Law And More

Raw Reflections on Mother's Day 2019

Supposedly timely for Mother's Day, USA Today provides a feature on outsourcing parenting. The tasks farmed out range from potty training to childproofing the residence. None of that comes cheap.

However, outsourcing parenting is nothing new in the history of civilization.

The most warm and fuzzy symbol of performing that important duty in society is nanny Mary Poppins.

From the days of Old Manhattan, anyone who cruised by the parks in Manhattan spotted benches filled with outsourced labor chatting among themselves as they keep a watchful eye on what was going on in the elegant prams.

Let's face it, childcare has always been a time-consuming tedious undertaking. Those with the resources to farm out most or all of that out usually did.

For example, in the 2019 book by Tracy Borman on Henry VIII, what's discussed as totally normal was housing royal offspring away from the family. That went on until the child could provide a useful function in court. The chronicle is "Henry VIII: And the Men Who Made Him" and here it can be ordered from Amazon.

But wealth and power are not required in that particular kind of outsourcing.

Extended families usually took on the role automatically. Given the necessity of searching, finding, and holding onto work, children usually were a bad fit. As infants through their teenage years, they were placed in the full-time or part-time care of grandparents, aunts, and even other young children.

That's practically the norm in parts of China as the economy changes. Parents flock from rural areas to the cities to work and live. 

Essentially that was a commonplace dynamic in the immigrant tenements of downtown Jersey City, New Jersey during the 50s. Sometimes a risk-taker would go out to California to escape factory work or cleaning offices. The offspring were left behind, usually for years. Neighbors who were scheduled for the night shift had the children sleep in the apartments of other neighbors. That's the way it was.

Of course, just as now, there also was plenty of total inability to care for children. Probably I never had children, always preferring rescuing and caring for dogs and cats, because my younger sister's care was outsourced to me.

My mother had been mentally ill. My father had two jobs, mostly to steer clear of the domestic tragedy unfolding. As an infant and toddler I was cared for by my grandmother and aunt.

From the get-go, the majority of my colleagues and clients had live-in nannies. They had to. With such a hyper competitive work world they couldn't risk not sleeping through the night. That would have been career suicide.

Meanwhile, with farming out childcare so expensive in major metro areas, it's no surprise fertility rates are plunging. Right now it's at a 30-year low. Also, in some sectors being a mother is perceived as a negative. One current lawsuit dealing with that alleged brutal reality in the field of law is "Doe v. Morrison & Foerster."

And those into pop culture will recall that Katherine on television series "A Million Little Things" felt forced to turn down the invitation to be partner.

The terms and conditions wouldn't allow her to run home to have dinner with her son every night. She indicated that after dinner she would return to the office.

That, the partners responded, would be a lack of commitment to the firm.

Soon enough, upscale neighborhoods in the United States will be overrun with dogs. There will be few or no children.

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Unethical, Illegal - But Law Firms Have Solid Reasons for Not Championing Family Life

The cultural, social, and economic shift is obvious: Few in industrialized nations pressure anyone to have children. 

The baby is no longer a symbol of blessings.

A secure well-paying job is. And holding onto that job means not being "distracted" by family obligations. Yes, career reality can be that brutal. That's probably the stealth mindset at your large law firm. 

According to the OECD, the birth rate at below 2.1  in industrialized nations is lower than what is needed to replace the human beings on planet earth. Here are more details from Fortune.

Some macro economic experts see peril in the declining birth rate. 

For instance, there are fewer workers to make up for the large wave of retirement taking place in industrialized nations. So, who is going to fund entitlements for the aging such as social security and subsidized health care? Already, youth resents older members of society. Yes, there is generational warfare.

Also, the number of consumers is reduced. GDP growth in some nations such as the U.S. is primarily generated by consumer purchases. Here consumer activity accounts for about 70% of GDP.

Overall, children have become an economic burden. Since college is still perceived as a must, that means not only a financial burden for parents. Also, there will probably not be an empty nest for years. It is increasingly difficult for human beings in developed economies to get launched. Even before that, childcare tends to be very expensive.

