Law And More

WeWork - It's Come to This

In front of WeWork's Manhattan headquarters, many of the 2,400 laid off today said their emotional goodbyes to one another. There were also terminations in other locations. Here are more details from the media.

Yes, it all had started with the excitement of being employed at such as cool startup.

Now this ...

If it's any consolation (misery does love company) those axed today will soon enough have a lot of company on the unemployment line.

SoftBank has plowed $9.5 billion into the distressed WeWork. That means it will be in control of 80% of the shares. It needs to slim down the overall bloat - of businesses and manpower - to move WeWork toward a profit. SoftBank itself is on the defensive for a series of what are now playing out as misguided investments. You bet, there will be more reductions-in-force at WeWork.

This blog wishes a soft landing for those laid off today and those who will be given the boot later. Losing a job is losing a hunk of one's identity. 

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

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Fintech as Public Service - Where Law Firms Have to Be (directly or indirectly)

Fintech keeps evolving. And extending its reach into all professional paths. It is positioned and packaged as a public service. Those in the loop could wind up winning a Noble Prize. 

For the business of law, Perkins Coie is directly involved in fintech. Quinn Emanuel does that indirectly by accepting client payments in bitcoin. That's all good for society and for clients. 

Members of the legal media such as Abovethelaw.com have been increasing its coverage of fintech.

And, in the best-selling novel (3,213 on Amazon) "Fleishman Is In Trouble," the protagonist Toby Fleishman, M.D. is put down by those in his network. It's because he is working in medicine. They assume he regrets that choice. The action is in finance, his circle of watchers tell him. It's also where the greatest good could be achieved. The author is Taffy Brodesser-Akner and she captures the Manhattan version of the 1% brilliantly. 

Now, in the actual trenches of fintech, PayPal has taken the leap from focusing on checkout into being part of the shopping experience. The niche it is entering is essentially the "deal" one. That's through its $4 billion acquisition of Honey Science Corp. 

As TechCrunch reports, Honey provides its 17 million members with tools for both saving money during purchases and earning cash rewards. So far since its launch in 2012, it has saved members $2 billion. The typical user is a millennial, both female and male. 

Mostly known for supplying coupons at checkout, the Honey platform actually does much more. It helps shoppers become aware of products they didn't know about, compare prices, be alerted in real time to offers, create lists of what-is-needed, and participate in its loyalty program. The latter is known as "Honey Gold." It operates a lot like Ebates.

Honey's revenue comes from commissions from its partnership with retailers. 

Via Honey, PayPal's 24 million partners in retail will eventually be able to customize offers to shoppers. In itself, that can develop new business. In addition, PayPal Credit could fold itself into Honey, facilitating larger-dollar purchases by shoppers.

For established players such as large banks, late stage businesses, and startups, fintech is among the most exciting niches in financial transactions. Not being in it can throw shade on a brand as being not customer-focused.

At its core, fintech is about UX - that is, it is designed for making the customer experience simple, seamless, fun - and increasingly affordable.

In addition, it is allowing those around the world operate enterprises without the traditional infrastructures. They can just leverage a mobile device for payments. Mothers in developing economies can juggle being entrepreneurs and being there for their children. 

It may not simply be marketing hype that fintech has been a genuine advance in civilization. 

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

"Termination Trauma" - Patrina Thompson Fires Gun at Martinez Legal After Being Fired

Well-meaning employers have been asking forever: What's the right way to terminate employees?

They got some insight on that three decades ago when James Challenger, of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, created the formal process of outplacement. But being axed remains a horror to many.

So, it really isn't a surprise that lawyer Petrina Thompson "snapped" when she was sacked at Martinez Legal. She had only been employed there since last month. According to Law.com the termination was the result of her performance and behavior. 

After she packed up her personal belongings, she went out to car. She returned with a gun and shot it in the law office. Then it jammed. Obviously, had it not jammed, worse might have happened. Currently she is in jail, facing three charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Bail is set at $50,000 for each.

What is a surprise is that Thompson was able to hold herself together enough to be hired - anywhere. On a Facebook post last year she shared that she could understand how people went "postal." She also questioned how much should someone take before snapping. 

More and more organizations are aware of what could be called "termination trauma." To protect themselves they impose comprehensive security measures.

Losing a job is not simply losing a paycheck.

An identity goes poof. In America we are our jobs. 

Outplacement has to research how the unemployed can hold onto some kind of identity when they lack a professional one that is bringing in income. No identity makes it more difficult for the jobless to, for example, interview from a position of strength. 

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Stanford's Michael Webber Documented What Lawyers Already Fear

Artificial intelligence isn't only threatening those repetitive tasks at the low end of the labor food chain. The classic example is telemarketing. Probably bots have already been interrupting your lunch, dinner, and breakfast.

In the Economics Department at Stanford University Michael Webb researched patents being developed. That is, they are not providing current technology. He matched them against the functional keywords in job descriptions of what we think of as knowledge workers. 

But if those patents generate a commercial use, that application could wipe out analytical/solution-creating type jobs at the top of the labor food chain - and which pay well. They include market researcher, chemical engineer, and physicist. The study, which you can read here, has been published by the Brookings Institution.

Of course, this may not happen.

But it also may. If the latter plays out, that means that high-level cognitive processing does not insulate a human job function from being performed by artificial intelligence.

