Jurisdiction Is in the Eye of the Beholder
Litigation attorney Daniel Small published a column in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly reflecting on a high-stakes federal racketeering prosecution involving New England crime boss Raymond Patriarca and the lessons he learned from it. Then a prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Mr. Small and his team rapidly assembled a case, secured a grand jury indictment under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, and successfully appealed the dismissal of the charges. However, a venue dispute ultimately sank the case after they represented their arguments before the same judge who originally dismissed them. Thinking about this experience (with the benefit of hindsight), Mr. Small concludes he and fellow prosecutors focused too much on the "legalities and the logistics, not on the people and the places," showing how the outcome reflects the importance of finding the right audience for your story and pressing pause before racing on with trial preparation.