Law And More

Legal Bloggers - Get Edge by Posting on Weekends

In a digital world, there is no concept of "weekend."

Yet, too many bloggers in the legal sector assume that they can take a weekly two-day vacation from posting. Yet, it's weekend posting which can give them the edge in creating a brandname, building a following and, you bet, developing new business.

The reality is that big news can and does break on weekends. Since not every media player will be on duty then, the odds are you will receive more attention than usual.

Abovethelaw is a weekday digital-only legal news site.

But when Preet Bharara was fired one Saturday, the managing editor David Lat posted on that and one of its journalists Joe Patrice tweeted. Since the tweet speculated that law firms would now be chasing to hire Bharara, Patrice's tweet went viral.

One reason AOL's Career vertical hired me as a contract blogger is that the powers that be noticed my weekend blogging. And it's common sense that other prospective clients like to see that I am at it seven days a week. When they have a rush job, my name will be at the top of their vendor list. Recently, that's how I landed the assignment to research and create training modules on a technical subject for an online education enterprise.

In addition, it's about time more of us outed ourselves for not putting value on balance. For me, that train left the station when I was laid off from middle management and hung out a shingle. The game is about creating a brand as only good at what you do but also a hustler.

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Susan Fowler - From WhistleBlogger to EIC of Stripe's Increment for Coders

Susan Fowler is best known for outing on her blog alleged sexual harassment at Uber. And, although she is a prominent blogger in the tech space, few connected the dots on her communications talent.

Now they will.

Recode reports that Fowler is the editor in chief of Stripe's publication Increment. The target audience is the coder. The format is long form. Fowler has been working at Stripe since she had left Uber.

It may turn out that Fowler will become the Ana Marie Cox of the tech world. Cox became a celebrity when she had covered Washington D.C. on a Gawker blog. That was when blogging was new. Known as The Wonkette, she dished the dirt about affairs, both policy and romantic, inside the beltway.

Cox remains a powerful media brandname in politics. Part of her story has its dark side, just like Fowler's. Her life started to crumble in the D.C. Metro area. She left her marriage and that pressure cooker. For a while we wondered where she was.

Then she surfaced in her home state of Texas, writing for The Guardian and other media. She has remarried and, on Twitter, has positioned and packaged herself as the unofficial sponsor of those in recovery. When Carrie Fisher died, Cox also outed herself as bipolar.

Through Icrement we might also get to learn a lot more about Fowler. Already she has presence. Of course, even non-coders will pore over her publication. We all need ongoing information and insight about tech.

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Gender Gap Persists in Plaintiff-Side Leadership Roles - Study by Dana Alvare

The recent study by lawyer and sociology doctoral candidate Dana Alvare documented the severe gender gap in the appointment of females to lead roles on the plaintiff side in multidistrict litigation (MDL).

Yes, the research shows that the niche still operates as the old-line Boys' Club.

From 2011 through 2016, female laywers represented only 16.6% of the appointed class counsel or members of plaintiffs steering committees in MDL.

The one bright spot had been that in 2015, there had been a 27.7% increase. Here are the details reported by lawyer-journalist Kathryn Rubino at Abovethelaw.com.

So, how can this situation change?

Rubino notes:

"Judges have wide discretion to appoint lead counsel in MDLs."

Clearly, they can become change agents.

The rub, as Rubino also points out, is:

" ... they [judges] tend to give weight to attorneys who have had similar roles in the past, which can create a closed feedback loop, with little opportunity for outsiders to break in."

So, while female attorneys might not find this niche promising, the study can trigger reform. The challenge is for this inequity to receive sustained media attention. That should be both in establishment and social media.

Way back in the 1970s, crusader Ralph Nader brought about the reality of consumer protection through the courts.

Today, though, the Nader type might train to become ultra-savvy in media relations. Will the heroes of the people in this second decade of the 21st century be skillful public relations players who know how to put an issue out there?

