« March 01, 2009 - March 07, 2009 | Main | March 15, 2009 - March 21, 2009 »
March 14, 2009
U.S. Const. Amend. I: GeekLawyer Test on 3.16.09
Heads up for Yanks of the Weenie persuasion. See Blawg Review #666.
Posted by JD Hull at 03:54 AM | Comments (0)
March 13, 2009
Demand evaporates. Then what?
Department of Dues, Blues and Hatin' Life. You saw it coming--but now what do you do, dear? For more than clues, see Jim Hassett's "The Down Economy (Part 9): What To Do When Demand Disappears". Part Nine? The guy's on a roll, uncanny, an animal. Read Hassett.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 04:23 PM | Comments (0)
March 12, 2009
$46.8 billion: Basel-based Roche acquires rest of SF's Genentech.
The Roche press release on the "friendly" agreement is here. See AP's "Roche to take over Genentech":
GENEVA (March 12)--Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche agreed to pay $46.8 billion to buy the 44 percent of biotech pioneer Genentech that it doesn’t already own, ending a long corporate struggle with its U.S.-based cancer drug partner. [more]
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Redux: The Big Six lawyer sites--plus Real Lawyers have what?
The only six (6) legal websites you really need. During The Recession. After the Recession. And to take the edge off any "down economy". From a February 9, 2009 WAC? post: "Watching Legal Blog Watch, Blawg Review, and four more". Consider the Big Six list in stone. Consider, too, our lesser pantheon of sites by working stiffs.
All ye know on earth, and all ye need to know (J. Keats, 1819).
What men or gods are these? ...What mad pursuit?
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 01:22 PM | Comments (0)
March 11, 2009
Is Gen-X Moxie starting to bloom?
Reinvent this, you Boomer running dog lackeys, you Gen-Y teacups. Eve Tahminciogluan, an MSNBC contributor, notes that Gen-X (defined liberally as those born between 1961 and 1981) is "getting hit with a double whammy". First, the dot-com bubble bursts--and now this, The Recession. But the article trumpets the degree of Gen-X Moxie, self-reliance and true grit:
This generation never had any illusions that an employer would take care of them for life, says Neil Howe, economist, demographer and co-author of “Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069.”
“Generation X never expected any security,” he says, adding that the mentality of the company man or woman was dead by the time these individuals entered the workforce.
They are also a resilient lot, he adds... In contrast to the younger Generation Y group with their overprotective parents and baby boomers still pining the loss of the gold watch days, Gen Xers never “trusted that the world or anyone was going to take care of them," he says.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (1)
Revisiting "leverage".
Stop working for a moment. Yes, we said that. More accurately: stop for a few moments. The one non-billable thing you should read and digest this week: "The Great De-Leveraging" at Adam Smith Esq. (Bruce MacEwen). It's long--but read it anyway. Here is just one excerpt in this "must-read" tome:
Non-equity lawyers don't have to beat their brains out. So they don't. Their deal—again, a perfectly rational one, to them—is that, premised on good behavior, they have a job essentially for life at, say, $350,000 to $450,000/year, adjusted for inflation.
If you think that's not an attractive deal, I suggest you immediately take the elevator down to the street and ask the first ten people you encounter if they'd like such a job.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
The Return of Legal Sanity
We are not worthy. Not an overstatement. New York's wise and inspirational Arnie Herz at Legal Sanity is back--and we noticed this happily. I admire him--despite the fact that reading him for me is always daunting, even threatening. Arnie Herz is a lawyer who makes way too much sense; he knows and acts on things we all know and should act on but work too hard to avoid even admitting. When tradition-and-Western-logic-bound lawyers grow up, or become sane, which ever happens first, I hope we become like Arnie. See "Life and Business Lessons on Resilience from a Young Point Guard".
Posted by JD Hull at 11:46 PM | Comments (1)
March 09, 2009
Gen-Y Rerun: WAC? and Charon QC talk frankly in July of 2008.
What? You're kidding. Lawyers are not special? Hear the "pre-Recession" July 8, 2008 Charon QC interview, "Podcast 66: Dan Hull, US Attorney, author of WAC?, on client service and other matters". Their February 13, 2009 follow-up discussion is here.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
RESPA: “It’s my closing--and I’ll close how I want to.”
Hopkins v. Horizon Management (U.S. 4th Cir. December 3, 2008). In the five states subsumed by the U.S. Fourth Circuit--Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and the Carolinas--a bank can exercise control over the sale of its properties by having the same title company perform all of the bank's real estate closings without violating Section 9 of federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, 12 U.S.C. 2608, 2601-2617. A contract for sale that forces a buyer to use a particular title company is enforceable so long as the bank foots the bill for the owner’s title insurance. Although Hopkins is an unpublished opinion, this interpretation of RESPA's Section 9 will likely stick for these five states; it can also be expected to be followed in other states and circuits.
Note: Arlington, Virginia-based Robert E. Bodine recently became of counsel to Hull McGuire.
Posted by at 11:13 PM | Comments (0)
Blog post title of the month--so far.
And legislation of the year--hands down. It's "Drop the Barbie and Step Away" at Scott Greenfield's Simple Justice. It concerns:
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated §47-25-1, relating to banning the sale of “Barbie” dolls and other dolls that influence girls to be beautiful.
WAC? has taken a stand against the pain inflicted by Barbie dolls in America, too--especially in several Midwestern towns we frequent, where men and women alike are getting big enough to have their own zip codes. There's no point in rubbing it in.
We suggest "old" Barbie: a lot more PC. And what about an "ample" Barbie? Hey, it could happen.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 05:40 AM | Comments (1)
Clients and Customers: After they've seen Paris.
In the words of the old song, "How ya' gonna keep 'em down on the farm, after they've see Paree?" How do you satisfy them with Paris--once they've see Paris? How do you satisfy a client with "great", once you've already delivered it?
You must get better to avoid falling behind.
--Harry Beckwith, The Invisible Touch (Warner Books 2000)
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)