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September 29, 2007
Functional Gen-X lawyer charms bosses, heads to Portugal.
That would be me. Next week, I'll be working in Portugal--but first stop is in the pleasant Algarve, mainland Portugal's rolling and floral southernmost region, originally settled by the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians, traders who established colonies on the coasts. The Algarve was once part of the Roman empire, later becoming part of the Visigoths' jurisdiction. The Arabs held the Algarve for more than 500
years. In 711, Moorish general Tarik ibn Ziyad defeated the king of the Visigoths. The region was reclaimed in the mid-12th century by Christians.
At 9:30 AM on November 1, 1755, an earthquake struck, causing damage throughout Portugal and destroying much of the Algarve. As a result of the Treaty of Fontainebleau in 1807, Napoleon and Carlos IV of Spain agreed to carve Portugal into areas to be governed by France and Spain, with the Spanish to assume control of the Algarve. The ensuing wars, backed by the English and French, defeated the plan to split up Portugal. The April 1974 "Carnation Revolution" ended 50 years of dictatorship and initiated a democratic constitution which led to victory for the Socialists with the government being led by Prime Minister Mário Soares.
Posted by Tom Welshonce at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Paris parfait by Bradford
Another American living la vie Parisienne, as she writes a book. Tara Bradford serves Paris Parfait: art, antiques, culture, poetry and politics.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Pittsburgh football by Brubach
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native, author, part-time Parisian, and WAC? college classmate to boot, Holly Brubach has this feature in the op-eds of today's New York Times: "Where Everybody Knows Your Team".
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Morocco collages by Bantock
See Nick Bantock's "Collaged Morocco" at Maryam's My Marrakesh.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)
September 28, 2007
Global corruption--and the winner is?
You'll never guess. China Law Blog: "China: Corrupt Me. Corrupt Me Not", with latest corruption rankings from Transparency International.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Lawyer resilience: Two tough Brits weigh in.
As a follow up to our recent post on lawyers' lack of stiff-upper-lipped-ness, see a January 2006 GeekLawyer piece called "The Personality Type of a Lawyer" and, from earlier this week at Ruthie's Law, "Are You Tough Enough?". And SRV, of course.
I would walk ten miles on my hands and knees--
Ain't no doubt about it, baby, it's you I aim to please.
I'd wrestle with a lion, and a grizzly bear
It's my life, baby, but I don't care.Ain't that tough enough?
--SRV/Fabulous Thunderbirds
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:48 PM | Comments (0)
An Asian water war?
NBC: Could climate change gradually deplete and eventually dry up the Mekong River--which runs from the Tibetan Mountains to the South China Sea--and other world freshwater sources?
Posted by JD Hull at 01:30 PM | Comments (0)
September 27, 2007
UK: Accounting Divas of Cardiff, Wales.
Attractive and ancient Cardiff, Wales, with its Roman and Norman past and hard-working people, is a favorite WAC? city. And one with conquering women, gathering from the way they take over the town on weekend nights. Our St. Louis, Missouri friend Michelle Golden directs us to an interesting interview in BusinessGears.com with two young Cardiff women--Sophie Hughes and Lucy Cohen are each 24--in her post "A Younger, Hipper Accounting Firm". These folks make money, too. If you hate the interview, the pictures are, well, fetching.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:27 PM | Comments (0)
Hanover hangover: Hillary by hair of the hound
Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire started out as a mission "to tame and civilize the wild and savage American Indians", or something like that. It's a great place, and one of the finest colleges in the world. In fact, WAC?, growing up in Cincinnati, applied to and was admitted to Dartmouth in the 1970s--but did not attend, citing as reasons his inferior drinking skills* and "are you crazy?...no girls". So he
headed for warmer Durham, North Carolina, where there were women, really interesting and smart ones, and no one started drinking until at least 10 AM. At last night's presidential Dem candidate debate in Hanover, WAC? and I, watching sporadically from San Luis Obispo, were impressed that now co-ed, always mega-smart but still hard-drinking Dartmouth student body apparently stayed passably sober for some of the evening program.
Our quick and dirty report: Hard to pin down Queen Hillary wins, as she runs out the clock. Strong showing by feisty John Edwards on Iraq war (he'll somehow just end it with no residual ops). Joe Biden--watch for him to end up as HRC's Secretary of State--is a traditional WAC? favorite but we can still see clearly enough to give him barely third place. Obama was really out to lunch--bad night for him--and WAC? still thinks he can kiss this all goodbye. He's not "ready"; he's never been ready. Maybe 2012. But, hey, this campaign is not over for anyone. We could be wrong. --HHO and JDH
*WAC? would have needed remedial drinking courses at Dartmouth. During a WAC? visit at age 17 to Dartmouth, an older ex-athlete from WAC?'s high school in Cincinnati, and WAC?'s former doubles tennis partner, got drunk in a dorm room where WAC? was hanging out one night and "blew lunch" on both WAC?'s new winter coat and on his Joni Mitchell "Blue" album.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 10:59 PM | Comments (0)
North Carolina: Players v. Duke?
