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July 30, 2012

Francine McKenna in the Financial Times: Sarbanes-Oxley? "It has failed".

Happy Tenth Birthday--and R.I.P.--Sarbanes-Oxley. Publicly-traded companies--their boards, officers, CFOs, lawyers and CPAs--are not likely to forget (1) Enron, the once-admired $100 billion energy company that deliberately deceived its investors of financial conditions and profitability with elaborate and aggressive practices of accounting fraud. Or forget (2) Arthur Andersen, the 90-year-old former "Big Five" accounting firm and Enron auditor that suffered mortal blows to its reputation when it was revealed it had obviously failed to conduct ethical or competent audits of Enron’s financial statements.

Enron and Arthur Andersen quickly became symbols of unfair play. They were not, of course, the only firms in the period 2000-2002 discovered to have committed large corporate frauds that would disappoint, shock and anger both novice and sophisticated investors worldwide. In the U.S., and with the greatest of acclaim and self-congratulation, Congress overwhelmingly passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) on July 29, 2002 in large part to ensure accurate financial disclosures, to shut down corporate fraud and to restore investor confidence in audit companies after auditors at giants like Arthur Andersen and other shops failed to do their jobs and mitigate their clients' accounting frauds. President Bush signed SOX into law on the following day, July 30.

Did SOX meet these goals? No, according to Francine McKenna, a well-known Chicago consultant, columnist and "accounting watchdog" who writes re: The Auditors, and who worked for two decades in America and abroad in two of the current Big Four accounting firms. And, as McKenna might add, SOX in the last decade has not even come close in achieving those goals.

So see McKenna's op-ed in the Financial Times this morning: "Ten Years After Sarbox, Time for an Audit of the Auditors". McKenna offers three (3) big reasons Sarbanes-Oxley has been a bust on achieving objectivity in corporate audits. One reason she gives--this is my favorite since I have been seeing this over the last 10 years on an alarming if often comedic scale in the larger accounting firms in one form or another almost every day since the passage of SOX--is that:

audit companies still encourage partners to sell additional services to audit clients. Roger Dunbar, a former E&Y vice-chairman who is now the chairman of Silicon Valley Bank, told a recent forum on auditor rotation: “There’s an increase in scope creep, of wanting to provide these ancillary services to audit clients. I am personally worried. It’s a risk.”

Remember [McKenna goes on], Arthur Andersen had a disproportionate focus on the huge fees it earnt from consulting to Enron compared to the audit.

Sarbox was supposed to eliminate this conflict.

Except for Deloitte, audit companies went back to being primarily auditors after the 2002 act was passed. That trend has now reversed. Deloitte held on to its consulting arm and it has grown ever since. The remaining three Big Four companies rebuilt consulting businesses they sold or squelched.

For the other two reasons SOX (or Sarbox, for you accounting folks) is a failure, see the entire Francine McKenna FT piece at the above link. (As we've mentioned on other occasions, London-based the Financial Times has long been run by brilliant but way-snarky Brits who like you to work for their content; in the case of McKenna's piece, they obviously really like this one and they want you to pay for it.) McKenna's short, reasoned and honest call-to-arms for real auditing reform is not merely refreshing and compelling. It is undeniable. We expect to see the sentences in her SOX tenth anniversary FT op-ed quoted, paraphrased or mimicked in the coming months.

Francine McKenna of McKenna Partners, LLC

Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

Dykema's Alex Craigie: "A Brilliant Suggestion 60 Days Before Trial".

See it here by Los Angeles-based Alex Craigie of Detroit mainstay Dykema. It's at his At Counsel Table, correctly subtitled "The Craft & Business of the Courtroom Lawyer". Commenting on a recent WAC/P post and Hull McGuire pretrial ritual, Craigie deftly improves upon it by adding a proven filter to prime the artful lead counsel for a win: focusing on jury instructions.

Posted by JD Hull at 12:59 AM | Comments (0)

July 29, 2012

East London Janus.

