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December 31, 2008
Getting America back to work.
See yesterday's piece at London's The Economist, "The People Puzzle". Excerpt:
An energetic debate on displaced workers—on the role of the private sector, for example, or which training programmes give the best return to workers and taxpayers—has yet to emerge. In the meantime some 608,000 Americans, 74% more than last year, are not seeking work because they think no jobs are available. Their label is simply “discouraged”.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:40 AM | Comments (0)
December 30, 2008
The man, the firm and the blog to watch in 2009.
It's Pat Lamb, his Chicago-based firm Valorem and In Search of Perfect Client Service, his well-regarded and enduring blog. Together they give us all we may ever need on (a) leadership, (b) law firm models that work and (c) the art of the client at the Terrible Crossroads of 2008/2009. We all face recovering economies, changing markets, new markets, new governments, and new ideas on economic growth, monetary policy and regulation. Watch Lamb closely. We don't agree on everything. But if anyone can make value billing work, and the Billable Hour go away, it's Pat. And then on to the next Dragon.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:18 PM | Comments (0)
Keith Richards is 65.
NPR: "Let me repeat that: Keith Richards is 65."
It happened on the 18th. But what's the real news story here? That it finally happened (i.e., boomers are now officially old)? Or that Richards, who "cannot be killed by conventional weapons", is still alive?
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:00 AM | Comments (1)
December 29, 2008
Darwinian
Associated Press (Ellen Simon) piece of December 26:
NEW YORK (AP) - Economic cycles are Darwinian, picking off weak companies and leaving survivors stronger.
More than a year into the recession, solid retailers have their pick of mall space. Respected banks are getting an influx of deposits. Tech companies with money to spend are having an easier time hiring.
It's been a year of brutal losses. [more]
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 07:35 PM | Comments (0)
December 26, 2008
Don't know much about tech.
But we know people who do know. Except for IP problems my firm solves for clients--i.e., devise, secure and enforce marks, copyrights, and trade secrets, and licensing issues--we don't do "tech" tech. We are working lawyers. Personally, I'm still mystified by the workings of a ball point pen, don't know how to set up a blog, and would rather be asked a question about almost anything than about blogging platforms. But we increasingly get questions about "how to set up a blog". They are flattering. And we haven't a clue.
Here is our new model answer, based on our late-coming conclusions that (a) blogs by lawyers and other service providers are here to stay and (b) the weblog phenomenon can really help to turn clients and customers into the main event:
Trial lawyer-turned-blogging proponent (and respected blogger to boot) Kevin O'Keefe at LexBlog, Inc. is, well, The Man. He builds blogs for lawyers. I've followed his work for three years now, viewed a lot of it (and so likely have you), and made a point to meet with Kevin and his talented associate Rob La Gatta when I was briefly in Seattle last summer. If we ever re-devise WAC?--for now we like its simplicity and, besides, we just figured out last week how it works--we will do it through Kevin and LexBlog. We promise.
Note also that WAC? does not "do" ads, either. We write in spurts while working when inspired by law or life (which is apparently a lot). And if Kevin had asked us to do this post, we would have told our fellow Midwesterner to take a flying spastic leap into Elliot Bay. These guys do great work for leading practicing lawyers. Hire them.
LexBlog's Kevin O'Keefe: Don't worry--more industrious than he looks.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:07 PM | Comments (2)
December 25, 2008
Nicholas, again.
"Be excellent to one another."
--From fragment written circa 340 A.D., recently discovered in Demre, formerly Myra, in Antalya Province of Turkey.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 04:53 PM | Comments (0)
December 23, 2008
Festival of the Lanham Act
It's also known as The Trademark Act of 1946, as amended (15 U.S.C. §§ 1051-1127). But most of us call it the Lanham Act, popularly named after Texas U.S. Representative Fritz Lanham, who served from 1919 to 1947. The son of a Texas governor, Lanham was an amateur magician, a writer of two musical comedies, and even toured with a stage company before serving in Congress. Blawg Review, this week, #191, is hosted by Likelihood of Confusion, named after the operative language giving much of the Act its real play, and it's a first-rate job (trust us) by New York-based Ron Coleman, a leading IP lawyer-blogger. WAC? loves the Lanham Act, especially section 43(a) because of its remarkable versatility in the hands of the right lawyer:
§ 1125. False designations of origin, false descriptions, and dilution forbidden
(a) Civil action
(1) Any person who, on or in connection with any goods or services, or any container for goods, uses in commerce any word, term, name, symbol, or device, or any combination thereof, or any false designation of origin, false or misleading description of fact, or false or misleading representation of fact, which—
(A) is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive as to the affiliation, connection, or association of such person with another person, or as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval of his or her goods, services, or commercial activities by another person, or
(B) in commercial advertising or promotion, misrepresents the nature, characteristics, qualities, or geographic origin of his or her or another person’s goods, services, or commercial activities,
shall be liable in a civil action by any person who believes that he or she is or is likely to be damaged by such act.
