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January 12, 2008
Monday: A preview of next week's SCOTUS argument on state taxation of multistate companies.
A corporate tax case before the U.S. Supreme Court?
It doesn't happen that much. On Wednesday, January 16, SCOTUS will hear arguments in the MeadWestvaco case, on the States' taxation of income of multistate companies. And on Monday, here at WAC?, two Hull McGuire lawyers--Julie McGuire and Tom Welshonce--give you a glimpse of the issues before the Court.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
January 11, 2008
EPA: Insurer will pay $42 million to remediate Superfund sites.
The insured is bankrupt Fruit of the Loom, the insurer is American International Specialty Lines Insurance Co. Inc. (an AIG company), and there are four sites--in Michigan, New Jersey and Tennessee. See Environmental Protection.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
$4B in stock: Countrywide unloads itself.
Bank of America agrees to acquire Countrywide Financial for $4B in stock
NEW YORK (Thomson Financial) - Bank of America Corp. Friday agreed to acquire Countrywide Financial Corp. for roughly $4 billion in stock.
The deal calls for Bank of America to swap .1822 of a share for each share of Countrywide stock. The transaction values Countrywide shares at roughly $7.16 each, based on Thursday's close. This is roughly a 7.6% discount to the Countrywide's closing price of $7.75 on Thursday. [more]
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:44 PM | Comments (0)
"First, it's jaywalking. Next, the ascots. And then hard drugs."
Until now, getting weird in Milwaukee was wearing a trench coat, a bow-tie and tassled loafers--all on the same day. But some guys just push the envelope. They learn, the hard way, that there's just no room for sartorial anarchy in the good German mind. The ABA Journal's Daily News notes that this really happened in Milwaukee, a German-American city which, just like WAC?'s beloved Cincinnati, is not known for anything too different or "way out" in white collar life: "Judge Fit to Be Tied Over Ascot-Wearing Lawyer". Brilliant header, color choice.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 08:50 PM | Comments (1)
The Economist on the 2008 election
"Up in the Air" is how this London-based magazine--these days enjoying a role as the Newsweek or Time for the entire West--decribes the post-Iowa and New Hampshire cosmos:
Everything is up in the air. That is not just because this is the most open election in America since 1928 (the last time that no incumbent president or vice-president was in the race); it is because Americans don't really know what they want.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 05:31 AM | Comments (0)
NBC report: Europe watching 2008 contest.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:38 AM | Comments (0)
QuizLaw is original, gutsy and fun.
Non-dweeb lawyers from New York and California write it. Dang. We're naming our next son after it: QuizLaw Pennington Oliver. "We're very proud of Quiz'. After Dartmouth, he'll spend a year at the Sorbonne."
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:14 AM | Comments (0)
"Unprofessional: Wimpy Local Counsel"
From WAC?'s archives, it's here.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2008
What if they gave more client service awards?
From the Atlanta dBusinessNews: "Ford & Harrison Receives Top Client Service Honor". Bravo. The Atlanta-based Ford & Harrison specializes in labor and employment law. The firm's Client Service Promise #4 is "We will watch your budget". Bravo again. BTI Consulting Group did the rankings.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Value price this. Part V.
There's more commentary--to your right and below--including Allison Shields', and her fine post "Even More Talk About Pricing". WAC?'s continuing take: billing by the hour for our firm--which depends on repeat business from publicly-traded clients we have represented in many cases for decades--is not a broken system for us. When it breaks, or if the markets change, we'll fix it and/or adjust. And quickly. In the meantime, we know lots of ethical, forward-thinking, ultra-competent lawyers who provide value for GCs the "old way".
But let us change the subject(s). If you want to improve things, work to: (1) eliminate contingent fee agreements (the greatest anti-client device ever), (2) replace the popular election of state judges (an embarrassing, medieval travesty) with a merit-based selection system, and (3) make the lawyers and all staff in your shop profoundly and religiously client-focused. Further, please oh please work (4) to take the emphasis off "lawyer comforts" like (a) "professionalism"; it encourages lawyer clubbiness and compromises clients by, for examples, taking emphasis off procedural rules when you really need them, and turning local litigation counsels into wimps who won't go to bat for clients. And like (b) "work-life balance". Yeah, practicing law is hard.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (6)
Guessing about Wes Clark.
