Law And More

"Medellin" Flop Raises Question for All Aging Professionals: When Is It Time to Leave?

" … [Madonna'] 'Medellin' failed to catch on. It rose to number 9 on iTunes briefly, and now sits at number 32 … Beyoncé's 'Homecoming' album, released the same day, has sold or streamed a total of 43,000 copies in 48 hours." - ShowBiz411, April 19, 2019. Here is the article. 

Here is the audio - chachacha - from "Medellin," which is the lead-in to Madonna's new album "Madame X." Out in mid June, "Madame X" is supposed to be the 60-year-old's comeback platform. 

Nothing about "Medellin" is fresh.

That's why Madonna is being positioned and packaged as "washed up."

It isn't her age per se.

Betty White, a relic from the Mary Tyler Moore era, is in her 90s. She did fresh. That was through creating the persona as the designated role model for aging. That process, she hammered in her book, wasn't for sissies. The world loved it. Still love it. She remains marketable.

The issue Madonna raises is the scary question for all aging who are still working: Is it time to leave?

But what they are leaving might well be a very narrow career path. No, it isn't necessary to hang it all up, disappear into a retirement community in Oro Valley, Arizona, and compulsively do yoga. 

ShowBiz411 points out that the last several albums Madonna has put out have been "flops." 

Instead of continuing to do what isn't panning out, she could be testing out other ways to distinguish herself through work.

Maybe she can launch a training institution for the performing arts in Lordstown, Ohio. GM recently shuttered the plant there, putting about 1,600 out of a good job and hope. She can open the door to the light for all the Youngstown, OH metro area. The region still is caught in the shadow of Steel Yesterday.

Shoot-'em-up actor Clint Eastwood transitioned to serious drama at age 62. That was his film "The Unforgiven." Most recently, near 90, he gave us the amazing complex character of Earl Stone in "The Mule." Here is a video clip.

In the legal sector, Chris Darden of O.J. Simpson criminal trial fame shifted from prosecutor to defense attorney. At age 63, he is representing Nipsey Hussle's alleged murderer Eric Holder. 

If Don McGahn of Trump Administration fame is to regain his power and influence, he has to figure out how to develop a new sphere of influence. At age 51, his long-term branding is being blown to bits. Here is just a peek into that mess.

And there is that much younger version of transition: Elie Mystal. The Harvard Law School trained lawyer has gone rogue as journalist activist. He set that in play during his "audition" for a reporting job on Abovethelaw.com.

How do the aging and those no longer perceived as "young" come up with the courage to change?

I don't know about others.

What I do know is that for me the pain of becoming invisible was greater than the anxiety involved in trying out new lines of work. That experimentation in my professional life began when I was 58. Then, that same courage took over the decisions I made in my personal life. Here is one of those stories of brutal moments of clarity and then transition.

A useful read for those caught between career paths is "Necessary Endings" by executive coach Henry Cloud. Here you can order it from Amazon.

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"MeToo" Lawsuits - Of Course, Plaintiffs Were Burning Bridges (how naive not to anticipate that risk)

For every Gretchen Carlson who settled for $20 million and gained unique access to new opportunities, there have many women who lost everything in filing MeToo kinds of lawsuits. 

Yes, litigation meant burning bridges.

The plaintiffs probably felt rage.

They were convinced they were doing the right thing.

They gained satisfaction that they might be helping the next generation of professional women.

But as seasoned players in corporate life they should have anticipated that there would be retaliation.

That's just the way the world works.

In an article in Vanity Fair, Diana Falzone documents the backlash.

Talent agents won't represent the former plaintiffs.

Those in the hiring loop ignore them.

For a large number of them, the settlements weren't big money either, not the Carlson kind.

Therefore, what we now know is that the world hasn't changed much.

The cost of outing alleged injustice remains high. Those in power want their good life to continue. That rules out any possible future trouble from those who are perceived as whistleblowers. 

When baby boomer women first were getting good jobs, those of us fortunate enough to have caring mentors got clued in fast. When I confided to my mentor a perceived wrong by a male colleague his response was: Don't be a cry baby. The message was to suck it up. 

Those who, for example, were victims of handsy behavior patiently applied for other positions in the corporation. It was unthinkable to "report" such behavior. In fact, that behavior was common knowledge.

Perhaps I understood about the code of silence more quickly than many others because I had grown up amidst the machinations of the Frank Hague Machine in Hudson County, New Jersey.

