Law And More

Edelman's "Geopolitical Business" Trust Barometer - Paul Weiss Chairperson Brad Karp Called It in March 2020

The purpose-driven business – that is, going beyond Milton Friedman's doctrine of maximizing shareholder value - is not a fad. And it’s not restricted to the US. Public relations powerhouse Edelman conjured up a special version of its annual Trust Barometer. That’s its "Geopolitical Business" one, which you can read here.

The data has been derived by interviewing 14,000 in 14 nations during April and May 2022. The finding is unambiguous:

77% on average believe that improving societal issues is a primary business function.

That reality has introduced new risks for business. For instance, trust in the enterprise is directly at stake. Edelman provides the concrete example of doing business with Russia. Those which continued with that experienced a 38% falloff in trust. Those who halted relationships gained a 31% uptick in trust.

So, Edelman confirms what has been the undertow in business leadership and management since the term “ESG” (Environmental Social Governance) had been coined in 2005.

First in slo-mo then more rapidly that force had all the makings of developing into a tsunami. Business values as we have known them would be swept away. Currently palpable among global and US corporate leaders is intense angst about “Becoming the Next Disney.” Here is The Washington Post’s analysis of some of Disney’s ESG-generated woes.

In Spring 2020, law firm Paul Weiss observed what might be described at The Overwhelm. That’s because ESG principles impact every organizational function. Yes, constituencies, ranging from employees/shareholders to communities/media, are co-creating the new purpose of business. 

Amid the escalating disruption, Paul Weiss chairperson Brad Karp launched the first-ever in the legal sector Sustainability – Environmental Social Governance (ESG) practice. His edge in formulating that has its roots in both his own social-justice initiatives and the legacy of the law firm in calling out and addressing wrongs in society. 

The Paul Weiss ESG practice mission has been to help

“… companies navigate the legal, business and political ramifications of development and implementing EGS initiatives. We advise on matters such as stakeholder engagement, corporate governance, crisis management, corporate social responsibility, sustainability, diversity and inclusion, ethics and compliance.”

Overlaid on ESG is the investment piece. That’s big and getting bigger. According to Bloomberg Intelligence the value of Sustainable or ESG investments can exceed $41 trillion by the end of this year and $50 trillion by 2025. If public companies want to continue to attract investment they have to integrate ESG principles.

Obviously, that is creating new risks. In a January 2022 analysis in Corporate Counsel zeroing in on where ESG is currently, Karp, along with Paul Weiss’ Chief Sustainability Officer David Curran, reports:

“… companies are increasingly held accountable by the public and shareholders for ESG performance. The number of successful ESG campaigns [such as proxy battles] increased … buoyed by support from large institutional investors and advisory firms such as Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis.”

A lousy grade on ESG performance can trigger not only a drop in the stock price. In addition, the public company could become an acquisition target. Independence is in play.

It’s not hyperbolic to assert that all business issues have become ESG ones. There is no bypassing that. As the Edelman research screams out: Businesses which are assessed as doing the right thing are trusted. Those ignoring those values could be negatively impacted in every aspect of their operations.

The rub: What are the “right values?” The consensus keeps fragmenting.

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com. She is a corporate writer and had done assignments for Edelman. Now and then she does freelance communications work for law firms such as Paul Weiss.

 

MergerLinks Recognizes Nine Paul Weiss Partners

Mergers and acquisitions, both for its transactional and litigation practices, is a major focus for Paul Weiss. The law firm makes it its business to attract and retain top talent for those two niches. 

So it is predicable that MergerLinks would recognize nine Paul Weiss partners in those practice areas. The selection had been based on the value of deals in 2021.

The nine partners are:

• Scott A. Barshay
• Gregory A. Ezring
• Ross A. Fieldston
• Krishna Veeraraghavan
• Jonathan H. Ashtor
• Edward T. Ackerman
• Jeffrey B. Samuels
• Adam M. Givertz
• Alvaro Membrillera

Recently, Paul Weiss brought up-to-date data and insight on global and US merger and acquisition activity. Its chairperson since 2008 - Brad Karp - is known as a star Wall Street transactional lawyer and litigator as well as a rainmaker. 

In its official report on M&A activity, Paul Weiss presented this:

Positive Trends

• Yes, since March, the deal count continued to decline. That had been by 14%. However, in April for the first time in 2022, there had been increases in total deal value. Actually, aggregate deal value increased by 33% in the US and 39% globally in April versus March.

