Law And More

John Hinckley, Jr.: Mental illness as manageable disease

How should society frame mental illness?  

The jury decided that John Hickley, Jr., the man who shot President Ronald Reagan, was insane at the time.  He is still at St. Elizabeth's mental hospital Washington D.C. 

Now a judge is hearing arguments that Hinckley has recovered enough to have longer stays away from the hospital.  Eventually, that could lead to his full release.

As it is, he has been allowed to visit with his mother in Virginia.  The question is: can mental illness be managed, like many other chronic diseases?  Can society assume that Hinckley can function outside an institution without medical supervision?  And will public opinion give Hinckley a free pass?

Holiday Tree: RI governor Lincoln Chafee playing it safe [smart]

Like New York governor Andrew Cuomo, Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee was in the political desert for a while.  They both got smart in that wilderness.

Although he's taking heat for it, Chafee is insisting on referring to the tree states and the nation puts up as the "holiday" tree, not a Christmas tree, reports POLITICO.  Had he not made that move, the state could face a lawsuit and lots of publicity which would make it appear ridiculous.

Penn State, Sandusky: Civil Suit Filed

We knew it was coming and here it is: a civil lawsuit related to the alleged sex abuse of children by former Penn State assistant coach Jeffrey Sandusky. 

Zack Needles off THE LEGAL INTELLIGENCER reports that a "John Doe," field a lawsuit in Philadelphia County Common Pleas Court against Sandusky and Penn State.  It alleges sex abuse, conspiracy to cover it up, civil conspiracy to endanger children, vicarious liability for sex abuse, negligent supervision, premises liability, negligent representation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The plaintiff contends he was sexually abused over 100 times over a four-year time frame and was 10 years old when it began.  The abuse part per se, just as with sexual harassment, might be difficult to prove.  After all, usually neither takes place in public. 

It will be interesting to follow this complaint to track if it's the doings of a nuisance or that of a victim who has suffered.  The "100 times" number seems to raise a red flag.

MA: Physician-assisted suicide could get on 2012 ballot

Brand it "dignity+compassion."  That's how supporters of physician-assisted suicide are positioning the initiative which could get on the ballot in Massachusetts in 2012.  That would require 70,000 signatures on the petition. 

One of the key advocates is Dr. Marcia Angell, a lecturer at Harvard Medical School, reports Eileen McNamara in BOSTON Magazine.  Her father, at 81 and in the last stages of cancer, did himself in, alone, with a pistol.  So much more dignified and compassionate would it have been for society to provide him with the openness to say good-bye to his loved ones, then just drift away with a fatal mixture of medications.  On "Criminal Minds," that's sort of how David Rossi's wife delivered herself from ALS.  Rossi was with her in the hotel room.

Of course, the Roman Catholic Church, notes McNamara, is pushing back.  But it is not the brand it used to be.   BOSTON GLOBE broke the sexual-abuse story.  Anyway, demographics give the initiative the edge.  Here in the senior-housing development where I bunk there are some who might welcome deliverance if it were socially acceptable.  Currently it's not, unfortunately. 

Petit Trial: Komisarjevsky defense rests

In the sentencing phase in the Petit triple murder case, the defense for Joshua Komisarjevsky rested. 

 The prosecution, reports Randall Beach at THE NEW HAVEN REGISTER, then played a tape in which Komisarjevsky, after being apprehended for the Petit home invasion, discussed two earlier break-ins at occupied homes.  His accomplice was Steven Hayes, now on death row for the triple murder.

Komisarjevsky described those robberies in a "clinical"manner.  This could reinforce in the jury's minds that the man is nothing but a sociopath who doesn't deserve to live.  So much damning testimony had been presented in this sentencing phase by his sister who claimed he had sexually abused her when she was young.  The family did not take action except to talk to a minister. 

It would be a surprise verdict if it's life instead of the death penalty.

"We've made a bunch of mistakes" - Should apologies be banned

Parachuting into a mess with an apology is now standard public relations.  It's such an embedded meme that anyone in a pickle will probably disregard a lawyer's counsel and apologize for something, anything.

Today, Facebook head Mark Zuckerberg, being the cool dude he is, framed his mea culpa in the Gen Y informality of "We've made a bunch of mistakes."  The Federal Trade Commission, reports Kashmir Hill in FORBES, had spanked it for privacy violations.  The penace is 20 years of privacy audits.  Also, the social network will have to get permission from users in order to share their information.

But, it's about time that the apologies in all their various versions, especially those which don't admit guilt, be banned.  Judges, the public, the media, and individuals should simply say, "I don't want to hear it."  In the place of this form of verbal theatrics should be action.  Those feeling the need to say they are sorry should get busy doing good. 

Here at the senior-citizen community where I reside in New Haven, Connecticut there is plenty of volunteer work they could do.  Down the block there are teenagers they can organize into sports teams and/or provide guidance on how to find part-time jobs.

