Most Talent,” “Wide Margin,” and “Sky is the Limit.”

Lewis says: “These words are better suited to John Pierce’s propensity to lie.  That is exactly what Pierce Bainbridge did about false allegations against me, they lied.”

Interestingly, Five of the Departed Six have experience in white-collar crime and/or fraud.

The lawyer for Lewis’ former partners (all of whom remain at the firm, with the exception of one) recently argued in Court that they bear no responsibility for the wrongs done to their former partner.   Lewis says: “They want the title, they definitely want the money, but they don’t want the responsibility.  That’s just not right.”

  *** The Pierce Bainbridge Defendants – Lewis’ Former Partners — include: Amman Khan, Andrew Lorin, Caroline Polisi, Carolynn K. Beck, Christopher N. LaVigne, Conor McDonough, Craig Bolton, David L. Hecht, Doug Curran, Eric M. Creizman, James D. Bainbridge, John Mark Pierce, Jonathan Sorkowitz, Maxim Price, Melissa Madrigal, Mike Pomerantz  and Patrick Bradford ***

  Links to Legal Desire’s prior coverage of the Lewis -v- Pierce Bainbridge dispute, including a Forbes article which linked to Legal Desire.

Forbes Links to Legal Desire

Accusation of Corruption and Cover-Up

Lewis Maintains Innocence

Alleged Lies in Sworn Affidavits by Pierce Bainbridge Partners

Potential Felony Exposure for Pierce Bainbridge Partners 

The post Pierce Bainbridge: $1,000,000,000 “LIE”, California Bar Investigation, <em>Partners Running for the Exits</em> appeared first on Legal Desire.

Pierce Bainbridge: $1,000,000,000 “LIE”, California Bar Investigation, Partners Running for the Exits published first on https://immigrationlawyerto.tumblr.com/

[marymosley]

Former Partner Don Lewis Maintains Innocence and Adds Littler Firm to Alleged Pierce Bainbridge and Putney Twombly Web of Deceit

We are updating our earlier piece:  Former Partner Don Lewis Alleges Corruption & Cover-Up at Pierce Bainbridge.  Legal Desire was in on the ground floor and the story continues to grow.  The internationally renowned Forbes has written about Lewis’s allegations of financial impropriety by Pierce Bainbridge Managing Partner John Pierce which includes “inflated case values, financial self-dealing, failure to pay debts as they became due, and manipulation of clients with gifts.”

Lewis, who honed his legal skills in the demanding environments of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and WeWork Companies Inc., recently amended his defamation complaint to name Littler Robinson P.C. – one of the largest employment firms in the world – as a defendant based on alleged deceitful conduct by Littler partner S. Jeanine Conley. Lewis is now standing up to three law firms:  Pierce Bainbridge, Putney Twombly Hall & Hirson LLP, and Littler. The amended Complaint paints an unflattering picture of Littler’s Conley:    

“Plaintiff was illegally expelled from his position as a Partner, falsely labeled a ‘sexual assaulter’ throughout the firm, banned from speaking with any firm personnel for life, threatened repeatedly with bogus threats of arrest, and has been massively defamed . . . with the deranged, substance abusing Pierce even labeling him a ‘sex predator’ to thousands,  yet Conley has minimized this all to a mere issue of ‘hurt feelings.’”

Lewis noted: “My mother came from the most meager of upbringings in Jamaica and sacrificed everything, as did my father, so I could become a successful professional with two Harvard degrees.  I followed my parents’ example and worked hard. I brought my work ethic to Pierce Bainbridge where I learned from firm employees that John Pierce was drowning in debt and booze and the firm was dysfunctional…  When I tried to do the right thing for the firm and our clients and put a stop to his financial wrongdoing, Pierce and his lackeys fabricated allegations against me to cover-up his fraud and ruin my reputation, career and livelihood.  Then Jeanine Conley of Littler piles on, engages in deceit — along with the unethical Denver G. Edwards — to falsely brand me an ‘Extortionist’ and a ‘Terrorist’ on a nationwide scale. If that wasn’t enough, Conley, in addition to her deceit, displayed a disturbing lack of basic decency.  She should be ashamed of herself.”

