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Twin daughters of BigLaw couple among Texas flood victims; ‘we are devastated,’ family says

Twin daughters of BigLaw couple among Texas flood victims; ‘we are devastated,’ family says

by | Jul 8, 2025 | Law


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Personal Lives

Twin daughters of BigLaw couple among Texas flood victims; ‘we are devastated,’ family says

By Debra Cassens Weiss

A first responder searches an area along the Guadalupe River that was hit by flash flooding July 4 in Kerrville, Texas. (Photo by Eric Gay/The Associated Press)

Two of the children who died in the floods that swept through Central Texas over the Independence Day weekend were the twin daughters of two BigLaw partners in Dallas.

BigLaw partners John and Lacy Lawrence are the parents of 8-year-old twins Hanna and Rebecca, who were at Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas, at the time of the flooding, Law.com reports. The girls had just finished second grade before their deaths.

Another daughter, 14-year-old Harper, was also at Camp Mystic. She survived.

The death toll from the flood was 109 as of midday Tuesday, the New York Times reported. The number has been increasing every few hours, the newspaper said.

John Lawrence is the securities and litigation co-chair at Baker Botts. Lacy Lawrence is a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.

They provided a statement to Law.com.

“Hanna and Rebecca brought so much joy to us, to their big sister Harper and to so many others,” they wrote. “We will find ways to keep that joy and to continue to spread it for them. But we are devastated that the bond we shared with them and that they shared with each other is now frozen in time. Thank you for the love and support.”

John Lawrence’s father is David Lawrence Jr., a former publisher for the Miami Herald, who gave a statement to the newspaper.

“It has been an unimaginable time for all of us. Hanna and Rebecca gave their parents John and Lacy and sister Harper and all in our family so much joy,” David Lawrence Jr. said. “They and that joy can never be forgotten.”

David Lawrence Jr. left the Miami Herald to focus on childhood education. He helped pass a Florida constitutional amendment to provide free education to all 4-year-old children in the state. He also founded the Children’s Movement of Florida and was the founding chair of the Children’s Trust, part of the Children’s Movement.





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Lawyer for ABA, foreign-aid recipients tells DC Circuit US must spend appropriated ‘pots of money’

Lawyer for ABA, foreign-aid recipients tells DC Circuit US must spend appropriated ‘pots of money’

by | Jul 8, 2025 | Law


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Constitutional Law

Lawyer for ABA, foreign-aid recipients tells DC Circuit US must spend appropriated ‘pots of money’

By Debra Cassens Weiss

Congress in 2024 “appropriated very specific pots of money for foreign assistance purposes” and required the executive branch to spend the full amount, a lawyer representing the ABA and other groups challenging funding cutoffs said Monday. (Photo from Shutterstock)

Congress in 2024 “appropriated very specific pots of money for foreign assistance purposes” and required the executive branch to spend the full amount, a lawyer representing the ABA and other groups challenging funding cutoffs told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Monday.

The appropriations are mandatory because Congress did not use discretionary language, lawyer Daniel Jacobson of the Jacobson Lawyers Group told the D.C. Circuit. “Not a single [appropriation] says, ‘up to’ or ‘no more than,’” Jacobson said.

Courthouse News Service and Law.com covered arguments by Jacobson and Sean Janda, the U.S. Department of Justice lawyer representing the government.

The funding freeze is only temporary, Janda said, as the government tries “to figure out which of these funds it should reprogram, how it should reprogram them.” Some funds could ultimately be deferred or rescinded, he said.

Under the Impoundment Control Act, Janda said, the executive branch can defer allocated funds as long it sends a “special message” to Congress to start a dialogue about redistributing funds.

D.C. Circuit Judge Florence Pan pressed Janda about his assertion that the freeze was only temporary, pointing to a post by President Donald Trump on Truth Social, his social media platform, calling for the shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development. D.C. Circuit Judge Gregory Katsas, on the other hand, asked Jacobson whether the relevant federal statutes “create some clear mandatory duty.”

U.S. District Judge Amir H. Ali of the District of Columbia had ordered the government in March to pay grant recipients and contractors for work completed before Feb. 13, the date that he issued a temporary restraining order in the case. He also enjoined the government from unlawfully impounding congressionally appropriated foreign-aid funds.

Janda argued that Ali’s injunction should be vacated because the plaintiffs had no role in enforcing the relevant statutes regarding how and when the funds should be made available. But if Ali had the authority to rule, his decision should be limited to requiring the “special message” to be sent, Janda said.

Ali had ruled that the suspension of funding was likely arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act and was likely a violation of the constitutional separation of powers.

He had issued a nationwide injunction, a form of relief limited by the U.S. Supreme Court in a June 27 decision. Jacobson told the appeals court that it should affirm the injunction but limit it to the parties in the case.

