Law And More

Gen-X Law Associates Say No to Sleeping on Office Floor

Who would have ever thought.  In Manhattan, where everything is about wealth and status (D.C. is the city of power), Gen-X law firm associates are chucking their $200,000 a-year jobs.  They have had it with catching a few Zzzzzzs on their office floors and finding themselves w/o clean underwear in their file cabinets for an urgent client meeting.

Today, Saira Rao chronicles this shocking trend in THE NEW YORK POST.  According to the National Association of Law Placement, 37 percent of law-firm associates flee their large employers during the first three years.  And, Rao reports, they are often chucking it all w/o another job in view. 

Clearly this is radical behavior for young attorneys who have invested plenty of money and time to get into law school, get through law school, snag prestigious summer internships, snag a full-time prestigious law firm in Manhattan, and, of course, pass the New York bar.  And not all of it may be due to the increased options offered by a stronger economy.  In her article, Rao has spoken to those doing the fleeing.  They note, off the record, that it ain't the security of a robust national GDP.  It's simply the inability to endure one more year of such a lousy quality of life.

Those who haven't already fled are holding on until their January bonuses.

BUSINESS WEEK Cover Story, 1/8/07

There's an old saying: What's in BUSINESS WEEK, especially if it's packaged as a cover story, is already so old news.  So, I guess I shouldn't get all worked up about the January 8th cover story "How Business Trounced The Trial Lawyers."  As the title suggests, the feature article says that the class-action litigation movement has been derailed, jurors don't like funny-money awards, and since the game has migrated to the state level, where lobbyists can have more focus and control, real tort reform is happening.

Actually, a few months ago I posted some of this supposed scoop in terms of control over litigation flowing to the states and that's why, I opioned, it was so smart of the former lead paint companies to put their focus on the Ohio legislature.  That may well pay off.  The bill - Substitute Senate Bill 117 - which passed both the OH House and Senate would prohibit the extension of the public nuisance law in the state to what some consider as really product-liability cases.  The bill is on OH Governor Bob Taft's desk.  The good news is that he hasn't vetoed it, at least not yet.  Today, James Nash of THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH reports that Governor Taft is still reviewing it. 

And, now that I'm giving all this state focus more thought, it might just be why Motley Rice is taking such an aggressive stance in OH.  Six OH cities have now been recruited to sue the former lead-paint companies including home boy Sherwin-Williams.  According to media coverage, Motley Rice has been involved in much of this and will get paid on a contingency basis.  If Michael Orey, who wrote the BW article is correct, this could be Motley Rice's last stand.

Think about it: The brilliant defense lawyers representing Sherwin-Williams, NL Industries and Millennium Holdings in Rhode Island have so many options that it could be years before the state receives a penny and Motley Rice receives any of its 16+ percent contingency fee.  And if the defense decides to opt for a separate abatement trial in RI, the state and Motley Rice might get nothing since there's no evidence of any activity by any of the defendants in RI per se. 

There's more. The now commonsensical Jerry Brown in California could as the new Attorney General discourage the counties from pressing their lead-paint suits and encourage them to form partnerships for lead abatement.  That leaves lead paint litigation in Wisconsin, New Jersey and Missouri, none of which have been active volcanos lately.

So, in terms of the lead paint follies, BW might be right, although the piece doesn't mention this bit of tort per se.  However, I have to wonder if optimism is deserved about tort reform more generally. Sure there might be a reduction in the number of suits and caps on awards.  But, the plaintiff bar has tasted blood in terms of novel legal theory.  I predict much more creativity. 

But, I'm only a public affairs professional.  I got emails and calls out to all the brandname attorneys, both plaintiff and defense, who've shared their points of view over the past 14 months.  I'm waiting for their comments.  Your opinions, on or off the record, are also very much welcome.

Happy 2007 and many billable hours to all, including to my public relations boutique.

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That's a big if.

OH Gov Taft - No Action Yet on Sub Senate 117

In Ohio, outgoing Governor Bob Taft signed the controversial mental-health parity bill.  But, he hasn't as yet signed or vetoed Substitute Senate Bill 117 which would prohibit extending the state's public nuisance law to what some legal experts opine should be treated as product-liability cases.  If he doesn't sign the bill and doesn't veto it within 10 days of its reaching his desk, it will become law.

Locally, RI Lead Paint II NonEvent

The four-month Rhode Island Lead Paint Trial II brought in plenty of money to the local hospitality and transportation industries.  Security Analysts, for example, sitting in on RI Lead Paint II and hanging around all eight days for the verdict stayed at the best Providence hotels, chowed up big and hailed plenty of planes, trains and cabs. The four defense legal teams were no slouches in investing in the local economy.

