Dear 'Zona Litigation Disaster Tourists (sigh!) more Kari Lake default stuff for you to consume. But it will make you brighter than the MAGA crowd, so stick with me. I'll do my best to make it easy to understand. 1/
Kari Lake & her legal beagles along with the hapless ASU College of Law 1st Amendment Clinic failed to timely answer and defaulted. Their case is dead. As dead as a door nail dead. As dead as the Norwegian Blue parrot in the famous Monty Python skit. 2/
Jan 31 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Dear 'Zona Litigation Disaster Tourists, Trump's dumping of Alina Habba and looking for new attorneys for his E. J. Carroll appeal, will not save him. Let's explore why. 1/
First, Ms. Habba is clearly not a trial lawyer. I'm not saying this to be mean. But she clearly did not understand basic law, rules of evidence, courtroom protocol and the like. She certainly has done lots to tick off judges in whatever courtroom she's been in. A real no-no. 2/
Dec 20, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Dear 'Zona Litigation Disaster Tourists, let's talk about the Colorado Supreme Court decision. Lawsuits challenging the eligibility of a candidate for local, state & federal office occur often each election cycle. I know as I've represented R's & D's in the past in such cases. 1/
It is uniquely the province of the State's to ensure that candidates meet the minimum qualifications for office. Candidates get swept from the ballot for insufficient # of signatures, petition fraud, live out of district, etc. Again, I know because I've pursued those claims. 2/
Dec 14, 2023 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Dear 'Zona Litigation Disaster Tourists, I want to take a few moments to discuss the State Bar sanctions AGREED TO by @realAlexKolodin regarding his misconduct in (1) the frivolous election denial suits and (2) frivolous defamation suit filed vs. Charlene Fernandez. 1/
@realAlexKolodin Attorney Kolodin, in agreeing to this Consent decree has admitted that his election denial lawsuits were a BIG LIE. He had no evidence. They lacked candor to the court, fairness to 3rd parties and constituted an abuse of process that was damaging to the interests of justice. 2/
Sep 12, 2023 • 28 tweets • 5 min read
Dear Zona Litigation Disaster Tourists, shortly I will be live tweeting the 9th Cir oral argument on Lake/Finchem/Lindell appeal of Judge Tuchi's dismissal of their case to require only hand-counting of ballots next year. 1/
Here's a link from @kjzzphoenix & @azcapmedia to bring you up to speed on what happened in front of Judge Tuchi. It did not end well for our intrepid Election Deniers. 2/ kjzz.org/content/180527…
Jul 6, 2023 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Well, Brian, since you asked for my "irrepressible" take on Jen Wright's Notice of Claim. I'll give it to you. It has virtually no chance in hell to succeed. Indulge me a few tweets while I explain. 1/
First, as a lawyer who has to deal frequently with serving Notices of Claims upon governmental entities, it is fraught with all sorts of traps for the unwary. Lawyers who have never litigated such claims should not do so without lots of research first. 2/
Jun 12, 2023 • 18 tweets • 3 min read
Dear 'Zona Litigation Disaster Tourists, can we talk about the Trump indictment & tomorrow's arraignment? Sad thing is, if Trump retained - you know - real lawyers, and not sycophants, he could have avoided all of these criminal problems with the use of 2 words - Dec Action. 1/
Declaratory Judgment actions are called Dec Actions. Dec Actions allow parties with a dispute to get a court to “declare rights, status, and other legal relations” before one crosses a red line and breaches, defaults or otherwise violates something. 2/
Feb 25, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
So, Arizona Litigation Disaster Tourists, let's discuss what Ms. Wright did in the tweet below. She asked a question of me to suggest to you that somehow I had an inappropriate relationship with Judge Jantzen. 1/
Now, I suppose Ms. Wright will deflect and with all the passive/aggressiveness she can muster and say "Why such a cry baby? I was just asking a question." 2/
Feb 24, 2023 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
Well, good evening fellow Arizona Litigation Disaster Tourists! Boy, do I got a good one for you. So go get that salty Margarita, grab a bowl of chips, and join me on one of the wackiest rides I've ever taken you on. This involves a serial litigant by the name of Mark Marvin. 1/
Marvin is NOT a lawyer, but he files Writs of Habeas Corpus all over these Fruited Plains of ours. Here's just a fun dip of the fork in the fondue of fabrication Marvin likes to engage in. A writ of habeas corpus for the body of a dead female prisoner. 2/ goerie.com/story/news/cri…
Feb 17, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Dear Az Litigation Disaster Tourists, let's talk about the appeals process in Arizona & let's start with a basic proposition based on the Lake tweet below. You don't get to automatically go to the Arizona Supreme Court after getting your butt kicked in the COA. 1/
When you lose at the Superior Court level (as Kari Lake did here) you do have the right to appeal to the AZ COA. The AZ COA HAS to look at the case that you lost. They can affirm the loss or reverse the loss and remand to the trial court. 2/
Jan 29, 2023 • 22 tweets • 7 min read
Well, my dear AZ Litigation Disaster Tourists, I've a new adventure for you. It involves a young lawyer who self-identifies as "Civil Rights Activist" and runs what he calls "The Gavel Project." His name is Ryan Heath & he claims his litigation is against the "woke culture. 1/
You can read about young Mr. Heath here: thegavelproject.com/about Now, if this all there was to know about Heath, you'd say "Tom, what's the big deal? Just another crackpot grifter." True. But this egregious legal eagle filed one of the most bizarre pleadings I've ever read. 2/
Dec 14, 2022 • 7 tweets • 4 min read
Can we talk about how crappy the AZGOP is towards the Office of the Arizona Secretary of State? It's an important issue so stick with me here on this little trip down the rabbit hole. 1/
First, I want to acknowledge the excellent work that @sambodul David Gaona, @DanCBarr and others are doing in fighting back this flood of fraudulent election lawsuits. But you should ask yourself, where is the Office of the Arizona Attorney General in all of this? Why no help? 2/
Oct 21, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
So I have now had the chance to read @markfinchem's "cease & desist" letter. Rest assured, it is not serious threat, and is only intended for social media consumption. But, if a media outlet wanted to hire me to write a response, here is what it would look like: 1/
Dear Jack W.:
Your cool idea of changing "fake" electors to "alternative" electors sure caught the attention of the NYT and the State Bar of Arizona. That was a hoot! Any way, I read your "cease & desist" letter about your client @markfinchem sent to all media in AZ. 2/
Aug 21, 2022 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
I said I'd tweet on the duties of a lawyer. A couple of good guesses came in (i.e., to protect the Constitution, to the client...). Why this concerns me is because of a recent quote from former WH Attorney Pat Cipillone, claiming he didn't have "bandwidth" to stop Trump. 1/
Apparently, Cipillone was aware Trump was taking top secret documents out of the White House down to Mar a Lago. For Cipillone to claim he was hamstrung is a lie. He had a duty to stop a crime and not allow it to be furthered. 2/
Jul 14, 2022 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
@PoliticsArizona There's nothing good that can happen here. This move by Kelli Ward raises serious legal questions. Let's start here: political parties are creatures created by AZ State Law under Title 16. See A.R.S. Sec. 16-801 et seq. They are NOT private entities to be bought and sold. 1/@PoliticsArizona The AZ GOP owns the right and title to "Republican Party of Arizona." It was not and is not and cannot be for sale. This has been litigated in Arizona already. See Maricopa County Republican Party v. Constantin Querard, CV2004-016012. 2/
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