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Lawyer accused of hitting rapper Fat Joe’s process server with his car

Lawyer accused of hitting rapper Fat Joe’s process server with his car

by | Jun 26, 2025 | Law


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Criminal Justice

Lawyer accused of hitting rapper Fat Joe’s process server with his car

By Debra Cassens Weiss

Rapper Fat Joe attends an NBA basketball game between the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden on May 16 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

A lawyer was arrested on an assault charge Wednesday for allegedly hitting a process server with his vehicle May 12 while trying to evade service of legal documents, according to published reports.

The lawyer, Tyrone Blackburn, was allegedly trying to avoid service of a lawsuit filed by rapper Joseph “Fat Joe” Cartagena that accuses the attorney and his client, former Fat Joe hype man Terrance Dixon, of extortion, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Blackburn allegedly put his car in reverse and hit the 66-year-old process server in the leg when he backed up, TMZ reports. The injury was minor.

The Brooklyn district attorney’s office in New York charged Blackburn with assault, harassment, reckless driving and criminal possession of a weapon, Billboard reports.

The suit being served was related to two demand letters sent to Fat Joe, the rapper’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, told NBC News. The first claimed that Dixon was due money for allegedly serving as a ghostwriter and a vocalist on several Fat Joe songs. The second threatened a suit that also included claims of statutory rape, sex trafficking and fraud, according to a June 25 press release by Fat Joe’s legal team.

Tacopina said the demand letter claims are “false and outrageous” and made “with utter disregard for truth or decency.”

Blackburn and Dixon filed a $20 million RICO suit against Fat Joe on the same day that the police issued a warrant for Blackburn’s arrest, Tacopina told NBC News. The suit contained a “trigger warning” at the top warning about depictions of alleged sex trafficking and assault, USA Today reports.

Fat Joe’s legal team said in a June 19 press release Blackburn and Dixon’s “retaliatory” suit is “a desperate attempt to deflect attention from the civil suit we filed first, which exposed their coordinated scheme to extort” the rapper. The suit allegations “are complete fabrications,” the statement said.





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These 4 conservative law firms are thriving under Trump

These 4 conservative law firms are thriving under Trump

by | Jun 26, 2025 | Law


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Law Firms

These 4 conservative law firms are thriving under Trump

By Debra Cassens Weiss

Jones Day played a prominent role in the first presidency of President Donald Trump. But Jones Day “hasn’t had the same prominence in Trump circles this time around.” Now, several smaller, conservative firms are seeing “boom times.” (Photo from Shutterstock)

Jones Day played a prominent role in the first presidency of President Donald Trump. The law firm represented Trump in his first presidential campaign and sent several lawyers to work in the administration, including Don McGahn, who was the White House counsel. But Jones Day “hasn’t had the same prominence in Trump circles this time around,” the Wall Street Journal reports. Now, several smaller, conservative firms are seeing “boom times.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, the firms include:

  • Lex Politica, with offices in Washington, D.C., and Austin, Texas, and about a dozen lawyers. The firm said it provided advice on the formation of the Department of Government Efficiency. The firm said it has also represented Tesla CEO Elon Musk, personally, as well as GOP politicians, including Vivek Ramaswamy, a 2024 Republican former presidential candidate.

  • Stone Hilton, based in Austin, Texas. Name partners Chris Hilton and Judd Stone formerly worked in the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The firm said it has worked with America First Legal, a conservative legal nonprofit organization founded by Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, and with high-level administration officials. It has also represented X, formerly known as Twitter, in a defamation case.

  • Ashbrook Byrne Kresge Flowers, a 10-lawyer firm based in Ohio. Name partner Benjamin Flowers is a former Ohio solicitor general. The firm is currently representing a professor who said he was fired for opposing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

  • Panza, Maurer & Maynard, the former firm of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. The firm said it is getting new legal work because of the connection.

Hat tip to Bloomberg Law’s Wake Up Call.





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Trump administration sues Maryland federal court and its judges over standing order on deportations

Trump administration sues Maryland federal court and its judges over standing order on deportations

by | Jun 26, 2025 | Law


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Immigration Law

Trump administration sues Maryland federal court and its judges over standing order on deportations

By Debra Cassens Weiss

The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit in Maryland federal court against the court itself and its judges in an effort to overturn a standing order that automatically bars the deportation of detained immigrants who file habeas petitions. (Image from Shutterstock)

The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit in Maryland federal court against the court itself and its judges in an effort to overturn a standing order that automatically bars the deportation of detained immigrants who file habeas petitions.

According to a June 25 press release from the Department of Justice, the standing order “is yet another egregious example of unlawful judicial overreach into the executive branch’s ability to enforce and administer federal law.”

Law.com, Reuters, Bloomberg Law and the New York Times covered the unusual June 24 suit.

A separate DOJ motion seeks seeks recusal of the defendant judges. The case should be transferred to another district, or a different judge should be appointed to handle the case, the motion says.