The Chronicle: D.C. lawyer Charles Cooper has told ABC News that a majority of current and former lacrosse players and their families have hired him to investigate the possibility of a lawsuit against Duke.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 09:58 PM | Comments (0)
McGermany: Got Americanization?
See at Berlin-based Observing Hermann "Heuschrecken ohne Ende" (literally Endless Locusts). Note: Hermann's kidding, mainly.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 01:59 PM | Comments (0)
Who's really greener--Democrats or Republicans?
In olden times, just over 30 years ago in the mid-1970s, the environmental movement was still young, 'environmentalists' were a troublesome new class of malcontents and eccentrics, and men were still men.
Our law firm tried to answer the "who's greener" question in 2006 for Water & Wastewater Products magazine. The answer is interesting and still the same. Do see the timeline/chart in the article "Who's Greener--Democrats or Republicans?". WWP, as dull as it sounds, has great writing and useful, if sometimes technical, content. Some of its readers, though, have their wild side. Environmental engineers can
get pretty wiggy after throwing back martinis and swapping a few stormwater permit sampling event stories in the Boom-Boom Room at the Ramada after work. Anyway, a lot of them--especially the ones over 40--loved the WWP piece. They miss the old days--when an "environmental problem" just meant that the ground had finally caught fire.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:01 AM | Comments (0)
September 26, 2007
Duval & Stachenfeld, salaries, real life: Value Movement?
Markets pay lawyers what markets will bear--and you need great young people to help you serve high-end clients with complex problems. Just the same, will it take strong partners with great clients bolting from firms to get some law firms off their knees? Besides, and (gulp) sorry, brilliant 27-year-old ex-law clerks don't know anything. Even they know that. And some of them will never get it and catch on. How about merit-based pay based on actual experience? The new Actual Value Movement ("AVM")?
See at Legal Blog Watch Carolyn Elefant's "Law Firm Salaries: If You Can't Beat Them, Retreat From Them" her report and links there about Duval & Stachenfeld LLP (NYC, LA and Las Vegas), which
pays starting associates $60,000--or $100,000 below the going rate. Salaries don't stay flat, however, and by their third year, D&S associates [the 50% who "prove themselves", according to D&S] can expect to match salaries of their counterparts at top firms.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
US court news (AP)
Parts of Patriot Act ruled unconstitutional. Portland, Oregon judge strikes down two provisions which allow search warrants to be issued sans showing of probable cause. Ex-husband in Warren Jeffs polygamy case charged with rape. New case is based on trial testimony in Jeffs case in Washington County, Utah. Phil Spector mistrial in LA. "Da doo ron ron ron, da doo ron ron. Yes, my heart stood still..."
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Texas: Another reason not to popularly elect judges--ever, anywhere.
Re: courts and lawyer cluelessness. See at Overlawyered this one: "Furor over Mikal Watts 'judges owe us' letter".WAC?'s said before that popular election of state judges is an embarrassingly medieval institution that hurts us all. (See, e.g., Are federal judges "better" than state judges?)
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:24 PM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2007
London law merger market: so what's the problem, U.S. firms?
And will you know what to do once you get there? London-based Legal Week, armed with a survey, reports that "US firms target UK mergers as battle for London hots up". WAC? still sees London-U.S. law merger market "movement" as slow and reluctant because it takes cautionary lessons, for example, from some unprofitable and often ill-conceived attempts by U.S. firms to become players in Russia twenty years ago and China a decade later. Now, for once, lawyer risk-aversion is an asset. But The London legal market? Yes, London's off-the-chart expensive these days. But as stable as you'd want. Entering it poses cultural issues and barriers even sophisticated Yanks don't pick up on with any clarity for months
and usually years--Brits are different, folks--and most large American firms don't even know what those problems really are. But they sense them.
That's smart, sort of. We at WAC? have been involved personally and professionally with law firm mergers: all dressed up, and nothing to do, is certainly something to avoid.
Let's assume American firms know strategically how to enter London and all the more inviting UK/Europe legal marketplaces and have the resources to do it. So what's the problem? My answer: U.S. firms know they aren't culturally saavy and secure enough to go into the UK/Europe, and they are right to think that way. Note, via a hand-off from the vigilant Ed. at Blawg Review, a post which not only got us thinking about this but reflects the somewhat different sentiments of HMPC's overworked co-founder and international tax diva Julie McGuire two weeks ago at a meeting I attended in Pennsylvania. However, its author, Bruce MacEwen, said it first and, as usual, likely better than anyone else could have: "London Calling: But Who's Ready to Dance?".
Posted by JD Hull at 11:58 PM | Comments (0)
California: "My vibe guy is E.F. Hutton, and he says..."
WAC?, still north of Los Angeles, called last night to report that he may have to move back East sooner and not later. "Guess I'm not a California guy", he concluded. Apparently, his ears had perked up in a restaurant when a stunning and articulate professional woman spoke glowingly of her "energy advisor". He inquired, and it turns out she was not talking about: fossil-fuel consultants, brokers specializing in utility stocks, or promoters of deals to sell shares in peat farms.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
September 24, 2007
New York: Ahmadinejad, "mystical populist", holds forth at Columbia; Columbia blows it.