Samantha Janus, "Guys and Dolls", 2006, London

Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 10:37 AM | Comments (0)

July 28, 2012

My Life Online.

I don't have one.

A "life online". A Life on the Internet, I mean.

I don't want one, either.

For me, the Net is one rung on the ladder to meeting people, learning, growing and testing your own mettle. A tool for my flesh-and-blood journey--and not ever a destination. If it makes money, all the better. But please don't blog, tweet, Facebook, e-mail, Skype, Four Square or do LinkedIn for the money--because you'll be hatin' life. That's the 2% by-product, if even that.

To do well on the Net, when you need to be in that 'hood, you DO need to like/love other humans, meeting them, learning from them and be curious about them and the worlds they occupy. And, of course, you need to have a serious drive to absorb all those Ideas--both new ones and old verities--that inevitably accompany any new person, place or thing.

You need to be driven, first, about who and what is out there. If at first you can't meet people in person, in the interim, please call or Skype. You need live voices and moving images. And, ultimately, live bodies and all that goes with them. They are the best. This week I had the honor--and fun--of finally meeting Portland's David Sugerman, even it was only over the phone on a Thursday morning when neither of us really had the time.

He is quite a guy, lawyer, native Texan, Warrior, father, husband and Human's Human. Trust me. I know these things. And I will give him a mob name: The SweetMan. If I still did insurance defense work, however, he would scare me incontinent--and I would love fighting him off. Dave Sugerman's a guy who gets his clients in his DNA; his clients, I suspect, hold him in their hearts the same way.

SweetMan, we may not be worthy.

Portland's David F. Sugerman

Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

Happy 33rd Anniversary, Becky Hull and David Gorman.

Posted by JD Hull at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)

July 27, 2012

Just a Prisoner of Rock 'n' Roll: Eagle Scouts? Huxley? Hemingway? Let's hear from the Real Men.

Keith Relf

Steve Winwood

Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

On The Great Eagle Scout Backlash: Two Great Posts.

I am an Eagle Scout. Generally, and consistently, I have been enormously proud of that. For examples, I "rank" it above my Law Review editor position in law school, seeing my writing published in major newspapers at a young age, making partner in my previous firm or founding Hull McGuire. The more I think about it, being an Eagle Scout is second only to one thing: giving up booze 26 years ago.

So these two pieces written this week interested me greatly. Each post takes a very similar view of the BSA's recent if repackaged stand against openly homosexual scouts within its ranks. Each, however, suggests a different remedy. Me? I am not sure yet about the remedy. Thinking. I can only tell you that I deplore the policy, even while I find it legally unassailable. The two posts:

More Men Join the Ranks of Former Eagle Scout by Maggie Koerth-Baker, the wife of Eagle Scout Chris Baker, at BoingBoing. This is powerful and persuasive--and moving. Let her introduce you to some interesting, and inspiring, Eagle Scouts.

A Word About Awards by defense trial lawyer Eric Mayer, also an Eagle Scout, at his always-sane and thoughtful Unwashed Advocate. It's also powerful and persuasive--and smart. Two excerpts from Mayer, but do read the entire post:

From 2004 to 2010, the published policy of the BSA was as follows:

Boy Scouts of America believes that homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the obligations in the Scout Oath and Scout Law to be morally straight and clean in thought, word, and deed. The conduct of youth members must be in compliance with the Scout Oath and Law, and membership in Boy Scouts of America is contingent upon the willingness to accept Scouting’s values and beliefs. Most boys join Scouting when they are 10 or 11 years old. As they continue in the program, all Scouts are expected to take leadership positions. In the unlikely event that an older boy were to hold himself out as homosexual, he would not be able to continue in a youth leadership position.

In 2010, this statement disappeared from official publication. In June 2012, they published a much colder explanation:

The BSA policy is: “While the BSA does not proactively inquire about the sexual orientation of employees, volunteers, or members, we do not grant membership to individuals who are open or avowed homosexuals or who engage in behavior that would become a distraction to the mission of the BSA.”

