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March 31, 2008
"Why not a teaching law firm?"
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Pirate Blawg Review #153
Aye, matey--it's not Talk Like a Pirate Day yet, but Real Pirates keep it up all year round. The savage and merciless "Captain George" Wallace of Wallace & Schwartz hosts this week's Blawg Review #153 at Declarations and Exclusions. Read it now, ya' empty ignorant black-hearted law scums, or we'll have it out of yer meager wages.
Posted by Brooke Powell at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Do you really need to take that deposition?
As a companion piece to an earlier WAC? post, "Informal Discovery", see at Stewart Weltman's Lean and Mean Litigation Blog "Deciding Who to Depose (Part I)".
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
"The best customer service is no service"
Via a tip from our vigilant friend Moe Levine, see in the Financial Times Alan Mitchell's review of the book The Best Service Is No Service, subtitled "How to liberate your customers from customer service, keep them happy, and control costs", by Bill Price and David Jaffe. Mitchell's review: If You Want to be Loved, Do it Right. Note that the book, which we haven't read, appears to focus more on customer service for products, services and product-service mixes--mobile phones, utilities, equipment, banks*, etc.--than on the delivery of consulting or professional services.
*Don't get us started on the client service cesspool of retail banking, in which basic fiduciary duties to bank customers are unkown to or routinely ignored by the marginal cretins most banks employ.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 10:37 AM | Comments (0)
March 29, 2008
A house called Dar Rumi
Visit our American friend Maryam in Morocco at My Marrakesh... and another great house she found. Hers is literally one of the best websites or blogs in the world, and hands down the best one out of Africa we've seen: elegant photographs, wistful writing, playfulness, generosity, taste. She has the gift of an eye for life.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:48 AM | Comments (1)
March 28, 2008
Outsourcing: India firms paying better.
At Legal Blog Watch by Carolyn Elefant: "Firm Salaries on the Rise in India".
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Billing: Is London/Paris/Prague a high-priced city, or what?
LAX-bound Dan Hull (under LA sniper fire, he claims) got a link today from similarly peripatetic and warlike Ed. of Blawg Review. See at David Lat's Above the Law "Charging $1,000 an Hour Is For Chumps". Ed's suggested title for our post is "Will Work for US Dollars". Ours is "Breaking: European associates even more overpriced-and-useless than Yank counterparts". View David's chart and decide for yourself.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:55 AM | Comments (0)
Real estate: Got cash? (part 2)
WSJ reports that banks are acquiring foreclosed homes faster than they can sell them off. Via beSpacfic.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
BBC reporter loses it on air.
Our London mentor Charon QC so reports. Journalists, like trial lawyers can be, well, a little high-strung. But we can't blame Charlotte Green. Listen.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
March 27, 2008
No Fooling
Not to put pressure on the guy but next week's Blawg Review host is one of the most talented, erudite and fun bloggers you'll see: George M. Wallace at Declarations and Exclusions.
An association of fools.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Non-U.S. clients, non-U.S. courts--and punitive damages.
Many clients from Europe loathe and avoid U.S. courts, especially state courts. They prefer arbitration panels, even when arbitration itself threatens to be trial-like and lengthy. The expensive and drawn-out American court litigation process and its hefty jury awards--which often include a huge punitive damages component--is feared. And foreign courts, when faced with enforcing American punitive awards, are just as skittish. At the same time, some countries are starting to experiment with punitives, a mutant and now barely recognizable creature of American and English common law. See in yesterday's NYT "Foreign Courts Wary of U.S. Punitive Damages".
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (2)
Lamb: Where young legal talent may now go.
See this gem by Patrick Lamb we almost missed, and wish we could call our own: "Problems--The Mother's Milk of Innovation" at his In Search of Perfect Client Service. I've seen this pattern for years--but Pat isolates and describes it.
....what's emerging is this paradox: the best and the brightest leave the high priced big law firms in search of an alternative that provides better alternatives. They find it, receive better training and better opportunities to develop, and actually do develop. They develop so much they are actually better and more experienced than their former colleagues, many of whom are still reviewing documents manually, slowly and at great expense to the client.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:16 PM | Comments (0)
Wal-Mart trade dress: satire T-shirts OK.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (3/25): "A Conyers man may continue criticizing Wal-Mart with parodies on T-shirts that compare the retail giant to the Holocaust and al-Qaida terrorists, a federal judge has ruled." Offending CafePress Ts: "I [heart] Wal-ocaust" and "Wal-Qaeda, The Dime Store From Hell."