Also, offspring can't be counted on to take care of parents in their old age. Given longer lifespans, by time the parents begin to become less independent their children are middle-aged, with plenty of their own challenges. For instance, their employer might be trying to force them out before of age.

I bore witness to that in a subsidized residential complex for the aging in New Haven, Connecticut. The offspring didn't pitch in joyfully during that interim period between when their parents were navigating things on their own and when then heading toward assisted living. Instead of concern, there is agitation. 

Sure, some members of my baby boomer generation have great satisfaction from interacting with their grandchildren. But many others make it their mission to move far away from family in order not to be saddled with childcare. 

Prediction: More and more of us will become parents of four-leggers versus two-leggers.

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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). 

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Baby Boomer Law Partners - Come On, Do You Really Care about Having a Building Named After You?

The image of the U.S. is that of a death-denying nation. 

In an article in Undark, anthropologist Anita Hannig documents that mindset. 

But, most of those on my networks, including law partners, are fully aware that they won't be dancing forever on planet earth. Their heart will stop, their brain waves will halt, and that will be that for a life.

Is there an afterlife? Given so many other things to focus on in 2019, fewer are reflecting on that. The attitude is: Let's get through this one, that is, death and dying. Such planning ranges from enough funding for assisted living to having the will up to date.

It's funny. On the internet I bumped into several acquaintances from Snyder High School, Jersey City, New Jersey Class of 1963. Some had achieved partnerships in law firms, large, medium, and small. Our generation was a voice one so we got on the phone. Almost immediately was the phrase: We're going to die. 

It had been a bad few weeks. I rolled my eyes. And, I thought: Not soon enough.

Strangely, we mentioned what we would miss, as if there is a post-death consciousness that facilities awareness of loss. For me, the big losses would no longer be writing and the satisfaction of having been involved in animal rescue for 15 years. 

No one mentioned legacy. Not one of us had been aiming to earn enough money or fame to have a building named after us. That was even though some had their names on the door.

Hell, we don't even want a tombstone. Even memorial services are out. We were here. Then we weren't.

Meanwhile, I mentally thank all the companion animals who have brought me such love. 

Law partners might go through a list in their heads of all those who helped them achieve Brandnames in a demanding field. Remember how Denny Crane on "Boston Legal" took such price in that. Then the irony: Going was even his ability to be aware of that. 

Reflection: Don't hold on anything in life too tightly. 

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Lawyers - Maybe the Kid Should Go to Trade School

Research documents that the average cost of one year at a state university is $20,770.

At a nonprofit private college or university it's $46,950.

That covers tuition, room/board, and fees.

Add-ons are the traveling expenses back home for the holidays, digital gadgets, and recreation. 

So much for the financial nut for the so-called "college experience."

Traditionally, the "college experience" has been defined as residence for four-years at a college or university.

The learning is supposed to be holistic. That is, the human being will not only grow cognitively and pick up enough whatever to get a job.

There is also to be a formation of values. At least that was the mission of the Puritans when they started Harvard in 1636.

But the extreme financial investment entailed is not the only reason for re-thinking the college experience.

And, believe me, many are doing that re-thinking. Boston Magazine reports on the growing number of colleges shutting down in New England. Parents have questioned the assumption that college is necessary for their children to be able to earn a living.

The high tuition has often been the tipping point. An alternate to college has been the trade school. Welding, long-distance truck driving, cosmetology, plumbing, and coding currently are all ways of making a living made possible by training in an institution or through an apprentice program outside the college box. 

However, according to the 2018 book "The Class Ceiling," offspring of lawyers are 17 times more likely to become lawyers than those from other kinds of backgrounds. Here are more details from Abovethelaw.com. So, lawyers, maybe from the get-go, you will be saddled with not only college but also law school tuitions. 

