« March 25, 2012 - March 31, 2012 | Main | April 08, 2012 - April 14, 2012 »
April 07, 2012
G.M. Wallace in my kind of writer, polymath, lawyer and faux fool.
In case you missed it, as we did, Blawg Review 315 this first week in April was hosted by one erudite mother, writer and Pasadena-based commercial trial lawyer named G.M. Wallace. A seer, polymath and a river to his people, George, simply put, is the kind of guy who beats crested newts to death with his bare hands. You can visit him right here.
Posted by JD Hull at 04:47 PM | Comments (0)
Is "Professionalism" just a Lawyer-Centric Scam?
For those of you interested in minor blogislative history, and for what it's worth, one article gave rise to the WAC/P? blog 7 years ago. Reprinted from a 2005 "Law Week edition" of The San Diego Daily Transcript, here's "Professionalism Revisited: What About The Client?", written by one of the most hard-working, polished and physically attractive of trial lawyers, lobbyists and business warriors on this failing, commercially degraded and cover-your-ass planet. Note that the piece ends with "rules of professionalism"--but from the client's perspective. (Hey, what a concept.) Excerpts from Rules 1, 5 and 6:
1. We come first. Be nice--but if in doubt, use the rules. If you feel you know the lawyers you are dealing with, we will follow your advice and instincts. If you are in doubt about the lawyers, or if it might compromise us to deviate from the formal procedural rules, please stay close to those rules.
5. If you have, or would like to have, a personal relationship with opposing counsel, that's fine, but don't let the relationship hurt us--the client. We don't care as much as you do about your maintaining or developing collegiality with other lawyers in your jurisdiction; in fact, we could not care less.6. If opposing counsel shows animosity toward you for following the procedural rules and keeping things moving, that is tough. This is not about the lawyers. We hired you to represent us. We would like you to get this done. Again, as your client, we seldom think that aggression and persistence are "unprofessional".
Posted by JD Hull at 12:34 AM | Comments (0)
April 05, 2012
In The American Prospect: Ohio's Rob Portman as Mitt's Running Mate.
Ohio's first-term U.S. senator, and Cincinnati golden boy, does make sense for a Romney GOP ticket. And, while staid, Portman (in our view) is still way more exciting than Mitt Romney. See "Romney's Veep Calculations" by Patrick Caldwell, who otherwise nails it in his piece of two days ago. Talented Portman would help Romney govern.
March cover
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Cross-Border Smarts: Getting past whether to "kiss, bow or shake". How do different foreign nationals actually think about doing deals?
So what happens when Americans do business with the English? English trading with Germans? Or Germans with Japanese? Why do the Spanish and Finns view the concept of a written contract so differently
Richard D. Lewis's When Cultures Collide. Buy it, read it, refer to it and link to his blog. When Cultures Collide (Nicholas Brealey 3d edition), by Richard D. Lewis, is our favorite book on doing business internationally. We've been gushing over it for years at WAC/P? and Hull McGuire. Practical, expert, non-touchy-feely advice by a man who studied and consulted on international business before it was cool. First published in 1996. Well-written, often very funny. We've bought about 10 copies over the years. If there is ever a movie version, we'll stand in line to get tickets.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
April 04, 2012
"We love Whole Foods but shop at Wal-Mart". Discuss.
Read "We love Whole Foods but shop at Wal-Mart" by MSNBC's Allison Linn. Quality/Customer Service takes on Price/Convenience. See any analogies in the arena of professional services? The arena of higher-end clients themselves?
Reuters/John Gress photo of Chicago Wal-Mart store in January 2012.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
April 03, 2012
High Speed Rail in America: Some things our European cousins do quite well.
And so we should take that hint. Why can't we take a more earnest stab at high-speed rail? Three of our builder clients (and a 4th targeted one) are at once encouraged, skeptical and curious about this Reuters story of yesterday: New California High-Speed Rail Plan Cuts Cost. Kudos for Governor Moonbeam, also in office when I was in college. The article begins:
(Reuters) - California officials on Monday unveiled a major overhaul of a controversial plan to build a high-speed rail system in the state, slashing the cost by some $30 billion, to $68.4 billion, and addressing other criticisms of the massive project.
The new plan must now receive a final blessing from the California High Speed Rail Authority before going to the state legislature, which has to approve the release of the first chunk of the nearly $10 billion in rail bond funds voters approved in 2008.
The state must greenlight the spending and sell the first of the bonds to obtain $3.3 billion in federal matching funds and start construction in the fall as planned.
White House press conference Rah-Rah Exhibit "A" in early April 2009, 3 years ago. C'mon, guys.
Posted by JD Hull at 06:17 PM | Comments (0)
April 02, 2012
Morning, Campers: It's Monday. Need speed-freak jive?
Posted by JD Hull at 02:27 AM | Comments (0)
April 01, 2012
What About Just Mediocre?
If you can't beat 'em, Be Them. It's just a click away, click away, click away.
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Posted by JD Hull at 02:00 PM | Comments (0)