Law And More

Kim Kardashian - Future JD, Legal Activist

She stuck with it. 

Back when the legal media announced, usually with a smirk, that reality star Kim Kardashian was committed to becoming a lawyer, there was that universal eye-roll. 

Most experienced Kim's career plan as simply another promotional stunt.

But, Kim has stuck with it. As the Daily Mail reports, she had completed the first year of her four-year apprenticeship in California studying law. Every week she invests 20 hours in that. She anticipates taking the bar exam in 2022. 

In addition, she also has stuck with her legal activism. Her successful campaign to get Alice Marie Johnson out of prison was not a standalone event.

Her mission is to end the mass incarceration in the U.S.

Here is The New York Radio Hour on Mass Incarceration.

On April 5th, on Oxygen, the two-hour The Justice Project documentary will air. In it she features four cases of alleged misjustice. 

Her celebrity could be the game-changer in reforming the U.S. criminal justice system.

Even those who are politically moderate might have come to view the mass incarceration as a job-making system for the middle class. The corrections industry tends to pay well and, even in this volatile economy, provide employment security. 

It's odd that Dick Wolf, in programming such as "Chicago P.D.," doesn't push back against drug laws which result in arrest and incarceration.

If the sale of drugs like heroin and cocaine were made legal, regulated, and taxed, Hank Voigt and his team might be able to focus on other kinds of criminality. It could be the big leap forward if Kim pitches that story line to Wolf. 

Those taxes can fund solutions for homelessness. 

Place your sponsored content on this blog. Coaching on SEO and Ghostwriting for that content also available. Sliding scale fees. Please take advantage of a complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

As Expected, Harvey Weinstein Structures Settlement, to be Court-Approved, with More than 30 Accusers

It's the wonderful way settlements can work.

Harvey Weinstein's  settlement, reports Complex, will provide $25 million to the more than 30 who accuse him of sexual misconduct. They range from actresses to former employees of his studio. He admits no guilt. The agreement has to be approved by the court.

None of that will be paid by him but they get him and the former board off the liability hook.

Instead the money comes from insurance companies for his former studio. The actual amounts they are pitching in totals $47 million. That will also cover some of Harvey's legal expenses and be paid to his brother Bob and other former members of the former studio's board. As a result the latter will have no liability in the matter.

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

"David Zindel v. Fox Searchlight Pictures" - Alex Kozinski and the Crisis Management Game

Film enthusiasts probably recall the poignant tale of the female janitor who rescues an Amazonian god from a military research institution. That movie had been "The Shape of Water." 

Well, like so much in the entertainment industry, that wound up as a lawsuit. It was the copyright one "David Zindel v. Fox Searchlight." But U.S. District judge Percy Anderson tossed the case.

Now, former chief of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit Alex Kozinski is trying to resurrect that lawsuit. As Law.com reports, he appeared before that same court as the lawyer for the plaintiff. He contends that the lawsuit had been dismissed without a review of evidence or any oral arguments. 

According to the fundamentals of crisis management, Kozinski has managed his situation well. About two years ago, he had been accused of sexual misconduct. Instead of defending himself, he retired from his big job. Then he laid low. He didn't start reputation restoration prematurely.

Incidentally, CollegeAdmissionsGate miscreant Felicity Huffman might have sought rebranding too quickly. Soon after her early release from jail she indicated a mission to help female inmates. That might not help here to relaunch her acting career. Instead, it would have been wise, as had Kozinski, to become invisible. Then, find a platform to return to public scrutiny from a position of strength. No one denies Kozinski's fine legal mind. 

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

Cryptocurrency - Winklevoss Twins' Gemini Trust Acquires Nifty Gateway

In the world of crypto, that is digital currency, Cameron and Tyler Winkleloss are among the movers and shakers.

Their journey from being ridiculed in the film "Social Network" to becoming early adopters of bitcoin is chronicled in the book "Bitcoin Billionaires" by Ben Mezrich.

Currently, their every decision is watched and analyzed for both business and technological implications. The interest isn't only in the category of cryptocurrency. It extends to the entire growing fintech sector. 

So, the business media, including BusinessInsider, took note when the twins made an acquisition. Their fund Gemini Trust purchased Nifty Gateway. A side story on that, which members of the press seem to enjoy, is that is the acquisition also had been owned by twins - Duncan and Griffin Cock Foster. 

