#legal memorandum

[financial-adviser-exam]

How to Write a Legal Memorandum: Examples, Formats, and Templates

A legal memorandum or memorandum of advice is a crucial document in the legal profession. It communicates legal reasoning, advice, and recommendations to clients, colleagues, or supervisors. This guide provides an overview of law memos, their structure, and tips for crafting an effective legal memo.

What Is a Legal Memorandum?

A legal memorandum is a formal document that outlines legal analysis and advice. It is often used to:

Analyze a legal issue.

Advise clients or other stakeholders.

Provide a summary of relevant laws, cases, or regulations.

A memorandum of advice specifically addresses a client’s legal questions and offers recommendations based on applicable laws.

Key Elements of a Law Memo

An effective law memo or legal memorandum typically includes:

Heading: Identifies the recipient, author, and date.

Statement of Facts: Provides a concise summary of relevant facts.

Issue(s): Clearly outlines the legal question(s) to be addressed.

Brief Answer: Summarizes the conclusion in a few sentences.

Analysis: Details the legal reasoning, including case law and statutes.

Conclusion: Provides a concise summary of the findings and advice.

Legal Memorandum Formats and Templates

Here’s a basic legal memo format:

Heading:

To: [Recipient's Name/Position]

From: [Author’s Name]

Date: [Insert Date]

Re: [Topic/Legal Issue]

Statement of Facts: Summarize the facts relevant to the legal issue.

Issue(s): Present the legal question in a clear and concise format.

Brief Answer: Provide a short response based on the analysis.

Discussion/Analysis: Analyze the issue using case law, statutes, and legal principles. Ensure logical reasoning and cite authoritative sources.

Conclusion: Summarize the key findings and advice.

For beginners, using a legal memo template ensures proper formatting and structure.

Examples of Legal Memos

Legal Memorandum Example: A scenario-based analysis of contract law disputes.

Memorandum of Law Sample: Explains constitutional issues with references to legal precedents.

Law Memo Example: Focuses on property law, detailing applicable regulations and cases.

Tips for Writing a Legal Memo

Be Clear and Concise: Avoid unnecessary legal jargon.

Follow a Standard Format: Consistency enhances readability.

Use Citations: Support your arguments with reliable legal sources.

Proofread: Ensure accuracy in facts, grammar, and citations.

The Importance of Legal Memorandums

A well-crafted legal memorandum serves as a critical tool for communication in legal practice. Whether you're drafting a memorandum of advice for a client or analyzing a case for internal review, mastering the structure and content of a law memo is essential for success.

Explore legal memo templates and examples to refine your writing skills and produce high-quality legal documents.

[expertstranslation]

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[memorandum-of-association]

Memorandum of Association: Significance in Business Planning

The Memorandum of Association is a detailed document that describes a company's operating scope and underlying connection with stakeholders. It lays forth goals, identifies rights, and outlines the authority granted to the firm.

Restraints and Limitations

This important agreement limits a company's operations to those stated in its provisions, protecting shareholders and limiting risks connected with other business endeavors.

Key Details are Included

The MOA provides the foundation for the business's activities by outlining basic details such as the office address, shareholder names, company appellation, and share distribution.

Essential Requirements for a Valid Memorandum of Association

1) Language and Notarial Requirements

The Arabic MEA has to be carefully written and notarized. Since the Arabic version is the one that is recognized as official in the UAE's legal system, adherence to the Arabic language and notarization is essential.

2) Protocols for Registration: The MOA must be registered in the economic department's business register or with the appropriate free zone authorities to be legally enforceable and recognized by other parties.

Significance of an Attested Memorandum of Association

1) Legal Authority and Approval of Business Licence

The MOA must be attested by a local notary public following UAE law. The business license application could be denied without this testimony, making the MOA void.

2) International Participation Conditions

For international business needs, extra attestation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UAE Embassy in the appropriate country is necessary, emphasizing its importance beyond internal borders.

The Memorandum of Association is the Company's Cornerstone

1) Directing Upcoming Operations

The MOFA serves as the fundamental document that influences the company's future. The process of identifying and classifying the company's approved business activities serves as a guide for all upcoming initiatives and operations.

2) Strategic Requirements

Knowing how the MOA is drafted, attested, and registered goes beyond just following the law. In the UAE, it becomes a strategic need that shapes a company's operating structure and credibility.

A company's validity and compliance with UAE regulations are guaranteed by strategic actions such as the meticulous evaluation and observance of the MOA's criteria, which go beyond mere legal formalities.

To create, examine, and guarantee adherence to Memorandum of Association (MOA) regulations in the United Arab Emirates, Lingoline offers specialist assistance. Their simplified services include Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) attestation, which verifies MOAs for international trade while guaranteeing international lawfulness and smooth cross-border transactions.

[contemplatingoutlander]

When the Germans are worried that America is becoming an autocracy under Trump--people need to pay attention. After all, they've seen all this before.