Scouting believes same-sex attraction should be introduced and discussed outside of its program with parents, caregivers, or spiritual advisers, at the appropriate time and in the right setting. The vast majority of parents we serve value this right and do not sign their children up for Scouting for it to introduce or discuss, in any way, these topics.

The BSA is a voluntary, private organization that sets policies that are best for the organization. The BSA welcomes all who share its beliefs but does not criticize or condemn those who wish to follow a different path.

*********

Juxtaposing this policy upon the Boy Scout Law, I find, independently, that it is not Friendly, nor Courteous, nor Kind, nor Brave, nor Clean. And, as for Reverent. Anyone who finds themselves moved to tears by the Sermon on the Mount (regardless of religious affiliation or subscriptions) should taste the bile welling in their throats at such blatant and disgusting discrimination by an organization claiming to uphold the highest of moral values.

Next, let me be clear about something else. Do not confuse the organization with the program.

The program is a warm and inviting place where caring and conscientious volunteers facilitate the emotional and physical growth of young men by using a structured learning and leadership environment in order to teach them valuable life skills and lessons. The vast majority of volunteers are dedicated to assisting these kids in becoming good men, regardless of sexuality, religion, or background. One does not need to earn the Eagle Scout award to gain benefit from the program, but the award does recognize significant dedication and work in the program.

The organization is cold. Detached “professionals” operate a not-for-profit organization consisting of nearly 3 million members, paying their higher leadership handsome salaries for sustaining growth and organizational integrity. They receive significant support from christian denominations throughout the US, and the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) make participation largely mandatory for its male youth.

Posted by JD Hull at 09:18 PM | Comments (0)

July 26, 2012

Happy Birthday, Mr. Huxley.

Many more people have died for their drink and their dope than have died for their religion or their country. The craving for ethyl alcohol and the opiates has been stronger, in these millions, than the love of God, of home, of children; even of life.... Why should such multitudes of men and women be so ready to sacrifice themselves for a cause so utterly hopeless and in ways so painful and so profoundly humiliating?

--Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) in "Drugs That Shape Men's Minds", The Saturday Evening Post, October 18, 1958

Huxley circa 1900.

Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

Hull McGuire is short-handed this week.

"Ben, bring me everyone."

Posted by JD Hull at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)

July 25, 2012

"Every employer ‘discriminates’. If they didn’t, I’d be working as a Chippendales dancer.”

While much of it will be old hat for American business people (and their lawyers) on the subject of employment discrimination, do see in The Economist "Hiring Hotties: When Can An Employer Prefer the Attractive Over the Homely?". The article is worth reading alone for the quote (in our blog title above) from the Boston Herald op-ed writer. Excerpt:

The [U.S.] federal government has no law forbidding “attractiveness discrimination”. Only a few places do: Washington, DC, and Santa Cruz and San Francisco in California. Instead, lawsuits proceed on the fact that it is usually illegal to discriminate on the basis of sex, race, religion, disability or national origin. Customer preference for a certain “look” cannot be the only basis for such discrimination, or else stores in racist areas could refuse to hire black employees.

In 2004 the EEOC sued Abercrombie & Fitch, a clothing retailer. The company said that its staff’s looks were part of its marketing approach. But in the words of Justine Lisser, an EEOC lawyer, “That look was that you had to be white, young and physically fit. If you were young, physically fit and African-American you’d be in the stockroom.” Abercrombie & Fitch paid $50m to settle the case.

Evelyn Nesbit, Gibson Girl, about 1905.

Posted by JD Hull at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)

Reds in Paris.

Visit Richard Nahem's Eye Prefer Paris where two summers ago Nahem featured photos by his Yank friend Virginia Jones in "Paris Rouge". In capturing both American and French everyday scenes and subjects, Virginia insists on red in almost every photograph--and she does that with taste, strategy and near-perfect pitch. Below is her "Manteau Rouge-Montmartre".

Virginia Jones

Posted by JD Hull at 12:57 AM | Comments (0)

July 24, 2012

Damn. Think I'm Turning Democrat again. I really think so.