The Nifty platform accepts payments through credit and debit cards instead of a complex crypto transaction - that is a crypto wallet. However, that is tracked on a blockchain ledger. 

What is purchased is the Nifty or NFT. On the Nifty Gateway website, there is the explanatory statement:

"Nifty NFT is a digital good which is stored in a global blockchain instead of a local or centralized database - usually an in-game video game object."

The significance of nifties is this: They are different from other forms of crypto in that they are one of a kind. Therefore, they aren't interchangeable on the blockchain.

It is reported by Upcrypto.org that one motivation for this purchase is that the Winklevoss twins predict that all collectibles, both digital and real-world, will migrate to the blockchain in the form of nifties. 

For the current time, Gemni Trust and Nifty Gateway will operate separately.

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

The Recovery Industry - Lisa Smith Is Doing Well

Like any needed service, recovery has become an industry.

As such, it provides increasing professional opportunity for those who can put together the right positioning and packaging. 

Among those is Lisa Smith, feathered recently in a Law.com podcast. Earlier, Abovethelaw covered her downward trajectory and climb back up. In the successful book "Girl Walks Out of Bar," Smith tells her story. So had Susan Cheever and Pete Hamill.

Smith's struggle with booze took place when she was an employee in BigLaw, both practicing law and in a job developing new business. Currently she is a self-employed consultant. 

Smith, Cheever, and Hamill are hardly alone in getting being taken over by alcohol. According the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, about 14.1 million of those 18 years of age or older find themselves in that pickle. 

The question is: Does telling your story, as they have, help others who haven't yet had that "moment of clarity" that booze is interfering in one or more parts of their lives? 

Yes, 12-step recovery program Alcoholics Anonymous has institutionalized speaker meetings. At them the recovered share how it was, what they did about that, and how it is now. Yet, at best, AA's success rate is between 8% and 12%. So, no, all those stories aren't creating and sustaining a life without booze.

In my own little life, I have the hunch that sharing my own story, both in formal recovery settings and with those who are slipping into alcohol addiction, hasn't helped anyone.

It probably hasn't helped me either, not in any way. What I realized is this: That story isn't significant to me. I drank and ran into problems. I stopped drinking and ran into new kinds of problems. Both I and, it seems, science are clueless why some recover and maintain sobriety and many more don't. 

Of course, given the devastation alcoholism inflicts on the workplace, the family, and the individual, there is a desperate outreach for what might short circuit the syndrome. That triggers mythologies about what is helpful. Yet, when those illusions are foisted on those in the midst of alcoholism and the recommendations don't succeed, there could be the frustration that accelerates the progress of the disease. 

When it comes to trying to be helpful to another human being who is suffering with alcoholism, it might be wise to take on the mindset and behavior of The Good Parent: Be there, be gentle, be short on advice. Usually retelling all the stories about alcoholism in the family or in one's own life isn't useful. 

Takeaway: This long holiday season give the gift of not sharing your own recovery story or the story of those who managed to climb out of the bottle. Just show you care in an overall way. Download the film "Tender Mercies."

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Ronan Farrow's "Catch And Kill" - Familiar Saga of Power's Abuse, Its Details of Interest to Many Lawyers

On Amazon, Ronan Farrow's "Catch And Kill" ranks #105. The author is an awesome investigative reporter and an equally talented writer. 

But the story he tells is a familiar one: the abuse of power.

That saga stretches all the way to "Genesis" in the "Old Testament."

The higher power (and landlord) over-punishes the tenants Eve and Adam.

Had there been landlord-tenant court back then Eve and Adam might have retained their right to stay in Paradise. That kind of injustice in the bible had been described by famous criminal lawyer Alan Dershowitz.

And, lawyers reading the detailed accounts Farrow presents of proven and alleged injustices inflicted on women by entertainment industry power players will have much to analyze. Those of them not directly in the loop of criminal prosecution, criminal defense or civil plaintiff/civil defense likely envy those who are.

Also, there really do still exist men and women who haven't gotten enough insider information on how the business of entertainment really works. They will also find "Catch And Kill" a riveting read. Afterwards, they may warn their loved ones to steer clear of that industry.