Donald Trump’s return to the White House has Germany’s diplomatic corps bracing for what it sees as a deliberate dismantling of United States democratic norms.

A confidential memorandum written by Andreas Michaelis, Germany's ambassador to the U.S., warns of an agenda of “maximum disruption” that could redefine the American constitutional order.

The document, obtained by Reuters and addressed to German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, outlines stark concerns about the erosion of democratic norms under Trump’s second administration.

Michaelis describes Trump’s vision as one focused on the “maximum concentration of power with the president at the expense of Congress and the [U.S.] states.” According to the document, key democratic institutions, including the legislature, law enforcement and the media, risk an erosion of their independence and could be “misused as a political arm.” 

The memo also highlights the involvement of Big Tech companies, which Michaelis claims could be granted “co-governing power.” [...] The briefing memo underscores Trump’s reliance on the judiciary to advance his goals. Michaelis notes that the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions to expand presidential powers could enable Trump to bypass traditional checks and balances. [...] The document further raises concerns about Trump’s ability to exploit legal loopholes for political ends. These include potentially using the military domestically in cases of “insurrection” or “invasion,” an act that could test the boundaries of the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which generally bars military involvement in law enforcement. [...] Meanwhile, Musk is accused of manipulating algorithms and blocking accounts critical of his platform. The ambassador warns of a “redefinition of the First Amendment,” suggesting a troubling merger of political and technological influence.

[emphasis added]

[sayruq]

The Biden administration should follow US law and immediately suspend arms transfers to Israel, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam said today. The organizations on March 19, 2024 submitted a joint memorandum to the US government regarding Israel’s violations of international humanitarian law including with US weapons and the blocking of US-funded humanitarian assistance. “There are good reasons why US law prohibits arms support for governments that block life-saving aid or violate international law with US weapons,” said Sarah Yager, Washington director at Human Rights Watch. “Given ongoing hostilities in Gaza, the Israeli government’s assurances to the Biden administration that it is meeting US legal requirements are not credible.”

[srldesigns6277]

The Memorandum on this came out on February 5th. This is an attempt at Legal Genocide of Migrants to the United States.

[saywhat-politics]

In one of his first acts as president, Donald Trump has chosen to grant immediate Top Secret security clearances to several people, intended to amend a "backlog" created under the Biden administration.

According to the announcement, Trump ordered his White House counsel, the president's top legal adviser, to craft a list of personnel who will be "immediately granted" access to Top Secret and Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) for a period of six months. These people are also set to receive "access to the facilities and technology necessary to perform the duties of the office to which they have been hired."

"The Executive Office of the President requires qualified and trusted personnel to execute its mandate on behalf of the American people," Trump said in Monday's memorandum to the White House Counsel. "There is a backlog created by the Biden Administration in the processing of security clearances of individuals hired to work in the Executive Office of the President."

The announcement did not list the people in question, and Newsweek has contacted the White House to inquire who may be granted clearance under this order.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Some Latin Loans in Middle English

Loan Word - vocabulary borrowings

Borrow - to introduce a word (or some other linguistic feature) from one language or dialect into another

Administration and law alias, arbitrator, client, conspiracy, conviction, custody, gratis, homicide, implement, incumbent, legal, legitimate, memorandum, pauper, prosecute, proviso, summary, suppress, testify, testimony

Science and learning abacus, allegory, comet, contradiction, desk, diaphragm, discuss, dislocate, equator, essence, etcetera, explicit, formal, genius, history, index, inferior, innumerable, intellect, item, library, ligament, magnify, major, mechanical, minor, neuter, notary, prosody, recipe, scribe, simile, solar, tincture

Religion collect, diocese, immortal, incarnate, infinite, limbo, magnificat, mediator, memento, missal, pulpit, requiem, rosary, scripture, tract

General admit, adjacent, collision, combine, conclude, conductor, contempt, depression, distract, exclude, expedition, gesture, imaginary, include, incredible, individual, infancy, interest, interrupt, lucrative, lunatic, moderate, necessary, nervous, ornate, picture, popular, private, quiet, reject, solitary, spacious, subjugate, substitute, temperate, tolerance, ulcer

Source ⚜ More References: Middle English ⚜ Word Lists

[queertranshappiness]

Today's good queer and trans news, from across this week (14th July):

3 major Irish mental health professional bodies have signed a joint memorandum against conversion therapy

Same sex marriage has been legalised in Aruba, St Martins and Curaçao

The Japanese Supreme Court has ruled a trans woman can change her legal gender without getting gender affirming surgery, which is a victory for trans bodily autonomy, even if the fight continues to fully de-medicalise the process

2 queerphobic board members of a Californian school district have lost a recall election, after attempting last year to ban all non-state flags from being flown in schools, targeting Pride and other movement flags

27 more small cities and towns across the US have hosted their first Prides this year

The Advocate General of the EU's Court of Justice has released an opinion that SNCF, the French national rail company, must offer other title options than Mr and Mrs in their ticket system, which is a good step for nonbinary people and GDPR, as a case about it works through the court