However, there might be hope, lawyers. Another challenge to the college experience cuts right to its core. In this fast-mutating globalized economy driven by digital, can human beings "afford" to be put in an environment separated from "real life" for four years? Sure, there are internships. Sure, some student launch enterprises in the dorm. Sure, there are even paid jobs on and off campus.

But instead of being out there entirely focused on mastering the games associated with economic survival (and building wealth) the human being frequently is put on hold. Their understanding of how the work world really works is way off. For example, they hustle for top grades. Those might be necessary to be admitted to medical school or a top law school. But, come on, research and experience demonstrate that the "C" students become the bosses of the "A" students. 

Another reason to push back against inflicting the college experience on anyone is that nutty bit of nostalgia: College friendships are forever and the networks created will be a long-term professional asset.

Actually, executive coach Henry Cloud's book "Necessary Endings" has been a sustained best-seller because he warns against that kind of bonding. The world changes. Human beings change. The world of work keeps changing. 

In 2014, thrown off my usually successful game by so much change in my line of work and aging, I did a Hail Hail, The Gang's All Here. I reached back to acquaintances from the Class of 1967 at Seton Hill University. Incidentally, back then,the total nut for the annual package was about $1,500, including travel home for the holidays. 

Negative learning is more powerful than the positive kind.

The attempt to restore something, anything with The Gang of Four (Kathleen Huebner, et al.) triggered a full-blown case of PTSD. Here is a chronicle of that horror.

This month I celebrate the 5th anniversary of the extreme pain of getting it that, as Cloud hammers, movement must be forward, never backward.

And, BTW, my college experience wasn't so hot, either. Here is that story, which I have a hunch isn't atypical. 

Overall, research, the high cost of college, the continuous difficulties in earning a good living over a lifetime, and the existence of the dark side of human nature all will push America to declare this: The college experience, as we had known it, is counterproductive for achieving most goals. 

Think about this: For April 2019, ZipRecruiter indicates that the annual median compensation for a long-haul truck driver is $71,817.

About 10 months ago, my Baby Boomer white collar colleague, laid off from a healthcare position, enrolled in a truck driving school here in northeastern Ohio. The cost was about $7,000, for which loans were available. He could have gotten free training if he committed two years to working for the company associated with a training program.

For about eight weeks, he had to study very hard and manage the stress of hands-on road experience. Then, he was on his way, again along a successful career path. Now that he is heading into a year of experience, he is in the position to negotiate compensation and what route he will do.

When my two businesses were slow, he encouraged me to also look into long-distance driving. More females, of all ages, are opting for that solid middle class wage. And, we can bring along our dogs for the ride. I took some preliminary steps about enrolling in program. Then, as often happens in self-employment, my businesses took off again. 

Had I to do it all over again, I would have continued living at home, working part time at New Jersey Bell as a long-distance operator, and hustling for freelance writing assignments with the local town crier The Jersey Journal.

Instead, I went the academic route, including doctoral studies in literature and linguistics at the University of Michigan.

It wasn't until age 31 that I was on my way to developing a marketable skill: professional writing. And I figured out how to do that w/o enrolling in one damn course or going for a certificate at the local university.

In 2004, I got it that I had to learn social media. I hired a coach for a few months. No, I didn't take an extension course at the university. 

More and more big name companies, ranging from Google to Apple, no longer require college degrees to apply for jobs. Here are those real-world facts. 

Reflection: Employers such as Unilever are piloting recruiting programs bypassing resumes, cover letters, references, and visits to college campuses.

Instead they are leveraging approaches such as gamification and AI-monitored video interviews to determine what job applicants can get the job done the best, the fastest, the lowest-cost, and w/o social tensions. It's what we can do for employers in real time. Not a resume of academic credentials. 

Question: Is higher education an addiction? And the elite brand a version of high grade heroin or cocaine?

I did also wind up a 1L at Harvard Law School when I was in my 40s. After I had been accepted, I felt compelled to go. That was even though by that time in the process of applying to law schools, I sensed I was too successful in communications to do that kind of career change. Also, given the complexity of law, I was too old. During the 1L year I high-tailed it back to the communications career path. 