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)
March 26, 2008
Kane: Identify and keep the clients you "like".
While our own Holden Oliver's on one of his important-but-demented "I love rock n' roll and hate all things PC" and "alternative lifestyles of the famous" jags, see a great Tom Kane post re: keeping just the clients you want and "like". Rather than self-indulgent and pie-in-the-sky, this principle is both logical and, for corporate lawyers, a must for doing first-rate work. Life's short and practicing law is hard. And bad clients are poison. Rule 1 at WAC? is Represent Only Clients You "Like". See Tom's "Decide on Ideal Clients by Identifying Clients You Don't Want", in one of his most repeated and critical themes.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
"Do childless women make the most productive lawyers?"
Dang. Salon and its new Broadsheet--see the first-rate above piece by Catherine Price--are on a workplace roll. But, uh, "Broadsheet"? Is someone (a woman or two?) at Salon bringing back the expression "broad" to refer to dames? We do like 1930s jive. Or will the American Thought-Speech-and-Correct-Lifestyles squad nix that one quick? Stay tune...
"Answer it. You used the word 'broad', didn't you, Miss?"
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:39 PM | Comments (0)
TechnoLawyer This: Blawg Review #152
"Late--but never lame", former and thankfully now dead FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover always remarked about a quarter horse at Del Mar he and his special friend Clyde Tolson (Johnny and Clyde, Truman Capote once called the pair) used to bet on religiously. And so the slightly late but totally studly and stylish blog of Neil Squillante of the acclaimed TechnoLawyer hosts Blawg Review #152. Last summer TechnoLawyer published BlawgWorld 2007, a first-rate, spiffy and easy-to-use compendium of the best legal weblogs, which TL has continued to update.
Real men read Blawg Review #152.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:12 AM | Comments (0)
March 25, 2008
Should we leave workaholics the hell alone?
WAC? believes that workaholism is not a major disease. If it is, we just love being around sick people. Such unfortunates build and invent things--and change the world. So-inflicted employment candidates with the right credentials may contact our firm. While all the silly hype about working hard has you wondering whether you're sick, do see this Salon piece which asks: Are women to blame for workaholism? It was partly inspired by a recent Boston Globe feature, "Working women, where did we go so wrong?", by Monique Doyle Spencer.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Got cash?
AP: On U.S. housing prices in January 2008, Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index reflects record 11.4 % drop.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Paris Parfait: York, England, and The Inimitable City.
American writer Tara Bradford spends Easter in York and then back to Paris for the real fabric of things.
T. Bradford photo of stone arches at York Minster Cathedral, York, England.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:09 AM | Comments (0)
March 24, 2008
The Trends: Client retention and development.
Customer loyalty is not dead. It's different. See Jim Hassett's five part series at Legal Business Development.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Mediating Internationally: Barcelona's Arbitration Tribunal
Ancient Barcelona, Spain has always been a key commercial center--apart from its gifts to the world of Miró, a tradition of cultural prosperity, and the Sagrada Família church. Listen to the newest IDN interview, No. 19, "The Arbitration Tribunal of Barcelona".
Posted by Brooke Powell at 07:52 AM | Comments (0)
March 23, 2008
Baja Easter
Following our two days in LA, two London lawyer friends and I this weekend are touring what's left of upper Baja California, Mexico, a gritty shrine to bad planning, spoiled Nature, bribery and failed cultures everywhere. Not snobbery--just fact, mixed with a lawyer's prayer for renewal and rebirth. Dudes, got standards?
Posted by JD Hull at 06:56 PM | Comments (0)
March 20, 2008
Redux: "Ease-of-Use Awards" For Law Firms?
Read it here...
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 08:03 AM | Comments (0)
March 19, 2008
Clients v. Employees: Are we asking enough of ourselves on client service?