And the School Diversity Week program, run by queer youth charity Just Like Us, has reached over 7400 schools and 4.7 million pupils this year across the UK, making this year's program the biggest ever so far

(Credit to: GCN (https://gcn.ie/irish-mental-health-organisations-memorandum-conversion-therapy/), @/queernewsdaily on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/p/C9VqnFsy_IZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==) and LGBTQ Nation (https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/07/historic-japan-court-ruling-allows-trans-woman-to-change-gender-without-surgery/, https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/07/school-district-votes-out-board-members-who-banned-pride-flags-in-schools/, https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/07/dozens-of-small-towns-hosted-their-first-pride-events-this-year/), TGEU (https://www.tgeu.org/cjeu-advocate-general-rules-collection-of-civil-titles-is-unlawful-and-risks-discrimination-against-trans-and-non-binary-peop/), and @/justlikeusuk on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/p/C9NQkcGC2XB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==) for these.)

[mangionebabymama]

the incel that luigi interacted with maybe like thrice on twt (minordissent) is trying to gain clout off of his name by posting a FOUR PART article series on substack ahead of lu's ny court appearance on friday. such a loser.

I just saw that on a new post from r/FreeLuigi, and then I've already a few people on Twitter talking about it. Ever since I saw that original tweet of minordissent talking about if people had a PhD (where the Pretty huge Dick joke about Luigi originated from), and he asked his followers that question, referring to them as the R-word, he's never sat right with me because of him using that word lmfao, and I'll always stand gonna on that because it's my personal opinion.

That being said, I'm shaking my damn head. Why would he now wait to publish a four-part article all at once when it's been two whole months, now about to become three months, since Luigi was arrested and taken into custody, and his name and almost the entirety of his digital footprint and life has been uncovered to the world, and Luigi is about to make his court appearance after two months of not seeing him and getting any new updates publicly in the news? Be fucking forreal, dawg.

It's calculated, and it's intentional. No matter what, we can't afford to chase the clout he's trying to get out of us, and based off of Luigi—for fuck's sake, he hasn't even gone to trial yet. There's been enough with these smear campaigns and other things gone awry with the documentaries being released, the federal corruption case against Eric Adams getting dropped, and the DOJ releasing that memorandum about the death penalty, when in fact, there's been so much light in securing funds for his legal defense. We just recently heard Luigi's first-ever public statement with the creation of his legal defense website. People are doing anything in their power to stir shit up and try to create this "criminal" that Luigi is, allegedly, and being considered a suspect of murder and terrorism, as he's innocent until proven guilty, and he pleaded not guilty.

No matter what we find, we can't lose sight of our goal. Now, I am not saying that we all just blatantly ignore this, because I know, for a fact, that I'll have to mentally prepare myself for what we're about to do and could see in this article, as well as the overall reaction from others in this community that we have created and stood by each other in because this is something significant to anticipate—in conjunction of his next court appearance in the next coming days, and whether or not that we will get a chance to see him again. The idea goes beyond the direct messages that he exchanged with Twitter users. The goal of everything is much bigger than this. We are here not because of his interactions with people on social media, and we never were here because of that in the first place. We have to keep supporting and pushing that he has the presumption of innocence and not let this one little piece take away all the good that Luigi is as a person, and he deserves to not have it taken away from his character.

Most of all, he can't even fucking defend himself and respond to this.

I agree with you. What a fucking loser he is, and a loser doesn't even define him in its entirety.

[dontforgetukraine]

Consequences of violated security assurances.

30 years ago, on 5 December 1994, Ukraine signed the Budapest Memorandum, agreeing to give up its nuclear arsenal, the third-largest in the world at the time. In exchange, the deal was supposed to provide Ukraine with security guarantees. The Budapest Memorandum declared respect for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, and existing borders. It promised that no weapon of these countries would ever be used against Ukraine except for self-defense. However, since 2014, Russia — one of the Memorandum's signatories — has been brutally violating the Memorandum and numerous other agreements and international laws. The Budapest Memorandum failed to prevent Russia from launching an invasion of Ukraine, which led to thousands of Ukrainians being killed, millions displaced, whole towns destroyed and others subjected to constant missile and drone attacks. Moreover, the broken security assurances set a dangerous precedent: Ukraine had given up its nuclear weapons in good faith, and Russia's war not only undermined Ukraine's security but also damaged global trust in nuclear disarmament. Recognizing past mistakes is essential to ensuring history doesn't repeat itself. Today, Ukraine must be provided with clear, legally binding security guarantees – and full membership in NATO is the way to move forward. —Ukraine.ua

[blueiscoool]

Archaeologists at Pompeii Has Turned up a New Cache of Ancient Cookware

The ancient city of Pompeii has long been celebrated as one of the richest archaeological sites of all time, and now its surrounding suburbs are finally getting their due attention. Researchers have announced new additions to the growing list of unique finds that have recently been made at a nearby villa, Civita Giuliana.

