Law And More

Deloitte Hack, Including Client Confidential Data/Plans - Probably for Commercial Gain

One of Deloitte's core competencies is providing clients with cyber security.

That's why the major cyber attack of its own data and that of about six clients has thrown the Deloitte branding in crisis.

The extent of the data breach is extraordinary, reports Jeff John Roberts, at Fortune. The story first broke in the Guardian. The incentive for the hack seemed to be for commercial gain. 

Roberts notes:

" ... hackers were commercially motivated, and seeking confidential information to sell or use for insider trading."

 Another ugly aspect of this hack was, Roberts adds, Deloitte's own alleged simplistic approach to cyber security. For instance, it did not use two-factor authentication. My own brokerage account with Edward Jones requires that. In addition, only one password was used for access to massive amounts of data.

Actually, this is not a shock to me. For a brief time, before I resigned the account, I was a contract researcher/ghostwriter for the Deloitte Center for Government Insights.

Its chief of staff- David Noone-did not require that I sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). That is standard, even with small businesses. 

Overall, I perceived the working relationship with the Center for Government Insights odd and terminated within several hours. The Center paid me for that time.

I shared my concerns with the executive director but there was no response. Last April, in an article on NDAs, I alluded to that upsetting experience. 

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Skadden Pulled into Paul Manafort Investigation - Will BigLaw/Big PR Become Targets of Mueller Probe

" ... Paul Manafort arranged for [Skadden] to draft a report that was used by allies of his client, Viktor Yanukovych, the Russia-aligned president of Ukraine, to justify the jailing of a political rival." Kenneth Vogel and Andrew Kramer, The New York Times, September 21, 2017.

Now that Skadden's role has been outed and of interest to the U.S. Justice Department, the question is: What other BigLaw firms will be pulled into the Mueller investigation? 

It is not unusual for BigLaw firms to do that kind of international counseling. But until now it has not been on the radar of regulators and media. Now it is. 

Along with the spotlight on BigLaw firms, the Mueller phenomenon has also called attention to public relations firms such as Mercury and Podesta. 

The end result is that circles of influence and how they operate will be described in detail in the media. Law firms and public relations agencies which are identified as being loosey-goosey in their relationships with non-U.S. entities likely will take a hit to their branding.

Americans are too jittery about the political tensions in global affairs. Also, there's the issue of the fairness or unfairness of the activities of international competitors. 

Think about it. Do the marketers for ABC baby product or XYZ online education want their law firms and public relations agencies linked to banana-republic like antics in world affairs? 

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"Rocket Man" - Drudge Report, Donald Trump, Bitter Hillary & Power of Nicknames

Yes, the Drudge Report picks up on the nickname-"Rocket Man"-Donald Trump pinned on Kim Jong Un. Here is the Drudge link to the president's use of it during the UN speech.

The probability is now high the nickname will stick.

Recall how Drudge reinforced Trump's nicknames for Hillary Clinton. They ranged from "Crooked Hillary" to "Sick Hillary." And, boy, did they stick.

Drudge positioned and packaged all that with an array of unflattering Hillary photos posted in the headline spot of the media site. Drudge's current focus is a mashup of "Old Hillary" and "Bitter Hillary."

The influence of digital-only conservative Drudge Report is amazing. And, it's even catching on with liberals. The curation is among the best among media outlets. 

Of course, the moniker "Rocket Man" brands the chubby North Korean dictator as clownish. That's could be one solid contribution Trump makes to bettering the world. 

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Lawyers Banished from Paradise - For Comeback, Maybe Publish a Hard-Cover Book, Like Ellen Pao

Ellen Pao had lost the high-profile gender discrimination lawsuit against her former employer venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins.  

The trial-"Pao v.Kleiner"-was high profile. The stage setting was Silicon Valley. Lousy place to crash. 

The job as interim head of Reddit was short and ended with her resignation. 

The initiative she later started to nurture diversity. Yawn. That was not on the level of a Bill and Melinda Gates project.

Members of the media, such as Vanity Fair, vilified her. 

But, finally, Pao may again be on a solid career path. That specific approach to a comeback is built on the analogue-world strategy of publishing a hard cover book. 

The title is "Reset." Although just out there, it already ranks at 9,984 on Amazon.

