Tyler Holmes
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holmestsj.bsky.social
Tyler Holmes
@holmestsj.bsky.social
170 followers 240 following 290 posts
American atty working to advance democratic rule of law. Past: Angola/CAR/Ghana/Southern Africa for the American Bar, 2ded to the Malawi Police, volunteer Southern Africa Litigation Centre, trial lawyer, KU Law, candidate for #ksleg.
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holmestsj.bsky.social
Screenshot of text: "In the twelve‐month period ending in March 2025, more than 368,000 cases were filed in federal district courts. As of July 1, 1873, the first year comparable records are available, the number of pending cases in all the lower federal courts combined was less than 30,000. Amid these momentous changes in both the volume of federal law and its significance to our collective life, maintaining the Supreme Court at nine life‐tenured justices sitting en banc is, to use a somewhat technical term, bananas."
December 21, 2025 at 3:20 AM
holmestsj.bsky.social
I haven't felt sufficient expertise in an area of law to post on such a site. And incomplete legal advice is bad legal advice.

Still seems like a petty response to someone trying to help. The claimed ethos of the profession but clearly not the design.
open.substack.com/pub/justicet...
Court IT is bad, and when it’s really bad you go to jail. You read that right: when court tech doesn’t work, the wrong people wind up in prison. In multiple states, standard data transfers from old case management systems (CMS) to new ones led to closed warrants being reopened. Meaning, the next time that person is pulled over for an out taillight, they end up being arrested on an incorrect warrant. In other states, rolling out a new case management system has also meant people being kept in jail longer than their sentence. It shouldn’t be the case that launching a new court CMS leads to a habeas lawsuit, but here we are. Most people go to court without an attorney. With no right to an attorney in civil cases and attorneys being expensive, about 75% of civil cases have one person who represents themselves. It’s worse when we drill down. For example, only an average of 4% of those facing eviction have an attorney, versus 83% of landlords. How does this discrepancy impact so-called “self-represented litigants”? One study found a significant bias against people representing themselves in court, including that the monetary value of their claim was too high. By contrast, a randomized control trial found that people represented by an attorney in eviction court were 4.4 times more likely to retain possession of their apartments than similar tenants who didn’t have an attorney. There’s no national group that represents the public’s access to the courts. There are plenty of organizations that help courts do better. Major national organizations train judges, improve court administration, and support ancillary groups, like legal aid, to support their clients in court. However, all of these groups are optimizing for different constituencies, like judges, court staff, technology vendors, or those that qualify for certain services. Not a single one considers the court-going public their chief constituency. Unfortunately, this makes sense, because courts were never designed for the public in the first place.
December 17, 2025 at 1:04 PM
holmestsj.bsky.social
Not to get too into the weeds, but the hypothetical lacks detail. A vague "their" which leaves the audience wondering on which property the cut trees were. No discussion of what the lay user did with the advice or whether this went to court. The person simply didn't "prevail under that statute."
Chad, a licensed attorney in Kansas, likes to participate in various online forums in which legal questions are discussed. Some of the discussions involve lay people with questions about the law. These questions are, very often, clearly from people seeking legal advice regarding their specific legal matter. One evening Chad read a post from a person with the user name TreeJustice4867 in a different state who was having a property dispute with their neighbor. TreeJustice4867 said that while they were at work, their neighbor cut down some old growth trees on their property because the neighbor thought they were unsightly. TreeJustice4867 wanted to know how to proceed with legal action and what kind of damages to expect. Chad was not licensed in TreeJustice4867's state, which, like Kansas, restricts the practice of law to licensed attorneys in that state. However, after a brief look at the other state's statutes, Chad believed he had a decent enough grasp on the legalities to respond to the internet post. Chad provided a detailed reply to TreeJustice4867. He prefaced his post with a statement that "I am a lawyer but I am not your lawyer and I am not licensed in your state." Chad went on to tell TreeJustice4867 that under their state's timber laws, they were entitled to treble damages. Chad told TreeJustice4867 that they should write a demand letter, told him what specific statutes to cite, and said that if the neighbor refused restitution that TreeJustice4867 would have an easy time prevailing in court. As it turns out, Chad did not know that the other state's treble damages statute only applied to commercial timber. TreeJustice4867 was unable to prevail under that statute and was upset at what he believed was bad legal advice. TreeJustice4867 was able to figure out Chad's identity through his post history, and filed a disciplinary complaint in Kansas against Chad. Under KRPC 5.5(a), a lawyer shall not practice law in a jurisdiction in violation of the regulation of the legal profession in that jurisdiction. Chad provided specific legal advice about another state's law to a resident of that state, and was not licensed to practice law in that state. By giving advice based on a misunderstanding of the other state's tree laws, Chad also violated KRPC 1.1, which requires competent representation. Competence is defined as the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness, and preparation reasonably necessary. Although tailored to attorney websites, ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility Formal Opinion 10-457 addresses some considerations for attorneys who are offering legal information to the public, including through websites. Lawyers are permitted to offer legal information, either about the law or their services, provided it does not mislead readers, and should ensure that the legal information is accurate and current. Qualifying statements and disclaimers are helpful but may not insulate an attorney from a rule violation. "Although no exact line can be drawn between legal information and legal advice, both the context and content of the information offered are helpful in distinguishing the two."
December 17, 2025 at 1:04 PM
holmestsj.bsky.social
Not the Kansas Office of the Disciplinary Administrator (for attorneys) brushing off feedback on their last ethics refresher email. Guess they didn't expect anyone to be upset they called a qualified, well-meaning but imperfect answer on a free legal answer site the unauthorized practice of law.
Note: We received a few inquiries following the most recent ethics refresher, No. 252. We want to emphasize a couple of points. Ethics Refresher No. 252 was a hypothetical scenario involving an attorney licensed in Kansas but engaged in conduct in a jurisdiction where he was not licensed. Each jurisdiction will have its own definition of what constitutes the practice of law and what constitutes the unauthorized practice of law. Attorneys must ensure that they are in compliance with the disciplinary rules in the jurisdiction that governs their conduct. As always, feel free to reach out to our office with any questions regarding the Kansas Rules of Professional Conduct.
December 17, 2025 at 1:04 PM
holmestsj.bsky.social
Curious about what the choice of venue (Washington County) and outside counsel say about the AG office's strategy here.
A map of Kansas counties with Washington County, along the state's northern border, pointed out.
September 24, 2025 at 4:13 AM
holmestsj.bsky.social
Sen. Moran's schtick has always been vagueness. I know. But after almost 28 years in Congress after eight in the Kansas legislature, he could wield more power than he ever imagined and leave a meaningful legacy.

