Is There Such a Thing As Porn Law?

From the Miami/Dade County Sun-Sentinel:

When Miami-Dade voters agreed to spend $1 million to restore the Flagler Memorial on Monument Island, many hoped the beautification of one of the county's most revered historic structures would attract new visitors.

But probably not porn stars.

The lushly landscaped island . . . is now the backdrop for an online porn video produced by RealityKings.com.

And, of course, instead of laughing this off, or thinking people are deeply offended , so naturally they're trying to find some way to prosecute the porn production company, which, obviously, only brings more attention to what would otherwise be a soon-forgotten porn clip among tens of thousands of porn clips floating around the internet.

No, instead of thinking "gee whiz, we should put some security out there," they're trying to find some way to legally condemn the conduct. But never fear, RealityKings.com hired what surely is one of the best Porn Law minds in South Florida:

Though state laws prohibit exposing oneself in public, [Attorney Lawrence] Walters said the rules apply only if someone witnesses the act. He said there was no one on or around the island at the time — save for the actors and crew.

"The last thing they want to do is create problems," he said, noting that the Reality Kings crew members are "good corporate citizens" who donate to charity. "

So if you run around naked, and no one sees it, you didn't violate any laws. Talk about helpful things they don't teach you in law school! And it's also nice to know that the people behind RealityKings.com are positive influences on the community. I would hate to think the people producing low-quality anal sex films in an industry replete with heroin addicts and prostitutes who use their sex films as advertising are anything but upstanding community contributors.

But Mr. Walters (who I think is the guy whose firm owns the name "firstamendment.com") has company in those having or gaining sex law expertise.

Detective Juan Sanchez, a Miami Beach police spokesman, referred questions to Fernandez, who said the city's legal staff is reviewing the issue.

Um...yeah. The film runs about 50 minutes. I'm 90% sure "legal staff is reviewing the issue" means some lawyers are watching the clip (and probably other clips, to better put the facts in context) over and over again.

And there seems to be fertile ground for more lawyers to be involved:

Even the waters around the island are attracting debauchery, according to a Venetian Islands resident who last summer complained to the city that a charter boat for swingers was docked next door. Fernandez said the city is looking into the allegations.

I bet they are. "Excuse me, I'm wondering if you happened to be on a swinger boat last summer?"

At law schools all over the country, law schools have journals and certificate programs in ever-more irrelevant and esoteric subjects. How long before someone puts out a Journal of Law and Fornication or offers a certificate in Pornography Law? Or is this covered under the oversupplied balloon of Entertainment Law? And how many hits will I get solely for using the words "anal sex" and "pornography" in this post?

Sordid in the Steel City? Gender-Based Suits in Pittsburgh

Non-equity partner JoEllen Lyons Dillon has filed a gender equity suit against her current firm, Reed Smith, LLP. Reed Smith is the second-largest firm in Pittsburgh and has twenty-two offices across the globe. Interestingly enough, their motto is "The Business of Relationships." I think they might have taken it too literally. From the first article linked:

Attorney Samuel J. Cordes, who represents Ms. Dillon, said he found "that there is a pattern here of a male locker room, and it includes sexual favors," adding that his client didn't participate in that part of the "games guys play."...

She brought in millions of dollars of business annually, and sought a promotion from non-equity partner -- with no share in the profits -- to equity partner. She was not promoted, and after she took a few months off to have twins, her pay was "decreased almost by half" in 2009, according to the lawsuit. Then in January her pay was "reduced by another $100,000," it said, and her appeal of that decision was denied.

And then there's my favorite line in the story, which, typical for new-world journalism, comes at the very end as an afterthought:

Mr. Cordes said he would produce examples of sexual quid pro quos as the case continues.

Now, this isn't come crackpot pro se plaintiff doing this. This is a presently-working partner at BigLaw, who is both experienced and attractive enough to make the complaint pass any threshold skepticism.

Just a few blocks away, the Duquesne School of Law recently settled a discrimination, retaliation, and defamation claim with a former clinical administrator:

[She] claimed in her July lawsuit that Law School Dean Ken Gormley demoted her and cut her pay, among other things, in retaliation for her filing a sexual harassment complaint against him with the University's Affirmative Action Officer in 2006.

Now, I realize that settling a lawsuit is not an admission of liability and all that, but given that law school ethics should at least promote the appearance of propriety, I would have a hard time believing they settled a merit-less claim since, at least to me, it makes the dean look like a scum bucket, which I'm sure helps Duquesne's institutional integrity, especially with female students. And, as the article notes, there are two more claims for gender/racial discrimination still pending against the law school.

I find both of these interesting in light of the Allegheny Bar Associations explicit initiative - going back to 2008 - to specifically work against findings of massive gender inequality in Pittsburgh with their Institute of Gender Equality. Guess who was outgoing President of the Allegheny Bar in 2008, when this place was founded? Yep, Ken Gormley, who was also Vice-Chair of the Gender-Equality Task Force. This raises an eyebrow, doesn't it?

And curiously, even though Reed Smith is the second-largest place in town, they have no representation on the current Board of Governors (the 3rd-largest firm, Buchanan, Ingersoll, & Rooney, has at least two people on it).

I find these all interesting developments. Was Reed Smith key in the Allegheny Bar's findings that there were severe problems with gender inequality? Was the Institute of Gender Equality a mere meaningless action to look like it was solving the problem? Isn't Ken Gormley something of a gargantuan hypocrite for being on a Gender-Equality Task Force while his own female employee filed a seemingly-meritorious claim against him?

I don't know how to bridge this all together, but I find the seemingly-independent developments quite interesting and revealing of the tangled mess between firms, law schools, and bar associations that sometimes can prevent systemic change. Let's wait and see what happens with Ms. Dillon's lawsuit, especially if she has ammo and she starts using it over offers to settle.