The ABA has said the freeze suspended “tens of millions of dollars” in federal funding for its foreign rule of law and human rights programs.

See also:

Ruling in ABA lawsuit, federal judge blocks pause on foreign aid but does not order Trump to act





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After attorney work stoppage, some criminal defendants released over lack of representation in this state

After attorney work stoppage, some criminal defendants released over lack of representation in this state

by | Jul 8, 2025 | Law


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Criminal Justice

After attorney work stoppage, some criminal defendants released over lack of representation in this state

By Debra Cassens Weiss

Some criminal defendants awaiting trial in Massachusetts have been released following a work stoppage by court-appointed lawyers in the state. (Image from Shutterstock)

Some criminal defendants awaiting trial in Massachusetts have been released following a work stoppage by court-appointed lawyers in the state.

Seven defendants were released on personal recognizance Monday in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, which includes Boston, WCVB reports.

Other publications with coverage of defendant releases include CBS News, MassLive.com and NBC Boston.

The defendants were released under the so-called Lavallee Protocol, imposed by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court after the stoppage that began in late May to protest low pay.

The emergency protocol requires the release of indigent defendants in custody for seven days without a lawyer and the dismissal of charges against defendants who don’t have legal representation for 45 days. The dismissals are without prejudice, meaning that charges can be reinstated when an attorney is appointed.

Defendants charged with more serious crimes are prioritized for attorney assignments.

About 80% of criminal cases in Massachusetts are handled by private lawyers called bar advocates who are overseen by the state’s public defender agency, the Committee for Public Counsel Services, MassLive.com explains. The pay is $65 per hour, which is below rates in neighboring states, according to previous coverage.

One defendant ordered released on his own recognizance was DaiShaun Lawrence, who was accused of trying to sell drugs while on probation for drug possession. According to MassLive.com, he “was seen almost skipping in the metal cuffs around his ankles out of the courtroom, a grin on his face.”

Lawrence told NBC Boston that he just found out Monday that the attorneys were on strike.

See also:

Crisis looming in Massachusetts as court-appointed attorneys refuse to take on more cases





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Fired California bar executive director should get 30-day suspension, panel says, citing ‘duty to be truthful’

Fired California bar executive director should get 30-day suspension, panel says, citing ‘duty to be truthful’

by | Jul 8, 2025 | Law


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Ethics

Fired California bar executive director should get 30-day suspension, panel says, citing ‘duty to be truthful’

By Debra Cassens Weiss

Then-State Sen. Joseph Dunn of California at a hearing at the California State Capitol in Sacramento on March 30, 2005. Dunn was the State Bar of California’s executive director between 2010 and 2014. (Photo by Rich Pedroncelli/The Associated Press)

The former executive director of the State Bar of California should receive a short suspension for misrepresentations that he made to the state bar’s board of trustees about funding for a trip to Mongolia, according to a review panel of the State Bar Court of California.

Joseph Dunn, the state bar’s executive director between 2010 and 2014, should be placed on probationary status for one year, and he should be suspended from law practice for the first 30 days of the probation period, according to the review department of the State Bar Court of California.

Reuters and Law.com have coverage of the July 2 recommendation.

Dunn had wrongly told trustees that no state bar funds would be used to fund a trip to Mongolia to help reform its legal system, a hearing judge had concluded. Dunn was fired in November 2014 after the bar spent more than $7,000 on the trip, $5,000 of which was repaid by the now-collapsed Girardi Keese law firm, according to an internal report and the review department’s decision.

The appeals panel affirmed the hearing judge’s finding that Dunn was responsible for two acts of “moral turpitude” but found that her recommendation for a one-year stayed suspension wasn’t enough.

“We determine that a 30-day actual suspension is the appropriate discipline in this matter,” the review department said. “Dunn’s misconduct is especially concerning given his duty to be truthful not just as an attorney but as an executive with fiduciary obligations over an agency that regulates the legal profession.”

The review department refused, however, to reinstate counts tossed by the hearing judge alleging that Dunn misled the board of trustees when he said there was no known opposition to a state bill that would have allowed state bar civil lawsuits against people who practice law without a license, according to Courthouse News Service.

The panel also noted factors in mitigation, including Dunn’s considerable number of years as a licensed attorney without discipline and his “extraordinary good character,” as affirmed by seven witnesses. Dunn was licensed to practice law in 1986.

Dunn is represented by Alan Greenberg of Greenberg Gross. He told Reuters that the “baseless decision” will be appealed, and the ethics charges were retaliation for Dunn’s efforts to “rid the bar of its entrenched and dysfunctional bureaucrats.”





