PRE XMAS

UPDATE: THE SKY IS FALLING

We neglected to write that Sky Smith also had a client in the trial before Judge Scola and also succeeded in obtaining a full acquittal for his client.

We regret the omission.

The REGJB is still open Friday, but since a group of Judges are apparently making the decision, that could change at any moment.

Judge Robert Scola had his first federal trial verdict Wednesday. Congratulations to Michael Walsh and Charles White for securing the very first NGs before Judge Scola. Lets hope its a harbinger of things to come. Newt Gingrich was rumored to say that if a few more cases go against the government Judge Scola could be called on the carpet.

Should the courts close for the Holidays? Coming next week we have a point/counterpoint debate between a sitting judge and an attorney who runs a small firm.

Economic Outlook: Jobless claims came in today lower than expected today at 364,000. It's the lowest weekly claim in two years (since April 2008) and it's the third straight week that the number came in lower than expected. That means we should see another drop in the unemployment rate next month.

What this means: The economy is kicking into gear at just the last moment to help the President. We could see unemployment in the mid to low 8% range and if the number dips a toe into the 7.9% range over the fall of next year the Republicans could resurrect Lincoln or Teddy Roosevelt and still not be able to beat Obama.

On the flip side, the economy grew at a weak 1.8% in the third quarter and that's about .5% less than we need to sustain a jobs recovery.

Rumpole says: we are coming out of this unemployment/recession disaster very slowly and on the precipice of a double dip recession. This is a cliff hanger. Stay tuned.

Scott Rothstein hands up his former law partners Stuart Rosenfeldt and Russell Adler as being up to their lawyerly suspenders in his scheme. The Sun Sentinel reports here. Some Miami lawyers are part of the defense teams for Rothstein's former law partners who have not been indicted yet. Also getting caught up in the slime, former Broward Homicide Prosecutor Ken Padowitz, who was of counsel to the firm, shared some space, and drafted an opinion letter blessing the law suit funding scheme Rothstein was peddling. The lesson in all this is be careful who you share space with.

Miami Regional Counsel Gene Zenobi is no longer lonely, as the Governor made the following Regional Counsel Appointments across the state (all of which were due July 1, 2011, by the way)

RC4 (Broward and West Palm): Antony Ryan, a well respected Assistant Public Defender in West Palm Beach got the nod over RC4 henchwoman Shari Vrod, whose strong ties with RC4 current head Phillip Massa was probably her undoing.

RC2 (somewhere on the west coast) Ita Neymotin, who was a former RC2 employee and former Assistant Public Defender before running a law group, was picked to head her old office.

RC5 (somewhere north of RC4) Jeffrey Dean was re-appointed as the RC for the 5th region (motto: "Florida has 5 regions, and we're one of them!")

We will NOT be in court Friday, as we're heading out for Truckee and points west for the Holidays.

See You ....sometime in the New Year.