Law and Legitimacy

"Even Hemingway would say, 'kill your darlings.'"

Our guest on this episode of Law and Legitimacy is the prolific, the widely-published, the beautiful and insightful bestselling novelist, Ms. Luanne Rice. 

Luanne has published a total of thirty-six (36) books, the most recent having debuted earlier in 2021, and her work has been translated into more than twenty (20) languages. 

Luanne and I have been planning this conversation for a while now and our respective schedules finally afforded the opportunity to blend the world of the lawyer with that of the novelist. 

Luanne regards her writing as a true calling. You will hear her describe her morning routines, how she reckons with the dreams of the night before, her conception of the human condition and the vagaries of personality. 

But her ideas for her novels come from somewhere. I inquired. 

We're all drawn to murder, in one way or another. For Luanne, the idea of something so terrible outside oneself has the capacity to remove fear. For me, that same idea tells us something about ourselves. 

To the big question: are each of us capable of murder? Do our shared stories of heartbreak mean that we're all potential killers?

As the world appears to continue rotating further off its axis, I draw nearer to what Saint Augustine refers to as the perpetual search. Luanne and I find common ground here, as lawyers can learn a tremendous amount from novelists, in the form of both the danger posed by a jury forcing the narrative for the sake of completion, and the opportunity for good lawyers, like good novelists, to follow the facts and connect the dots without the hazards of inference.

Luanne's story is gripping. And I am grateful to be able to share a bit of it with you here. Visit Luanne's website to find her many world-renowned works and to find the links to her social media accounts. 

Please also tell a friend about Law and Legitimacy. We love when you do that. And we can tell you have been. Our listenership is growing! Rate us twenty-leven stars on the platform on which you've found us. Become a Pateron supporter and attend to the business of helping Norm create a viable space for the contrarians, the free thinkers, and the unafraid. 

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Can the American republic survive without a religious reawakening? Are there visible signs of a third Great Awakening in America today? Who are our modern heroes?

Our esteemed guest this week is Mark Meckler. He is one of America's modern heroes. 

Mark co-founded the Tea Party in the late 2000's, invigorated politically by the Bush administration's abandonment of free market economics and by the Obama administration's failure to deliver on the material promises made in the domain of change. 

Today, Mark is the founder and President of Citizens for Self-Governance, a political nonprofit organization known widely for its Convention of States Action initiative. 

Mark is a licensed attorney, devoted husband, and loving father. And? He played high school football with John Elway. 

My encounter with Mark was one of complete chance, as we were seated alongside one another for a recent flight into Texas. Our conversation was one which nurtured my soul and which overlapped in a cosmic way with our central theme here on Law and Legitimacy. 

Journey with us as we unpack Mark's early life in sunny southern California, his decision to focus on more important things in college than veterinary medicine, the early gravity of real estate development in his legal career, and the macro events that catalyzed Mark's emergence as a modern force of principled political activism. 

You'll hear why Mark left his own organization in 2012, the inspiration George Mason plays for Mark, especially through Convention of the States' objective to restrike the elements of our United States Constitution, and you may even walk away having assigned yourself a bit of homework. I certainly did. 

It only took us 61 episodes, but we finally punctuate our existential crisis talk on a note of optimism. Find Mark on social media: @MarkMeckler on Twitter; @realmarkmeckler on Instagram; @markmecklerofficial on Facebook. 

Visit Citizens for Self-Governance and Convention of States Action to get involved. 

Follow Law and Legitimacy everywhere we are. Subscribe to Norm's Patreon. And rate us 6 stars on whatever platform you're using to listen. 

Music created by Kevin Brien. Find Kevin @fkbs_iso on Twitter. 

While you're vibing to our new intro music, rate Law and Legitimacy sixty stars in honor of our 60th episode in 7 months. We're on fire and we're just getting started. 

Michael Boyer, Producer of Law and Legitimacy, joins Norm this week to discuss recent developments in the sphere of reparations and to share his observations after attending a free legal symposium hosted by a local law school aimed at making the legal case for reparations. 

