Law And More

New York Corruption: Making of a great musical (starring character named Preet Bharara)

"Corruption, corruption, green shoots of it throughout New York.  Preet Preeet has been a very busy guy." 

Those could be some of the lines from the greatest musical about New York.  As Christians believe, corruption is part of the human condition. Therefore the theme would capture the attention of the elite, the middle class, and even the homeless.  Everyone would want to take a peek at how public leaders have been allegedly been, oh horrors, self interested to the point of breaking the law. There is plenty of material for the playwrites.

THE NEW YORK OBSERVER reports that U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara predicts there will even be more corruption cases pursued then there have been.  Among the alleged miscreants has been New York state senator John Sampson.

I love corruption.  I was brought up on it in Jersey City, New Jersey when Mayor Hague politics still dominated.  Nothing got done directly.  If you wanted your street cleaned on a regular basis you had to implore the parish priest who knew someone who had a nephew working in City Hall.  Favors, money, but probably not sex were given in exchange.  Those were the good old days when things got done.  No one went to jail. 

Harlem Shake: But, what's against the rules when the rules keep changing?

On Frontier Airlines 157, a group of passengers performed the Harlem Shake, that is dancing to the song of Brooklyn Deejay Baauer. They were led by Colorado College's Ultimate Frisbee team and the Frontier Airlines staff gave permission to have the performance art put on video.

Now the FAA is investigating, reports CORPORATE COUNSEL.  Meanwhile in Australia, a dozen miners were fired for doing the Harlem Shake because their employer contended it was a safety violation.  And in cubeville managers might be wondering the what-ifs: If employees start dancing, is that a violation of company policy and should they issue a memo to head that off?

The Harlem Shake, the fun thing it is, is also an Internet sensation.  Since it's new it is probably not listed in any policy directory as against the rules, at least not explicitly.  But the rules keep changing and it's logical that some employees simply assumed that some exercise taken in cubeville would be good for refreshing the mind and burning some calories.  After all, many organizations have adopted a casual ethos. So, why not shake that booty a little.

Of course, the powers-that-be who send memos banning the Harlem Shake will incite ridicule. If employees leak that material, the snickers could go global.

Mindy McCready: Gun debate adds suicide issue

If a gun hadn't been available to country singer Mindy McCready, would she be alive this morning?  But a gun was available, she used it to commit suicide, and is dead.

The debate over the ease with which people can obtain guns in America has added the issue of suicide.  Without a gun a despondent person might have attempted and failed at suicide.  Pills are not a reliable method of checking out.  And the other more effective means, ranging from hanging to leaping from a building or in front of a train, are difficult to undertake.

The problem with introducing the matter of suicide is that, given the tough times we live in, there isn't a whole lot of sympathy with those who decide to take what some perceive as the easy way out.

Whitney Houston: Would drug decriminalization have saved her life?

Would Whitney Houston be still belting out those songs today if America had decriminalized drugs?  That's a possibility.  In Portugal, reports FORBES, all drugs were decriminalized.  ALL.  Today, drug abuse is down about 50% in that country.  Not that decriminalization accomplished that decline single-handedly.  Simultaneously the nation beefed up humane treatment services for those who were convinced they could function without the alternate reality provided by substances.

 

There are those who have a lot to say about substance abuse.  But many of them know little about its psychology or dynamics.  That could be changing.  More students in medicine, behavioral sciences and law enforcement are attending 12-steps meetings.  They ask permission from us members to do so and we're thrilled to have them learn from the frank sharing. 

One reality about chasing after banned substances is that the experience is exciting.  Take away that thrill and society deflates the feeling payoff.  Another reality is that being an outlaw is fun.  It's also a clear identity for those who have those holes in them about who they are.  Being bad trumps being nobody.  And, third, forbidden fruit tastes so sweet.  It's a fundamental of reverse psychology not to say no.  Do that and the miscreant simply stops whatever.

Those lawyers with influence might save a lot of lives worth saving if they pushed to legalize all drugs.  

Whitney Houston's Doctors: Yank their licenses, put them in Big House

There are those of us on who whatever  - food, work, drugs, booze -  can cast spells.  Some of us have the will to live and the strength to figure out how to get out of that field of force.  Neither we or science knows why we can and others can't.

For those who can't, like Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson, their medical enablers should be put out of business and in jail. 

SuperBowl XLVI: Tutorial for legal sector for online video marketing

The world of marketing and messaging has gone visual.  And online video has become the low-cost, interactive, and self-replicating option for more professional services.  Show it, don't even try to tell it. 

During SuperBowl XLVI, Coca-Cola's iconic Polar Bears will be watching the game, commenting on it, and even deconstructing the commercials. That will happen through video streaming on CokePolarBowl.com.   Baby Bear's eyes will be covered during the too racy commercials, as from GoDaddy and Doritos.

