Law And More

Brad Pitt Lawyers Up

More and more becomes at stake in the Angelina-Brad split-up.

At first, it just seemed like the legal issues would focus on the distribution of money. However, no fan of either or both was too concerned about that. After all, the couple is known to have created a pre-nup agreement when they tied the knot 2 years ago.

Also, there was the issue of getting some action on the side. But that is common in Hollywood. However, some were taken aback that Angelina was not "enough" for Brad.

But, now the situation darkens.

Angelina has accused Brad of alleged child abuse on a plane trip. The FBI has reported that it is investigating the matter. At stake can be Brad's ability to stay out of prison and his brand as a good guy we pay money to see in the movies. Until now, his persona has been a genial one. In addition, we respected his acting talent.

No surprise, as LawNewz reports, Brad has hired lawyer to celebrities such as Charlie Sheen - Lance Spiegel. He specializes in family law. That umbrella practice includes divorce and custody issues.

It is often personal matters which can end a career. Recall how much-loved Eddie Fisher was dropped by his fans when he left America's sweetheart Debbie Reynolds for Liz Taylor. The latter went on to drop him. Her career continued to flourish. His never recovered. His image as a good guy outweighed his talent. So, he couldn't leverage a comeback on performance art.

Angelina, The Good Mother, currently has the upper hand in the battle for support from myriad constituencies.

In addition to the top-notch legal representation, Brad needs a powerhouse public relations agency. A woman scorned, we know from Mia Farrow, can be relentless in ongoing attempts to destroy the brand of a former lover.

Baltimore Shooting Injures 8 - Firearms companies not easy to contact digitally

It's the familiar story: X number of human beings were injured or worse because of gunfire. The latest incident entailed 8 being mowed down in Baltimore. The victims included a 3-year-old.

Yet, it is difficult to conduct a conversation digitally with firearms companies.

Even those of us, such as myself, who are not anti-gun have sought out firearms manufacturers and dealers. We may have questions.

One is: How can firearms be made safer for civilian use? For example, if the magazine only allows X number of shots, could that put limits on the destruction a troubled shooter could cause?

I have gone to myriad websites of players in the firearms industry. Usually, there is no way to connect digitally. The only option is to send snail mail. That is not the standard way of communicating.

Should regulatory agencies make firearm companies become accessible to constituencies who are not contacting them for sales per se?

Happy Clappy - Lawyers Don't Have to Fear This Movement

In the "Schumpeter" section of the current edition of The Economist there is coverage of Happy Clappy.

That is essentially the belief system that positive makes for happy and happy is always good. Currently both human resources policies in some organizations and interaction with customers embody happy clappy.

For example, at work, the environment is structured to motivate employees' experiencing a sense of well-being. There may be even be a Chief Happiness Officer. Those on the front lines serving customers - in-person, online, or on the phone - are trained to exude positive feelings. Those range from smiles (over the phone it's the smile in their voice) to wishing the customer a happy rest of their day.

It's debatable if happy clappy significantly improves employee performance or the bottom line. Also, observers wonder if all the energy invested by employees in happy clappy can precipitate burnout. When I handled the hospitality industry's calls to the front desk, that smile in the voice wore me out. I might not have quit so early in the game if I could have just managed the calls in a business-like way.

Lawyers in law firms probably don't have to fear that this movement will become organizational policy.

After all, the system is essentially up or out. That isn't a fertile setting for happy clappy to take root. In interfacing with clients and pitching to prospects, the  worst of happy clappy - smiles and over the moon optiism - would be counterproductive. The law business is about solving problems, many of them serious. A positive tone could be a good fit. But not much more than that. Clients and prospects are reassured by caution. It is all too easy winding up in prison, paying out big in a verdict, fine, or settlement, or becoming the victim of bad press. 

One lawyer, shrewd about persona, told me the best way to present yourself both internally and externally when practicing law is with a poker face. 

Drudge Report - Hillary Didn't Want to Sell Herself Short, But ...

This weekend before The Debate, the conservative Drudge Report got really lucky in getting access to new dirt about Hillary.

According to the Daily Mail, for the debate Hillary requested a step-stool. Apparently she wanted to appear taller, next to Donald Trump. The request was turned down.

In addition, during the debate there will be no commercial breaks allowed for coughing, et al. Whatever ails Hillary (and the Drudge Report has myriad theories on that) will have to be kept under control during the entire debate. That, of course, includes Hillary's left eye.

Here is the Daily Mail article which the Drudge Report links to.

New Business Development/Closing Sale - Learning from Kardashian Buisness Model

In the staid legal sector, there is frequently a gap between changing market realities and what law firms (of all sizes) are doing to develop and close new business.