Here's a fine post on an important subject: Clients or Team Members - Which Comes First? at Innovative Practice Management. Obviously, for WAC?, the client is first. Employees and "team members", while key, can't ever be put ahead of the client. And I get all the Stephen Covey peace-and-love stuff about employees. My firm just believes that good employees buy into customer service in the first two weeks--or they don't--and there is rarely anything you can do to "teach" a client service mindset. Lots of very intelligent staff people and associates in the market are very happy going through business life without a client-focus. The answer is to avoid them or get rid of them right away. My question: is the standard in our profession for client service and actual delivery of legal services high enough in the first place? And do we ever even meet it? The marketplace has become much more employee-friendly in the last 20 years. But what about clients and customers? My take is that on CS, we're still in the dark ages, and mediocre is the best we can do. The key is employees. Are we asking ourselves and them to do enough--and policing it?
Posted by JD Hull at 12:49 PM | Comments (2)
March 18, 2008
Heroic, not-good news.
AP: JPMorgan Chase 'rescue' of rival Bear Stearns has spooked the markets.
Posted by JD Hull at 03:56 PM | Comments (0)
IP Wars: Defamation suit by lawyers against Troll Tracker
Get all the dope at Cincinnati-based Patent Baristas in this post and the related links.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 09:30 AM | Comments (0)
March 17, 2008
Saint Patrick's Day Blawg Review
In Dublin, Daithí Mac Sithigh hosts this week's Blawg Review #151 at Lex Ferenda.
Posted by Brooke Powell at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Mediating Internationally: France & Italy
Hear the latest IDN interview, No. 18, "Expertise Proceedings in France & Italy: Same but Completely Different".
Posted by Brooke Powell at 11:19 PM | Comments (0)
C.J. Barton: "Nuclear Green"
I'm intrigued by it all. But I'm still not sure what either the science or politics of climate change does or does not do to nuclear energy, an industry my firm generally supports. Twice when I worked for Congress, I dealt fairly closely with two "problem" plants, both in the Midwest; each was discovered to have construction and/or operational flaws that made owners and federal regulators alike incontinent. The question was always: no matter what apparatus you set up, can nuclear plants ever be regulated to ensure public health and safety? While we think about this, see Charles Barton's Nuclear Green, which has a fine collection of links on nuclear and other non-fossil fuel energy sources.
Posted by JD Hull at 10:51 AM | Comments (0)
March 14, 2008
Beyond borders, guns and money: A new global elite?
Do Rupert Murdoch, the Pope, Bill Clinton and Osama bin Laden form part of a new international class that replaces traditional governments? See Laura Miller's article "The rise of the superclass", and her review of David Rothkopf's book Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making, in today's Salon.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (4)
"Name's Oliver, Holden Oliver, just got back from Île Saint-Louis..."
Via Ed. of Blawg Review, and by Hugh MacLeod of gapingvoid.com, below is new non-business calling card for rogues (or roués), cads and philanderers on business travel of all ages with a classical education, or pretending to have one. If any of you guys need the Cliff's Notes on Women in Love, we've got it around here somewhere.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (2)
Simple Justice on Spitzer Exit
At WAC?, we think that politics--the art of controlling your environment--is important every day, and especially important if you're a business person or a lawyer. Do see Scott Greenfield's article "Spitzer Aftermath; What to Expect" at Simple Justice. We like New Yorker Greenfield for his brain, his pluck and his ideas.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:59 AM | Comments (1)
March 13, 2008
"When you work, you are marketing."
Rule 6, our favorite in WAC?'s famous and annoying-but-true 12 Rules.
Posted by JD Hull at 05:00 PM | Comments (0)
Law Practice Magazine: Reading Minds
Stephanie West Allen, in her inaugural "Reading Minds" column of the ABA's Law Practice Magazine's March 2008 issue, asked "wise minds" to recommend their favorite books on the topic of building professional relationships. Read one J. Daniel Hull's paragraph on Cicero on Friendship--and then the suggestions of three genuinely wise people: Karen E. Glover, U.S. District Court Judge John Kane and Susan Cartier Liebel.
Posted by Brooke Powell at 03:19 PM | Comments (0)
Flaubert's last letters
In yesterday's London Times, the popular British Flaubert scholar Julian Barnes reads between the lines of "Flaubert's letters on sex, art, bankruptcy and cliffs."
Posted by JD Hull at 12:59 AM | Comments (0)
March 12, 2008
Governor Spitzer resigns.