In order to get jobs, have the snow plowed from your street, and be invisible to the police you had to, as the saying went, "not fight city hall."

It was very wrong.

But the system produced busses that ran on time, excellent public schools, low cost medical care at the Medical Center, a new maternity hospital (the famous Margaret Hague), and employment for anyone who wanted to work.

Those who couldn't endure such institutionalized tyranny left. I made it my business from the get-go to get a college scholarship out of state and never return.

Ironically, I ran into a more personal version of tyranny at college. To today I wonder: Would my life have been less filled with suffering had I stayed in Jersey City? There, at least, the rules were absolutely clear and I had no expectation of anything else.

Here's what every woman should know: Whether it had been the political machine in Hudson County, a Catholic women's college in Pennsylvania, or the glam careers in entertainment, the dark part of human nature tends to dominate.

Maybe the best we can do is keep struggling to find where we can live our little lives without losing a sense of dignity and some control.

I bumped into that when I became an independent contractor. I have had real choices about how to earn my living. 

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Litigation is Slow Process - That Could Mean The End for Woody Allen

Woody Allen, 83 years old, has had a long run.

From his early slapstick films like "What's New Pussycat?" to the sophisticated "Blue Jasmine," he managed to persuade generation after generation to pony up their money at the box office. 

He bounced back from the courtroom antics of woman-scorned Mia Farrow's allegations of child molestation.

But #MeToo might be proving to be The End. 

His fans and his enemies know that Amazon has terminated its agreement to distribute his latest film "A Rainy Day in New York." Yeah, #MeToo. Mia, Dylan, and Ronan were at it again. In response, Allen has sued Amazon. But, litigation is a slow process. 

Deadline also reports that #MeToo has scared off actors and actresses from working in any Allen production. And he can't get funding for film-making in the U.S. Currently he is trying his luck in Spain.

In an ethics class in graduate school in the early 1970s, there had been a debate if talent had to have good character.

Back then we highly educated smirked about that. Talent could make its own rules. After all, a fav of our generation - novelist Ernest Hemingway - allegedly treated his wives badly. 

Currently, the U.S. requires certification of good character. Otherwise the product or service is boycotted. 

Reflection: Does Allen regret dumping Mia? Perhaps he should have stuck it out. He might have been unhappy but still been able to continue working.

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. 

Julian Assange - Irrelevant That We Don't Like Him

It's the classic on how the world (including inside the beltway) really works: "The Power Game" by Hedrick Smith. 

In it, Smith explains that one source of power is likability. 

Well, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is perceived to lack that. Much of the media coverage and films made portray him as a self-seeking Machiavellian player. So? 

That really is irrelevant - or should be.

Many positive game-changers in the history of civilization were not likable.

America's freedom fighter John Adams comes across as pompous. Also, it seems he was jealous of the gregarious Ben Franklin who had a way with the ladies, both here and in Paris.

Steve Jobs was not a nice guy. 

Can the U.S. legal system separate out Assange the person from his motivations and behavior?

He is charged with conspiracy to commit computer crime. More specifically, he teamed up with Chelsea Manning to steal and publish classified U.S. government documents.

Here is a copy of the grand jury indictment against him, issued March 2018 but kept under wraps until his arrest today.

The question, as with Ed Snowden (who is more likable), is: Were the "crimes" committed with the greater good in mind? 

Assange legal defense team should hammer in the courts of law and public opinion that, no, we don't like the guy. But his actions might have been acts necessary to protect democracy.

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. 

 

Jake Wascher - Thoughts of Raskolnikov from "Crime and Punishment"

This week a drama student at the University of Hartford - Jake Wascher - allegedly stabbed two of his classmates. 

That was reported to have occurred during filming a movie in the dorm. One is in critical condition. The other has been released from the hospital.

Wascher has been saddled with two counts of attempted murder and two of first degree assault. Here are more details from the local newspaper The Hartford Courant. 

In this era of extreme violence, the alleged knife attacks are, well, not unusual.

What makes them fascinating is the explanation Wascher originally gave for his behavior. He indicated that he was operating according to an idea. He wondered what it would feel like to actually stab human beings.

That brings to mind the classic "Crime and Punishment."

Authored by Fyodor Dostoevsky, the novel captures the strange mental processes of former student Raskolnikov.

He too had an idea. It was a theory about a higher kind of morality, that is, the right to off lesser human beings for a greater good. He acts on it. Then the mental processes that are portrayed are the dynamics of Raskolnikov's guilt. 