• In the US, both strategic and sponsor deals followed the broader decline trend - 18% and 4%, respectively - according to count. However, they increased in total deal value - 45% and 20%, respectively.

• As for the global picture, sponsor deals more than doubled in aggregate value, increasing by 105%. But strategic deals only had an uptick of 1%.

More of the Same

Simultaneously, US crossborder activity did decline in April. Both inbound and outbound deal count decreased by 17% and 5%, respectively. In terms of value there was a decrease for both – 14% and 30%, respectively.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

After presenting those highlights in its Client Memorandum, Paul Weiss also provides comprehensive detals about global and US dealmaking. In addition, the report lists the law firm experts available, along with contact information, who can get granular on what's happening or could happen.

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com. Now and then she does freelance communications assignments for professional services firms such as Paul Weiss.

Controversy - Former Googler Patrick Shyu Goes for Broke (and how social networks have made mean-spirited cool)

The promotional power of controversy is well-known. But, what is also a pragmatic reality is that it is a marketing/public relations tool which has to be carefully managed.

Recently, as Insider reports, former Googler Patrick Shyu has, well, gone for broke in leveraging his use of controversy to get, retain, and grow subscribers for his YouTube Tech Lead Show.

On Twitter, in posts which he had since deleted, he gushed about how he used to tell females interviewing for coding positions at Google to go home and have babies. Yes, he contends to have actually said that, in real time. In addition, he had tweeted, also since deleted, why women shouldn't code. 

Here is Shyu's LinkedIn site, on which he has 61,285 followers.

Whether there will be an escalation of subscribers to his subscription service or a flight out - only time will tell. In the current ethos of mean-spirited everything many might be attracted to Shyi's world view and his crass way of putting it out there. Social networks have elevated what is mean-spirited to the new cool. 

When toxic Gawker collapsed my kind cheered. We hoped that was the end of that. However, it taught well other promoters how to push the envelope on mean to succeed. 

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com. 

Kirkland & Ellis, et al. - Will Representing NRA and Other FIrearms Clients Make Them "Another Boies Schiller?"

As part of the NRA annual meeting in Houston, Texas, is a day-long legal seminar for lawyers associated with or who want to be associated with Second Amendment issues.

One presenter, reports Reuters Legal, has pulled out, without explanation. That's Kirkland & Ellis partner Kasdin Mitchell.

K&E has represented clients with firearms matters, including the NRA. One of its partners Paul Clement had argued before the US Supreme Court "New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen."

As Law and More explains, that is about the right to carry a concealed weapon in NY state. The High Court has not yet issued its ruling. But few expect that to be delayed because of the mass murder in Uvalde. If there is a delay it will probably be to give time for the justices to insert a reference about Uvalde.

The reality that legal powerhouse K&E will not be participating in the NRA firearms seminar obviously raises this question: How much can defending clients with firearms legal matters impact reputational issues for law firms? That leads into the next question: How much could that hurt business?

It is impossible not to recall how Boies Schiller's representation of Harvey Weinstein threw the brand into chaos. The tipping point, of course, had been The New Yorker expose on how Boies Schiller was going about the defense. Next there was an outcry about how Boies Schiller co-founder David Boies was also representing startup Theranos. There may or may not be a correlation between those branding upheavals and the partner flight, along with the decline in revenue. Law and More covered how three more "stars" had left Boies Schiller.

The hits K&E and other law firms could take depend on the reach and influence of outrage about mass shootings. As Bloomberg Law documents, in 2022 alone there have been 213 of them. "Mass shooting" is defined as four or more injured or killed during such an incident. 

It is telling that K&E will not have an active role in the NRA legal seminar. It will also be interesting to follow the media reports on what lawyers do turn up at the seminar. In fact, that in itself could become a major media story in covering the NRA annual meeting.  Will the progressive media position and package the lawyers' entrance to the seminar as a kind of Walk of Shame? 

On the other hand, those with power might not be able to move the dial enough on outrage about Uvalde. Or, more to the point, not want to do that, not at all. Firearms are big business. The guns and ammo manufacturing industry in the US, IBIS documents, has a current market size of $19.5 billion.

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

No One Knows - And Fewer Are Pretending to, Even At Davos Summer

" ... uncertain mood descends on Davos [Summer]." - Financial Times, May 25, 2022

The current global and US economic and social craziness might have permanently dinged The Expert.

