Whoa! Cohen not licensed in California?:

[Kingofalldems]

Link to tweet

[dhol82]

1. .......

[Leghorn21]

3. Oh pls pls pls pls!!!! nt

[janx]

7. See?

[Leghorn21]

16. Yep, I sure do! Good times, my friend, good times!!

[marylandblue]

4. Serious question: does it matter when going before an arbitrator?

[Angry Dragon]

9. not if you are dishonest

[marylandblue]

11. I mean is legally considered unauthorized practice of law?

It might not be in California, since it isn't the same as going before a judge. And the laws in this may vary by state.

[ProudLib72]

20. That's a good point, but I think the better point is how he is involved in the case

I would think that, even if he were barred in CA, the extent to which he is involved (with creating the LLC, making the payments, etc), he really ought not to be the lawyer representing tRump in this case. In fact, he should probably have his own lawyer.

[bettyellen]

21. Hes got his own lawyer- and I think its time for *him* to lawyer up! LOL

[ProudLib72]

33. That's what I remember hearing, Cohen had his own lawyer

But Cohen shouldn't be representing The Don in this case anyway. It's like a matryoshka doll: Don has a lawyer; look closer and that lawyer has a lawyer; and that lawyer will have a lawyer of his own. At some point someone needs to just say "Stop, put them all in prison for life!"

[Sophia4]

34. Google it.

I found an answer. Maybe you will too.

[Codeine]

38. Obnoxious.

Assuming you have valid information it seems more conducive to discussion to share that knowledge, rather than make a snide comment about Googling.

[dem4decades]

5. Stormy's new attorney is pretty sharp. I hope he has a field day.

[Ms. Toad]

31. Much of the complaint he filed is legal nonsense.

He might have good PR sense (and it is possible that he has better legal saavy than the complaint demonstrates), but I'm having a field day with the complaint itself in my bar skills course - it is a goldmine of gibberish.

Just as a simple example - the lack of a signature NEVER makes a contract void. Writing and signatures relate to enforcement, not to the underlying validity of the contract (whether the contract is void).

As to enforcement, most contracts don't have to be in writing at all, let alone signed. If a signature is required, it is the signature of the party "against whom enforcement is sought." Stormy's posture is that she is looking for a declaration she is not bound by the contract - in other words, she is the party against whom enforcement sought. And she signed the agreement. From an enforcement against her standpoint, it would make no difference whether he signed it.

[marylandblue]

36. I think this is in fact a PR move

The point is not to win a judgement, but to force Trump to admit that the contract exists and he is a party to it.

And I think some wealthy Democratic donor is financing the whole thing.

[unblock]

6. Obviously a problem if he was representing Donnie, but in theory he was representing himself.

Or himself dba essential consultants llc. Donnie was a different party to the agreement.

If Cohen was a party to a tripartite agreement, he couldn’t also represent another party to the same agreement anyway.

That said, the arbitration would have had to be done on behalf of Cohen/essential consultants and not Donnie.

[bitterross]

8. He doesn't seem to be too worried about ethics and laws.

I hope he's put away a lot of money from 45 in the past. Cohen may be loyal to 45 but I don't see it working both ways. 45 will dump him like a hot rock if he thinks it's best for himself.

[Gabi Hayes]

24. Thats what I thought, but why did he have to mortgage his own house for the money?

Is he leveraged to the point of Trump himself, as his little daughter said on TV 15 years ago.....

8 billion dollars less wealthy than the homeless guy on the street in fron of Trump Tower NYC?

[bitterross]

37. Have we seen any proof he actually mortgaged his own house?

I'm not sure I believe anything he's said.

[gopiscrap]

10. wouldn't that mean the arbitration is null and void

[Iliyah]

13. You have to be a licensed qualified attorney here in California

to represent a client at arbitration as his/her attorney. Mediation, no.

[triron]

15. So which was it?

[NCTraveler]

22. What if he is the client?

I believe one is always able to represent themselves. Not that that’s what happened here.

[Iliyah]

12. Would Cohen know that?

My gosh, he's an attorney (suppose to be well educated).

[Achilleaze]

14. Dirty Donnie Dotard* hired a dummy

* aka republican Draft-Dodger-in-Chief

[Cha]

17. So what does this mean for trump's

Stormy entanglement?

Thanks, King

[Kingofalldems]

19. I don't really know.

It would seem that the arbitrator's ruling may not be legal.

[Iliyah]

18. A arbitration is considered a mini trial usually outside of a court room.

You can have permissible evidence introduced at arbitration as legal evidence, expert witnesses and witnesses. The arbitrator is like a judge and will decide the fate of the hearing pro or negative or both. If the arbitration is binding, whatever the outcome is it's final. Either way, a person who represents clients that is not licensed to practice law in the State of California is considered invalid.

If Cohen represented his client in a Mediation, which also is like a mini trial, it doesn't matter if he is licensed or not as long as he advise the mediator and the other side.

An binding arbitration carries a whole lot of weight.

[Gabi Hayes]

26. How can there be arbitration if the other party is excluded?

what am I missing here?

[Iliyah]

29. I don't know the full extent of

what went on with Cohen and his client. Basic California Arbitration what I mentioned above.

[mulsh]

23. The CA State Bar attorney search engine does not list a Michael Dean Cohen.

I did searches of four current CA attorneys and five deceased attorneys. I was able to find all of them as soon as I pushed the button.

have a search if you like:

[link:http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/MemberSearch/QuickSearch?FreeText=Michael+Dean+Cohen&SoundsLike=true&SoundsLike=false|J

(edited to report the above search results)

[gibraltar72]

25. Then that's one state where he's not in danger of losing his license.

[OldHippieChick]

27. Do not know Ca law, but in other jurisdictions there

is a practice known as "pro hac vice" where an attorney from another state can be vouched for by a local attorney for one case only and allowed to practice.

[mulsh]

28. Here's a link to the CA Law pertaining to "pro hac vice"

[link:http://www.courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index.cfm?title=nine&linkid=rule9_40|

[OldHippieChick]

30. Thanks. That is exactly like other jurisdictions, so I doubt any

law was violated so long as this statute was followed.

[sharedvalues]

32. Is he barred anywhere? He went to Cooley.

[Hekate]

35. Oh My

[RandomAccess]

39. This just gets better and better, doesn't it?

Entertainment-value-wise, at least.