Law And More

Lawyers Losing Licenses

Is it because practicing the law trains human beings to find the loopholes and soon enough they are using them for personal gain that so many lawyers wind up losing their licenses? 

On "The Good Wife," next week Will may have his suspended or worse.  That's what we get from the coming attractions.  Closer to home, I found out through the Internet that an acquaintance of mine had lost his several years ago.  Those in his social circle had assumed his career change was all about lessening the stress of practicing criminal law.

Maybe those who cotton all too well to finding and applying the angles should find another line of work to study for.

Rajat Gupta: Lawyers probe if insider at P&G, Goldman Sachs leaked info to Galleon

A brilliant legal move, lawyers for Rajat Gupta are seeking the identity of an insider at P&G and Goldman Sachs who might have leaked material information to hedge fund Galleon, reports BLOOMBERG.

The hunt for such a person, real or fictional, could deflect attention from Gupta as the alleged tipster which led to gains for Galleon.  Also, it would help him plenty if his lawyers can ban as evidence conversations obtained through wiretaps.

There is every chance in the world that Gupta will come out of both the civil and criminal trials as not guilty. 

"The Good Wife" - Everyone setting up everyone else

First of all, love dies slowly or maybe not at all.  It was obvious in this tension-packed episode in which Will almost got indicted that there are still tender feelings between him and Alicia and between Alicia and her husband Peter. 

Aside from that, the plot line was almost that of a Shakespearean comedy in which nothing is what it seems to be.  Kalinda was thought to have set up Will to get Alicia off the hook on a supposed felony.  But what happened is that Kalinda set up the State Attorney's office with documents that put their case in the dumper.  Will was not indicted. 

We wonder who Wendy Scott Carpenter, who Peter appointed to conduct the Grand Jury hearing, is really working for.  We don't know if it's for Peter or against him.  When the Grand Jury doesn't indict and Peter finds out that his wife was made to testify about her sexual affair with Will, Peter turns on Carpenter.  She then brings the case to the Illinois Bar Association.

In the coming attractions we hear someone looking very official telling Will that he can't meet with clients any more.  Diane asks Will what he will do now.  After all, for both of them, practicing law is everything.  Neither has a life.

Anyone watching tonight's episode who is considering going to law school might come to rethink that choice.  The game is portrayed as one totally filled with skilled manipulation, grudge matches, and the constant danger of losing one's license.

Boston: LAWYERS WEEKLY has full-time opening for legal reporter

For those who love legal issues this might be the right job.  In Boston, LAWYERS WEEKLY has a full-time opening for a reporter to cover the legal scene.  That includes developing sources.

Here are details and how to apply.

Fatal Stamford, CT Fire: Mother Madonna Badger hospitalized after suicide attempt

On Christmas day, Manhattan ad executive Madonna Badger lost her three young children and parents in a fire in Stamford, Connecticut.  Only she and her friend Michael Borcina, who was doing renovations, escaped.  Borcina had put the smoldering embers from the fireplace into a non-metal container and left them near the house.  Fire officials determined those as the cause of the blaze. Since then, the news released the facts that Borcina, a contractor, had two judgments against him for $100,000 and two other complaints filed against him.  He had accompanied Badger to the funeral.

Many asked themselves how Badger could endure this kind of loss, especially since human error caused it.  The NEW YORK POST reports that she could not endure it.  She had tried suicide.  After that she was rushed to the hospital and is now in a safe place.  Her lawyer has made no comment.

This blog wishes this mother strength in her recovery from grief.

U.S. Legal Sector: Will lawyers be answering to business owners, as in Britain, Australia

After the bubble burst in the U.S. legal sector around 2007, Abovethelaw.com's Managing Editor David Lat added to the horror.  He called it: Law was a business, not a profession. 

Few in the U.S. legal sector have accepted how Lat framed the line of work that has been framed with august symbols such as that of SCOTUS and the wisdom of crowds accomplished through the jury system.  After all, it is still in the control of old-line players in a business (hell, it was a always a business and a brutal one of up or out) who are straining to hold on to the world that maybe never existed except in their minds. 

That is one reason why the establishment part of the legal sector, as opposed to upstarts like Jacoby & Myers, is resisting firms from becoming public companies. 

That's not the situation, reports the current issue of THE ECONOMIST, in Australia and more recently Britain.  Businesses can take ownership of some or all of law firms.

That new model has been correlated with higher revenues, as with Slater & Gordon in Australia, which had been the first firm in that nation to go public back in 2007.  Supporters of the model also contend that the pricing of legal services comes down and that benefits the public interest in making law more accessible to Everyman.

Here in the U.S., Jacoby & Meyers is suing New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut for the right to raise outside capital, notes THE ECONOMIST.  As yet, that personal injury law firm has not approached investment bankers. 

Reflect: With law firms owned by businesses, will the new model tolerate hiring newbie JDs at six figures when they have no significant experience practicing law?

Talbots: Did it cast is "safe" spell on female associates?

Were female associates in the legal sector like we professionals in corporate America who had come to feel safe only with Talbots?  There we knew, whatever we purchased, would be mistake-proof. 

Well, then Talbots began experimenting with its brand.  That was how it became a distressed retailer.  I take a look at that for financial information powerhouse Motley Fool. Here you can read all about it.

Ignition Interlock Device: Drunk driving just got lots more expensive

Is money enough of a deterrent to not drink and drive? 

It could be in the 14 states which require the installation of the "ignition interlock device" on your vehicle after a conviction for drunken driving.  It prevents you from starting the car if it "detects" booze.

Okay, you pay a lawyer to help you with the original DUI case.  Then, after that, at least here in Connecticut, you have to cough up, reports Gregory B. Hladky in THE NEW HAVEN ADVOCATE, anywhere from $60 to $150 for the installation of the device.  Then the cost for maintenance is $80 to $110 a month.  It usually stays attached for a year or longer.

In addition, the device isn't perfect.  It could mistake your shaving lotion for booze or even be having a bad day and, well, you're just out of luck because it smells something sinister.

Hillary, we hardly knew ye

Hillary Clinton is at the top of her game, finally. 

After accessing power through her husband, she came into her own as U.S. Secretary of State.  Yes, she did well in the U.S. Senate but manifested her fierce intelligence and cool political persona in her current job.  Now, she is saying, sort of, that her political career is at an end, reports POLITICO.

This could be a tactic to have the Democratic power brokers flock to her and beg her to stay in the game.  In return they would give her whatever she wanted.

But if it's true that she is exiting, then we have to wonder why.  A Baby Boomer, she's relatively young.  T. Boone Pickens lost it all, ranging from his marriage to his nest egg, in his mid 60s.  Then he came back, stronger.  Clint Eastwood, who's around 80, changed in the last 15 years to produce film that are already judged to be classics.  Betty White just celebrated her 80th birthday. Andy Rooney worked until he was 90.  Sure, Hillary might be tired from the global travel, but ambitious people always find second winds.

Time will bring out more facts.  Let's hope Hillary, who has been a role model for Baby Boomers and all women around the world, stays in public service.  If she returns to private law practice she will make a bundle.  Imagine the kind of business she would bring in.

New Haven, CT: LSAT instructor for PowerScore

The pay for this ranges from $35 to $50 an hour for about 8 to 10 hours a week.  The incentive is that it gives you a foot in the door of the growing field of services for preparing to attend professional, graduate, and undergraduate programs.  The field is international.

Here are details and how to apply.