Brandname media, ranging from The New York Times to New York Magazine, are discussing it. Attention, as everyone knows, is the currency of the second half of the 21st century. Have it and you are welcome everywhere. Or, better yet, get it back and they might let you in again, all ears to hear about your journey.

The subject of the book is the need for more diversity in tech. Both topics, diversity and tech, are attention magnets. 

Pao is clever. She selected exactly the right focus. As a one-time insider, she has the street cred to produce both an expose and a bit of thought leadership. She has a law degree from Harvard Law School and a business one from Harvard Business School. 

If Pao can continue to pull off a return to Paradise, her rise, fall, and comeback are the number-one must-analyze for experts in branding and careers.

For us ordinary folks who struggle to find, keep, and get better-paying work in these crazy times, Pao can become the Patron Saint of Resilience. 

For lawyers in a downsizing market, increasingly threatened by tech, following Pao's example is worth a try. 

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Digital-Only Abovethelaw Becomes Style Template - No Longer Should We Want to Be on Cover of Rolling Stone

September has been a cruel month for old-line print media.

At Vanity Fair, celebrity editor Graydon Carter announced he's retiring.

Then, at Rolling Stone, founder Jann S. Wenner put up for sale what had been the ultimate in counterculture cool.

Baby Boomers came of political age with the line about wanting to be on the cover of Rolling Stone imprinted in our collective unconscious.  

Here are the details from The New York Times, which is another vestige of print not doing so hot. 

But Carter and Wenner aren't the only ones who found themselves out of synch with the way to deliver communications in a digital era. Baby Boomers like myself who were determined to stay in the field have had to unlearn a lot. 

My digital education started out with creating this blog in 2005. I hired an expert in ecommerce as a coach for tone and content. But since then I have had to keep changing. 

One model I follow is Abovethelaw. It's purpose-driven, loosey-goosey, and increasingly focused on the role of technology in the business and issues of law. You bet, tech is everything. 

A new client has me analyzing the ethos of Vice for his unique kind of thought leadership in tech.  

A prospect will talk with me a second time today. His public affairs firm has finally become interested in my ghostwriting because my blogging has found a way to balance an iconoclastic voice with substance.

The takeaway in these digital times is that, sure, the print crowd can survive and even thrive. But we have to pick up fast on shifting rhetorical styles. And, then course correct our own and recommend that same to clients. 

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SmallLaw, Solos - Google Is Your New Home Page

SmallLaw and Solos might be investing too many resources-and too much hope-into their website.

Sure, some or even a great deal of the content of the website per se will make it to a high ranking on Google.

But much of it, research and experience indicate, is being ignored by potential prospects, at least in their first go-around looking for what they need.

Think about it: A woman in Akron, Ohio is toying with the idea of divorce. Since this need is new to her, she doesn't know enough to go to any particular law firm website.

Instead she might key in "divorce lawyers - Akron" or "divorce lawyers - Ohio."

Based on what she finds on Google per se, she will begin "shopping around" through chat, email or phone call. 

This phenomenon in local search is being called "Google as the new home page." Also, it has implications for all search.

It has been Paul Chaney, director of content at Bizzuka, who brought this to our attention on LinkedIn Updates and Twitter. Previously, Chaney had been editor-in-chief of a publication on ecommerce.

The material Chaney flagged is a combination of a thought leadership piece and how-to by Mike Blumenthal who founded Get Five Stars. The publication date is late August 2017.

I asked Chaney if this pertained to law firms. His answer was: of course. Any entity which needs to develop business is in the loop on this one.

In that article, Blumenthal explains how:

"Increasingly, consumers are getting in touch with your business directly from the Google results ... They are visiting your website less."

In essence, Google presents everything about the business. It is in control of that space, not the business. Yes, it is the narrator for the business' story.

Consider that digital word of mouth (eWom).  What's there ranges from data and visuals to client reviews and influencer postings. Much of all that is user-generated content.

Yes, users and other third parties are there talking and they are the loudest voice in the room. That's exactly why likes, comments, endorsements and ratings of skills are so important on LinkedIn per se. 

The power of how a local business' presence is being established on Google should be no surprise. After all, this is the era of low trust.

