Geoff Berg Is Litigious

How Stolen Crypto is Tracked

When crypto is stolen in a pig butchering scam, it doesn’t disappear, though it certainly seems that way. Crypto is traceable. But how that’s done is difficult to explain. Chris Roberts is a forensic investigator focusing on cryptocurrency tracking. He joins the show this week to break down what crypto is, what the blockchain is, and how he finds the assets taken from clients who have fallen victim to this devastating crime. For more information, go to https://bergplummer.com/cryptocurrency-fraud-recovery/ 
 
 
 
Music:
Cybertrooper [the better version] by Sascha Ende
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/12240-cybertrooper-the-better-version
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

The Slavery Behind Crypto Scams

At bergpc.com, we represent victims of crypto scams. The rage our clients feel at the person who defrauded them is natural. But it is likely the person they’re so angry at was lured from their country of origin by the promise of a good paying job, only to be kidnapped, tortured, starved, beaten, and held against their will in a remote corner of Southeast Asia – forced to steal. They do not profit and in fact they're lucky to survive. The people who get rich aren’t the same people who conned our clients – they’re overseas slaveholders. It is these depraved sociopaths we’re trying to sue out of business.
 
 
 
 
 
Music:
Cybertrooper [the better version] by Sascha Ende
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/12240-cybertrooper-the-better-version
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Does Judicial Experience Make For a Better Trial Lawyer?

Mike Engelhart, judge of the 151st District Court in Harris County, Texas is about to find out. Before taking the bench 16 years ago, Judge Engelhart was a formidable plaintiffs’ lawyer, trying all kinds of personal injury cases. On January 1, he returns to the practice at Kherkher Garcia, the Houston-based, nationally recognized plaintiffs’ firm. How has his time on the bench changed his approach? What’s he learned? Who is his favorite lawyer, and can I guilt him into saying it’s me for the work I do at bergpc.com? 
 
 
 
 
Music:
Cybertrooper [the better version] by Sascha Ende
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/12240-cybertrooper-the-better-version
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Crypto Scammers Now Posing as Lawyers

Some of the most wretched humans on the planet have figured out there’s a ready pool of people likely to fall for crypto scams – the people who’ve already fallen for it once. After stealing as much money as they can, they contact the same people under a different name, this time posing as lawyers able to help the victims recover what’s been stolen. For a small fee, of course. They’ve set up phony websites with AI images of lawyers, ready to get right back to stealing from the people they’ve already stolen from. For more on how to fight these scammers go here: https://bergplummer.com/cryptocurrency-fraud-recovery/  
 
Plus, writing a letter to the judge explaining that you “misspoke” at the last hearing in order to correct the record and not leave the impression you were lying about something you got very, very wrong. Awkward.
 
 
 
Music:
Cybertrooper [the better version] by Sascha Ende
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/12240-cybertrooper-the-better-version
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

No, You’re Not Sorry

When you mess up, you apologize – at least that’s what you do if you want to lose when you get sued. Why doing the morally normal thing is the worst choice you can make according to the Texas Rules of Evidence. Plus, Kamala Harris perfectly summarizes last week’s hour-long podcast in 29 seconds just to spite me and what it’s like to act as a judge for new lawyers (they are impressive as lawyers, I am impatient as a jurist). Note: A previous version of this edition indicated that the Texas Legislature sets the Rules of Evidence. That's incorrect and the episode has been updated. Thanks very much to an astute listener who pointed it out. 
 
 
 
 
 
Music:
Cybertrooper [the better version] by Sascha Ende
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/12240-cybertrooper-the-better-version
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

BETRAYAL(!)

Other than lawyers and corporate executives, almost nobody really knows (or cares) what a fiduciary duty is, but everybody knows what betrayal means. When someone you trust turns on you, it can send you reeling. The same is true in business: Employees take your business’ secret information and start a competing company, a broker trades on your account just to earn a commission, a lawyer inflates a bill. In life, this is called “cheating.” In law, it’s breach of fiduciary duty. We deal with cases like this all the time at bergpc.com. Faithlessness is red meat for a jury – just about every member of the panel will have some experience with being betrayed in one way or another. Tying that feeling to the business equivalent and taking it to trial on today’s podcast.
 
 
 
Music:
Cybertrooper [the better version] by Sascha Ende
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/12240-cybertrooper-the-better-version
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Taking Personal Injury to Trial

After decades of insurance company propaganda about “lawsuit abuse” designed to get people to vote to deny themselves the right to recover if they’ve been hurt, jurors are now conditioned to believe injuries are exaggerated or even fabricated by the lawyers who represent victims. Houston injury lawyer Katie James (you know her as CarwreckKatie.com) joins to explain how she’s done it so successfully – how she picks juries, tries cases, presents and cross examines witnesses, and recovers for her clients. Stay tuned to the end to hear a follow-up Second Amendment discussion prompted by Vice President Kamala Harris’ warning that if you break into her house, you’re getting popped. And as always, check out all our shows at bergpc.com/podcast 
 
 
 
Music:
Cybertrooper [the better version] by Sascha Ende
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/12240-cybertrooper-the-better-version
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
 

Dan Aykroyd Hires Berg and Wins

Dan Aykroyd is on the podcast. Do you really need more information? Ok, Aykroyd owns Crystal Head Vodka, which sued a competitor for stealing the bottle’s design. The design was created by Crystal Head’s other owner, legendary artist John Alexander. The case was tried, lost, appealed, sent back down. Then a new trial lawyer – one of the top 4 in the Berg family, David – took it to trial and won. Aykroyd, Alexander, and the other Berg join to tell the story – complete with an actual Perry Mason twist at the end.

I’ve Already Ruled on These Issues

George Clooney opines about politics – again – despite my previous ruling that he is not to be taken seriously pursuant to Tex.R.Evid. 702. I thought I made that clear. Trump, just one week after the episode on this topic, gives the perfect example of a rambling, incoherent, nonresponsive answer to a simple, direct question. His response is stricken. Next, the “get back to the constitution” crowd melts down when the copyright clause of the constitution is gotten back to and the Trump campaign is ordered to stop infringing on Shaft’s music. Finally, another week, another mass shooting; full text of the Second Amendment, not the NRA’s abridged version, is read and discussed.
 
 
 
Music:
Cybertrooper [the better version] by Sascha Ende
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/12240-cybertrooper-the-better-version
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Just Answer the Question Already

If a politician is asked whether they voted yes or no on a bill and starts rambling about what an honor it is to be there and how a middle class kid from the Midwest never imagined they’d be in this position, there’s not much a reporter can do except ask the question again. But if a witness gives an answer like that, the judge will point his or her finger and order the witness to answer it with the threat of contempt (and, theoretically, anyway, jail time) backing up the order. All of life should be this way.