Law And More

Brant Bishop - Sure Sounds Like Former Law Partner Is Doing a FIRE

In his interview with Law.com, Brant Bishop, 50, indicated he has no plans, not immediate ones, not longer term ones.

Those reading the article might conclude that this former partner at Wilkinson Walsh is doing a FIRE (financial independence, retire early).

On January 17th, he resigned from the law firm he helped found four years ago.

He said he wanted to stop the non-stop stress and just go home.

Even on vacations there was little relief from the work in an always-on digital era. He had saved enough money so he wouldn't have to work again. If he did return to work he didn't know if it would be back to practicing law. 

On the same day from the same firm, name partner Sean Eskowitz also resigned. Unlike Bishop he didn't give a reason why. Since then, his name has been deleted from the official title of the firm.

The story of Bishop's decision brings back for some the memory of Gabe MacConaill's sucide.

MacConaill was a 42-year-old partner at Sidney Austin when he fatally shot himself in the head. His wife states that he was feeling overwhelmed by both his case work and administrative duties. But he hesitated to get help, fearing it would ruin his career. Instead, his life ended.

A lawyer I had assisted with communications also couldn't reach out for help when his real estate firm was tanking. Instead he embezzled to maintain the appearance of success. He doesn't know why but he didn't commit suicide in prison.

When he was released he was eligible to take early Social Security (age 62). That is plenty to live on, he now says. He labeled his current lifestyle "minimalism." He sees no reason - financial, emotional, spiritual - to ever work again.

Reflection: Maybe the concept of "work" has to be reimagined.

Place your sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Coaching on SEO and Ghostwriting for sponsored content also available. Sliding scale fees. Please take advantage of a complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Uber - Philadelphia Judge Rules Against Arbitration, Allows Jillian Kemenosh to Sue

In 2013, when Jillian Kemenosh downloaded the Uber app, she should have agreed to, among other conditions, not to sue, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

But, a judge in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court - Abbe Fletman - ruled that didn't occur and Kemenosh doesn't have to submit to binding arbitration. 

The software didn't require that Kemenosh press the hyperlink for the terms and conditions to register and to agree to them. That means she might not even have been aware of those terms and conditions and even if she had been she didn't give her consent.

In March 2018, Kemenosh's Uber driver ran a red light and crashed with another car in Philadelphia. During the accident she was seriously injured. Through her lawyer Joseph L. Messa Jr. she filed a lawsuit against Uber, its subsidiaries, and the driver. She requested a jury trial. Uber responded that she had given up that right and had to submit to binding arbitration.

Interestingly, the Judge indicated that had Kemenosh pressed the hyperlink she might have been locked into binding arbitration.

Uber has until February 3rd to approve the ruling. 

Place your sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Coaching on SEO and Ghostwriting for sponsored content also available. Sliding scale fees. Please take advantage of a complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Law Firm, Miami, FL - Social Media Specialist (full-time)

Details

Social Justice Organization, Hyattsville, MD - Marketing/Social Content (full-time)

Details

Courts/Police Reporter, Denton, TX

Details

Jones Day - Lack of Transparency in the Service of Collegiality

Gender discrimination lawsuit "Tolton, et al. v. Jones Day" has seemed to get under the skin of that elite law firm.

Yes, Jones Day is the defendant and it has been reacting.

Here is the latest in the myriad media articles about how this usually secretive firm has come out swinging. In very public ways.

This Law.com coverage is of Jones Day's filing in U.S. District Court of D.C. of sanctions against the law firm representing the plaintiffs - that is, Sanford Heisler Sharp.  Essentially, SHS is the go-to firm for employment-related complaints by workers. Here is a copy of that January 24, 2020 filing by Jones Day.

The odd-for-Jones Day behavior started when it posted a response to the lawsuit on its own website. That was April 2019. Here it is. And, here is a copy of the amended "Tolton" lawsuit, filed in June 2019.

The amazing development in Jones Day's outreach about "Tolton" is that in the most recent filing it defends its iconic black box culture, particularly its confidential compensation system.

In the filing, Jones Day explicitly says:

"When compensation is individualized and merit-based, confidentiality helps to promote collegiality ..."

By "individualized," it means it doesn't follow the lockstep pattern some other law firms practice.

Such collegiality, Jones Day contends, prevents the ego, arrogance, and resentment from interfering with rendering the best in client service.

However, that pits the supposed benefits of confidentiality against what might be generated by transparency. 

Law is no longer a genteel profession. It is a business.

In all forms of business, transparency is being increasingly demanded. Constituencies, ranging from employees and clients to government regulators and third-party payers such as insurance companies want to, need to know what is going on. 

That's especially the situation in the supposedly selfless helping professions. That's what I argue for in this article about transparency in the practice of psychotherapy.

What are insurance companies and the clients who pony up the co-pay funding? Is the methodology off? Is the fit in the therapist-client relationship off? I had to hire a lawyer to obtain the clinical records of my treatment wtih therapist David W. Harder. After I reviewed them I perceived, no, the two of us had never been on the same page.

Controversy, some public relations representatives assert, is all good. 

Maybe. It could have a positive outcome if managed brilliantly.

However, the controversy over "Tolton" doesn't seem to be managed appropriately by Jones Day. Can its branding become tarnished?