Sure, some are still pontificating. There is George Soros on Bloomberg giving us the stern warning that "civilization" might not survive the Putin war. Ha-ha, as a lawyer might object: That is pure speculation. In the process, Soros can look foolish. We don't want that sort of thing now. 

The reality is that no one knows. It isn't smart for a professional brand to pretend otherwise. Amid that uncertainty what is catching fire is replacing the traditional detailed strategic plan with what-if scenarios and creative approaches. 

That could help law firms navigate the shift from the pandemic boom to what could be anything from a return to normal to the souring of the market.

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

 

 

Boise Schiller - 3 More Stars Have Left the Firmament

"Boies Schiller Flexner is losing three New York-based partners, including a practice group leader and its co-general counsel, according to an internal firm memo on Monday that detailed other personnel changes." - Reuters Legal, May 24, 2022.

So, again there is partner defection. That flight of stars out of what we might think of as the "firmament" has become the signature of one-time ligitation powerhouse Boies Schiller. Some might recall the gush article about Boies Schiller co-founder David Boies in Bloomberg BusinessWeek. That was in 2015. Probably Boies was most thought about as the lawyer you didn't want to be opposing. 

And that was then. 

The departures this time around are:

• Ilana Miller, co-general counsel. Is taking some time off from the practice of law.
• Peter Skinner to Morrison & Foerster
• William Marsillo to a telcom/energy infrastructure firm.

The symbolism of this development is awful. But also playing out is the pragmatic reality of the correlation between the firm's star power and its ability to grow. The latter relates to everything from client acquisition to attracting even more star power.

In a Bloomberg Law interview, Paul Weiss Chairperson Brad Karp connected those dots in a very explicit way. He projected that only law firms with the resources to recruit and retain big brandnames would be able to keep on a growth trajectory. Others would wither. They could actually go out of business. Some, we are noticing, could seek out salvation through being acquired. Yes, in a sense the law firm sector has bifurcated. There are the growth ones and the ones which could be on short time.

Law firms, like all professional services, operate on brandnames. Clients bring their business to those individual star players, not to the firm itself. 

In the two years that I have covered Paul Weiss the frequent story has been about a lateral hire. A key one has been the poaching of star trial lawyer Karen Dunn from Boies Schiller. 

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com. Now and then she does freelance assignments for professional services firms such as Paul Weiss. 

Princeton and Joshua Katz - Focusing on the Tragedy of Job Loss, Since We Don't Know What Really Went Down

"Princeton Fed Me to the Cancel Culture Mob - The university claims it fired me for a long-past offense—for which I was already punished—but the truth should worry everyone."

That is what former Princeton tenured professor in classics Joshua Katz wrote in his opinion-editorial in The Wall Street Journal. 

Yesterday, The WSJ carried the story of his dismissal from Princeton. The article reported:

"Princeton University’s board of trustees voted Monday to fire longtime classics professor Joshua Katz, adopting the president’s recommendation and finding that the faculty member failed to cooperate fully in a sexual-misconduct investigation."

What Katz rails against is that misconduct incident - a consensual relationship with a 21-year-old student years ago - had already been dealt with. Back then he had been suspended without pay for a year. In the op-ed he refers to this second round of punishment for that "double jeopardy."

What Katz contends is that he is being penalized for controversial statements he has made regarding social and cultural issues. Some would classify the matter as one of free speech.

But given the complex dynamics of academic decision-making by the power structure, most of us really don't know what factors resulted in the termination. Of course, investigative reporters could dig and maybe they will. But the rest of us only have a They-Said and He-Said. 

Since we don't know it is probably wise in this era of extreme turmoil not to adopt this as a cause. Not in advocacy of Katz and not in advocacy of Princeton. 

Of course, it is sad for anyone to lose a job. Even if this were simply a reduction-in-force or a stealth layoff tragedy could stick to it. In America we are our professional identity. Katz has lost his.

In 1987, I was ever so gently laid off from a middle management corporate position. There was almost a year's severance, including health benefits. I went on to launch a successful executive communications boutique. However, the humiliation and hit to my confidence were sticky. To today I continue to play around in my head what I could have done differently.

Law and More has empathy for the blow of a job loss could be for Katz.

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Trump's Power - Everyone Is Measuring It

"President Trump and the MAGA movement are showing signs of moving in different directions. By no stretch of the imagination is Trump’s base deserting him. But nor are those voters willing to simply do his bidding." - Niall Stanage, The Hill, May 23, 2022

The focus has long shifted from the real or alleged perils presented by Donald Trump to how much power does he still have. The answer is two-fold:  (1) He still has more power than his critics anticipated and (2) He is losing the ability to unilaterally control the MAGA movement.

