Law And More

Petit Trial: Komisarjevsky's sister contends he sexually abused her

In the sentencing phase of the Joshua Komisarjevsky triple-murder trial, his mother, father and aunt had testified why he should be spared the death penalty.  His aunt added that his daughter, who he had been a good father to, would fare better if he was not executed.

After that, a bombshell.  Komisarjevsky's sister testified that he had sexually abused her when she was about 12 years old.  AP, which reported the story, did not reveal her name.  At camp, after the incident, she broke into tears and confided what had happened.  Komisarjevsky, AP notes, did admit his guilt at the time but indicated it did not involve sexual intercourse.

The jurors might conclude he was always a monster and always will be one so why not rid the state of such a menace. 

Washington D.C. - Junior Social Media Political Strategist

Law students and unemployed, underemployed, unhappy JDs already in the Washington D.C. metro area might want to check out this opportunity. 

SKD Knickerbocker, a Democratic political strategist firm, has an opening for a junior staff member who knows something about social media.  The pay is low: $30,000 to $35,000.  However, the experience could be priceless.  So could the contacts.  Here are details and how to apply.

Incidentally, this help-wanted was posted on the site Mashable.com.  Those of you who
have become interested in social media might want to keep up with developments through the site.  Also, there is a useful "jobs" section.  That will introduce you to opportunities emerging in social media.

Kisshia Simmons-Grant: Racial or title discrimination?

Former African-American staff attorney Kisshia Simmons-Grant at Quinn Emanuel has filed a lawsuit against the law firm for alleged racial discrimination and retaliation when she did share her beef with the employer.   On Abovethelaw.com, Elie Mystal, himself an African-American, opines that this might be more a case of discrimination against the low-level slot of staff attorney than based on race per se.  Mystal cites coverage on this lawsuit from Reuters.

Simmons-Grant is no fool, at least not legally.  She is not going pro se but has a law firm representing her.  However, given that she earned her law degree at the brandname Georgetown she might be blind to the realities of hierarchy.  The reality might be, as Mystal points out, that all staff attorneys are perceived as less-than.  They might all be treated as less-than.  Given that it is not a bad-paying job and jobs are not plentiful in the legal sector, most will suck up the discrimination based on totem pole rank.  That's exactly what most white-collar and blue-collar workers do every day. 

On "The Good Wife," partner David, a rainmaker in family law, yells at Alicia for being so naive to assume that a responsibility was assigned to her because of her competence.  He notes: you are a third-year associate, not important, that's why we gave you the assignment.  Alicia is a slot above staff lawyer.  She is well-connected through her estranged husband Peter who is state attorney.  And still she's treated as less-than.

If the Simmons-Grant complaint isn't tossed, this  will be enlightening to follow.  Workers of the world might get the message that they are simply interchangeable cogs in a system which handsomely rewards those in the top tiers.

 

 

MF Global Holdings Represented by Skadden, Arps in Chapter 11- Again, we wonder about risk

Chapter 11 is capitalism's tool designed for distressed businesses to turn themselves around.  The assumption is that after emerging from the process, the enterprise can be stronger going forward. 

Time will tell if the mindset proves accurate for MF Global Holdings, run by former Goldman Sachs Group co-chairman Jon Corzine.  He was also governor or chief executive of New Jersey.  Skadden, Arps, Slate Meagher & Flom is representing MF Global in this process.

The possibility of this dominated the media over the weekend.  Options to Chapter 11 are well-known and Kodak has been exploring them through its own advisor Jones Day.  A whole industry in financial services has sprung up to guide distressed companies to alternatives to bankruptcy.

 Corzine had taken a big bet on European sovereign debt.  As BLOOMBERG LAW reports, ML Global owns $6.3 billion of Italian, Spanish, Belgian, Portuguese, and Irish debt.  This investing decision raises yet again the issue of risk: when is a risk simply "too risky?"   Those who hold by game theory know that isn't a legitimate question.  As Ken Binmore, professor of economics at University College, London, explains in his book "Game Theory, " supposedly rational human beings can have very different attitudes toward risk.  Therefore, there seem to be no universal answers about risk that is too risky.  That's exactly why there are regulators and active investors who demand their say.

Petit Trial: Komisarjevsky family members plea for his life, will it work

Do pleas from multiple family members have a positive impact on the jury? 

The defense will find that out soon enough when the sentencing phase of the Petit triple murder trial for Joshua Komisarjevsky goes to the jury.  As Randall Beach has been reporting in the NEW HAVEN REGISTER,Komisarjevksy's adoptive mother and father and now his aunt are pleading to save his life.  He had been convicted on all 17 counts.  His accomplice Steven Hayes had been sentenced to death.