Fritz Lanham's parents, the Governor and Mrs. Lanham (and because we couldn't find a photo of Fritz).
Ron Coleman, more or less (we have no photo of his parents).
Posted by JD Hull at 05:48 PM | Comments (2)
December 22, 2008
Kitzbühel, Austria.
At some point after the government in your Western nation lends or grants you your money, and whether or not you ski, consider attending the week-long program Lawyering in the International Market (March 22-28) at the Lebenberg Palace, a baronial estate just outside of Kitzbühel. It's presented by the well-regarded Center for International Legal Studies, based Salzburg and founded in 1976. CILS was "global", when global wasn't cool.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:57 PM | Comments (0)
December 20, 2008
Saturday's Charon QC
London's Charon QC is doing wonderful things these days. He's versatile, in a Renaissance Man way, and with the promise of fine quirk: a lawyer-pundit-radio host who can think, opine, write and talk, deftly moving in and out of all manner of issues with considerable elan, even when half in the bag. If he were a Yank, he's be a university president, the Congressman from Nantucket, or the host of a Brit version of "The Dick Cavett Show". Read his meanderings through the streets of 2000-year-old London. Listen to his many well-done podcasts, in which WAC? has twice been a guest, once in London, and once by phone in America.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:29 PM | Comments (0)
December 19, 2008
Al Franken: Good enough, smart enough, and lawyered-up.
Today's Minneapolis Star Tribune: "Franken Posts Lead Over Coleman". Last night, two votes ahead. Today, 250.
The intense scrutiny of "voter intent" resumed today by the five-member board charged with directing Minnesota's recount in the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Republican Norm Coleman and Democratic rival Al Franken, and the day's rulings turned the challenger's slight deficit into a triple-digit lead.
Stuart Saves Minnesota?
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
The Complete Lawyer: Going Global.
If you haven't already, see the latest edition (Vol. 4, No. 6) of Atlanta-based The Complete Lawyer. Non-U.S. and U.S. authors in the November-December issue write about lawyering for business clients in Mexico, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Greater China.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
December 18, 2008
Yours in the struggle, dudes.
Usually, and as important as they are, observances like Human Rights Day, Bill of Rights Day, and Human Rights Week, 2008 make me feel like: (a) I died and went to Hallmark, (b) I should give up everything and join Che and his guys in the hills, waiting for the right time to eradicate bourgeois fascist death forms (at least Indianapolis), or (c) I should at least learn to play the lute. But Blawg Review's hosts this week, The Legal Satyricon, did it all such justice at Blawg Review 190: Bill of Rights Day that I am feeling guilty about voting for John McCain last month. I am also thinking about giving up acting for corporate Europe and America, and representing the oppressed, and real street crime defendants under the CJA program, and helping poor people, maybe. This is a very fine Blawg Review performance, and WAC? will check in with this blog a lot in the future. Moxie everywhere, humor, and these folks can write. They get the Constitution and its first ten amendments--the most important Thing Western In Ink. And, like me, they think it's important. Bravo.
Read revolutionary Blawg Review 190.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (1)
Say it ain't so, Europe.
It's ironic, perhaps, but Europe may also "lag behind" America in bribery prosecutions. In yesterday's The Economist, read "The Siemens Scandal: Bavarian Baksheesh":
When Siemens, Europe’s biggest engineering firm, adopted the slogan “be inspired” in the mid-1990s, bribery was not what it had in mind. But no one can accuse its managers of lacking inspiration when it came to devising novel ways to funnel huge sums in backhanders to corrupt officials and politicians across the globe.
