Law And More

Growing Up: Harder to do the longer the schooling

In one of his early short stories "New York - 1949," Truman Capote has the narrator opine that growing up occurs when you realize that not everyone in the world loves you.  For normal human beings that usually occurs after the last level of schooling.  We leave the protective bubble of education to forge a life for ourselves, either in earning a living or taking on the responsibilities of a marriage.

The rite of passage is always traumatic.  But it gets more so the longer it's put off, that is the longer we remain in the educational system.  So, it's no surprise that newly minted JDs always have a brutal experience transitioning from the structure of law school to the wild game the law business is.  No, not everyone loves them.  This year, as there is less recruitment at law schools, fewer jobs, more deferments, and given Dubai debt threat maybe more lay offs, no security, the growing up pressure has become urgent and intense. 

The trick is to surrender to the reality that we have to take care of ourselves.  There's a second part to that. And that's that only we know how to do that.  For this reason, a lot of highly educated Americans are snapping up copies of "The Wisdom of No Escape and the Path of Living-Kindness."  It's by American Buddhist nun Pema Chodron.  Her journey went all the way from the smug corridors of Miss Porter's School to ruthlessly dumping a first husband to being ruthlessly dumped by a second to searching for her own answers in Eastern Thinking. 

Some of Chodron's guidance:

• "We begin to figure out for ourselves what is poison and what is medicine"

• "We are never encouraged to see clearly what is, with gentleness"

• "People discover the same truths through many avenues."

I found Chodron when my career crashed in 2003.  There's a happy ending Download Geezerguts.  The Way?  Growing up.  That meant learning to take care of myself.

God Bless Our Ability to Sue Dentists, Medical Doctors et al.

Those with dental insurance, even the lousy kind which only provides a few bucks off, likely are clueless about what could and often does happen to those without dental insurance and, more particularly, those at economic rock bottom. 

The Horror.  A 50-year-old neighbor Susan Mazella told me her story, at least as best she could.  Her left bottom gum is inflamed and she is in great pain.  Because of an underlying psychiatric condition, she has been SSI disability since 1992.  She sensed she required attention to one tooth.  The powers-that-be at The University of Connecticut Health Center School of Dental Medicine informed her that three had to come out - all at one time.  For this woman, who has a history of depression and lives in subsidized housing in New Haven, CT, this Center seemed to be the only "gas station in the desert."  A brandname in health, the powers-that-be had to be right, right.

Maybe not so.  Before she went for the three extractions, I warned her:

• Get a second opinion via the x-rays and mouth check if three had to be extracted
• Verify with a cardiologist if your heart could stand up to three extractions at one time
• Inquire what would be given for pain.  Those with a history of depression usually have a low thresh-hold for pain.
• What would be the call and/or email follow-up?

Like most of the poor who endure the stigma of mental illness, she marched meekly to have this all done.  She did ask, she tells me, one question:  Would a dentist be doing the procedures.  She reports "they" laughed.  She was informed that a dental student Zak Goldman [978-273-5792] would be performing the extractions.  The supervising dentists were Dr. Michael Goupil, Dr. Regina Landesberg, Dr. Joseph Piecuch, and Dr. David Shafer.

After the extractions, which may or may not have been necessary and probably shouldn't have been done in one sitting, Susan was in unbearable pain.  Her gums were inflamed but the worst was the one on the left side.  She called Zak Goldman about the pain. He did not return her call for two hours.  He left a voice message that she should call the after-hours number 860-679-3300.

For pain, she had been given 600 milligrams of Motrin.  Her After-Surgery Instructions specified that the day after surgery, "You may start rinsing frequently and after meals with warm water or mild salt solution."  Would a middle-class consumer be sent away with this kind of follow-up care?  More to the point, and to me it seems a legal point:  Would three teeth be selected to be pulled and would the "job" be done all at once.  A professional in the loop in social work suggested that the student dentist might have had a quota to fill in order to be certified for extraction work. Here was this woman along, on SSI, and with a history of mental illness.  Why not her?  She's invisible in the system and likely will simply endure silently what the system does to her or doesn't do for her.

So sharp was the pain that Susan wakes up in pain every three hours.  She had to cancel her psychiatrist appointment and was unable to fill out the processing forms for Vocational Rehabilitation.  What kind of setback will this be to her psychiatric recovery and attempt to return to the workforce.

I ask an investigation of why human beings in one of the wealthiest states in the nation are treated in this manner.  I sense that Susan Mazzell's right's in the health care system have been violated.  Because we do have laws in place to punish them who allegedly participate in these possible crimes against humanity, Susan can bring her pain and suffering to a personal injury lawyer.  

I have suggested that Susan Mazzella contact one lawyer.  Those who wish to provide her a consultation about her rights can reach her at 203-468-2181, SusanMaz@aol.com.  In addition, I ask that our aggressive state attorney general Richard Blumenthal look into health care in CT. 

In this economy, Susan Mazzella is Everywoman and Everyman.

Lawyer Benjamin Roth's diary during Great Depression

It was a different time, as THE NEW YORK TIMES Joe Nocera points out in his article. Back in the Great Depression, professionals who wrote about the times, even in the privacy of a diary, didn't let it all hang out.  So, the musings of Ohio, conservative lawyer Benjamin Roth are circumspect.  Still, as Norcera points out, we can still derive from them insight into our current economic pickle.

