SS,
I did not check time stamp, so I did not realize that. either way, my answer now stands on both threads.
You are wrong to say I falsely claimed Trump did not pay his bills. He is famous for that. Saying that Trumop is morally equivalent to Obama and Clinton doesn't seem like much of an endorsement, is that really what you are trying to say?
"You are wrong to say I falsely claimed Trump did not pay his bills."
That's exactly what you posted.
Trump Set to Leave Office with at Least $850,000 of Unpaid Campaign Rally Bills"He is famous for that."
Only fake news has made those false claims.No credible sources has made or verified such nonsense. "Saying that Trumop is morally equivalent to Obama and Clinton doesn't seem like much of an endorsement, is that really what you are trying to say?"
Emphatically NOT.
President Trump is morally superior to either the pathological lying/narcissistic/crack smoking/ Communist/Muslim/homosexual or the Luciferian/lesbian/pedophile.I can address the "did not pay his bills" allegation, as I used to work at two of the law firms Trump used for his real estate deals. It's basically true.
Here's the caveat: EVERYONE in the business does this, especially in NYC. Not in all practices, of course. For M&A and Securities work, clients generally pay their bills in full and on time (sorta). In other practices, it's expected that the clients will refuse to pay the bill until its discounted, even if everything was done exactly as it should have been done. Insurance and labor law are notorious for this, and it's why the lawyers in those areas get paid less when they are at large firms.
In Real Estate, I'd guess that 75% of clients refused to pay until there was a hefty discount applied.
The way it was explained to me by a partner at a firm that represented The Related Companies (google it if you have to) is that it not only is a tradition (for developers to stiff law firms), it is part of the dealmaking process. A big developer like Trump, Kushner or the Related group will have many development projects going on at once and any law firm that can latch on to those deals will do whatever it takes to keep being selected by the developer for future deals.
Further, the politics at a law firm require lawyers to have somewhat uniform "list" prices for hourly rates, even if the economics of differing practices otherwise justify different rates.
So, to date myself, a "rate card" for a law firm will probably show a breakdown of rates by attorney experience. A junior level associate will show a rate of, for example, $500 an hour, and it usually is (or was) without regard to which practice group the junior associate was in. Same thing with mid level associates, all the way to senior partners. You want a partner, you pay $1000 an hour without regard to the practice area.
The reality, though, is that firms always discount rates for good clients and the discounts are based on various factors. Using me, as an example, I focused on IPOs early in my career, representing issuers (rather than the underwriters) and it was often the case that once a company went public, they wouldn't need IPO lawyers again. So if the firm didn't have an SEC reporting practice that the client would use on a regular basis, the IPO client would get no discount at all since there would be no recurring business. An SEC reporting client, on the other hand, always got discounts because that work was recurring and lucrative over time.
SO, with real estate lawyers, the rate cards were usually about 50% more than the actual paid rates. It's all because of the kabuki dance that goes on over recurring business.
Trump was a very tough negotiator. He'd want to negotiate every penny billed to him, and he was not unusual in this regard. He happened to be pretty successful at getting bills reduced simply because he had a wide range of business that he could bring to a law firm and the firms were anxious to please him.
Anyone in real estate who paid their bills in full and on time was a sucker. NO real developer was naïve enough to pay on time and in full.
