New Lawyer for Music Piracy Defendant Graduated from Harvard Law at 19
A Minnnesota woman being tried for a second time on charges she downloaded copyrighted songs has a new volunteer lawyer who graduated from Harvard Law School at 19.
The Duluth News Tribune described lawyer Kiwi Camara as a “whiz-kid attorney.” Camara will represent defendant Jammie Thomas along with his law partner Joe Sibley; both have worked on illegal downloading defenses with Harvard law professor Charles Nesson.
Camara has his own Internet issues stemming from an incident as a 16-year-old 1L when he posted notes from a Harvard law property class; in the notes he referred to African Americans as “nigs.”
A federal judge granted a new trial for Thomas last year after finding he erred in his jury instructions. Thomas had been ordered to pay $222,000 in damages for illegally sharing 24 copyrighted songs on Kazaa. She recently married and now uses the name Thomas-Rasset.
Camara graduated magna cum laude from Harvard law and snagged a federal appeals court clerkship. Yet he had trouble finding a job as a law professor because of what he acknowledges was a mistake.
“It’s followed me at every stage of my career,” he told ABC News in a 2007 interview. He said the Internet has kept the controversy alive. “Twenty or 30 years ago, this story would have disappeared by now, certainly much faster than it has any hope of disappearing today,” he said.
Ars Technica noted the controversy.