Effective St. Patrick's Day. Classy and smart speech, at least--and we think you'll be seeing him again. Bloomberg. Hello, Governor Paterson.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (3)
Obama wins Mississippi
Bloomberg: Obama's Mississippi Win Blunts Clinton's Recent Delegate Gains. In a very short time, the Clintons have lost their famous mojo in American black community.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:27 PM | Comments (0)
March 11, 2008
The economic downturn and corporate boutiques.
NEW YORK (Portfolio Media, March 5, 2008)--Faced with the need to cut legal fee costs, in-house corporate counsel may avoid larger firms in favor of more cost-efficient alternatives, such as smaller firms, according to a new study commissioned by international law firm Eversheds LLP. [more]
Seattle-based business lawyer Dan Harris, at the well-regarded China Law Blog, forwarded us the above piece at IP Law360 called "Study: Cost-Cutting May Boost Smaller Law Firms". For WAC?, the real point is that for years law firms between 250 and 3000+ lawyers have been losing clients to smaller corporate law firms with BigTalent, even to those boutiques with comparable or higher rates, anyway. True, smart and secure GCs often perceive that they get better and faster lawyering and service at smaller shops. And, while it "helps", you don't need a downturn in the markets served by large law firms to make more inroads into their business. Here's another reason. With a few notable exceptions--and as we've written before--in the last 15 years many law firms now between 250 and 3000+ lawyers sacrificed lawyer quality and dramatically diluted their "gene pools" in order to grow and get big in the U.S. and around the world in the first place--especially large firms with offices in second-tier cities. We see it every day in our practice--partners and senior lawyers at "large" firms, many lateral acquisitions, who would have trouble getting steady work as street people in cities like London, New York, LA, Chicago and DC. There are now two distinct classes of talent at larger firms. (Which will GCs get stuck with at those shops?) Not kind to say--but it's sadly true.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
IBA report: Kenya after the storm.
From the International Bar Association's Legalbrief Africa:
After weeks of deadlocked negotiations and bloodshed on the streets of Kenya, the recent political breakthrough has switched the spotlight to Parliament where MPs are being called on to support the accord signed by President Mwai Kibaki and ODM chairman Raila Odinga. The country has opened a new political era, during which power and responsibilities of the government will be shared through a grand coalition.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Great hubris-laden men's club names down through the ages.
Cosmos Club, University Club, Skull and Bones, Duke Tara, HYP Club, the Boom-Boom Room at the Latrobe Holiday Inn, and now...
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
AP: U.S. malls and retailers falter. "Darwinism".
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)
March 10, 2008
Mediating Internationally: India's Outsourced Litigation Work
At the International Dispute Negotiation series of The International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR), hear the latest IDN interview, No. 17 "Offshore Litigation Work in India" featuring the entrepreneur-founder of outsourcing firm Pangea3 and one of its top managers.
Posted by Brooke Powell at 11:03 PM | Comments (0)
Blawg Review #150: Trust Matters and Charles Green
Charles H. Green of Trusted Advisor Associates hosts this week's Blawg Review #150 at Trust Matters. His rendition is straightforward, thoughtful, and rich with ideas you can use today.
Posted by Brooke Powell at 03:59 AM | Comments (0)
USD $3.20/gallon
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. average retail gasoline prices have reached a new high of almost $3.20 per gallon and will likely jump another 20 to 30 cents in the next month, worsening the pain of consumers struggling to make ends meet in an economic downturn. [more]
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:58 AM | Comments (0)
Spontaneous Porsche combustion and you.
ABA Law Journal news: D.C. Law Firm’s Hot Porsche Spontaneously Caught Fire, Suit Claims. See also Legal Times blog.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:36 AM | Comments (0)
Charon QC 24/7?
Charon After Dark. "A new idea…not, perhaps, a good one…", Rioja and music lover Charon thinks. While he plots, read our London hero's Weekend Review, on Brits, Brit law and old Albion herself.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:02 AM | Comments (0)
It's Monday, Still Winter.
Don't be hatin' life.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
March 08, 2008
Stewart Weltman: Lean, mean, worth reading and watching.
Re: our SLM (Federal Courts) series, see Stewart Weltman's Lean and Mean Litigation and a piece on a subject of interest to us: discovery done right, which good judges and their clerks don't always have a perfect handle on. We'd have proudly put our name to this post, "Another Reason Why You Shouldn't Play Games When Producing Documents". It reflects the broad and liberal precept of Rule 26, Fed. R. Civ. P. (and state counterparts), withholding information on relevancy grounds (generally, a bad idea and even notion), and the "dicey" problem of redaction. Note the boomerang graphic, folks.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Is Holden Oliver a radical Muslim?