These items of pottery include fired ceramic bowls found upside down along the walls of a room that was likely part of the servants’s quarters within a vast residential complex. It is assumed that this crockery was in situ at the time of the final phase of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 C.E.

Two years ago, the site made headlines for the stunning discovery of a ceremonial chariot decorated with silver reliefs, a stable containing the remains of a horse still dressed in a caparison as well as evidence of what may have been a small slave family in an adjoining room. In 2020, two bodies that are believed to be a man and a slave attempting to escape the eruption were also found.

The dig began in 2017, but attempts to unearth the secrets of Civita Giuliana have long been impeded by looters who targeted the site as its more remote position left it relatively unprotected.

To counter these illegal excavations, a memorandum of understanding was signed by the prosecutor’s office for the local city and commune of Torre Annunziata and the Archaeological Park of Pompeii in 2019 and renewed in 2021. This unique partnership is the first of its kind in ensuring collaboration and mutual support between archaeological researchers and law enforcement.

“In a territory so rich in history and yet so abused, which still hides important traces of the past, as the discoveries of recent years have shown, it is essential that the protection of cultural heritage and legality go hand in hand,” said Massimo Osanna, former director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii.

The agreement has allowed supported researchers in a new scientific investigation of the site, which includes stratigraphic studies to reveal details about daily Roman life that aren’t well documented in written sources from the period.

This study has required the closure of a modern road running through the site, which had already been made structurally vulnerable by the elaborate network of underground tunnels made and used by looters. The Civita Giuliana villa will become part of the wider Pompeii system and will eventually welcome tourists.

“These finds demonstrate the commitment and ability of the state to stem the scourge of clandestine excavations and the trade in archaeological goods,” said Italy’s minister of culture Gennaro Sangiuliano. “Pompeii is the pride of Italy and it is our intention to further defend and promote a heritage that is unique worldwide.”

By Jo Lawson-Tancred.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Lisa Needham at Public Notice:

It’s been barely a week since conservatives on the US Supreme Court radically upended the balance of power between the branches of government, giving the federal courts the exclusive power to interpret statutes rather than deferring to agency experts. And we’re already seeing impacts on the ground. Right-wingers have been in the habit of running to their preferred courts to get regulations overturned, but the decision in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, which officially destroyed agency deference, will make it easier — even routine — to block every Biden administration rule they don’t like.  Lawsuits to invalidate specific rules had been proceeding through the federal courts before Loper Bright, generally arguing that agencies exceeded their authority in promulgating a rule. These lawsuits exist in no small part because the Supreme Court made it clear they would destroy Chevron deference for years now, with Justice Neil Gorsuch having led the way well before his appointment to the Court. 

Trump appointee Sean Jordan, who sits in the reliably hard-right Eastern District of Texas, was so eager to block a Biden administration’s overtime rule that he dropped his decision the same day Loper Bright came out. It runs 36 pages and mentions Loper Bright multiple times, which means either Jordan was so confident of the Supreme Court decision that he either wrote it in advance or he hurried to stuff Loper Bright into his already-written opinion. Jordan’s opinion also rests heavily on dictionary definitions rather than expertise from the Department of Labor, which issued the rule. So now, the rule that would have made 4 million more Texas workers eligible for overtime, and thus more pay, is blocked thanks to a hurried read of a SCOTUS opinion and Webster’s Dictionary. 

What this mean is that anytime a business doesn’t like a federal rule, it can just sue. It promises to be a free-for-all. Three hospitals in New Jersey sued HHS the day Loper Bright came down, saying the agency’s interpretation of a statute governing Medicare reimbursement is unlawful. In another case, filed before Loper Bright, a trucking company challenging the Biden administration’s rule that addressed misclassification of independent contractors filed a memorandum on July 2 arguing that Loper Bright means the court should not defer to the Department of Labor’s interpretation of the law. The next day, Trump appointee Ada Brown of the Northern District of Texas enjoined enforcement of the Biden administration’s rule prohibiting non-compete agreements but limited the injunction to the plaintiffs, which are various pro-business groups like the Chamber of Commerce. 

[...]

Bigotry from the bench

Unsurprisingly, much of the assault on administration rules relates to any regulation that would protect transgender people. Four days after Loper Bright was handed down, another Trump appointee, Judge John W. Broomes in Kansas, enjoined the Department of Education from enforcing its Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs rule in Kansas, Alaska, Utah, and Wyoming. The Department of Education spent two years finalizing the rule, which would have prohibited discrimination based on gender identity under Title IX.  The unofficial text of the rule, which runs 1,577 pages with supporting material, is jam-packed with legal analysis. Hundreds of pages are spent explaining how the DOE considered and addressed public comments and the document details the mental health impact of discrimination against LGBTQ students. 