Updated 7:30 PM EST: Everyone loses. Columbia allows aggressive, long-winded, grandstanding and scripted opening "questions", preventing Ahmadinejad from looking as bad as he might have looked, and giving the Iran president a chance to hit them out of the park, which he in turn also screws up. Except for letting him speak, Columbia totally blew the details of this. Everyone involved, including Columbia President Bollinger, looks bad, pandering and/or lame. Shame on us. AP: here, including MSNBC video. -- JDH and HHO
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)
The Blogs of War, Day 1: Viking Pundit
Man is by nature a political animal. --Aristotle, Politics
Beginning today, and as our time permits, we'll start showcasing a few of the stronger U.S. political blogs: left, middle, right, and even off-spectrum. We start with Eric Lindholm's Viking Pundit.
What do American politics and the 2008 U.S. presidential election have to do with law, this blog, clients, customers, business, international law, litigation, IP, corporate tax, natural resources and the global economy, anyway?
Well, to us, everything. While each of us here who write or suggest
posts can be opinionated, the What About Clients? blog is non-partisan, with writers of several persuasions and strains: GOP, Democrat, independent (and one Druid, but she could be kidding). We are about ideas and standards, but we seek to mix and match the best--and then use it in real work and real life. Politics, and who stays in power or comes to power, affects all of that.
But we have no traditional or cookie-cutter party agenda. No "moral" imperative. Among ourselves, knee-jerk anything or convention for its own sake are frowned upon, and even laughed at lovingly. But if you consistently and steadfastly buy into this party line, or that cultural agenda, or anyone else's "outline" (other than your own), we might secretly think you're a chump. But we're here to help.
Similarly, Hull McGuire employees over the years, on their own, have worked for, raised money for, thrown and attend fundraisers for, and contributed to both Republican and Democratic candidates for national office. We encourage it. Each of us look beyond party. We cross-vote. But we think that politics--the art of controlling one's environment--is important no matter what your views are. Participation rounds out and secures your status as a true world citizen. And this is America, folks: use it or lose it.
On the Right, see Viking Pundit, by Eric Lindholm, "the only conservative in Western Massachusetts". His site is of particular interest to us as research indicates that WAC?'s mom, and therefore WAC? himself, has some serious Norse blood: reddish hair, love of life, attitude, and an overt marauding instinct (i.e., desire to rove and raid in search of plunder). On the Iran president's controversial visit to Columbia University--Columbia has this way cool First Amendment thing going some lawyers have heard of--Lindholm of course gets it right: "Ahmadinejad's a nutter. Let's be the adults in the room and send the message that we're made of stronger stuff." Lindholm writes like he probably talks, gets to the point, respects others, and he's funny. Visit him on line. NOTE: I know Massachusetts, and Lindholm's gotta be lonely as a conservative in pretty much any part of the state--the reverse of our JDH, an alleged "D", living for some reason in San Diego, with all those Orange County-esque Rs.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)
Blawg Review #127 - The Runaway Jury Review
Do yourself a favor and take a few minutes today to read Blawg Review #127, which is hosted at Anne Reed's Deliberations. This week's edition of Blawg Review presents the "17 Best Tips For Voir Dire".
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 07:49 AM | Comments (1)
September 23, 2007
Got Resilience?
Please see a piece by Texas lawyer Mark Bennett I've been brooding about ever since I saw it: "Resiliency". But don't obsess about it too much. Ironically, resilience--the ability to recover and spring back from adversity, a shock or a set-back in short order--is not a lawyer trait. Indeed, these days there's lots of commentary out there which in the aggregate goes something like this: lawyers don't market, work, argue, negotiate, or even do trial work as well as they could because they are "relational", nice, academic at heart, a bit passive aggressive, naturally not "war-like" and--even when we are competitive and direct--we suffer, brood and worry too long about setbacks and defeats. And we are beginning to hate what we do all day long because, oddly, (1) neither fighting (2) nor "going with the flow" are in our natures. It's true. We lawyers are, in the main, natural-born
weenies and squirrels. We are great people. But we sweat small stuff--part of our job, of course--and we over-react. We have amazingly poor defenses to each day's hard knocks and battles.
Well, why? My take: the profession attracts type-A eldest-child perfectionists who can become disoriented and even ashamed by not winning on every point. We get hurt easily. Too many of us suffer guilt or shame in the smallest defeat. We even kick ourselves about being that way. We feel like impostors. And that--trying to be something we can't always easily be--makes things worse. We start to hate our jobs and our lives. If our clients knew how thin-skinned and tortured some of us really are, they'd just take pity and fire us.
Solution? Somehow--and I don't care how--get over yourself, free yourself from all that bondage of self, and accept that some defeat is inherent in everything you do, and may be even helpful to achieve good results. I am NOT talking here about being a good loser or lowering standards. It's about Sweating Just Big Stuff. Stepping back. Getting perspective. Nothing brilliant here. However, without even doing an empirical study, it's obvious to me that lawyer "over-sensitivity" is a huge problem in our lawyer worlds and workplaces. Our reactions to the sum of small bad stuff prevents us from doing the big stuff or from doing it well. This hurts us as people. But way more importantly, it hurts your client: the main event. Remember that as a lawyer you are not royalty--sorry, but you never were that special. Clients are not "the equipment" for a patrician game. You are there to serve.
