The Friday Whine is a casual email to friends and colleagues and contains two things: An ethics update, and a wine recommendation. If you see text in blue, it is a link to an article or information.
Ethics
Trump’s Lawyers Talking to Manafort’s Lawyers And What’s Wrong With It
Absolutely nothing, says my buddy David Markus, whose been writing some great stuff over at The Hill.
I recommend if you want to read the perspective of an actual practicing criminal lawyer and not some talking head, that you read David’s stuff on the Trump debacle.
Ethically, a lawyer can never tell a witness not to speak to the other side. This also means that prosecutors (i.e. Mueller) can’t tell a defense lawyer not to divulge information to other lawyers in the case. Now when you represent someone who is cooperating, you have to be crazy to divulge information to anyone, but there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s stupid, and can put the client in a dangerous position, and affect their relationship with the prosecutor, but again, ethically, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it.
Wine
Pinot
I went to a Paul Hobbs wine dinner this week. I liked the pinot. There’s two. One is under the Paul Hobbs label, and the other is under the “second label” called Crossbarn.
They’re both great, and if you want to spend some money, get both and see the difference. Had I not tried the Paul Hobbs version, I would have thought the Crossbarn was outstanding. The Paul Hobbs version is richer and you will notice the difference immediately.
And since I’ve learned some of you only drink white, here’s the Crossbarn Chardonnay. I’m not a chardonnay fan, but this was good, and I’d buy it again.