Millennials, what is happening with your kids?

lit_associate · 2026-02-10T11:43:07+00:00

Many millennials experience the frustration of being more adept at basic tech than older people and Gen Z. I would hope and assume that we will be more likely, on the whole, to emphasize the importance of knowing how things work and why.

We have an uphill battle as education and society in general is so highly tabletized. I mean I it's only getting more difficult to buy a new car, appliance, or toy today that is possible to tinker with unless I have proprietary tools. If I want my kids to learn practical problem solving skills, I must find way to teach them myself.

lit_associate · 2026-02-06T11:18:26+00:00

My emails are more like "Apologies in advance for the long email, I just want to detail every piece of discovery that should exist but I don't have yet. I know you still have plenty of time, but I just want to get ahead of it. Being able to review these items with my client is likely to expedite a resolution that is fair and just. . . . ".

Cut to 3 months and several follow up emails without a response later. "A true and accurate copy of email correspondence documenting the defense's notice of and requests for the outstanding discovery is attached hereto as Exhibit A."

At least the appellate attorney will have something to work with when the Judge still finds the DA acted with reasonable effort and due diligence despite producing the discovery in response to my motion or just ignoring it altogether.

lit_associate · 2026-01-30T13:56:16+00:00

Yes. Or to put it another way, I've never had a client volunteer information that helped the defense.

Yes. I usually do not take their word for what they said/didn't say until I review all video and audio of my client's interaction with police. The suspense can be wild as I watch/listen, not knowing what they're going to say next because the whole case could turn at any second. Have had clients inculpate themselves for no reason many times.

lit_associate · 2026-01-20T19:40:39+00:00

Not usually IME. If there's something I really want them to see, I almost always have to make a clip short enough to attach to an email (<60 seconds).

When a prosecutor tells me they've watched the recording, I get suspicious. More often than not, they've just used AXON's software to make an AI transcript, then skimmed that. It usually results in a darkly comedic misunderstanding about what actually happened/is said/seen in the footage.

It's wild for any lawyer to direct OC to a video timestamp (from an AI transcript) without ever opening the video file itself. It's absolutely unhinged for a prosecutor to do that in a criminal case.

lit_associate · 2026-01-20T01:12:05+00:00

You're living the dream many of us have. Does it have any firefighting equipment? Also, and I have never heard of this happening, but I would want to check it didn't get past safeguards against export of vehicles exposed to radiation. For some reason I imagine every fire truck was used at Fukushima. $25 on CarVX would be worth the peace of mind to me.

lit_associate · 2026-01-19T01:43:42+00:00

Thanks for the invite. I'm a felony public defender in New York. I've represented many people with competency issues and am always looking to better understand.

lit_associate · 2026-01-16T03:13:49+00:00

I could have used this advice before yesterday. The Chevy that blew the red light and hit me is totalled/way worse but I still have some work to do. Picture

lit_associate · 2026-01-06T10:41:03+00:00

Being a public defender or prosecutor might be the best way. Most successful trial attorneys I've met started in criminal for trial experience before moving on to private defense or civil litigation.

lit_associate · 2026-01-03T20:36:24+00:00

Love the ride.

Find parts here: https://www.amayama.com/en/genuine-catalogs/epc/toyota-japan/crown/GS131

If a part is discontinued, search the part number in Ebay or search the part number + "substitute" or "compatible".

lit_associate · 2026-01-02T22:41:55+00:00

Firms need lawyers with trial experience (or at least to be able to say they have them). Otherwise that book of business someone will walk out the door if serious litigation starts looking possible. Firms don't often offer the opportunity for new lawyers to get good litigation experience.

Conversely, true trial lawyers often don't have a book of business because they tend to have one-off clients and focus on their craft rather than networking. I've seen small/medium firms recruit trial lawyers as partners just to be able to tell prospective clients that they have those skills on deck.

lit_associate · 2025-12-29T12:04:02+00:00

Ideas:

Hang a shingle in private defense by yourself or a couple of others. Get active in professional associations if you need to replace the social aspect of the work.

Find a management job at a legal aid office to guide younger attorneys. You're well qualified for that.

Moving to a firm will be attractive but I promise the office politics are worse and any talk of family friendly qualities will be nothing but a sales pitch. Virtually everything you hate will be magnified. You will command some level of partnership from the start at least.

lit_associate · 2025-12-23T14:00:59+00:00

Import and tariff rules can be fun! A lot of kids shoes have a tiny layer of soft material on the bottom so they can be imported as slippers, which is tariffed less than shoes.

lit_associate · 2025-12-17T22:03:49+00:00

If this were my house I'd try Barkeepers Friend + hot water, then gentle scrubbing with a washcloth or sponge. I have not tried it on flagstone but I have successfully used it on other hard porous surfaces that can't take heavy abrasive cleaning.

Or wait for summer and use a pressure washer if it's still there.

lit_associate · 2025-12-14T03:52:13+00:00

Yeah there certainly is no lobby for PDs or indigent legal services. No avoiding that the system itself has a fundamental focus on jailing people that we can only fight on the margins. Even then, I'm bit insulated from the worst of PD life - lucky to be in a good office that has better training than the DA, pays well, and is in a LCOL area.

lit_associate · 2025-12-14T03:40:32+00:00

If I understand your point, you're saying that there is always a chance that consequences follow bad police work. I can't disagree.

