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Mistrial motion for Trump’s New York fraud case will come ‘very soon,’ lawyer Alina Habba says

Former President Donald Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, said Sunday that she will be filing for a mistrial “very soon” in Mr. Trump’s New York fraud case.

Mr. Trump and Ms. Habba have repeatedly said that this fraud case is politically motivated and that the people involved are biased.

“I can tell you that we will be filing papers to address all of those issues,” Ms. Habba said on Fox News Sunday, acknowledging that she also has a partial gag order against her.

Asked if she would be filing a mistrial, she replied, “very soon.”

Ms. Habba said a key problem with the case is that there is only one judge who makes the decisions.

“The problem is, with all of these things, such as filing a motion for recusal, which we have done twice, is that the judge has to be the one that decides, is he going to recuse himself? Does he feel that there was a mistrial?” she said, referring to Judge Arthur Engoron.

“It’s a bench trial. We have one judge. And it’s the same judge that issued the gag order that has to make determinations,” Ms. Habba said. “So, at this point, I don’t have any reason to believe he shouldn’t after what we have learned, if it’s true.”

Judge Engoron is presiding without a jury over the case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat. The lawsuit, which involves Mr. Trump, the Trump organization and his two adult sons, alleges that the organization misled banks, insurers and others by exaggerating the net worth to get larger loans and better insurance rates.

Last month, Judge Engoron issued a gag order to stop Mr. Trump and others involved from publically speaking about the judge or his team. The former president has been fined $10,000

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November 20, 2023 by LAW

Maria Bartiromo Sets Alina Habba Up to Violate Gag Order

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November 18, 2023 by LAW

“I will be back soon,” says human rights lawyer Shava after attack; files police report

By Mary Taruvinga

TOP Zimbabwe human rights lawyer, Obey Shava, who was allegedly attacked, by four unidentified men who left him severely injured last week, says he is expecting to be back at work soon as he continues his recovery.

Shava, a founding partner with Shava Law Chambers (Rights and Business Centre) and a member of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR sustained serious injuries to his legs and arm among other serious injuries and is currently using a wheelchair.

In a video posted on social media Saturday, Shava said he is eager to be back in court.

“My voice is more important in the court room than it is in the hospital ward so I will be back very soon. Thank you all for your support and solidarity messages I truly appreciate..for your prayers and everything.  I’m staying fit, I’m staying strong,” Shava said.

The video shows the lawyer sitting in a wheelchair with bandages on his legs and right hand.

According to ZLHR, before the assault, the four men presented themselves at Shava Law Chambers and completed the formalities for new clients.

During that time, Shava was attending to another case at Mbare Police Station.

Upon meeting them, the four unidentified men briefly presented their so-called case and, without provocation, assaulted Shava, and he sustained injuries.

They also attacked an assistant at his law firm.

The award-winning lawyer has represented many opposition politicians and activists, including legislator Joana Mamombe and activist Cecilia Chimbiri from the Citizen’s Coalition for Change (CCC) party, who were acquitted of criminal charges of communicating falsehoods after being abducted while in police custody and later tortured in 2020.

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July 13, 2023 by LAW

Hennen: Don’t limit options for affordable health insurance – InForum

In my world, I regularly hear about how to keep health care affordable, especially health insurance. My audience talks about it. Families struggling to make ends meet talk about it, too. That’s why a bill being considered in the North Dakota Legislature, HB 1416, caught my interest.

The verbiage from the bill says it’s “a bill relating to freedom of choice for health care services.” And it was repeated: “Be it enacted by the legislative assembly of North Dakota… freedom of choice for health care services.” That’s the fancy description. For me, it’s exactly the opposite. It’s removing a choice that allows consumers to save money on health insurance. That is a bad idea.

HB 1416 would allow any health care provider to join an insurance company’s narrow network, which is an important health insurance option for cost-conscious consumers who choose to see fewer providers but pay a significantly lower monthly bill.

Proponents — who have peddled their opinions on the editorial pages — have claimed this legislation will provide “freedom of choice for health care services,” allowing patients more choice when selecting their health care providers. That’s just wrong. In reality, patients already make that choice when they select their health insurance plan. What HB 1416 does is the opposite of choice; it eliminates an affordable health insurance option.

Health insurance companies use different networks, or groups of health care providers, to give consumers options. A broad network plan consists of nearly all providers within a service area. These plans are more expensive. A narrow network plan, however, consists of fewer providers who have agreed to a reduced contracted rate in exchange for an anticipated increase in patient volume. These plans are about 20% more affordable than broad network plans. Yes, 20%!

