Law And More

David Goodall, 104 - Raises Question If Elderly with Low Quality of Life Have Right to Assisted Suicide

This month, scientist David Goodall and his caretaker will journey from his home nation of Australia to Switzerland.

He is age 104 and perceives that his quality of life is no longer adequate for him to continue to live.

There in Switzerland he will end his life with the assistance of medical personnel.

Suicide isn't easy to complete successfully. If it's bungled, the person could be disabled for life. Typical is the gun shot to the head which results in severe brain damage, not death. 

In Australia, assisted suicide isn't legal. Crowdfunding is paying for a first-class plane ticket so that Goodall will be comfortable as he travels.

However, he is not suffering from a terminal illness. Switzerland is among the few nations which allow assisted suicide - that is, euthanasia - for conditions other than terminal illness. Belgium, for example, permits assisted suicide for those with severe psychiatric disorders. 

Goodall's decision re-ignites the controversy about assisted suicide. Should it be a human right to be able to request help with ending one's existence?

If society comes to think along those lines, then as people begin to age they can sign forms agreeing to euthanasia if their quality of life declines beyond a certain level. That contract would be established when they were certified to be mentally competent to make such a decision.

A possible grim scenario is that the aging could opt for euthanasia because they simply run out of money.

That is not unthinkable.

In my coaching of the over-50, I am hearing the fear of running out of money. Already they are having difficulty finding work. They can envision a time when that will be downright impossible. Meanwhile their monthly Social Security check barely covers their rent.

However, if ageism or bias against the aging in the workplace didn't block their access to work they could face old old age without contemplating suicide.

Here is my article, published in Odwyerpr.com, on how companies can rebrand to be age-neutral. Ageism not only hurts workers struggling to make ends meet. It also harms society.

Coaching, auditing, lecturing, and publishing thought leadership content on ageism.

Complimentary consultation.

 

Coaching Introductory Offer - $19 for 15 minutes. The displaced over-50 get back to work. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

"Good Girls" Season Finale - Does Beth Really Have the Makings of a Gangsta?

The season finale of "Good Girls" didn't disappoint.

It ended with a roller-coaster plot line that left two of the financially desperate housewives in the worst kind of nightmare. Only Annie winds up in the catbird seat, at least for now.

To do the co-pay for Ruby's daughter's kidney transplant, the family has to come up with almost $90,000.

The three good girls turn gangstas cook up the scheme to hit the grocery store a second time. Not only will that provide the funds needed. They will also leave evidence in the vault that the store is the site for money laundering and that the one heading that operation is GangFriend.

The caper works. They get the money. The FBI arrests GangFriend. Beth is feeling a surge of power. She talks about a fantasy of taking over GangFriend's territory.

Another sweet development is that the blackmailer comes over to their side and records Kevin admitting raping Annie. For now he's neutralized.

Meanwhile Annie's daughter is being accepted by his classmates at school. The custody battle is over as she and her husband get drunk, get romantic, and call a truce.

Then, as is typical in the plotting,  things turn sour. 

To begin with, Beth finds out her husband doesn't have cancer. Then when she comes home to confront him and probably kick him out, she finds that GangFriend has worked him over.

GangFriend pushes a gun toward Beth. He taunts her to kill.

The question is: Will she kill her husband, will she kill GangFriend, or will she cave and recognize she is not a criminal?

Obviously, GangFriend is out of FBI custody. He's again a danger to all three households. He has plenty of reason to off all of them. After all, the three arranged for the FBI to arrest him.

The kidney transplant goes fine. But Ruby's husband connects the dots, confronts her about her life of crime, and walks out. Will he return to their life together? Or, will he, as the earnest cop, rat her out. If he turns snitch, all three housewives go down.

What might save the situation is that he has the moment of clarity that he would have to return the almost $90,000 to the grocery store. No way could he raise that kind of money on his own. He's not that innovative.

The scary message is that maybe crime doesn't pay.

Sure, the three grew in a sense of self and confidence from robbing, transporting funny money, and actually participating in the laundering. But all that puts their families in mortal danger. The women love their children. 

We will have to wait until next season to find out if Beth has it in her to become a murderer.

Coaching, auditing, lecturing, and publishing thought leadership content on ageism.

Complimentary consultation.

 

Coaching Introductory Offer - $19 for 15 minutes. The displaced over-50 get back to work. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Law Firm, New Orleans, LA - Social Media Coordinator

Here are details and how to apply.

Cover Letter - Create Picture of Your Future at the Law Firm

Cover letters are sales pitches.

In this downsized legal market, they have especially high stakes. You want that job. And to get it you have to pass on to the next stage in job-search process: the interview.

Of course, there is no one absolute way to put together the perfect cover letter, that is, the one generating the invitation to interview.