That leaves progressives in an urgent state of coming up with strategies to create their own kinds of power. In that the Democratic Party seems to have defaulted to New York City Mayor Eric Adams. As Politico reported, he is the new messaging machine. 

At the Democratic Congressional Committee he advocated applying his own motto: Get Stuff Done. Yes, take action. He also was bullish on storytelling. Part of that was forcing the GOP to come to terms with their own conflicting stories. Yes, they are for law and order but they back off from adequate funding of law enforcement. 

The buzz is that Adams could put himself out there for US President in 2024. What operates against that is the escalating troubles in his own city. Violence is the dominant ethos. In addition, COVID has returned. Meanwhile, remote work has sent the commercial real estate industry reeling. 

Trump has established almost a mystical force field for his points of view. Traditional politicos don't know how to neutralize it.

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

The New York Times - When It Wasn't Winning It Was Almost Human

"Like a burning sun that never sets, the New York Times is forever there, forever reminding us of its presence, and forever neglecting to give adequate recognition to the rays of light emitted by lesser stars." - Jack Shafer, Politico, May 23, 2022

The New York Times was almost human when it wasn't winning. Remember that. Thought leaders were speculating that some foundation would take it over. At the time it wasn't getting the hang of digital and didn't seem really to understand that was a must-do. Meanwhile the rest of us were sweating about page views. Making a living depended on it. That's what we knew. 

That was then.

Now, as Shafer documents, that it's totally back it is again totally unlikable. Although I have paid subscriptions to a growing list of media outlets, I refuse to align myself with The New York Times.

The tone of The Times articles is one of ownership. Not accidentally readers get the feeling that this is the definitive word on topic X or topic Y. Maybe that's the game plan. Like the Roman Catholic Church, The New York Times seems to gaslight us that it is infallible. 

Most annonying, of course: Its long-termers like David Brooks verbalize as if they were sun gods. All the world is supposed to turn to those worlds with adulation. 

Maybe Shafer's observations, along with the growing number of nasty tweets, can break the spell. After all, Roman Catholism continues to lose global market share. At one time it had been one of the most powerful and during brands.

Connect with humber Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Fading Brands: From Davos to Being a Billionaire

The excitement just isn't there. That's what Bloomberg quotes Wendy Craft, chief of staff at Fulcrum Equities, as saying about Davos in summer. (What could be interesting, though, are that shamans are there hawking their services. Yeah, attendees can book a premium tarot reading,)

Actually, Davos Man and Davos Woman haven't been relevant for almost a decade. After all, with the emerging ESG ethos extreme wealth has come under attack. Both individual and institutional. 

Then when the once-iconic journey to the winter Switzerland retreat went remote for two years the Davos Man/Woman brand faded. The new book flaming Davos Everything - "Davos Man" - ranks high on Amazon: #29,413. By journalist Peter S. Goodman, it showcases Davos' sponsor, that is, the World Economic Forum, as a platform for billionaires to present themselves as passionate about creating a good future for the rest of us. You bet, the distance from their perch and where we hang out is made palpable. Incidentally, more authenic at all that and perhaps accomplishing much more could be the Milken Institute Global Conference. This year it took place May 1 through 4.

Along with Davos, what has become a lot less buzzy is the billionaire. That happened quite abruptly, didn't it. There is a shift in the narrative from how these wonderkinds made their billions to how they haven't been too smart about hanging on to those big bucks. Here is it from Bloomberg, May 21, 2022.

"The Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily measure of the wealth of the world’s 500 richest people, has dropped $1.6 trillion since its peak in November. Leading the way are the Americans on the index, who have lost $797 billion since their peak. Perhaps the most humbled by it all is the world’s richest person, Elon Musk. He’s lost $139.1 billion, or 41% of his wealth, since November, when his net worth briefly surpassed $340 billion. Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, the second-richest person, lost $82.7 billion, or 39% of his peak wealth." 

Maybe The American Wealth Dream is mutating into the ability to create financial comfort in ways that don't have to brand you as anything. You can just make your money and not be forced into any category like "billionaire" or "millionaire." And you don't have to prance around like Bill Gates (who is at Davos summer) pontificating about broad-based topics ranging from pandemics to the world economy. You can just be. 

Reflection: Is could be a professional liability to be at Davos summer. 

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.