For example, Norcera highlights how optimism surged during 1935 through 1936, just as it is now as the DOW hovers around 10,000.  However, the economy couldn't sustain it.  Obviously, the warning here is to temper current relief about the worst being over.  We simply don't know.

The Balloon - Was it an attractive nuisance?

Lawyers worth their salt as well as alert child advocates have to be asking: Was that balloon tethered in the backyard of Richard Heene an attractive nuisance?  If we believe his son, it was attractive enough for another son to have climbed into it.  When there are children in the household and in the neighborhood, who leaves a helium air balloon visible in the backyard?

The balloon has landed but no sign of the six-year-old boy who allegedly went for a joy ride.

Not just tough times at Harvard Law School

There is lots of pain at Harvard these days.  And it extends beyond the Law School which is considering a second recruiting season this spring.  That's because law firms's coming to campus this fall is down about 20%.  In addition, The Horror, law firms are making their own terms and conditions about when those lucky enough to receive any offers must accept them. Damn the NALP and law-firm-model monoliths.

The pain is happening to athletes, professors, and plain-vanilla undergraduates.  And all of them are bellowing in distress like harpooned hippos in the jungle.  Gawker reports that athletes gotta pay for their own sweats, professors hosting those intellectual discussions must pop for the refreshments, and many a Harvard College student is arriving at class without a hot breakfast.

This is heart-breaking.  I feel for everyone in Cambridge, having myself attended HLS.  We're all brothers and sisters under the crimson.

Axed Lawyers in Metro Areas - You got company

Sometimes misery likes company.  Unemployed and underemployed lawyers in metro areas have lots more of it now.  Today Conde Nast, the one-time high-flying publication empire, announced that it is killing off four publications: GOURMET, COOKIE, MODERN BRIDE, ELEGANT BRIDE.  This is the first shoe to drop post-McKinsey and Company three-month study of Conde Nast.  For now, rumor has it that THE NEW YORKER is safe from the purge. 

Deep-sixing of whole publications and selective lay off of personnel are coming in a staggered manner at Conde Nast.  Like the schools at Harvard University, each publication is relatively autonomous.

Given that metro areas are bloated with talent, the unemployed and underemployed might consider seeking work in second-tier locations.  For example, my town of New Haven, Connecticut has been ranked among the top 20 thriving U.S. cities in America by the Brookings Institution.  A number of other towns were in Texas.

That $91,500 in law-school debt - Before debt was bad, debt was good

Average law school debt from matriculating at a private university in 2008 is $91,500 [Source: Equal Justice Works.]  In the DAILY BUSINESS REVIEW, Matt Straquadine provides detailed information how to manage this, even if unemployed or in a public interest job.

But, this debt could be a very positive driving force in a career path, in law or outside the field.  Before debt became bad, it was good.  Employers preferred to hire those with big debt such as mortgages and college tuition down the road.  They recognized the power of debt to keep workers motivated.

It was my $100,000 debt in 2003 which got me to exit the despair and panic and start working.  The rest is a tale of a classic Joseph Campbell journey.  I went in search of what I wanted - i.e. to pay off the debt as quickly as possible - and found what I needed Download Geezerguts.  I still have about $20,000 to pay down and that continues to keep me quite motivated.  

Death Wish - Legal but pricey in Switzerland

There are diseases of the spirit, just like of the body.  Switzerland allows for assisted suicide in both situations.  After counseling, which does deter many planning suicide, that option is available for $10,000. 

In WIRED, Matthew Honan discusses why this service should be offered in the U.S.  The reality is that laws against suicide and the lack of suicide assistance for those in long-term despair don't prevent it.  For these times of budget-strapped local government and hospitals, implementing the Swiss model might not only save lives but money.  Prosecuting those who attempt suicide and mandating treatment are costly services.  Often as not they aren't effective in fixing the mental state of the suffering.  Likely they will try again, and succeed in an active or passive manner.

Knickers allowance at Clifford Chance

Did the female barristers at UK Clifford Chance demand that allowance for change of knickers when working late?  Or did the powers-that-be just give the matter a lot of weighty thought and decide on the lingerie allowance?

Tip comes from the naughty guys at Abovethelaw.com. BTW, did Jones Day Laura Ellsworth put in for one of those kinds of perks when she did that hard time in Providence, Rhode Island?  And did her male counterpart there Mickey Pohl put in for a boxers/brief allowance?  What was the firm's response?  Use the downtown Providence's coin laundry?

Rest in Peace, Annie Le - We must protect females on university campuses

The tragedy is confirmed:  The body found in the lab building on the Yale campus is that of missing graduate student Annie Le. 

In a sense, one might say she died getting an education.  All university campuses, with their open culture and preoccupied student body, can make the unthinkable doable to the troubled and downright evil.  This is a fact.  It's doubly the case with females.  Le was the second female murdered on the Yale campus, in New Haven, Connecticut.

The best minds and other resources are on university campuses.  Why isn't more being done about student safety, especially that of women?