On Monday December 15th Siemens pleaded guilty to charges of bribery and corruption and agreed to pay fines of $800m in America and €395m ($555m) in Germany, in addition to an earlier fine of €201m.
There is something almost touching about the candour and trust with which Siemens went about a very dirty business. Take the three “cash desks” it set up in its offices, to which employees could bring empty suitcases to be filled with cash. As much as a €1m ($1.4m) could be withdrawn at a time to win contracts for its telecoms-equipment division, according to America’s Department of Justice. [more]
Europe could learn a thing or two about law enforcement from America. Above: Citizen Thompson on duty.
Photo: Anita Bejmuk
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 05:19 PM | Comments (0)
Madoff scandal: Madoff-Jack Warden link?
Former American fund manager and NASDAQ chairman Bernard Madoff, and the late actor Jack Warden. Hey, are these two New Yorkers brothers? Should someone call Oliver Stone?
Madoff (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
Warden, with attorney-writer Scott Greenfield (seated) of Simple Justice. (Warner Bros.)
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 05:11 PM | Comments (1)
December 17, 2008
What's my share of the interest per day on just $350 billion?
"Dude, where's my $700 billion?" by Mike Madden in Salon.
Let's see. There's $15 billion to Bank of America, $45 billion to Citigroup, $3.5 billion to Capital One, $6.5 billion to U.S. Bancorp, and then $1.4 billion to Zions Bancorporation in Salt Lake City. Huh?
(20th Century Fox)
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
The Fed goes way out of the box.
Hello, Treasury? This is Ben. I need you to print me up a few more 100s. Well, a lot more. See "US Interest Rates Slashed as Low as Zero" at UK's Daily Telegraph (via our friend Justin Patten at Human Law Mediation):
America’s central bank has taken drastic steps to resuscitate the US economy out of its year-long recession, placing interest rates as low as zero - their lowest level in history - as it announced widespread plans to inject liquidity into the ailing financial markets.
By doing so, the Federal Reserve appears to have replaced the base rate as its primary weapon in its battle to support the American economy, putting lending in its place in a move known as quantitative easing.
Above: Mid-October photograph of glorious comrades Paulson, Fed Chairman Bernanke & Geithner (NYT/Matthew Cavanaugh/European Pressphoto Agency).
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:01 AM | Comments (0)
December 16, 2008
Canada's Law21: Leverage--and redesigning value.
Firms: Your call, your move. From "The New Leverage" at Jordan Furlong's Law21:
The thrust of the results [a survey by pioneering Legal OnRamp] by is that in-house lawyers aren’t especially happy with outside counsel in terms of service, partnering and communication — nothing new there — but are surprisingly tentative about predicting major change in how they go about acquiring services from these law firms.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
The Recession: Shanghai, Silver Linings.
Read China Law Blog's Dan Harris in "Finance People: Shanghai Says Jobs, Jobs, Jobs". It begins:
There is a fairly prevalent theory that the best time to start a new business is during a recession/depression. I buy that. During tough times, established companies often disappear, get overly cautious, and lay off scads of good people, who can be hired relatively cheaply. During tough times, big shifts can occur.
A few months ago, I pretty much scoffed at the idea of Shanghai becoming a financial capital... Though I certainly am not convinced, I certainly am not scoffing either. To use a bad pun (particularly during this bear market), China is grabbing the bull by the horns and seems to be boldly making moves to increase its worldwide standing as a financial center. [more]
Posted by JD Hull at 11:52 PM | Comments (0)
December 15, 2008
Good enough, smart enough, late enough.
And doggone it, it's a bit annoying. Fun wonky Al (who WAC? prefers) v. competent ex-Democrat Norm continues in Minnesota U.S. Senate race recount. We like everyone's pluck, and appreciate the oddity of the stats here (just hundreds of votes separating the candidates with 2.9 million cast on November 4), but it's getting to be time for Repose. Swearing-in time soon, guys. Yesterday's Minneapolis Star Tribune "Franken, Coleman campaigns reduce challenges".
"I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and I still have a shot at Norm Coleman's Senate seat."
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2008
The Mother of All Florsheims
"Hey, he might be a right-wing nut--but that's our right-wing nut you're aiming your wingtips at, Jack."
