Law And More

Lori Loughlin, Mossimo Giannulli - Urged to Get Separate Legal Counsel

In AdmissionsGate, Lori  Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli could have taken a guilty plea, throwing themselves on the mercy of the court.

That's the usual way legal messes are managed. As the world knows, that's exactly what Felicity Huffman did and soon enough the saga will be ancient history and she can return to her career.

Instead, the two are going to trial. They are being accused of mail fraud and money laundering. Meanwhile, Loughlin and Giannulli face serious prison time.

Recently, in  a pre-trial hearing, reports Daily Mail, they were urged to present themselves separately and to not have the same legal representation. For them, that's currently law firm Latham & Watkins, which incidentally is also representing the University Southern California. 

To begin with, federal prosecutors are trying them separately. So, it is puzzling why they have had the same law firm representing them up to now.

In addition, there is the issue of the conflict of interest since Latham & Wakins is also the law firm in AdmissionsGate for the University of California.

Also, during the trial it could come up that one but not both is accused of X. Sharing a legal team makes that a legal problem that should never have existed.

If they don't make a decision now about legal representation they are unlikely to be able to change horses later. The judge warned that could be perceived as a delaying tactics. Delay usually works nicely for defendants. 

The couple's children - Olivia Jade and Bella Rose - have their own legal defense. 

Question: Had did it happen Latham & Watkins is representing all three parties in the loop?

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Paul, Weiss - Big Contributor to Bill de Blasio's Presidential Campaign

Based on his performance in the televised Democrat debate, current New York City mayor Bill de Blasio is not likely to win the nomination to run for U.S. president against GOP's Donald Trump.

But those in the know know that's not the objective of the game.

Being in the race confers power. That ranges from increased name recognition to the ability to trade potential votes for present and future favors. Networking is based on trades.

My hunch is that was the strategy of Jones Day partner Laura Ellsworth in being a candidate in the Pennsylvania governor's race. Of course, she came in last. However, like Connecticut's twice-failed GOP nominee for U.S. Senator Linda McMahon, Ellsworth could wind up in an appointed government position. McMahon heads the U.S. Small Business Administration.

So, BigLaw firm Paul, Weiss probably has lots to gain by financially supporting de Blasio's campaign.

According to the New York Post, 52 employees at that law firm contributed $46,250. Although the chairperson Bard Karp didn't personally contribute, some assume he influenced the internal generosity. His wife Roberta did chip in $1,000.

Law firms operate along many points of intersection of government, business, non-profit foundations, and academia.

On Abovethelaw.com, Joe Patrice reported on how Jones Day was promoting its web of associations embedded in the Trump Administration. That, of course, was a very different time. Since then many of those relationships have soured. To borrow a line from the "John Wick" film series, Jones Day has been declared by the High Table "excommunicado."

The raw reality is that to get, hold, and move on to better professional opportunities, it's very useful to become involved in politics. When doing that, money could be the loudest voice in the room signalling exuberant support.

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"Boies is a bad person," Alan Dershowitz Tells Journalist Gabriel Sherman

Gabriel Sherman has fully moved on from capturing the Roger Ailes' era in conservative politics and media.

Perhaps Bob Dilenschneider, who had been Ailes' personal public relations representative, can now also move on to a post-Ailes era. Any interest in all that would represent time travel. And those in that time machine would be perceived as so yesterday. 

Sherman's latest target is this: Everyone in the Jeffrey Epstein loop. And there are plenty of BigNames in it. Those are flashed in Sherman's coverage of the latest developments in the unraveling of the Epstein alleged sex misdeeds in Vanity Fair. 

Among the most riveting tidbits is the feud between two superlawyers.

They are David Boies who represents Virginia Giuffre, a minor allegedly sexually exploited by Prince Andrew, et al.

The other is Alan Dershowitz, whom Giuffre has sued for defamation. In the vomiting up of gossip, Dershowitz has been crowded in among those allegedly receiving sexual behaviors.

In The Battle of Superlawyers, Dershowitz, reports Sherman, told the journalist, "Boies is a bad man." 

We smirk.

Clearly, Dershowitz is off his game. And maybe he has been since he retired from being a professor at Harvard Law School.

What Boies is is a lawyer. We know from the reporting of Ronan Farrow in The New Yorker that Boies will and does go to extremes in client advocacy. That's what lawyers do, at least the top ones. It's not pretty. And that could be a factor associated with the higher than average mental illness, substance abuse, and suicides among those practicing law. 

The Epstein scandal will have a long shelf life. The media will see to that.

The story meanders through New York, D.C., Palm Beach, and Prince Andrew's address in Britain. Lots of personal and professional brands could collapse.

