« August 13, 2006 - August 19, 2006 | Main | August 27, 2006 - September 02, 2006 »

August 25, 2006

Sensitive Litigation Moment No. 12: Slick Answers to Lazy Interrogatories.

Allegedly, a perceptive and fed-up U.S. district court judge, throwing up his hands during arguments by lawyers on a motion to compel discovery responses, once referred to answers to interrogatories as "slick lawyer answers to lazy lawyer questions". I do feel his pain. Years ago, a new second year associate who worked briefly for our firm (after one year at another firm) complained that we were putting too much thought into a set of interrogatories under Rule 33, Fed. R. Civ. P. Our new hire patiently explained to me that interrogatories and other written discovery were in fact "simply a way for lawyers to bill time so they could make money--and nothing more." He was pretty adamant about it, too.

Color me silly, but I love and respect written discovery during the pretrial process in American federal courts. Complex and hard-fought civil cases turn about 90 per cent on the quality of the discovery questions and requests--both written questions and requests, and deposition questions--and the responses to them. And well-thought out and strategically timed written discovery, the kind that efficiently elicits useful and relevant information, is the best way there is to prepare great depositions--and get ready for trial.

Posted by JD Hull at 08:23 PM | Comments (0)

August 24, 2006

Will the U.S. president blog?

To return to Newsweek's report of Iranian President Ahmadinejad's new blog, there's more ink about "his excellency's" daily online journal from NBC news producer Robert Windrem at The Daily Nightly in his piece "Tehran In The Blogosphere". Windrem also asks David Almacy, the White House Internet Director: Will the American president be writing his own blog? "WAC?" asks: If the answer is yes, can we at least get these two into a cyber-brawl re: nuclear policy or Texas food?

Posted by JD Hull at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)

August 23, 2006

China Law Blog: Lawyering Up, and Protecting Your Clients' IP.

Two good posts from China Law Blog's Dan Harris, at Seattle-based Harris and Moure: China--Start Lawyering Up and When Your IP Is In China...

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

Considering Argentina.

An Associated Press article last week notes that Foreign Entrepreneurs Spice Up Argentina. Many are young Americans, Brits and other Europeans in sophisticated but cost-friendly Buenos Aires. Excerpt:

[W]ith startup costs and wages still low in post-crisis Argentina, entrepreneurs say their savings in dollars, euros and pounds go a lot further here — letting them chase entrepreneurial dreams while reveling in the nation's cosmopolitan blend of Latin America and Europe.

Posted by JD Hull at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

Marketing, Boomers, Generations X and Y--and Work.

"WAC?" has studied workplace generation-gap issues (see "Can't Stay Late, Man...I Got a Thing"), and it still doesn't have a clue. But like Carolyn Elefant at Legal Blog Watch, I noticed Larry Bodine's recent post "Generation Gap Hurts Law Firm Marketing". I was glued to it, and read it twice. Larry's short piece and the comments in it from consultant and author Cam Marston are well worth the time to read, even if you're not a lawyer and never worry about marketing, but have wondered if there is something fundamentally different about your co-workers currently under 40. Note also the good comment in defense of Gen Xs and Ys by Rod Heggy to Larry's post.

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

August 22, 2006

Baby's new day and time

Do note that "I'm There For You Baby" with Neil Senturia and Barbara Bry will now air on Sundays from 3-4 PM Pacific time on San Diego's CA$H 1700 AM. As always, you can listen live on CA$H's website or hear past shows on the I'm There For You Baby website.

Posted by Tom Welshonce at 05:21 PM | Comments (0)

Coast to Coast Podcast: Westerners Lawyering in Asia.

In their most recent Coast to Coast internet radio show on Legal Talk Network, lawyer-bloggers J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi do a fine job of exploring and explaining a hard if exciting topic: "Asia - The New Frontier for In-House Counsel". Craig, Bob and their two guests--an IP lawyer in LA and a business lawyer in Tokyo--cover business, legal, political and cultural aspects of lawyering in two contexts: (1) in Asia for western companies and (2) out of Asia for Asian companies. The show is here. Thanks to Blawg Review for the tip.

Posted by JD Hull at 02:25 PM | Comments (0)

August 21, 2006

"I know it's only marketing--but I like it." Yes, but please get some help.

If I could win ya, if I could sing ya
A love song so divine,
Would it be enough for your cheating heart,
If I broke down and cried? If I cri-i-ied?

I said I know it's only rock 'n roll but I like it.... (M. Jagger/K. Richards)

Marketing isn't for everyone. You probably need a dark, kinky crowd-pleasing streak--a touch of Little Richard in you--to enjoy it, much less be any good at it. That's why marketing efforts in many American law firms are often dominated by trial lawyers, the closest thing we have to "outlaw" and "showman" in our staid and risk-averse profession. Trial people don't necessarily have better marketing and selling instincts. When the dust we kick up clears, we are just as overly-cautious and spineless as everyone else in the profession. We are not always possessed of winning ways. We just "like it", and we have big egos. We like to talk.

Lawyers are notoriously bad marketers, closers, managers, planners and strategists compared to trained business professionals. We just think differently, and we suffer from "rigid thought syndrome". Even those of us who can melt juries are not really that people-oriented. We were "good students". We were careful. We tended to be introverts and loners. And now we are prisoners of legal thinking. Ironically, the very traits and training that made us good at our profession have made us bad at other things.

But we can learn. And no one gets a pass. (1) Those who like to market and sell need training. (2) Those who don't like to market and sell need training, too.

On both the right and left side of this blog are listed several management and marketing consultants. You can tell this by the names of their blogs and websites. Some are lawyers, some aren't, but all of them can help your firm develop a disciplined marketing strategy or "WAC?", which is careful and risk-averse, would not have ever listed them on this blog. You should contact these people. You'll need them sooner or later. You need more than great instincts. We know it's only marketing and selling, but don't wing it, counsellor.

Posted by JD Hull at 11:39 PM | Comments (0)

August 20, 2006

Iran's president starts Mother Of All Blogs.

According to Newsweek's International Edition, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, has begun his second year in office with a blog, launched last week. His site, www.ahmadinejad.ir, is political, religious and so far an enormous hit in the blogosphere. It's written in Farsi, but Arabic, English and French translations are available.

Posted by JD Hull at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)