Brand New York: Can Manhattan legal sector piggyback on that

Brand New York is thriving, at least in tourism.   In the past five years, hotel rooms have increased 24%, to 90,000, reports NEW YORK Magazine.  The world will be getting off planes, boats, trains, and buses to ring in the New Year in Times Square.

The legal sector based in Manhattan could piggyback on this yearning to be in there.  Before companies cut back travel budgets, that was exactly what ad and public relations did.  They paid through the nose for office space in midtown to provide a good time for clients, especially from boring locations.

Cravath, Swain and Moore just announced that its bonuses for 2011 will be flat, that is, about where they were in 2010, which wasn't a great year for bonuses.  That law firm's Manhattan office could splash across its marketing materials symbols of the Big Apple, including photos and videos of partners and clients having a grand ole time on New Year's Eve.  Face it, it doesn't take much to plant an impression of the value-added which comes with journeying to the Manhattan branch. 

"Court TV" to "The Times Not" Topical Comedy: Art of packaging

Lyle and Eric Menedez.  O.J. Simpson.   The trials of those outsize personalities on "CourtTV" were once what dominated Noel Frankel's professional life. 

Frankel had teamed up with Steven Brill to package what happens in the courtroom as compelling drama.  Cameras were allowed in, at least in state courts.  Legal procedures were going to be explained in layman's language.  Frankel had finished inventing the "lower third," now standard on the bottom ofTV screens, briefing audiences about details and developments.

Together Frankel and Brill packaged and produced litigation as accessible to the masses.  One has a hunch this fascination with evidence provided the platform for the "CSI" series.  Frankel observes:

"Packaging is what I do, whether it's TV programming like "CourtTV," "Nickelodeon," "VH-1,"  and "Nike at Nite" or decades of consumer products and services.  The principles are identical.  What are they?  Well,  wrap the concept around what's already in the public mind.  Get the details right. Keep it fresh.  Stay with your audience or target markets."

Now Frankel is applying those principles to the satiric website:  The Times Not.  Some of the headlines read:

Wall Street Banks Underwrite Occupy Wall Street I.P.O.

The U.S. Department of Industrial Staging (DIS)

Ralph Lauren Country Carnivore Collection

Bloomberg Buys Bermuda Triangle

There's nothing new about the mission of THE TIMES NOT.  It's as old as Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" and Shakespeare's "As You Like It."  That's leveraging comedy as a change agent.  Frankel sees lots of aspects of contemporary life - greed, self-hate, joylessness, climate change, income inequality - which require a remedy.

The particular kind of comedy Frankel encourages among contributors is ironic, fast, funny, topical. Think Seinfeld + real-time, web/mobile urgency.  Frankel's mindset is cultural, not apolitical.  The edge is the ability to see through whatever to what is. 

Should the legal sector advertise on THE TIMES NOT? That's one sure way, legal firms, the software industry serving them, and law-related publishing houses will make themselves accessible.  Here's how to contact.

 

Bonuses: Cravath, Swaine & Moore sends gloom signal

Bonuses at law firms, points out THE WALL STREET JOURNAL's Ashby Jones, provide "a barometer for the industry's profitability for the year."  This year, reports Jones, the associate bonuses at Cravath, Swaine & Moore will remain at 2010 levels.  Last year's levels were only a tad higher than they were in bad-year in the legal sector 2009.

This sends a gloom signal about how the industry is pulling out of its own recession as well as finding and implementing business models for the new realities.   BigLaw, as we know, is much like academia: slow to change.   Yet, academia can continue its glacial pace.  Its bubble hasn't burst and might never.  But, no ambiguity, the bubble certainly did burst has in the legal sector.

The year 2012 might be a time for calling in the business consultants for an objective third-party evaluation about what to overhaul and what to keep.

AMR Bankruptcy: Represented by Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Paul Hastings, Debevoise & Plipton, and Groom

The long road of bankruptcy - this time for parent company AMR of American Airlines - is one filled with solid business for law firms.  It is being represented by Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Paul Hastings, Debevoise & Plipton, and Groom.

AMR had been at a disadvantage since it was the only major carrier which hadn't filed for bankruptcy earlier, a process which allowed its competitors such as Delta and UAL, reports THE NEW YORK TIMES' "Dealbook," to dump legacy costs and renegotiate contracts such as with labor. 

As we all know, bankruptcy is capitalism's tool to help a distressed company reorganize its systems and change its culture, while keeping creditors at bay.  Sometimes it can give a fresh start, as it had with other airlines.  Sometimes the process doesn't have enough to work with and the organization will wind up liquidating. 

One wonders which way iconic brand Kodak, which is represented by Jones Day, will go.   Will it take the leap into a Chapter 11 or sell off assets and attempt to operate just a little better with the status quo?  Remember that classic phrase: "Kodak moment?"

The insolvency industry, ranging from financial-services to law firms, also provides options, such as assignment for benefit of creditors, to Chapter 11.  These are increasingly marketable to distressed companies.