If you can't get a plan for this and change yourself--or can only do it the cost of violating who you really are--think about another career path. And for godssake if you're a trial lawyer, part of your damn job is to be resilient. So get some of it really, really fast, and buck up there, mate--or just teach, sell women's shoes or get that masters in taxation at NYU you sometimes dream about.
Posted by JD Hull at 08:20 PM | Comments (0)
And Ronald Reagan doesn't even make the main list.
By Alonso Duralde, MSNBC film critic: Big Fame, Little Talent: These folks are all famous, but do they have the chops to back it up?
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 07:04 PM | Comments (0)
Charon QC: The Emperor has great new clothes.
The site of the always erudite, Rioja-drinking and just plain fun lawyer-professor-blogger-pundit, Charon QC, has a new look, feel and format. Still, as always, good writing. Even the Times of London likes him. He still loves quoting Churchill, as do we war-like yet irreverent Yanks:
I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 03:44 PM | Comments (0)
Tomorrow is Blawg Review #127: "Hey, Anne, we know David Lat, we went to the track with him once, and you're right, you are no David Lat, okay?"
With apologies to the late Lloyd Bentsen. Lat-envy. Some of us--not WAC?--have it. Even uber-Milwaukee trial lawyer and jury guru Anne Reed, at her fine Deliberations, has it: "I can't rhyme, my dog can't write, and I'm not David Lat -- so please, be kind". But, tomorrow, at BR #127, we think she'll do just fine. No need to be that kind.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:30 AM | Comments (0)
September 22, 2007
AP: Columbia U. won't stiff author of Mother of All Blogs.
[NYC] City Council speaker Christine Quinn called Thursday for the university to rescind the invitation, saying “the idea of Ahmadinejad as an honored guest anywhere in our city is offensive to all New Yorkers.”
Next week Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (his excellency's blog is here) will be in New York to address the United Nations’ General Assembly. We don't like the guy either but... See "Columbia To Proceed With Ahmadinejad Speech". Columbia's World Leaders Forum hosts. Will someone please ask him to post more?
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
It's One Web Day--and big day for all you druids in Pittsburgh.
OneWebDay is today and its mission is to "create, maintain, advance and promote a global day to celebrate online life." Each year on or around September 22 is also the autumnal equinox, which has meanings in science, religion and culture. It's also known as Alban
Elfed, Cornucopia, Feast of Avalon, Festival of Dionysus, Harvest Home, Mabon, Night of the Hunter, Second Harvest Festival, Wine Harvest, Witch's Thanksgiving, the first day of autumn, and about 2.5 weeks after the Hell's Angels Labor Day Picnic. It's not just a day for pagans, druids and your odd Uncle Fergus in Albany--but we mention such observances as these folks seem to be coming back via The Web.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 02:47 PM | Comments (0)
Yom Kippur
The Day of Atonement, which began yesterday at sunset, is the most important observance for many Jews. And perhaps the most intriguing and instructive to non-Jews.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:59 AM | Comments (0)
September 21, 2007
"But it's still not okay in Toronto to ask your mom to haul your free weights from the basement up to your old room."
In Canada, too, "Employment Booming for Older Workers", particularly for women, Borden Ladner's Michael Fitzgibbon notes in his Thoughts from a Management Lawyer. Based on August figures in The Daily, a report of Statistics Canada, a Canadian national agency.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
High-end boutique gets big time limelight.
We think you will be hearing more stories like this one as clients, client reps and GCs continue to get savvier, smarter and more independent in choosing outside counsel. At Law.com's Legal Blog Watch, Robert Ambrogi reports that, at a recent London awards dinner, a Miami-based "Small Firm Wins Big Honor", and an international one at that. Just four lawyers, folks. Excerpt: "While Cantor & Webb may be a small firm, its clients represent big money. The firm focuses exclusively in representing high net worth private international clients in tax planning, estate planning and related matters."
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Rule 23 bummer No. 2: Melvyn Weiss
It's been a "say-it-ain't-so-Joe" week. First, securities class action king William Lerach pleads guilty to paying off a named plaintiff. Now his former partner Melvyn Weiss, according to the New York Times, has been charged personally by the U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles with conspiracy, racketeering, obstruction of justice and lying to a grand jury in connection with the same pattern: undisclosed millions paid to named or lead plaintiffs in class action suits. See "Weiss Indicted In Class-Action Kickback Case"; also Overlawyered and links
there. 2008 issues? Weiss, like Lerach, has been a player in national Democratic politics and fundraising. 2008 U.S. presidential election fallout at some point? WAC? is not sure. We do see an over-caffeinated 2008 campaign worker or two going over FEC disclosure reports like they were looking for the good parts in Fanny Hill.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
September 20, 2007
French to start working again?