Broomes’s expertise is in natural resource law, a background that does not lend itself to a detailed understanding of Title IX, sex discrimination, or gender identity. But none of that matters. His opinion sneers about “self-professed and potentially ever-changing gender identity” and insists that things like using correct pronouns for students and allowing them to use the bathroom that conforms with their gender identity is an issue of “vast economic” significance. Given that the only costs of the rule are things like updated administrative guidance and perhaps hiring additional Title IX staff, the idea it is a vast economic question is, to put it politely, a reach. Instead, Broomes sided with the conservative plaintiffs, including Moms for Liberty and an Oklahoma student who asserted that using the correct pronouns for other students violated her religious beliefs. Because of this mix of conservative state litigants, private anti-trans groups, and an Oklahoma student, the extent of Broomes’s injunction is even weirder than the patchwork blocking of the HHS rule.

Besides blocking the rule entirely in four states, the rule is also blocked for the schools attended by the members of two private plaintiffs, Young America’s Foundation and Female Athletes United, and all schools attended by the children of members of Moms for Liberty. So now, if you are a transgender student unlucky enough to attend school anywhere in the country where a child of a Moms for Liberty student also attends, you’re out of luck. If your school is free of children of book-banners, you get the protection of the federal rule — unless you live in Kansas, Alaska, Utah, and Wyoming, in which case it doesn’t matter what school you go to.  Over at Law Dork, Chris Geidner has a good rundown of not just how the courts are sledgehammering LGBTQ rights, but also how having courts, rather than regulators, make these decisions results in an uneven patchwork of rulings over a Health and Human Services rule that prohibited health care providers from discriminating based on gender identity. Only five days after Loper Bright was issued, three separate federal courts issued rulings blocking parts of the HHS rule. There’s no chance that William Jung, a Trump appointee to the federal district court for the Middle District of Florida, hadn’t already written most of his decision before Loper Bright was issued, but the case gave him far more ammunition. Fung’s ruling in Florida v. Department of Health and Human Services blocked part of the Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities rule from going into effect — but only in Florida. 

The Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo ruling by the judicial activist MAGA Majority on the Supreme Court is having devastating consequences.

[wonder-worker]

"Besides highly complex hierarchy of officials serving the queens in estate management, there also existed, in common with noble landholdings, councils within the administrative machinery. That both Margaret of Anjou and Elizabeth Woodville had councils is unquestioned, given the clear references to individuals serving in this capacity in their household accounts. The councils serving these queens appear to have concerned themselves with a range of estate management issues, including appointments of officials, repairs to property, and supervisory issues. A memorandum written by Richard Croke, one of Margaret’s clerks to the council, made note of investigations and enquiries into such matters as illegal fishing, an inquest into a drowning, and customary payments for the right to pasture. During Elizabeth Woodville’s time as queen, one of her clerks to the council wrote of repairs being required for the mill and the pale of the park at Maresfield, and the actions needed to effect these repairs. While this does not mean that queens’ councils were consistently and regularly involved on a local level with estate supervision, it is evident that they were not averse to becoming involved with whatever business needed their or the queen’s attention. Anne Crawford’s examination of queenly council work also noted that routine legal matters occasionally came before the council, such as disputes between tenants, either within the queens’ estates or involving outside parties, disputes between tenants and officials, and complaints against officials. For example, a dispute between the Abbot of Ramsey and the tenants of Elizabeth Woodville at Godmanchester was referred to in the queen’s household account since it involved the reimbursement of expenses incurred by council members in relation to the affair. Clearly, therefore, queens’ councils could be involved in a variety of estate management issues even though they occupied the highest level of the queens’ multilayered and complex estate machinery.”

-Michele Seah, 'My Lady Queen, the Lord of the Manor': The Economic Roles of Late Medieval Queens", Parergon, Volume 37, Number 2, 2020.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Eugene Kontorovich

Hamas’ grisly terror raid on Oct. 7 has proved to be the single most stunningly successful act in gaining support for the Palestinian cause—not among Israeli or American voters, of course, but among top Democratic policymakers, and their counterparts across the Western world. One might think that a campaign of unrepentant killing, torture, rape, and hostage-taking would be disqualifying for a national independence movement. But in Washington, Hamas’ ongoing crimes have resulted in much of the weight of the U.S. government being brought to bear on advancing the cause of Palestinian statehood, and its correlate, the punishment and demonization of the Jewish state.

Months of U.S. backing for the Palestinian national cause have produced glorious results for Palestinian diplomacy. Whereas less than two years ago, at a meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas, President Biden had declared that “the ground is not ripe” for renewing negotiations between Ramallah and Jerusalem, the Oct. 7 massacres made Biden change his mind—and make the establishment of a Palestinian state with all deliberate speed a central priority of U.S. Middle East policy. Since Oct. 7, four countries have recognized the “State of Palestine,” with three European states indicating their intent to do so in May. That is more recognition than the PA has won in the entire past decade (notably, only one country moved to recognize Palestinian statehood during the Trump administration).

