« July 2022 | Main | September 2022 »

August 31, 2022

Day 6

574663AD-1F37-4BA0-846C-6D134BDCEFF9.jpeg

Day 6: Free Gavin. Is nothing sacred? Is nothing funny?

#Neverforgetaboutit

Posted by JD Hull at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)

August 30, 2022

Free Gavin!

7283C435-7F96-43EB-9BAD-A6F4D36CE883.png

#HumoristLivesMatter

Posted by JD Hull at 09:04 AM | Comments (0)

August 27, 2022

Johannes Vermeer, The Little Street, 1657

D7E5719B-EAFB-44D4-BE38-5D7E329440B6.jpeg

Posted by JD Hull at 03:33 PM | Comments (0)

August 26, 2022

John Irving: On Editing.

Half my life is an act of revision.

--John Irving (1942-)

238.gif

Posted by JD Hull at 12:46 AM | Comments (0)

August 23, 2022

John Barry (1745 –1803): Irish boy does good in America (Part I)

Every work day thousands of Washingtonians pass an imposing six-foot statue mounted on an a huge pedestal a few feet away from 14th Street (right or northbound lane) on Franklin Square, on 14th and K Streets, Northwest. It is of Captain John Barry, a Wexford, Ireland-born U.S. naval officer who quickly became one of George Washington's wartime favorites. In April of 1776, the 31-year-old Captain Barry and his crew had just slipped his warship the Lexington through a British blockade on the Delaware River. The Lexington encountered, defeated and captured the British sloop Edward, a tender to the frigate Liverpool. Barry took the Edward into Philadelphia, turned it over to the Continental Army, repaired his ship the Lexington and put out to sea again.

The_Army_&_Navy,_Genl._Washington_presenting_Captain_Barry_with_his_Commission.jpg

“Washington presents Captain Barry with his Commission [1797]”, 1839, Alfred M. Hoffy. In this painting, Washington is making Barry the first commissioned officer, a commodore, in the newly established U.S. Navy.

Posted by JD Hull at 11:58 PM | Comments (0)

Coleman and Hull solve January 6.

Posted by JD Hull at 11:46 PM | Comments (0)

August 21, 2022

May 1 IHHS

0FAB63D2-BC60-4222-A4F0-18399A300E82.jpeg

IHHS 1971 reunion. May 1. Kenwood Country Club. Cincinnati, OH. The finest people you’ll ever know.

Posted by JD Hull at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)

August 20, 2022

Partner Emeritus: Summering Correctly in Gotham.

Several years ago our hero Partner Emeritus commented in response to an Above the Law piece on summer associate offers:

It's a sad world we live in where kids think they are having the time of their lives by raising bottles of Korbel champagne adorned with cheap sparklers. The video [in the ATL article] is proof that law firms are not celebrating like it was 1984 or 2007 for that matter.

When I was a younger partner, I would take a handful of summer associates to Smith & Wollensky or Peter Luger's in Brooklyn and then party hard at the VIP lounge at Flash Dancers ('80s) or Scores ('90s). Most of the summer associates were caught in compromising positions during these soirees. For example, I had many Polaroids with SAs who were photographed in salacious positions with female entertainers. I even photographed a few doing lines of coke in the VIP lounge.

Once the summer associates became associates I would bring them into my office and give them copies of the Polaroids and remind them that I was the last person they ever wanted to cross if they wanted to keep their job or law license. Most of these folks became partners, which proves my methods for inspiring peak performance were quite effective.

AAnew-wolf-of-wall-street-trailer-leonardo-dicaprio-is-the-wealthiest-stockbroker-in-the-world.jpg
Photo taken in 1986 believed to be PE instructing summer associates Photo: Paramount Pictures).

Original post: Summer 2015

Posted by JD Hull at 12:56 AM | Comments (0)

August 09, 2022

Romain Rolland gets creative.

There is no joy except in creation. There are no living beings but those who create. All the rest are shadows, hovering over the earth, strangers to life. All the joys of life are the joys of creation: love, genius, action...

--Romain Rolland (1866-1944), Nobel Prize winner, in "Lightning Strikes Christophe".

Rolland.jpg

Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:59 AM | Comments (0)

August 04, 2022

GOML #130: Interview of Joe Biggs Defense Counsel Dan Hull on J6 1-Year Anniversary Show

Posted by JD Hull at 01:03 AM | Comments (0)

August 03, 2022

The Real Paris

mlw_0001_0002_0_img0078.jpg

In this illustration from the 1400s of an important Greek myth , Paris, the Trojan prince, judges a beauty contest. The goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite compete for a golden apple.

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

August 02, 2022

Best of Partner Emeritus: Is Above the Law's Partner Emeritus "real"?

Ricks 3.jpg

[Y]ou can continue to discredit or dismiss me as a character. I guarantee you one thing. If you work for a peer firm, you will encounter me or someone very much like me. Either way, you cannot avoid the essence of my character if you aspire to succeed at a peer firm. I or some form of my embodiment will exist to make your existence as uncomfortable and unpleasant as it can be.

-- Partner Emeritus, New York City, September 3, 2009

So what's the answer?