Need affordable help strategically planning and putting together content? That ranges from blog posts and e-books to planning/scripting podcasts and creating traditional speeches. Complimentary consultation on how to generate influence and sell without paying high rates, janegenova374@gmail.com. 

Legal Marketing When You're Over-50

There is the great divide: The over-50 and all the younger generations.

It will increasingly impact the effectiveness of marketing, even in the highly traditional legal sector.

That's to be kept in mind with a recession seemingly on the way. During it, more than 10,250 slots can be lost.

Here is a case study of sorts from another branch of professional services: public relations. 

For many holidays, The Dilenschneider Group (DGI) creates a commentary.

It is relentlessly upbeat.

Usually it contains a laundry list of what the readers should be grateful for.

That message is published on the bible of public of public relations Odwyerpr.com. 

The founder and head of DGI is Bob Dilenschneider. His background in public relations reaches back to a time when the discipline was separate from marketing. There had been a clear line between the Dilenschneider types and the Don Drapers from "Mad Men."

Now, of course, there isn't. How public relations agencies market themselves reflects on how they might be positioning and packaging their clients' marketing - and even hands-on sales.

Those of us over-50 have to become aware of blind spots in our marketing. Otherwise, those can throw shade on our branding. Obviously how we put ourselves out there is how we are perceived.

There are several negatives associated with the holiday tactic.

One goes all the way back to Harvard marketing professor Ted Levitt. In his signature book "The Marketing Imagination," he admitted that America is ambivalent about marketing. He phrases that as "Marketing and Its Discontents." Yes, the blockbuster American economy had been built on marketing. Simultaneously, there is a deep resentment of commercial messaging. Johnny Carson captured that in his staging of bored pitches for sponsors' products.

It's not only Christmas but also all the holidays that we push back on commercialization. When Dilenschneider zeros in on holiday greetings, that can become counterproductive to the marketing mix.

Another beef is the predictability. DGI doesn't miss a holiday. And the posting is always on Odwyerpr.com. In this era of fast time, tradition can be off-putting. 

That opens the template of the holiday greeting to ridicule.

Easter is coming. The smart-aleck in me wonders: Will DGI instruct us on Holy Thursday via Odwyerpr.com to be grateful for the invention of all those marshmallow chicks?

How could I have managed to live my life without that source of extreme pleasure?

Should I reach beyond the narrow confines of my self-absorbed self and distribute the chicks, along with peanut butter stuffed bunnies, to the less fortunate?

The third issue is larger: Have holidays become so commercially exploited that we have ditched the whole concept? The exception might be Halloween. Even my four-legged son enjoys dressing up for all the parties we are invited to. More and more of us ignore President's Day Mattress sales and specials on SUVs at the car dealership. 

A takeaway about marketing for us over-50 is the need to continually assess if it's hurting our branding and revenues or a liability? A sign of our current times, LinkedIn encourages us to continue to modify our all-important profiles. 

Part of my new marketing strategy is to reposition our enterprises as West Coast firms. At the end of the summer I will relocate them to the border of California. Then, one day at a time, I will measure what marketing tactics are panning out and which to ditch. A useful read on that is Henry Cloud's "Necessary Endings."

Reflection: Are legal marketers running their strategies and tactics by associates? That perspective is a terrible thing to waste.

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College Juniors - Low-Status Alternative to Law School

I'm attending law school.

In a number of circles, that carries status. 

I'm a long-haul driver.

That is without status.

But, unlike many career paths in the legal sector, there is no glut of manpower. In fact, as Fortune reports, there is a shortage of truck drivers. That has become a business issue because it is increasing the cost of shipped consumer goods. 

To train to be certified won't result in six-figure debt, as with law school. Trade schools in Eastern Ohio run about $7,000 and loans are available. 

