For the past several weeks my partners and I have been involved in a jury trial in Seattle which has limited my time to keep this blog current. I hope to get back into current reporting as soon as the trial ends. In the meantime, coming home to Gig Harbor on weekends has been a pleasure. The leaves turned to that wonderful Fall color and then the November winds virtually stripped the trees of their foliage. Today the harbor in town is…
Today is the anniversary of the death of my father, Paul Nicholas Luvera Sr. Born on March 25, 1898, he died in Anacortes, Washington on November 4, 1990 at the age of 92. I've published several accounts of his memories from his youth over the past couple of weeks. This is a brief outline of dad's accomplishments in living the American dream. A man with less then a seventh grade education who became a community leader and achieved a middle class…
I just don't understand the logic of the Republican party, assuming you can still consider it a unified party, regarding their tactics over the need to pass a budget. They say it is all about the abomination of the Affordable Health Care Act or Obama-care and the overriding need to stop it. It's my understanding that they believe this threat is so great they must not allow the law to be observed even though it has passed Congress, was signed…
Fr. Leo Rock is a Jesuit priest who wrote a reflection he entitled "An Examination of My Use of Time" which I found thought provoking and worth mediating over. I hope you find something here to reflect on as well. Here's what he wrote: Killing Time How do I kill time? Let me count the ways. By worrying about things Over which I have no control. Like the past. Like the future By harboring resentment And anger Over hurts Real…
This week the Sunday New York Times had a piece about Jonathan Klein, C.E.O. of Getty Images. Several things he said during the interview I thought worthwhile. One of them was about advice his father would give him as child: "And he would say: 'Jonathan, you talk too much. There's a reason you have two ears and one mouth. If you'd shut your mouth, you might learn something." Epictetus, a Greek philosopher who lived about the time of Christ, said:…
I've written about a heiress on two different occasions. She was rarely in the news, but on May 6, 2010 I wrote about her www.paulluverajournalonline.com/weblog/2010/03/multimillionare-william-a-clark-and-his-daughter-huguette.html and again on May 27, 2011 https://paulluverajournalonline.com/weblog/2011/05/the-billionare-you-have-probably-never-heard-about-huguette-clark.html. Her father was a copper magnate who virtually bought himself a United States Senate appointment from Montana in 1890's. She grew up in France, California and her father's 121 room mansion in New York. She married in 1928 and divorced in 1930. She had no children and never remarried. Huguette Clark was a reclusive millionaire who…
In 1994 Gerry Spence asked me to participate in teaching at a new trial college he was creating for lawyers to teach them the right way to be plaintiff trial lawyers. It was to be a non profit college and we would volunteer our time and transportation. I had known him for some time and quickly agreed even thought I had no real idea of what he had in mind. The other people, in addition to Gerry and I, invited…
American has had a history of involvement in war in one place after another since World War II ended. We were engaged in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. The war was primarily the result of the political division of Korea by the Allies at the end of World War II. The United States pushed the UN Security Council to authorize military intervention in Korea and then provided 90% of the soldiers involved. It was our war that ended…
America prides itself on having a system of laws that require ethical conduct. Every profession has a code of ethical conduct and sanctions for violations. Doctors, engineers, lawyers and every other licensed profession are governed by a code of professional ethical conduct. Even the United States Congress has a code of ethics with provisions for discipline. Every state has a code of ethical conduct for lawyers with provisions to discipline for violations including the right to terminate their law license. Virtually every state has a code…
Lita and I just returned from a short trip to Alaska where I gave a talk to the Alaska Trial Lawyers and I was again struck by the raw beauty of this great state. I first saw Alaska in high school when I began working on the the Anacortes purse seine boats. I started out as a 9th grader working in the skiff and boats with a crew of grown men, many of whom were from Croatia and spoke limited…