If they have suffered enough  from the not-enough-business syndrome they may have broken open to considering doing their marketing and closing differently. One model for all that is how the wildly successful the members of the Kardashian clan operate.

Insight on their business model comes from the 2016 book "Kardashian Dynasty" by Ian Halperin. An investigative reporter, he used both undercover methods and standard interviewing tactics to bring to the surface the success formula the Kardashians use. If it had to be summed up in two words, those would be "relentless hustle."

To some, the Kardashians may seem to be a goofy rich bunch, addicted to pleasure, ranging from partying to convenient sex. But Halperin shows that this is a well-oiled machine overseen by Mama Bear Kris Jenner.

She rules, although the next generation members such as Kim are being kept on a longer leash. Kris and the major players rise at 5 A.M. and often go at it until 3 A.M.

All, going back to patriarch lawyer, Robert who participated in the O.J. Simpson Dream Team defense, seem to have a natural gift for sensing what could produce profits. Not that there haven't been clunkers along the way. But their focus is on profit, not passion. All lawyers have to become more hard-nosed about what niches are profitable. That might mean apprenticing to learn a practice which is new for them.

However, those good ideas, such as for a reality show, wouldn't actually have produced profits if they didn't also understand what counts in business. Here are they key tactics:

• Branding. From the get-go, they knew they had to create unique space. That was the Kardashian brand. Then they had to protect it as well as expand it. To do that they had to size up and exploit the attributes of each player. In a sense they were positioning and packaging themselves like P&G, which is the umbrella brand for diverse products, including Tide.
• Play nice. They were able to triumph over the domination of the  young-girl market segment by Paris Hilton without her even realizing they would be a threat.
• Forget trying to be consistent. On the one hand, their message is that all bodies (and big butts) are fine. On the other hand, they marketed a weight-loss product (which they ditched because of regulatory problems).
• Transform adversity into opportunity. When one member screws up, they hand that over to the press as a way of getting even more attention. Some market segments want bad girls and bad boys.
• Cut losses fast. Their credit card was nothing but trouble. They exited that without blinking an eye.
• Be excessive. For them, there is no such entity as too much publicity.

From what Halperin presents in his book, the dynasty does not seem to consist of the kinds of people we would want in our lives as close friends. But it is likely they don't care about that. They are self-absorbed and require lots of money to maintain their lifestyle. And that's it. They make no apology. Lawyers might be equally ruthless in their signature image.

Lawyers & Blogging - Sure, those gadflies are a "public nuisance," but ...

The blog remains a powerful tool for branding, networking and new business development.

Since 2005, I have leveraged blogging as my primary marketing tactic. Among its useful features is that its content can be repurposed on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Medium. One good idea can receive amazing exposure.

But some lawyers still haven't set up one or don't invest the thinking and time required to make content unique aka clickbait.

One major obstacle is that they fear unwanted attention. That comes in myriad forms, ranging from spam comments to gadflies who piggyback on our content and misinterpret us.

Well, those are small problems.

Comments can be screened before they are posted. Soon enough the spam folks give up and move on to a more open venue.

As for the gadflies, they recognize that linking to our content can bring traffic to their social media networks. When that first happened to me in 2006, I was in a panic. The mob at Mediabistro.com ambushed me and my two blogs. It was an ordeal.

But what I learned was that craziness brought plenty of traffic to my own blogs (the other one is http://janegenova.com). Also, supporters rushed to the rescue.

The second time it happened was via the wild bunch at Gawker. That went on for years. And by then I knew how to make use of that kind of mischief. On my own two blogs I pushed back. Boy, the traffic was amazing. Only when Gawker went out of existence did that - the harassment and the additional visitors - stop.

Unwanted attention goes with this digital era. If we learn to transform that "public nuisance" into what can enhance our business we will no longer fear it.

9/26/16 - The Look Agenda

Only the naïve about how games are played don't recognize that appearance is everything.

From the get-go, that has been the situation in the presidential debates. And it will also determine the winner in the 9/26/16 one. Needless to add, it's also the dominant factor in love specifically and in life more generally.

In The New Yorker, Jeffrey Frank documents how physical looks and nan0-second gestures in the debates heavily influenced voters. Those, of course, refer to Richard Nixon's death pallor and George H.W. Bush's peek at his watch.

To those I would add the sassy image created by Ronald Reagan's witticism that he wouldn't hold Walter Mondale's youth against him. Supposedly that line was created by a speechwriter.

On Monday night at 9:00 P.M. (New York Time), here is the look agenda.

Hillary Clinton will have to look healthy. She will have to maintain that aura of physical well-being for 90 minutes, plus any time afterward with the media.