J.B. Hunt Transport Services pays drivers with three-months experience about $65,000 a year, with a $2,500 sign-on bonus.

Drivers who buy their own truck and pay their own expenses can gross $250,000 annually.

Sure, technology can eventually make drivers obsolete, just as in law. Once the programming is perfected to get a rig navigating the on and off ramps of highways, the driverless truck could become a reality. But meanwhile, drivers are making a good living and, if they are wise in spending, not piling up debt. In addition, they are getting hands-on experience with logistics, which is increasingly marketable worldwide.

Also this line of work is trying to make itself more open to female drivers. Most companies restrict the job descripton to driving. If the rig breaks down, the driver is not to fiddle with the mechanics. Instead, the dispatcher is contacted and specialized help will be parachuted into the scene. Therefore, physical and mechanical skills are not required.

How I became so knowledgeable about this career option was because a growing number of professionals in my generation had become unemployed and underemployed. Changes in their industries, cost-cutting at their companies, and age bias had knocked them out of the box. 

They could have returned to academia to pick up another degree or certification. That would have allowed them to retain their professional identity. However, having being burned in the actual job market, they had become pragmatic. They got it that taking on five-figure student loan debt at their age was a risky investment. 

Trade schools got them on the road in about eight weeks. The loan could be paid off the first year. A perk in their new line of work was being able to bring their dog. After a year's experience they had the clout to choose their route. 

In 2016, when my own two businesses were slow, I looked into this option. I ruled it out because my skeletal system wasn't up to the requirement of being stationary for such a long period of time. 

During the 1970s, I had kicked the status habit. My Ph.D. studies in the humanities had become unmarketable. The demand had collapsed for university professors in that category. Employers outside academia perceived all that higher education as a liability. 

In 2003, when my industry tanked, I had no trouble working as a security guard in inner city retail. 

Reflection: The next global economic downturn might kill off the notion of professional identity. In its place could be simply be the ability to get, hold, and move on to better work. 

Need affordable help strategically planning and putting together content? That ranges from blog posts and e-books to planning/scripting podcasts and creating traditional speeches. Complimentary consultation on how to generate influence and sell without paying high rates, janegenova374@gmail.com. 

 

Regulatory Hell - How New York Pet Parents (creatively) Cope on Subway

On that massive underground maze - the New York City subway - there is a regulation. It is that dogs brought on the trains must be contained in a carrier. 

Some speculate that particular regulation was intended to discourage riders from bringing along large dogs. Whatever.

Well, dog parents have gotten creative and Instagram has taken notice.

Dogs, of all breeds and sizes, are coming aboard in containers ranging from shopping totes to suitcases.

You can track that imaginative saga on Instagram account @BagDogs. Here is the coverage by global publisher Daily Mail.

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San Francisco Fatal Dog-Mauling - Marjorie Knoller, a Lawyer, Denied Parole in Life Setence

Legal careers interrupted.

Marjorie Knoller and her husband Robert Noel, both attorneys, were sentenced to prison in the complex case of a deadly dog mauling in San Francisco. The victim was 33-year-old Diane Whipple. The year was 2001.  Here are more details the LA Times.

Knoller fared the worst.

Originally she was sentenced to 15 years to life for second degree murder. She was found to have done little to prevent or stop the attack. At the time she was on the premises where the attack took place.

Then a court reduced that to involuntary manslaughter and she was given parole. However another court threw that out and she returned to prison. Yesterday, the California commissioners denied her parole. 

The husband Robert Noel, who was not on the premises at the time, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and not exercising the attack dog. His sentence was four years but he did receive parole.

How did the couple wind up with an attack dog? They were providing a form of foster care while the owner was in prison. 

Now, with both landlords and insurance companies so wary of certain breeds, the couple probably wouldn't have been able to keep the attack dog in their apartment.

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YesYesYes - Make Animal Abuse Federal Felony

On planet earth, we primarily overvalue humans and undervalue animals.

That could change. Read here about the legal movement to make animal abuse a federal felony.

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