My take from reading scores of his comments to Above the Law posts since 2009 is that wonderfully elitist satirist, humorist, legal commenter Quality Guardian and faux lawyerness self-esteem killer Partner Emeritus (sometimes hereinafter "PE")--except for his nom de plume--is completely real. Note that he generally reserves his aim and fury to those he considers to be the legal profession's law cattle. He rarely takes a shot at anyone discussed in ATL, or published in ATL as a columnist, if that human appears to have substance, chops, solid ideas, real experience, pedigree and in some cases writing ability, e.g., well-respected and accomplished litigator Mark Hermann, former Cleveland-based (mother ship) Jones Day partner, author of a very fine book on lawyering and currently GC to a real company.

For today's teaching, edition no. 4 of our series The Best of Partner Emeritus, please go to "Partner Emeritus, Meet Biff–You Could Learn Something" by ATL editor Elie Mystal six years ago. I like Elie and, unlike PE, I like most of his writing--Elie's interesting, and at times astoundingly creative. His relatively short article of September 3, 2009 was itself was creditable and evenhanded. And while PE didn't agree with it, he didn't seem to have that much of a problem with it. Elie's article that day was not an example of what PE does not like and is brutally honest about in his criticisms, to wit: (a) a navel-gazing, condescendingly insulting or plain crap column by a representative of the law cattle world, (b) a writing by a dink poseur with no or questionable legal experience and/or credentials who compensates by mentioning the classics and their authors, (c) a writing by a struggling legal tech salesman, (d) a writing by an angry, passive aggressive "mommy lawyer" who advocates special treatment for women and other lawyers of the non-workaholic persuasion, (e) a writing by a marginal lawyer and/or straight-up fraud who steals ideas, style and even tone from seasoned writers or who purports to understand all manners of otherness, Eastern/Western culture, thought and spirituality, and who pitch this nonsense to other poorly educated, unread, untraveled, insecure, marginal lawyers, (f) a writing by a woman called Smokestack Lightning from Memphis, and (g) a writing any one named Biff from Prichard, Alabama or thereabouts.

But the PE's comments to the Mystal piece give you a good idea of what PE is about and not about. So read the main article, get some context and listen up, Campers:

This comment is addressed to post no. 54 [who theorized PE was a fake]. Rest assured, I am not a character. Mr. Mystal has seen my ip address and he can confirm I am the real deal. Even he would not be so harebrained to address a fictional character.

Several of you cretins have tried to ascertain my identity by going to Rick's Cabaret and pester the bouncer with questions such as "who is partner emeritus?" or "what time does partner emeritus get here?" Do you realize how foolish you look asking these puerile questions? I value my anonymity since my comments on this site may be assailed by some of the junior partners at the firm that want to retire me involuntarily. As a lawyer with an impeccable legacy, I will decide when I am good and ready to leave the firm on my own terms.

Regardless, you can continue to discredit or dismiss me as a character. I guarantee you one thing. If you work for a peer firm, you will encounter me or someone very much like me. Either way, you cannot avoid the essence of my character if you aspire to succeed at a peer firm. I or some form of my embodiment will exist to make your existence as uncomfortable and unpleasant as it can be. Welcome to the legal profession you self-entitled nimrods have created.

And this one to the same article, this time on the difference between peer and non-peer firms which, in context, is, well, just King-Hell funny:

Mr. Mystal, if I were managing a firm in Timbutku or some swampland region in Florida and I employed members of my family or tribe, of course I would do my best to keep them happy. After all, blood is thicker than water. I would like to think that even you would know the difference between a peer and a non-peer firm. A peer firm does not recruit at [PE's expletive deleted] or any law school in [expletive deleted], unless it is for a satelite office. Did you ever ask yourself when was the last time Biff gave his staff/associates a raise? I have nothing to learn from someone named "Biff" or someone that dons a toupe and a tacky button down collared shirt. I will remain a staunch and ardent proponent of the hybrid tough love model. And, how dare you sully the memory of the great Ronald Reagan? The 80's was the best decade of my life. A great time to be a lawyer. Under Obama, being a young lawyer means leading a spartan existence, filled with penury and shame. Mr. Mystal, I frown on your attempt to one up me with a non-peer attorney from the South named Biff.

That is all.

What say you, Campers?

Partner Emeritus.jpeg
Law as an honor, privilege and backstage pass to the World.

Originally posted August 8, 2015

Posted by JD Hull at 11:05 PM | Comments (0)

Rule 3: Make Sure Everyone Knows the Client is the Main Event.

Rule 3 of our astonishing 12 Rules of Client Service was written in December of 2005. It's simple to understand--but hard to enforce. Rule 3 is about your colleagues and co-workers at work. Everyone needs to buy into a customer-centric culture where you work. Everyone. Clients and customers are more important than you, partners, employees and even the firm itself. There is nothing without buyers of your services and products.

gargoyle-notre_dame.jpg

Posted by JD Hull at 07:12 PM | Comments (0)

Real Women: Elizabeth McGovern.

Elizabeth_McGovern_2012.jpg

Elizabeth McGovern in 2012.

Posted by JD Hull at 12:09 AM | Comments (0)