International institutions, seeing that Israel’s protection by the U.S. has been lifted, have also showered gifts on the perpetrators of Oct. 7. In recent weeks, the U.N. General Assembly voted to upgrade the Palestinians’ status, giving them privileges reserved for member states. On Monday, the International Criminal Court charged Israel’s prime minister and defense minister with committing war crimes, placing them on a par with the terrorist leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar—a huge diplomatic coup for the terrorist group that creates a moral equivalence between it and Israel. Had Oct. 7 only managed to revive the trial of Jews for killing babies, it would have still been a triumph.

Indeed, in his first three years in office Biden was careful to avoid overtly repealing any of President Trump’s historic pro-Israel initiatives, preferring a more indirect approach that nevertheless signaled the administration’s preferences and end goals. In recent months, the administration has dropped all pretenses—making it clear that Iran, not Israel, is its favored regional client. Israel is forbidden from restoring peace to the country’s north by attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon, or from offering anything more than a token response to a massive direct attack by Iran.

By itself, the specific identity of the perpetrators of gruesome violence does not account for Western advocacy on their behalf. That is explained only by the specific identity of the victims: Jews.Share

A similar about-face applied to the question of Israel’s borders. In November 2019, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo clarified that the United States did not view Jews residing in Judea and Samaria (“West Bank settlers,” as they are called) as a violation of international law; two months later he “disavowed” the so-called Hansell Memorandum of 1978, which used shaky legal reasoning to declare Jewish communities in the historic Jewish heartland to be illegitimate. In June 2023, the State Department circulated foreign policy guidance to relevant agencies ending bilateral scientific and technological cooperation with Israeli institutions in Judea and Samaria, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights, even as it maintained that it had not reinstated the Hansell memo.

This past February, however, the administration let it all hang out. Without bothering to present any legal analysis, Secretary of State Blinken declared that Jewish communities in those areas that had been ethnically cleansed by Jordan after 1948 were illegal (“inconsistent with international law”), going further than even the Obama administration, which had used the lesser epithet “illegitimate.”

Last month, the administration indicated it might require that Israeli-made products from Judea and Samaria no longer be labeled as “Made in Israel.”

[vamphorica]

mattmello week vii: nothing bad ever happened au

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Category: M/M

Fandom: Death Note (Anime & Manga)

Relationship: Matt | Mail Jeevas/Mello | Mihael Keehl

Characters: Matt | Mail Jeevas, Mello | Mihael Keehl

Additional Tags: Happy Ending, Wammy's House (Death Note), Separations, Foster Care, Gang Violence, Crimes & Criminals, Growing Up, Reunions, Kissing, Not Canon Compliant

Word Count: 3,127

Series: Part 7 of MattMello Week 2024 | @mattmelloweek

Summary: After the closure of the infamous Wammy's House in 2003, Matt and Mello navigate a life without the pressure of successorship.

────────────────────────────

“Congratulations on making it onto the New York Times Bestseller list, Mihael! Selling fifty-thousand copies for a debut novel is practically unheard of, I guess you really must be a genius.”

Mihael was already regretting agreeing to this publicity event that his manager had arranged, a book signing that took place only a week after the debacle that was his launch party. From what he was told, everyone had loved it, but he had not signed up for these repetitive self congratulatory occasions which felt less like an excuse for him to talk about his book, and instead an opportunity for orbiters in the industry to get drunk and engage in underhanded remarks to one another. It was impressive how creative these people could be in turning a benign compliment into a boasting competition within a matter of a few words. If he was not subject to its influence, Mihael would be somewhat amused.

Now, sitting at a small table, a long queue stood before him with people holding hardback copies of his first novel to their chest in anticipation. He had written it under the letter M, but his publishers had managed to miss the memorandum that Mihael requested anonymity due to the nature of his identity, and it was excitedly disclosed that the new book taking the world by storm was written by none other than a former Wammy’s boy. It was too good of an opportunity to avoid capitalising on, and thus followed lengthy reviews in various broadsheets about how the narrative would have most certainly been informed by the trauma inflicted on a young Keehl. The reader can sense the lingering pain of the author’s tragedy through his protagonist, and it serves as a harrowing reminder of how we as a society must take responsibility for our gifted youths.

Wammy’s House closed down in 2003, after a lengthy legal battle between social services and Interpol over the actual necessity for an L successor, at risk of harming the wellbeing of the children who resided at the orphanage. After the courts ruled that the House’s practices were technically abusive, all fourteen boys and girls were quickly relocated into foster care homes across the country. It was believed at the time that many of these prodigies had been so isolated from one another within the House that there was no real concern in separating them from one another – for the most part, many were young enough to forget their aliases and grow up into well-adjusted members of society as anticipated, the pressure of successorship a burden they were no longer required to withstand.

Many, but certainly not all.

