Law And More

Theranos' Elizabeth Holmes/Sunny Balwani - Finally, Trial Date Set for March 2021

It's hard to envision an in-person jury trial. But that could play out again. So bets U.S. District Judge Edward Davila. He seems to be assuming COVID-19 will be a done deal. 

The New York Post reports that that judge overseeing the fraud trial for Theranos' former executives Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani has scheduled it for March 2021.

As some might recall, it has been rescheduled a number of times. The more delays the better for the defendants. They face 12 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy. If convicted each faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,ooo fine.

The Post predicts it will be high-profile.

But, a nation badly battered by COVID-19 and the resulting economic fallout might have lost its interest in juicy courtroom drama. Also, the details have already been covered so comprehensively. Do we really want to hear more about all those old white men on the Theranos Board of Directors or celebrity lawyer David Boies who represented Holmes?

That pile on of expose  began with The Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou's book "Bad Blood."

What might remain of interest could be far away from the courtroom. Move the attention to the offices of psychologists and psychiatrists. Bouncing around are questions if Holmes has some kind of character disorder. Her behavior seemed that of a person devoid of normal human emotion. As an alleged case of aberrant personality, she is fascinating.

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Transparency in Online Political Messaging - UK Proposes Labeling (Can that happen here in broadcast?)

From websites to podcasts, the UK is seeking for transparency in online political messaging.

Today, reports TechCrunch, the Cabinet Office issued a proposal for the public to review.

If enacted it would mandate labeling of all online political campaign communications.

What would be disclosed are both who or what is behind the promotion and who or what is ponying up the funding.

The public has until November 4, 2020 to respond to the proposal, which you can read here.

It is not unthinkable that a similar movement could catch fire in the U.S. The focus would be partisan broadcasting. Programming would be analyzed for how much content typically represents political campaign messaging. If a certain percentage is measured to be embedded in the daily broadcasting, then there would have to be disclaimer slapped on it. Such could read "Promoted by X and funded by Y." 

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McDonald's & The Amazing Mr. Easterbrook - Lawsuit Introduces New Era in Managing Corporate Crisis

Brit Steve Easterbrook was perceived as a corporate magician. After a long career at global McDonald's he was catapulted up to the role of chief executive officer. That was to get the fast food empire out from being stuck in lackluster performance.

Along the way the new usual happened: Easterbrook became romantically involved with an employee. It was consensual. Later, reports The New York Times, the number was calculated to three more. Such conduct violated McDonald's policies on relationships among employees. And that was that.

It's the current drill to fire those, especially high profile executives, who break the rules on sexual behavior, forced or welcomed by the both internal parties.

Usually that is done. The bad publicity endures through a few news cycles. The organization introduces a comprehensive code of behavior. And that's that. There is the crisis of disclosure, then the organization moves on. Frequently there is gush coverage about what it learned from the ordeal.

McDonald's is veering from that standard MO.

The New York Times explains how the corporation has filed a lawsuit in Delaware state court, months after the November 2019 termination. It is accusing Easterbrook of lying, tampering with evidence and fraud. It is seeking a clawback of the $40 million severance package, as well as the stock grant allegedly provided for one of his internal romantic partners. 

So, it is re-opening the past to present scrutiny - and, you bet, a whole bunch of media attention.

This had been triggered by an anonymous employee whistleblower. The sharing of data occurred after the firing. What had been disclosed included the allegation about numerous relationships and the transmission of nude photos among which had been those of an employee. Regarding the latter, the corporation hadn't reviewed Easterbrook's digital communications.

In terms of corporate values, McDonald's will likely be saluted for its willingness to impact negatively its own self-interest to make wrongs known and punished.

Crisis management experts have case studies to create.  McDonald's is BigBrand. So those kinds of deconstructions can bring professional fame and influence.

Meanwhile, the legal world, especially employment-law attorneys, will follow the lawsuit closely.

Bottom line: Will this deter executive sexual misconduct? Probably not. Power can and does trigger delusional mindsets. Those with it might assume they can get away with anything. 

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The Anthony Levandowski Sideshow in "Waymo v. Uber" - Pile Up of Ironies

During the sentencing of former Silicon Valley engineer Anthony Levandowski, U.S. District Judge William Alsup praised his brilliance, reports Bloomberg Law. Echoes of the Ted Bundy sentencing.

