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February 18, 2006
A Little Help From The Canadian Bar Association: "Plain Language Legal Writing".
The Canadian Bar Association's CBA Practice Link, which I check from time to time, has been running a 3-part series on "Plain Language Legal Writing" adopted from articles by Cheryl Stephens. Take a look at Part III - Mastering Modern Legal Correspondence. Previously posted Parts I and II, "Writing as a Process" and "Writing to Be Understood", are now off-limits to non-CBA members but worth obtaining, so I think I'll try. But Part III on correspondence is detailed, generally applicable to any good writing, well-thought out and useful to anyone who shares this goal: put our embarrassingly medieval legal writing tradition out of its present misery (i.e., kill it), lovingly leave it to language and legal historians, and turn it into unpretentious English which clients and other lawyers will actually want to read. Bravo.
Posted by JD Hull at 01:12 PM | Comments (0)
February 17, 2006
Huh?--Hardly Any of the AUSA's We Know Are Eagle Scouts.
Since this post could make me seem biased about the federal prosecutor "personality", and to be unfairly generalizing, I'll make some preliminary comments. First, I'm an Eagle Scout. I know a real Eagle Scout when I see one. Second, I've defended in lots of federal environmental cases and in a few white-collar criminal and public integrity matters with U.S. Justice Department attorneys--generally an extremely talented bunch--on the other side. Third, DOJ is hands down the best place in the country to learn how to try a case. Finally, any U.S. Attorney's office is also a really good place for us all to get in touch with our inner Machiavelli. Some of my best friends have worked as AUSA's--almost overnight he or she develops the combined sensibilities and morals of a rock, a plant and a hammerhead shark.
Hardly any male AUSA I know is an Eagle Scout. I strongly suspect that an AUSA who is an Eagle Scout and at some point is outed as one is asked to formally repudiate the award in a secret and hopelessly demented "remedial" DOJ hooded ceremony, a Black Mass of sorts, followed by an hour or so of mead drinking and maybe doing the antler dance. So I was surprised but intrigued that the WSJ Law Blog this morning reported that the the president has nominated to the federal trial bench in North Carolina an obviously successful (by DOJ gun notch standards), forthright and talented 45-year-old U.S. Attorney with serious Republican credentials who was/is an Eagle Scout. He is a "tall and stout" one at that, according to The Raleigh News & Observer. And presumably trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and free of creative government witnesses, vindictiveness and Brady violations. Hey, let's hope so. This guy's probably going to be a federal judge.
Posted by JD Hull at 08:42 AM | Comments (0)
Two Great Blogs By Non-lawyers We Can Actually Use.
The first is I [Heart] Tech by Adriana Linares--a Florida-based tech consultant specializing in lawyers, an Earth Mother for the digital age, and clearly one of the sassiest yet most feminine human beings on the planet. Adriana is also CEO of LawTechPartners. And she can write. There were several women like Adriana at Duke when I was a student there. Most of them studied hard, were envied and admired from afar, and studiously avoided me. Adriana is a favorite with Hull McGuire because in exchange for this post she has promised to refer us at least 50 IP projects and Lanham Act cases a year through 2010. She loves lawyers.
The second is Nathan Burke's marketing and branding site lawfirmblogging.com. Based in Boston, Nathan and his company Business Seeds Marketing design web sites for lawyers and mortals, help lawyers market generally and on the web, and are consultants on branding and identity. Earlier this month Nathan had the sand to challenge my writing-off of all logos for all law firms for all time. And he may have gotten me to change my mind. Nathan, too, writes well. He is apparently amused by lawyers but, like Adriana, is compassionate toward us without making us feel bad about ourselves. Nathan promised me nothing in exchange for this post.
Hire these people.
Posted by JD Hull at 01:59 AM | Comments (0)
February 16, 2006
European blawgs anyone?
I'm compiling a list of active worthwhile European legal blogs--especially those originating from or about the UK, Germany and France (English versions if possible), western Europe generally and the European Union. If anyone of any nationality can recommend European sites they like and visit frequently, I would appreciate it.