I still got my laissez faire mojo working--and it's not even working on me. This time it's not a weak and a lazy mind. It's realities like this that are making me reevaluate things. See in Salon by Andrew Leonard "A New Middle-Class Squeeze". It's subtitled "Need more evidence of middle-class decline and rising poverty? Evidence abounds." And if you live in America right now and you look for "it" on your own--in the cities, and the suburbs of America--you see this anecdotally and qualitatively. Here's your new developing Consumer Power, Jack.

Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:38 PM | Comments (0)

Two Bunch Palms: Peace, Love, Hot Water, Lithium.

Certainly all about its clients, Two Bunch Palms is an older and vaguely Bohemian resort and spa in Desert Hot Springs, California with a small but famous lithium-laced hot springs grotto. Beautiful, tranquil, quiet, no cell phones. Rabbits, orange and lemon trees, and the aromas of the mineral water streams are everywhere. Everyone is issued a robe. Been here about ten times now--and so with no embarrassment I wander around in my "toga" like a contented mental patient for everything except dinner. 2BP is anything but trendy, slick or networky, and for that reason it's remained popular with the Los Angeles film and European business communities.

It's only ultra-fancy here if you ask for it, and people leave you the hell alone. If you drift into, say, Jeff Bridges, or Dana Delaney, floating around with you in the grotto, you just nod and smile back pleasantly like a Hare Krishna devotee or a Moonie. Nothing more. Not even a super-agent like Ari Gold would have the heart or lack of class to hit up an actor, director or studio exec with a project or an idea in the 2BP grotto. The resort even made its own cameo appearance in Robert Altman's 1992 film, The Player. A great place to relax, think, write, plan and, if you are a Griffin Mill, plot.

Hey, making movies can be murder.

Posted by JD Hull at 12:53 AM | Comments (1)

July 23, 2012

WSJ: The Customer as God? Really? Tell us more, Doc.

In Saturday's WSJ see "The Customer as a God", the new gospel according to Harvard-based David "Doc" Searls, and based on his new book.

Posted by JD Hull at 08:16 PM | Comments (0)

The Real "New Normal"? It's Complexity, Ambiguity, Toil & Elegance. Get used to it.

It's not what you thought--but it could be even better. The real "new normal" is Complexity, Ambiguity, Toil & Elegance. Learn a trade; have a speciality or two. But be prepared to step back and suss the big picture at all times. There are no forms anymore. Get used to it, Jack. The new normal? It's for the un-lazy mind.

Posted by JD Hull at 07:22 PM | Comments (0)

July 22, 2012

At Cross-Culture: The Great French Dream?

See Rebecca Penna's post "Is there such a thing as the French Dream?" at Richard Lewis's Cross-Culture.

...change is definitely on France’s agenda. The recent electoral swing to the left has generated new hope for many, in spite of many of the unpopular changes and reforms that Hollande and his government are about to put into place.

Irrespective of their political beliefs, most of my entourage is relieved to see the back of Sarkozyism and as one person put it, unlike Sarkozy, Hollande actually went to political school so he knows how to govern. This is one of the first cultural gulfs I had to deal with when arriving in France that bounces back at me time and time again. In other words, if you went to the right school, you’re fit for the job. You can have all the potential in the world, but if you don’t have the qualifications, your skills and experience are worth little unless you are given the opportunity to prove otherwise.

And in the employment context I think this still rings very true today. An American friend of mine went for an interview recently at a recruitment agency. When asked what kind of job she would like to apply for, given her experience in a number of senior positions spanning over a 20 year career in France, she explained that there are any number of positions she could fill.

Launching into a justification of the unstable job market today the recruiter explained: “employers are taking fewer and fewer risks and are therefore clinging more and more onto the qualifications of their potential employees as a reliable form of employability. And because of this you don’t really fit into any one particular position.”

Posted by JD Hull at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)

July 21, 2012

What About Quality? The Internet, You, Me and SEO.

