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May 23, 2009
Slackoisie-Fest: Fighting Loser-ism in the Workplace.
Listen, you creeps, you screwheads. Here is a man who would not take it anymore. A man who stood up against the scum, the dogs, the filth and the crap. Here is a man who stood up.
~ Travis Bickle, Taxi Driver (1976)
Young wankers against work. Scott Greenfield at Simple Justice rails, too often alone, against the dreaded 'Wazee: the Cliff Notes kids, scourges of the workplace, and Maynard G. Krebses with a straight-faced demented Ritalin-laced rap on the right to be barely adequate at work. This is Gen-Y. You were born after 1978. You demand--with no real bargaining power--that employers buy into "work-life balance". You want a family-life "lifestyle".
The truth: you're lazier and more incompetent than WAC?'s old Southern Ohio whiskey-swilling doped-up hound dog "Craps". But now you call yourself Super-Daddy. Or Concerned Humanist. Or Non-Selfish Sensitive New Age Person. Some trendy if wimpy U.S. employers are increasingly buying into this.
But since 1997 at Hull McGuire--the firm for which I co-write this blog, and clerked for last summer--such workers have been referred to openly as the Slackoisie, the 'Slack and (on bad days) "Looters". The firm was alone in its dismay for many years. Then other firms in the U.S. experienced the same problem. No one, it seemed, wanted to talk about it--even as higher-end clients worried increasingly about getting real value from their planners and problem solvers.
But, in Scott Greenfield, last year we finally found a talented and spirited ally. Here is a man who would not take it anymore. He is hero to the quiet legions of builders, planners, inventors and yeoman lawyers who know what problem-solving takes, and what sacrifices are demanded to get things done for clients and customers.
Ben Franklin, Tom Edison and Clarence Darrow root for Greenfield in Doers' Heaven. The Immortals do watch us. They hope that America's shameful, and ill-timed, work-life balance charade will soon die the vampire's death it deserves. Enough is enough, they think; this is not what we Yanks are all about. Get "balance" on your own time, in your own way, or through a less demanding career.
Young lawyers need to learn the tough and hard-learned art of practicing law. Older lawyers need to work hard at teaching them, and serving valued clients.
We serve. Clients and customers are "always"--and they come first. See Scott's "First, You Have To Get The Job". About 30 comments so far.
Greenfield (dated photo), Last of the Anti-Wankers.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 08:48 PM | Comments (5)
May 22, 2009
The client's stock price this week?
The client, it seems, actually wants you to know him, her or it. Take time out to learn the stock price, industry, day-to-day culture, players and overall goals of your client. Visit their offices and plants. Do it free of charge.
Associates in particular need to develop the habit of finding out about and keeping up with clients and their trials and tribulations in and out of the areas they are working in. Learn about your client--and keep learning about it. Devise a system to keep abreast.
From "Rule 7: Know the Client", in our annoying-but-correct 12 Rules of Client Service.
Special note to get-a-life conventioneers world-wide: Practicing law never was--and never will be--a work-life balance thing. It's a client thing. Start there. You signed up to serve. Get used to it.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
May 21, 2009
The world's best banks?
You're kidding, right? Tough one. "Trying to work out which banks are the world’s best is a bit like awarding the prize for prettiest war-torn village." Let's see, Goldman Sachs? No, JPMorgan Chase. Maybe Credit Suisse, Deutsche, BNP, Barclays, Santander? The Economist discusses its short list.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
May 20, 2009
Towards a reinvented Martindale-Hubbell?
Martindale-Hubbell also represents many other solutions that help law firms establish...a full range of marketing and client development services. One of our most recent, and proudest, releases is Martindale-Hubbell Connected, our premier legal professional network. Thousands of corporate counsel and attorneys have joined this network since it's launch earlier this year.
