Law And More

The BigPR Fail

This is a polarized era.

It's the business of members of the media to analyze the public relations tactics of attacks and counter attacks.

No surprise, society has received the equivalent of Master Degree training in the art and science of traditional public relations. 

So, we smirk when we come across most attempts at public relations.

We know what they are.

We know what those putting all that out there are trying to accomplish.

And we know that we have to connect the dots to figure out the realities. 

Suppose the Trump Administration didn't seem to PR not renewing the election campaign account with law firm Jones Day. The reason given was cost efficiency. 

Maybe. 

But how trust in the Trump Administration could have escalated if it played it differently.

It could have said that it didn't perceive itself appropriately served by a former member of that firm - Don McGahn - who was again with the firm. Therefore, it would have been downright dumb to continue working with that firm on the important matter of reelection.

There can be such communications power in non-spin. 

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

As in Food Contamination, Executives Allegedly in Loop of Opioid Epidemic Criminally Charged

Back in 2008 through 2009, salmonella-contaminated peanut butter produced by the Peanut Corporation of America resulted in deaths and serious injuries.

That, of course, was nothing new.

As plaintiff lawyer Bill Marler of Marler Clark continually explained to the media, food contamination remained a major threat in the U.S.

What turned out to be different about that particular epidemic was this: The executives at Peanut Corporation were criminally charged. What had been a civil matter evolved into a criminal one. Not only that. The executives were convicted and sentenced to prision. Stewart Parnell received a 28 year sentence, Michael Parnell a 20 year one.

Now, that kind of first - criminal charges - has occurred in the pharma industry.

The case concerns the opioid epidemic. That could mean no longer will drug companies and their leaders get away with paying big fines. The latter could wind up in prison.

The situation has crossed the line from a scandal to be managed by public relations experts to executives winding up being branded as criminals. They could wind up with stiff prison sentences. 

And, ironically, this is occurring amid the deregulatory times of the Trump Administration.

As Richard Gonzales reports in NPR:

"Rochester Drug Co-Operative Inc., one of the nation's 10 largest pharmaceutical distributors in the U.S., its former CEO Laurence Doud III and former chief of compliance William Pietruszewski were charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled narcotics ... and conspiracy to defaud the United States."

The person overseeing this is U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman. He could emerge a superhero, a symbol of the ultimate in consumer protection. 

There had also been the theatrics of Doud's being carted off in handcuffs. David Muir featured that on the ABC evening news.

Through his lawyer Robert Gottlieb, Doud pleaded not guilty. Earlier Pietruszewski had taken a guilty plea.

But both face possible stiff sentences. For each those could include life in prison at the upper limit and at the minimum 10 years on drug trafficking.

This could send a message to all of pharma that the leadership and those in the compliance loop: They could wind up doing the perp walk and spending most if not the rest of their lives in prison.

But, will that message resonate throughout such a lucrative and powerful industry? 

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com

 

Law Firm, Sacramento, CA - Marketing Coordinator

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Globalization of Am Law 50 - Barbarians at the Gate

It is redundant. An AmLaw 50 puts a help-wanted on a job board. It identifies itself as an international law firm. 

Of course, it is. To survive, there had to be a globalization of large law firms. 

According to the data the AmLaw 100 collects, since 2008, international lawyers from U.S. based firms comprise 35% of the total manpower. That's up from 24% in the previous decade.

However, that growth has brought darkness. There have been negative impacts on overall average profitability and in the number of lawyers at the domestic offices.

Law.com reports how the intense competition among players in the overseas niche has forced a lower price point. That, in turn, has dragged down the firm's profits. In fact, Law.com notes:

" ... [This] is an issue for partnerships with firmwide lockstep compensation because it leads to U.S. partners effectively subsidizing the compensation of their overseas brethen."

Right now, with the domestic market strong for legal services, partners haven't started ranting. But, lo and behold, when the domestic market sours in an economic downturn, expect the partners to rebel.

The other issue is that there has been a reduction in lawyer headcount in domestic offices. Since 2008, that's down about 3,000. Meanwhile, abroad that's up by 8,700. 

At Jones Day, there has been a 50-plus lawyer drop. In the major D.C. market, Squire Patton Boggs reduced lawyer numbers by 170.

The issue is not if a U.S. recession is coming. It's when. Therefore, associates in domestic offices should be nervous. And new hires from the JD Class of 2019 might adopt the mindset of being there on short time: Pay off as much as student loan debt as possible.

