Law And More

Post-Charlottesville, Play-Outs of Detroit 1967?

The film "Detroit" brought back the horror of the summer of 1967.

Cities went up in flames.

Stores were looted.

People died.

There was alleged police brutality. 

Currently, the emotional and rhetorical fallout from Charlottesville might kick off the same kind of anarchy. The summer of 2017 is not over. 

The immediate targets this time, reports The Wall Street Journal, could be confederate monuments. Those will just be the precipitant, the entities which kick things off. What will come next is unknown. 

Because cars have become tools of terrorism, auto dealerships could be attacked.

Of course, with the anti-Semitism, Jewish houses of worship are vulnerable.

Universities? In this era which mocks critical thinking, why not torch them too.

Those of us who had been in urban areas in 1967 know to stay away from the action - before, during and after. Don't be there to show support. Don't be there to observe. And, no, don't just drive by. Crowd dynamics are terrifying.

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Fame, DIY - Gang of Five at Abovethelaw, Ana Marie Cox, Mommy Bloggers

Hollywood's publicity machine used to operate in overdrive to create celebrities.

There were the dates arranged between stars. The appearance on the "Ed Sullivan" show. And the dirt plowed under. That's how the box office revenue was generated.

And that was then. Everything about such a system of celebrity-creation is dying.

At the top of the list of what's killing it off is Rotten Tomatoes. Its TomatoMeter determines more and more ticket sales.

A close second is digital media. If you know how to use it, timing is right and the universe smiles on you, yes, you have a shot at being known around the world. 

In the book published last month, "The Stars In Our Eyes," Julie Klam explains how the path to celebrity status has broadened.

We already know that by the growth of the influencer niche to hawk products, services, points of view and causes. That's open to just about anyone with a large following on social media - or inbound links from those whom commercial interests want to reach. 

The classic example had been the Mommy Bloggers. Heather Armstrong came out of nowhere to land on the Forbes' list as one the Most Powerful Women in Media. 

Of course, there were also all those engaging cats on YouTube and toddlers who could really belt out a song.

So, yes, the fame game is now open to everyone. To apply that cliché, the playing field has been leveled.

The bad news is that, in fast-moving digital time, rarely can the fame be sustained. Klam hammered how old-line celebrities such as Grace Kelly endured. Her film "Rear Window" remains iconic. 

Currently, YouTube entities such as Tyler Oakley will likely come and go. 

It takes tremendous effort to hold the spotlight shining on you.

A success for that has been Ana Marie Cox. She came on stage as the Wonkette on now-gone Gawker. She dished the dirt about what was happening inside the beltway. For that she was paid $10 a post.

But she also had her ticket punched. And she has made it a forever ticket by staying in the public eye through not only her journalism gigs. She is a prolific tweeter. Her appeal is to diverse market segments. They range from anti-Trump politicos to those in recovery. 

In addition, she shaped an America's sweetheart persona. That tends to endure longer than a bizarre one. 

Encouraging is that becoming a celebrity, unlike in the golden age of Hollywood, can be Do It Yourself (DIY). That venture can start by observing how others are going about seeking fame, their strategy and tactics and how they grow a following.

Even in the seemingly tedious world of legal news celebrities have sprouted up. They include the Gang of Five at Abovethelaw.com. Their winning tactic is that they allow others into the act. An example is through how they link in the AM and the PM to others' work. Like the Mommy Bloggers, the Gang of Five came to us from nowhere.

Reflection: If you make getting famous your mission, it can happen. 

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Rotten Tomatoes - Global Ambassador for Peace

Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer assessed "The Big Sick" at 98%. That's why I ponied up the money for the ticket. Rotten Tomatoes, not film makers' marketing, sells tickets. 

"The Big Sick" is yet another version of Romeo and Juliette. That is, love encountering the obstacles established by the parents' backgrounds. 

In this case Romeo is the Pakistan-born Kumail. His parents are determined to arrange his marriage. Of course, they also are cheering him on to enter a traditional status career. Medical doctor is at the top. Meanwhile, he drives for Uber and struggles to make it as a stand-up comic.

Juliette is Emily, a graduate student in psychology. She had had one marriage and one divorce. Her parent's opposition to Kumail comes after he rejects her as their romance deepens. He doesn't have the strength to buck his family's values. Then he tries to re-enter her life when she becomes very sick. It's understandable they can't forgive the past. To do that would force them to understand what Kumail struggles with.

The resolution is promising but not perfect. The new obstacle, as Emily recovers and Kumail relocates for his comedy career, is the reality of lives on different tracks. But the former obstacle - the past - has disappeared.

The audience exits the movie house with good feelings. That raises the issue: Should advocates of peace leverage more pop culture to bring humanity together?

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"Detroit" - Things Haven't Changed Much, Have They

Kathryn Bigelow's film"Detroit" brings back the summer of 1967.

It was hot.

African-Americans were still treated as less-than - or worse.

There were rumors of police brutality.

And, no surprise, urban areas went up in flames.

