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Areas of Interest
March 8th, 2022
Jan. 6 Panel has Tough Case to Make on Trump Criminal Conspiracy
Ethics & Professional Responsibility Litigation Partner John B. Harris was quoted in the article, “Jan. 6 Panel has Tough Case to Make on Trump Criminal Conspiracy” published by The Hill. The article discusses the Jan. 6 riot investigation committee’s investigation into the attack on the capital and the committee’s newest claim that Trump engaged in a criminal conspiracy in his effort to overturn the 2020 election results. The filing by the committee looks to persuade a federal judge that it should be allowed to obtain Trump campaign attorney John Eastman’s communications. John B. Harris explains details could waver in a larger case against Trump because the department of justice would need to show he had intent to defraud as he carried out his plans. John says, “Here I think the problem is that if Trump's defense may be that he truly, truly believed these measures might be justifiable and decided to believe one set of advisers or another. The Government can bang on the table a lot say, ‘Well, you had more — and more credible — advisers on the side that said you need to stop this.’ And you had advisers using very strong language that it's illegal and unsupportable,” adding, “But if he had his own mindset that something terrible happened here … that creates a bit of a swamp and some murkiness that the government will have to deal with at a trial to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump did this knowing that it was all a sham.”
John, who specializes in attorney-client privilege, says that the question of whether the crime-fraud exception applies is not clear-cut. “To me, the tricky part of this is that Eastman apparently believed that as an academic theory what he was proposing about Pence or the electors was plausible. If that was something that he believed was a fair extension or interpretation of the law, that gives him some protection. It wouldn't automatically be a crime or fraud for him to propound an academic theory even if he believed that it was certain to lose.”
Read the full article here.
Other Quoted
Jonah Brill and Spouse Emma Brill Featured on Cardozo Law School Podcast
Jonah Brill and his wife Emma Brill are interviewed on their alma mater’s audio publication SPARKS: A Cardozo School of Law Podcast | Cardozo Law. Having met as first-year law students at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, they discuss how their law school affected their personal lives and chosen career paths. They share their class recommendations, “insights into the complexities of tax law,” and “lessons learned along the way.” Listen here.
April 8 2025
Key Amendments to the New York Rules of Professional Conduct
The New York Law Journal quotes Tyler C. Maulsby on the recently amended Rules of Profesisonal Conduct, which will affect conflicts, screening of laterals, fairness to opposing counsel, and more. View Article
April 1 2025
Duke’s ‘White Lotus’ Cameo Not Likely An IP Problem for HBO
Law360 quotes Kimberly M. Maynard on whether HBO was within its rights to use Duke University's apparel in its artistic expression on the dark comedy show "The White Lotus." Kim argues that when discussing something that's clearly an artistic expression, brand owners' rights are fairly limited by the First Amendment and the Rogers case, even as amended by the Jack Daniels' case. (Behind paywall) View Article
March 31 2025