That high intelligence, as with serial killer Bundy, had been misdirected. Levandowski had pilfered trade secrets from Google's Waymo and brought them along to his next employer Uber. But his plea had been to one count of downloading confidential files from Google. The criminal case was "U.S.A. v. Levandowski."

And, that was the tragedy of this expert on driverless cars, whom Google had paid a $120 million bonus, who wound up with a sentence of 18 months (delayed until after the pandemic is over). In addition he has to pay a $95 fine and restitution of $758,499.22 to Waymo. The prosecution wanted 27 months. It sought to leverage the sentence as a warning to other engineers thinking about stealing trade secrets to not try it. 

Actually, though, this gigantic fall from grace was a sideshow for the main drama of "Waymo v. Uber," which was settled during trial.

Allegedly, Uber used the data Levandowski secretly transported from Waymo. Fortune pointed out the civil lawsuit was a symbol of the fierce war for talent in tech. In that particular situation it was to get an edge in the emerging autonomous niche, projected to be a $7 trillion industry.

Like most legal spectaculars, this one is filled with irony.

For one, the guy is bankrupt. 

For another the driverless car sector has stalled, documents a study by Deloitte. Waymo has only one paid project in the works. That's in Phoenix, Arizona. And Uber's unit has yet to schedule a date for the commercial launch of its autonomouse vehicle. Meanwhile, what is taking off are other forms of alternatives to the car. They range from traditional bicycles (try to find one to buy) to electric scooters. 

Yet another is the value system in tech. Levandowski launched entrepreneurial company Pronto. It creates safety systems for trucks without relying on Waymo lidar technology. If that venture generates high market value, then Levandowski can enjoy a roaring comeback. The sins of the past will be in the past. Although the Puritans nurtured their unique form of capitalism when they came to America, the rigid morality of that system is not part of the Silicon Valley ethos. 

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WFH - L'Oreal Requests Access-to-Medical-Information

Employment-law issues keep getting more interesting in COVID-19 times.

The latest, reports BusinessInsider, is if L'Oreal USA is opening itself to legal trouble down the line by currently requesting access to medical information from employees wanting to continue working from home.

Organizations such as L'Oreal are in the process of bringing workers back to the physical office.

Some of those employed by L'Oreal are claiming a disability to be excused from doing that. They are seeking to protect their health and/or accommodating their disability by remaining WFH.

The form the company has sent out requesting access to medical information indicates that will be restricted to data related to their disability and nothing else.

There are lawyers who opine that L'Oreal has a perfect legal right to do that. However, individual situations could arise which raise questions about the process. Given that possibility, L'Oreal might have approached this differently. 

In addition, the process has thrown shade on the consumer company. The public is jittery about jobs. Their own jobs. Jobs in general. Their neighbors' jobs.

This request seems like it could threaten job security, at the worst of times since The Great Depression. After all, it appears that the employer would prefer to have employees in the office, not WFH. Therefore, suspicion pops up that a request to WFH could put the employee in a negative light.

Could the request to WFH, like aging, become a danger zone? Could being in it trigger a stealth layoff, early retirement, or being part of a reduction in force. This is one to watch. 

L'Oreal's human resources, public relations and legal departments might not have thought all this out carefully enough.

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Job Cuts - Don't Position and Package Them as for Performance Reasons, Says Hugh Simons

At law firms, associate performance reviews will be kicking in.

Hugh Simons, who predicted broad-based layoffs, warned against law firms leveraging those appraisals as an opportunity to lay off - but without labeling them as that. That kind of mislabeling is known as "stealth layoffs," reports Law.com.

Simons points out that such a move could preserve the law firm's brand. Layoffs throw shade on a law firm since clients, prospects, and possible new hires could perceive it's experiencing financial distress.

However, that trickery will alienate associates, stresses Simons. The new generation resents that law firms would shift the blame for their own mediocre business performance to that of associates. 

What I, who frequently coaches displaced lawyers, can add is this: Losing a job as a firing can both put a career in reverse and inflict long-term trauma.

Coaching, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on human resources and careers.  

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The special area of expertise is the displaced over-50 professional. Please contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

Olivia de Havilland, Legal Trailblazer, Dies at Age 104

As the world knows: Today, Olivia de Havilland passed gently into the night of natural causes in her residence in Paris, France.

She was 104 years old. Here is a backgrounder on her life and career.

Her sister Joan Fontaine, also a Hollywood big name, died at age 96. Family genes structured for longevity.

The Olivia de Havilland brand is most associated with her dramatic performances. They include the now-controversial "Gone with the Wind." Along the way, she picked up two Academy Awards.