Like George Will, he's one of our best 17th century minds. His middle initial is H--but the literal meaning of Muslim is a person who "submits" to the Will of God. Holden is a lapsed Episcopal--it's a little late for him in any organized religion. He went to the "right schools" (but wished he'd attended Summerhill as a child), made law review, and he likes difficult women and scotch. He's in good shape--but he won't let on
that he ever works out. Last summer he took the Hull McGuire DSM-IV-driven narcissist test for litigators and got a perfect score--but he wants to do corporate tax law. Anyway, ancient law student and recovering journalist Holden H. Oliver gets a little weird as exam time in the Bay Area approaches. But he's a quick study. An expert on the development of the DaneLaw (Danelagh) in the 9th century (long story but that's the reason WAC? met him in the first place), he would have been very happy as the village magistrate in a past age in rural East Anglia. His religion: "making my life art". Grandiose but admirable. Good luck on those outlines, Holden. Godspeed. But we expect a post on Ordeal By Water by the middle of next week.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:12 PM | Comments (1)
21st century lawyers: "A profession on the brink".
Brit Nick Holmes at Binary Law has always had a good eye for new things on both sides of the Atlantic. Through Nick, we just noticed Law21, "Dispatches from a Legal Profession on the Brink", by lawyer-journalist Jordan Furlong, who is also Editor-in-Chief of National magazine at the Canadian Bar Association. Unlike some other bar associations, the CBA has underscored and promoted client-focused methods, techniques and overall thinking in law practice. See PracticeLink, where client service seems to be a main event--not an add-on or obligatory PR to trumpet on lawyer websites.
Posted by JD Hull at 06:30 AM | Comments (0)
March 07, 2008
Today, 24th and M, NW.
Q Going home already?
A Would have left earlier--fell asleep at my desk.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
U.S. private sector: biggest job drop in 5 years.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. private employment fell unexpectedly for the first time in nearly five years in February, according to a private report on Wednesday that dealt another blow to an economy teetering on the brink of recession. [more]
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 06:17 AM | Comments (0)
U.S. Senate approves product safety reform bill; foreign-made goods highlighted.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate on Thursday passed the most sweeping reform of the nation's consumer safety system in a generation, including stricter tests for toys, greater public access to complaints about products and an overhaul of the federal safety agency charged with regulating most items in American homes.
The bill, which passed 79-13, is tougher in key areas than a House version approved last year. House and Senate negotiators will meet to reconcile the differences before the bill heads to President Bush. [more]
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 05:37 AM | Comments (0)
March 06, 2008
Got $2,300?
So HRC is "back"--and quite a few more contentious primaries to go. If you're not maxed out, still inspired and/or rich, see our famous FEC Contributions Guide, a summary (with citations) of what you can give to HRC, Obama or McCain. Campaign contribution limits for California are also thrown in for laughs. Seriously, don't try some of this stuff at home, especially if you're in a group or organization; ask for help.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
The UK's Justin Patten: British Reserve, Human Law and Intelligent Mediation.
A year ago this week I spent an hour or so near my hotel in Mayfair (close to the Marble Arch on the northeastern corner of Hyde Park) with my friend Justin Patten of Human Law Mediation, a firm for higher-end clients he founded six years ago. If you're an American or
European business lawyer, and you don't know this English gentleman, solicitor, mediator, and thought leader, you should get to know him. Justin himself specializes in HR and employment disputes mediation--but offers a wide variety of mediation training programs to businesses and law firms. He's an original--and loves what he does. See his website or ground-breaking blog. He didn't ask for this post; Justin is a creature of Brit reserve, and never asks us to do anything for him. WAC? just admires him. We think of him as a sane version of our London barrister friend GeekLawyer: another mega-talented southern Englishman "in trade", yet less likely to upset your mother, your wife, your girlfriend, or all three.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
March 05, 2008
Blawg Review #149: Antitrust Review
David Fischer of Shook, Hardy & Bacon, LLP hosts Blawg Review No. 149 at Antitrust Review.