--Dave Danielson, Martindale-Hubbell/VP LexisNexis Client Development
A New Martindale-Hubbell? We'll certainly listen to that idea. Five days ago we ran a recycled yet timely post entitled Redux: Martindale-Hubbell: Should we all "just say no"?. In response, Dave Danielson, Martindale-Hubbell/Vice-President, LexisNexis Client Development, commented back. Dave's response is both honest and instructive. For some readers, it will even break a bit of news. We print it in its entirety below:
Mr Hull raises a fair point, one that we definitely hear loud and clear at Martindale-Hubbell. But, the picture in this original post ironically helps me make a very important point - that Martindale-Hubbell is viewed by many lawyers as "just a listing" or "just a book". This could not be farther from the truth. Let me explain...
Martindale-Hubbell subscribers are paying for a "listing", yes, but that listing puts them in Martindale.com as well as Lawyers.com and also syndicates their profile/contact information to many alliance partners like Google, Yahoo, CitySearch, MSN, superpages, and many others. If you see a law firm listed in Google "Local" there is a fair chance that our syndication was involved. We believe that this syndication value online is worth a lot in reduced cost and complexity for the typical law firm.
Also, between Lawyers.com and Martindale.com we have over 3 Million unique visitors each month with even more lawyer searches. Surveys have consistently put Lawyers.com and Martindale.com as a trusted source for ratings, content, and discussion - more of a decision support solution than a simple directory.
But, Martindale-Hubbell also represents many other solutions that help law firms establish their own Web Site/SEO presence on the internet, implement a pay per click program, manage leads for a complete ROI; develop market intelligence, relationship intelligence and business intelligence - a full range of marketing and client development services.
One of our most recent, and proudest, releases is Martindale-Hubbell Connected, our premier legal professional network. Thousands of corporate counsel and attorneys have joined this network since it's launch earlier this year. Members tell us that they want an opportunity to speak privately with other legal professionals, establish new connections to discuss legal issues, and even to create their own group and implement their own online seminar/discussion (we extend connections to LinkedIn as well)
So, while we appreciate and acknowledge the historic importance of our peer review ratings, we have changed quite a bit from the days of books but we still have a long way to go. We are establishing packages to reduce overall prices and to help law firms establish the best mix of solutions to fit their marketing needs. We even have a program that allows individual attorneys to create a low cost subscription when their law firm has chosen not to subscribe. We have an abbreviated listing for all attorneys we are aware of but we would prefer to establish the right memberships so that the full capabilities of the law firm can be presented for our large community of visitors to consider/review and so that all leads/opportunities can be automatically tracked.
But again, we must continue to improve. We are trying to make a concerted effort to listen to our proponents and our detractors so we can continue to grow our historic place in the market as the primary source for legal decisions and communication among consumers, attorneys, and corporate counsel.
I and my colleagues would appreciate hearing from all on ways that we can improve.
Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to post.
Regards,
Dave Danielson
Martindale-Hubbell/VP LexisNexis Client Development
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (3)
May 19, 2009
Discovery: The Miracle of Rule 56(f), Fed. R. Civ. P.
(f) When Affidavits Are Unavailable.
If a party opposing the motion shows by affidavit that, for specified reasons, it cannot present facts essential to justify its opposition, the court may:
(1) deny the motion;
(2) order a continuance to enable affidavits to be obtained, depositions to be taken, or other discovery to be undertaken; or
(3) issue any other just order.
Trial lawyers know that Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, or summary judgment, gives a litigant an opportunity to win on its claims or dispose of the opponent's claims relatively quickly and without trial. Accompanied by sworn affidavits and often discovery responses, a Rule 56 motion tries to show that there is no real dispute about key facts and that the movant is entitled to judgment under the law. If granted, the movant wins.
Disruptive: The "early-in-case" Rule 56 motion.
But what if a summary judgment motion is brought against your client--suddenly and out of the blue--and the local rules (or local folkways and practices) of the district court don't give you much time to develop and prepare an opposition. After all, Rule 56 lets a party who has brought a claim file for summary judgment after 20 days, and defendants can file "at any time". In contentious, high stakes litigation, a quick summary judgment motion right after the commencement of a lawsuit can be extraordinarily disruptive.