But her legacy in the legal sector is quite different.

She was a trailblazer in using the law to reduce the power of Hollywood studios. Yes, she instituted a kind of power outage.

In 1943, she filed a lawsuit against Warner Brothers. It was confining her to ingenue roles. No fool, she got it that she wouldn't be an ingenue forever. Warner's management of her was keeping her career on a short runway.

In 1944, the court ruled that after seven years - calendar ones - the contract was fulfilled. That freed the actress to seek out roles at other studios.

Of course, Warner Brothers tried to blackball her in the industry. Obviously that didn't have the career-killing results Warner expected. Her career, though, like most in Hollywood, had its ups and downs. The universe wasn't always smiling on her. 

In this time of renamings, a law school should take on the new moniker of "The Olivia de Havilland School of Game-Changing Law."

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Dick Wolf in the BLM Era

Those brilliant fictional characters in law enforcement producer Dick Wolf created don't fit well with the BLM ethos.

Wolf became a brandname and wealthy through catchy police crime shows, ranging from "Law and Order SVU" to "Chicago PD."

The best known part of the formula is, of course, having plots ripped from the headlines. For example, "Law and Order SVU" had two episodes anchored around the Harvey Weinstein saga of expecting career women to pony up sexual favors in order to stay in the game.

But another part is positioning and packaging members of law enforcement as heroes. Given that status, they can operate according to their own rules. For instance, to save the day, Hank Voigt from "Chicago PD" will rough up suspects. As Dawn Chmielewski hammers in FORBES, both of these Wolf stock tactics are being put under the microscope during this era of BLM.

Consequently, Wolf will have to rethink how his writers put together plot lines, put boundaries on characters' behavior, and present the flaws of the law-enforcement system.

The elephant in the room on that one is if Wolf can function in that new box and still produce hot entertainment?

He could find himself too boxed in.

The history of success is filled with players who operated brilliantly in one context. Then things changed. And they fell off a cliff. The well known example had been Henry Ford. His rigid approach in stylistics initially had been part of his strategic model. Then competitor GM went beyond that. It took a while for Ford's business to recover.

Both Wolf's supporters and his critics (currently they are growing in number) will be monitoring all his creations. Those include the newest one which brings back Christopher Meloni.

Can Wolf change and still get, hold, and grow audiences?

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Replay of Profumo 1963 Scandal? - Judge Making Public Documents in Virginia Giuffre Defamation Case in a Week

Call it the Ghost of Jeffrey Epstein Past.

Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan will make public in a week about 80 documents related to the Virginia Giuffre defamation case against Ghislaine Maxwell. The litigation was settled confidentially but the documents have looped back in.There is probably panic in high places. That case is separate from the current criminal one against Maxwell, which will go to trial next year.

As Daily Mail reports, the documents include:

Logs from Epstein's jets. Who was on at the same time as who else was on? How often were they on? 

A 2016 deposition.

Police report from Palm Beach, Florida.

Conversation between Epstein and Maxwell in 2015.

Allegations made in court papers.

And much more.

The material runs hundreds of pages.

As a result of the unsealing, will institutions and individual careers collapse, as had in the Profumo scandal in England in 1963?

That involved sex (Christine Keeler), a Russian spy, and, yes, a secretary of state for war.

By the time it had run its course, the Conservative Government had toppled.

Careers such as that of John Profumo, the secretary of state for war, ended.

And there was even a suicide.

The fallout from the Ghost of Epstein contained in the documents to be released could trigger the same kind of unraveling. Meanwhile, for the media, the documents could be continually revisited - that is, the gift that keeps giving.

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Big Apple - In It Alone, Paul, Weiss Employs 832 Lawyers

Lots of watchers of business in the Big Apple might be declaring it over.

But one sector within Manhattan which continues to thrive, at least in manpower body count is law.

According to Law.com, reports Abovethelaw, at the top of the number list, in terms of lawyers, is Paul, Weiss.

In just Manhattan per se, Paul, Weiss employs 832 lawyers. 

Their presence generates plenty of revenue into the local economy.

And, wow, what about the taxes.

The government powers that be in Manhattan should institute a Paul, Weiss Day.

On the first one, Paul, Weiss Chairman Brad Karp can be saluted for his leadership in collaborative pro-bono initiatives. Across myriad law firms, Karp put together the unique Coronavirus Resource Center. 

To transform tensions with China into collaboration, the next Administration should catapult Karp into that loop.

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