Law And More

Dinesh D'Souza: Does his saga have the making of a Shakespearean tragedy?

The Dinesh D'Souza conservative brand has been taking hits since 2012.  There he was riding high with his anti-Obama documentary "2012: Obama's America."  That reinforced his credentials as a GOP Idea Entrepreneur. That was then.

Then in 2012 he got the boot from his job as President of King's College, which frames sexual intercourse as a gift only for heterosexual married couples.  The institution accused him, a married man, of using that gift with a young female conservative blogger.

Now, reports Bloomberg, D'Souza got whacked by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara for illegal campaign contributions during the New York U.S. Senate race in 2012.  He, states Bloomberg:

" ... was accused in a grand jury indictment of having others make contributions to the unidentified candidate totalling four times the maximum of $5,000 that an individual is allowed to give during the campaign cycle."

During that campaign the GOP candidate was Wendy Long.  She lost to Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand.  Here you can read the Bloomberg coverage.

One wonders if D'Souza has the stuff of one of Shakespeare's tragic heroes.  

Did he have the intellectual range and capacity for suffering of a Hamlet?

Was he as deluded as a King Lear or Othello?  

Or, could he have been as malevolent a creature as MacBeth?

Perhaps a documentary should be made about him.

Meryl Streep, Judi Dench, Bruce Dern, June Squibb: Has a paradigm shift taken place about aging?

Four aging film stars have been involved in movies nominated for Oscars.  

Perhaps aging no longer necessarily has to mean "finished."  And maybe lawsuits and other kinds of legal action taken regarding alleged discrimination against older workers will be viewed differently.  And will the media be less sympathetic to contentions about aging workers' getting raw deals. 

The older actors are:

Meryl Streep, 64, "August: Osage County"

Judi Dench, 79, "Philomena"

Bruce Dern, 77, "Nebraska"

June Squibb, 84, "Nebraska."

None of them seemed to be trying to look or behave younger.  

 

 

"Inside Llewyn Davis" - Harbinger of today's underemployed lawyer

Before his partner jumped off the George Washington Bridge, Llewyn Davis was a moderately successful guitar player and singer.  After that loss, he got lost.  The story is set in the 1960s.

The new Coen Brothers film "Inside Lleywyn Davis" chronicles his inability to accept help that's offered or grab onto "starter" opportunities.  He is stuck, painfully so. Along the way he manages to wear out his welcome mostly everywhere.  In contrast, the orange cat he accidentally lets out of the Manhattan apartment where he crashed finds its way back.  His name is Ulysses. 

This second decade of the 21st century is producing way too many Llewyn Davis memes.  Obviously, they proliferate in the legal sector.  I have spoken with a number of lawyers who had been forced out of practicing law.  Some had been in BigLaw.  Others had legal jobs in professional services firms such as real estate.  None have found a satisfying career path.  The suffering is huge.  And, like Llewyn Davis, they are tending to alienate those who could give them support - and even paid work. 

Of course, former lawyers aren't the only lost.  Across all professions are former major players who woke up one day and found they were no longer on the radar screen.  They still have jobs or businesses. But after that loss, they often become as pitiful as Llewyn Davis. 

The hymn "Amazing Grace" has been so uplifting because we recognize how difficult it is let oneself be found. 

 

"Wolf of Wall Street" - The supposed good guys/girls aren't hot

In terms of career paths, the ones belonging to the FBI and judges don't come across as very attractive in "Wolf of Wall Street."  On the other hand, the guys and girls who learn to sell, even if it's near-worthless penny stock, seem hot.  

There are plenty of lessons buried in the film under the drugs, raw language, compulsive sexual activity and fleecing regular joes and janes.

One is that work can be fun.  Before things get out of hand, Jordan et al. have a hell of a lot of fun at not being Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.  Unlike the earnest FBI and judges, they enjoy having a quick eye for finding how to get from Point A (no money) to Point B (plenty of money) in a way that doesn't require too much heavy lifting.  Law students and lawyers watching their moves might drop some of their own plodding mindset and behavior.

