Law And More

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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Stephen Glass Goes to Law School & Other Odd Stuff Associated with Plagiarism

BuzzFeed News is now the object of the buzz.

Its senior reporter on the tech desk Ryan Broderick has been fired. It's alleged he committed forms of plagiarism in 11 articles, reports The Wall Street Journal. Essentially, that consisted of using other media outfits' material without attribution. Those included HuffPost.

This development is news. But it's not necessarily a black eye for BuzzFeed News.

There has to be a degree of trust between editors and reporters. When BuzzFeed became aware of the alleged plagiarism, it investigated. It took action. It made public its findings.

One of the most high profile situations of reporter misconduct has been that of Stephen Glass at The New Republic. That saga even became a film.

Part of the reason for the long shelf life of that kind of fabrication is that Glass went on to attend and complete law school. Of course, given the character requirements of state bar associations, he was not admitted to the bar. Therefore, he can't practice law. 

Because the legal profession is so highly regulated it seems bizarre that Glass would opt to start a new career by going to law school. 

Could it be that usually plagiarism results from what might be thought of as a "loose wire." The classic example had been Jayson Blair's antics at The New York Times. 

Other times it results because of extreme pressures. The reporter or the columnist simply caves to lifting someone else's material to keep up with the workload. Digital has speeded up the game.

Also, in media currently, metrics are recorded and displayed in real time. When I was a columnist for AOL the bulletin board tracked page views, comments, and so on. No question, that ups the pressure game. 

An irony in all this, especially because the U.S. is the global headquarters for capitalism, is that overall media jobs pay peanuts. At least compared to those doing tech or on Wall Street. There's a big tradeoff in money for a byline or influence. 

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Will Katherine Make It as Solo Lawyer? - We Might Find That Out

How will Katherine's solo legal practice - and marriage - play out on "A Million Little Things."

We might just find that out. There could be a 2020 - 2021 network televisions season. 

Yes, television production will be starting up again in California on June 12th. In addition, the film and music industries will also resume operating. 

Vulture reports that the state's governor Gavin Newsom is allowing that. Before that announcement, some assumed there would only be reruns for fall. The fate of the three good girls gone rogue, as the FBI zeroes in again, would have been in limbo. So would Dr. Charles' relationship with his long-estranged daughter. 

However, everything is contingent. If cases of coronavirus surge again, this plan could be derailed. Meanwhile, the Alliance of Motor Picture and Television Producers presented to Newsom a white paper on how to maintain health and safety protocols while in production. 

Of course, all the niches of the entertainment business are encountering a changed world. With shelter-in-place ending will we be doing so much screen time? Who's going to pop for a ticket to actually go to a movie theatre? Times are so hard. Music? How much are we willing to pay for it?

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The Third Rail of Socioeconomic Differences: Growing Up with Roaches

Tears flowed today.

The world attended the George Floyd Memorial. Some did that in-person in Minneapolis. Others through the extensive coverage on sophisticated media such as PBS.

Among the speakers was political activist Al Sharpton. His message cut through socioeconomic differences - not just racial bias. He used the metaphor of cockroaches to describe his mission of tracking down what thrives in darkness. 

Only those of us who grew up in urban areas, most of them poverty-ridden before gentrification, emotionally bonded with that metaphor. As Sharpton pointed out, the entitled Hollywood types could never identify what it was to share one's living space with roaches.

In roach-infested tenements like mine in Jersey City, New Jersey, there was always the fear that one of the would piggyback on our school clothes into the classroom. The bullies would have a field day mocking the unfortunate kid. Vividly, I remember one little girl who had a roach on her First Communion veil. Somehow I can't imagine she ever recovered from that public trauma. 

Food not locked in the refrigerator had to be kept in tightly locked jars. Meals required total alertness, with frequent visual scans, to prevent roaches from joining in. The DIY extermination rituals didn't work for long. 

Floyd was one of us - the roach people. From the get-go, we had to fight to maintain any sense of human dignity. Of course, cockroaches undermined that.

No, that was not the situation only for people of color. My immigrant Italian family, not exactly pale WASPS, experienced disrespect just about everywhere. No surprise the meme of respect dominates the iconic film "The Godfather."

In crying for Floyd we the roach people also cried for what we had endured. Often I wondered if I wouldn't have wound up hating myself if my ancestors remained in Italy.

The ability to love myself came through years of recusing abused animals. We connect with animals via our minds. Theirs chronicled lots of four-legged versions of roach stories. They also sent me constant messages that I was a good person. In addition, a force for good.

George Floyd, like Jesus Christ, died for all of us. May his legacy, as with Christianity, bring love and hope to humanity.

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LA Alliance For Human Rights Lawsuit on Behalf of Homeless Generates Good Results - So Far

Living under and on freeways are about 6,500 homeless in Los Angeles. The LA Alliance for Human Rights filed a lawsuit on their behalf. The results, so far, have been encouraging.

The New York Times reports that federal judge David O. Carter has ruled that because of health hazards the homeless can no longer camp around freeways. Those hazards range from being hit by cars to earthquakes.