In addition, international offices could be brutally scrutinized by the leadership in domestic headquarters. Yes, the barbarians can be at the gate. A global downturn could intensify the carnage. 

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

Listen Up, Tort Reformers: Crazy DIY Healing Can Prevent Lawsuits (let the dogs in)

In September 1963, in  coal-mining town in Pennsylvania, "they" broke me.

That was even before, at age 18, I had finished putting together a self.

The "they" were the Sisters of Charity at Seton Hill, Greensburg, PA. Here is how that happened.

Along the way in my little life, myriad recommendations were made about efficient modes of healing. After all, the business model, which had triggered the post-war economic boom, dominated. 

Those ranged from suing the alma mater to psychotherapy to Alcoholics Anonymous. Beware those with supposed grave concerns about your well-being. Former English majors, recall all the guidance Iago delivered to Othello in that Shakespeare tragedy. Haha, imagine not being well-put-together and filing a lawsuit against an educational institution. 

In May 2014, in Tucson, Arizona, the universe decided to cut me a break.

I got it that it was up to me to shake off that whatever.

The first step was to respond to former college classmate Kathleen Huebner's too-cute e-greeting card for Memorial Day with the message to bug off. Here is the back story. 

That spilled over to professional relationships. I grossed record revenues. As #MeToo has uncovered, nice shouldn't be part of the female socialization process. Instead, come to value your worth. David Sanford of law firm Sanford Heisler Sharp has been the Super Coach on that, hasn't he.

The next big step, a necessary one but what seemed insane to some, was to return to the scene of the crime. That was September 2106. Yes, I relocated from AZ near to that one-time coal mining town. It's now a city unto itself.

Over and over again, on weekends, I and the dog have made it our business to tour campus - anonymously. Funny, there was no security. No one asked for my ID. As a syndicated legal blogger I found that puzzling, post-Virginia Tech. 

The dog's and my fav healing spot - I call it our private Lourdes - has been the graveyard for dead nuns and lay leadership.

Yes, my enemies were six feet under. As did the many kings in Shakespeare's history plays, I envisioned they went wild into their graves. 

The dog gleefully ran over the nuns' flat embedded tombstones. Was that a symbol of my freedom from the past? I took it as such. 

Soon enough I can pull out of town. Whole. I can settle in, finally, wherever I want. And be who I am, after an interruption of more than five decades.

Reflection: Healing is a crazy DIY process. Leave out third parties including lawyers (except for four-legged intuitives). 

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

Reporting on Courts/Law Enforcement, Cheyenne, Wyoming

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"U.S. v. Elizabeth Holmes" - Defendant Spotted in Court

Celebrity entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes was spotted at a court hearing in California.

No, she was not wearing her signature black turtleneck.

Yes, she the once superwoman who had founded Theranos. Here are more details from the media. 

The next time the cameras might pan on her will be either at her trial for alleged fraud scheduled for July 8th or at her wedding to hotel heir Billy Evans. 

Clearly, Holmes remains an enigma. 

If convicted at her trial she faces a sentence of 20 years. Yet she and Evans, reports the media, have sent out invitations to their wedding. 

He is in his 20s and rich. She is in her 30s and broke. At one time she had been a billionaire. 

Meanwhile, all kinds of wild scenarios dance in Holmes-watchers' heads.

Will she show up at her trial pregnant?

If imprisoned, will Evans be granted conjugal visits?

Or, more likely will he divorce Holmes and take the publicity and run? It's been observed that he is preoccupied with the attention he receives on social media. 

Of course, there is the possibility that Holmes will cut a deal before the trial date. 

In the history of Silicon Valley, her legacy as the millennial Bernie Madoff could make her more famous than Steve Jobs et al. 

Here is a copy of the indictment. The number-two at Theranos - Sunny Balwani - is included. In an interview he positioned and packaged his behavior as being part of a business failure, not a fraud. 

UPDATE:

Lawyers for Elizabeth Holmes get the judge to delay the trial date. Holmes and her legal team will be back in court on July 1st to discuss that trial date.

Here are details.

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

Those Who Allegedly Lost Plenty on Front Lines of #MeToo - "Uneasy Lies the Head That Wears the Crown"

Gretchen Carlson blew the whistle on Roger Ailes' alleged sexual misconduct. She settled for $2o million. Also plum professional opportunities opened up for her.