For example, in AdAge, crisis communications expert Gene Grabowski analyzes what United Airlines has to do to restore its branding. A partner at kglobal, Grabowski has developed special expertise in the new kinds of problems created when  negative developments are caught on online video or what goes down is entirely an online experience.

Here is Grabowki's insight in AdAge. The underdogs who study what Grabowski has to say can get the attention of decision-makers.

Women in the legal sector can become DIY lobbyists. In addition, they may consider contracting the services of leaders in traditional and digital influence. The playing field for change seemed to have moved from the courts to direct proactive messaging to the power structure.

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Lawyers, Comebacks and E-Caves

It happens all the time to lawyers. At least post-2008 Crash in legal sector.

Your career trajectory has shifted from sustained success to your fear of losing your job or your own business associated with the legal sector.

Maybe you haven't been winning trials or bringing in new business.

Maybe the power structure in your organization has changed.

Maybe you are being sued.

Maybe you just recognize you are stale.

Well welcome to the Comeback Process. The career comeback has become the new standard rite of passage.

Professional life is no longer linear.

More and more of us are getting lost or actually falling off a cliff.  As we age, there are those who advise us to hang it all up and retire. No, we don't have to listen.

Even associates, plain-vanilla partners and mid-level government lawyers are in this pickle.

Remember when, the need for a comeback only used to be for those such as Lee Iacocca who had big jobs and high profiles. After being fired from Ford, he put together a roaring comeback at Chrysler.

Right now, we should have come to expect success to stop or even blow up.

Of course, there are myriad ways back. They include an executive coach, retraining in a trade such as long-haul truck driving or a profession such as business management, opening a business and hiring a public relations firm.

During the most recent time my communications boutique stalled I was weary of all the usual approaches.

Instead I thought about my male friends who had recovered from life in their "male caves." Post-divorce, loss of job or a health situation, they reconfigured their living quarters into a primitive refuge. If they had a significant other, that person was banished for the time being. Miracle transformations took place.

Mmmmmm, I figured. I will set up an e-cave. The physical location is a basement apartment in SmallTown USA in the Midwest. It started out only with an internet hookup, iPhone, digital television and my three Typepad blogging platforms.

It was not supposed to have furniture, with the exception of a bed. But the neighbor next door who was moving across country asked me if I wanted her sofa, coffee table, desk, executive chair, lamps and dishes. Reluctantly I said "yes." The dog discovered paradise on that sofa.

The mindset was not giving a darn about anything. Yes, that is the Buddhist fundamental of detachment. From the get-go, I went into a creative trance through compulsive blogging. I only emerged to walk the dog and order out for food and printer toner. All were parachuted in.

For the fist time since I was 11 years old, I slept most nights. So, I no longer confused fatigue with hunger and lost weight.

I also made a pilgrimage back to where there were still ghosts of Career Past. That was the New York Metro area. I got it: It had changed. I had changed. End of that story.

Now and then I tried this and I tried that in marketing. About 11 weeks ago, things came together. My client list is amazing. I didn't aim to max my revenues so the billing is reasonable. No, I won't get rich.

Can I hold on to this comeback? That's not the right question. Everything changes. So will my business. When  a downward trajectory starts again, which is inevitable, I will address it then. No, we can't plan.

The best we can do is become open to fresh solutions for chronic problems such as keeping a career going.

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Trinh Huynh - UBS In-House Lawyer Murdered

Police believe the murder of UPS in-house lawyer Trinh Huynh was planned.

She appeared to be the target of a hit when she was crossing the street on the way to the train in Atlanta, Georgia, for her morning commute.

She was a graduate of Emory Law School. Her career included being a senior associate in BigLaw and operating her own law firm. Here is the coverage by Abovethelaw.com.

My mind rushes to consider the public relations implications. That's my field.

The fact that an executive was gunned down is not good branding news for a major corporation. It should have a crisis communications plan already completed to address employee tragedies such as this one.

On a human level, my heart goes out to those who loved Huynh. Successful professionals make enemies. That's the way it goes.