Could Wascher represent a version of Raskolvikov, a creature who lives primarily in his head and then acts out those thoughts? 

Time will tell. His next court appearance is April 15th. He is represented by lawyer Richard Brown. 

Meanwhile, essentially his life is over. Even if his attorney is effective with an insanity defense, it will be a long time before Wascher will be able to resume a normal way of living.

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. 

Mergers = Big Business for Law Firms, But Most Fail: Will Disney + 21st Century Fox Become "Iger's Folly"

Mergers create redundancies. That's why employees fear them. The new entity doesn't need two legal departments or two investor relations units.

However, mergers provide high-margin transactional assignments for law firms. And more businesses are engaging in them to scale - or simply survive in a hyper competitive marketplace.

According to Deadline Hollywood, the deal that brings together Disney and 21st Century Fox, though, could result in 4,000 layoffs. 

As yet, the brass at both companies have not meet with employees to explain where and when the manpower cuts will occur. So, although the deal's architect Bob Iger is doing all kinds of positive spin, employees are likely to be mighty anxious.

Actually, Iger himself should be quaking inside.

Depending on who's doing the counting, 50% to 85% of mergers fail. Not often is new value created and along the way the old value can be destroyed. Recall when Compaq merged with HP. Disaster. Things didn't turn out too hot either for the Time Warner and AOL merger. 

It is rare that the planned synergy (1+1 = 3) pans out. Usually it's simply too hard to fuse distinct cultures, political power systems, and even technologies. Meanwhile, the employees in both companies are on the brink of hysteria. This is usually captured in their anonymous comments on Glassdoor.

Given the high cost of the Disney and 21st Century Fox merger, this one will be closely watched by constituencies ranging from management consulting firms to the media. If it doesn't get off the ground it could become known as "Iger's Folly."

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The Millennial Madoff - Additional Fun Details about Elizabeth Holmes

Just like Bernie Madoff, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has become a figure of extreme fascination. Incidentally, the New York Post canonized her the Millennial Madoff.

Vanity Fair's Nick Bilton supplies us with some fun details about Holmes which we might not have known. Here is the long feature. 

The best of what's dished includes:

She blames David Boies. Some had been surprised that superlawyer Boies of Boies Schiller was even associated with Theranos, at least after The Wall Street Journal began questioning its technology. But there he was, both on the board and representing Holmes. Apparently they parted company about strategy on how a regulatory issue should be handled. Now that Theranos has collapsed and she has been charged with 11 criminal felony counts, Holmes sees herself as victim. Boies is among the villains in the fable Holmes has constructed.

Justice, while slow, could be severe. The Department of Justice is sorting through 16 million to 17 million pages of documents. That means there could be additional counts. But even with the current charges, Holmes faces up 10 20 years in prison. However, there she could enjoy being treated as a celebrity guest, just like Madoff.

Made a puppy symbol of Theranos' comeback.  One day, as Theranos was crumbling, Holmes hopped a plane and brought home a puppy. She named him Blato, after the canine who helped bring life-saving drugs during a diphtheria epidemic. But Blato wasn't trained and would relieve himself all over Theranos. That included the boardroom. A clever wordsmith could have lots of fun playing with all that.

She is engaged to be married. No, it isn't with her former COO, who could also be going to prison. Becoming engaged, despite a possible long prison sentence, is a symbol of her extreme optimism.

Yes, there are films coming out. And Holmes is trying to put together a documentary to tell her side of the story. But none of that will provide as much entertainment as a trial. The odds are Holmes will not take a plea. Every moment of the courtroom theatrics will be live-tweeted and live-blogged. This could make "Pao v. Kleiner Perkins" seem like a non-event in legal drama.

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Legal Marketers - Yes, You Can Get Fired Hiring X or Y Public Relations Agency

The media can't catch up to how technology, consumer preferences, and politics keep changing its business. 

Consequently, to survive, in 2018, it cut 15,474 jobs (source: Challenger, Gray & Christmas). Those reductions in force (RIFs) hit mediums ranging from television to print to movies. Here are more details from the New York Post.

The major problem is figuring out a business model which will sustain and scale revenues.

Advertising is not the answer since Facebook and Google "own" 58% of that market.

In addition, more consumers are deciding on what to buy based on messaging from influencers in social media. For example, the college kid discussing fashion on Instagram constitutes a type of Direct-to-Consumer messaging. It can have more reach than an ad in Conde Nast's Vogue.

