Rohn Robbins
Vail Daily
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Past articles by Rohn:
Robbins: The KKK Act of 1871 and the case against Trump
Last week, in a legal brief filed by prosecutors at the request of judges on Washington, D.C.’s federal court of appeals, the United States Department of Justice said that former president Trump cannot be shielded... → Read More
Robbins: Getting to yes
Only a small percentage of legal disputes end in trial. Instead, most settle out. Some settle before a lawsuit. Others settle somewhere along the way, months, weeks, or sometimes even minutes before the gavel bangs.... → Read More
Robbins: Openings and closings in the courtroom
While the pastrami may be in the middle, without the bread, the whole thing falls apart. You can thank the Earl of Sandwich for that, I suppose. And while the middle matters, so too does... → Read More
Robbins: All the kinds of witnesses in a courtroom
Speaking broadly, there are two kinds of evidence presented at trial: testimonial evidence and tangible evidence. People talking on the one hand and documents and physical things on the other. Tangible evidence can be stuff... → Read More
Robbins: Court etiquette 101
Mistake No. 1: Sean showed up that day at court. He was not a party to the litigation and, although he was a lawyer, he was not representing a single soul in the courtroom on... → Read More
Robbins: Why I wear a suit to court
You may have noticed that the Vail Valley is a casual place. Even in the finest establishments, jeans are common, ski boots, even after dark, still clunk beneath fine linen tablecloths. It’s part of what... → Read More
Robbins: Real trials aren’t like the ones on TV
I suppose owing to Hollywood, most folks just don’t know much about the way a trial actually works. Admittedly, compared to Galileo, Einstein, Columbus and Orville Redenbacher, it’s probably not all that significant an awakening on... → Read More
Robbins: The enforceability of oral contracts
“Shake on it?” “Yeah. OK.” “Maybe we should put this in writing.” “Nah. We’re good. We have a deal.” “Yeah. OK then. Deal.” Does the above create a contract and a binding one at that? Well,... → Read More
Robbins: New laws for the new year
Sometimes, the most obvious of things escape our notice. For example, our elected lawmakers are … um … elected to make laws. And like the predictable bloom of flowers bursting forth in spring, with the turn of... → Read More
Robbins: Parsing Out Demurs
To my ear, and perhaps yours as well, the word “demur” conjures up an image of a shy and modest ingenue sipping sweetened tea. That is apt, I suppose, for the similar-looking/sounding word, “demure” but, oh... → Read More
Robbins: What if Trump were to be indicted?
On Dec. 20, the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack made four criminal referrals against former President Donald Trump. Like so much of Trump’s presidency and post-presidency, so doing was unprecedented. No other... → Read More
Robbins: 27 years of columns
I have been writing this column for 27 years. Not this precise column, mind you, but this series that began running in December 1995. Oh my! In the early years, I called the column “Staying... → Read More
Robbins: How Miranda v Arizona changed American law
March 23, 1963, Ernesto Miranda, a 23-year old Mexican immigrant living in Phoenix, Arizona, was arrested in his home on and brought to police headquarters for questioning. Several days before Miranda’s arrest, a young woman... → Read More
Robbins: Impeachment isn’t removal from office
Last week, Congress inched ever closer towards impeachment of the president. The House Judiciary Committee’s “Resolution for Investigative Procedures Offered by Chairman Jerrold Nadler” outlines procedures that will apply to “the presentation of information in... → Read More
Robbins: Trump and the Emoluments Clause
Mr. Barr is having a party. You’re likely not invited. Neither am I. Mr. Pence just enjoyed a lovey taxpayer-funded stay in Ireland. At Doonberg, about 180 miles west of Dublin … where Mr. Pence’s business... → Read More
Robbins: The legacy of Citizens United v Federal Election Commission
This is the sixth installment in an ongoing, occasional series on seminal cases in American law. Plenty of folks still have heartburn over this one. Decided in 2010, this landmark United States Supreme Court case... → Read More
Vail Law: Seminal U.S. legal cases, part five: Heller
There is little debate over what the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution says. Since the 1970s, however, a cultural war has raged over exactly what the Second Amendment was intended to mean. Like... → Read More
Robbins: What constitutes a hate crime?
Editor’s note: This is the first column of a two-part series. Let’s start with the words themselves: “hate” and “crime.” While we all have some feel for what they mean, what punch do they really... → Read More
Robbins: What constitutes domestic terrorism?
Editor’s note: This is the first column of a two-part series. The latest paroxysms of gun violence in America beg the questions of what comprises domestic terror and what constitutes a hate crime. In this... → Read More
Robbins: How Brown v Board of Education changed American law
In the staid and steady world of law, this one was an earthquake. Or at least it caused one. It was 1954. Beneath the surface of America’s post-war “I Love Lucy” idyll, things were roiling. ... → Read More