WAC? loves the French above all Europeans. See our Ile St Louis post in March entitled "Ernest, the French aren't like you and me". But 62 years (since 1945) is a hell of a long vacation, and enough is enough. Not everyone loves the new president of France, pro-business tough guy Nicolas Sarkozy, but The New York Times reports that at least he's got the right idea:
Sarkozy Takes Aim at Retirement Perks
PARIS, Sept. 18 (NYT) — President Nicolas Sarkozy of France took the first perilous steps to rein in generous early retirement perks of powerful unionized workers on Tuesday in a speech demanding “a new social contract” that could raise their retirement age to 65 from as low as 50. [More]
Posted by JD Hull at 08:38 PM | Comments (0)
"Spend a Few Minutes Each Day on Business Development"
From Tom Kane at his The Legal Marketing Blog, inspired by virtual marketing coach Terrie Wheeler in this month's ABA Law Practice Today:
You can overcome your procrastination when it comes to developing business by doing a simple item each day. If you don’t get started, you may never become an effective marketer.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:59 AM | Comments (0)
September 19, 2007
AP: Belgium for sale on eBay
Charles de Gaulle famously said that Belgium is a country invented by the British to annoy the French. Belgium and Belgians indeed are highly complex. Belgium historically has been the "battlefield of Europe", and there are overlapping communities here speaking Dutch, French and German. Politics are often conducted along these lines: the Dutch-speaking Flemish v. French-speaking Walloons. Personally, WAC? finds Belgians--you can't generalize, but we will--educated, efficient, smart, artistic, sophisticated, multilingual, haughty, festive, solid and yet a bit high strung (takes one to know one). A highly civilized region with subtle, and very old, tensions lurking. Finally, one Belgian, well, just lost it: "Someone Tries to Sell Belgium on EBay".
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Bill Lerach Guilty Plea: This disturbed WAC?
As PointofLaw.com, the San Francisco-based The Recorder and other sources reported yesterday, San Diego-based plaintiffs' class action guru William Lerach will plead guilty and be sentenced to 1 to 2 years in prison and pay $8 million in fines for arranging undisclosed payments to certain Rule 23 plaintiffs in securities-related lawsuits. The plea will be entered in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (Los Angeles). District Judge John Walter must agree to the sentencing range. More here, including the information, plea agreement and DOJ press release at WSJ's Law Blog.
WAC?'s gratuitous take. All of our clients and most of the lawyers in Hull McGuire PC never liked the class action bar much--but that's not the point. Lerach and his team at his firms were creative, aggressive and generally good craftsmen. They were good at what they did--i.e., a new kind of economic terrorism aimed at corporations via research,
pleadings and discovery--even if we hated it. If this new stuff is true, what a 100% waste of talent, energy and resolve. More importantly, what was taught/imparted to new, junior and younger lawyers in those firms over the years--at best that the law was a cynical game, a dodge? No moral high-ground, gloating or even humor by WAC? would ever fit this story.
Only sadness could.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 09:21 PM | Comments (0)
September 18, 2007
Rule 12: Have Fun.
It's supposed to be fun. American law is extremely varied, elastic and constantly presenting new practice areas. It has something for everyone. I am convinced of this. Please keep the faith and keep looking until you find it. Put another way, don't quit before the miracle occurs. It's there, and it's all inside you, in front of you. Simple--but still hard. It's a privilege and joy to do what lawyers do when they do it right.
In the 12 Rules of Client Service, Rule 12, the last one, is Have Fun. If you are not having fun, you are doing something wrong. Period.
Any questions?
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Arabian Beauty, Dartmoor Serenity.
See "Arabian Nights" at a new WAC? favorite blog, Tara Bradford's Paris Parfait. And then you can head north from Tangier to Devon in southwest England. Costs you nothing. It's fun following Tara around. What a world we live in, eh?
Posted by JD Hull at 10:58 PM | Comments (0)
September 17, 2007
"Toying with China"
It's at Dan Harris's award-winning China Law Blog. See/hear also "China Not Manned Enough for Safety" and the NPR "Marketplace" interview with Dan's law partner Steve Dickinson.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:44 PM | Comments (0)
Blawg Review #126 means business.
This week's edition of Blawg Review (#126) is at former GC Anita Campbell's Small Business Trends, and blends business and legal issues. We agree with Anita's comment that both businesspeople and lawyers will benefit from reading this week's edition. And we'll go one step further: lawyers have way more to learn about business than businesspeople need to learn about the law.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)
"Would've left work earlier today, but fell asleep at my desk."
Happy Monday, American workers. And buck up, as we hear from a Gallup poll that 77% of you hate your damn job. Not a good stat. But there's hope. Please see at Gruntled Employees the piece "Ept Managers Lead to Gruntled Employees" and the linked-to materials.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 07:57 PM | Comments (0)
September 16, 2007
The real rose of Texas: Racehorse Haynes
Say you sue me because you say my dog bit you. Well, now this is my defense:
My dog doesn't bite. And second, in the alternative, my dog was tied up that night. And third, I don't believe you really got bit. And fourth, I don't have a dog.
--Richard Haynes, at an ABA conference, long time ago
WAC? loves trials and Texans. Houston trial lawyer Mark Bennett publishes a blog we'll start to watch more called Defending People: The Art and Science of Criminal Defense Trial Lawyering. See on now 80-year-old Richard "Racehorse" Haynes "A Great Moment In Trial Lawyering" And see Bennett's "Resiliency".
