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Thoughts for Trial Watchers for 2024, Part Two




Continuing the list from yesterday... I think I'll end with five. 

4. Trump hush-money case, New York.  

Of all the Trump litigation, this one holds a special place in my heart.  The indictments of the formet President have piled up over the last year, so it has become easy to forget that this one was the first. 

It is a bit like a moment in Rocky IV (1985)  Rocky has had to resign as Boxing Champion in order to fight an unsanctioned match against Drago, a Soviet-trained monster of a boxer. 

We can ignore the late-Cold-War context for now. The point to know is that it was part of the Drago mystique that he was an invulnerable machine, not a human. 

In the second round of what turns out to be a very long fight, Rocky Balboa appears to have taken on more than he can handle. But then one of his punches lands, and cuts Drago. Shockingly, to the audience, blood is running down the 'machines' face.

Back in his corner at the end of the round, Rocky hears his trainer say: "He's worried! You cut him! You see? You see? He's not a machine, he's a man."    

My analogy should be obvious. In case it isn't: Trump, with all his claims to absolute immunity, is Drago. New York County DA Alvin Bragg is Rocky Balboa.  Bragg secured this indictment from a grand jury, thus drawing some second-round blood.  It was early in what has turned out to be a long fight, but it was important.

He's worried, Alvin! You cut him! You see? You see? He's not a monarch, he's a perp."  

5. Then there is RealPage, the property-management software concern.

A Tennessee federal judge said that a renters lawsuit against RealPage will be moving forward. We'll have to keep an eye out for dates. 

Renters complain that RealPage has been used as an instrument by owners to keep rents artificially high. in multi-family and student housing.  

The case hinges on what seems to be the latest frontier of law enforcement's efforts against price fixing, the delegation of the dirty work to algorithms. 

RealPage is based in Richardson, Texas.   


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