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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.

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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).

Borgnine_marty_light.jpg

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."


beavis-788025.jpg

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)