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April 12, 2008
Morocco envy.
A lucky human, I get to travel for a living. I work, I read and I talk to everyone indiscriminately (I'm told) everywhere I go. When I run or walk or attend a meeting, I take a camera and a notebook with me. And where I go doesn't have to be abroad. Yesterday afternoon I was in the downtown section of ever-evolving Nashville, strolling around on a balmy day after a meeting near Vanderbilt; I got a kick out of that (in between cell phone intrusions) even though I've been there a few times. But I've never been to Morocco, with its amazing mix of Berber, Roman, Greek, Visigoth, Arab, French and Spanish influences. For the last few years, I've been thinking and reading about Morocco. Can an American company please hire me or mine to work there? In the meantime, I visit Maryam's My Marrakesh. I first noticed her site when I came upon a picture of Maryam--an American living with her family in Marrakech--taken in a Paris cafe I am virtually certain I had been in a few weeks before. She travels, writes, takes wonderful photos.
From "Marrakech: and Ludovic's beautiful decay".
Posted by JD Hull at 11:05 PM | Comments (1)
You'll get no argument from WAC?
The "social" side of the blogosphere. Whether it's linking to other blogs, or actually talking by phone or in person to other blogging humans, What About Clients? thinks that the better overtures, productivity and just plain fun of being alive often get lost in our brave new cyber-world. So we applaud and support that old-fashioned stuff wherever we see it. At Kevin O'Keefe's Real Lawyers Have Blogs, read "American law bloggers could stand to be more social" based on an interview with Canada's Steve Matthews of Stem Legal. And then get busy forming a relationship.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:33 AM | Comments (1)
April 11, 2008
Mediating Internationally: The Netherlands
Listen to the latest IDN podcast, No. 22, "Manon Schonewille on Mediation in the Netherlands".
Posted by Brooke Powell at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Writing well.
The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.
--Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Why Salzburg matters.
Apart from Mozart, salt, ancient Celtic culture and restaurants carved into cliffs, this Austrian city is home to the International Business Law Consortium, an active group of over 80 first-rate law and accounting firms in strategic cities all over the world. It was founded in 1996.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:33 PM | Comments (0)
First Stonehenge dig since 1964
According to MSNBC and other sources, it shows that the area on the Salisbury Plain where the blue stones are may have been a holy place beginning in 3100 BC--about 500 years before the big stones got there from 150 miles away.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 08:01 PM | Comments (0)
April 10, 2008
London's Magic Circle law firms: Who are those guys?
Lots of people talk about London's Magic Circle--but who are they really? The commonly accepted firms are Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters, and Slaughter and May. According to Richard Lloyd's article for The American Lawyer Magazine, "The Global 100: Magic Circle Firms Have the Magic Touch", featured at Law.com, these law firms dominate high-end corporate work in the UK and Europe, are the most profitable and expansive firms, and are surpassing their American rivals. Listen to J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi discuss the Magic Circle with Lloyd on their Lawyer 2 Lawyer podcast at Legal Talk Network.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Rule 30, tool-sharpening and Tennessee.
While we're on the subject, and as WAC? spends the next few days discovering great legal minds in the state of Tennessee, hear three podcasts on advanced deposition techniques by Evan Schaeffer at his enduring Illinois Trial Practice blog.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
IMF: Global growth threatened by biggest shock "since the Great Depression".
WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States is headed for a recession, dragging world economic growth down along with it, the International Monetary Fund concluded in a sobering new forecast Wednesday that underscored the damage inflicted from the housing and credit debacles. [more]
The Fund is always a living tribute to the human spirit.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:44 AM | Comments (1)
April 09, 2008
Two industry victories in one online music sharing case.
Tom Welshonce's article "Record Companies Score Two Victories in One Case Against Online Music Sharing" was published in the March 28 edition of the Allegheny County Bar Association's Lawyers Journal. Virgin Records v. Thomas is the case of Jammie Thomas, a 30 year-old woman sued by seven record companies for unlawfully sharing music
files online. In October, a jury awarded the record companies $222,000 in damages for violation of copyrights in 24 songs. In December, the Bush administration threw its support behind the record companies by asking that the judge uphold the constitutionality of the award. A motion for new trial is still pending before the Minnesota district court. Read the article here or here.
Posted by Brooke Powell at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
April 08, 2008
The Environment: Mr. Waxman goes to Israel.
The Jerusalem Post opines on veteran Los Angeles Congressman Henry Waxman's visit to Israel in "A California State of Mind". Waxman has been a player in energy and clean air issues since 1974.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 05:38 PM | Comments (0)
April 07, 2008
A step forward for client interviews (or audits)?
Client interviews (or audits) by a 'third person' is a long-time favorite WAC? subject--and our recommendation to all law firms. At least one law firm, Philly's Ballard Spahr, is attempting to raise the standard by hiring a full-time non-lawyer client interviewer. See Mark Beese's take in "Ballard Hires Client Interviewer" at his Leadership for Lawyers.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:49 PM | Comments (0)
"Future of Arbitration"
See post by John Phillips on the Supreme Court's March 25 decision in Hall Street Associates v. Mattel, Inc. Phillips excerpt: "The problem was that the scope of judicial review permitted by this agreement was greater than that provided by the Federal Arbitration Act".
Posted by JD Hull at 01:09 PM | Comments (0)
Blawg Review 154: World Health Day
David Harlow hosts this week's Blawg Review #154 at HealthBlawg.
Posted by Brooke Powell at 07:02 AM | Comments (0)
Dweeb fatigue?
NYT: "In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop".
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:15 AM | Comments (0)
AP: HRC's Mark Penn screws up, moves on.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)