Me? Color me silly and short-sighted. But I don't have the first clue about leveraging this blog, my firm, my business or my life with SEO (Search Engine Optimization). An maybe it shows. But what we present here in words and images at WAC/P? is either good and worthwhile--or not good and worthwhile--and people who like quality (hopefully, we offer some; we wish we had more time to write/post) will find us. We are not going to "game" it. We'll stick to those guns. Here's some encouragement for fellow travelers:

1. An August 2010 piece by Frances McKenna of the well-regarded re: The Auditors. It's called "Do It Yourself SEO" and appeared in Sundayed.

2. A piece yesterday in Forbes (where McKenna also writes) by Forbes contributor Ken Krogue entitled "The Death of SEO: The Rise of Social, PR, and Real Content." Excerpt from Krogue:

The bottom line is that all SEO efforts are counterfeit other than one: Writing, designing, recording, or videoing real and relevant content that benefits those who search.

Posted by JD Hull at 02:29 PM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2012

In the Huffington Post: Back from Berlin, Tan, Ready & Rested, Bennet Kelley is All Over Mitt Romney.

Internet lawyer, Georgetown fan, radio host, network television guest, political commentator, Hull McGuire of counsel, writer, columnist and Renaissance man Bennet Kelley has returned from his tour of Germany to hit the ground, as usual, running. At his regular column in the Huffington Post, see Mitt Romney: The "Us the People" Candidate. He begins with the can-do energies and positive direction he sensed last week in Berlin which do seem to contrast with the current American angst:

While the ghosts of fascism and communism are never far away, Berlin today is booming and Germans are confident and proud. In contrast, a recent Rasmussen poll showed that a plurality of Americans believe that our best days are behind us -- something that would seem unthinkable to what we have called our "Greatest Generation."

These are different times and it seems that the notion of "We the People" is over. Unlike World War II, where citizen and soldier each were vital to the war effort, in the last decade we have fought our two longest wars yet no sacrifice was ever asked of the citizens. Far from it in fact, as we cut taxes during wartime for the first time in our history.

And about Mitt Romney. Me? While I do think that Mitt Romney is one of the better presidential candidates the GOP has ever produced from the standpoint of sheer talent and managerial ability, Romney is perhaps uniquely unsuited to govern the U.S. now: a time when more Americans are suffering economically than they have at any time since the 1930s. Romney is, by personality, education and upbringing, one of the most sequestered and insulated major political figures we have seen in some time. He is not a bad man. But he makes even the entire Bush family seem almost working-class and possessed of a common touch in his obvious in inability to connect with anyone outside of his family and a small circle. Mitt Romney will never feel your pain, folks. He's simply not wired that way.

Bennet has other problems with Mitt Romney--which are less important to me but far more important (and less metaphysical than my sense of Romney, the human being) in the scheme of this year's election. They are the very issues the Democrats will drive home in the next few months:

the perfect candidate for "Us the People" as he hides his money in overseas tax shelters and Swiss bank accounts since "only the little people" pay taxes after all. That such a person could be elevated as nominee of a party reflects the fact that today sacrifice is a dirty word.

Consider for a moment the fact that, during World War II, Ford and General Motors converted their factories to military production to help with the war effort. This would be anathema to Romney and his fellow vulture capitalists at Bain who purchased American businesses, sold off their assets and then shipped jobs overseas.

Romney survived a GOP nomination process that clearly defined who was not included in the Republican definition of "Us" -- African and Hispanic Americans, Muslims, gays, women and the poor. Romney's economic proposal contemplates more tax cuts and other benefits for "Us" with the cost and burden to be borne by the poor and others not fortunate enough to be "Us."

Posted by JD Hull at 04:01 PM | Comments (0)

Yesterday's USA Today: Gains in the services sector lead "uneven job recovery". This is news?

The front page USA Today article is far from comprehensive and might have better defined "services" industries--it ignores, for example, the growth of products-based businesses with large and profitable services components--but it does report some interesting numbers about jobs currently in services versus "non-services":

More than 70% of jobs lost in service industries have returned three years after the recession's end, while only 15% of jobs lost in manufacturing, construction and other industries that produce goods have come back. The analysis is based on Labor Department data from January 2008 — when total U.S. employment peaked — through last month.