Also, you have to find out the kind of template particular law firms prefer. Usually the firm's human resources will clue you in. Or, if you know lawyers at that that firm, ask about the format and what catches the reviewers' attention.

But, you can and should experiment with a variety of tactics. After all, the edge comes from differentiating yourself from all the rest competing for that opportunity. How to stand out from the rest in your cover letters usually requires practice.

The tactic which the high producers among salespeople frequently use is this: During the sales pitch they create a picture of how the future will look if the organization purchases, for example, the software product. 

Here's an example: 

"Once your team is trained in this software, you can sit back in your office chair, relaxed. You won't be anticipating any more crisis over the mistakes in payroll. This software is bulletproof. And, because it is your expenses will be about 25% lower. Given the high accuracy, you can reduce the manpower in your quality control unit. So, look at yourself looking like you're at the top of your game. You are."

For you, the picture of the future you create could be of a law firm with an emerging brandname in cybersecurity. It will be the vendor prospects pay attention to at proposal time. And, Bloomberg Law contacts it for quotes on cybersecurity issues.

To support that picture of the future you then provide links to your articles and media interviews on cybersecurity. You ask if you can confer with the law firm's marketing department with recommendations how to position and package that niche.

In essence, all sales pitches, including the cover letter, are about the future.

The past is about results achieved for another employer or client.

While some of that background is relevant, what the current employer is focused on are the results you can accomplish for it. So, only cite details of the past which help shape the version of the future you are outlining. 

The job you are pitching yourself for takes place in the future. Not the past.

Coaching, auditing, lecturing, and publishing thought leadership content on ageism. Complimentary consultation.

 

Coaching Introductory Offer - $19 for 15 minutes. The displaced employees get back to work. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

 

Law360, Dayton, OH - Product Manager

Here are details and how to apply.

Housing Officials, Aging Advocates, Law Firms Specializing in Elder Abuse - Bring Back the Boarding House

More than 40% of those over-50 fear running out of money. That's what Transamerica found. 

That scenario haunts even those who made all the supposedly right moves.

They sold the family house in order to reduce the financial uncertainty of home ownership.

They relocated from high-cost locations such as the Northeast Corridor to southwestern Arizona.

They picked up a 20-hour a week job.

They continue to squirrel away money instead of spending it all. 

Yet, they still live day to day with the nightmare of winding up homeless - or, to some what's worse, asking their offspring for help.

One solution is to bring back that one-time popular living model: the boarding house. It had provided the best aspects of communal living.

Its advantages had been extraordinary.

The monthly rent was affordable.

The easy proximity to other human beings prevented isolation. In fact, lifelong friendships usually were developed.

There was safety in numbers since someone was always there and the light on. 

My introduction to boarding house living came when I was a doctoral student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

To me those several years of affordable rent and lots of people around were days of heaven. My most vivid memory was hosting a party in the "parlor" of a boarding house on South Division Street. That was the only time males were allowed into the all-women's edifice.

Yeah, it was the Midwest version of the Barbizon Hotel for women in Manhattan. Even though it was post-Pill times, the Mom and Pop owners imposed old-world norms. We all cried when the University bought the property and "took away" our home. For a few years I would motorcycle into a Detroit suburb to visit them. They also remembered "that party."

Currently renting an apartment for a couple in Tucson, AZ or here in Austintown, Ohio is doable financially. And not a lonely existence.

But for those who are single (an existence many females will endure) the monthly nut is a tough ordeal. The rental situation essentially is Landlord Nation.

There are usually teaser move-in rates. Then the rent, as happened in the Weidner Apartment Complex in AZ, could increase about $50 a month during lease renewal. And daily life can be an isolating experience.

Advocates for the aging and leaders in housing concepts have to establish pilot programs providing boarding-house living for those over-50. Some of the experiments should allow animal companions, for a small extra fee. Many apartment complexes such as Easton in what is the relatively low standard of living Irwin, Pennsylvania bill $40 monthly for either a dog or a cat. 

Added reflection: It was in that boarding house on South Division that I was clued in on part-time job opportunities. The networking required no heavy lifting.

Coaching, auditing, lecturing, and publishing thought leadership content on ageism.

Complimentary consultation.

 

Coaching Introductory Offer - $19 for 15 minutes. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

"Instinct" - Why We're Not Buying into Dylan Reinhart's Pain

"60 Minutes" is the lead-in to the new CBC crime show "Instinct."

That could keep it from being pulled after the first season.

Otherwise, from the early episodes, this series about a gay intuitive who helps solve crimes in New York City probably will be a gig actor Alan Cumming will regret having taken. He should have been more selective about roles after "The Good Wife" ended.