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Rule 11: Treat Each Co-Worker Like He or She Is Your Best Client.
In our 12 Rules of Client Service, this one, Rule 11, is perhaps the hardest one to achieve. The Driven and The Motivated--at least the able and confident ones--want people just like them in their workplace. This is admirable, and can cause problems.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 09:59 PM | Comments (0)
"FRCP and Metadata - Avoid the Lurking E-Discovery Disaster"
Recently, before attending and participating in a panel on the west coast on developments in American law over the past year, WAC? reviewed, among other things, this article, courtesy of Workshare and by Dennis Kennedy. It's one of the best primers you could read on the e-discovery amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure which became effective December 1, 2006. If Rules 26 and 37, FRCP, are part of your world--and they are if you work in federal courts--you should read it sooner rather than later. Not long, gets to the points.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:05 AM | Comments (0)
September 15, 2007
Tune in: I'm There For You Baby
Today on Baby, women entrepreneurs talk straight about what it takes to climb the corporate ladder. You can hear this week's episode on San Diego's CA$H 1700 AM Saturday from 1-2 PM, Pacific Time, or listen live via simulcast on the CA$H web site.
Posted by Tom Welshonce at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2007
"Maintaining" in front of juries: do your trial associates seem like creeps?
Juries are not dumb and miss little. They watch you and yours in the courtroom, the back of the courtroom, hallways, restrooms, parking lots, restaurants. Whether or not you think the people you bring to trial with you are capable of looking or acting like stone "creeps" at any moment during the roller-coaster ride of a trial, explain to these men and women in advance the importance of "maintaining" a demeanor which appears professional yet likeable, amiable, fair and genuinely good-hearted.
Jurors, of course, will always surprise you. No matter what an expert might tell you, or how hard you've worked at selection, you are always wrong about two or three of them. You've heard that. Now hear this: don't go out of your way to antagonize jurors with sideshows which have nothing to do with the trial itself.
In 1997, after a two-and-a-half week trial, we won a jury defense verdict in a breach of contract and fraud trial involving three established companies and a super-nail biter which no one could call. Everyone had "bad" facts to deal with. All counsel and most witnesses did a fine job. An honest, fair, bright and even-tempered judge
presided.
So we interviewed a few of the more earnest, intelligent jurors right after the trial--and were told by all but one of them that they were seriously non-plussed by some of the sneers, body language, guffaws and antics of the fire-breathing "let's kick some ass" associates and paralegals in the firms helping the plaintiff and the co-defendant in and out of the courtroom. This seemed to happen a lot with two younger lawyers (I knew them both--nice people, usually...) in the same firm who sat together in the court room smirking and cockily approaching counsel's table bearing a note or message with an attitude that said "let's see how our wretched and low adversaries handle this one" and "your sufferings will be legendary, chumps"--that kind of thing. Just nice kids getting really into it. But in our interviews, some of the jurors used words like "creeps", "jerks" and worse to describe these people. The law firm's culprits were just over-jazzed, over-confident, over-macho and young. But their behavior, even subtle things, may have tipped the balance. Jurors don't like "creeps in suits".
Don't screw up hard work and a client's chances at trial with mean-spirited sideshows confirming what many jurors thought about many lawyers anyway. Jurors are watching you, your attending GC, client representative and/or your witnesses AND your associates and paralegals like hawks: in and out of session, in the halls, in the back of the courtroom, restrooms, parking lots, restaurants. Very little is missed. Whether or not you think your trial people (men or women) are capable of looking or acting like "creeps" and robots of war at any moment during the roller-coaster ride of a trial, explain to them in advance the importance of "maintaining" a demeanor which appears professional yet fair, friendly, amiable and genuinely good-hearted. Better yet, hire only those people to help you present your case to a jury.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)
September 12, 2007
W-L balance as a non-issue: first, choose the life you want.
I should be catching up on lawyering this morning, but a fine thinker-lawyer-blogger just sent me an enlightening article. Work-life balance is an issue we've made fun of a lot at this blog; don't worry, we'll continue to do that. To me, W-L balance is a "concept" (1) stifling verve, passion, creativity and achievement, (2) ignoring that good and great things are hard-won and (3) advanced by people who really don't like what they do all day. Still, our blog, What About Clients? likely failed to pick up on the better threads of the "issue":
For me, the point is and always has been making my/your life a work of art. That's it. If you think there is something selfish or grandiose about that, fine. Art is intended to make sense of our world and our selves. First, though, what life--indeed, what world?--do you want? Have you even made that choice? Choose your life. That's the hard part, especially if you need to change it (it's not supposed to be easy).
And then fill in the blanks. Blood, family and relationships for most of us will be the priority, and a major complexity, in the life canvas. Whoa, you don't even choose all those people. You struggle, you grow,
you compromise where you must, you try to surround yourself with people who stretch you. You work, you give and you increase love. Hopefully, people in your life want you to chase a dream or two. It makes you happy.
This stuff blends together--and needs to blend so we can be happy. For many of us, "life" and "work" are not capable of a bright-line separation--especially if you love your existence, the people in it and what you do. And, hey, communication technologies, and the lemming-like madness often surrounding it all, are no cure-all--but technologies do make work-life "blurring" possible, easier on others and often fun. Someone just said this all a lot better than I can or have here, and thanks to Stephanie West Allen of Idealawg, I just read it. See Marci Alboher's piece in the New York Times small business section, "Blurring by Choice and Passion".
