Law And More

Before Harland Sanders Became The Colonel He Had Practiced Law (quite successfully)

There was a time - and it wasn't that long ago - when it was easier and less expensive to "try on" careers.

And that was exactly what Harland Sanders, born in 1890, did. Later, when one career path worked out amazingly well, Kentucky governor Flem Sampson gave him the title "Colonel." 

Among Sanders' experiments was practicing law.

As we learn from Adam Chandler's new book "Drive-Thru Dreams," Sanders learned law from a correspondence course. An advocate for justice, he succeeded in getting favorable settlements for blacks injured in train accidents. He also made it his mission to reduce the court practice of pushing defendants to accept any settlement. 

Practicing law ended when he wound up beating up a client in the courtroom. The reason: The clients hadn't ponied up payment. Sanders had a temper. Lawyers who understand their worth can have empathy for Sanders' frustration.

Then Sanders went on to careers in these industries: ferryboats, insurance, trade association leadership, tires, and gas stations. It was in the latter that he returned to his boyhood skill of cooking. After his father had died when he was six years old, his mother went out to work as the breadwinner. Harland had to take over running the household. At top of the list of duties had been meal preparation. 

Essentially Sanders grew up in an era dominated by Car Everything. Last summer, the Toledo Museum of Art conducted the exhibition "Life is a Highway: Art & American Car Culture." Traveling by auto became a distinct form of Americana. Sanders "got it" that he could expand the usual gas station business with hospitality services. Those included lodging and, yes, food. He was 40-something.

His success with his signature fried chicken came from three sources.

One was technology. He applied a pressure-cooker method to speed up the preparation time. Travelers were tired and hungry, therefore impatient about waiting. 

The second was theatrics. Soon enough the white suit evolved into the recognized branding for KFC. There too he experimented. Sanders as human brand logo had started with a black suit.

And, third was just-the-right timing. As Chandler documents, fast food was becoming the American way of eating. Actually it was a ritual which unified the diversity of people across the U.S. 

But, his more general success with the myriad ways of making a living that he tried on primarily was due to his hustle, extreme confidence, and ability to shake off what didn't pan out as expected.

Should there be another nasty downtown and the 10,000 lawyer jobs predicted to be lost go poof, displaced lawyers should immerse themselves in the Sanders' template for positioning and packaging failure as platform for big success. 

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

 

"Olson v. State of California" Takes On Law Going Into Effect 1/1/2020 Classifying Gig Workers as Employees

Today, Uber, Postmates, and Uber driver Lydia Olson and Postmates driver Miguel Perez filed a lawsuit contending the landmark law derived from AB - 5 is unconstitutional. That is "Olson v. State of California." Bloomberg provides more details. 

Set to go into effect January 1, 2020, that law would classify many types of gig workers as employees. Former contract workers would then receive the rights, protections, and benefits that employees have. Those range from the right to join unions to medical insurance coverage. 

Such a shift could play havoc with the business models of companies such as Uber. In addition, AB - 5 could be the prototype for a similar law at the federal level. In Vermont, Bernie Sanders introduced such a bill.

Here is a copy of the lawsuit. It was filed in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California.

A major claim is the arbitrary nature of the law. The exceptions, ranging from salespeople to commercial fishermen, don't have a solid rational. In addition, the plaintiffs indicate that the gig companies have been unfairly targeted and other industries given special treatment. Also, worker flexibility is being reduced.

There is push-back from other kinds of players.

Trucking claims it can't hire as contract workers those whose routes will take them across the border into CA.

Editorial freelancers are already losing out of assignments. That's because they are being restricted to a limited number of articles for any one publication. Most media outlets can't function that way. Once content creators have proven themselves with a particular media outlet it's expected they will be contributing as many articles as needed. When that expectation is no longer possible the freelance writer is knocked out of that box.

In addition to lawsuits, those opposing the new law are considering bringing the matter to voters in the next election. 

But one wonders if the train has left the station and isn't going to circle back. The gig economy may not survive. The person on the bicycle delivering a meal to your door may no longer be a contract worker. He or she will be employees. That classification could boost consumer prices. 

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

 

Don Imus, Dead at Age 79 - The FCC Was Not Amused By the Burger Stunt

Don Imus was the wild child who never had to grow up.

He would blurt out on-the-air what the rest of us had been socialized to never say in public.

After he called a fast food joint and ordered over a 1,000 burgers with crazy toppings, the FCC noticed. That generated the new rule that on-the-air personalities had to identify themselves when they made wacky phone calls.

He could keep up the[political incorrectness and antics for three hours daily. David Muir only has to "be on" for about 26 minutes every evening.

Imus did that creative outrageousness until he died this morning in at Texas hospital. The cause of death is unknown. He entered the hospital a few days earlier.

He was 79 years old.

Already, he has probably thrown buttoned-down St. Peter off his game. Can't you hear the angels giggling? 

Imus' genius was figuring out a way to be totally imaginative and unfiltered and still able to make a living. Incidentally, it was a good living. That enabled him to be generous with those not so lucky. They ranged from kids with cancer in his Ranch Program to Zach, whom he adopted.

So many in recovery bonded intensely with Imus. Rare is the recovery without a relapse. And when Imus fell off the wagon it was brutal. But he hopped back on his horse - literally - and grabbed back on tight to sobriety. 

His resilience in bouncing back after serial-firings also sent a powerful message: Don't let those signing the paycheck destroy you. 

This blog sends deep sympathy to those whose lives here on planet earth will have to go on without Don Imus. 

Complexity of Niche Practices in Legal Sector - Lawyers with Dual Expertise in IP & Bankruptcy In Demand

It's been the reality in many types of professional services for decades: the movement to niche expertise. Generalists drifted to the bottom of the food chain.

