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March 14, 2008
Beyond borders, guns and money: A new global elite?
Do Rupert Murdoch, the Pope, Bill Clinton and Osama bin Laden form part of a new international class that replaces traditional governments? See Laura Miller's article "The rise of the superclass", and her review of David Rothkopf's book Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making, in today's Salon.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (4)
"Name's Oliver, Holden Oliver, just got back from Île Saint-Louis..."
Via Ed. of Blawg Review, and by Hugh MacLeod of gapingvoid.com, below is new non-business calling card for rogues (or roués), cads and philanderers on business travel of all ages with a classical education, or pretending to have one. If any of you guys need the Cliff's Notes on Women in Love, we've got it around here somewhere.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (2)
Simple Justice on Spitzer Exit
At WAC?, we think that politics--the art of controlling your environment--is important every day, and especially important if you're a business person or a lawyer. Do see Scott Greenfield's article "Spitzer Aftermath; What to Expect" at Simple Justice. We like New Yorker Greenfield for his brain, his pluck and his ideas.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:59 AM | Comments (1)
March 13, 2008
"When you work, you are marketing."
Rule 6, our favorite in WAC?'s famous and annoying-but-true 12 Rules.
Posted by JD Hull at 05:00 PM | Comments (0)
Law Practice Magazine: Reading Minds
Stephanie West Allen, in her inaugural "Reading Minds" column of the ABA's Law Practice Magazine's March 2008 issue, asked "wise minds" to recommend their favorite books on the topic of building professional relationships. Read one J. Daniel Hull's paragraph on Cicero on Friendship--and then the suggestions of three genuinely wise people: Karen E. Glover, U.S. District Court Judge John Kane and Susan Cartier Liebel.
Posted by Brooke Powell at 03:19 PM | Comments (0)
Flaubert's last letters
In yesterday's London Times, the popular British Flaubert scholar Julian Barnes reads between the lines of "Flaubert's letters on sex, art, bankruptcy and cliffs."
Posted by JD Hull at 12:59 AM | Comments (0)
March 12, 2008
Governor Spitzer resigns.
Effective St. Patrick's Day. Classy and smart speech, at least--and we think you'll be seeing him again. Bloomberg. Hello, Governor Paterson.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (3)
Obama wins Mississippi
Bloomberg: Obama's Mississippi Win Blunts Clinton's Recent Delegate Gains. In a very short time, the Clintons have lost their famous mojo in American black community.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:27 PM | Comments (0)
March 11, 2008
The economic downturn and corporate boutiques.
NEW YORK (Portfolio Media, March 5, 2008)--Faced with the need to cut legal fee costs, in-house corporate counsel may avoid larger firms in favor of more cost-efficient alternatives, such as smaller firms, according to a new study commissioned by international law firm Eversheds LLP. [more]
Seattle-based business lawyer Dan Harris, at the well-regarded China Law Blog, forwarded us the above piece at IP Law360 called "Study: Cost-Cutting May Boost Smaller Law Firms". For WAC?, the real point is that for years law firms between 250 and 3000+ lawyers have been losing clients to smaller corporate law firms with BigTalent, even to those boutiques with comparable or higher rates, anyway. True, smart and secure GCs often perceive that they get better and faster lawyering and service at smaller shops. And, while it "helps", you don't need a downturn in the markets served by large law firms to make more inroads into their business. Here's another reason. With a few notable exceptions--and as we've written before--in the last 15 years many law firms now between 250 and 3000+ lawyers sacrificed lawyer quality and dramatically diluted their "gene pools" in order to grow and get big in the U.S. and around the world in the first place--especially large firms with offices in second-tier cities. We see it every day in our practice--partners and senior lawyers at "large" firms, many lateral acquisitions, who would have trouble getting steady work as street people in cities like London, New York, LA, Chicago and DC. There are now two distinct classes of talent at larger firms. (Which will GCs get stuck with at those shops?) Not kind to say--but it's sadly true.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
IBA report: Kenya after the storm.
From the International Bar Association's Legalbrief Africa:
After weeks of deadlocked negotiations and bloodshed on the streets of Kenya, the recent political breakthrough has switched the spotlight to Parliament where MPs are being called on to support the accord signed by President Mwai Kibaki and ODM chairman Raila Odinga. The country has opened a new political era, during which power and responsibilities of the government will be shared through a grand coalition.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Great hubris-laden men's club names down through the ages.
Cosmos Club, University Club, Skull and Bones, Duke Tara, HYP Club, the Boom-Boom Room at the Latrobe Holiday Inn, and now...
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
AP: U.S. malls and retailers falter. "Darwinism".
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)
March 10, 2008
Mediating Internationally: India's Outsourced Litigation Work
At the International Dispute Negotiation series of The International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR), hear the latest IDN interview, No. 17 "Offshore Litigation Work in India" featuring the entrepreneur-founder of outsourcing firm Pangea3 and one of its top managers.
Posted by Brooke Powell at 11:03 PM | Comments (0)
Blawg Review #150: Trust Matters and Charles Green
Charles H. Green of Trusted Advisor Associates hosts this week's Blawg Review #150 at Trust Matters. His rendition is straightforward, thoughtful, and rich with ideas you can use today.
Posted by Brooke Powell at 03:59 AM | Comments (0)
USD $3.20/gallon
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. average retail gasoline prices have reached a new high of almost $3.20 per gallon and will likely jump another 20 to 30 cents in the next month, worsening the pain of consumers struggling to make ends meet in an economic downturn. [more]
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:58 AM | Comments (0)
Spontaneous Porsche combustion and you.
ABA Law Journal news: D.C. Law Firm’s Hot Porsche Spontaneously Caught Fire, Suit Claims. See also Legal Times blog.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:36 AM | Comments (0)
Charon QC 24/7?
Charon After Dark. "A new idea…not, perhaps, a good one…", Rioja and music lover Charon thinks. While he plots, read our London hero's Weekend Review, on Brits, Brit law and old Albion herself.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:02 AM | Comments (0)
It's Monday, Still Winter.
Don't be hatin' life.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)