Just through my blogging, I have received death threats. I contacted law enforcement. Somehow I lived to tell the tales. Yes, plural.

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11th Anniversary of This Syndicated Legal Blog - It Got Me Plenty

Thank you readers for following this blog for the last 11 years.

For those of you in the legal sector who are torn about whether to keep blogging or to start one, I want to reassure you: Blog compulsively with your unique voice and angles and you can get plenty.

Through this blog, I quickly became a paid global influencer. Those associated with legal products and services around the world ponied up decent money to place their content on this site. Of course, that was identified as the native advertising it had been.

It also triggered my being hired for a 40-hour a week telecommuting job by a legal services startup in lower Manhattan.

I had posted on the lawyer in Connecticut who put a notice on Craigslist that newbie lawyers who were willing to pay him could shadow him and learn the law. Duh.

Just about every legal media outlet, ranging from the American Bar Association Journal to Abovethelaw.com, picked it up. The folks at the startup were impressed. That was at the height of The Great Recession so I felt totally blessed having regular work.

Also, this has been the platform for effortless networking. Among those I professionally befriended have been Kathryn Rubino, Joe Patrice, Will Meyerhofer and Mark Herrmann.

But, most importantly, posting on this blog trained me to think and push back like a lawyer. I always put out there the disclaimer that, no, I am not a licensed lawyer. But I position and package my legal terminology in such ways that no one has messed with me since 2006. At least not for longer than about 3.5 minutes.

It will be a honor if you continue reading my points of view.

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SCOTUS Stars - Argue Civil Procedure Case

So many lawyers crow about arguing a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. But few of them are stars. What they present never makes it into the "hall of fame," that is the SCOTUS decisions must cited.

On Abovethelaw.com, lawyer-journalist Kathryn Rubino clues us in why. Here it is.

The cases which every 1L learns about and tons of legal articles reference focus on legal issues related to civil procedure. So, ambition lawyers as well as law students should focus on those kinds of points of law for creating their legacy.

Lawyers and law students might not get all the way to SCOTUS to have their say. But they can get in on the action by covering those subjects in interviews with establishment media, publishing in law reviews, postings in social media and sponsoring special events such as public-interest panels on all that.

Everyone in the communications industry, such as myself, knows that not all topics are equally marketable. We advise clients to select carefully what they will invest their resources in promoting. And, then, of course, how to put that out there. For longer than expected, just about every clever angle associated with Trumpism sold. Then, that reached the point of diminishing returns.

Would-be stars have to develop the golden guts of media players. That's the first part. The next is positioning and packaging the take perfectly.

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Lawyers Should Watch More TV

The "Law & Order Special Victims Unit" shouldn't have made it beyond the first few episodes.

After all, it deals with the unpleasant and scary subject of sexual crimes. While watching it our minds will envision our own loved ones, as well as ourselves, as possibly those "special victims."

But it has endured 18 seasons. That ability to survive the tough, fickle world of television can teach lawyers plenty about business.

Here are just 5 of the lessons.

Be passionate about the job or assignment. The detectives are certainly that. They err on the side of neglecting their personal relationships.

When you show clients you authentically care, trust comes. The 2017 Edelman Barometer captured how much trust has plummeted. No lawyer I have ever used for my business matters ever seemed to give a damn about the success of my enterprise.

Reduce ambiguity. It is clear who are the bad guys. In business, there is plenty of ambiguity. However, you can reduce some of it for clients. That can be as simple as the billing. In specifying an hourly rate, agree to a cap on the number of hours. That is one thing the client knows for sure.

Produce positive outcomes. At the end of each episode, justice has been accomplished. In starting a new  assignment, don't promise what you can't deliver. That has been the downfall, at least for the time being, of the Trump Administration. Select objectives which can be achieved. Then go on from there.

Be human. Part of the aura created in the series is the presence of the department shrink. That function is to help the detectives navigate their humanity while doing a difficult job. Although more of business has become transactional versus relationship, it is useful for that short-term encounter to communicate a bit of our humanity. For example, you leverage social media to let the world in on who you are.