Take our company, Flag Family Media, as

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April 6, 2023 by INSURANCE

Former U.S. Attorney who brought charges in Ohio nuclear bailout scandal says case may not be over

After a little over a day of deliberation, a jury found Republican former Ohio House speaker Larry Householder and ex-Ohio Republican Party chair Matt Borges guilty of federal racketeering charges. But there may be more indictments coming in what’s been called the largest corruption case in state history.

Householder and Borges say they’ll appeal their convictions in a $61 million scheme to pass a nuclear power plant bailout law for FirstEnergy and keep a repeal of that law off the ballot.

David DeVillers brought the case in July 2020, before he and 55 other Trump-appointed US attorneys resigned with the change to the Biden administration, and called it the largest corruption scandal in state history. DeVillers said he was thrilled with the verdict.

And he added that, listening to the comments of his successor in that office, the case may not be over.

“Ken Parker has made it clear that there’s an ongoing investigation,” DeVillers said. “And I’m confident that Ken and his team will follow this investigation to wherever it may lead.”

Parker was in the courtroom several times throughout the trial, and he was outside the courthouse after the verdicts. He called them a win for Ohio.

“You cannot sell the public trust. You cannot sell the public trust. It is not for sale. And you cannot conspire with others to sell the public trust,” Parker said.

“We have a team that will take the time over the years to meticulously go through all of the evidence to discuss with individuals, to get into to get information as to what was going on in this scheme,” Parker said, “to bring those individuals, no matter where they are at what they feel to be the highest points in our state government, to bring them to justice.”

Though FirstEnergy agreed

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April 5, 2023 by ATTORNEY

M&A deals to boost non-life insurance industry | Business
M&A deals to boost non-life insurance industry hinh anh 1(Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – The non-life insurance sector has seen a flurry of
merger and acquisition (M&A) deals over the past two years, partly
reflecting the attractiveness and keen competition of the market, which still
has room for growth.

DB Insurance, which is one of the Republic of Korea’s leading non-life
insurance companies, has just completed another step of its purchase strategy
to take control of Vietnam National Aviation Insurance Company (VNI).

Expectations of fresh momentum from foreign capital inflows helped VNI’s stock
prices soar last week.

The transfer value is determined by the two parties’ agreement, but it is
estimated to be worth about a trillion dong at the current market price.

VNI has a charter capital of 1 trillion VND (42.2 million USD), which is the
largest charter capital in M&A deals over the past two years. Three
noteworthy M&A transactions in the insurance sector occurred during this
time, but the parties involved were not experts in the non-life sector.

In particular, VPBank increased its shareholding of OPES Insurance from 6.05
million units to 53.9 million units last November, or 98% of charter capital,
by purchasing an additional 47.85 million shares of the company.

Additionally, in the fourth quarter of 2022, Tasco spent more than 402 billion VND
to acquire Groupama Vietnam’s entire share capital, changing the company’s name
to Tasco Insurance. The plan calls for Tasco to invest an additional 612
billion VND in this business.

Previously, in September 2021, BCG invested a total of 316.5 billion VND to
acquire a controlling interest in AAA Insurance.

Vietnam was one of the insurance marketplaces with the highest growth rates in
the world prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Statistics for 2011–2019 showed that
the country’s annual growth rate in insurance premium revenue was 20% while the
global average

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March 28, 2023 by INSURANCE

CMBA working to eliminate financial barriers for those in need of legal services

CLEVELAND — Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association is celebrating 150 years in existence.

To honor their long-standing history, the organization says they want to continue improving people’s lives and have plans to introduce a new initiative they say is needed in the community.

“It’s needed because a lot of people don’t know about the legal system, and if you don’t have the means to pay for it, then you’re walking into a situation blindsided,” said Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association Client, Cherea Humphrey.

A game-changing opportunity is in the works for those who are struggling to get access to legal services.

“This is going to create all kinds of opportunities to eliminate barriers that will create better lives,” said Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association CEO Becky Ruppert McMahon.

This help comes at a time, McMahon says, many people simply can’t afford legal services because they’re already living paycheck to paycheck or at or below the poverty line – and don’t qualify for free help.

“That’s either because they make quote-unquote, ‘too much money,’ so that they don’t qualify for free legal services, but they still can’t afford a market-rate lawyer,” McMahon said.

Cherea Humphrey says this can put people in a difficult situation like she once experienced before she qualified for free legal assistance thanks to a partnership between the bar association and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

“By me not being able to afford one, you know, it was like, okay, well, what I’m going to do,” Humphrey said.

That’s where Ruppert McMahon says the Cleveland Legal Collaborative will step in to help.

