From the sweet serendipity files I have a two pack of USDC filings that are circulating around the local legal community. These come from two different readers. First up is a plaintiff’s filing which illustrates why Pro Se litigants have such a bad name in the court system:
I know Lund from his work in construction law. He has a good reputation among his peers and should do an exemplary job for the Louisiana portion of the Jones Walker malpractice saga. Louisiana portion??? Yep but before I get to that I have this:
Here is the deal folks. The plaintiff’s contract was with a Mississippi lawyer working on a Mississippi court case thus there is no connection to the forum to which the suit was shopped. In fact there is only one court that really has jurisdiction over this matter far as I can see and luckily for everyone less than seven months ago Judge Susie Morgan issued a quality opinion that gives the answer. I think this part explains it very nicely: Continue reading “Dan Lund for the defense…….”
And it carries pretty much the standard definition in the world of financial message board communications as it does in the Navy. Wanna know a bit more about your fellow “anonymous” message boarders. Get a fix via sonar and then:
After the explosion information always bubbles up and that was certainly the case with the saga of Judge Susie Morgan’s former law clerk turned accused pedophile Thomas “Haller” Jackson. I could not have been more personally delighted with the results of my last depth charge thus we begin with David Lat over at Above the Law, who was kind enough to link Slabbed’s coverage of the Jackson arrest. Here is Lat’s last update to his post on same:
In response to a number of the comments, I would observe that (1) the allegations describe truly reprehensible and disgusting conduct (even though there was no actual boy involved); (2) if the allegations are true, then Haller Jackson should be punished to the full extent of the law; and (3) the sexual abuse of children is a deadly serious problem. I would have thought that (1) this all went without saying and (2) an audience composed mainly of lawyers and law students would understand the presumption of innocence. But based on some of the comments, it seems that I was wrong. Hence this update.
I think the lawyers and nonlawyers all understood Mr. Lat’s post but it would be a reader comment such as this one that prompted the post update:
“At least he was carrying condoms. You don’t need a Ph.D. in epidemiology to know the wisdom of using protection in random sexual encounters. . . . It sounds like Haller Jackson is in a relatively good position, under the circumstances. . . . The younger Haller Jackson and I have been friendly for a number of years — we know each other through his former boss, Chief Judge Kozinski (who has had his own racy misadventures online) — and I was shocked by these allegations. Nothing I know of Haller Jackson would lead me to believe he could engage in such conduct — and I suspect that the four federal judges for whom he clerked feel the same way. He did, after all, have to pass background checks in order to obtain his multiple clerkships.” Jesus Fucking Christ, Lat. Innocent until proven unpreftigious is not even a joke anymore. He is in a “good position” after trying to fuck a ten year old. He actively solicited sex with a ten year old, but since the ten year old did not exist and he is a Koz alum, it’s all good? I thought the FREE KEVIN RING was bad, but by comparison, that article might as well be In Cold Blood. This might be my tipping point with your website. It was fun while it lasted.
The arrest of Thomas J. Jackson IV aka T. Haller Jackson IV on charges of attempted rape and computer-aided solicitation of a minor (an 11 year old boy) has electrified the legal community in New Orleans due to inherent implications of having a predatory pedophile pass Federal background checks and the like. I’ve received a boatload of tips and done some of my own internet sleuthing and I think I can add some additional color and explain to the many non lawyerly types that read us the reasons the legal community is electrified.
First in the interest of fair journalism I must disclose that Jackson was the law clerk for Judge Morgan when Daniel Abel’s first SLAPP suit was filed in US District Court in New Orleans against myself and Anne Marie Vandenweghe. That suit was voluntarily dismissed on May 14, 2013 by Abel one day before a hearing to strike his suit under Louisiana’s anti SLAPP law.
Next up is the fact set as reported by both The Advocate and the Times Picayune. First this snippet from Juliet Linderman’s piece:
According to a police report, Jackson made contact in December with a man through GRINDR, a gay social networking smartphone application, and offered him $500 for a sexual encounter with a boy younger than 11. The other GRINDR user, whose name is not listed in the court records, sent screenshots of the conversation to the FBI.
In the following weeks, a federal agent identified in court documents as M. Allison assumed the online alias of Jackson’s GRINDR correspondent and on Dec. 30 struck up a conversation, telling Jackson that he’d found a 10-year-old boy. “Hook it up!! :)” Jackson replied.
