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November 14, 2008
Princess Hillary of Foggy Bottom?
So Hillary Clinton, who I have always liked, and I might soon be neighbors, sort of.
The State Department in Washington, D.C sits on its haunches on 22nd and C, Northwest, a few blocks south of the the official WAC? birthplace on 23rd and H. There, just off Washington Circle, at the edge of the West End, and every single Friday evening about 5:45, my astral twin lurks, and hunts for cabs to go east to Kelly's Irish Times near Georgetown Law. Or scouts out interesting women walking west (those woman are never headed to Kelly's). Every single day, the other twin misses D.C. like the perfect friend and lover who got away.
But Hillary Clinton is interesting enough, even if not our long lost love. And she's smart, even though she greatly annoys, to put it mildly, many of our firm's client reps--who are not likely to read this blog, especially on Friday evenings. We (the twins) will accept her into our Foggy Bottom 'hood. The Huffington Post, which is wonderful even when it's wrong, says that "Officials: Obama Offered Clinton Secretary Of State".
Foggy Bottom: People buy homes near WAC? birthplace.
New Haven: People plot careers at State.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
November 13, 2008
Your boss wants a word with you: GC Value Challenge (cont.)
So you guys were serious about that, huh? If outside law firms couldn't figure it out for themselves, the ACC offered to explain it to us last month, after a meeting the in-house group held in late September in DC. In his weekly thought piece, Jim Hassett writes about it, sans the usual shameless pandering often displayed when corporate lawyer-bloggers (WAC? for example) seize on an issue they know GCs love and champion: "ACC’s Value Challenge (Part 1)".
Forget about how you bill. Focus on what you are adding on each project. But what's the incentive for that, you ask, when you can just "feed the monster" in a series of one-night stands? A: Long-term relationships with companies you want to keep as clients. For once, though, don't listen to What About Clients? Pay attention to your boss. A springboard for working Value Challenge ideas can be found at the ACC website. Folks, they're serious.
Diogenes of Sinope searches for honest, value-focused, counsel. J.H.W. Tischbein (c. 1780).
Posted by JD Hull at 08:15 PM | Comments (2)
Franken-Coleman update: Just lawyering up for the Holidays.
Yesterday's Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
Getting All Lawyered Up for Senate Recount
By Kevin Duchschere
The U.S. Senate recount will ensure a hectic holiday season for lawyers, scores of whom are expected to be deployed across Minnesota by the Coleman and Franken campaigns in the weeks ahead to monitor the counting and to prepare for a possible post-recount challenge. [more]
Posted by JD Hull at 12:31 AM | Comments (0)
November 12, 2008
Action Item: In FY 2009, get nicer narcissists on Executive Committee.
Refer please to your DSM-IV. Respected global law firm consultant Altman Weil reports a finding (of sorts) that millions of people have known--under various rubrics, and in many languages--for thousands of years about leaders, doers, movers and shakers in other contexts. It's that "Narcissists with Big Egos Lead Many Law Firms". To be fair, AW realizes that the solution is, in effect, to get better narcissists. But there is another happy spot in the report--well, for WAC?, anyway. We were heartened that the ABA Journal article summarizing the report notes that such "nonreflective" and insensitive law firm leaders may directly cause "high lateral partner movement and high attrition among younger lawyers for whom money and status are not primary motivators." (Guys, please be serious. That's a bad thing?)
John William Waterhouse's "Echo and Narcissus" (1903)
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 07:38 PM | Comments (0)
Return of the Alpha Ds: Howard Dean, MD.
The 50-state strategy. DNC Chairman Howard Dean, the 2004 presidential candidate and ex-governor of Vermont, can take a lot of credit for Obama's big win last week--if people will only let him. See "Obama's Debt to Howard Dean" by Mike Madden at Salon.com.
Posted by JD Hull at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)
November 11, 2008
Circuit City: Down, and not likely to get up.
Financial Times: The Richmond, Virginia-based Fortune 500 company, the second largest electronics retailer, files under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Owes HP and Sony a bundle, too. For what it's worth, Circuit City was a leader in spectacularly lame CS at every store we "studied". Lethargy, and GenY-led apathy raised to high art, really jumped out at you. We're not that sad. Bonus bummer: most stores will operate through the holidays.
Circuit City employees keep on working anyway.
Art: M. Judge/MTV
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:59 AM | Comments (1)