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Real Bloggers will read Kevin O'Keefe's Blawg Review #125
Here's one straight from Olympus: the Art of The Blog. Save it now on your computer desktop. This week's Blawg Review, issue #125, is hosted by Seattle-based Kevin O'Keefe at his highly-regarded Real Lawyers Have Blogs. He has gathered posts of experts, gurus and leading lights in blogging and marketing who tell you "how to build and maintain" a first-rate blog. These folks generally are not, thank God, lawyers--at least not practicing ones--and so they (1) have business instincts, (2) make sense, (3) write clearly, and (4) tell you what they actually think in a non-weenie way. Mark Cuban, Guy Kawasaki, Steve Rubel and Shel Israel are a few of the stars at Kevin's #125. A visionary, thought leader and doer in blogging/blawging himself, Kevin knows what's going on nationally and internationally in the blogosphere, legal and non-legal, how to use blogs as a marketing tool, and who's who. He understands blog quality--form, content and practical aspects. So his selections for #125 are informed. Read and save if you or your firm have a blog, or plan to launch one.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
John Remsen: Looking like a lawyer
Medieval, old school, vain and running dog lackey of good GCs at good companies, WAC? (Dan Hull) met Atlanta-based law firm marketer John Remsen at an IBLC meeting last September in Milwaukee, was impressed, "liked his play" and loved his presentation. From The Remsen Group's website, here's "Enough is Enough: Lawyers Should Look Like Lawyers!"
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:24 PM | Comments (0)
September 11, 2007
9/11/01
Today you'll see no "where we were/what we've learned/how we've changed" pieces from us. Our contribution: silence, and a partial list of New York City memorial events from NYT.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 08:04 PM | Comments (0)
September 10, 2007
$30 million: Durham gets an offer from 3 lacrosse players
A little on the high side in first round: $5 million from city insurance and $25 million from city budget. $10 million a defendant with five year pay-out. In the The Chronicle, the Duke student daily.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
When we get nervous, we all do weird stuff.
In a "state of intense anxiety" following his arrest, Craig "felt compelled to grasp the lifeline offered to him by the police officer" and plead guilty to the disorderly conduct...
Travel anxieties: everyone has them. So you get some alone time. Wide stance. Suddenly, another human voice. Arguments and echos. The horror, the horror. In Forbes.com via AP: Craig Files To Withdraw Guilty Plea. Senator Craig's got moxie, though--and Billy Martin's a fine lawyer. Do see by James Hannaham in Salon Why Bathroom Sex Is Hot.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 01:59 PM | Comments (0)
September 08, 2007
UnAmerican: "Passenger too sexy for Southwest Airlines"
WAC?, fond of waitresses and generally seeking entertainment while traveling, has taken a stand against this sort of thing. From BloggingStocks.com, here's Miniskirt Gets Waitress Tossed.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)
September 07, 2007
Rule Nine: Be There For Clients -- 24/7
From WAC?'s 12 Rules, here is Rule Nine. If you have thought through this rule, and you still disagree with it, that's fine. However, we are 100% certain that you are in the wrong profession. Here's the silver lining: if you indeed have good clients--i.e., sophisticated users of legal services with interesting problems to solve who pay well and on time--feel free to let us know the names of their GCs. Or, even better, just have them contact us. Our contact information, phone numbers and e-mail addresses are on the website. We'll unburden you. No problem.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:06 PM | Comments (0)
China President Hu: "China Ready to Work on Product Safety"
What else would we expect the guy to say?
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — Chinese President Hu Jintao defended the safety and quality of China's exports Thursday and offered to work with other countries to improve any problems in the country's inspection regimes.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 10:10 AM | Comments (0)
Malaise ender: turn up speakers, point, click, dance around, continue work.
To get you and especially our staid Pennsylvania office through those first tough days after Labor Day:
Ride like the wind, at double speed
I'll take you places that you've never, never seen.--MPJ, Buenos Aires, 1995
Posted by JD Hull at 12:59 AM | Comments (0)
Duke LaX news: Rich kids have rights, too--and maybe they can get damages.
AP: "Former Duke Lacrosse D.A. Reports to Jail". Meanwhile, the City of Durham negotiates civil damages with some fancy Yankee lawyers representing the 3 Duke students. Even Williams & Connolly's Brendan Sullivan--as Oliver North's wonderfully aggressive lawyer in the Iran-Contra hearings 20 years ago, he said to Sen. Daniel Inouye: "I am not a potted plant"--is involved.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:08 AM | Comments (0)
September 06, 2007
People--lawyers, too--need mediation training.
“Whenever two good people argue over principles, they are both right.”
See Justin Patten's new Human Law Mediation website. There's even a quote from Christian Slater.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Work-Life Balance is PC for "Slacker"?