The conversation begins with an assessment of High Point, North Carolina's, very recent move to establish a commission to study the basis for race-based transfer payments. Norm quizzes Michael on the details of the City Council's vote to establish such a commission and the bases and findings upon which the Council anchored its vote. 

Norm and Michael then move into a discussion of the legal symposium Michael attended and attempt to analyze both the alleged scholarly basis for race-based transfer payments as well as the legal arguments being forged in their name. 

This episode is capped with a long-form dialogue between the two, including Michael's assessment that local towns and small municipalities occupy roles as laboratories for reparations proponents, what reparations proponents say of the potential consequences for successful implementation of race-based transfer payments—both economically and socially—and a callback to Norm's suggestion in LAL #005 that an Article V Convention of the States is perhaps an appropriate mechanism to explore as Americans continue to become aware of such widespread efforts to subvert federal standards of equal protection and the tenth amendment's guarantee of state sovereignty. 

Norm ties this conversation into a perfect bow by reasserting that there is indeed a fight going on for the heart and soul of the United States, and reminds us that the heart and soul of the United States rightly pits power against power, person against person to guard against the type of tyrannical impulse at the core of the reparations movement. 

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Fresh off of a Michigan Wolverines loss and a last-minute schedule change, Norm calls an audible to provide an update and assessment of the latest developments in the State of Wisconsin v. Rittenhouse criminal proceedings, with jury selection set to begin Monday, November 1, 2021. 

During last week's hearing, Judge Bruce Schroeder ruled that the prosecution will be prohibited from referring to the decedents as "victims" during the course of the trial. 

Norm takes this opportunity to unpack the premise underlying Judge Schroeder's ruling and to illustrate that, "calling names is not proof."

Norm lays out the relevant legal standards attendant to the charges against Rittenhouse and also explains the nature of the self-defense legal burden and where that burden properly resides at trial. 

Of course, this discussion would not be complete without an analysis of jury selection, what seasoned defense attorneys are looking for, and what Norm means when he says he looks for "bounce" in determining who is the best fit to sit on a jury. 

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This hour-and-some-change will go at warp speed, which is a fitting pace for a conversation that takes aim at the world of digital payment rails and frictionless nostro-vostro bank accounts. 

This episode's guest is the mergers and acquisitions juggernaut, elite securities designer, and best digital plumber in the western hemisphere, Mr. Jimmy Vallee. Jimmy has parlayed an illustrious and decorated legal career in the American energy sector into his current role as the Managing Director of Valhil Capital. 

Valhil Capital is as unique as it is ambitious. In addition to managing the balance sheet for holdings in the construction, fitness, and energy sectors, Valhil Capital has a specific investment thesis in the realm of cryptocurrency: sovereign governments and thus global finance will soon embrace the Central Bank Digital Currency ("CBDC") model in the effort to remove friction from the movement of value. 

More than that, Valhil Capital is on the bleeding edge of locating and developing "use cases" for the Ripple ecosystem and is raising the bridge asset flag for the XRP community as it does so. 

Jimmy and I start small. You'll hear about Jimmy's beginnings in the practice of law, his innate desire for a career in the world of high finance, and the unlikely opportunity he seized as a first-year associate in a firm of more than 400 lawyers to become the name to know in the post-shale revolution Texas energy acquisitions market. 

We crescendo into the lesser known realities of the global digital asset market and what American citizens should expect out of its government with respect thereto by the end of 2021. 

It is safe to say this is but Part I in a series of insightful talks to come. And I trust you'll enjoy listening as much as I did recording. This is Jimmy Vallee, the Managing Director of Valhil Capital. Find Jimmy, Valhil, and more about the digital asset frontier at JimmyVallee.com, ValhilCapital.com, and AstroLightMediaGroup.com. 