This is amazing material for a case study on crisis communications. The crisis here, as I read it, is that it would be a catastrophe on many levels for "Tolton" to make it to court. The black box would be pried wide open.

Place your sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Coaching on SEO and Ghostwriting for sponsored content also available. Sliding scale fees. Please take advantage of a complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

How I Got into Harvard Law School, But Not a Job with Hallmark

BusinessInsider's Prime Content (that is, behind a paywall) has information and insight from the Horse's Mouth how to get admitted to Harvard Law School. The sources include those in the Admissions Loop.

Sure, those interested in going that career route could pony up the prime subscription fee and gain access to that formula.

Or, they can make it their business (and engrossing hobby) to figure out on their own how to be admitted to the whatevers which could advance them on their careers. Yes, this goes way beyond doors opening and a welcoming wave at prestigious academic institutions.

Actually, it's the all-important edge in a world economy glutted with talent. Had I not honed this ability early in life I wouldn't be able to keep landing work currently.

My approach to getting the nod from Harvard Law School was multi-dimensional. Those tactics included:

• Waiting patiently until I could cash in diversity cards. The best card was age. I was 41 when I applied. The other card was extreme poverty. Not only did I grow up in a downtown tenement in (pre-gentrified) Jersey City, New Jersey. I was infected with exotic hood diseases such as whooping cough. As with current coronavirus patients, I did serious time in isolation.
• Being the smartest girl in the class, including in doctoral studies. The grades proved out that I could cut it in law school, even the Harvard Law version. No longer do I use that card. Instead I tout that, like Mark Zuckerberg, I am a Harvard dropout. The founders of Legalist are also Harvard dropouts. 
• Analyzing past LSAT tests. They were available from the testing folks for a small fee. I got down cold what kind of thinking the testers wanted. Usually. because I am creative, I performed poorly in those standardized tests. I killed it on the LSAT.
• A background ghostwriting about regulatory topics for executives in the Fortune 50. I was skilled in the art of persuasion.

On the other hand, I blew it in applying to Hallmark for a creative writing position. Too aggressively I presented my love of their greeting cards because my family couldn't afford them. Was I perceived as too rough around the edges?

Also, for the sample portfolio, I was, well, too hood. One greeting was "Birthdays are like roaches. Once you get one, they keep coming." However, not all was lost. I leveraged the roach story in an opinion-editorial published in The Wall Street Journal.

My next focus is to be admitted for complimentary lessons for riding a motorcycle. I am working on what would be the most persuasive pitch. If they don't bite?

The fun is the strategy. At this point of my life and career, the results are irrelevant. It's the game. 

Sponsored content accepted. Please contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Travel, GDP, Fate of Governments

The death of common sense.

That seems embedded in the warning just out from the U.S. State Department's advising against travel to China.

Since those from the center of the now-global spread of the coronavirus could have gone wherever in China (and beyond), shouldn't have it been commonsense to steer clear of that nation? Even for business.

Meanwhile, the financial types have already been warning that the travel sector in general will be hard hit. Hey, Everyman or Everywoman could be sitting on the plane next to an infected someone who hasn't yet shown symptoms. 

Depending on the media headlines for the rest of the week, Everyman and Everywoman will begin having second thoughts about being in large gatherings of their fellow human beings. The coronavirus could be within. 

And those licking their chops about the numbers in their investment portfolio and planning to retire might find themselves frozen in-place. Today the Dow has dipped 400+ at times. Lots worse could come. It's not only that major industry - travel - where corporate stocks could dive. The whole economy of China can time travel a decade or more in terms of GDP. The ripple effects could be profound. 

The most amazing impact of the coronavirus could be on Election 2020.

If the Trump Administration is perceived not to be doing enough during this multi-dimensional crisis, most of those in the loop could be, to borrow that term from film "John Wick 3," declared "excommunicado."

The meme will be: No thank you, government.

Sponsored content accepted on this site. Please contact janegenova374@gmail.com

China Business Editor, NYC

Details

The Amazing Elizabeth Holmes Now Plays Lawyer

At one time, it had been superlawyer David Boies of Boies Schiller who sat on the Theranos board of directors and represented its founder Elizabeth Holmes. (In his book "Guilt by Accusation," Alan Dershowitz labels that dual role a conflict of interest.)

Now, reports Fox, Holmes has gone pro se in the Arizona civil fraud lawsuit. It was brought against her, Theranos and Walgreen by consumers. The plaintiffs contend the defunct blood-testing startup misrepresented the finger-prick technology. 

Holmes had failed to pay the legal bills to the team who had been representing her in this civil litigation.

Often courts strive to assist pro se clients. However, given the complexities of law, the odds are against those who represent themselves. Also, if the opposing parties are represented by lawyers, they had a distinct edge. Here are the six common mistakes pro se litigants make.

A date has not been set for this civil trial. However, Holmes' criminal trial kicks off this coming August. In Silicon Valley, it could be the media circus "Ellen Pao v. Kleiner Perkins" had been. Pao lost. Her career never took off again.

Holmes seems finished already, before any courtroom action begins. Many look forward to her serving prison time. Intuitively, some conclude Boies' association with Theranos and Holmes contributed to his recent loss of brand equity. 

Place your sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Coaching on SEO and Ghostwriting for sponsored content also available. Sliding scale fees. Please take advantage of a complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.