Sherman is good at what he does and has access to the sources he needs to provide new information and insight about those in the Epstein loop.

Unfortunately, for those involved in milking the Ailes' rise and fall, the world has something much more juicy. Already ratings are disappointing for Showtime's series "The Loudest Voice in the Room."

But that's good news for Dilenschneider, et al. whose professional lives date back to a very different time. 

In media there will be no dog days of August. In legal circles, everyone will probably wind up bug-eyed following the Boies-Dershowitz feud. And we ordinary folks will again be reminded: Don't praise famous men. 

Questions: Will there be a suicide, as in the Profumo scandal in Britain? After all, Prince Andrew aka "Randy Andy" is in the loop. And, will a government topple, as had Macmillan's? 

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Heading Off Increased Regulation? - Instagram Testing Out Concealing Likes

In Australia, Instagram is testing out an app which conceals the number of likes. That tally will only be visible to the person doing the posting, not those viewing the material. 

The hypothesis of that experiment is that relieving the pressure to pile up lots of likes will allow both posters and users to enjoy the social network more. Here are more details from The Daily Mail.

Eventually, other social networks could also decide to test out eliminating not only likes but also shares and comments. 

Such a trend could head off increased regulation of these digital platforms. Studies have been coming out about the emotional harm social networks can be inflicting. There the teenagers are, viewing all the likes their classmates' posts have and their own have none of that. 

In addition, on a professional network such as LinkedIn the lack of likes and comments can wind up damaging a personal brand. 

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Prince Andrew - Will Epstein Association Trigger Another "Profumo" Scandal?

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and, by extension, the institution of the British monarchy should be nervous.

Andrew, who sometimes has been referred to as "Randy Andy," is associated with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Now that Epstein is again in major legal trouble, that association eventually can play out to be a major scandal for the royal family. In the New York Post, Maureen Callahan details how the monarchy has been fighting for its existence since the death of Princess Diane.

Depending on how much comes out about Andrew's activities with Epstein, this particular expose could be the tipping point in the end of The Royals. The public may no longer be willing to foot the bill to keep that institution going.

The Randy Andy scandal could be the most significant one since the 1961 Profumo affair. That brought down the Macmillan government. Back then, John Profumo, Secretary of State for War, had an affair with a showgirl Christine Keeler. She also may have been involved with a Russian attache. Of course, that had been perceived as a security threat.

As many know, the court has allowed public access to the documents from the Virginia Giuffre defamation lawsuit. It's assumed that Andrew's activities figure prominently in those pages. After all, it had been alleged that, on multiple occasions, Epstein forced the minor Virginia to have sex with Andrew.

The Royals have denied all the allegations. 

Time will tell how much shade Andrew will throw on the institution of the monarchy in Britain. Question: Will it still be around five years from now?

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Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Wins One in Court Pre-Trial Hearing

Steve Jobs wannabe Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is still in black.

Only at the pre-trial court hearing it wasn't the signature black turtleneck.

It was a basic black dress and black blazer. And, at age 35, she's still attractive.

Some conjecture that it had been her youthful blonde good looks which lured big establishment names such as Henry Kissinger to the Theranos board of directors. At one point superlawyer David Boies had represented her.

Her trial on 11 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud will begin on July 28, 2020, in San Jose, California. Here is a summary of those counts by the Department of Justice. And, here is a copy of the actual indictment. 

The contention is that she and the startup's number-two Sunny Balwani deliberately misled investors, regulators, and the public about a technology which didn't exist. Balwani, who had also been her lover, was in court but arrived separately. In a television interview he argued that Theranos represented a business failure, not a fraud. If convicted, both face decades in prison.

But meanwhile, she did win one in court. She requested that the Food and Drug Administration speed up the process of turning over documents to her legal team. It claims that would require 6 months. No way, ruled federal judge Edward Davila. He gave the regulatory agency 75 days. Here are more details from the media.

By the time of the trial, most of the tech world could be in the reputational toilet. Regulators, media, the stock market, consumers, and the public globally could have turned on it. An indication of how bad it could it get is playing out in Europe. New York University marketing professor and internet expert Scott Galloway has been predicting just that. 

My hunch is that it will be difficult for both sides - prosecution and defense - to find objective jury members in the San Jose area. The defense might request a change of venue, which could delay the trial. Delays help defendants. 

In the tabloid media this saga could go down as "The Blonde and The Old White Men." 

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Jim Cramer - Maybe He's Just Not a Digital Wallet Kind of Guy

Law enforcement arrested a security guard - Elkin Heyward - at the Lower Manhattan Museum of Jewish Heritage. 