However, for others the 414 pages may become tedious.

The story line seems to be as predicable as the 2019 episodes of "Law & Order SVU." There are powerful men and those who protect them (some allegedly even in law enforcement). There are ambitious women who seem to be naive (didn't their mothers/mentors warn them?). There is then a time of exposure including internal investigations by brandname law firms, actual legal action, negative media destroying careers, and backlash. Regarding the latter, women who did speak up or filed lawsuits told Vanity Fair how they have been blackballed in the entertainment business. Here is that article.

Come on, #MeToo is a movement which has peaked. Much of what is in "Catch And Kill" is already known or has been suspected.

The more interesting issue is: Can power be tamed into humane behavior? That is, in supposed civilization is there progress in values?

At the meetings of the Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie, president Douglas Berger leads discussions of that.

In the group there are optimists who argue that some aspects of society have evolved into enlightened norms.

There are also cynics like myself who envision the dark creatures portrayed in "Catch and Kill" simply mutating into other forms. Their predatory activity will shift from alleged sexual misconduct to whatever they assume they can get away with. 

Realists mouth the old adage: In restaurants in Manhattan, if rats stay in the basement, all is well. Chaos happens when a few make it up the stairs and plop in diners' laps. Perhaps the best we can hope for from #MeToo is that the rats have gotten it, for now, to stay in the basement.

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Lawyers/Law Students - Fun Way to Understand Bitcoin, et al.

Quinn Emanuel has joined other leading-edge law firms such as Perkins Coie in accepting cryptocurrency from clients as payment. Actually, Perkins Coie has a practice in blockchain technology and digital currency.

But there still remain many other law firms and even tech-savvy law students who don't understand the fundamentals of crypto and its implications for all institutions, including government.

A fun way to fill that knowledge gap is the May 2019 book "Bitcoin Billionaires: A True Story of Genius, Betrayal, and Redemption." The author Ben Mezrich has previously published "Accidental Billionaires" which had been turned into the film "Social Network." Based on 102 customer reviews, his new book has an almost 5 rating. Its rank on Amazon is 13,683. Here it can be ordered.

Using the story-telling technique Mezrich explains in simple terms the benefits of a virtual currency such as bitcoin. He illustrates that with what can happen with traditional forms of currency, overseen by government, when there is a crisis. In Cyprus, the people lost most of their savings in banks when the government used it to pay off the nation's debt. 

In contrast, for bitcoin there is no government oversight. Actually, no middleman at all. "Miners" create the tokens, for a fee, and they are stored not in banks but digitally. The peril is security. Tokens can be "stolen" if there is access possible through the internet. That's the importance of what's known as a cold wallet, that is, not being linked to the internet.

Transactions can be anonymous. That is a key advantage with all the fears about privacy. 

In addition, the underlying technology - blockchain - can be applied to myriad other uses. One is quickly tracking down the source of a food containment. 

Mezrich wraps the story around how Tyler and Cameron Winkelvoss got into bitcoin. Surprisingly they were not geniuses who recognized the potential of crypto. Instead it was desperation. They were shut out of investing in startups because of their backstory with Facebook. Entrepreneurs and venture capitalists were, at the time, in some way associated with Facebook and didn't want to risk upsetting that relationship.

So, when the twins heard about bitcoin during a vacation they were motivated to research it.

From the get-go, they saw that a major problem was cybersecurity. They went to great lengths establishing a system to protect their tokens.

Soon enough they became bitcoin ambassadors. That not only put the Facebook chapter of their lives behind them. It also rebranded them as visionaries and Mark Zuckerberg as the establishment. The twins became the new cool. Along the way, they became billionaires. 

"Bitcoin Billionaires" would make a charming stocking stuffer this holiday season.

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Woody Allen & Amazon Settle Lawsuit - But, Nothing About Allen Branding Changed

The lawsuit "Gravier Productions et al. v. Amazon Content Services" was really about a dispute between former lovers.

Woody Allen, who had left Mia Farrow for a love affair and later marriage with her adopted daughter, had again been targeted in the media for alleged child molestation.

The timing - that is, during the strengthening of the #MeToo movement - was perfect for that renewed attack by Farrow & Family. A major creator of the bad press had been Allen's own son Ronan Farrow. He had become prominent in investigative journalism. 

