Law And More

Staging - Expected

What made news and perhaps motivated compassion among jurors was the unique bit of staging in the Mary Winkler murder trial.

That "preacher's wife" was being tried for murdering her husband and the father of their three children. 

One of the defense attorneys Steve Farese had created a display in the courtroom. It was a tableau featuring the wig and platform shoes Mary had been forced to don during sex with her husband.

The visual impact of the staging was, you bet, amazing. After all, this involved a member of the clergy, a small southern community and a self-effacing woman. 

Essentially, Mary got off with a light sentence. She also went on to regain custody of her children. The world doesn't seem to view her harshly.

Farese's sense of staging seemed to influence not only the court of law but also the court of public opinion.

But Farese's genius was about how he staged. Not that he staged. Actually, it's expected in law. Pop culture, especially television fictional legal programming, has featured myriad versions of it.

That device of visual dramatics goes back to the saga of King Solomon. With sword drawn, he triggered the peaceful resolution of a dispute about a baby.

The challenge of the how has become more intense.

After all, jurors have been bombarded for decades in all mediums with clever lawyer dramatics. Classic had been how Perry Mason triggered spontaneous confessions in the courtroom. Some remember how on "Boston Legal" Denny Crane featured a bullseye on his butt. 

In real life, in the O.J. Simpson murder trial there was the theatrics of the glove.

Currently, lawyers have to come up with what will engage but not be perceived as raw manipulation.

Therefore, the legal world awaits how defense lawyers in the criminal trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes will set the whole scene.

How will the defendant dress and style her hair? 

If they are going with a psychiatric defense, how will they coach her to comport herself? 

Meanwhile, will the prosecution feature the supposed technology in the middle of the courtroom? 

A possible new variable for that particular trial is if it will take place via Zoom. That could require lawyers to confer with online-presentation experts. Zoom can distort.

In careers, the analogue to that kind of courtroom staging is personal branding. Yes, it's also expected. Don't play out those dynamics and you can be knocked out of the box because, obviously, you don't get the game. In itself, that designates you are possible trouble.

The work world has become unforgiving. You may be among those who have to reimagine your career. Affordable coaching.  Make an appointment for complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

 

That Amazing Steve Bannon - Arrested/Charged with 2 Criminal Counts (each could result in 20-yr sentence)

Prosecution, just like the law firm game, is played with a record of high profile cases as well as wins and losses.

Currently, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Audrey Strauss is involved in what could be The Big Game. 

The Wall Street Journal reporter Corinne Ramey informs us that the amazing conservative presence - Steve Bannon - has been arrested in that jurisdiction.

Along with others, he is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy for money laundering. That allegedly was all done when online fundraising for the cause "We Build the Wall." About $25 million had been donated. Each count carries with it a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. 

If the term "renaissance man" weren't totally mid-20th century, it would be applied to Bannon. In his professional life, he has taken on myriad roles. They have included:

Donald Trump's White House Chief Strategist

Navel Officer

Investment Banker

Political Strategist

Media executive (Breitbart News)

Film-maker.

To those could be added: Federal prison inmate.

Bannon's signature (like Roger Ailes' obesity) has been his unkempt appearance. After he and Trump had a falling-out, the U.S. President referred to him as "Sloppy Steve."

Despite it or because of it he has been able to be a brandname mover and shaker.

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact 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."

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

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. 

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

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?

Be a Post COVID-19 winner. Exactly the right positioning and packaging for your messaging. Complimentary consultation for what you need for strategy, research, ghostwriting, and editing janegenova374@gmail.com.

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.

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

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.

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

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. 

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

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.

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

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. 

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