I told WAC?, at an LA restaurant called "The Ivy", about this 2006 post. It may have been the espresso, but he was very jazzed, said he will name his next born son after the guy who wrote it--maybe call him Very Excellent Mo. Last August Dan Morris of the VeraSage Institute, and a man who avoids mediocrity, wrote "Work-Life Balance is PC for 'Slacker'". Morris adds to the strange but interesting new conversation about work v. real life (as if they are capable of separation).
Our thanks for finding it goes to Idealawg's Stephanie West Allen, who monitors and thoughtfully writes about the WLB "issue" from time to time, and without ever being doctrinaire, presumptuous or pig-headed about it, like we are. We just think that lawyering, good work, problem-solving and innovation are all hard. After all, that's what makes these things great.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:44 PM | Comments (0)
September 05, 2007
Ruthie does America...and vice-versa.
WAC? understands that the UK lawyer-blogger Ruthie of Ruthie's Law landed safe and sound in a Midwestern city on Saturday--and is now busy charming and seducing everyone she meets in meetings in the Heartland. Lots of press about this in England (e.g., "Ruthie in Evil Empire"). Will she finally meet my travel-worn boss on this trip? Or will she/he have to wait until WAC?'s next trip to London? Stay tuned.
In the meantime, welcome to America, Ruthie. And vice-versa.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
USA workers most productive--but Asian numbers are impressive.
As announced earlier this week by UN agency the International Labour Organization, American workers are the most productive, even while not always putting in the longest hours. As Boston-based employment lawyer (management side) Jay Shepherd points out in "US Workers Most Gruntled?", value, not long hours, is the point. Still, note that seven Asian states averaged 2200 hours per worker in 2006 compared with the US average of 1800. Whoa. Sign those dudes up.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:45 AM | Comments (0)
September 04, 2007
The Blogs of War: 2008 U.S. Elections
"If you're not on the edge, you're taking up too much space."
--Ernie of Glen Burnie, lawyer, philosopher, New Age pundit
Well, you could at least vote. It's the day after Labor Day: time to rev up for 2008 elections. Whether you're red, blue, green, independent or just another American man, woman, business person, manager, drone, government worker, accountant, lawyer, associate, partner, dynamo or human just barely mananging things these days, slouching toward your future, drooling at your desk, this 2008 election stuff concerns you, dudes. See Salon.com's "guide to the political blogosphere" in The Blog Report, where there's someone for everyone.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:58 PM | Comments (0)
London Tube Strike Causes Commuter Chaos
See here, from the Associated Press.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 07:58 AM | Comments (0)
September 03, 2007
Promethean Anti-Slacker Blawg Review #124
Whoa. Blawg Review #124, the Labor Day Special, is up at George Lenard's Employment Blawg. It's really long and comprehensive, a super-human effort. But it's also Promethean (Prometheus (Προμηθεύς) means "forethought"). You won't see a better specimen of Blawg Review than this one in terms of planning, choice of content and writing. So Lenard's an especially thoughtful and hard-working fellow. If he doesn't get an end-of-year award from BR's mysterious editor for something, we will have our junior co-blogger and associate Holden Oliver jump from the 32nd floor of the US Steel Building on New Year's Day 2008. It's the least we could do in protest. And, besides, Holden's billable hours were down at 2,500 last year.
Posted by Tom Welshonce at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
British troops leave Basra, Iraq base
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
U.S. 2008 election line-up and result?
Our prediction, and without comment: it will be Clinton-Obama v. Giuliani-Romney, unless one of the four is discovered to have done something "bad" in past or future. And unless there is a new 9/11 style attack on American soil, Democrats will win, but barely. Fred Thompson will be flavor of the week for several months but not be in play by end of February 2008. And for a while Thompson will be discussed as the perfect GOP VP candidate for Rudy.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)
Love's Labours Lost: An American holiday tribute.
NOTE: We offer this special Labor Day item rather than a thoughtful post on work-life balance or a very short but comprehensive item on current usefulness of trade unions in the U.S.
The complete text of the circa-1595 comedy by William Shakespeare is here on one page. First performed before Queen Elizabeth at her Court in 1597 (as "Loues Labors Loſt"), it was likely written for performance before law students and barristers-in-training--who would appreciate its sophistication and wit--at the Inns of Court in what is now often called Legal London. Interestingly, it begins with a vow by several men to forswear pleasures of the flesh and the company of women during a three-year period of study and reflection. And to "train our intellects to vain delight". Click above to find out what happens.
Posted by JD Hull at 10:49 AM | Comments (0)
September 01, 2007
London's GeekLawyer these days
Velvet-voiced barrister GeekLawyer, sans Ruthie, does Podcast 12 and defames WAC?, sort of. Our main blogger, my boss, is an energetic and inspirational guy, with strange tastes in humans.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Canada's Slaw on a roll
No bad pun intended. But I noticed at my laptop from my perch here above Cannery Row and the stunning blue Monterey Bay that the excellent Slaw.ca--it mixes an eye for the important with competent writing--serves especially good fare lately. See, e.g., Canadian Kyoto Report Released, Small Arms Survey 2007 - Americans Own Most of the Guns and Making the Most of Blogs and Wikis. "Slaw is a co-operative weblog about Canadian legal research and IT, etc."--and a lot more these days.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:07 PM | Comments (0)