Law And More

Patriots Aaron Hernandez' House Searched: Packet arrives from Ropes and Gray law firm

Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was questioned by Massachusetts state police for hours at his house and the residence was searched.  This was connected, reports ABC NEWS, with " ... the killing of a man police call an 'associate' of Hernandez."  The man's body was found not too far from Hernandez' house.

The questioning began before 5:00 P.M. Around 7:30 P.M. a packet with Hernandez' name on it arrived from the law firm of Ropes and Gray.

Where Hernandez is based in North Attleborough a number of Patriots players live.  Therefore the neighbors are very supportive of the team members.

Fall of the House of Howard Kurtz: Lessons for Legal Sector

In the end, it was media star Howard Kurtz' hyperactive professional style and lack of caring (including empathy) that did his career in, observes POLITICO. His game was unsustainable. There are lessons here for the legal sector in the fall of the house of Howard Kurtz.

The media personality's most recent high-profile error was failing to read down to the eighth paragraph of the SI Jason Collins' coming out article.  Had he done that he wouldn't have tried for a cheap shot at Collins (gotcha journalism) by contending, wrongly, that he did not reveal his long-term relationship, including an engagement, with a woman.  His attack style was devoid of human feeling.  His game seemed amoral.

For those in the legal sector who suffer in the ways that Abovethelaw.com captures daily the Kurtz methodology seems brutally familiar.  It became unsustainable as likely will much of how BigLaw operates.  For instance, hyperactive growth resulted in the bankruptcy of Dewey LeBoeuf and could have triggered the alleged overbilling at DLA Piper.  Bad treatment of human beings seems embedded in the organizational cultures.  If Charles Dickens were around he would probably profile one of those and have a happy "Christmas Carol" ending in which the Managing Partner tells everyone to go early Christmas eve, be with their families, and shut off their smartphones.  

The human reality is that human beings get mad, they get even, and then they gloat about helping do in a person or an institution.  The odds are it will be the human beings, not the slow growth in revenues, which will blow up the legal sector.

 

Richard DesLauriers: Not so far from Dick Tracy's crimestopper wristwatch

FBI Special Agent Richard DesLauriers, who received his JD from Catholic University, represents a natural progression from fictional Dick Tracy. 

As Bloomberg reports, DesLauriers uses social media to catch the bad guys just as Tracy, an early adopter of gadgets in police work, leveraged his crimestopper wristwatch.  It had partly been through social media that DesLauriers apprehended alleged murderer James "Whitey" Bulger, whose trial begins June 6.

In pursuit of the bombers of the Boston Marathon, DesLauriers had set up a tipster site in cyberspace. With the progress made in chasing down these alleged terrorists, this FBI Special Agent will likely emerge as a well-known brandname in the world of law and order. Count on many of the best and brightest to apply for positions to the FBI.  This could be an alluring alternate to going to law school.

Crowdsourced Sleuthing for Boston Marathon Bombers: Parallel investigations on Internet

Having the public pitch in and help with an investigation of crimes is nothing new.  Part of the law of attraction of "America's Most Wanted" with John Walsh has been his ability to turn ordinary citizens into volunteer crime-stoppers.

The new version of that is crowdsourcing investigations on the Internet.  As THE WASHINGTON POST reports, simultaneously with the FBI search for the bombers are the parallel ones on the Internet.

Sometimes that sleuthing in cyberspace is a disaster and sometimes it's helpful.  Those on Reddit had identified the wrong man as the suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing.  In a sense it was a People's crusade.  The man wrongly identified as the bomber was harassed on Facebook to the point that he turned himself into the police.  When he did the police had no idea that in cyberspace he had been fingered as the culprit.  

Because of that error, this time the FBI has arranged with Reddit just to display the official photos and video it releases.  Reddit will not allow any other material.  There will probably be a case study about what the Internet sleuthing contributed to the identification and apprehension of those who will convicted of the Boston Marathon two bombings.

The Richard Family: One dead, three injured by bombs meant to cause carnage

The symbolism was blatant: Bombs were set to go off at a running event which were designed to do great physical carnage.  And they hit the mark on that.  One of the most common injuries was loss of legs.

Then there has been the emotional carnage which the Richard family will have to live with for the rest of its days.  The son Martin died.  The mother and daughter Jane were seriously injured.  The father Bill had to have ball bearings removed from his leg, reports the NEW YORK POST. 

Bill Richard asks for prayers. 

We Are Not Safe: Government powers-that-be can't tell us differently

The Boston Marathon "massacre" happened, just as 9/11 happened.

And I can project forward and see myself riding a train to Washington D.C. on business and being blown up, my all-important smartphone and laptop thrown on the tracks.  Maybe that's how it will end for Baby Boomer me and I don't have to invest so much energy lobbying for assisted-suicide.  Perhaps that's less to fear that spending the last years of my life in a nursing home, in a diaper, in and out of reality.