What was it all for, Jerry?
A screenshot of a skeet quoting another: "A handful of Republican Congress members can stop this any time they want to." The quoted skeet: "Part of our constitutional crisis is that Republicans are stopping Congress from playing its fundamental oversight role."
September 19, 2025 at 2:36 PM
holmestsj.bsky.social
20.43 Department of Health.—There is created a Department of Health. (1) The purpose of the Department of Health is to protect and promote the health of all residents and visitors in the state through organized state and community efforts, including cooperative agreements with counties. The department shall: (a) Identify, diagnose, and conduct surveillance of diseases and health conditions in the state and accumulate the health statistics necessary to establish trends. (b) Implement interventions that prevent or limit the impact or spread of diseases and health conditions. (c) Collect, manage, and analyze vital statistics and other health data to inform the public and formulate public health policy and planning. (d) Maintain and coordinate preparedness for and responses to public health emergencies in the state. (e) Provide or ensure the provision of quality health care and related services to identified populations in the state. (f) Regulate environmental activities that have a direct impact on public health in the state. (g) Regulate health practitioners for the preservation of the health, safety, and welfare of the public. (2) The head of the Department of Health is the State Surgeon General and State Health Officer. The State Surgeon General must be a physician licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 who has advanced training or extensive experience in public health administration. The State Surgeon General is appointed by the Governor subject to confirmation by the Senate. The State Surgeon General serves at the pleasure of the Governor.
September 4, 2025 at 1:02 AM
holmestsj.bsky.social
In 2016, Trevor Noah argued Trump wanted to be an African strongman. www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIHR... Trump's sons, like President Museveni's, want the same.
A picture of Ugandan President Museveni's son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba with a 2022 tweet. The post read, "It wouldn't take us, my army and me, 2 weeks to capture Nairobi."
June 17, 2025 at 2:44 AM
holmestsj.bsky.social
Reminds me of this photo from Malawi. Police officers would sometimes go to round up street connected people (including children playing with rubber bands!) in camouflage. The intimidation and cruelty are the point. www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...
A police officer dressed in camouflage, holding a large gun, and wearing a helmet with customized spikes on his shoulders and helmet.
June 3, 2025 at 3:09 PM
holmestsj.bsky.social
"It seems like we are much better at catching people that are committing misdemeanors than people that are actually a danger to society." www.thebulwark.com/p/the-shame-...

Yes.
May 8, 2025 at 3:17 PM
holmestsj.bsky.social
Imagine praising your father for taking a principled stand and excusing yourself from having principles in the same interview. rollcall.com/2025/03/27/d...
March 31, 2025 at 11:02 PM