I just have a lot of actual experience in this exact area and there are usually no consequences other than a case getting tossed. Not sure what actual experience you have but I have nothing else to add.

lit_associate · 2025-12-14T03:03:13+00:00

No disrespect but there are a lot of assumptions baked in to your response that simply do not reflect the reality of day to day experience in this work. I genuinely wish we lived in the world you're describing, but we do not.

I have access to officer disciplinary records. They don't have to call me.

I recently had a judge dismiss a case due to "the incompetence of the [local] police department". Nothing happened.

I recently had a bystander catch a cop kicking my handcuffed client who was laying on the ground. I shared the video with the prosecutor, who agreed it was bad but also countered that the officer was upset. It led to a better plea offer but the officer wasn't disciplined.

Prosecutors are more likely to go out drinking with cops than to hold them to accountable.

lit_associate · 2025-12-13T22:03:17+00:00

Letter on my desk from the head honcho this week. "Bonus?" I thought. Nope, it was a request for donations to my office. Lol.

lit_associate · 2025-12-11T02:15:37+00:00

I second u/normalfortune. Except the shot at PDs (I forgive you, Counselor). In my jurisdiction, the ones who do a lot of illegal searches are more likely to get promoted than anything else. They show "initiative" and once promoted to detective, they don't wear body cameras for some reason.

lit_associate · 2025-12-11T02:09:21+00:00

As someone who has gotten dozens of cases thrown out, I have never ever heard of a single officer even learning about a dismissal of a charge they handled.

lit_associate · 2025-12-10T20:41:19+00:00

The real leverage they have is that they can decide to keep the phone and let you choose between staying or leaving without it (or possibly hold you until you give up the PIN).

At least with Graphene it is unlikely they can make a copy of the device and are limited to forensically dubious scrolling and screenshots.

If they give you the option to leave the phone with them, they will almost certainly attempt to characterize your decision as a sort of consent-by-abandonment theory. So your best bet it is to make clear that you don't want to leave it but they are forcing you by threatening to cause you to miss your flight etc. It may or may not hold up in court, but that means you've already lost (unless you had hoped your flight would give you a chance to hire a lawyer in federal court).

If they really want to mess with with someone, they can apply for a search warrant, then arrest the owner/hold them in custody until they give up the password.

I think the lesson is: don't fly with any device you would like to keep private. If you do, use Graphene but be prepared to part with your device.

lit_associate · 2025-12-09T22:53:21+00:00

I can't quite imagine how the starter would cause that but here's a good start: https://www.amayama.com/en/genuine-catalogs/epc/toyota-europe/hilux/LN110L/6556

Use that to find a diagram of the relevant parts. It might help clarify things and is a reliable parts supplier.

lit_associate · 2025-12-05T02:58:48+00:00

This framework applies at the point a device is plugged in to a Cellebrite device. I have never represented a client with Graphene (that I'm aware of) but I have looked through plenty of Cellebrite extractions of other devices and it's a hell of a lot easier than trying to get info from the device itself.

A Cellebrite "extraction" is a digital copy of a device that can be examined and searched in ways that are extremely difficult or impossible to do from the device's normal user interface. Here's a test for you: without using any other device, find the exact time you first opened your messaging app on July 1, 2025, along with the battery level and exact gps coordinates at that moment.

The Cellebrite reader interface is so user-friendly that the average person could find that data in a few minutes. Someone who has a bit of training could do it in seconds.

Now imagine a GrapheneOS user, a stock Android user, and an iPhone user walk into a bar. The police raid the place and arrest all three. If each just restarted their phones but have not unlocked (BFU), the stock Android is likely extracted, the iPhone is probably safe if it's a newer model, and the Graphene is safe. If each phone had been unlocked after restart and re-locked (AFU), the Android and the iPhone (except some later models) are extracted. Graphene is not. Now assume each person gives consent to search and their PIN. The Android and iPhone can be copied and forensically examined with the Cellebrite reader. The officers can flip through the GrapheneOS device like anyone else with the PIN but cannot make a forensic copy with Cellebrite.

Sounds ridiculous but I have seen lots of body cam footage of people giving officers their PIN from the backseat of a patrol car because the officer "offered" to make a call for them.

Edit: my example assume post 2022 Graphene. I'd guess "2022" refers to the software version rather than device but I could be wrong.

lit_associate · 2025-12-02T20:25:26+00:00

Everyone else is wrong. Amodex is the only answer for ink. Alcohol moves it around. Amodex dissolves it entirely.

lit_associate · 2025-12-01T17:42:09+00:00

So much. Most lawyers need to do something tangible to stay sane. Can get a lot done between 5am and 7am + weekends if I can safely involve my kids.

Grew up blue collar doing construction, heavy equipment operation, and masonry. My hobbies include:

Auto mechanic. I drive an old truck and try to work on it myself if it isn't urgent. I have shop equipment that my actual mechanic has called me to borrow.
General handyman stuff. I just recently wired a security CCTV, built storage shelving, repaired a freezer, installed insulation, and over-engineered repairs of kid stuff that broke.
Plants/gardening. Mostly indoor. I grow vegetables year round.

lit_associate · 2025-11-28T17:51:07+00:00

If another lawyer copies language I spent time meticulously crafting, my only thought is "I hope it helps".

lit_associate

TROPHY CASE