That's being confirmed recently every year by Edelman's Trust Barometer. It is interesting to note that beleaguered Equifax hired Edelman to represent it. 

How can law firms gain more control over their story on Google?

For those savvy about the overall game and the specific tactics on Google, it could be a Do It Yourself. Blumenthal's article does provide additional guidance.

For others it could be necessary to shop around for help. The service selected may have to be comprehensive. Or it could be a la carte.

For both, on a regular basis, there's bound to be course correction. Ecommerce is an ever-changing living entity.

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Lawyers & Gig Economy - Rules of the Game

Brand Contract Worker is taking it on the chin, again.

The Wall Street Journal article by Lauren Weber positions and packages us as second-class citizens. It starts with a sadsack chronicle of a guy who lost his "real" job at IBM and eventually became part of the lost generation which lacks employment security.

"Lawson v. GrubHub" is the most recent lawsuit arguing that the contract worker should have been classified as a traditional employee. Here is a copy of that complaint. 

Yet, the reality is it's in the gig economy where the work is-and will be. At Recode, Rani Molla documents that the number of us in it will double by 2021. We will total 9.2 million.

Read about technologies such as blockchain and it's obvious the legal sector will be hit hard by artificial intelligence (AI) and even plain-vanilla automation. The lion's share of those document review assignments could dry up. The kinds of AI companies which LexisNexis is buying will also push partners out. 

The problem is not that we operate outside the parameters of the conventional full-time job with benefits.

No, it's that our game is very different from that of the traditional worker. We have to shift over to that playing field. Of course, that means lawyers too. A three-year expensive academic degree doesn't guarantee anything when it comes to earning a good living. 

The rules of our gig-economy game include:

• Always be hustling for the next assignments, even if the current one seems solid. Settling in is so 20th century. Also, our objective has to be to keep landing better and better kinds of work. The meme is: Get experience, move up the compensation ladder. Work for peanuts and endure lousy terms and conditions only when we're acquiring new skills.
• Get down cold how to pitch ourselves. No, it's not intuitive. In fact, much about  how to become a closer on the kinds of assignments we go after is counterintuitive. It wasn't until I invested in a Dale Carnegie marketing and sales seminar that I found that out. The instructor Michael Francoeur is now my executive coach. The better I pitch, the better the quality of and pay for assignments.
• Research medical insurance coverage. When I was developing expertise in social media, I grabbed a late-shift loss prevention job which provided healthcare coverage. Sure, I was overwhelmed, juggling a job and gig assignments. But that insurance paid for an expensive prescription I was taking at the time.  Once I mastered the skills I needed, I could afford to carry my own insurance.
• Approach the marketplace with an it's-all-business mindset. Sure, we want to be accessible and friendly. But our ability to pay our bills directly depends landing enough of the right work paid at the right compensation. Prospect doesn't have the budget for that? We have to say "no," with respect.
• Ignore rejection, after we learn any lessons it can teach us. In his breakthrough book "Make Trouble," film-maker and long-time freelancer John Waters hammers that the process of getting where we should be in working is like hitch-hiking. Keep our thumb out, a ride will stop, we jump in, and we will be on our way. At least for a while.
• Be open to change. At any time, an organization could parachute into our lives and offer us the old-fashioned full-time job. Of course, we can try that out again. JD Kathryn Rubino migrated from document reviewer and freelance journalist to a full-time job at Abovethelaw. Here is her story.

I have had both "real" jobs and plum assignments. All of them have been work. They're called "work" because they're just that: work. Not happy clappy time. 

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Legal Marketers - Of Course, You Have to Be Active on LinkedIn Updates

WPP is taking it on the chin.

That's because "Mad Men" days are over.

Marketers want influencers, not so much traditional advertising. To the right influencers they are willing to pay the big bucks.

Well, the geniuses at LinkedIn have figured out how to attract influencers, without having to dish out funds. The platform is LinkedIn Updates. There, participates create exponentially expanding traffic, likes, and comments. 

Just as with Facebook, many have developed the LinkedIn Updates habit. They click it on several times a day. Also, of course, they post. They like. They comment.