Aunt Carlie Lebatique presented the argument that Komisarjevsky has been a victim of abandonment and abuse, right from when he was in the womb.  His birth mother gave him away.  A teenage foster child sexually molested him.  Despite this, she added, he has been a good father to his daughter.  She had been five years old when he committed the triple murder during a home invasion.   Letatique made the point that it would not serve the child well to have her father executed.

The defense has been shrewd to configure this direct appeal from the family.  Criminal lawyers will be watching this closely to determine if that tactic could be effective in a crime as horrific as the Cheshire one in which three members of a prominent family were brutally murdered, for seemingly no reason.  Observers have continually compared this senseless tragedy to the one depicted by Truman Capote in "In Cold Blood."  The lone survivor of the triple homicide Dr. Petit, Jr. has created the presence of a type of Greek Chorus in the courtroom for all the four trials.  He has to have become embedded in the jury's consciousness.

Innovation Economy: Lawyer shortage as best and brightest run off to be engineers

Because contract law is the platform on which capitalism operates, lawyers have been key players in the history of the U.S. economy.  For those whose taste wasn't commercial, lawyers were revered because of how they guaranteed rights, ranging from equal education to freedom of expression.  For the ambitious or those determined to be social game-changers, there was plenty of incentive to practice law. 

That interest could fall off a cliff and not only because law is a downsizing business.  This century belongs to the engineers.  They will need the assistance of the Intellectual Property lawyers, of course.  But the heroes won't be those who argue before the U.S. Supreme Court.   The four differerent covers for the November issue of FAST COMPANY are a harbinger of the new order of stardom in professional life.  Here, we're not talking about Lady Gaga or Oprah.

Each of the four FAST Companycovers features the winner in the innovation game.  One cover has Apple, another Google, a third Amazon, and a fourth Facebook.  The article by Farhad Manjoo presents the pros and cons about which might emerge as the dominant player.  Also covered is how the engineers at these enterprises will manage to disrupt both industries such as television and individual companies such as Nielsen.   Since promotional campaigns can be executed right on Facebook brand pages, there's no need for the ad agency as middleman.  "Mad Men," when it returns on AMC, could really be depicting an anachronism.

What could deep-six law schools are not the 20-something lawsuits about fudged numbers or that clients don't want newbie JDs working on their accounts.  It could be that the best and brightest of the new generation is off to study engineering.  That is even trumping America's love affair with marketing.   Check the help-wanted for any hot company such as Electric Sheep and the demand is for, you got it, engineers.  The pull toward engineering might be so profound that within a decade there could be a shortage of lawyers.

"The Good Wife" - Cary gets great office

Though he has only been practicing law for three years, Cary gets this massive, beautifully decorated office at the state attorney's department.  Peter's orders.  Alica should be very scared.

The reason Peter hired Cary was that he knew Cary knew everything that went on at the law firm where Alicia and Will worked.  Now, Peter could be moving in for the kill.  He will not only squeeze Cary for details about the relationship between the lovebirds. He might unleash Cary to dig up more dirt. That could result in Alicia's losing custody of the two children.  After all, Peter has been keeping his nose clean since the fund with the hooker and the one-timer with Kalinda.

 

Texas: First-year associate hiring down 13+% from 2010, but no defers

The legal sector seems to be exhaling.  But the mood in hiring is still cautious, at least in Texas.  Jeanne Graham reports in TEXAS LAWYER that 13.4% fewer first-year associates were hired in TX firms this year as compared to the one before.  This is the third year of such a decline in numbers.  The good news is that they started on the date they were supposed to.  That is, no deferments.

The cut in percentage aligns with the nationwide trend of firms having to put more senior lawyers on client accounts.  Clients balk at having newbies doing the work.  They contend that they are not going to subsidize the training of JDs right out of law school.  This screams the issue: where are inexperienced lawyers going to get experience?  Those thinking radically propose eliminating law schools and bringing back the apprentice system.

Micro Firms v BigLaw: Is branding dying

Is the model in the legal sector evolving into a transactional approach and away from premier branding.  Maybe. 

In-house law departments are now allowing micro firms to pitch along with BigLaw.  That's because those without big brandnames usually provide a lower price point and hustle to create more immediate value.  Last summer, THE ECONOMIST predicted this is happening in most consulting services.

Law Students & LittleBlogging

Law students are heavy consumers of BigBlogging site Abovethelaw.com.  Its wild popularity might discourage you from even entering the blogosphere.  Forget that.  LittleBlogging has its own unique kind of reach and has become a key tool in a search for work.  Here are the details about why LittleBlogging might be the best game in town for you right now.