bemusedlybespectacled

I know that there's chatter on the internet about it being purposeful to somehow avoid getting sanctioned, but that's highkey incorrect and what they did would actually potentially implicate them MORE.

quick breakdown of legal ethics: you have a duty to your client and a duty to the court. you can't tell any of your client's secrets, but you also can't lie to the court or knowingly allow someone else to lie.

the "knowingly" is important here: if a client lies to you and then you repeat the lie, that's okay. the entire point of confidentiality and privilege is so that clients can be honest with you. if a client has all that protection and lies to you anyway, that's not a you problem. the issue is if you know they're lying: you need to do all you can to prevent them from lying, and if they start to give false testimony despite you telling them not to, you need to stop the proceedings IMMEDIATELY to talk some sense into your client, or, failing that, withdraw as counsel. it is that serious.

so, quick recap:

client: I could not have possibly robbed that bank, I was on vacation in the bahamas!
lawyer: okay. your honor, my client couldn't have robbed that bank, they were on vacation in the bahamas.
opposing counsel: hahaha, I have caught you in a lie! here are photos of you at the bank when you said you were on vacation!

^^ this is safe for you ethically.

client: I totally robbed that bank, but I want to tell everyone I was on vacation in the bahamas.
lawyer: okay. your honor, my client couldn't have robbed that bank, they were on vacation in the bahamas.
opposing counsel: hahaha, I have caught you in a lie! here are photos of you at the bank when you said you were on vacation! and they're pictures your attorney had access to, so they knew you were lying about the vacation, too!

^^ this is NOT safe for you ethically because you participated in lying to the court.

(sidebar: withholding information isn't unethical and is, in fact, part of confidentiality. if I know a client of mine is doing drugs when they're supposed to be in rehab, I cannot be compelled to tell that to anyone, at all, even if that means that I'm aware a crime is being committed. disclosing information like that is itself malpractice.)

so, knowing all that, consider what facts we have:

it would not make sense for reynal to deliberately set himself up for a malpractice suit AND sanctions for lack of candor toward the tribunal.

so, my money is on it being an accident. lawyers fuck up all the time, and they fuck up in this specific way all the time, and there are rules in place to deal with potential fuckups (like how here, bankston contacted them about the slip-up and gave them a full ten days to claw that info back before using it as evidence). but fucking up so badly that you don't correct your mistake for days? with a case this public and a client this high-profile? THAT'S AN UNUSUALLY BAD FUCKUP.

bemusedlybespectacled

Basically, when you file a lawsuit against someone, neither of you have a whole lot of evidence against the other person. So you need to get it, and the way you do that is by getting information from the other side. So a typical discovery period tends to go like this:

Plaintiff: Please give us all records relating to X.
Defendant: Be more specific.
Plaintiff: Okay, we want all emails, memos, letters, and text messages sent between A and B relating to X from 2015 to 2020.
Defendant: Okay, but you need to also give us all of your records relating to X.
Plaintiff: Cool!
Defendant: Here are all 60,000 emails we have about between 2015 and 2020. Have fun sorting through that shit pile!

And so on and so forth.

Keep in mind that this works for evidence that helps you, not just evidence that hurts you. Like, a request for your financial records can help you if your defense is that you're poor and you can prove that by providing your salary information.

Alex Jones repeatedly refused to do this. He lied and said he didn't have any records for the plaintiffs to look at or discussions about Sandy Hook to hand over as evidence. He did this so much and so egregiously that eventually the court got fed up and said, "Okay, you clearly don't care enough to even hand over evidence that could help you, so you lose by default."

So this trial was literally ONLY about the amount of money Jones should pay; he lost the "did he commit defamation?" argument by default. The questions that are like "isn't it true you knew this information was incorrect by 2015 but you didn't do anything about it?" aren't being asked to prove he defamed the families, they're being asked to show how deliberate his conduct was, because if he did something maliciously, he might have to pay more in damages than if it was an honest mistake.

So when Bankston is like, "Haha, I have your cellphone information!" and Jones starts saying, "But you said I didn't provide it but you clearly have it," what Bankston means is, "I have your cellphone information that you said didn't exist when I asked you about it," while Jones is (badly) trying to argue that he did comply with discovery because Bankston got that information from them eventually.

johndeaconshands

Alright, who's writing this one?

morriganwarrior

Ideas:

PS: Can we get like Patty Jenkins or Ron Howard to direct?

johndeaconshands

When is this movie coming out???