Watch the visuals during the game and read about the analysis of what is happening before and after the game for marketing and messaging.

To get you started I published a piece on SuperBowl XLVI on the site of financial information powerhouse Motley Fool.  Here you can read all about it.

Wendy Wasserstein: Fortunately, she didn't get into law school, twice

Playwright Wendy Wasserstein was the typical college graduate, says biographer Julie Salamon in "Wendy And The Lost Boys."

Wendy lacked professional and personal direction.  Her driven mother Lola was after her to succeed.  So, twice she tried to get into law school.  Twice she was turned down by all she applied to.  Her LSAT score was in the 50-percentile and her undergraduate grades weren't so hot. 

Given that her brother Bruce had attended Harvard Law and succeeded in whatever he did afterward, the family and Wendy herself might have assumed she would have a genetic predisposition to law. 

Not being admitted to law school gave her the gift of desperation.  She had to find her talent.  It was in writing about what she knew: her over-achieving family with its out-sized secrets.  The tone was comic and poignant.

Many of us were not as lucky as Wendy.  We did get into law school.  There we found out what a force-fit it was for us.

Bernie Madoff as Celebrity: Second act could be more satisfying than first

In his letter from prison to his daughter-in-law Stephanie, Bernie Madoff crowed about how much a celebrity he was.   That was just the beginning.  And this second act in his life could be much more satisfying than simply being a wealthy man in Manhattan and Florida.

Now, Paul Thompson reports in THE TELEGRAPH, Robert De Niro and his partner Jane Rosenthal at Tribeca Productions will produce a film about Madoff's life.  De Niro will play the part of the master of the Ponzi scheme.  Material for the film will be derived from son Andrew Madoff's book "Truth and Consequences," which has been purchased by HBO.

The audience for that film seems to be large.  When Ruth Madoff appeared on "60 Minutes" to plug her son's book ratings were high.  Madoff seems to have earned the right to become a cult anti-hero.  Next Halloween NEW YORK MAGAZINE might provide downloadable Bernie masks.  This year it provided a download of a Gus mask from "Breaking Bad."

Packaging doesn't get better than this: Former prosecutor Giuliani hosts AMC "Mob Week"

Is former prosecutor and New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani running for President? 

His brilliant early packaging might indicate that.  On cable channel AMC, which brought us "Mad Men," law-and-order Giuliani is hosting "Mob Week."  He's Italian.  So are most of the mob characters.  Between parts of "The Godfather, Part I" last night, Giuliani appeared with his knowing smile.  That facial gesture seemed a universal sign of communication about how much we law-abiding citizens really love and respect those who boldly but strategically live outside the law.  Yeah, we figure.  Rudy has our number.  The iconic music from "The Godfather" pulls us back into a time when America had more power and hope.  Nice touch for kicking off a campaign.

Last night's offering ended with Michael cementing his power by delivering a blood bath onto his enemies and the team kissing his ring.  He had become the new Godfather.  On some level, will we viewers make the connection between the shrewd leadership of Michael and the possible shrewd presidency of Rudy?

In art and life, there is much to play with when it comes to the theme of law.  Whose law counts?

Mandatory Company Retreats: Not completely over

Many of us assumed that those mandatory company retreats would become a ghost of affluence past.  Well, not in the legal sector.  Only at California and Nevada law firm Morris Polich & Purdy there's even a new wrinkle, reports Elie Mystal in Abovethelaw.com.

Morris Polich & Purdy is hosting a two-day mandatory retreat at a hotel near Palm Springs this fall.  There will be an "important" meeting early the second day.  That means that those attending will be stuck there for two days.  The law firm is only paying for the hotel cost [$150 per night] for junior members. 

Why a law firm would adopt such a policy is puzzling, particularly when there are so many digital sites such as Abovethelaw.com and my own syndicated http://lawandmore.typepad.com.  Like Superman, our mission is to be bring about truth, justice, and the American Way. 

Clearly, we are concerned about the justice of imposing on the most vulnerable members of the firm, in these days the legal sector is downsizing, the cost of a hotel room for a meet-up the employer requires.  That would be analogous to a company's holding a beauty contest among us vendors and requiring us to be registered at a certain hotel [maybe someone's brother-in-law owns it].  If the business being competed over is in a hot category and pays well, come on, some will cave and pony up the cost of the hotel room.

Never is it the right thing to do to exploit the vulnerable.  It is an especially terrible crime against the soul during this worst of times.  Perhaps the blogosphere should establish The Depression Hall Of Shame.  Those who find themselves in it will be emotionally flogged.

My hunch is that, now that this practice is outed, Morris Polich & Purdy will pop for both nights.