It will fluster even the most battle-hardened been-there seen-that GC or in-house counsel.
Subdivision (f) of Rule 56, "When Affidavits are Unavailable", provides a safeguard against premature grants of SJ. Lots of good lawyers seem either to not know about, or to not use, subdivision (f) of Rule 56.
In short, you file your own motion and affidavit--there are weighty sanctions if you misuse the rule, so be careful--stating affidavits by persons with knowledge needed to oppose the motion are "not available", and stating why. The district court can then (1) deny the request and make you oppose the motion, (2) refuse to grant the motion for SJ OR do what you really want it to do: (3) grant a continuance so that you can "obtain" affidavits and, better yet, take depositions or conduct other discovery. It's a delay-oriented rule, but if used correctly, Rule 56(f) can give you the breathing room and time you need to develop the client's case, and avoid the granting of SJ against it.
Note: During the course of today, John Day, Tennessee trial lawyer, and a man who--just like me--thinks it's a real privilege to practice law, has been just a few blocks from both my old D.C. work and residence neighborhoods, with a hotel about two blocks from our current D.C. office. Some months ago, responding to an earlier post very similar to this one, John made this fine comment, which I wish I had written:
Another tactic is promptly serving notices to take appropriate depositions before the Rule 56 response deadline (if you already have enough information to take a good deposition in the case). The opponent almost always objects to the timing of the deposition - and thus you can put the unavailability of a witness and / or counsel in your affidavit while at the same time illustrating your commitment to move the case forward.
A judge may well decline to give more time to gather evidence if no effort has been made to conduct discovery while the case has been pending. This is yet another reason to have a discovery plan in place very early in the litigation (and if you're the plaintiff before suit is filed) and promptly serve written discovery / take depositions / do discovery under Rule 45 in a sequence appropriate for that case.
East Capitol Street: Beloved former WAC? "living area", about four blocks from SCOTUS.
Original post: April 29, 2008
Posted by JD Hull at 11:11 PM | Comments (0)
It's 7:00 PM. Do you know what your summer associates are thinking?
Summer at law firms, Congressional offices, businesses and government agencies mean new interns and clerks--and new blood and fresh air for more senior people who hire them. But the season is also useful for evaluating talent, developing talent and teaching great habits. See this 2007 post. Forget for a moment whether your summer people are "nice" or attractive people or not. That alone is not important, Jack.
Think about your clients. Is their work accurate? And how did they "get there" (to the answer), in that conclusion on "promissory estoppel against the government", anyway? Are they people who want to "appear" to be lawyers--or passionately want to be lawyers? BS artists? Some Slackoisie slip in there? And are they "smart"? Well, if you don't know, you should learn. It's about your clients.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:02 PM | Comments (2)
May 18, 2009
Trademarks: Drink like a Russian.
UPDATED: The right to know what befuddles you. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit clarified the “materiality” prong of 15 U.S.C. § 1052(e)(3), a new subsection added to trademark statutory law by the NAFTA Implementation Act of 1993, which prohibits “geographically deceptively misdescriptive” trademarks (and service marks). In re: Spirits International, N.V., 2008-1369 (April 29, 2009) involved an application for Moskovskaya, which translates from Russian to English as “of or from Moscow,” as a mark for a Russian vodka that is not from Moscow. Because the Trademark and Trial Appeal Board didn’t apply the proper test--whether those capable of translating the term represented a “substantial portion of the intended audience”--the case was sent back to see if that proper subset of consumers would mistakenly assume the vodka was from Moscow and, for that reason, choose to purchase it.
Note: Seldom-confused Rob Bodine is a DC-based IP lawyer, world traveler, and philosopher. Rob recently became of counsel to Hull McGuire. He will be a frequent contributor to WAC? on issues of trade and service marks, IP licensing and, apparently, Vodka globally.
Posted by Rob Bodine at 11:59 PM | Comments (4)