Sure, there will always be a need to a handful of experts in, say, chemical engineering, to oversee inputting the variables into the artificial intelligence programming. They will also be required to monitor and measure the performance of applications in the actual work settings. But, essentially, that job category could slip away as journalism has. 

In the legal sector, where training to be a lawyer entails three expensive years of education, artificial intelligence is already being applied to functions ranging from document review during discovery to contract review. Here are more details from Forbes. 

As clients, customers, strategic partners, and investors become more aware of artificial intelligence realities and possibilities they could demand those be considered for inclusion in projects. When, for instance, law firms pitch for an account they may have to front load that with how they will be using artificial intelligence. 

Is ghostwriting also on the chopping block? Of course. The personality traits, language preferences, cognitive habits, and content expertise of professionals can also be coded into artificial intelligence. There could be an algorithm labeled "Clarence Miller, Thought Leader on Influence of the Baptist Church in Political Public Speaking."

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Don McGahn - Can Trump Administration Continue to Block His Testimony During Impeachment Hearings

When then Jones Day partner Don McGahn represented Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign he probably never anticipated what kinds of loops he would be part of.

The most recent looping is that he has been part of the former Trump Administration officials - McGahn went on to head legal in the White House - being barred from testifying at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on impeachment.

Law and Crime reports that a lawyer representing the House Democrats on the Committee Douglas Letter filed a motion with a federal judge. It requests a speeded-up ruling whether McGahn can be compelled to testify.

Currently, McGahn is back as a partner at Jones Day. Since he is so high profile, if he does testify, viewership will soar for that particular hearing. 

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

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Statement Specialist for Investigations - Paid Travel Throughout California

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Global Auto-Industry Lobbyists/Law Firms - The Business Potential

From June 15th through September 15th of this year, the Toledo Museum of Art featured the special exhibit "Life is a Highway: Art & American Car Culture."

That might be the last hurrah for the technological  innovation which transformed everything from transportation to social values (e.g. get in the car and escape whatever).

Increasingly, because of factors ranging from climate change to the expense involved, the car is less and less a symbol of what has been considered "progress" in civilization.

That shift in perception could impact all brands, even the designer ones.

What's obvious is that worldwide, lobbyists for the auto industry and law firms managing its litigation could run into raw headwinds. Of course, those challenges could command premium pricing. It will be interesting to monitor which law firms beef up practices dealing with auto sector.

Yes, the car is being vilified.

A recent radical move which is attracting attention, positive and negative, is the mission of socialist Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo to liberate the city from the oppression of the car. Last summer, as The New York Times reports, the temperature in Paris reached 107 degrees. Some viewed that as a preview of the future in a world getting hotter.

Hidalgo is busy implementing her vision for protecting Paris from further eco damage from cars.

Already dozen of miles of pavement have been dug up to make way for bike paths. In her view of things, the bike culture is good. The car is bad. If she gets her agenda through, cars could be banned from center city. 

Meanwhile, in the larger realm of global finance, there is a growing niche in focusing on investing in climate change. No surprise, Beyond Meat is a closely watched stock. It provides plant-based meat substitutes.

Simultaneously, as BusinessInsider documents based on IMF numbers, the global auto industry is slowing faster than expected. That is triggering major economic threats. The issue is: Can it bounce back. Or, will its demise only be delayed?

In addition, there is the political issue: Can weaning ordinary people from cars reduce overall poverty? In America, CBS reports that 70% see themselves as struggling financially. For a car that travels 15,000 miles annually, Nerd Wallet puts the average cost at almost $8,500 a year.

What lobbyists and law firms pull off in the court of public opinion could blow up the current negative narrative about The Car. That could constitute one of most astounding communications campaigns of these crazy times. 

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

Cryptocurrency - Winklevoss Twins' Gemini Trust Acquires Nifty Gateway

In the world of crypto, that is digital currency, Cameron and Tyler Winkleloss are among the movers and shakers.

Their journey from being ridiculed in the film "Social Network" to becoming early adopters of bitcoin is chronicled in the book "Bitcoin Billionaires" by Ben Mezrich.

Currently, their every decision is watched and analyzed for both business and technological implications. The interest isn't only in the category of cryptocurrency. It extends to the entire growing fintech sector. 

So, the business media, including BusinessInsider, took note when the twins made an acquisition. Their fund Gemini Trust purchased Nifty Gateway. A side story on that, which members of the press seem to enjoy, is that is the acquisition also had been owned by twins - Duncan and Griffin Cock Foster. 

The Nifty platform accepts payments through credit and debit cards instead of a complex crypto transaction - that is a crypto wallet. However, that is tracked on a blockchain ledger. 

What is purchased is the Nifty or NFT. On the Nifty Gateway website, there is the explanatory statement:

"Nifty NFT is a digital good which is stored in a global blockchain instead of a local or centralized database - usually an in-game video game object."

The significance of nifties is this: They are different from other forms of crypto in that they are one of a kind. Therefore, they aren't interchangeable on the blockchain.

It is reported by Upcrypto.org that one motivation for this purchase is that the Winklevoss twins predict that all collectibles, both digital and real-world, will migrate to the blockchain in the form of nifties. 

For the current time, Gemni Trust and Nifty Gateway will operate separately.

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.