« July 08, 2007 - July 14, 2007 | Main | July 22, 2007 - July 28, 2007 »
July 20, 2007
China suppliers: So, Yank dudes, just sue us...
At Rich Kuslan's enduring Asia Business Intelligence, see "What Happens When Your Chinese Supplier Says: Sure, Go Ahead, Sue Me!", inspired by Prof. Donald Clarke's 2004 piece on enforcement of US judgments in China--which, by the way, happens rarely if ever. The Chinese take a dim view of default ajudications from a non-Chinese jurisdiction. If you must sue, sue in China--and even then plan on serious headaches. Thanks to our friend Dan Harris at China Law Blog, who chimes in, and opines, for flagging Kuslan's post and an issue which hits a raw and painful nerve with lots of Western clients doing business in China. There are, as both Kuslan and Harris point out, preventative steps you can take to protect your investment, e.g. letters of credit and arbitration provisions. But there's an overall teaching here: don't do business in China because everyone else does it or because the business media talks about it constantly. China is not Kansas, DC or southern Manhattan. Engage ultra-competent, experienced and aggressive help first.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 10:59 PM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2007
Rule Four: "Deliver legal services that change the way clients think about lawyers".
It's summer: a season to step back from the canvas and a time, if you will, for simple tool sharpening--and we at WAC? are simple tools, if nothing else. From our world famous counter-intuitive 12 Rules of Client Service, see "Rule Four: Deliver legal services that change the way clients think about lawyers".
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Tom Collins: Free Man in Paris
The man who writes More Partner Income, one of the best blogs for lawyers and business people, gets around. And he's been strolling around in the heart of Paris--WAC?'s favorite city, a place of ideas, definitions and possibilities for over 2000 years--getting the juices flowing. Apparently these trips work for Tom. Read his blog. And this.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
London v. Moscow--2nd inning, tie game
Russia Expels Four U.K. Diplomats in Spy Dispute:
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia said Thursday it will expel four British diplomats and suspend counterterrorism cooperation with London, the latest move in a mounting confrontation over the radiation poisoning death of former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko.
Britain had announced Monday the expulsion of four Russian diplomats and restrictions on visas issued to Russian government officials after Moscow refused to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, accused of killing Litvinenko in London last November.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 10:59 PM | Comments (0)
July 18, 2007
Thoughtful Canada Gets It?
Since starting this blog less than two years ago, WAC? has feared that, for most lawyers worldwide, "client service" and "law practice management" are at best a couple of empty soundbytes we all feed our clients, client prospects and employees. It all sounds good; it's become our routine requisite rubbish for websites and ad campaigns. But ever since I discovered CBA PracticeLink--which seems to feature "Clients" as the main event of lawyering--I've wondered if Canadians see these topics differently.
Well, maybe WAC? was right. Canadian lawyer David J. Bilinsky, who straddles Canada and its mild-mannered southern neighbor, is Practice Management Advisor of the Law Society of British Columbia, Editor-in-Chief of the ABA's Law Practice Magazine and former chair of ABA TECHSHOW. David has a new blog, and it promises to be another quality Canadian (okay, Canadian-American) site: Thoughtful Legal Management. Watch this one.
Posted by JD Hull at 08:59 PM | Comments (0)
Congress: New Slack City
The AP reports that "Senate Pulls All-Nighter On Iraq". It sounds sillier than anyone expected. And what pansies. In olden days (circa 96th and 97th Cong.), when WAC? worked for Congress during those pointless posturing all-nighters, we (a) stayed up for 4 or 5 nights in a row with no cots, (b) ate nothing but the cheapest pharmaceutical "Crank", and (c) drank only coffee, whiskey, beer from the Tune Inn and Jolt cola, all out of dirty Mason jars. Spartan. Tireless. And just as lame.
Posted by JD Hull at 03:52 AM | Comments (0)
July 17, 2007
News Corp. nearing deal with Dow Jones; Bancroft family still balking.
The Associated Press reports that News Corp. has reached a "tentative" deal to buy Dow Jones, which owns The Wall Street Journal:
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. reached a tentative agreement to buy Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co., the Journal reported Tuesday, but he must still win over the company’s controlling shareholders.
News Corp. already owns Fox broadcast network, Fox News Channel, The Times in the United Kingdom, the New York Post, the Twentieth Century Fox movie and TV studio, and MySpace.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)
It's OK to be bad sometimes....
Absolutely. See GeekLawyer, "R-rated", on this subject. Which brings us to "ratings" for blawgs. Is this a joke? And if not, are we all daft? Are we just afraid of everything? Of what people think? Or are children, nuns and PC weenies really visiting legal weblogs these days? We think not. Who is this generation's non-moralizing Alan Watts, anyway? Talk hard/write angry. Avoid separateness--especially if you're a lawyer. Think art, not law. Or at least listen to the MC5, who are looking at you just before your big opening argument. Or before you go to church. Do something now--or lose yourself.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 07:44 PM | Comments (0)
July 16, 2007
Texas Big-Beat Blawg Review #117
WAC? loves Texans, having been forced to associate with some really great and quite bright ones while a student in Durham, North Carolina long ago. Texans taught us how to eat really hot food--and to dance wildly for no reason. Jamie Spencer, at Austin Criminal Defense Lawyer, a very fine blog, did the hosting honors this week at Blawg Review #117. It's up right now. And he did not disappoint. A lawyer's lawyer, Jamie refreshes Blawg Review with a much-needed swim through U.S. criminal law and procedure. Remember that river?
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 08:19 PM | Comments (0)
July 15, 2007
Booze, bulls and gypsies*
PAMPLONA, SPAIN (AP) - Saturday "was the worst day for injuries in the nine-day San Fermin festival."
Police arrested 125 people during this year’s reverie, compared to 60 last year, the government said. Forty-seven arrests were for theft, with the majority of pickpocketers coming from one country: Romania.
*Or the fascinating and exotic Roma, for PC types.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 06:30 PM | Comments (0)
Gen-X Contest: and the Winner is....
A gentleman named Ray Steib, who wins for attitude and phrasing.
"How many Generation X associate lawyers does it take to screw in a light bulb?"
Answer: "That is an impossible question, because screwing in a light bulb is manual labor and Gen X associates would rather sit in the dark than get up off their lazy asses and get their hands dirty."
Well done, Ray. (Pat Lamb was runner-up with: "One. The person holds the light bulb while the universe revolves around them.")
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)