Donald Trump will have to prevent the look of crazy. With domestic terrorism and racial strife overtaking America, crazy scares. That look could creep through his eyes. So, he would be shrewd to practice mediation to settle down his systems for the next few days.

Another way of looking at the look of things is through the label "presence." It's usually a must to get anywhere big. Presence can be created in myriad ways.

Superlawyer David Boies is eccentric in dress and manner. But once he is managing a legal issue he dominates.

Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield is a slim, non-imposing guy. He owns the audience through story-telling.

The staff at Goodwill Retail, Austintown, Ohio, are ordinary people who turn browsers into buyers through old-fashioned caring.

Me? My presence is built on the message: My communications skills get the results you need. Too many among the competition don't talk outcomes.

A useful new book is "Presence" by Harvard professor Amy Cuddy.

 

John Boehner Joins Squire Patton Boggs - Will Trent Lott Treat Him to Lunch?

The reward for public service, which pays poorly, is frequently a lucrative position in a law firm. 

In Abovethelaw.com, lawyer-journalist, Kathryn Rubino, reports that former Speaker of the U.S. House, John Boehner has taken that road more traveled.

His landing pad is Squire Patton Boggs. It is a lobbying powerhouse.

There he will have the role of strategic adviser for the firm's public policy practice. In addition, thanks to his network of contacts, he will also focus on global business development. 

As many know, other political heavies such as Trent Lott are also at Squire Patton Boggs. He had been U.S. Senate Majority leader.

One wonders if Lott will pop for a pricey D.C. lunch for Boehner. After all, it could be a bit of time before the former public servant becomes financially comfortable. 

Lawyers/Law Students - 6 Best 2016 Halloween Costumes

Halloween is the American holiday.

That's because, unlike Thanksgiving and Christmas, it's family-free.

Aunt Sarah or your stepfather doesn't fly in from a smug Arizona retirement village and remind you that you should have taken the MCAT, not the LSAT. The demand is higher for primary care physicians than for lawyers. And, on Halloween you aren't force-fed.

Only this Halloween, the parties will go private. Public spaces can be targets for domestic terrorism. So, at those private get-togethers, here are the 6  best costumes for 2016.

DLA Piper Time Card. Equity partners have to clock in for 7.5 hours of work daily. If that doesn't happen, first there will be a reduction of their monthly or quarterly compensation. Then, you know what happens ...

Autonomous Car. You don't have to be an especially talented lawyer to conjure up a long list of defendants in case of a malfunction or accident. First on the list are those associated with the software.

A Dog. The odds are that no employer, client, human significant other, or financial planner will be faithful to you. For that you have to reach out to the dogs. Rescue ones are the most loving. 

Ben Franklin. He bundled in that squat package 2 qualities important to success. One was the mindset that time is money. The other was charm. The latter got him everything he wanted, including the affections of the ladies. The more-buttoned-down John Adams struggled more professionally. Be more Ben, less John.

Kathryn Rubino. Her bangs-wig has become the universal symbol of landing on your feet, no matter what. After her job in BigLaw ended, she got regular assignments in document review. Those were the platform for her column in Abovethelaw.com (ATL). Under the pen name Alex Rich, she guided us on surviving as a demand-economy player. Then she was selected for a full-time job at ATL. There she got to be the heavy hitter on the coverage of the Cravath $180K bump, which had record traffic. 

Lawsuit for Alleged Sexual Harassment. Rather than a career-killer, it can end the need to work, at least to make ends meet. Former Fox on-air personality, Gretchen Carlson, brought home the gold: $20 million. 

Me? My rescue dog and I are going to the Vet's Halloween bash dressed like a just-married couple. We will send the photo into The New York Times. I have had it with two-footers in my life. 

Boozing By American Colonists - W/O That, We Might Still Be British Subjects

Let's cut to the chase: It's Susan Cheever's contention in her 2015 book "Drinking in America" that the heavy boozing by American colonists gave them the liquid courage to start the Revolution. Otherwise, they might have simply caved to the growing oppressiveness of the British throne.

Essentially, Cheever's study documents that, from the get-go, even before the Pilgrims stepped off the Mayflower, we have been a nation of heavy hitters. There have been brief periods when the high minded stopped that. But soon enough we were back at it.

It was in the myriad taverns in the American colonies that the lubricated talked up rebelling. Since those taverns were the central hang-outs there were plenty of ears. The inevitable happened: The drunks took action, as they usually do.

Only back then, it was a different time. If you could handle your booze, that is, keep standing and not vomit under your host's table, your drinking was okay in everyone's book.

FYI - Cheever and her famous novelist father both joined Alcoholics Anonymous.