As one of the oldest, Mihael struggled to hear himself being referred to by his real name, spoken by strangers in suits who would smile widely and slowly explain to him that he would be placed in a home with many new friends waiting to meet him. Even at the time, he had little expectation that moving from one house full of orphans to another would provide any respite, other than the fact that he lost his sense of purpose almost immediately. His whole identity revolved around the need to fight for his position as L's successor, and at a time in which the detective had yet to choose between himself and Near, having his singular ambition torn away from him by people who simply didn’t understand the culture at the House broke him. He dropped out of the local state school at sixteen soon after completing his exams. Despite his results being ridiculously good, a promising future in academia often projected by his teachers, he had no interest in pursuing further education. What was the point? There was no goal anymore, his life’s purpose was completely unfulfilled.

It was only a matter of months before he had found himself caught up in gangs, selling drugs and adopting the habit of carrying a blade whenever he stalked the streets at night. During those years Mihael – or Mello, as chose to reclaim – took solace in the few quiet moments he was afforded to write in a scrappy notebook that he had managed to hold on to from Wammy’s. It was nothing special, a throwaway birthday present from a friend who he still thought about too often, but upon being caught by police for the fourth time, it was taken away from him. Without it, he had nothing left from that time in his life, and despite everything he had gone through as a child, such a thought that he could lose that part of himself sent him into a panic.

“Your writing is brilliant.” His court appointed lawyer had told him as he flicked through the pages in front of the eighteen year old, “You’re wasting yourself with all this shit, you know? Practically begging for Kira to catch up with you, is that really what you want?” He sighed, passing the notebook back to Mello who snatched it eagerly, “Listen. I’ll get you in touch with a friend I know on the condition that you stay out of trouble, got it? I know you’ve been through a fair amount of crap in your life, but it really isn't an excuse to have become involved with the people you consider acquaintances now.”

Apprehensive at first, Mello did not understand what motivation someone might have to offer such an incentive. Perhaps the publicity surrounding the Wammy’s House scandal had given those in positions of authority an unfounded obligation of charitability to extend towards these traumatised orphans. Mello was smart enough to know he ought to take an opportunity when it presented itself, as undeserved as it might be.

Within a matter of a year, he had his work published to unprecedented success.

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“Name?” Two hours had passed already and Mihael had given up with the facade of smiling at every person who emerged in front of him, ready to gush about his book, or ask questions that he had either answered several hundred times in interviews and panels. Sometimes, they were too invasive about his “terrible past”. Was he abused, beaten up, sexually assaulted? Did they torture children who failed exams? Did he meet L, and was he as evil as the tabloids made him out to be? His face ached as he scribbled ‘M’ over and over again, until the letter resembled little more to him than a wonky line of no distinct meaning or connection to himself. He kept his head lowered as another fresh copy of his book slid across the table towards him. He opened the front cover, and his pen hovered above the title page.

“Matt.”

No way. Matt was such a common name that when Mihael looked up, he expected a stranger to be staring back at him with a dopey smile and a remark about how the book really affected him. Instead, a lanky red haired teenager wearing a replica of the striped shirt he was so fond of as a child grinned, a slight colour tinting his cheeks.

“Found you, Mello.”

“Fuck, Matt… Wait, give me a moment.” Mihael scrambled up from his chair, alerting his manager who quickly appeared by his side, “I need a break – ten minutes?”

“Mihael, you still have a couple of hundred people waiting.”

“I can see that, Andrew, I need ten minutes and I will be back, okay?” In another world, he would have enjoyed the ability to order people around in such a manner, but such opportunities were rare to him in this line of work. Regardless, Andrew sighed and began telling those who had congregated to please wait for author Mihael Keehl to take a quick break. Yes, he will be more than excited to continue signing books once he has returned which, as a reminder, must be purchased from the tills over there.

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“You’re becoming quite the celebrity, aren’t you, Mihael?” Matt teased gently as he lit up a cigarette. They had managed to find a small space just behind the back of the bookstore, where Mihael silently inspected every slight change his childhood best friend had undergone in the past five years. He was taller, of course, and the manner in which he spoke was significantly more relaxed, deeper than it had been the last time they spoke. Yet he still retained the familiarity of a boy who Mihael still said a prayer for every once in a while. “I’m surprised. I expected that you would lay low. No judgement – the book is really good.”

“You read it?”

“Of course I did. I was going to buy it anyway because I wanted that fucking sexy author’s photo they published on the sleeve, but yeah, I actually read it as well. Was it inspired by the House then?”

Mihael folded his arms across his chest and averted his gaze towards his feet. There was something surreal about meeting Matt again like this. He was happy to see him, no question about it, but there was a weight in his chest he couldn’t quite shift. With Matt came memories unfolding and spilling out that he had subconsciously repressed, feelings of inadequacy and anxiety, but so too surfaced the reminders of comfort that Matt had provided in those moments.

“I suppose so.”