In response, Amazon backed off its contract to partner with Allen on four movies. Allen filed the "Gravier v. Amazon" lawsuit last February, contending breach of contract and requesting almost $70 million in damages. Here is a copy of the complaint. 

What Allen hammered was that Amazon had been well aware of the allegations long before the new wave of attack journalism. 

The New York Times reports that Allen and Amazon have settled. The case has been dismissed with prejudice and the terms and conditions are confidential.

Meanwhile, the Allen Brand has not been redeemed. The entertainment industry has been hit hard with allegations of sexual misconduct. It has been easy to include Allen in those, at least in America. In Europe, he has found the environment more accepting of him as artist, no matter how the media outlets position and package him in the U.S. America hasn't been able to shake off its Puritan ethos.

In a sense, this saga is yet another morality tale of not becoming romantically involved with those at work. Allen had hired Farrow for a number of films. He would have been smart to keep that relationship off-limits for matters of the heart. If and when the love affair sours, retaliation often happens. Sometimes it's by both parties. Sometimes, only one. 

History may not treat Allen the artist and the man kindly. 

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

Lawyers - The 5 Must-Ask Questions about Your Content Marketing

Too much of content marketing is ineffective.

That is, it doesn't motivate prospects to take the Call To Action (CTA).

The failure is occurring in all lines of business, including professional services such as law.

One major reason for the miss is this: The content marketing, in tone, organization, and text/visuals, isn't created to engage prospects.

Instead, it's about you.

And, selling isn't about you.

From the get-go, the serpent in the Garden of Eden knew that. He custom-made his pitch to persuade Eve. The fit was perfect. She responded to the CTA.

The classic example of the wrong everything in content marketing is the book intended to both brand the author as an expert and to sell the whatever. 

On the one hand, the tone and text are conversational. That kind of intimacy is a must in this era of social networks. Yes, continue to use the first-person "I" in most books.

On the other hand, the author takes over the narrative with excessive intrusion of the self. Unfortunately, the surge of narcissism also is part of the shift to conversational communications.

To keep the tone, format, and text/visuals of content marketing on-track filter ever strategy and tactic through the 5 questions:

• Am I helping prospects to solve their challenges?
• Is the package customized for each target, such as iGen or Baby Boomers?
• Am I doing this in as brief a manner as possible? Or is there excess whatever, including commentary from me?
•  What is blocking prospects from buying, be that a point of view, product, service, or fundraising campaign? 
• Am I continually editing the content marketing to align with results? Yes, it's all a work in progress. 

The good news is that there is time to retrofit content marketing before the next downturn, which signs indicate is on its way.

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

From Yale Law School to Halle, Germany - Jews Now, But Who's Next?

The current escalation of anti-semitism should scare anyone who deviates even a bit from what's classified as the "norm."

Be in the right box or endure the peril of "excommunicado" (as described in the popular "John Wick 3" movie). 

Those boxes are getting smaller.

At Yale Law School there was a negative graffiti about Jews. In Halle, Germany on the holiest of Jewish religious holidays, two were gunned down outside a synagogue. 

One reason I high-tailed it out of southwestern Arizona was what I label "anti-semitism lite." I am not Jewish. Many there decided I was a "New York Jew." Of course, I was interrogated, in a hostile manner, about why Jews do this or that. I was isolated. No one believed that I wasn't Jewish, assuming I was simply taking on protective coloring.

Meanwhile, Ellen DeGeneres was lambasted on social networks for sitting next to someone on the political right. 

Oh, sure, the boxes always were there. In the densely populated immigrant neighborhood in which I grew up, the Irish, because they are longer in America, let it be known that they better than the Italians, Polish, and later the Puerto Ricans. The enterprising Italians with their grocery stores and restaurants knew they were superior to the lazy Irish. The Polish made it their business to only hire fellow Poles on the Hudson docks. And Puerto Ricans rolled their eyes at the inability of the rest to enjoy themselves.

No, the Old Neighborhood didn't embed the ethos of a Hallmark card.

What's new and disturbing is that in this era those securely in the box have guns. It's downright dangerous to look, walk, or talk "wrong." That's the way it is. 

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.