And about the services businesses of accounting and law:

Accounting firms, for instance, have regained 87% of the jobs they lost. The industry is benefiting from growth in start-up businesses, as well as new financial rules and U.S. company expansions abroad, says Scott Moore, a senior manager for the American Institute of CPAs.

Legal services, by contrast, have regained just 17% of their lost jobs.

As litigation waned in the recession, many firms had to charge fixed, rather than hourly, fees, slashing revenue, says Hal Sirkin, a senior partner at Boston Consulting Group. Law firms are also relying more heavily on temporary legal professionals to handle investigations, says Charles Volkert, head of Robert Half Legal, a staffing firm.

IBM: a products-based or services business?

Posted by JD Hull at 01:39 AM | Comments (0)

July 14, 2012

223 years ago, was the Marquis de Sade really a player in the storming of The Bastille?

"And the moral of the story is never lean on the weird. Or they will chop your head off. Take my word for it, Bubba." For the report of an old friend, see our 2008 post How the Marquis de Sade was finally forced into politics.

Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

France's Tweetgate: New French President Hollande, man of the people, stud, does his first Bastille Day.

French President Francois Hollande today.
Photo: Antoine Antoniol.

AP: "Hollande oversees 1st Bastille Day as French president; clouded by family feud". It begins:

PARIS - A feud involving the French president's live-in girlfriend, his former partner and his eldest son may have tarnished the new leader's carefully cultivated image as “Mr. Normal” — credited with helping him win the spring election among a populace weary of his flashy predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Francois Hollande agreed to take a question about the family feud that has riveted the media during a television interview Saturday — a sign that in the Twitter era, even French leaders can't keep their private lives private.

But he sure did try.

Mid-way through the nationally televised interview on tradition-steeped Bastille Day, the reporters asked for his reaction to “tweetgate” as the feud is known. It began with a tweet sent out by his companion Valerie Trierweiler during last month's legislative elections. The tweet expressed support for the political opponent of his ex-partner Segolene Royal, the mother of the president's four children, who was defeated in her bid for a parliamentary seat.

Hollande may have agreed to take the question, but he quickly shut it down, saying that he intended to keep his public and private lives separate — and that he had asked those close to him to do the same.

But it may be too late to put the genie back in the bottle, since the tweet has set the French political establishment aflame, and turned the president's image on its head.

Widely criticized as a vindictive move, the tweet went viral and dominated news shows.

Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

July 13, 2012

At Shaun Belding's Blog: "Lose the Rules."

Some companies still engage Customers in Service Hell. Canadian consultant Shaun Belding has a new post called "Customer Service Tip: Lose the Rules" which, while common sense in approach, reminded me of how many companies have created a we versus them culture about customers. Go to the post for one of the most alarming anti-customer stories you'll see. Here's an excerpt (yes, just partial) from the underlying horror that prompted Belding's piece:

"Please follow these steps to ensure your return goes smoothly

1.Package your item(s) in the original manufactures packaging
2.Package in a shipping box with an adequate and sufficient amount of internal packaging
3.Include any/all warranty cards and parts that came with the item(s)
4.Include a copy of your invoice which clearly indicates the nature of the problem or why it is you wish to return your item(s)
5.Call or Reply to this email with the tracking number of the return, and let us know if you are looking for a refund or a replacement if you haven’t in the initial call. (We are also able to repair these items instead of replacing if a warranty item)
6.If you would like to add any item(s) to your RA please call/email us and let us know what items(s) and what order they refer to
7.Put your RA# on the outside of your return shipping box.