As the New York Post reports, Heyward has been accused of grand larceny and possession of stolen property. What was allegedly stolen was "Mad Money" star Jim Cramer's wallet. It contained, along with a credit card and ID, $1,065 in cash - yeah, that old-fashioned stuff.

When Cramer was going through security at the Museum, according to the media version, he put that wallet and phone in the bin, then forgot about them. When he remembered, there was the phone, but no wallet. 

This development leaves us with myriad questions.

On the former hit series "Law & Order Criminal Intent," Detective Robert Goren keeps hammering that what's important is the question. When trying to shake loose information from witnesses and suspects, Goren poses many questions, from many angles. The positions of his head follows along with those angles. 

Here, one major question is: What was Cramer doing in a major urban area with $1,065 cash in a real-life wallet? Isn't he, a BigName in money, a digital wallet kind of guy? 

One wonders if this association with cash currency will damage his brand. 

Another question is: Given that the security guard likely had been totally aware of the video surveillance why in the world did he allegedly engage in this crime? Yes, it was all there on video.

Cramer owes his audience an explanation of why he's not totally e-. Isn't he setting a bad example? 

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Steve Cohen's Point72 - Another Setback

Can one-time hedge fund genius Steve Cohen put together another act? Many recall the days he generated 35% ROI.

That Next was supposed to be Point72.

He launched that hedge fund when the federal government allowed him to return to having outside investors. Many recall the insider trading scandal which had affected his previous firm SAC and some of his employees. However, he himself was never arrested.

Cohen had hired Superlawyer David Boies to negotiate an agreement with the SEC. That was accomplished and two years later - that is, 2018 - Cohen was back in business. 

So far, Point72, which was started more than a year ago, has failed to conjure up the old magic.

The latest setback, reports Rachael Levy in The Wall Street Journal is the turnover. Among the seasoned help, 20 portfolio managers have left. Of them, five have departed to Point72 competitor Citadel. Last March, reports efinancialcareers, one had exited for Millennium.

In January 2019, ZeroHedge.com noted that for the first year it was in business, Point72 produced only a 1% ROI.

Exits by talent can signal a loss of confidence in the firm and/or the leadership. 

Reflection: Is Cohen, at age 63, finished?

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"A. Richard Schuster, et al. v. Encore Boston Harbor, Wynn MA, Wynn Resorts" - Darkness Fell Fast

In its first week the new Everett, MA casino Encore Boston Harbor made $16.79 million. Annually, it estimates it will earn revenue of $800 million.

That's a nice economic story for the Boston Metro area.

But darkness has fallen fast. Both in the court of public opinion and in the court of law.

Here is the story, as told by Boston Magazine. That media outlet is influential.

And, here is a copy of the class action lawsuit filed in Middlesex Superior Court yesterday by a former customer - "A. Richard Schuster, et al. v. Encore Boston Harbor, Wynn MA and Wynn Resorts.

Schuster contends that tables games and the slot machines withhold funds from winners and violate state gaming regulations.

In particular, Schuster has two beefs.

One is that at the blackjack table he claims that the payout to him as a winner should have been on  the basis of 3-2 odds. Instead, it was 6-5. According to state regulations 6-5 can be legal only when certain terms and conditions are made that ensure a level playing field. 

The other contention is that the slot machines pay out only whole dollars, withholding the coins which were part of the winnings. 

The defendants deny the allegations.

If the class action lawsuit catches fire in the media, Encore Boston Harbor could find that its success is on short time.

In addition, gambling is a major industry in the U.S. According to Statistica Research, annually it contributes $137.5 billion to the U.S. economy and directly employs 730,000. What holds the industry together is customer trust. If that trust is broken, the economic results could be catastrophic. 

Should Schuster's lawsuit move to trial, others suspecting they were "cheated" can feel emboldened to also sue casinos. Meanwhile, business could fall off a cliff.

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Planned Parenthood Navigating Reproductive Rights Controversy Without Permanent Leader

Reproductive rights have hardened into a major controversy during the 2020 Election Campaign. 

Now, the brandname force supporting the ability of females to have legal control over their bodies - Planned Parenthood (PP) - is without a leader.

The Guardian reports that Leana Wen, M.D., who had served as PP president for eight months, is no longer in that position. She had been "forced out" during a board meeting. Wen claims the board meeting was secret and her ouster was rooted in philosophical differences. 

In the interim Alexis McGill will take over the job of chief executive officer. The search for a permanent replacement for Wen will begin next year.

It is true that current U.S president Donald Trump, who is running for reelection, has made organizational instability a signature of his management style. But not many others have the power or the skills to pull that off. 

It is likely that the end of the short Wen era will be a setback for PP. It is unfortunate that whatever conflict existed had been resolved in this manner. 

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