Posted by JD Hull at 08:35 PM | Comments (0)
LAW PROFESSION NEGATIVITY IN ALL ITS FORMS, et al., Plaintiffs v. HALF-FULL CUPS, Defendants.
He's right. In our profession, we've lost our mojo--if we ever had one--and we need to get it back. Or maybe get one for the first time. Jon Stein at The Practice just wrote back-to back posts (here and here) on negativity in the profession, from three sources: bloggers, lawyers and non-lawyers. Jon concludes the first post by challenging bloggers to write 2 positive posts the rest of this week. His two are worth reading. Here's a small excerpt, an eloquent one:
And then I go out and read legal blogs. And the negativity comes flowing out like a New York City fire hydrant opened by kids on a hot summer day. There are blogs, which shall remain nameless, which are 99% negative. Post after post after post is negative. There are other blogs which are 50% negative. Why?
You can't write about addressing negativity without getting a little negative. But here goes. On bloggers, I don't see that many negative blogs--in fact, with some glaring exceptions, I think we are an "up" and optimistic lot. We are first and foremost people who feel strongly about something good we have discovered, and want to share that with others. "Hopeful" comes to mind, too. The goals of gaining stature and more clients through blogging is secondary; many of us will blog whether there's money in it or not.
But I agree with Jon that lawyers and non-lawyers alike are negative about the profession, if for different reasons. We lawyers do whine a lot and forget to count our blessings. It's a privilege to work, and a privilege to practice law. Yet our profession is full of (1) ungrateful boomer weenies my vintage with first-rate educations our parents often paid for and who just a few years out of law school started "phoning it in" and treating even the best clients like troublesome peasants, and (2) younger lawyers with marginal work ethics who were told all their lives by their parents that everything they did and would do in life was "just great" and, sorry, dudes, it just wasn't and isn't that great. Practicing law is hard. You have to pay dues. And then you still have to do it right, every day, for years. You do it when you are tired, are sick, just heard the Second Circuit ruled against your client, were dumped two days ago by your girlfriend, had your BMW stolen, just learned a parent is suddenly gravely ill, or are in the middle of an endless divorce--that's the price of the privilege. But all this is obviously my beef and part of why I launched this blog last year. And I'm getting negative.
Non-lawyers? Sorry, everyone, and see above. Generally, I whole-heartedly agree with non-lawyers that we lawyers are clueless and out-to-lunch. In fact, I'd go further. Shoddy client service, cavalier disregard for clients as a necessary evil and outright contempt for our customers are far worse problems than non-lawyers and clients (even GC's) even know. At BigLaw, solos, and everything in between, we don't get it yet. We can get much, much better--but only with a revolution in the lawyer mind. Clients and lawyers can have true partnerships which can make both well-served and even rich.
Anyway, Jon, nice posts. And my first positive contribution for Jon is this: Clients are everything--so start there. If you can think and plan it, you can do it. And attitude is more important than facts. Sweetness, light, and truth, folks.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)
February 15, 2006
Lovemarks Update: Catch Lisa Haneberg's Mini-Series.
Management Craft is a blog by Lisa Haneberg. All week long in honor of Valentine's Day Lisa's discussing Kevin Roberts' Lovemarks from a management perspective. Today's post is part 3 of a series she calls "Love and Management--Lovemarks Revisited All Week". Again, thanks to Arnie Herz at Legal Sanity for this one.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2006
2 Very Cool New Things: Blawg/Bob Review #44 and Exemplar Law Partners.
The first is Blawg Review #44 (now a/k/a "Bob Review") by West Virginia-based health care lawyer Bob Coffield at Health Care Law Blog. Very nicely done. And funny. The second is the debut of Exemplar Law Partners: "No hourly bill. No hourly bull." ELP is a new firm delivering a mix of corporate law services internationally and which Robert Ambrogi, Patrick Lamb and Michelle Golden have been bringing to everyone’s attention over the past few days. Guys, we are brothers. I am 100% supportive and curious at a level 11 on a 1-10 scale; just tell me how you do/will do it. Call me, e-mail me, comment or post.
Posted by JD Hull at 07:55 PM | Comments (0)