Please DO NOT do the following as this will result in a 15% deduction from your refund:

1.Deface the manufactures packaging in anyway. This includes writing on the item or the packaging or taping anything on it as well
2.Use or assemble the unwanted product, we do not resell products that have been used and therefore can not return these products for refund
3.Improperly package your returning item(s), in turn your return’s manufactures packaging or the item itself arrives damaged( Broken items will no be refunded)
4.DO NOT ship your return in the original manufactures packaging
5.DO NOT mark your package as return to shipper with UPS
If this is an unwanted or a warranty item return, you will have to pay for the return shipping using the carrier of your choice. It is imperative you request a tracking number from the carrier, as Big Al’s is not responsible for delays due to not obtaining a tracking number. Unwanted returns are not eligible for exchanges of different products, they will be refunded and at any time you can go ahead and purchase the item you wish to buy."

Belding comments:

Make it easy for customers to do business with you. The more hoops you make your customer jump through, and the more rules you have for your customers to follow, the less they will enjoy their experience with you.

Posted by JD Hull at 01:14 AM | Comments (0)

July 12, 2012

It's Thursday. Play Loud, Campers.

Morris, Jay and Silent Bob check back in.

Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)

July 09, 2012

Oh Mexico. Sounds so simple. Never is.

See MSNBC on protests of the July 1 election results: "Tens of thousands protest in Mexico against president-elect, alleging vote fraud". Excerpt:

Pena Nieto won the July 1 election by almost 7 percentage points, according to the official count, returning the PRI to presidential power after 12 years in the wilderness. He is due to take power in December, replacing Felipe Calderon of the conservative National Action Party, or PAN.

The constitution barred Calderon from running for a second term. The PAN candidate, Josefina Vazquez Mota, finished third, with many voters dissatisfied over relentless drug violence and sluggish growth.

Leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador finished in second place, but has refused to concede, accusing Pena Nieto of stealing the presidency.

Marco Ugarte /AP

Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

If you can't shimmy like Rufus Thomas, our firm can't help you.

Try the law firm down the street, Jack.

Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

Ermes Effron Borgnino (1917-2012).

In 1955, Ernest Borgnine won an Oscar for his title-role performance as the warm-hearted lonely butcher in "Marty". He won it over fellow nominees Frank Sinatra, James Dean, Spencer Tracy and James Cagney.

Posted by JD Hull at 11:44 PM | Comments (0)

Got Proofreading?

Proofreading errors are avoidable, even under the gun--if you make ardor in proofreading a habit.

Take invoices to clients. Invoices, if done correctly, are a great way to communicate what you've done for a client and they can even serve as a marketing tool. They are a genre of documents we all need to get right. Clients can always be expected to read them. So they need to be really "right", right?

Lawyers don't talk about proofreading enough. It amazes us that badly proofread pleadings and letters still emanate from some of the best American and European law firms. It mars and even desecrates otherwise good and sometimes brilliant work.

Mistakes will happen in law practice in any event--but the idea is to minimize them, and especially those you can control. Proofreading errors are very avoidable, even under the gun, if you make ardor in doing it a habit. Our recurring nightmare is that the GC of a great client says:

"Dan, if at $___ an hour you guys can't spell [or write], believe me, we can find a law firm tomorrow morning that can."

The Holy Surprise of Great Habits. Above: New recruits at Hull McGuire celebrate getting their "Careful Thing" on.

For that reason, as mentioned in a 2005 WAC? "Just Say It--Part 4" post on writing for lawyers, Rule 5 (of 8) in the good writing section of our firm's Practice Guide is:

5. Proofread, proofread, proofread. Pretend that, for every typo you miss or grammatical error you make, you have to buy Dan Hull as many beers as he could drink in one evening in his late twenties on St. Patrick's Day in the most expensive Capitol Hill watering hole he and his friends could find.

(At our firm, we have a written policy on proofreading that employees must actually sign before they start work.)

Together with thinking and writing simply and clearly, there's not a more important habit for a lawyer to develop. Misspellings, omitted or misplaced words and off-the-charts bad grammar are often important errors which blot out otherwise good work--and ones we can control.

It's that hard--and that simple.

Image: M. Judge, Viacom/MTV

Posted by JD Hull at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)

July 08, 2012

Congrats, Rep. Barney Frank. And thanks for showing us in all walks of life the 24/7 importance being who you are.