Detroit has remained a symbol of that time of violence and looting. But those of us in locations such as Jersey City, New Jersey experienced the same reign of terror. Only, most of us whites didn't understand how such rage could have been present in the African-Americans we lived near, worked alongside and even had gone to school with. Discussing race relations was taboo. 

No, it wasn't the elephant in the room. It just wasn't there.

For so many of us right now the subject remains taboo. In conversations, it's the third rail. 

Yet in 2017, we have a hunch that how the world operates really hasn't changed that much since 1967.

The police, as in "Detroit," may regard African-Americans warily or even with hostility. African-American lawyer-journalist at Abovethelaw.com - Elie Mystal - reports on that site and on Facebook that he is afraid to drive through certain neighborhoods in the New York Metro area. 

Likely there are few African-Americans in our inner circles or even on the edges.

In my apartment building, there is one African-American. In the local Unitarian Church there is one African-American. In my recovery group there are no African-Americans. None of my clients are African-Americans.

The present mirrors the past. In my high school class in Jersey City, which was the "accelerated section," there had been two African-Americans. In college in western Pennsylvania in the Class of 1967, there were no African-Americans. In the doctoral program at the University of Michigan, there had been one African-American. 

After seeing "Detroit" this evening, I have to admit that I really never got to know well an African-American. And none have gotten to know me.  When it comes to supposedly "healing" race relations, I count myself out as clueless.

Could there be another play-out of urban violence?  Of course. 

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Kerrie Campbell Launches Own Law Firm KCampbell-Law - Signature Is "grit, with grace."

The amazingly brave saga of former Chadbourne & Parke (now Norton Rose Fulbright) partner - Kerrie Campbell - has a new development. On Abovethelaw.com, lawyer-journalist Kathryn Rubino has been covering each chapter. 

As Rubino now reports, Campbell has launched her own law firm KCampbell-Law PLLC. Its special areas of expertise include:

High-profile Reputation

Regulation

Defamation

Commercial Speech

Unfair Trade Practices.

Its signature or brand is "grit with grace."

Campbell filed a gender-discrimination lawsuit against her employer. Long story made short, the firm voted to oust her as a partner. Meanwhile others have joined the lawsuit.

The ousting brought to mind an image of middle-aged white men in good suits ganging up on a female. Hopefully, this push-back against alleged unfair treatment of females in the workplace will result in a documentary.  

Currently, Katie Couric has a shop which, together with National Geographic, puts together those kinds of documentaries. A recent one has been "Gender Revolution." It focuses on the not atypical misalignment between the body we are born with and our sexual and social identity. 

May KCampbell-Law thrive.

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India - Power as Global Player Impeded by Antiquated Legal System

It has been said that one factor in America's development as a global economic power has been its legal system.

Among the strengths is its contract law. Especially important is its protection of private property. Without that legal foundation, entities would not feel safe entering into any business relationship. 

So, it's no surprise that India's antiquated legal system is viewed as an impediment to its growth as an global economic player. The Wall Street Journal highlights this obstacle. Currently there are 30 million pending cases in India. 

Like most nations, India is encountering increased competition on all fronts for attracting new business and investment.

At the top of the list of what's threatened is its brand as the ideal place to outsource. Currently, that brand identity isn't all that secure.

For example, the Philippines is putting itself out there as less expensive and where American English, not British English, is used. 

Another line of business in play could be the retirement industry. Baby Boomers fearful of outliving their funds are relocating from the U.S. to retire in places such as Ecuador, the Philippines and, yes, India. The latter was featured in the film "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel."

Those nations want the U.S. dollars from sources such as Social Security, employer pensions and retirement investment vehicles. 

But, India could lose out if it doesn't reconfigure its legal system to mirror more than Americans expect for settling their disputes. 

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"Dunkirk" - Sometimes Just Surviving Is Plenty

In theme, acting and camera work, "Dunkirk" is powerful enough to lift us out of our preoccupation with Trumpism - and ourselves.

Set in May 1940, the film chronicles the heroic coordinated efforts of 400,000 Allied soldiers and civilians with boats in an evacuation. The Germans have them pinned into the French port Dunkirk. There will be no victory. The takeaway, instead, may be that sometimes just being able to resist, that is, push back, is as good as it gets, at least at the time. 

Established early is the dark tone.

Four soldiers casually wander through the postcard-pretty French village. The only one who is not gunned down heads to the beach. There he drops his trousers. Then he defecates.

At the end of the film that grimness is reinforced by the pilot who manages to glide his out-of-fuel plane to a landing on the beach. Then he torches it so that the Germans can't retrofit it for their own use.

In between all that is the roller coaster of both emotions and actions the soldiers experience. After assuming they were safe on a ship, that vessel gets torpedoed. Those lucky enough to escape the sinking ship encounter more bombs as they try to swim to safety. 

One soldier on the beach takes off his helmet and walks into the sea. Other soldiers silently watch the suicide. The despair is palpable as many other dead bodies are scattered on the sand.

A shell-shocked pilot rescued by a civilian boat winds up killing a young boy who is pitching in to help with the mission. The boat captain observes that the traumatized solider will probably never be the same. 

