Donald Trump said he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue. . .
What about John Pierce, what can he get away with? The ex-lawyer for Rudy Giuliani, and lawyer for Kyle Rittenhouse, with a track record of problematic behavior, says his application to practice law in Wisconsin was granted yesterday.
John Pierce is a lawyer who represented Rudy Giuliani and now represents Kyle Rittenhouse. Pierce is also a big fan of Donald Trump. The lame duck President said he could shoot someone on New York City’s 5th Avenue and not lose support. Pierce hasn’t said anything that brazen, yet a fair question to ask: What else can Attorney John Pierce get away with?
Pierce said yesterday that his out of state application to practice law in Wisconsin in the Rittenhouse case was granted. The prosecutor’s office had informed the court that they wished to address “several issues” related to the application. It is not clear whether the prosecutor was given an opportunity to be heard.
In any event, let’s take a quick look at the question:
“Who Is John Pierce?”
- Harvard Law School Graduate, Class of 2000.
- Ex-lawyer for Rudy Giuliani. Pierce says Giuliani is a “close friend.”
- Lawyer for Kyle Rittenhouse.
- Lost job at K&L Gates law firm for physically assaulting co-worker.
- Domestic violence restraining order against #1.
- Accused of expressing an intense desire to kill the mother of his children.
- Accused of breaching child support obligations.
- Former spouse says Pierce’s own children did not want to see him.
- Abused cocaine and alcohol.
- Female relative of the drug lord “El Chapo” went to jail for beating him.
- Owed over $1 million in taxes as of November 2019.
- Owed over $90,000 to Citibank as of November 2019.
- Owed his ex-wife’s mother $27,000 as of November 2019.
- Domestic violence restraining order against #2.
- Lied under penalty of perjury in a court filing.
- Pierce’s firm won 1 trial in 3+ years w/ with a net verdict of $500K.
- Pierce’s firm reportedly owed $70,000,000 to lenders earlier this year.
- Basically pilfered $2.5 million from a cash advance lender located in Flushing, Queens, NY in February 2020.
- Repeatedly pledged the same collateral — purported future firm receivables — to secure millions of dollars in cash advances; each known cash advance lender eventually commenced legal action.
- Pierce’s firm has been sued by 5 times this year by vendors for failure to pay debts.
- Pierce’s firm has been sued by 4 cash advance lenders this year as well.
- At least two lawyers this year, have filed default judgment requests in lawsuits against Pierce and/or his firm.
- $4 million money judgment was entered against Pierce related entities in July of this year.
- Ex-partner said Pierce is a “narcissistic sociopath.” (Per a public court filing.)
- Another ex-partner called Pierce “fu*king lunatic.” (Per a public court fling.)
- Pierce’s bar license status in NY is “Resigned.”
- Pierce’s firm is on 4th name in less than 4 years.
- Formed John Mark Pierce Enterprises — a 5th entity — last year.
- Criminal lawyer has asked if Pierce’s is involved in running a Ponzi Scheme.
- Accused of involvement in witness intimidation.
- Called for the ouster of the Director of the FBI, Christopher A. Wray.
- Called for the ouster of the Director of the CIA, Gina Haspel.
Pierce appears to have immersed himself and others in an environment of severe misconduct.
- Pierce’s ex-named partner David L. Hecht is now at Hecht Partners LLP. Ex-clients of Hecht Partners recently testified under oath that Hecht deceived them into signing up with his law firm. One ex-client said Hecht pretended to be a lawyer from another law firm.
- Pierce’s ex-General Counsel Carolynn K. Beck is now at Goldstein & McClintock LLP. In a work e-mail, which is included in public court filings, Pierce said of Beck “her mind moves about as fast as pond water.” Whatever the case may be, Beck as the lead internal lawyer for Pierce Bainbridge engaged in questionable behavior.
- Pierce’s ex-partner Denver G. Edwards, now of Bradford Edwards & Varlack LLP, lied under oath in May 2019 to do John Pierce’s bidding. Edwards lied under oath to a court in New York, and then lied in a filing the same day to a court in Los Angeles. Edwards public said New York State Attorney General Letitia James “lies in her cases,” presumably Denver was lying.
- Finally, a litigation finance company, named Virage Capital Management poured approximately $65 million in capital over just one-year to back John Pierce and the operations of his firm. A simple-to-follow-deep-look into the Virage funding is fascinating.
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Donald J. Trump said he could get away with shooting someone on 5th Avenue and not lose support.
While Pierce has never made such a brazen statement, he did say: “It’s so great since I’ve never been arrested or sanctioned or sued for anything. I know exactly where the line is and just get off on tipping my toe over sometimes. It’s so fun.” — John M. Pierce circa Fall 2018, as reported in The Daily Beast.
Upon reviewing the bullet points, as well as the recent Wisconsin developments, one is left to wonder:
What else can John Pierce get away with?