Posted by Brooke Powell at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Mediating Internationally: Boston's Dwight Golann
At the International Dispute Negotiation series of The International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR), hear the latest IDN interview, No. 16 "How to Borrow a Mediator's Powers" featuring Prof. Dwight Golann from Boston's Suffolk University Law School. Hosted by Michael McIlwrath, Senior Litigation Counsel with General Electric based in Florence, Italy.
Posted by Brooke Powell at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
EBay patent suit finally settled.
From Canada's LawDay:
WASHINGTON – EBay Inc. and MercExchange LLC have settled a patent lawsuit that ended a long running legal battle, which prompted a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
The legal fight, which began in 2001, resulted in a US Supreme Court ruling in 2006 that weakened courts' power to issue injunctions to bar firms from using infringing technology. [more]
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Client Service Rule 12: Have Fun.
"It's supposed to be fun. American law is extremely varied, elastic and constantly presenting new practice areas--especially in the larger cities. It has something for everyone.... It's a privilege and joy to do what lawyers do when they do it right."
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:40 AM | Comments (0)
March 04, 2008
Do you feel smart?
Well, do you, punk?*
This World is run by self-involved creatures (yours truly included) prone and programmed, for at least optimism's sake, to think that a success means "I am smart". And why not? We all like to think that hard work pays off. Certainly, work done right helps your odds. But for years (since 8th grade at Indian Hill Jr. High School in Cincinnati, to be exact) I've wondered why things, especially certain strategies, do work out--or don't--and if I should take credit for them when they do. Is it really me "making things happen"? Is it generally the talent of the doer(s)? If so, is there a formula?
Or is it something else? Luck, odds, Irish fairies, Fergus the Great, maybe?
I started thinking about it again reading Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in the Markets and in Life, an earlier book of Black Swann author Nassim Nicholas Taleb. This is a humbling and wonderful book. Luck or "not-smart" factors, it seems, may create success. However, if you are not 99% accurate in your view of your true abilities (most of us, of course, are not), do not give this book as a gift to your immediate boss who made you rich. It will shatter you both. It also concludes: Yes, Virginia, smarts are out there--but they are probably not yours. Oh, well. Dang.
And if the company you work for ever figures that out, it might try to get the stock options back. Read the book--but keep it to yourself.
*With a nod to Inspectors Callahan, and Dan Harris of China Law Blog.
Posted by JD Hull at 01:16 PM | Comments (0)
March 03, 2008
Tomorrow the streetfight: Obama v. HRC, Texas, and Back to Ohio.
AP: Texas and Ohio battleground. Two big states with rich and colorful political histories; anything could happen. Yes, this affects you--and all your clients. Right now: Obama has 1,385 delegates, HRC has 1,276. Total of 2,025 needed to win. John McCain looks like the GOP winner.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (2)
Your business client is a defendant in a state court.
And the client is wary of state courts. So consider removal to a federal court under 28 USC 1441, "Actions removable generally". More cases are removable than you might think. For removal based on diversity, generally it's either there or not there from the face of the complaint. Federal question removals are trickier. You can be creative--but do see Rule 11. Think and act quickly; there are deadlines.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
London: Saturday's Charon QC
Charon QC, London's well-regarded lawyer-pundit, has a fine review of last week's news and Brit blogs. "Blogging" may not be ground central for All Things Legal or Otherwise on the Planet. Time is precious to busy people; as a friend recently asked, "should humans blog, ski, watch birds or philander in their spare time?" But you are missing the big picture--and some fun--if you do not check in with Brit blogs. These phlegmy men, like Reactionary Snob, and exotic birds, like Ruthie, do own our language. It shows in their skill, play and heart with words. Never prissy. See, respectively, "Assorted idiocy" (Snob, the libertarian) and "Fair Trial My Arse" (Ruthie, the demure).
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Duke in Wonderland; Cornell in Heaven.
Mike Krzyzewski wins 800th. NBC: 87-86 against NC State at Raleigh. Coach K thanks evil twin-mentor Bobby Knight. And Cornell defeats Harvard to win Ivy league, finally slipping past Penn and Princeton and making the NCAA tournament.
UPDATE: The normally staid and ancient Duke daily, The Chronicle, gets excited about Coach K's win, too.
Posted by JD Hull at 10:43 AM | Comments (1)
Must bust in early May, orders from the DA...
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:47 AM | Comments (2)