One thing we know and the skilled communications experts representing government figures can't tell us otherwise is this: We are not safe.  We will never be safe.  And we better get used to the idea that if we are in public space, we are open to been blown into a million bits.  There is no Superman-type magic which can intervene and make that not a possibility.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss Don't Seem to Care the World Laughed at Them

Creatures of old-line rectitude which then-Harvard President Larry Summers blew off, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss have landed on their feet.  Actually, it's a lot better than that.

As Jesse McKinley reports in THE NEW YORK TIMES, the twins, made rich through a settlement with Mark Zuckerberg for allegedly stealing their prototype for Facebook, are now men of influence. They received about $65 million.  That's in addition to what they get or will get from the whatever of their privileged Greenwich, Connecticut background.

Part of the Winklevoss reach comes, of course, from the media's continuing interest in these two boy scouts who are right out of the ethos of "Downton Abbey."  What reporter wouldn't keep following that story.  So rich with possibilities is that coverage that, at this point, no one would dare predict what will be the first line in each of the twins' obits in media properties ranging from THE ECONOMIST to THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

Another part comes from their cool identity as venture capital investors or what they call themselves "angle accelerators."  Through their company Winklevoss Capital they have invested in shopping site Hukkster and financial data enterprise SumZero.  Since they are the guys with the money, you bet they are being pursued.

They also seemed to have put their legal and moral indignation about Facebook in the past, except to joke about it as they did in their commercial for Wonderful Pistachios.  They are also both in relationships.

Square could become a fresh brand of cool. You never know.  After bearing a child out of wedlock conservative Bristol Palin made a bundle being an evangelist for values such as no-sex before marriage.  The twins could evolve into the cover boys for the financial media. 

 

Oscar Pistorius: Why aren't lawyers more successful in advising companies about risk of featuring celebrities?

Bang-bang Oscar Pistorius has again proved out the extreme risk in marketers featuring celebrities as symbols and spokespeople.

Where were the lawyers on this one?  The legal profession has a well-deserved reputation for warning clients on the risks involved in anything and everything.  Nike et al., with all the fallen sports heroes, should have wised up and turned to imagination for their commercial messages.

It's old hat in public relations, as opposed to marketing communications, not to feature real people in organizatonal outreach.  The guy in the mail room who's showcased in the employee benefits program literature could well be arrested tomorrow for anything from domestic violence to a simple DUI.  The media will have a lot of fun.

Lawyers can join with the departments and outside vendors of corporations and even nonprofits and government to make the shift away from celebrities and Everyman spokespeople to no-man and no-women. 

Let us no longer praise famous men (and women).

Marina Plowman of Twins Florist, Cranston, RI: Alleged bad business decision

We small businesses usually are up on enough of law to keep ourselves out of lawsuits.  Few businesses can afford those and, if we lose, we could go bankrupt. Equally brutal is the distraction a lawsuit constitutes.  Even big companies can be consumed by litigation and wind up not focusing adequately on the business.

That's why the story of Marina Plowman, owner of Twins Florist in Cranston, Rhode Island, is getting so much attention.  As THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL reports, the Freedom From Religion group ordered roses from that florist to be sent to Jessica Ahlquist.  The latter had won in court her contention that a prayer banner at Cranston High School West was against the law.  According to the lawsuit filed by the Freedom From Religion group, Plowman refused to send the flowers. 

Of course, Plowman's alleged stance could bring in new business from those who support the display of religious symbols and messaging in public places.  However, lawsuits filed by organizations with the resources to continue with the process aren't pretty.

 

Mark Fabiani: Lance Armstrong's Secret Weapon

Those putting the Lance Armstrong interview under the microscope may be missing a key piece of data.  That's presented by Brian Baxter at AM LAW DAILY. 

As Baxter reports, part of Armstrong's team of advisers is Mark Fabiani.  Here is his LinkedIn profile.  A principal at Fabiani & Lehane, Fabiani is equally skilled in law and public relations.  He participated in the weighty matters associated with Al Gore and Bill Clinton. 

Armstrong wouldn't have taken on the legal risks of the Oprah interview without a sophisticated briefing by Fabiani.  Obviously, as the court of public opinion becomes increasingly important (think how federal prosecutors are getting hammered by fallout from Aaron Schwartz suicide) the kind of joint expertise Fabiani offers will be a must-have for all clients of law firms.  No one will be able to launch a legal campaign without the awareness of the public relations implications.

Lawyers looking for an edge in this downsizing market will pick up public relations knowledge and experience.  That could start by doing volunteer work in a political campaign or in a cause such as addressing supposed violence associated with current gun laws.