Embrace tough. The detectives leverage whatever tactics they need to catch and convict the bad guys. Likewise, in your business dealings you have to display that you know your field and won't put up with unnecessary nonsense. Respect comes. So does the money. The old version of Professional Nice positions and packages us as out of touch with current realities.

The erudite such as in management consulting and think tanks might turn up their noses at learning from pop culture.

However, as Molly Haskell points out in the 2017 biography "Steven Spielberg," that iconic player in film spent much of his childhood watching television. For Baby Boomers like Spielberg, it was a new medium. Intuitively he got it that there were something big there for him in experiencing the world visually.

Maybe lawyers should watch more television. Then the law firm marketing department can conduct tutorials on what you should have learned for how the commentators present themselves on Fox News.

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Leaks - The Politics & Psychology

The leaking going on inside the beltway is only a more sophisticated, convoluted version of what has been taking place since the beginning of mankind.

There were always entities cunning enough to gain access to private information - or pretend to.

And there were always human beings who took the leaks seriously and made decisions based on them.

In the Garden of Paradise, the serpent pretended to leak insider information about how the game really operated. Eve was all ears. She made the decision to pass that leak onto Adam. The rest is history..

For centuries afterward, the simple version of that was known as gossip. Joseph Epstein hammered how important that informal communication system is to society in his book "Gossip." From the get-go in a new city, job and extended family, survival depends on being able to be allowed into the grapevine.

Gossip will cross the line over to a leak. That's when those on the receiving end treat it as more important than what is circulating in the grapevine.

When I had been blogging about court trials, of course, leaks came my way. Some provided their identity. Some didn't. What was obvious was that there were always carefully plotted agendas behind the leaks.

Most were related to the objectives of the organization. But there were many also intended to settle a personal beef.

The takeaway on leaking is this: Be wary of offending or harming anyone. The odds are they already know enough about your activities to leak plenty.

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Will Gorsuch Be Confirmed - Hey, That's Almost a Side Issue

Whether Neil Gorsuch is confirmed or not as a U.S.  Supreme Court justice is not the issue.

Instead, as  The Washington Post positions and packages those four days, beginning Monday, they will reveal much about:

1. How polarized D.C. has become or has the bitterness receded
2. What are the current dynamics of SCOTUS and how one justice with Gorsuch's track record and seeming ideology could change or not  change those. (Factored in will be that, once on the high court, justices can be full of surprises. Conservative John Roberts, for example, approved Obamacare.)

Both parties know this. So, the odds are that they have already carefully written the script of what they will state and what questions they will ask and how.

 They will be assessed as closely as will Gorsuch.

Among those doing the analysis will be their constituencies back home.

For example, if they are Democrats and a majority of the voters in their home state went to Donald Trump, then they have to walk a fine line. Being re-elected is their top priority.

But unless they also show loyalty to their party, they won't be able to accomplish much inside the beltway.

There could be some arm-twisting. For example, the whole process could end up requiring 60 senators of appropriate titles to confirm Gorsuch. There are only 52 GOPers who fit the bill. That means they will have to recruit 6 Democrats. What could be gained and lost for Democrats who "cross over?"

The rhetoric as well as the body language and facial expressions during the hearings will also reveal which potential SCOTUS legal issues are most important to both parties.

Observers of the hearings might be in for some shocks.

In order to get Gorsuch confirmed GOPers might not push hard on some alt-right matters. At the top of the list is how the U.S. Constitution should be interpreted. Gorsuch is known to be like, Antonin Scalia, an originalist. That is, he assumes he can understand how the  founding fathers intended all the contents to mean and then apply that to judicial rulings.

Since D.C. will be bulging with media, members of the media will also assess other members of the media. Expect, for instance, Fox News to deconstruct whatever The New York Times posts. Because there are so many angles on the stories, new media stars could emerge.

Place your sponsored content and links on Jane Genova's syndicated sites. 

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