Lewis has insisted in his multiple court filings that Putney partner Michael Yim, an alleged personal friend of Pierce Bainbridge General Counsel Carolynn Beck, conducted a “sham investigation”.  Lewis alleges, and provides support for, both serious procedural flaws and serious factual deficiencies. For example:

For a “he said – she said” alleged incident why did Yim purportedly never obtain an alleged time of occurrence?

According to Lewis’s allegations, why did Yim tell Lewis a time of occurrence verbally and then retract it after Lewis was able to disprove it?

Why did he ignore the False Accuser’s lie about several allegations related to a second incident involving the delivery of Yankee tickets?  

Why did Yim bury the one-page innocuous Slack exchange about the Yankee ticket delivery and instead present a fabricated version?

Legal Desire’s biggest question is this:  “If the False Accuser locked herself in the bathroom for 30 minutes (on July 7),  why would she voluntarily offer to bring Lewis Yankee tickets just two weeks later (on July 20) and refuse his offer to pick up the tickets at the office?”  

In the opinion of Legal Desire, it does not add up.   (The Staged Investigation exhibit Lewis included casts extreme doubt over the integrity of the process.).  It appears that former detectives from the New York Police Department agree. According to Lewis, “former New York Police Department Detectives have reviewed the ‘investigation’ and quickly concluded it was a farce; they are of the opinion that no legitimate investigation was done.”  

Legal Desire is not here to pick sides, but we are strong believers in Justice and The Truth.  It appears, fairly clearly, that a grave injustice was done to Don Lewis. On top of the seemingly false sexual allegations, Lewis provides eye-opening and compelling breakdowns in his Amended Complaint of the Pierce Bainbridge public statements about him and Pravati Capital LLC.  Based on the alleged texts, e-mails, Slacks and public records included in the Complaint, the Pierce Bainbridge statements appear to be almost universally not true.  

We are fascinated by this story and are amazed at many of the communications that Lewis attached as exhibits to his filings, which are shocking.   Lewis exclaimed:  

“The perpetual stream of dishonesty from my former partners and their representatives is breathtaking.  Anyone who reads my papers, with a critical eye, sees this with clarity. Amman Khan, Andrew Lorin, Caroline Polisi, Chris LaVigne, Conor McDonough, Craig Bolton, Doug Curran, Eric Creizman, Jonathan Sorkowitz, Melissa Madrigal, Patrick Bradford, Mike Pomerantz, as well as Denver Edwards, Michael Yim and S. Jeanine Conley have been used and abused by John Pierce.  Pierce is a two-bit con-man with zero moral compass and he has put all of them in harm’s way with his substance abuse, rank misogyny, financial self-dealing, false bravado, racism and perpetual deceit. There is a “Credibility, Honesty and Truth Tracker” chart in paragraph 51 of my Amended Complaint. It sums up John Pierce and what the Pierce Bainbridge firm has become under his watch.  Be that as it may, they have all made their beds and their day or reckoning will come. As I have maintained from Day 1, the truth always rises to the top.”

On the issue of Misappropriation of fund, we reached out to Syed Asif Iqbal, A TPF domain expert, who comments:

“Trust accounts maintained by the lawyer in a litigation finance transaction are very sacred. Any disbursement from the account either in the account of the attorney to the funder must be done through litigant’s authorization. The duties of the law firm or the lawyer in these transactions are greater than the other transactions because in such transactions the interest of the funder is also tied with the interest of the Litigant or client. Misappropriation of funds from client account is not new as a phenomenon but is a concern for growing Third-party funding market. Strong regulations taking care of all aspects of TPF are still at nascent stage be it disclosure, legal professional ethics or protecting interest of the funders. I strongly believe that the trust account or escrow account in TPF transactions shall be kept at par with the norms of client trust account in the normal course. As the existing trust accounts are protected by an effective shield of State Bar regulations in different jurisdictions. Law firms or Lawyers who fail to strictly adhere to the rules regulating the maintenance of lawyer’s trust accounts must become part of the lawyer discipline system administered by their state bar association. Such law firms or  Lawyers must face severe sanctions, including disbarment as per the bar norms.”

    The post Former Partner Don Lewis Maintains Innocence and Adds Littler Firm to Alleged Pierce Bainbridge and Putney Twombly Web of Deceit appeared first on Legal Desire.

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