LinkedIn gets plenty from this partnering with influencers. Just consider the traffic numbers. Also, factor in branding. And eyeballs for promotions. And, they don't have to belly up the big bucks, that is, in addition to what funding is needed to maintain the platform.

What's in it for us unpaid influencers among legal marketers?

Also, plenty.

Legal marketers should recognize that this a primary business development and actual sales tool. Yes, new accounts have come in because of participation. In addition, they can build up brand equity. And, there is that old-fashioned kind of networking, only via digital. 

I tell clients that they have to invest their resources on LinkedIn Updates. It's the must-be-there professional hang-out.

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Hillary Clinton - AMAZONED!

Hillary Clinton's enemies know how to hurt this aging politico.

They are giving her new book "What Happened" only one star on Amazon. That "they" adds up, at least so far, to 53% of customer reviewers.

Overall, the book has received a total rating of 2.9 out of a possible 5. Talk about throwing shade. 

It's now old hat to push back on whomever or whatever via lousy ratings and reviews on digital. Currently, the "they," who want Hillary to go away, are doing that in an organized, collective manner. Activists would label that "grassroots action."

The question, though, is this: Will Hillary give it up? Will she take her memories and her money and ride into the sunset?

Baby Boomers remember the theme song from the Roy Rogers/Dale Evans popular television show. It was "Happy Trails to you ..." 

Unless Hillary does a Happy Trials there is no room for fresh faces to emerge for leadership of the Democratic party. The midterm elections are coming up. Soon enough, so will Campaign 2020. Let a thought leader like Cory Booker beam in the spotlight.

Please please please, Hillary, get up on your horse and head away from the media. From speaking engagements. From fundraisers. And, take your husband and daughter will you.

"Happy trails to you ..."

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Equifax Data Breach - Crisis Communications, Federal Scrutiny, Identity Theft Insurance, Blockchain

"Equifax Crisis Response Off to Shaky Start."

That's the headline for Gene Grabowski's analysis of how the consumer-credit agency is making the data breach of the records of 143 million consumers.

Partner at kglobal, Grabowski has been creating a new template for managing crisis in digital times. Here is a recent installment on that. 

Part of the bungling, notes Grabowski, is the "special" website Equifax established to supposedly "help." Oh boy!

Grabowski states:

" ...  when consumers register on the website to learn whether they have been victimized by the hack, they automatically waive their right to sue Equifax."

This issue of surrendering the litigation option is a hot-button one in all aspects of the financial services industry. In the fine print, many credit-card applications, for example, mandate submitting consumer disputes to arbitration. 

Increasingly, employees are running into that same mandate. Forbidding employees from filing class action lawuits is being reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court.  It was software engineer Susan Fowler's lawyers who argued successfully for that. In her now-iconic blog post, Fowler discussed alleged sexual harassment at Uber. 

In addition, before the breach was made public, three Equifax executives sold about $2 million in stock. They contend they had no knowledge of the breach. There is a push for the SEC to investigate.

Two lines of business will profit from Equifax's troubles.

One is the growing identity theft insurance niche. LifeLock, after settling its regulatory problems with the Federal Trade Commission, has been aggressively promoting its services.  The television commercials engage. 

Interest will also increase for the more secure kinds of financial transactions facilitated by blockchain. Essentially, blockchain is the technology for cryptocurrency. The smart money positions and packages it as the way to conduct financial business online among those who do not share trust. The shorthand for that is: establishing the "missing layer of trust" on the internet.

However, the way blockchain functions is hardly bulletproof. 

For example, Blockchain for Dummies presents the case study of The DAO. The very nature of its closed system allowed an insider to withdraw $50 million of the $162 million raised by the 11,000 participants. 

In addition, the regulatory world has not caught up with that technology. Many observers label it a kind of "Wild West." Lots of money can be lost. Also, trust in digital can be further eroded.

Those of us trained in the systems approach for analyzing business recognize the comprehensive damage Equifax has inflicted on itself. As soon as it became aware of the hack, it should have parachuted into crisis management/communications mode. As with Watergate, the focus is: What did the leadership know and when. 

UPDATE:

"Officials are alarmed by the scope of the breach as well as Equifax's terms of service which forces individuals to waive their right to a class-action lawsuit." - Ali Breland, The Hill, September 10, 2017. Here is the article.

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