Law And More

Lawyers: Some of the best are psychopaths, documents researcher Kevin Dutton

The most successful lawyers and the worst miscreants they defend, including in the financial world, might have one thing in common: They are both psychopaths. 

That's what research psychologist Kevin Dutton hammers in his new book "The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What saints, spies, and serial killers can teach us about success."  Lawyers are often functional psychopaths, that is they don't go as far in letting their impulses rip as their clients who wind up committing extraordinary crimes.  On the other hand, Ponzi-scheme master Bernie Madoff might well be a psychopath who couldn't keep a lid on that mental disorder and wound up going way too far. There are degrees of psychopathology. 

Among the typical traits of psychopaths which serve as both tools for success and tickets to prison or even the death penalty are:

Extreme focus, ruthlessness, lack of empathy, self-centered impulsivity, dominance, mental toughness, charisma, high intelligence, coolness under pressure, charm, persuasiveness, fearlessness, and stress immunity. 

Perhaps it's because some successful lawyers have these traits that we read in the legal and general media about how they embezzle the escrow accounts of clients, overbill clients, get into domestic abuse situations with lovers and spouses, and use and distribute child pornography.  Having a psychopathic personality might also account for the higher-than-average rate of clinical depression, substance abuse, and suicide among lawyers.

In pop culture, law partner Will Gardner on "The Good Wife" might well be a psychopath.  So might have Denny Crane been on "Boston Law."

Rosa Parks: Her mindset was legal

"Beginning with Scottsboro - and lasting throughout her life - Parks focused on the mistreatment of African Americans under the law." - Jeanne Theoharis in new biography "The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks"

That iconic defiant act of refusing to go to the back of the bus has entered civil rights mythology as a bit of accidental courage by a nobody working class woman Rosa Parks.  The reality, Theoharis documents in this history of Parks, is that that incident represented a natural choice for a long-time leader in civil rights.  And her approach to change was through taking on the law.

For example, when a black woman had been raped by several white men and the police did nothing, Parks traveled 100 miles to take what in those days was probably the nearest thing to a deposition.  When she was doing that the police kept entering the woman's home threatening both of them.

Parks' legal point of view was partly shaped by her husband Raymond who risked a lot more than his wife did on the bus by championing the cause of the eight Scottsboro Boys, ages 12 to 19, who were sentenced to death for allegedly raping two white women on a train.  He was tireless in his crusade. 

Parks wouldn't have married him had she not also been ready to defy the status quo.  Actually the seeds for this had been growing in her since she was a very young girl and was not comfortable with discrimination.  At one point her mother had to arrange that she live with different set of relatives so that she wouldn't have to walk to school through a white neighborhood where she was known to be ready to push back.

Lawyers and law students who might have become cynical about the law will be absolutely inspired about legal measures which unhinged a very embedded social and economic system. 

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.

Lawyers Are Good at Lawyering: That and other factors undermining successful career change

Most of the information, analytic skills, and persona which go into being a successful lawyer undermines the ability of that professional to shift to other lines of work. 

On a voluntary basis, for instance, lawyers might decide to enter politics, starting as an aide writing speeches for their senator.  Or, by necessity they have to find an alternate to practicing law.  The path to that goal can be rocky if they don't take an inventory of how they approach working and present themselves in all mediums - in-person, in print, digitally, on video and through audio.

Last week at a retreat at the New Haven Zen Center the "guiding teacher" (that's his title) Ken Kessel help participants get unstuck from whatever.  He pointed out that we like to do what we're good at.  That can range from productive tasks like creating marketing materials for law firms to unproductive ones like losing our temper in professional settings.  Like the rest of us, Kessel has to make a living and he does that through being a psychotherapist.

Since lawyers are good a certain ways of thinking and acting which usually aren't marketable in other career paths they will probably have to take an inventory of them (become aware) and then clear off the shelves, replacing them with more marketable behaviors.

Another obstacle in transition is preoccupation with debt.  Debt comes in many forms.  Student loans are just one.  The new parent is looking at future debt  of hundreds of thousands to put the child through college.  The entrepreneur has significant debt now and intends to add to it.  Debt is simply a fact of life, not a determining force.