Rate Law and Legitimacy fifty-one stars on the platform from which we've been brought to you. Join Norm Pattis's growing contrarian camp on Patreon and support the mission of this podcast. Until next time . . . 

We've officially transitioned to our new podcast platform! And we're eager to begin elevating the Law and Legitimacy experience for each of you who continue to download, listen, rate, and reach out to share your feedback. We are endlessly grateful for your continued support for LAL and we encourage you to tell someone about us!

Episode 057 is an interview with J. Daniel Hull of Hull McGuire PC, a D.C.-based muscle boutique law firm. 

Dan is a true renaissance man. He is an international corporate and business law attorney, elite-level problem solver, an encyclopedia of American history and culture, quick-witted Twitter Bad Boy, and the progenitor of the world class and widely renown What About Clients?/What About Paris? blog dating to the early days of legal blogging in the mid-2000s. 

And? Dan is the sole reason that producer Michael Boyer and I made acquaintance earlier in 2021. That's right. Michael begged Dan to tell me he "wasn't an idiot" as Michael postured to take on obligations as producer for LAL. Query: who is more skilled in persuasion: Michael, for successfully lobbying Dan to make the pitch, or Dan, for successfully convincing me to give Michael a call? 

Anyway, this episode is an important one. It is sort of like staring at a Thomas Cole painting. Dan has a way of distilling the essence of American beauty that demands examination and is framed to inspire. Indeed, I submit to you that inspiration abounds herein. 

Take, for example, the Twelve Rules of Client Service. For young lawyers, this is the How-To Guide for building an enduring legacy within the legal profession. As Michael will tell you, the Twelve Rules draw upon a devotion and an ambition that exists only in those who really want to train themselves and thrive in a world that requires something more of its inhabitants than being "nice" and "smart."

I am also humbled by the timing of this episode's release. Some of you may know, but many of you will come to learn through this interview, of Dan's ongoing representation of a prominent J6 defendant, and member of the Proud Boys. Just this week, new footage has made its way into the public consciousness that supports Dan's account of the January 6th events at the Capitol, the lack of any cognizable overthrow plan, and Dan's conclusion that Americans simply "don't know each other anymore."

I admire Dan, for more than his soul and wit; he is a man of great courage and wisdom. And who else do you know that had the late Alex Haley as a professor in undergrad?

This is Law and Legitimacy with the Little-Bit-Alpha-Little-Bit-Pain-In-The-Ass Dan Hull. Rate us ninety-nine and three-quarters stars on whatever platform from which you're listening. Support Norm Pattis by becoming a Patreon subscriber. 

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn @LawandLegitimacy. 

Is there a future for individualism?

If you've listened to this podcast for any length of time, you're well-acquainted with my preoccupation with modern America's waning respect for pluralism. 

According to our guest, there is nothing but a future for individualism. And, yes, our guest on this episode is that Alex Jones. 

Alex is a friend, a client, a Texan, a Christian, and a patriot. He is perhaps the most widely recognized and salient voice the world over, renown for his

Not only does Jim Nugent genuinely love practicing law, he believes that every single person should at least matriculate through law school. 

Jim is a renowned personal injury attorney anchored in New Haven, Connecticut. And Jim is my best friend. As the title of this episode briefs, Jim is also a Reader in the Catholic Church—the man to whom I give full I credit for arching my path back to the faith—and an Ironman Triathlon competitor. 

Jim and I first met at the famed Trial

Social media is abuzz just now about the disappearance of Gabby Petito. Why isn’t her boyfriend talking to police? Why won’t he talk to Gabby’s family?  Doesn’t he have some explaining to do?

Norm is joined by Michael for this topical assessment of the Biden Administration's mandatory vaccine announcement. 

Norm opens in classic fashion with an extended monologue in which he shares a few bits of heart-warming personal news, the emergent risk to larger businesses in the face of a burgeoning republic of virtue, the mythological interpretation of American history, the primary commitment of the American Bill of Rights, the current risk to substantive due process behind a communitarian