Another key lesson is that the ability to sell is everything.  It might be a point of view or a stock.  Jordan regains his influence, power and easy action in federal prison because he is a trained salesperson.  After release he has a whole new career path as an international sales trainer.

The third lesson is never to give up.  After he lost his first Wall Street job during the Crash of 1987, Jordan found an even better fit for himself in a boiler room hawking penny stocks.  When the feds tied the noose around his neck, he knew it was time to rat.  That got him three years instead of 20.  In the slammer he figured out the angles.

Those offended by "Wolf of Wall Street" should grow up.  There are fun, easy ways to make a good living and hold onto hope.  That I see as the film's message.

Newbie JDs/Current Law Students: Trapped in time

Getting trapped in time, when the economy is shifting can result in financial ruin and heart-break.  So many of newbie JDs and current law students got caught in the assumptions that the right education, along with good grades, would bring success.  The mindset was The Meritocracy.  

As Joseph Epstein chronicles in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, that ethos replaced the WASP monolith for success.  There was a time when we had to be born into a White Protestant family in order to get anywhere.  The article is titled "The Late, Great American WASP."  Here you can read it (sub. req.)

Then everything changed.  Again.  Sure the likes of a Bill Clinton had risen from a working class background to the top, via Yale and good grades.  But, in a growing number of career paths that is no longer enough.  Actually, it could be a liability.  When I was down and out in 2003, I did not list attending Harvard Law School on my application for a temporary job as a security guard in retail during the Christmas season.  Here is my ebook on that time of transition Download Geezerguts.

Sure, some outstanding graduates from the Top 14 law schools are on their way to partnership.  But they are fewer than had been the situation before.   Those who are more likely to be on their way are the hustlers, those who living by their wits.  The economy has changed to an opportunistic one.  The game is now about identifying how to make a buck and then going after that.  That's what the startup culture is all about.  That's what getting a job in fast food to learn the business in order to start your own version is all about.  That's what doing odd jobs for the surging number of senior citizens by an over-50 guy who lost his job is all about.

No surprise, the film "American Hustler" has us mesmerized.  There are plenty of Aha moments.  We muse: So that's how it's done.

Dementia: 21st Century AIDS, With Huge Legal Issues

The grim film "Dallas Buyers Club" depicts a time when AIDS was a new epidemic in the late 20th century, with only a few experimental treatments and certainly no cure.  The legal issues hammered in the movie were primarily about the legality of certain drugs in the U.S.  The establishment came off looking pretty bad and the rogue seller of drugs unapproved in the U.S. as a folk hero.  That was then.

The 21st century epidemic is dementia.  According to Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI), by 2050 there will be 135 million cases worldwide. Currently there are about 44 million.  Here is the coverage in Reuters. The legal issues are huge.  It's unlikely any institution will come off looking good.  Likely the nearest thing to a hero will be simply the person who is candid about the horror of this disease so little is known about. 

Those of us who live in senior housing bump into the legalities all too often.  Last week I gave a woman I thought only was suffering from minor memory loss a ride to a special musical event. It would last to at least 10:30 P.M..  We agreed I would pick her up at 10:15 P.M.  

Then she called me at 9:20 P.M., furious.  She ranted that the event was over and where was I.  I got it: She was senile.  Had she wandered off and froze to death or been robbed and murdered, a lot of legal questions could have been raised.  

As for me, was I negligent allowing her to be out there without supervision?  Should I have "known better?"

As for others, is any family member taking advantage of her financially? Who's monitoring her financial affairs or who should be? Was the residential complex remiss in not mandating she relocate to assisted living? Should the aides who assist her have reported her deteriorating condition to her family and demanded immediate action?  And once in custodial care, what should be the standard procedures to ensure safety of the client?

