October 16, 2013 GS2LAW
The English Rule vs US Sanctions Quandary
“Oh no Mr. Garson, that’s the English model!” Exclaims the judge, appalled at my suggestion that the losing party ought pay the legal fees and costs of my winning client. At that point, the ugly reality dawned that for many Americans, suing on baseless claims has only upside, defending spurious suits is not incentivized and the system is geared towards cost-benefit...Read MoreOctober 11, 2013 GS2LAW
Rabbinically Sanctioned Violence, Divorce and The Law
News broke this morning that Rabbis Mendel Epstein and Martin Wolmark had been arrested following an FBI sting operation. It is alleged that they have been coercing Jewish divorces from recalcitrant husbands through the medium of violence for a fee. This is one of those thorny issues that tears at the moral fabric of Judaism and brings into sharp focus the tension between modernity, rabbinic...Read MoreOctober 7, 2013 GS2LAW
Limiting Free Speech the Wrong Way – The FA Model
England’s Football Association has decreed that those who chant the word “Yid” in any context are at risk of prosecution as the word is “derogatory and offensive,” “inappropriate in a football setting” and “is likely to be considered offensive by the reasonable observer”. As a result, “Use of the term in a public setting could amount to a criminal offence, and leave those fans liable to...Read MoreGS2Law in Law Journal in Agri-Star Win
Michael Steinmetz in Federal Court win on the basis Statute of Frauds. Breach Action Dismissed; Oral Agreements Subject to Statute of Frauds, Unenforceable; U.S. – EDNY | CONTRACTS New York Law Journal July 10, 2013 Wednesday Read MoreJuly 1, 2013 GS2LAW
Paula Deen & The Dirty T-Word
The words that precede practically every deposition are: “Do you solemnly state that the testimony you will give in this deposition proceeding will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?” If that statement or oath is to be upheld properly, a deponent (a person being deposed), should feel free to tell the truth without being vilified in the press and for taking the duty to...Read MoreMay 21, 2013 GS2LAW
The Death Knell of A Noble Profession – Time for the Judiciary to Act
I remember it clearly, first night of Chanukah 2007, the major cuts to Very High Cost Cases were announced, and I arrived home in a funk to the welcoming news that my wife was pregnant with our first child. At that moment I knew that being the breadwinner as a criminal defense barrister (the wig wearing ones) at the Bar of England & Wales was going to be tough. The next day I lamented to...Read MoreDecember 4, 2012 GS2LAW
Berne-ing Up Facebook
If you count yourself amongst the one billion-plus monthly active users of social media juggernaut, Facebook, chances are you have seen your newsfeed inundated with a certain “declaration” as of late. For those not privy, this trend consists of users of the online community copying-and-pasting a short passage into their Facebook statuses in an attempt to secure dominion over the content of...Read MoreOctober 16, 2012 GS2LAW
Dodd-Frank’s Whistleblower Provisions
On July 21, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act into law. The Act, which marks the biggest expansion of government power over banking and markets since the Great Depression, sets its aims at remedying the perceived regulatory holes that permitted the financial crisis of the early twenty-first century to have such far reaching and...Read MoreJuly 26, 2012 GS2LAW
NCAA Scaping the Wrong Goat
Having grown up in a far off land I have always been slightly bemused by the furor and hype that surrounds US college sports. Maybe that’s because when I played rugby at university in the UK the only people that came to watch a match were the odd hopeful girl, two old men and a dog, which may have just been a stray. The culture behind college sports is a shining example of what matters...Read MoreJune 18, 2012 GS2LAW