A silence descended between the two as Matt took a long drag, smoke unfurling from between his lips. Was this a new habit of his, or had he picked it up soon after the two were separated? Mihael had experimented with all sorts of things to try and block the feeling of perpetual emptiness in those first few months after the move, only progressing onto the harder stuff as he grew older, more weary of the world around him. He wasn’t sure how he felt about Matt developing the same bad habits. Mihael looked up.

“What do you do now, anyway?”

“Nothing exciting – IT consultancy. A few big companies like the idea of having a Wammy’s kid on their rota, but none of it is exactly complex stuff. I get my kicks from doing other shit.” Mihael was not about to interrogate Matt about what he meant by that, but he could imagine the redhead getting bored easily with something so goddamn corporate. It felt like it went against everything the two had grown up anticipating for themselves.

As if reading his mind, Matt continued, “I miss the House, in a weird way. I think while I was reading your book, I realised that, as fucked up as it was, there was a structure to it, you know? We were there for a reason.”

Mihael nodded, “Yeah, we were.”

“I missed you.”

“Same, Matt.”

It felt so natural to be back in one another’s arms again, clinging on as the world compressed to nothing but the heat and smell of each other. Mihael wanted nothing more than to stay like this forever, to make up for the lost years by exploring Matt, examining the man he had developed into so that he could adapt himself to his body once again. He kissed Matt’s neck and felt his hand rub his back in response. I’m here now.

“Mihael! We need you back now!”

“I’ll see you later, Mello, okay?” Matt gently eased himself out of the other’s grip, smiling at him, “You still need to sign my book after all. I paid a good fifteen quid for the hardback copy.”

Mihael smiled – hearing himself being called Mello felt right, even if he could never truly go back to being that boy again. He brushed his fingers through Matt’s hair, away from his goggles, and slipped through the side door back into the bookstore. He could manage a few more hours of this, he told himself.

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Matt had been moved to a small foster home in Northern Ireland, and had only settled down in London within the past year. His flat was rather large, to Mihael’s surprise, but when Matt disclosed how much money he earned from his legitimate endeavours alone, Mihael understood how he could afford living somewhere a little more spacious. It was probably just as well given how much shit he had managed to hoard.

“Make yourself at home.” Matt began busying himself with cleaning away loose wires and crisp packets hurriedly, taking Mihael back in time to their shared room at the House. He was not overly tidy himself, but kept his possessions relatively organised compared to Matt, whose clothes and consoles always had a habit of encroaching on his space anyway. At the time, he would moan about it, tossing Matt’s striped shirts back at him when he would stroll into the room. Now he was in the midst of the mess once again, Mihael suddenly did feel at home in a sense that he had not experienced for quite some time. He threw himself down on the sofa, a loud crinkling sound alerting him that the space was already occupied.

“Since when do you read newspapers?” He asked jokingly, pulling the page from beneath him. He glanced over it, and smiled, “Don’t tell me you’re fucking clipping my reviews, idiot.”

“Give me that.” Matt seized it away from him, “Well I have to frame it now that it's got Keehl’s arseprint on it, don’t I? How much would that go for on eBay?”

Mihael laughed and Matt sat down beside him, his hand tentatively resting on the other’s thigh. A small intimacy Mihael leant into. He had developed a strong disdain towards people touching him, tensing up as prospective foster parents would try to embrace him, knowing he would only be rejected yet again, or forcing himself to shake hands with men in suits who saw his writing as nothing more than a nice bonus to their massive bank balances. It was the punches, the slaps, that were Mihael’s only real opportunity to be touched in a manner he considered more genuine, from those who threatened him over drug deals and gang loyalty. Matt reminded him that people could want to place their hands on him gently, to make him feel good.

“I knew I’d find you again, eventually,” Matt said, “I was worried you wouldn't want anything to do with me, I don’t know. You were always destined for some kind of greatness, and I admired that about you.”

Mihael shook his head, “Don’t be ridiculous, Matt. You were on my mind every day, I wouldn’t have got to where I am now without you.” He tilted his face, angled just shy of Matt’s lips, “You have always been home to me.”

They kissed with the softness that lovesick teenagers engage in with one another for the first time. Mihael gently pushed Matt back sprawled atop of him while their hands ran across each other’s chests. As if there was still an inherent fear that they would be torn apart again, they traced each other to commit their features to memory. In another life, maybe their anxieties of separation would be valid, the early deaths of Wammy’s boys forever a haunting persistence in the back of their minds. Now, however, there was an experimental promise of stability. A life together that could be pursued. Whatever the headlines had made them out to be, abused prodigies whose collective trauma of their childhood would define them, they had the chance to defy it. They were a testament to their own survival.

“Call me Mello, again.”

“Mello?”

“Yeah.”

Matt hummed behind a wide smile. He cupped the blonde’s face between his hands, admiring those gorgeous blue eyes that now appeared alight with genuine promise of something better. A life worth living. They owed it to themselves to make the most of the future that presented itself to them, trusting in their ability to navigate it together. They had managed to get this far already.

“You are safe with me now, Mello.”