A third bit of poison in shifts is a fantasy of what could have been in a career in law.  There is an image of this and that, along with regrets about not doing this or that to make it happen.  The reality is that none of us know what the outcomes could have been if we did Y rather than X.

Lawyers and law students in Connecticut can sample what the New Haven Zen Center can offer.  The website provides the schedule for meditation on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings, workshops, and attending special events in Providence, Rhode Island.  Get on the mailing list and you will receive zen instruction on a weekly basis.

 

Steve: Can the fedhunt get him?

Time, my pretty. 

That might be how some are thinking about the prospects of SAC founder and head Steve Cohen to elude the feds.  Others, on the other hand, might be convinced that this cagey financial genius can avoid being charged with anything.

Meanwhile the media have been covering every move in the fedhunt.  The latest, as reported by BLOOMBERG, is that former analyst with SAC Capital Advisors, Jon Horvath has entered a guilty plea for insider trading.  Implicated in the information he is sharing with federal prosecutors is another player - a "supervisor" - at SAC.  We wonder if that could be Cohen.

Hedge funds in themselves are wonderful to watch and for the media to follow.  They can generate a lot of money, are operated by outsized personalities who tend to do things their way, and are models for learning to take risks and bouncing back from them when things go very wrong. 

The new book "The Alpha Masters" by Maneet Ahuja captures the ethos of that space.  The author, a producer for "Squawk Box," profiles nine hedge fund founders, ranging from Ray Dalio to Bill Ackman, who is also featured the current issue of  VANITY FAIR (and not in a positive manner).

Dominic Barbara: Media fun focusing on lawyers allegedly behaving badly

Allegedly former divorce lawyer to the stars Dominic Barbara attempted to steal a $1,400 Yves Saint Laurent purse from Hirshleifer, reports THE NEW YORK POST.  Immediately we have to ask if that influential media property would be framing this as "news" if the alleged miscreant were a construction worker or homemaker.  Barbara claims he intended to purchase the purse.

Lawyers allegedly behaving badly seem to be singled out for coverage in brandname media.  One theory to explain this phenomenon is that lawyers have the tools to make anyone's life miserable.  When they are on the other side of the power equation, it's natural to sock it to them.

Before the business of the purse, THE POST notes, Barbara had been charged with allegedly trying to shake down his former wife for $200,000 with the threat of releasing compromsing photos of here.

Lead Paint: Last great class-action performance art, at least for a while

Trials, since Judge Pontius Pilot washed his hands regarding judgment on Jesus Christ, have generated great performance art, including those kinds of gestures.  Class action trials, given the high stakes for so many, inject even more drama. 

Unfortunately, not since those lead paint public nuisance trials has ther been a lot of theatrical activity on the class action front.  THE ECONOMIST saw that kind of group litigation doomed.  The U.S. Supreme Court deep-sixed "Dukes v Wal-Mart," which isn't doing that hot as regional micro class actions.  And the class actions against law schools for allegedly misrepresenting job data have mostly been tossed except in California.

Instead of high drama, we alumni of the clsss action era receive heart-warming reports of quieter more private joys.  For example, John Tarantino of Adler Pollack & Sheehan told me that his youngest child Michael had his first oral argument before the Massachusetts Appeals Court last Friday.  He had only been admitted to practice last December.  

During the Rhode Island lead paint litigation, when his father won an acquittal from the jury for client ARCO as the other three defendants were convicted, Michael was in high school. That seems so long ago, especially probably for Michael whose career is simultaneously beginning and taking off.  He is also employed at Adler Pollack & Sheehan in its Boston office.

On my own career path there has also been a payoff for eight years of blogging on legal issues.  Yesterday I started a full-time job at an ecommerce company associated with law and based in lower Manhattan.  Last Friday, while Michael Tarantino was orating before Appeals Court, I was being interviewed on ABC News about landing a job at the age of 67.  Here is the video of what some might call a big break.  After that, a ton of freelance assignments fell into my lap. Come to think of it, careers themselves might contain the high drama of court room theatrics, only of a different kind. 