See Reuters: Bush on Farewell Visit to Iraq Dodges Flying Shoes. And "dog"? "Dog?" Bi-partisan WAC? notes that this stubborn Connecticut-born old money scion, ex-Texas governor and current commander-in-chief has issues--but he's still one of us:
BAGHDAD (Reuters, Dec. 14) - An Iraqi reporter called President George W. Bush a "dog" and threw his shoes at him on Sunday, sullying a farewell visit to Baghdad meant to mark greater security in Iraq after years of bloodshed.
Just weeks before he bequeaths the unpopular Iraq war to President-elect Barack Obama, Bush sought to underline improved security by landing in daylight and venturing out beyond the city's heavily fortified international Green Zone. [more]
Take that, running dog oil-swilling imperialist.
(USA Today/APTN)
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
So when will we see Ruthie's new blog?
The return of the much-stalked Law Bird of London? Is it just a rumour? Six months is a long time.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:14 PM | Comments (0)
December 13, 2008
Small, Sluggish, Insular.
And self-pitying. Coming soon: "A Passion for Mediocrity". It will be at least one post--but possibly a series, a new blog, or a new think tank on the scale of Brookings, Heritage or AEI.
"SSI" will cover in vivid detail how some "team members" of car rental companies (okay, Alamo is one), airlines, grocery stores, gas stations, IT consultant, health care providers and law firms often regard "work" during the current recession in one "flyover" American city. And these people often have children; they instruct them on work and life.
No wonder Americans can't make and sell anything that anyone wants to buy. Can we bail them out with counseling? With appeals to self-respect? And teach them not to ever say to a customer, client or patient the words: "I'm on my break"?
Stay tune. WAC? takes back everything it ever said about the Gen Y Slackoeisie (well, not everything).
We found a new nadir. And it's a disease: "Post-union daze".
(M. Judge/MTV)
Posted by JD Hull at 11:29 PM | Comments (0)
Morocco's Maryam: Heads South.
No one should meet a woman on a laptop. No one sane should bring a laptop to Paris. And no human should watch over an angel with a Dell Inspiron. The first two are easy. I don't like computers; it's no way to be fully in the world. But after I discovered via an odd route fellow Yank traveler Maryam during a trip to Paris in 2005, the Dell was all there was, given her life, mine. We've not met, probably a good fact. At her My Marrakesh, see more of her beguiling photographs, playful prose: "Mauritanian men, also known as a tale of tempting turbans.....". How many American women have this gig?
Posted by JD Hull at 09:07 PM | Comments (1)
December 11, 2008
Advice of the week.
"The only way for a reporter to look on a politician is down."
H.L. Mencken (1880-1956)
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Salon: "Rod Blagojevich's bad hair day"
Here, by Salon's Edward McClelland. It begins: "For every Barack Obama or Abraham Lincoln, this state produces a dozen Rod Blagojeviches." See DOJ's December 7, 2008 criminal complaint, and 75 page affidavit.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
New Trends in UK Collections Practice?
And introducing the new Albion-style Mass Dine-and-Ditch. See "Geeklawyer Revenge Award 2008: Low-life punter won’t pay bill?" and this related story at The Daily Telegraph. Allegedly a London law firm
reacted to a client's failure to pay its fees by taking a large group of junior lawyers to a bar owned by the client? Having drunk the bar dry, they left without paying the bill.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)
December 10, 2008
Writing well--and sanely.
One of WAC?'s most clicked-on articles, a short one, is "Just Say It: The War Against Legal-Speak". It was inspired by parts of a disturbing if entertaining lawyer document we were forced to read for money at work. Our point was, and is, that plain, simple, clear and non-legal style writing in the legal profession could help get things done and, if humanly possible, help the image of lawyers.
Note: At least one respected UK lawyer and pundit agrees that the profession's continued use of "Legalese or Lawyer-speak" makes little sense to anyone. London's erudite and playful Charon QC brought up and even read aloud an earlier version of the same post in his July 2008 interview with Dan Hull.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:24 PM | Comments (0)
The Tree of Good Writing
By Andō Tokutarō, circa 1846
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)
December 09, 2008
Russia, the Caucasus, and language.