When the evacuation, called "Operation Dynamo," is complete, the "boys" go home. The crowds treat them like heroes. But some are wise enough to recognize that what happened in Dunkirk represented resistance, without a victory.

All that opens the door for members of the audience to reflect on how to navigate setbacks. The pragmatic way to position and package those might just be: We survived. We are up for the game on another day.

Perhaps in the current strange times, the new American Dream should be simply to survive. 

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When Pop Culture References Were Verboten in Serious Discourse (Maybe Only Partners Will Remember That)

All social classes enjoyed pop culture.

But "serious people" weren't allowed to take popular culture seriously.

Those "serious people" included college students in Humanities courses, doctoral students writing dissertations, executives in corporations making speeches and publishing books and lawyers arguing cases in court. 

That was then. Actually it wasn't so long ago.

In the early 1980s, scholar Stuart Hall introduced the subject of popular culture in a lecture at the University of Illinois. In The New Yorker, Hua Hsu chronicles that revolution. Essentially it entailed pop culture's being classified and treated as "culture." Hall's lecture opened the door to "cultural studies."

The front lines of that disruption were scholars whose backgrounds were blue collar. They recognized that what they had experienced growing up was indeed culture.

Now, college students take courses studying the aggregate pop culture or bits and pieces such as how women are portrayed in the mass media.

Sure, there are doctoral dissertations on such matters, which at one time weren't considered worth scholarly investigation.

The speeches and articles we wrote for Lee Iacocca during the Chrysler turnaround were jam packed with pop culture references. In addition, Iacocca was the first corporate leader to use the language of the street, such as "coulda" and "shoulda." 

And, even judges use pop culture to make a point in their written opinions. Here, Kathryn Rubino at Abovethelaw.com describes how Ninth Circuit Judge John Owens leveraged a reference to "Raiders of the Lost Ark." That was in his concurrence for the case of "U.S. v. Perez-Silvan."

Is the current challenge for Millennials and Gen Zers to experience and appreciate what used to be classified as "high culture?"

My Millennial clients have neither read nor seen a play by William Shakespeare. To fulfill "that kind of requirement" in college they took an American Studies or Womens Studies course.

No Bach or Beethoven comes through their doors or windows in this 400-unit complex. 

Unless they had gone to art school, many have developed no interest in the visual art movements over the centuries. 

I wonder, though: Had I not invested so many years in academia involved in the study of English Literature and the History of Ideas, would I even care about those artifacts of so-called high culture?

I have a hunch the answer is "no." The characters in "Criminal Minds" and in the film "Manchester By the Sea" are the entities which help me interpret my little world. 

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Long Legs & Long Arm of the Law

From the era of Betty Grable to the present, long legs have given females the edge in some contexts. The legal space has not been exempt.

One wonders, of course, if Megyn Kelly's long legs gave her a leg up, pun intended, in being hired by elite law firm Jones Day as an associate. They also likely contributed to her success in her second career - media. The late media tycoon Roger Ailes made long legs a Fox News signature item. Only after his ouster were female employees allowed to wear slacks.

But the long legs don't seem to fare too well for Kelly on network television. In the launch of her "Sunday Night" at NBC, she interviewed on the couch with her long legs prominent. Soon enough she was sitting at a desk, with the long legs under it.

Now influential media outlet Daily Mail is featuring the long legs of Tiffany Trump. In the fall she will be attending Georgetown Law. She had turned down Harvard.

Will Trump's long leg be a force more powerful than her family network in advancing through law school, then her first few jobs?

Reflection: There could be a backlash against the alleged edge long legs give females in professional life. That could be fresh grounds for hunting down how we five-footers have been discriminated against.

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Alec Baldwin Started Out Pre-Law

In his memoir 'Nevertheless," Alec Baldwin recounts that he assumed that he was going to become a lawyer. That was when he left New York and enrolled in George Washington University in D.C. 

His grandfather Alexander Baldwin had been an assistant DA in Brooklyn. Baldwin adds that gramps had been indicted for allegedly taking a bribe. Although acquitted, he was disbarred. Quickly he lost everything and turned to drink.

Perhaps that negative family legacy was what provided the wiggle room in Baldwin's career planning. When doing some acting at GW, he had the epiphany that finally he found heaven. Up until then, he was just another lost soul from a dysfunctional low-income family.

He transferred to New York University. That had and still has a well-respected acting program.

Just when he was running out of money at NYU, the universe smiled on him. From nowhere, he was invited to audition for the the part of cad on the soap opera "The Doctors." Since audiences prefer cads over good guys, that was exactly the break Baldwin needed. As they say, the rest is history.

What Baldwin hammers early in the memoir is how his Dickensian childhood shaped the personality traits he needed to be a first-rate actor.

For example, he took refuge from the unhappy house inside himself. There, he could inspect his feelings. Another refuge was watching plenty of television. He also lived inside the small screen. In addition, he got it that he had to run his own show. Both his parents were ineffectual. 

The book is a useful read for anyone who can't ferret out purpose in their pain. 

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