We do not share the same politics. But Barney's unusually smart, tough, authentic. He gets lots done. And he's got big ones. We will all miss him when he leaves Congress. NBC: Barney Frank weds longtime partner; first congressman in same-sex marriage.

Posted by JD Hull at 12:33 AM | Comments (0)

July 06, 2012

These brutal Thursday summer nights are ruining my health.

The best thing about summer nights in the authentic American cities? All the girls walk by dressed up for each other, and the boys do the boogie-woogie on the corner of the street.

Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 10:01 AM | Comments (0)

July 05, 2012

Herbert Lomas (1924-2011)

Recently, I learned that Herbert "Bertie" Lomas, a Suffolk-based poet, editor and translator, died on September 9, 2011 at the age of 87. I met Bertie in England in 2003. We became pen pals. Sometimes we'd exchange books. He was highly respected, followed, read and affectionately regarded as a writer and human being by a variety of European communities throughout his life. This piece in The Independent that appeared on September 15 comes as close as any of the many obits or tributes I've read about his passing of capturing the kind of person he was--and his unusual life and role as poet, writer and participant in the events that forged Europe in the last century.

Posted by JD Hull at 11:22 AM | Comments (0)

July 02, 2012

The Economist: The start-up TechChange, mobile phones and "Geeks for Good" in Africa.

Query: Where Africa's vast human and natural resources are concerned, why do many of us generally trust techies and NGOs more than we do mainland China and other governments? See "Geeks for Good" in The Economist:

TechChange has taught more than 600 students in more than 70 countries through their online classroom. Its most popular course to date has been “Mobiles for International Development”. Enterprises such as Ushahidi and FrontlineSMS have developed open source software that lets NGOs collect information via text messages and look at the results in real time. Students gain hands-on experience, for instance by analysing data gathered by mobile-phone surveys in Tunisia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Those interested in conflict resolution can dig deeper by enrolling in a special course designed around case studies from Libya and Syria.

Posted by JD Hull at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)

July 01, 2012

Dog Days: Humid, High 90s with Increasing Existential Dread by Monday.

And the Humans Grew Mad. Summer. The Economy. It's not only tough times right now. It's hot, and bloody hot in much of the U.S. However, every year's been the same this time of year for centuries. So if you live in the Northern Hemisphere and feel a bit strange and out of sorts--and you're not too much of a whack-job or flake to begin with--that's probably okay. The six week period between July 1 and August 15 was named by the both the ancient Greeks and the early Romans after Sirius the Dog Star, the brightest star in the sky. In the Mediterranean region, the notion of linking that star to oppressive summer weather dates back well over 2700 years.

It's also a slightly weird time of year. Could be just the heat. But "Dog Days" were also associated with Chaos: "the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics and phrensies". Brady's Clavis Calendarium, 1813. Just two thousand years ago, and after he had given up the study of law that his family had foisted on him, Ovid (43 B.C. - 17 A.D.), the playful poet writing during Octavian's long reign, gave us a more famous--and less grim--take on Chaos in Book I of Metamorphoses.

Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

Happy Anniversary to my Parents, John and Penny Hull.

Arlene Reemer "Penny" Hull, Spring 2011.

Posted by JD Hull at 07:48 PM | Comments (0)

Seattle's Richard Chiem: "We Are a Gold Mine".

Richard Chiem, 25, a friend and already a celebrated young American writer now based in Seattle, wrote this for his love, Frances Dinger, 22. I met Richard two years ago when he lived in San Diego--and eventually met Frances just before he moved north to join her. Frances is smart, ambitious and similarly accomplished. Writer and editor, she just graduated from the University of Seattle with two degrees. Frances is currently in Naples, Italy with her family. She is as wonderful, lovely and soulful as Richard describes. This poem-video moved me the first time I saw/heard it. It's about a year old. This morning I asked Richard on the phone if I could publish his "We Are a Gold Mine" here. Listen to the writing. And listen to Richard's voice.

'We Are a Gold Mine' (for Frances Dinger) by Richard Chiem

Posted by JD Hull at 01:47 PM | Comments (0)