Obviously, he wants to be a player in the hoped-for HRC 2009 administration. But which job does he want? Four years ago, some of our lawyers raised money for him. We even organized fund-raisers we were too busy ourselves to attend. And I was one of his California delegates to the Democratic convention before he dropped out of the race in early 2004. In 2003 and 2004, Clark just wasn't ready for prime time in a gruelling 24/7 modern U.S. presidential race. He was too new to national politics. But he's got "talent". Like anyone worth a damn, he has detractors and enemies out the wazoo. However, so far none of them have kept him out of the fray with real or made-up stuff about his personal life or military career. He's still a crowd-pleaser. So what is he and/or HRC thinking?
Posted by JD Hull at 10:23 PM | Comments (1)
Fed will cut interest rates again.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Any confusion as to whether the Federal Reserve plans to cut rates further to help a struggling economy may have been cleared up today.
In prepared remarks, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke pledged Thursday to slash interest rates yet again to prevent housing and credit problems from plunging the country into a recession. [more]
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 08:59 PM | Comments (0)
January 09, 2008
Best business wisdom quote ever.
He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.
--Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784
If you don't fully understand, worry.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Value price this. Part IV.
Value Pricing v. Billable Hour. Scroll down. It's not often that we get a total of 17 comments on any subject, it goes on for 5 days, and all of the comments are informed and sane. How do we ensure that clients--from GCs to small businesses and individuals of more limited means--get value? The last comment, from trial lawyer John Day, who arguably speaks for billable hour Tories*, old schoolers and other high-functioning dinosaurs like WAC?, is likely not the last word:
I had lunch with an assistant general counsel of a publicly traded company today and discussed this controversy. His thoughts: "We do value billing on every matter where we employ counsel. We pay them by the hour, but if we don't think we get fair value for what we paid, we don't use that lawyer again."
Next?
*WAC? is part Irish (and yet generally factual). "Tories", interestingly, was first used to describe rural bandits in Ireland. And then, of course, it changed.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (1)
Kane: Get out of the office and ask.
In "Procrastinators Unite", Tom Kane notes that
since the best source of new business is from clients and referral sources, start there. Ask them. That means, plan to visit with your clients (off the clock) and those who have referred work, and talk with them about what problems they (or someone they know) are facing.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Two jolts in New Hampshire: It's McCain and Clinton.
MANCHESTER, N.H. (Boston Globe, Jan. 8)--Senator John McCain of Arizona delivered an electric jolt to the Republican presidential contest tonight by decisively capturing New Hampshire’s presidential primary, and Democrat Hillary Clinton apparently revived her White House hopes with a narrow win.
The Associated Press and NBC projected Clinton the winner over Barack Obama of Illinois in a contest that polls suggested Obama would win by a healthy margin. Former senator John Edwards of North Carolina was projected a distant third. [more]
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Hermann the German: McCoffee v. Starbucks.
The next Great War: McDonald's has a go at Starbucks. See at Observing Hermann yesterday's piece "We knew this was going to get ugly". Hermann regularly monitors developments in Western thought, culture and commerce--and in The Cosmos generally--but here has confined himself to one of his favorite if more pedestrian topics: sideshows of globalization.
Posted by JD Hull at 10:42 PM | Comments (0)
John McCain: The new Comeback Kid?
"McCain had been both smart and lucky...." A friend of ours, Michael O'Neil--a political consultant, pollster and TV commentator--posted this on his blog on January 7, the day before yesterday's New Hampshire primary: "McCain’s Rise from the Political Graveyard is Not His First". Not bad. His firm is O'Neil Associates, Inc.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:03 AM | Comments (0)
Written agreements: "More security for Chinese laborers".
At National Public Radio's Marketplace, listen to this recent interview with China Law Blog's Steve Dickinson. Effective January 1, a new employment law in China is requiring employers to give written contracts to workers--or risk big penalties.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
January 07, 2008
"Avoid Cross-Cultural Communication Snafus"
An important read from The Complete Lawyer for all of us who do business internationally, by Janet Moore, founder of International Lawyer Coach, Inc. and the International Lawyer Coach blog.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)
Heartbreak ahead for Hillary Clinton?
See Walter Shapiro's article today in Salon.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 06:00 AM | Comments (0)
Blawg Review #141
This week's Blawg Review is hosted by the erudite U.K. blogger Charon QC. Dan Hull met Charon in London last year, and was very impressed. We are all impressed by Blawg Review #141.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 04:39 AM | Comments (0)