 

F.W.J.Homm: Why do hedge fund managers get to have all the fun?

Five years ago hedge fund founder of Absolute Capital Management Florian Wilhelm Jurgen Homm stuffed $500,000 in his underwear and luggage.  On a private plane he left Mallorca and his life up until then, including the bimbos and operating the hedge fund. 

Until a few days ago, when he was apprehended at an art museum in Florence, he was enjoying his new life.  Then, as BLOOMBERG reports, he was arrested for allegedly bilking investors out of $200 million.  He faces four counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, and securities fraud in the U.S.  If convicted Homm, now in his early 50s, could spend 75 years in prison.

However, that prospect doesn't seem all that dire to us who are fascinated by the outsized lives and careers of some hedge fund founders.  Compared to them, so many of the rest of us seem to be living lives of quiet desperation. 

Hedge managers' highs and lows are captured in the new book  "The Alpha Masters" by Maneet Ahuja. Producer of "Squawk Box," Ahuja presents compelling narratives about players ranging from Ray Dali of Bridgewater Associates and Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management. 

We will have to wait for Homm's story.  His autobiography "Rogue Financier" has not yet been translated from German.

Women in Legal Sector: Why aren't they rock stars like women in tech?

Women in the legal sector don't know how to become rock stars like women in tech and probably don't want to.  Agree?

In tech, women like Marissa Mayer and Sheryl Sandberg dominate multiple conversations, chronicled in great detail in the media.  Carly Fiorina is back, this time with microloans, which is very promising space to be in.  And, there is every possibility that Meg Whitman can turn around H-P.

Yet, what do we hear from women in the legal sector?  Their most prominent representatives have always been fictional.  The most recent pop culture female lawyer is Alicia on "The Good Wife."  And they stand out for their absence on "Downton Abbey."  The barristers are male.  Players like Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama are not in the role of lawyer.

We don't hear much from female lawyers and that very lack of presence in the media, at TED conferences, and in politics could be holding them back on the way to equity partner.  Visibility is a form of power, right up there with wealth, ability to obstruct, and likability.   

I have a hunch female lawyers are not out there with outsize brandnames because they, the mentors who support them, and their firms don't understand public relations.  To become in legal circles what Sandberg is in tech ones demands a comprehensive public relations infrastructure.  That's a lot more than a few hours with the firm's marketing person about finetuning the web profile, putting out a press release about a win in court, and publishing an article targeted at lawyers not clients.

Female lawyers on the partner track should negotiate that kind of full public relations support.  Part of the negotiation would be putting in for fewer billable hours and more minutes on "Jimmy Kimmel," a keynote address at the American Psychological Association (not the American Bar Association), and membership in the World Economic Forum.

Female lawyers as rock stars would create the demand for many more female lawyers.

Titanic II - Already a commercial success

The Titanic has become so embedded in the global collective consciousness that it has become a reliable platform on which to build commercial success.  Just think about about the film "The Titanic" and how the the first episode of wildly popular "Downton Abbey" opens with the Titanic's sinking.

Therefore, there is plenty of incentive for entities chasing a buck to become associated with Titanic II.  It's the mission of Clive Palmer to construct an exact replica of the cruise ship and have it taking on passengers by 2016.  If the concept itself isn't enough of a magnet for money then the public relations gimmicks increase the odds for a commercial success.  For example, passengers can spend the voyage dressed in period attire. Yes, we can all look like Lady Mary Crawley.

Already, disgraced member of the Astor family Anthony Marshall is planning how he will cash in, reports THE NEW YORK POST.  At a gala affair hosted by Palmer Marshall, stepson of Vincent Astor,  wore the watch that John Jacob Astor had on when the ship went down.  Convicted of defrauding his mother Brooke Astor of $60 million, Marshall said he was going to sell the watch for a bundle.  Obviously the possibility of a Titanic II has boosted its market value. Marshall, along with this wife Charlene, always had a quick eye for acquiring wealth without a lot of heavy lifting.

The ship is being made in China.