See "Georgian on their Mind" by Richard D. Lewis at Cross-Culture. Ten years ago, Lewis wrote, and keeps writing, the book on cross-cultural "collisions" that business people can use in practical and immediate ways. We only wish he'd write more at Cross-Culture when he is between larger projects. The above piece begins:
US, French and other western political leaders who have expressed sympathy or support for Georgia in its recent conflict with Russia may not be aware of certain linguistic factors which complicate the dispute. Language is often a root of strife in the Caucasus – an area home to 40-50 indigenous tongues.
Posted by JD Hull at 10:24 PM | Comments (0)
December 08, 2008
The French to corner nuclear?
See The Economist: "Power struggle: Will France continue to lead the global revival of nuclear power?" Excerpt:
France is poised to develop its expertise into a significant export. Its president, Nicolas Sarkozy, considers the sale of nuclear power to be central to his diplomacy: it is a badge of France’s technical prowess and a reaffirmation of its status as a global industrial power.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)
The President-elect is likely "eligible" and can still take the oath.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition to hear a claim that Barack Obama might, in effect, be 'part Brit', had dual nationality at birth, and is therefore not exclusively a "natural born" U.S. citizen "eligible to the office of President" under Article II, Section I of the Constitution. See AP, and SCOTUS and WSJ blogs. A stay application was filed in Donofrio v. Wells, Secretary of State of New Jersey (08A407). The Court sought no response to the petition, and gave no reasons for denial.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:53 AM | Comments (1)
Just Praise: For Colin Samuels and Blawg Review #189.
See, read and feel this inspired and amazing creation, and form of art unto itself. Blawg Review this week is hosted by literate wordsmith-lawyer Colin Samuels at his Infamy or Praise. In #189, he spins and weaves last week's best posts together with Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
December 07, 2008
London's GeekLawyer seeks U.S. lawyer to craft "Limeyism" suit against ABA Journal.
He's out there operating without any decent restraint, totally beyond the pale of any acceptable human conduct.
--General Corman to Willard, briefing him about Colonel Walt Kurtz, Apocalypse Now (1979)
Over in the UK, GeekLawyer, the normally reserved and self-effacing product of Eton and Oxford, and rightful heir to some strange ancient crown in Ceylon who hosted Blawg Review earlier this year, is angry.
He is more disturbed than usual that he was not included in the ABA Journal's "Blawg 100". We received the below message very early Friday morning, when most Americans were still asleep. He apparently read our post of Thursday night. In response he was very matter of fact. He wants a pro-bono lawyer for his crusade.
Any takers? We know him as a persistent if frugal human who will press this until he gets want he wants. He would be a cooperative client, and he understands the trial process in the U.S. and the UK. He is, after all, under his real name, a key player in Legal London. He has contacts, influence, Inn membership and a motorcycle called "The Terrible and Inexorable Wrath of God". If you are a man, he can introduce you to lots of professional women. Anyway, his request:
Can you recommend a good lawyer who'll act for me against the ABA? This is clear Limeyism - it cannot stand. They'll need to work pro-bono because although I have plenty of money I need to keep it for mead and hookers.
Lincoln's Inn, Holborn, London
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:00 PM | Comments (2)
The fourth Senator Kennedy?
And why not, if you like a mix of ideas and personalities in the U.S. Senate? See New York Times: "Kennedy Is Said to Cast Her Eye on Senate Seat" (is NYT's headline deliberate, or an eerie Yeats slip?). Next month, New York Governor David Paterson may appoint lawyer-writer Caroline Kennedy to fill Hillary Clinton's vacant Senate seat once Clinton's nomination to be Secretary of State is confirmed.
If Kennedy becomes New York's next U.S. Senator, watch for her to be more moderate and centrist than either of her uncles, Ted and Robert (who also held that seat in New York, 1965-68). She will be "practical" and more like her dad, John Kennedy, who was no fire-breathing liberal, or even a tad doctrinaire, as a U.S. Senator or President.
Caroline Bouvier Kennedy, December 1960.
Photographer: Lynn Pelham
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)
December 05, 2008
Update: Take this to the ABA polls with you.
Re: the ABA Journal Blawg 100 voting, here are just a few of the blogs we know well and know are first-rate. Sorry if we left anyone out, and we may revise our short list soon.
Do vote for China Law Blog, Canada's FP Legal Post, Simple Justice, TaxProf Blog, Deliberations, and Real Lawyers Have Blogs.