But, the whole enchilada seemed to be a nonevent to locals.  THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL has been running a reader survey about the most important story of 2006.  You got it, not one of the 84 reader replies mentions RI Lead Paint II.  Not one.  Most often cited were the Station nightclub litigation and the election upset that brought in Sheldon Whitehouse as RI's new U.S. Senator.  Ironic, isn't it that it was probably RI Lead Paint I which gave Whitehouse the high profile that led to his Senate run and election victory. 

But, on the law journal front, RI Lead Paint II is getting proper recognition.  Today I got an email from a legal expert doing a note for a law journal article on the trial.  There was a request for a copy of the Jury Verdict form.

Mike Tyson - Going Out Not With a Knockout, But a DUI

Why do we scrappers from nowhere get somewhere and then so frequently implode?  Think Mike Tyson.

Could it be that no one is selfless enough to guide us to protect our talent - and ourselves?  Or is there something in the nature of the American Dream that turns on us, if we're not alert, strong and bursting with self-love?  Novelist and up-from-the-streets of Newark, New Jersey Philip Roth has lots to say about that in his Pulitzer-Prize winner "American Pastoral."

Early this morning, former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson got nailed for a DUI.  From a combination of hubris and guilt, my own business imploded around 2000.  I'm back now, this time aware how I allowed the American Dream to eat me from within.  Maybe in my comeback I can outwit the pull towards self-destruction that we who wanted to become somebodies must deal with in a nation which values success more than the suffering human being behind that success. 

Realization: I, once a bit of white trash from downtown Jersey City, New Jersey, gotta take care of myself.  I hope that Mike Tyson can and will also learn that.  He might if this is finally his bottom.  It's also classic Americana for us scrappers to rally when they count us out.

Litigation - A Tale of Two Brands

No newsflash, before, during and after litigation, reputational capital has to protected, sometimes rebuilt.  Currently, one company is doing that with its global brand.  Another isn't - and it could do so for pennies with just a single gesture.  Usually the difference in how a firm behaves is the result of a long history of being or not being a good corporate citizen.

For two decades, corporate-responsibility leader Sherwin-Williams has been taking legal body blows for its making and selling lead paint before it was banned in 1978.  The states of Rhode Island, California, Missouri, Wisconsin, New Jersey and six cities in Ohio have filed lawsuits.  Yet, in the marketplace and the court of public opinion, Sherwin-Williams has maintained its reputation for quality products and social activism.  Here is just one example - a moving one.

On Christmas Eve, six Ohio high school athletes pitched in to help Phillip and Erick Howard  of Canton clean up and paint over racial slurs and symbols on the garage.  It was the local Sherwin-Williams store that donated not only the paint but also the brushes.  The Hoover High School players had asked Sherwin-Williams to help out on this one.  Yesterday, Canton, Ohio joined five other Ohio cities in suing Sherwin-Williams and other former lead paint companies for creating a public nuisance.

This sort of small gesture could also be propping up plenty of reputational capital for the beleaguered Taco Bell.  Recently, it has been hammered with lawsuits for allegedly causing E-Coli food poisoning.  Among those who became very sick has been Michael Notor of Clinton, New York. He had eaten food from Taco Bell locations in Yorkville and Utica, New York. 

Notar spent four days in the hospital, still feels lousy and faces more medical tests. Marler Clark, in association with Underberg & Kessler, is representing Notar in a lawsuit.  In its press release on this matter Marler Clark Managing Partner Bill Marler states, "The least a multi-million dollar corporation like Taco Bell can do is make a good will gesture and pay my client's medical expenses." 

Even though nothing has been proved against Taco Bell in this particular lawsuit, it could have purchased plenty of brand equity if it had paid for Nortor's treatment.  Deductibles on medical care are high and many simply don't have that money to pay up front.

Branding is about relationships.  Sherwin-Williams seems to care deeply about its bonds with customers and the public. Taco Bell doesn't seem to, does it?

Ohio Lead Paint Lawsuits - Now There Are Six

The city of Canton, Ohio has joined the other five cities in filing lawsuits against the former lead-paint companies.  The charge is that the residue of lead paint in Canton buildings constitute a public nuisance.

Like Columbus and Cincinnati, Canton seems to want to have its complaint filed before Substitute Senate Bill 117 becomes law.  That bill, already passed by the OH Senate and House, is on the Governor's desk.  If he signs it or at least doesn't veto it, the law will prohibit the application of the state's public nuisance law to what some legal experts opine should be treated like product-liability cases.

Lead-paint litigation watchers are waiting for the Governor to make up his mind on Sub Senate Bill 117.

Spanking, Handcuffs, Sugar Daddy - Discovery Was Never This Much Fun

Ah to be young.  As a geezer blogger how I envy the experience a youthful one like Jessica Culter can have and what she could discuss on her former blog Washingtonienne.  My subject matter usually doesn't go beyond lead paint and using neural WIFI in the court room.