Chief U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III of the District of Maryland signed the initial standing order May 21 and a revised order May 28. The order keeps the injunction in place for nearly two business days unless it is extended by the judge hearing the case.

The “automatic injunction issues whether or not the alien needs or seeks emergency relief, whether or not the court has jurisdiction over the alien’s claims, and no matter how frivolous the alien’s claims may be,” the suit says. “And it does so in the immigration context, thus intruding on core executive branch powers.”

Bloomberg Law noted the unusual posture of the case.

“The lawsuit is certain to raise questions of judicial immunity, as judges typically can’t be sued over their official acts,” the article says.

In an interview with Reuters, Marin Levy, a professor at the Duke University School of Law, said the suit “is a shocking move by the Justice Department that is simply unprecedented.”

“It seems like part of a strategic attempt to attack the courts, rather than any sort of good faith litigation,” Levy said.

The case is United States v. Russell.





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Law firms consider increasing capital contributions by equity partners

Law firms consider increasing capital contributions by equity partners

by | Jun 26, 2025 | Law


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Law Firms

Law firms consider increasing capital contributions by equity partners

By Debra Cassens Weiss

Some law firms are considering increasing capital contribution levels, according to a report by Law.com. (Image from Shutterstock)

Some law firms are considering increasing capital contribution levels, according to a report by Law.com.

Jon Lindsey, a New York founding partner at recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa, thinks some firms are considering increases amid economic uncertainty.

“I think firms want to make sure they can meet that uncertainty with all the tools they have,” he told Law.com.

The article cited 2023 figures from Wells Fargo’s Legal Specialty Group. The average capital requirement in the nation’s 100 top-grossing firms was 23% of compensation that year. For the Second Hundred top-grossing firms, the average was about 19.5%. But the percentages vary widely, with amounts of contributions ranging from 0% to 49%.

The averages haven’t changed much over the last five years or so, according to Owen Burman, a senior consultant for Wells Fargo’s Legal Specialty Group, who spoke with Law.com in an interview.

The article listed these reasons why firms may want to increase capital contributions:

  • To invest in artificial intelligence technologies, cybersecurity systems and other technology

  • To finance expansion into new cities

  • To make up lost funds when firms decrease equity partners

  • To make partners feel invested in the firm, possibly discouraging them from leaving





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BigLaw firm lays off 5% of business professional staff

BigLaw firm lays off 5% of business professional staff

by | Jun 25, 2025 | Law


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Layoffs

BigLaw firm lays off 5% of business professional staff

By Debra Cassens Weiss

Perkins Coie has laid off 5% of its business professional staff following a firmwide review that took place over the last year. (Image from Shutterstock)

Perkins Coie has laid off 5% of its business professional staff following a firmwide review that took place over the last year.

The law firm confirmed the layoffs in a statement, report Law.com, Above the Law and Law360.

The firm said the layoffs “reflect the firm’s long-term strategic goals and incorporate best practices from across the industry.” The decision “was informed by a firmwide review over the last year and aligns with our commitment to client service and operational excellence,” the statement said.

Perkins Coie was one of the firms targeted by President Donald Trump in an executive order that sought to suspend security clearances had by firm personnel and to end clients’ government contracts for which the firm performed work.

Perkins Coie sued, and a federal judge enjoined the punitive order in May.





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Nonlawyers can partly own law firms in Puerto Rico under revised ethics rules

Nonlawyers can partly own law firms in Puerto Rico under revised ethics rules

by | Jun 25, 2025 | Law


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Ethics

Nonlawyers can partly own law firms in Puerto Rico under revised ethics rules

By Debra Cassens Weiss

Puerto Rico has enacted new lawyer ethics rules that allow nonlawyers to have an ownership interest in law firms. (Image from Shutterstock)

Puerto Rico has enacted new lawyer ethics rules that allow nonlawyers to have an ownership interest in law firms, a departure from Model Rule 5.4 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct on professional independence.

Although Puerto Rico’s new ethics rules are modeled on the ABA Model Rules, the provision allowing nonlawyer ownership of firms is a key change, the LawSites blog reports.

Nonlawyers would not be allowed to own more than 49% of the shares in the law offices, according to a ChatGPT translation of the rule published by LawSites.

The rule also states that law offices partly owned by nonlawyers must be operated by lawyers licensed in Puerto Rico. The nonlawyers cannot interfere with lawyers’ independent professional judgment and cannot provide services to the law offices.

The Puerto Rico Supreme Court, which adopted the ethics rule, plans to assess its effectiveness after three years.

The only other jurisdictions that allow nonlawyer ownership of firms are Arizona and the District of Columbia, LawSites reports. Utah also allows nonlawyer ownership but only under the restrictions of its regulatory sandbox program.

See also:

Following decades of discourse on nonlawyer legal services, questions of motives continue

How ethics reforms in Arizona led to LegalZoom’s law firm





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