So, on May 22nd, the county and city must find alternate shelter for them. Their belongings must not be taken away from them. And they must be given advance notice of the move.

However, that order is not cast in stone. Officials have until Tuesday to provide an alternative solution. 

Here in the midwest homelessness is often being prevented by those who can't afford rent piling into small apartments of those who still can. The feel of a third-world country is palpable. This is bound to worsen as COVID-19 keeps eliminating jobs.

A provocative book to read on homelessness is "Stuart: a Life Backwards" by Alexander Masters. For some, the street gives a sense of belonging and even safety. That complex point of view caught fire and the book became a film.

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Buchanan Ingersoll - What's Going On & What's Rumored To Be Going On

What we know is this: The Austerity Train has stopped a second time at law firm Buchanan Ingersoll. 

The first time was for salary cuts and furloughs.

Now, reports Joe Patrice at Abovethelaw.com, there have been two move cost-cutting moves, at least that have been announced.

One is to defer the start day (Welcome back to the DefLand of 2008 -2009) of the incoming group of associates to 2021. Here's hoping for their sakes that, in the end, the offers aren't rescinded as happened to some new graduates at some law firms back in the bad old days.

Secondly, the summer associate program has been shortened to four weeks. If necessary it will be conducted remotely. All participants, though, will receive offers for full-time jobs.

What hasn't been announced but what tipsters told Patrice is that, following the compensation haircuts, there have been actual layoffs. The firm denies that.

What we learned in 2008 - 2009 was that law firms found it a brand-saving Machiavellian initiative to conduct what were called "stealth layoffs." Calling a termination a "layoff" sends the signal that the law firm is in some kind of financial distress. More recently layoffs have been positioned and packaged as what are being done as "prudent" or "proactive" steps to weather uncertainties.  

However, that kind of old-fashioned spin doesn't rule out that stealth layoffs will take place. The question is: Are they going down at Buchanan?

The cruel part of the stealth layoffs is that the news of the termination is delivered to the lawyer or the staff member as for cause. Their job performance is cited. Those without a lot of professional self-confidence and a thick skin could accept that appraisal and run with it. That emotional wound may never heal. 

Here's hoping tipsters at Buchanan will continue to keep Abovethelaw informed.

Also, some out of the box thought leader could do a documentary on "Manpower & Machiavellianism at Law Firms." Post it on YouTube, encouraging college juniors, who are planning their careers, to take it all in. The film could end with the reflection: Billionaires ranging from Bill Gates to all the way back to Steve Jobs didn't train to be lawyers. 

Meanwhile, the JD Class of 2020 could wind up to be the latest Lost Generation. 

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Election 2020 - Will National Humor about Clorox Chewables Become Tipping Point?

"Nervous Republicans See President Sinking, and Taking Senate with Him …" 

That's the headline Matt Drudge features on his influential Drudge Report. Here's the article. 

One might call the coverage Post-Clorox Chewables. 

Highlighted are these realities:

The president's behavior has been increasingly erratic.

26 million have filed for unemployment. 

Many are not satisfied how coronavirus is being managed.

Donald Trump is behind in key states Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Florida. 

The implications are obvious. Fearing for their own re-electability and power, members of the GOP can distance themselves from Trump. It's not unthinkable that they can actually turn on him. As in the film "John Wick 3," Republicans can declare all the Trumpettes "excommunicado."

Reflection: The derision represented by Clorox Chewables might be the tipping point in Election 2020.

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Disney & Law Firms Have to Stop Mickey-Mousing Around

" ... Disney's much-imitated model was almost perfect exposure to the pandemic ..." Ben Smith, The New York Times, April 12, 2020.

That could also prove to apply to much of the practice of law.

Both the brands of Disney and of myriad law firms are vulnerable in this era when just about everything has become upside-down.

Mickey Mouse can transform from cute to reprehensible. 

Law firms can become symbols of old-line capitalism when what's struggling to be born is The Triple Bottom Line. 

The shift at Disney was from dependence on types of video technology to in-person. Then came COVID-19 and the rest is the financial unraveling which has impacted Disney and triggered the necessity to re-think its MO. Currently, it is losing $30 million a day.

To do that, the Marshal has come back to town. That is former chief executive officer Bob Iger who had retired from that position just a few days before COVID-19 emerged in Asia. There is a question if he engineered that exit to protect his legacy. 

But that question is almost irrelevant. The real money is focused on how he can bring Disney into a new era in which there could be ongoing shelters-in-place. Meanwhile, Disney is constructing cruise ships. They, of course, have become symbols of platforms for rapid contagion.  

The NYT predicts that Iger will reduce manpower significantly. Right now, that's a political taboo. So, he can anticipate push-back from a broad range of constituencies. 

In addition, he will have to come up with a way to ensure that Disney "guests" can gather in-person safely.

That model of business, globally, is under attack. AMC Entertainment, for example, has contacted law firm Weil Gotshal & Manges. Sources indicate AMC could be considering filing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Will people ever return to the habit of going out to the movies? Things don't look promising for AMC.