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Judge tells court callers their concerns can be addressed by ‘cracking open Moore’s Federal Practice’

Judge tells court callers their concerns can be addressed by ‘cracking open Moore’s Federal Practice’

by | Jul 7, 2025 | Law


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Civil Procedure

Judge tells court callers their concerns can be addressed by ‘cracking open Moore’s Federal Practice’

By Debra Cassens Weiss

Lawyers who are contacting court staff because of concerns about disclosure of their nonparty clients’ sensitive documents have a better option: “cracking open ‘Moore’s Federal Practice’” and filing a motion to intervene, according to an order by a federal judge. (Image from Shutterstock)

Lawyers who are contacting court staff because of concerns about disclosure of their nonparty clients’ sensitive documents have a better option: “cracking open Moore’s Federal Practice” and filing a motion to intervene, according to an order by a federal judge overseeing an antitrust case against Deere & Co., a farm machinery manufacturer.

U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston of the Northern District of Illinois used humor to address the lawyers in his June 30 order, Law360 reports.

The lawyers who are calling the court represent original equipment manufacturers who are interested in how sensitive documents produced to the Federal Trade Commission during an investigation of Deere & Co. will be used or disclosed. The FTC is among the plaintiffs that sued Deere & Co. in January over alleged unfair practices that have increased equipment repair costs.

Johnston said he recognizes that the federal rule governing motions to intervene “isn’t a perfect fit” because the nonparty equipment-makers aren’t asserting a claim or defense.

“But who am I to argue with Moore’s and an out-of-circuit district court case,” Johnston wrote, citing a 1993 “helpful case” discussing the intervention procedure by the Western District of New York.

Johnston began his order with references to District Judge Steven C. Seeger of the Northern District of Illinois and criticism of standing orders relayed by Magistrate Judge Patricia D. Barksdale of the Middle District of Florida.

“Unlike some judges—I’m looking at you Steve Seeger—I don’t have a standing order prohibiting counsel from contacting the court,” Johnston wrote. “That type of standing order seems superfluous. (Of course, one could reasonably argue that most standing orders are superfluous.) And I already have 29 standing orders, despite Magistrate Judge Patty Barksdale schooling me that standing orders are allegedly unconstitutional according to some people.”

Johnston said he is confident the motions to intervene will very likely be granted “because the court hasn’t so far found a reason to deny them.”

Earlier in June, Johnston denied Deere & Co.’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in which the company was said to be “rebooting” an earlier request.

“Sequels so rarely beat their originals that even the acclaimed Steve Martin couldn’t do it on three tries,” Johnston wrote. “See Cheaper by the Dozen 2, [The] Pink Panther 2, Father of the Bride [Part] II.”

In a footnote, Johnston wrote, “But see Terminator 2[: Judgment Day].”





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Transgender teacher likely to fail in First Amendment challenge to Florida pronouns law, 11th Circuit says

Transgender teacher likely to fail in First Amendment challenge to Florida pronouns law, 11th Circuit says

by | Jul 7, 2025 | Law


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First Amendment

Transgender teacher likely to fail in First Amendment challenge to Florida pronouns law, 11th Circuit says

By Debra Cassens Weiss

A federal appeals court has ruled against a teacher who challenged a Florida law barring K-12 public school employees from communicating their preferred pronouns to students in the classroom if they don’t comport with their sex assigned at birth. (Image from Shutterstock)

A federal appeals court has ruled against a teacher who challenged a Florida law barring K-12 public school employees from communicating their preferred pronouns to students in the classroom if they don’t comport with their sex assigned at birth.

In a 2-1 decision July 2, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Atlanta ruled that teacher Katie Wood would likely fail in her free speech challenge under the First Amendment.

Publications with coverage include the Volokh Conspiracy (here and here), the News Service of Florida (in a story published by WUSF and noted on How Appealing), Law & Crime and the Florida Phoenix.

Wood is a transgender woman who uses female pronouns. She teaches algebra at the Lennard High School in Hillsborough County in Ruskin, Florida, the articles report.

The appeals court said Wood was acting as a government employee, rather than a private citizen, when she communicated her personal pronouns verbally, on her whiteboard, on syllabi and on a “she/her” pin that she wore. Teachers are government employees paid to speak on the government’s behalf and convey its intended messages, the 11th Circuit said.

The majority distinguished the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, which held that a football coach had a First Amendment right to pray on the field after high school football games. The coach was protected because he was not on duty and was acting as a private citizen while praying, the 11th Circuit said.

Wood, however, communicated her personal pronouns to students in the classroom and “was very much on the clock, discharging the very obligation the state had hired her to discharge,” the appeals court said.

11th Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom wrote the majority opinion, joined by Judge Andrew Brasher. Both are appointees of President Donald Trump during his first term.

The dissent argued that the law amounts to unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination. The law “has nothing to do with curriculum and everything to do with Florida attempting to silence those with whom it disagrees on the matter of transgender identity and status,” wrote Judge Adalberto Jordan, an appointee of former President Barack Obama.

The case is Wood v. Florida Department of Education.





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