by
Getty)
Slam
dunking
your
point
via
demonstration
is
a
feather
in
the
cap
every
trial
attorney
should
strive
for.
But
there
are
times
where
proving
your
point
comes
at
a
great
cost.
Take
Clement
Vallandigham,
the
lawyer
who
successfully
helped
his
client
beat
a
murder
charge
by
fatally
demonstrating
the
amount
of
gun
powder
residue
one
should
expect
of
a
point
blank
range
shot.
Thankfully
this
story
manages
the
point
proving
without
being
nearly
as
fatal
—
the
founding
partner
of
the
Social
Media
Victims
Law
Center
got
in
trouble
for
not
being
able
to
control
his
use
of
tech
in
the
courtroom.
We
covered
Matthew
Bergman’s
inappropriate
selfies
and
Zoom
calls
in
the
courtroom
last
month,
but
we
finally
know
how
much
the
sanctions
will
cost
him.
ABA
Journal
has
coverage:
A
plaintiffs
lawyer
recently
received
a
$1,100
sanction
for
taking
a
selfie
and
conducting
a
Zoom
interview
from
inside
the
Los
Angeles
Superior
Court
during
the
first
trial
alleging
that
Meta
Platforms
and
YouTube
caused
addictions
in
adolescents.
…
“I
am
extremely
embarrassed
and
sorry
this
court
has
to
spent
one
second
of
its
time
in
the
midst
of
this
historic
trial
dealing
with
my
transgression,”
Bergman
told
Kuhl,
according
to
the
story.
“It’s
shameful,
and
I’m
deeply
sorry
and
terribly
ashamed.”Bergman
called
the
incident
a
“cataclysmic
moment
in
my
career,”
the
story
said,
and
he
said
he
looked
to
his
faith
for
guidance
on
repentance.
$1,100
is
a
nice
chunk
of
change,
but
the
greatest
loss
has
to
be
the
damage
to
his
reputation.
Hopefully
some
time
will
pass
and
he’ll
be
able
to
spin
it
into
a
persuasive
moment
in
closing
arguments.
“If
even
I,
a
grown
ass
man,
have
problems
controlling
myself
when
it
comes
to
taking
selfies
for
social
media,
imagine
what
these
young
and
impressionable
minds
must
be
going
through?”
To
close:
not
only
are
pictures
worth
a
thousand
words,
they
can
also
cost
you
about
a
thousand
bucks!
Mind
the
courthouse
rules
folks!
Attorney
At
Social
Media
Addiction
Trial
Takes
Selfie,
Receives
$1,100
Sanction
[ABA
Journal]
Earlier:
Oh,
The
Irony:
Tech
Accountability
Case
Sidelined
By
Lawyer’s
Tech
Violations
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boat
builder
who
is
learning
to
swim
and
is
interested
in
rhetoric,
Spinozists
and
humor.
Getting
back
in
to
cycling
wouldn’t
hurt
either.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected]
and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.