Apparently, among the subject matter of Culture's blog postings have been spankings, handcuffs, and navigating sex relationships with six men including an alleged Sugar Daddy.  The downside is that such wonderful content has landed Culter in a lawsuit, which takes away time from her digital and offline passions.

One of those she mentioned on her blog is former U.S. Senate staffer Robert Steinbuch.  He has filed a lawsuit focused on the violation of his privacy and that the weblog material was offensive.  The burden of proof is on the plaintiff.  This will be dicey in this digital age.  Of course, everyone who's anyone in the world of the Internet is watching this trial. 

Like Steinbuch, Culter was also a U.S. Senate staffer.  Because of this blogging scandal, she was fired from that job.  She's now based in New York doing all sorts of interesting things including posing nude for PLAYBOY.

According to CNN.COM, Culter's attorney Matthew Billips contends that the blog represented her personal diary and was not intended to be public.  However, points out the CNN.COM coverage yesterday, "...in the information age, data is easily copied and distributed beyond the intended audience."  Former Wonkette.com blogger Ana Marie Cox found the blog content, linked to it and interest grew.  CNN.COM also reports that the head of the Electronic Privacy Information Center Marc Rotenberg may present this case in his Georgetown Law class.

Pretrial issues have been complex.  For example, both sides are demanding access to each other's personal information. Culture's lawyer wants the student evaluations of Steinbuch's teaching at the University of Arkansas Little Rock Law School.  When the sex story broke in the beltway and beyond, Steinbuch left Washington D.C. and took this professional position.  Steinbuch's attorney, on the other hand, wants access to information about how much money Culter received from her alleged Sugar Daddy.

Will a lottery be held to determine what media are allowed into the court room on this trial?

Ohio's Getting to Look a Lot like Rhode Island

Yesterday, Cincinnati became the fifth city in Ohio to file suit against former lead paint companies.  Among the defendants is Sherwin-Williams, headquartered in OH.  The other cities are Columbus, Lancaster, Toledo and East Cleveland.

This filing would come just under the wire if OH Governor Bob Taft decides to sign or at least doesn't veto Substitute Senate Bill 117.  That bill would prohibit extending the state's public nuisance law to what should be treated as product-liability cases.  The suits which have been already filed in OH are configured as public nuisance ones, just as in Rhode Island. 

In RI, the public nuisance lawsuit ended in February in a verdict for the state. That has been appealed by the three defendants - Sherwin-Williams, NL Industries, Millennium Holdings - and we are waiting for Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein's ruling on the motions. There had been a two-day hearing on those motions at the end of August. 

In THE PLAIN DEALER, Peter Krouse reports that the five OH cities, just as with the state of RI, are being represented by plaintiff law firm Motley Rice. 

Clearly, the question on our capitalist minds is: Why are the OH cities sending the message to its best corporate citizen Sherwin-Williams that it might consider relocating its headquarters to somewhere, anywhere that's less litigious.  Like RI, OH has subpar economic prospects for 2007, which could be a whopper of a recession year in the U.S.

Sentence Pests to Eat, Pray, Love

Maybe worse than a menace to society is a pest.  Menaces usually get nailed on some crime and made a guest of the state.  But pests, like Elizabeth Gilbert had been before she went on her journey to eat, pray and love, usually never get forced into a rehab mode.  They go on, in offices, relationships, housing developments, and schools, to continue to be pests, annoying the hell out of us.  When the progressive Democrats return to power in January they might consider sentencing these miscreants to a year of "Eat, Pray, Love."  In her book by that title, Gilbert provides the road-map for that road not often traveled.

Gilbert did her year in foreign lands of Italy, India and Indonesia. But the sentence can be mandated to be performed in any space outside the pest's comfort zone.  Think about it: Office pests are often much less pesty when they are at a professional conference, in someone else's office across the street, or out of work in no office. 

I know.  My cognitive therapist sentenced me to a year, served right here in central Connecticut, to eat, pray, love.  It was outside the familiar boundaries of the upper middle class, words, multi-tasking, time spent at Harvard Law School. 

Eating was done in the break room of inner city Home Depot (Bridgeport, Connecticut) where I was a contract security guard.  Prayer was simply getting on my knees twice a day and asking the universe to save me and save the world from myself.  Love was realizing that it was time to let my cat Sarah go to he happy hunting ground.

The sentence, I am told by former clients, former neighbors, a former significant other, worked.  Although I am still what they classify as "emotionally high maintenance," no, I am not usually a pest.  Example: Six months ago I loved my dog Molly Mittens enough to let her, like Sarah, also go.  "Do you want me to do CPR?" the vet asked.  No.  I was not going to pester her with my old kind of love.