Likewise, will parents put their children at even low risk going in person to Disney theme parks and taking the family on a Disney cruise?

Iger has a formidable challenge ahead. He's not alone. Leaders in just about every business, including the practice of law, have to review their models. COVID-19 could be a constant in human life. The situation is urgent. The economic fallout from COVID-19 could escalate to catastrophic levels. Here are McKinsey's nine scenarios of what could play out. 

If Iger doesn't do this right, Mickey Mouse could become the signature of the second decade of the 21st century horror. Brands are hard to build. But they could collapse overnight. 

Meanwhile, Iger will have to position and package long-term reductions of manpower as a must-do.

As is obvious, law firms are doing backflips to prevent layoffs.

Two things are going on. One, reductions in force have become politically taboo. And, two, as recruiter David Lat explained on LegalSpeak, law firms learned from 2008 -2009 that eventually they would have to be adding back that manpower. The process was expensive. So, maybe it's smart business to not swing the ax.

However, that still could be necessary if the economy goes into freefall, the worse of McKinsey's scenarios - that is, the Black Swan of all Black Swans. 

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AMC Lenders Hire Gibson Dunn & Crutcher for Restructuring

Both short term and longer term business prospects don't look good for AMC Entertainment Holdings. 

Short term its 1,000 movie houses around the world have been shut down because of the coronavirus. 630 of them are based in the U.S.

As The Wall Street Journal reports that was supposed to be for 12 weeks. Now, most experts on the pandemic anticipate that the kinds of measures which made the shut downs necessary will probably hang on for longer than that. 

But even before this crisis, AMC was in trouble. Going out to the movies was becoming an anachronism. More folks were doing their movie viewing at home through platforms such as Netflix.

Now, because of the movie theatre shut downs more in the movie industry loop are distributing their films directly to the home. The odds are: Current viewing trends will become an embedded habit. That could doom AMC.

Meanwhile, lenders to AMC have contracted law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher for restructuring.

The WSJ notes that AMC's $4.9 billion debt load is trading at distressed levels. Its junior bonds have recently traded at 40-cents on a dollar. Its stock price plunged after the initial shut down had been announced. 

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Feuds, Ranging from Farrow/Allen to Dershowitz/Boies: Refuge from Exhaustion of COVID-19

Cain and Able

Families of Romeo and Juliet

Jack O'Dwyer and the PRSA

Harry/Meghan and The Firm

And, the Farrow Clan and Woody Allen.

Feuds are a mainstay of civilization. In difficult times they are solid platforms for gossip. Nice distraction.

In this era of COVID-19, we need lots more of that. Less Netflix. Less following the news and emails from marketers about the pandemic. Less  losing trust in leadership (with the exception of Andrew Cuomo and where is Joe Biden). 

Along the way, feuds can provide lucrative work for those in public relations and law. Those sectors, just like most of professional services during the pandemic, need the business. The Ford mechanic in my residential complex is among the very few currently making a good living. (I have been saved by those taking out sponsored content on my three syndicated blogs.)

What is most titillating about feuds is this: Entities such as the New York Post take sides, with great passion. That's lots of fun. I had enjoyed supporting O'Dwyer against the PRSA. Most of us who drift into the loop have fairly boring lives. 

Usually both those sides claim they have the upper hand. 

But in the latest round between the Farrows and Allen, the latter might be winning. Not only did he get his memoir "Apropos of Nothing" published. Most know the story of how Hachette backed out and Arcade rode to the rescue. 

In addition, the book is doing well. On Amazon, it ranks a wonderful high: #529. Of the 66 reviews, 76% give it a 5. Only 4% give it a 1.

Most importantly, it allows Allen to raise questions about Saint Mia, supposedly Mother Earth and Global Do-Gooder.

That mirrors how Christopher Hitchens was able to raise questions about Mother Teresa. Many recall his iconoclastic book "The Missionary Position."

No, that didn't destroy Mother Teresa. But it performed enough brand deflation that when she died, around the same time as Princess Diana, the world didn't kick into universal mourning. Interestingly, when Hitchens himself died there was universal mourning.

In the U.S., Allen might be, to borrow that term from "John Wick 3," excommunicado.

 But his work is doing well enough in Europe.

He did extricate himself from Mia. Anyone from what might be a dysfunctional family system understands how difficult that is. I  broke away twice, only to go back, with great regrets. The bonds can be the jaws of spiritual death.

His marriage seems stable.

He can continue to do what he loves: Make films.

And, he made it to age 85. No self-destruction through the usual suspects.

The peril to the new front line of the Farrow faction - investigative reporter Ronan Farrow - is that the dynamics can become all-too-consuming.

The attention shifts from work per se to maintaining the feud.

The branding becomes cartoonish as it tends to do in so many human conflicts. Think about one-time superlawyers Alan Dershowitz and David Boies. They duke it out like out-of-shape former prize fighters. 

Sad, also.

Talented Ronan can wind up that way. 

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