Starting next year, Ruppert McMahon says lawyers in their first five years of practice will work with more experienced law professionals to provide quality legal services at a flat, fixed, low fee – and in some cases at no

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March 14, 2023 by LEGAL

Illinois Supreme Court to hear case against elimination of cash bail

The Illinois Supreme Court will hear arguments next month on whether the far-reaching SAFE-T Act and its elimination of cash bail are unconstitutional, as a Kankakee judge ruled at the end of last year.

The court set a date of March 14 as the office of Illinois Atty. Gen. Kwame Raoul filed a motion Monday urging the court to reject the “grab bag of constitutional theories” raised by the law’s opponents.

Kankakee County Chief Judge Thomas Cunnington sided with those opponents just days before the bail reform provision were to take effect, ruling in favor of a group of state’s attorneys and sheriffs who brought more than 60 lawsuits challenging aspects of the law.

Cunnington ruled that part of the act violated a requirement in the state Constitution that requires defendants to be bailable “by sufficient sureties,” except for certain offenses. He also found that it violated the separation of powers between the judiciary and Legislature.

“The appropriateness of bail rests with the authority of the court and may not be determined by legislative fiat,” Cunnington wrote in his ruling.

Legislators who wrote the bill, and reform advocates who support it, have argued that cash bail is inherently unfair and doesn’t benefit public safety when some defendants accused of crimes are released ahead of trial while others are held in jail because they lack the financial ability to post bond.

Opponents to the law argued lawmakers violated the state’s constitution when they failed to seek approval from voters through a constitutional amendment, and they said they would “strongly support” such a system if the state had done so.

“This did not occur,” opponents argued in a motion before the state Supreme Court earlier this month. “In so doing, the General Assembly has illegitimately attempted to amend the Illinois Constitution.”

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February 28, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Maine’s ACLU urges lawmakers to increase funding for indigenous legal defense

A representative from a group that is leading a class action lawsuit against the state is urging lawmakers to commit even more money to create public defender’s offices around the state.

The ACLU of Maine filed suit one year ago this week, claiming the state is failing in its constitutional obligation to provide attorneys to low-income criminal defendants. Since then, lawmakers created a small, public defender office to take cases in rural Maine. And the administration of Gov. Janet Mills has proposed expanding that office.

Zach Heiden, chief counsel for ACLU Maine, told lawmakers on two committees on Monday that’s progress and he also criticized the recent decision to increase the hourly reimbursement for private attorneys who take on clients through the Commission on Indigent Legal Services. Earlier, the outgoing executive director of the commission, Justin Andrus, told lawmakers that the higher reimbursement rate – from $80 to $150 an hour – has led to a significant jump in interest among private attorneys willing to take on independent cases.

But Heiden also said a hybrid system of private attorneys and public defenders should have been adopted years ago rather than its standing, until recently, as the only state in the country to rely entirely on private attorneys. And he said additional reforms – such as increased training and supervision as well as for statewide offices to handle appeals and post-conviction reviews – will cost money.

“These investments are, as you are no doubt aware, considerably more than the state is accustomed to spending on indigenous defense,” told members of the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee as well as the Judiciary Committee. “Please do not mistake them for luxury “This is the bare minimum of funding required to have a functioning independent defense system in this state and by extension

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February 28, 2023 by LEGAL

The district attorney’s office doesn’t have own policies to handle case files

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Practices by the Nueces County District Attorney’s Office have come under fire following the dismissal of Dr. Juan Villarreal’s criminal case, due to lost evidence.

“I don’t feel like justice was served when you can’t have your man cleared or you can’t have your day in court,” said Nueces County Judge Connie Scott, reacting to the case.

Losing evidence has not been the only recent questionable action by the district attorney‘s office.

We reported that in a criminal case against Joseph Tejeda for capital murder, the district attorney’s office gave access, to the case file, to the alleged victim’s mother.

A judge said he found “credible evidence of gross incompetence, negligence or carelessness” in the prosecution of Tejeda’s cases.

Villarreal’s case is now the latest instance.

“We’re not the first office that’s lost evidence. It’s a shame that any office looses evidence like this. But we’re not the first time this has happened,” Douglas Norman of the district attorney’s office said in Villarreal’s Monday hearing.

In a hearing about the Tejeda case, Norman said there were no policies and procedures pertaining to access of case files.

Assistant District Attorney Angelica Hernandez tested the to clarify the information.

“That is correct,” she started to say.” “We follow the Nueces County policies and procedures, and the standard documents they require employees to sign that they understand the confidential nature of criminal histories or TCIC/NCIC, other documents that might be in the file, and that they’re not to disclose the contents of those but those are Nueces County’s.”

In an open records request, we were told it’s the Nueces County Personnel Manual the district attorney’s office uses.

County Judge Scott was unaware the district attorney‘s office does this.

“What the policy works for us isn’t always

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February 12, 2023 by ATTORNEY
December 2023
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