On her blog Susan Fowler outed alleged sexual harassment and retaliation at Uber. Her professional life has thrived.

They seem to be the exception among women who took a public stand and/or filed a lawsuit during the #MeToo initiative.

In Vanity Fair, Diane Fazone reports on women in television and film who allegedly lost it all. Here is that poignant article. If they did get a settlement it was peanuts compared to that of Carlson's. 

And years before #MeToo, the lawyer who filed a class action gender discrimination lawsuit against her employer, a major corporation. Afterward she claimed that no one would hire her because of that. She had to do a career change.

Now, in New York Magazine, Opheli Garcia Lawler tells us:

"Two of the women [Claire Stapleton and Meredith Whittaker] who organized the 20,000-person walkout in protest of the company's [Google's] handling of sexual harassment allegations in November say that they are facing retaliation ..."

That is the allegation. We have been around the block enough with television legal dramas to recognize that nothing is true until it is proved by evidence in a court of law. 

Stapleton's contention will not go to court. After the walk-out, Stapleton states she was demoted. Projects which had been approved were cancelled. And she contends that the reason was retaliation for the activism. Then she hired a lawyer. The demotion was "walked back." 

Whittaker indicates that post-walkout, she had been informed that her role at the company's Open Research would be "changed dramatically." 

Students of power do not find this shocking.

William Shakespeare nailed it in "Henry IV, Part 2" - "Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown."

In "Genesis," as legal scholar Alan Dershowitz pointed out, the deity was not a just one. He wanted things his way and retaliated brutally when he was blocked.

Henry VIII offed anyone whom he even suspected disagreed with him.

And in current times we seem to be experiencing that phenomenon inside the beltway.

I came of age during the Frank Hague political machine in Hudson County, New Jersey. It was impossible for residents to get by outside the machine. That's just the way it was. 

Long term, #MeToo may change things for women. But in interim many on the front lines could suffer.

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

The State Attorney General - Genius in Filing Public Interest Lawsuit

Both the pelvic mesh litigation against J&J in Washington and the opioid lawsuit in Ohio regarding opioids had similarities.

Both were filed by the state attorney general.

In WA that was Bob Ferguson.

In OH it was Mike DeWine who later successfully ran for state governor.

Some recall how Rhode Island attorney general Sheldon Whitehouse catapulted to fame with his lawsuit against the former lead paint companies. Today he's a U.S. senator. Eventually the RI Supreme Court tossed the lawsuit but Whitehouse was already on an upward trajectory. 

Launching a high-profile lawsuit in the public interest can be a genius move for a state attorney general. The media, which tends to be liberal, can position and package him or her as a superhero on behalf of the people. 

Also, both lawsuits focused on the marketing aspect. According to the WA lawsuit, the safety of the product allegedly had been misrepresented. There was also an allegation that it was pitched directly to consumers.

In the OH one of the main allegations was that the risks weren't properly described in the marketing outreach.

In addition, both had settled.

Law.com reports:

"Johnson & Johnson's Ethicon Inc. unit has agreed to pay nearly $10 million to Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson to settle the first lawsuit brought by a state over its transvaginal mesh devices."

If J&J is wise it will have its public relations representatives present decision as the right thing to do. That concept has been used so often, including for eating oatmeal for breakfast, that it is meaningless. But its utility in messaging is still possible.

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com

 

AA - Lousy Science, Lousy Law

Last night the rerun of "Criminal Minds" featured unit leader Strauss' sobriety in AA. The tragedy was that the bad guy forced her to drink.

A recent new episode of "Grey's Anatomy" had a doctor discussing his ability to stay away from the booze through AA and a friend's relapse.

Yet, research has documented that AA is only 5% successful. And the media has been explaining other more efficient and more effective paths to eliminating the problem in drinking alcohol. Most don't require complete abstinence.

The now-iconic 2015 article in The Atlantic hammers how out of date is the supposed "science" behind AA. After all, it was started back in the 1930. Research has come a long way since then. 

More recently, Joe Miller has published the book "US of AA." In it he discusses other kinds of treatments. Among them is the route he finally took after AA didn't pan out for him. 

Network TV is an old-line entity. It is still accountable to the public interest. So, it's a disservice to the public not to highlight other approaches for what to do when booze becomes an obstacle in someone's life. 

That outreach might come to the attention of the courts of law. Too many of them are sentencing those arrested for DUIs and/or disorderly conduct to AA. 

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.