Pros of being a Fandom Old: - never have to worry about my mom finding out about my porn fic - have seen it all before and give few if any fucks

Cons of being a Fandom Old: - forced to work at actual job instead of writing fic all day - have seen it all before and get regular “ugh not again” moments

beingbreannaleigh

The permanent roommate wants to name our future daughter after a StarCraft character. So I’m naming our future son after a fictional pirate.

See you sometime in the future Killian and Kerrigan.

beingbreannaleigh

Update: Kerrigan will be 6 months old this month.

bell-flower

So I binged the entirety of How To Build a Sex Room last night and this one scene just cracked me up

The designer's at a western leather/tack store looking for supplies to make a rustic-style sex swing and turns to one of the store employees for advice, which initially goes about as amusingly as you would expect

So then she pulls up some pictures to give him an idea of what she needs

And he's Immediately like

The professional disgust, I'm living

beingbreannaleigh

GOLD

Your pets after you bring your phone out to film them doing something

todays mood is feeling super sad bc you can't time travel to the 70s and chill with queen in a recording studio and play board games

jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

I am currently shopping for bullet proof inserts to put in my child’s backpack. It shouldn’t be like this!

NATALIE PORTMAN as JANE FOSTER / THE MIGHTY THOR
THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER (2022) dir. Taika Waititi

Yesterday I heard of another school shooting in Texas, my home.

19 elementary school kids died yesterday.

Yesterday was different for me. Yesterday I heard about the shooting as I played on the floor with my 3 month old daughter. I watched her make herself laugh in the mirror for the first time. I watched her take a rattle from my hand and shake it for the first time. And for the first time in my life, I contemplated what it would be like to be a parent who lost a child in a school shooting.

Before her I suppose I thought of myself when I heard about shootings (especially since I work on an concealed carry campus), what I would do, how I would react, etc. But now I am consumed by the realization that my baby - the most precious thing to me on this planet - could be taken from me. And it is unbearable.

All I know is a not insignificant portion of me resides in that little red haired, blue eyed angel of a girl, and I don't know what I'd do without it.

Fuck "not getting political". There should be nothing political about preventing the mass murder of children.

I'd like to start off by saying "Hi" to the FBI agent that was just given my IP address in the last hour.

Now that we've got the niceties out of the way...I wish the most painful d**th on every single fucking person that had a hand in pushing SCOTUS to overturn Roe v Wade. Seriously. This isn't a joke.

Fuck them and every single anti-choice mother fucker in this country.

freesmegmafactory

Someone yassified the hellen keller doll, being blind and deaf is no excuse not to serve looks henny

"About 90% of male victims of IPV have reported that a female partner who abuses them makes threats to report their partner as an abuser. It's less common for men to make that statement to female partners just because there is less potential consequence." -Dr. Shannon Curry

the johnny depp & amber heard situation is going to bring a lot of harm to people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. once again, bpd is being brought into the spotlight however the terms of which it is there are negative. this will only worsen the stigma already associated with this personality disorder. please remember that ah is just one person with the disorder. she is not all of us, and most of us are not like that. the disorder we share is not the reason for her actions. two people with the same disorder can react to the same situation very differently and it depends on core characteristics and morals which are gained through environment. please, please do not hold contempt for all borderlines because of amber.

Lawyer: "And what did you say when Ms Heard said tell the world Johnny, tell them ‘I, Johnny Depp, a man, am a victim, too of domestic violence?'"

Johnny Depp: "I said yes, I am."

If you support Amber Heard unfollow me 😌

Hot take: When your significant other is experiencing a mental health crisis the only correct response is to make sure they're safe and get them help. It is not to secretly record them talking about harming themselves.

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���Peter, I know things have been difficult lately and I’m sorry about that. I think I know what you’re feeling. Ever since you were a little boy, you’ve been living with so many unresolved things. Well, take it from an old man. Those things send us down a road, they make us who we are, and if anyone’s destined for greatness, it’s you, son. You owe the world your gifts. You just have to figure out how to use them and know that wherever they take you, we’ll always be here. So, come on home, Peter. You’re my hero�� And I love you!”