Hearsay

• Pages: 15-15

SHUTTERSTOCK (2)

A Lotta Latte

Starbucks has won dis-

missal of a lawsuit allegin g

baristas regularly underfi lled

customers’ lattes. A federa l

judge in California di smissed

a proposed class action

by plainti s who claimed

the company intentional ly

skimmed on the amount of

milk by a quarter-inch a nd

replaced it with milk foam

instead. The suit was dismissed

when plainti s conceded milk

foam is a required componen t

of a latte. Two similar lawsuits

claiming Starbucks cheated

customers on iced beverages

by overusing ice were

dismissed in 2016.

Source: law360.com (Jan . 5).

Blowing in the Wind

Thousands of peopl e convicted of

marijuana o enses in Sa n Francisco,

dating back to 1975, will h ave their

convictions dismi ssed or reduced.

The announcement b y San Francisco

District Attorney G eorge Gascon is

one of the most aggressi ve moves to

wipe away old convicti ons in the face

of new laws legalizing m arijuana in

California and ot her states. The DA’s

o ce plans to dismi ss and seal 3,038

misdemeanor marijuana convictions,

and review and possibly res entence

4,940 felonies—all adjudicated before

California voters legalized marijuana

in 2016.

Source: wsj.com (Jan. 3 1).

U.S. legally, I could see myself and my

family in the face s and stories of these

workers.

Bryan Stevenson a sks in his book

Just Mercy: “Why do we want to k ill all

the broken people?” I didn’t try capital

cases, but his question re sonates with me.

As an assist ant state attorney, I saw how

we want to lock away, criminali ze and

shun people who are broken.

Like most state att orneys’ o ces , we

were overworked—I had over 250 cases

—and there was no time. I was bur ning

out, desperately try ing to keep my head

above water, and having regula r night-

mares of seeing my parents in t he jury

box—nightmares of their being taken

away from me for 364 days.

I needed a change. So, I moved from

Tampa, Florida, to the Bay Area . I met my

husband, Je Curl, who is also a law yer,

and we starte d a bankruptcy practice.

This was the perfe ct practice area for

me, even though it doesn’t make me

very popular at cock tail parties. I get

to help people who are experiencing

fi nancial trauma a nd give them a fresh

start. It is heal ing and restorative.

The fi rst bankr uptcy case I ever

fi led was for a very sweet 69 -year-old

immigrant. He was HI V-positive and

struggling w ith bipolar depression. After

meeting with a group of cred itors, we

hugged, and he cried.

I started pra cticing mindfulness

and meditation in 2011 after bei ng

diagnosed wit h social anxiety disorder.

This eventually led to c o-authoring a

book for ABA Publishing, The Anx ious

Lawyer with Karen Gi  ord.

Here’s what I know: While my 12-year-

old self’s understanding of how our just ice

system works was fl awed a nd naive, what

I’ve retained is the deep desi re to make

a di erence, to create a be tter world,

and to live with compas sion.

As Rainer Mar ia Rilke writes in his

book Letters to a Young Poet, “ The point

is to live every thing. Live the questions

now. Perhaps you will then gradually,

without noticing it, live along some

distant day into the a nswer.”

Every day, I live with the question

“What would be the most kind, g enerous

and compassionate response?” I am

practicing livi ng into the answer. Q

Read more #MyPathToLaw stories on

Twitter, where the hashtag was created by

Exeter University lecturer Matthew Channon.

56 state attorneys general

have signed a letter to Congress

urging lawmakers to end secret,

forced arbitration in cases of

workplace sexual harassment.

AGs from every state and U.S.

territory told leaders in the

House of Representatives and

Senate that while arbitrati on

provisions may provide benefi ts

in other contexts, alternative

dispute resolution isn’t appro-

priate for sexual harassment

claims. One AG noted that

“decades of private ar bitration

proceedings regarding sexual

harassment have had the unin-

tended consequence of protect-

ing serial violators.” The group

also expressed concern that vic-

tims of workplace sexual harass-

ment were required to pursue

relief from decision-makers

who aren’t trained as judg es.

Source: myfl oridalegal.com (Feb. 12) .

Justice Files

A U.S. distri ct judge in Florida

has ruled the state’s system th at

bars former felons fro m voting is

unconstitutional and potentially

tainted by racial, po litical or reli-

gious bias. Judg e Mark Walker

blasted the state pan el led by

Republican Gov. Rick Scot t that

decides whether to resto re voting

rights to people who h ave com-

pleted their sentence s. The court

said the voter restoration s ystem has

to be changed ASAP. Separately,

the issue of whether to au tomatically

restore voting rights for fel ons will

a p p e a r o n a No v. 6 b al lo t me as ur e.

Source: washingtonpos t.com (Feb. 2).

Opening Statements

APRIL 2018 ABA JOURNAL || 15

Hearsay