And, even though it's in the same category--"Careers"--as What About Clients?, we strongly urge you to vote for Jordan Furlong's Canada-based Law21 for its outstanding contribution in 2008 (its first year) to the discussion of "what's next" for this profession. On the strength of Jordan's commentary alone, perceptive and often visionary, Law21 deserves your attention and vote.
Jordan Furlong of Law21
Brit Wit. Speaking of non-U.S. sites, two very great London blogs didn't make the ABA Journal "100" list for reasons which may be good ones but presently escape me and about 350,000 others. If there's a way to do write-in votes for the lyrical and erudite Charon QC, and for the dangerously insane but way-fun barrister GeekLawyer, please do that. Both gentlemen burst with fine writing and ideas, do the best podcasts you'll hear, and have been blogging since perhaps the late 1950s. They are each Brit-quirky out the wazoo.
Besides, the Journal should not want GeekLawyer as an enemy. No one does. See, e.g., Blawg Review #166. In early September, on my way to Kent and Zurich, I finally met with him in London, near the Marble Arch, for an hour or so. There is something wrong with him.
Major Class. Finally, there's another "write-in" we should all do for a consistently worthwhile and class U.S. site. It's by a lawyer who can think, feel, live, write, write about writing, and listen to all the music: Ray Ward's Minor Wisdom. Category/award: Best Site by a Lawyer-Renaissance Man Aiming to Make His Life a Work of Art. See also Ray's the (new) legal writer. And visit New Orleans.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (2)
December 04, 2008
Begging for Billions, America and the Bankruptcy Code.
Look, we won't need any more than $38 billion in loans. We made the trip here twice. Washington Post: "Senate Banking Committee Chair Endorses Support for Auto Industry". To Chris Dodd: A significant number of U.S. jobs are linked to the American auto industry. But if (a) you make cars, (b) you screw up and (c) you start making cars that no one really wants to buy because buyers get better value from European and Asian makers, what about seeking protection under Chapter 11 of the Code? Our vote: Ford files, reorganizes, and merges with Chrysler. We could care less what happens to GM--but could GM please immediately sell the GM subsidiary Saab Automobile AB back to Europeans? WAC? lawyers have a thing about funny-looking Swedish road cars before GM got a hold of them in 1990.
File and merge--but free Saab first.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
We got something bipolar for you right here.
Writing well: grace, joy and attitude. At Salon, see "Princess Leia's wild, bipolar adventures", a review by Rebecca Traister of Carrie Fisher's new book, Wishful Drinking, which started out two years ago as an LA theater "seminar" and popular autobiographical one-woman show. Traister: "Fisher is a language obsessive, a nimble verbal acrobat who puns and somersaults around a page with glee."
Who says crazy people can't write?
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:42 AM | Comments (0)
December 02, 2008
We knew that.
The U.S. is and has been in a recession.
WASHINGTON (NBC) - The economy fell into recession late last year, according to a panel of economists that is responsible for determining the dates of business cycles.
Monday's declaration by the panel of the National Bureau of Economic Research confirms what many private economists, lawmakers and members of the general public already have assumed and puts an official date on it: A U.S. recession began in December 2007.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
December 01, 2008
Were you ready for Europe's REACH directive?
Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 18 December, 2006.
The Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and restriction of CHemicals (REACH) is a remarkably comprehensive European Union chemical and environmental regulation. It requires all companies manufacturing or importing everyday chemicals into the European Union in quantities of "one tonne" or more per year to register these substances with a new European Chemicals Agency in Helsinki, Finland. Potential registrants (i.e. manufacturers and importers of chemical substances) must pre-register these substances by today, December 1, 2008, in order to benefit from postponed ‘phase in’ deadlines. REACH is 849 pages long, took 7 years to pass, and has been described as the most complex legislation in the European Union’s history.
The European Chemicals Agency.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Value and more value.
Here’s the really important thing that’s happening right now: the price of legal services is finally becoming uncoupled from the costs lawyers incur to produce it.
See Jordan Furlong's "Decoupling Cost from Price in Legal Services" at his Ottawa-based Law21. Also read just about anything Patrick Lamb, a Chicago trial lawyer, has been writing these days at his In Search of Perfect Client Service.
Posted by JD Hull at 03:30 PM | Comments (0)