The major problem with "Instinct" is that it it's too slick, too self-conscious. The characters are unable to develop real relationships. And the audience can't relate to the characters. And, in these kinds of television crime, as well as legal shows, it's all about relationships.

Sure, "Instinct" represents a bit of a breakthrough. Okay, it features a gay character, even equipped with an on-stage husband. But, unlike other fresh introductions in network television, the character of Dylan Reinhart is unable to engage us.

We connected with openly racist Archie Bunker in "All in the Family." After all, who hasn't felt left out as the world was changing. And currently we are connecting with the three financially desperate housewives in "Good Girls." What person struggling to make ends meet hasn't dreamed about the gangsta life.  

So, what's the disconnect with Reinhart?

His tragic flaw - and it's not a compelling one - is his preoccupation with his own pain. He flashes back to this emotional boo-boo and that one. Some of those align with Cumming's own screwed-up childhood.

Given the more skillful writing and directing of "Without a Trace" and "Mad Men," that was effective with the characters of Jack Malone and Don Draper. That made them iconic anti-heroes. Although both series have ended, those two shut-downs remain in the global memory bank. 

But, the lack of artistry in depicting Reinhart's wounded self makes him come across as, well, the kind whom others dread running into.

If Cumming wants to save his career he will demand better scripting and production. Talent is a terrible thing to waste.

Coaching, auditing, lecturing, and publishing thought leadership content on ageism.

Complimentary consultation.

 

Coaching Introductory Offer - $19 for 15 minutes. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Paid Digital Marketing Fellowship, DC

Here are details and how to apply.

Appearme.com (for law firms), Los Angeles, CA - Marketing Reps

Here are details and how to apply.

Marketing Mindset Shifts to Bundling - Legal Services (e.g. Skadden) Have to Create Packages, Not Stand-Alone Branding

Established legal brands, such as Skadden, are taking it on the chin during the Trump Administration.

But most of that might turn out to be irrelevant if those and other law firms shift their marketing mindset.

Instead of putting themselves out there as a X brand, they can and should create packages of services and even products.

The online media has already been there.

Everywhere paywalls are going up in that territory.

Typically, they operate like this: There is complimentary access to X number of articles monthly. When that limit is reached, it's pay or go away.

Those who want to stay informed and enjoy their favorite thought leaders have to sign up for subscriptions. Soon enough, that becomes costly.

It's known as the subscription economy. 

The way media owners are making the subscription economy affordable is through what is called "bundling." Last Friday, the digital seers on "Gillmor Gang" discussed that concept. Essentially they see it as what will keep media online scaling. 

"Bundling," just like the concept "ecosystem," is a hot marketing concept currently. Essentially it entails offering access to several media properties for one flat subscription price. 

The version of bundling the Gillmor Gang cited was Medium Membership. For $5 a month, members have access to brandname media ranging from The Economist to The New York Times. 

Of course, the business model can be applied to an infinite number of products and services. Actually, it's so successful that both established brands and startups strive to become part of a bundle. No surprise, consumers now evaluate the value of the bundle, not the stand-alone product.

Anyone who has shopped for a PC recently has encountered bundling, of course. For example, some Dell models bundle the Intel Pentium laptop with a one-year subscription to Office 365. 

But not all bundling is a consumer's paradise. The HP laptop I purchased last week included in the bundle free McAfee anti-virus protection. Essentially that was structured as a free trial. After a certain period I would have to pony up the money for a subscription or become unprotected. 

The problem, it turned out, is that the McAfee required time-consuming uninstallation by vendor Norton. On my former PC (which met an accidental death through spilled orange juice) was still about nine months of a subscription. In order for the Norton customer service techies to transfer that, first they had to eliminate the McAfee part of the bundle. Yes, we were on remote together way too long.

In services, I am pitching to law firms, public relations agencies, trade associations, and outplacement firms to partner with me in the ageism niche. Like racism, gender, ethnic identities, disabilities, and alternate sexual identities, ageism has become a diversity issue.

Companies which aren't proactive on this one - ageism - could trigger a Starbucks-like branding and business flashpoint. One must-do is to conduct a mini ageism audit in order to rebrand as age-neutral. 

My ageism boutique provides coaching, auditing, lecturing, and thought leadership content to professional services players as well as individuals.

Regarding the latter, I have coached a variety of displaced over-50 professionals back into the zone of earning income.

That began on a pro bono basis when the legal market crashed. In 2009, 6,000 lawyers were thrown on the street. Since then, my coaching service has extended, on a paid basis, to other over-50 employees in transition. Individuals can access it on a stand-alone basis or bundled with hands-on assistance with their job-search materials. 

Coaching, auditing, lecturing, and publishing thought leadership content on ageism. Complimentary consultation.

 

Coaching Introductory Offer - $19 for 15 minutes. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.