It's human to want to err on the side of enabling the human being as full a life as possible. But that could get society into a real legal mess. Because of fear of legal liability those with dementia could find themselves with very limited lifestyles.  Meanwhile, the pain of losing their ability to sort out what's going on in the world is etched in their face.  When I picked up my neighbor she looked as if she had had a major anxiety attack. Of course, I am in terror of signs that I also may be losing my marbles. 

"Hunger Games - Catching Fire" - Useful game-theory refresher for lawyers

Game theory was all the rage when media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, 82, studied at Oxford.  The guy has survived every public relations and business (think death of newspapers) crisis so far.  

So does Katniss Everdeen in "Hunger Games - Catching Fire." Bypassing her youthful default to emotion, she approaches simple survival and revolution through the kind of strategic mindset of game-theory players.  

Essentially, that system of thinking mandates you create your strategies based on what you have good evidence to believe opponents are doing.  Say, you're applying for a job.  You present yourself and your edge framed to demonstrate why you are a better choice that the competition.  Of course, brandname lawyers leverage game theory all the time.  Lackluster performers stick to points of law in isolation.

The ultimate smart move in game theory is to conceal your strategy.  That's exactly what Everdeen learns to do.  The not-so-surprising ending reveals that the Panem's chief gamesman Plutarch Heavensbee had revolution as his hidden agenda.  

In this media era and the craving for celebrity, it's tempting to be transparent, gushing about your game plan.  But outcomes, at least the Big Bang ones, come through stealth.  The moves should be so Machiavellian that even game theory experts can't deconstruct them.  That applies to the whole enchilada, ranging from getting a job to winning for clients. 

Sports: Should a law school stage a mock trial of fans who create iconic frauds like Lance Armstrong?

There have been mock trials put together at law schools about historic figures. For example, should Jesus Christ have been condemned to be hung on the cross?  Now, with the release of the documentary "The Armstrong Lie," it might be the right time to determine our collective guilt in creating sports figures who feel they have license to cheat in extraordinary ways. 

St. Lance, the miracle biker who also beat back cancer, couldn't have existed without those of us who bought into an identity that was bigger than any human being.  Among the other defendants should be the sponsors who had invested millions in what turned out to be a fraud. Yeah, we should  have known.  There's nothing wrong with honoring athletic talent.  But it is crazy to make a myth of any simple human being. 

The Julian Assage Depicted in "The Fifth Estate" - A type lawyers know well

The dark side of all leadership is that, well, power tends to take its toll on the human being.  Like the character Julian Assage depicted in "The Fifth Estate" leaders can veer off into eccentric excess and worse. That's why they so often wind up seeking assistance from a lawyer.  We more ordinary folks tend to keep our hold about how far we can go in our behavior.

And, sure enough, the law pounced on Assage.  He has been accused of alleged sexual misconduct.  To duck all that he is holed up in an embassy in London. That is bound to get old.  He may well seek up a team of lawyers to address his legal problems. Then he can return full time to being a leader. 

"Captain Phillips" - The movie and the lawsuits (by the crew)

This weekend some of us enjoyed the film "Captain Phillips." It depicted the ordeal of the cargo ship Alabama when under pirate attack.  The captain, who was taken hostage in a life boat by pirates from Somali, was rescued by crack-shot Navy seals.  

Interestingly, in the film there is grousing by some of the crew.  They tell Captain Phillips they are just simple worker bees and have no mandate to put their lives in danger like the military does.  Well, a number of those crew members are suing Maesk Line and Waterman Steamship Corporation, reports Paul M. Barrett in BLOOMBERG BUSINESS WEEK. Here is that article.

Essentially they contend in lawsuits in Alabama and Texas that the captain had been warned to not sail within 600 miles of Somali because of the threat of piracy. But to save time he sailed closer and the worst happened.  The plaintiffs cite the negligence of the captain, the ship company, and the ship operator.  

The trial begins in December.  A diverse assortment of media might be covering it. Will THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER be there?