Also, as New York University marketing professor Scott Galloway hammers, more and more purchasing is done without the middleman via search engines and devices like Alexa. Brands? The concept is being reconfigured. Read his thinking in his book "The Four."

Paywalls are iffy. Here is my recent article on that wild card which I published in Odwyerpr.com. Right now, thanks to the volatility in politics, media outlets such as The New York Times are experiencing surges in digital subscriptions. But, if local, national, and international politics settles down or becomes of less interest there could be fewer willing to pony up the "toll" to get by the paywall. Yes, it's possible that politics can return to be background noise.

Another challenge has been the Trump Administration's criticism of the objectivity and accuracy of media. That has undermined dependence on media for everything from news to insight about world affairs.

It could be that what we traditionally know as "media" will evolve into an entity that is very new. And, of course, disruptive.

Meanwhile, not only are jobs being lost.

So is power. How much reach do once-influential voices such as Gabriel Sherman's and Graydon Carter's have in February 2019? 

In addition, the growing popularity of podcasting is sucking advertising from traditional media to the hosting businesses. Podcasting is growing at a rate of about 30% annually. The public can also tune in podcasts rather than turning to traditional sources of media to retrieve news and commentary.

The implications for public relations are eye-popping.

Obviously, there are no longer trusted formulas for getting, keeping, modifying, and scaling the right kinds of attention for clients.

In itself, that can force out old-time players in the industry.

A new college graduate, savvy in technology and grassroots influence, can hang out a shingle, compete on price, and take on public relations agencies which are below the top elite tier. More help-wanted ads specify only individuals, not formal communications agencies, should respond. 

It could remain the business reality that legal marketers don't get fired hiring Edelman but they can get fired paying "too much" to a midsized firm whose kinds of work can be done by an upstart shop. 

Legal marketing has to become open to emerging models for messaging. And, fast. 

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Woody Allen v. Amazon - Long Reach of #MeToo, Ronan Farrow

Is Woody Allen finished?

He is if no entity will distribute his films.

And, things could be shaping up that way.

Amazon has backed out of its legal agreement with Allen to distribute the movie "A Rainy Day in New York" and another four movies. Here is a copy of that agreement.

In response, Allen has filed a $68 million lawsuit against Amazon. Here is the coverage in The Wall Street Journal.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York, contends breach of contract without cause. Here is a copy of the complaint.

Sure, there's the #MeToo movement.

And, sure, the now powerful investigative journalist Ronan Farrow, Allen's biological son, continually has been alluding in the media to the alleged molestation of adopted sister Dylan.

In addition, Dylan also had been a busy bee. Her communication with the most reach had been her letter to The New York Times about the alleged sexual misconduct when she was a child.

Of course, all that had to be a factor in the cancellation.

But Allen's argument - a solid one - is that the Amazon powers that be were aware of those allegations when they entered into the contract.

Allen could win the litigation or receive a hefty settlement. But going the lawsuit route to restore his reputation and get going again distribution of his films is a slow one. By its nature, litigation filed in the U.S. legal system can take years - even to settle. Defendants are advised by the their lawyers to leverage delay as at least one legal strategy.

In addition, what has to be factored in is that it's the mission of those in the defense loop to discredit the plaintiff and the case in the courts of public opinion. Allen could again go through the reputational wringer. Old-time actor Fatty Arbuckle won in court but his career never recovered.

By the time the lawsuit is won or settled, Allen's career could have proceeded beyond the point of repair. A dark spell seems to have been cast on him.

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Harvey Weinstein Lines Up Legal Team with Track Record for High-Profile Acquittals

Harvey Weinstein might just luck out.

Like Aaron Hernandez and Casey Anthony, he could wind up being acquitted, at least in the court of law.

He has replaced his lawyer Ben Brafman with three lawyers with a track record of high-profile acquittals.

Working together, Ron Sullivan and Pam Mackey got an acquittal for Aaron Hernandez. And Jose Baez got Casey Anthony off the hook. Here are more details from the New York Post.

That's the court of law.

In the court of public opinion, Weinstein could remain damaged goods. A comeback could be impossible. 

It's a wild card who can put together new branding and a new career path after scandal.

Watergate lawyer Chuck Colson pulled that off. He became a spiritual guru. His obituaries praised him for good works. 

One time Hollywood star Fatty Arbuckle remained a pariah, never again able to get the kind of work assignments he had before his trials. He had been acquitted. 

A second act doesn't seem promising for Charlie Rose, Matt Lauer, and Les Moonves.

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