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Legal Opportunities, Manhattan - Law School Grads, College Grads

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Document Review, Manhattan- Barred

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Document Review, Manhattan - Non-Barred

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MLex, D.C. - Reporter/Researcher (full-time)

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Paul Weiss Branding 1, Trump, et al. 0

"New York attorneys this week said Mark Pomerantz will bring extensive experience and talent to his new role helping the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office with its investigation into former President Donald Trump, the Trump family and the Trump businesses." - Jane Wester, Law.com, February 23, 2021.

As the profile of Mark Pomerantz on the Paul Weiss website indicates, he is an Of Counsel at that firm. It also updates that with the notice that he is on-leave. 

This is plum for both the Paul Weiss brandname and for the firm's network of contacts. Its chairman Brad Karp seems to have the golden touch in his influence in the legal sector. That extends from motivating lawyers in other firms to pitch in with large pro bono projects (like the COVID-19 Relief Center) to poaching laterals from other elite law firms.

This development could be more bad news for Trump et al. 

Small changes can trigger big success in your career and your business communications. Swing by for a complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

Big Questions: TX In-Person Bar Exam Has Higher Pass Rate Than Oct Online Version

For the September 2020 Texas in-person bar exam the pass rate was 77.66%, reports Kathryn Rubino at Abovethelaw. For the October 2020 online bar exam, the pass rate was 60.13. The number of takers was about the same. September: 1,037. October: 1,116.

So many are ruling out that as a factor per se.

Meanwhile, there are myriad other questions watchers of the bar exam play-out in COVID-19times  are asking. 

Of course, a common sense solution, which isn't being embraced these days, is the Diploma Privilege.

Small changes can trigger big success in your career and your business communications. Swing by for a complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

The Partners/Clients/Prospects May Be Ducking Those Difficult Conversations - Yet, Your Living Depends in Feeback

"Some managers may be hesitant to have difficult performance discussions with employees amid the pandemic, thinking it isn’t constructive to deliver critiques when people are under so much personal and professional stress." - Tom Gimbel, The Wall Street Journal, February 25, 2021. 

The burden can be on you to push for the feedback you need - even if you anticipate some of it may be upsetting. 

As Dale Carnegie courses teach, approach the partners, clients and/or prospects in a friendly manner. A bit casual. Talk about sports or the better weather. Share tidbits about your workout program.

Then let them know that you need to know how to be as useful to them as possible. Therefore, you open the door to feedback. Add, in a relaxed way, that you are ready for the good and the bad and the ugly.

Yes, feedback, whether it's the good, the bad or the ugly, is usually one of those difficult conversations. That's because no one in the loop knows how the information will be received. Often what is intended as positive can be absorbed as negative.

For example, the partner praises you for proofreading documents more thoroughly. Immediately you panic that there is a "bad mark" on the record for being slopply earlier.

Or, the prospects indicate they welcome your more engaging manner. You flip out. Has your Emotional Intelligence be in the "retarded" category?

The difficulty is increased exponentially in a virtual workplace. Even with Zoom, there is a lack of communications signals to assess how the conversation is going. Also, there can be ambiguity on how all the parties are "feeling." The partner may be annoyed to be bothered by a request for feedback. Timing is everything. Figure out a time that could be not as bad as others for taking the brass' five minutes.

Yet COVID-19 is changing so much. Uncertainty is the new normal. That increases exponentially the need for sustained input from your superiors, clients and prospects. How you're pitching could not be focused enough when there are more questions than answers.

Takeaway: Figure out how to shake feedback from those who determine how you make your living.

Small changes can trigger big success in your career and your business communications. Swing by for a complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

McKinsey, Crisis and Kevin Sneader (and remember Rajat Gupta)

"McKinsey & Co.’s partners voted to replace Kevin Sneader as the elite consulting firm’s leader, after internal dissatisfaction over steps he took following a series of crises for the firm, people familiar with the matter said." - The Wall Street Journal, February 24, 2021.

Recently, as media outfits kept reporting, management consulting firm McKinsey had a pile-on of crises. They included:

Opiod settlement for $573 million for its work with Purdue and other drug manufacturers

Assignments with e-cigarette Juul and controversial foreign governments

Settlement with the Justice Department about how it discloses conflicts of interest.

Of course, shade has been thrown on the brand.

But, ironically, public knowledge of these could nudge nations,  companies and individulas in political or regulatory trouble to seek out McKinsey. Based on all the scandals, McKinsey could be exactly the right consultant for them.

Obviously Sneader represents fallout from the crises. He has been the first McKinsey head who wasn't voted a second term. The process at McKinsey is for every three years the approximately 650 senior partners conduct a staggered vote on if the head is a keep or throw back. On the first round, it was obvious Snead was going to be a keep.

The firm will search for a new leader.

It is interesting to recall that a head guy who had retired - Rajat Gupta - wound up in prision related to insider trading. His name was removed from the list of McKinsey Alumni.

Small changes can trigger big success in your career and your business communications. Swing by for a complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

Will There Be "Skyhorse v. HBO?" - Woody Allen, et al. Push Back

"Skyhorse Publishing, which released Allen’s latest book, 'Apropos of Nothing,' is threatening to sue the makers of ['Allen v. Farrow'] ... for sampling bits from the famous director’s audiobook." - Suzy Weiss, New York Post, February 24, 2021.

President of Skyhorse Tony Lyons indicated that the producers of that HBO 4-part documentary did not contact the publishing house to request permission to use the excerpts from Allen's audiobook. This, in the point of view of Skyhouse, constitutes willful infringement.

In response, HBO argues the doctrine of fair use allows it to have used that material.

No way, retorts Skyhorse. It contends that the court has to decide the issue, based on why it was used and the impacts on the market. 

The feud between Allen and his former lover Mia Farrow has gone on and on for decades. Rather than Shakespearean, it is farce. 

Small changes can trigger big success in your career and your business communications. Swing by for a complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

Review Legal Documents, Las Vegas, NV - Freelance

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