In the legal sector, the niche edge has become more complex. That's not unique. It's been a trend throughout not only professional services but much of global business. Note how GM is repositioning itself into the SUV, pickup, and electric car categories. It shuttered its sedan production plant in Lordstown, Ohio. 

The practice area in law firms that's hot currently is the combination of IP and bankruptcy expertise.

Law.com describes how the valuable asset for negotiations in the Barneys New York bankruptcy had been its intellectual property. This is an era in which retailers increasingly outsource other aspects of their operations. So, they no longer own, for example, production facilities.

Those niche lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis and Katten Muchin handled the IP piece of the Barneys bankruptcy.

Although niches are becoming narrowly specialized, being a niche player offering a relatively broad menu of services still beats out slugging it out as a generalist. However, on that menu also should be expertise not easily available elsewhere. That might be thought of as "special."

In the highly competitive business of public relations firms, kglobal partner Gene Grabowski is the go-to in crisis management. That's his overall niche.

Within that, his "special" is counseling corporate leaders in crisis in the food industry. Here is the classic in PR Week of how Grabowski oversaw the first 24 hours in the Blue Bell Creameries in an ice cream recall.

The best insight about the importance of niching is "Blue Ocean Strategy" by W. Chan KIm and Renee Mauborgne. Published in 2005, it still ranks in the top 100,000 of books listed on Amazon. Here, it can be ordered.

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

 

"District of Columbia v. DoorDash" - Alleged Violation of Consumer Protection Procedures Act

Food delivery is big business.

DoorDash, valued at $13 billion, has a nice piece of that - for now.

But after the members of the media run with this lawsuit, that market share could shrink, along with brand erosion.

BusinessInsider reports that District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine has filed a lawsuit against Doordash. Here is a copy of the complaint "District of Columbia v. DoorDash." It is titled "Violation of the Consumer Protection Procedures Act."

Essentially, the AG contends that between July 2017 and September 2019 DoorDash used tips from consumers to subsidize its own balance sheet.

Consumers assumed the tips were going to the delivery drivers.

Instead, the AG claims this: If the amount of revenue from the delivery didn't pay the worker's minimum compensation, then DoorDash applied the tip to that to bring it up to standard. Whatever was left over from the tip DoorDash pocketed. 

Two parties were allegedly harmed. Consumers had been fooled about where their tip was going. So much for transparency. The workers didn't receive the tip.

When the policy was uncovered there had been a outcry by constituencies ranging from the press to the individual drivers. The policy was then changed.

Unfortunately, if this lawsuit hurts DoorDash's business what also could be hurt is the ability of their drivers to continue with this work. They will have to hustle to find other sources of income.

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.

 

Homeless, Business, Law - Las Vegas Tries Something Out

Las Vegas, like so many metro areas, is undergoing the perfect storm. 

There is growing homeless created by:

• Landlord Nation, that is, high rents with no caps for the percentage of increase at lease-renewal time.
• Substance abuse, and not only opioids. Attend any 12-step meeting and there is plenty of speaker presentations about winding up on the street because of booze.
• Unemployment and underemployment triggered by a volatile global economy driven by technology
• Mental illness, much of which science doesn't yet understand. Finally, it is admitting clinical depression is a chronic disease. 

That's no new story, of course.

Also, not new is that the realities of the homeless camped on the streets had been hurting local businesses. For Las Vegas one of those businesses is tourism. No couple from the UK wants to step over human bodies to get into X or Y commercial establishment. Through word of mouth, the message could go out: Skip Las Vegas. 

So, it shouldn't be a surprise that Las Vegas is trying out something legally to address this business problem. There is little or no humanity sprinkled in. As the Daily Mail reports, the new law forbids living sleeping on the downtown (this doesn't apply to the strip) streets if a bed is available in a shelter. There is a fine of $1,000. Haha, as if the homeless can buy their way out of the legal pickle.

Those putting together the law hoped to anticipate legal challenges through the provision of "if a bed is available." A law without that had been struck down in Boise, Idaho by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. 

Of course, human rights groups are already active opposing this one. What some may have in mind is the poignant true saga captured in "Stuart: A Life Backwards."

That started out as a book, then it became a theatrical production and movie. By Alexander Masters, it chronicles the life on the streets of a man who, since childhood, endured profound emotional and spiritual suffering. The UK social system would provide housing for him and he made it his business to untangle himself from that and return to his social network on the street. One meme is: the right to live without a roof over one's head.  

Also, there is the horror of the shelters themselves. No, the street isn't safe. But shelters aren't either. Also, being in them can rob the soul, while taking care of the body, of human dignity. The other occupants can be emotional and spiritual downers.

Through wrong information when I was traveling in England, I wound up spending a night in a shelter on the East End. What popped in my head: No human being should have to provide for his or her physical needs in this way.

Later, in the U.S. I did volunteer work collecting and transporting food from local grocers to shelters, including those housing whole families. I wondered why there couldn't be a better solution to not being able to pony up rent in the U.S.? 

More recently, when running two businesses in southwestern Arizona, I encountered Millennials who feared homelessness more than anything. That was a reason they held on to low-paying jobs rather than taking career risks and/or remained in relationships which did pay the rent.

Obviously, homelessness should be a major issue in Election 2020. Meanwhile legal experts will track this Las Vegas law.

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

 

The Extreme Immorality of Cutting the Line - In Addition, That Should Be Made Illegal

You don't cut the line.

Not in New York. 

And, now we know: Not in Maryland, either.

If you are insane or suffer from extreme self-destructiveness and do cut the line, punishment may be immediate. Yes, you could get beat up and die. Or the penalty will be dished out later, as in being jumped or your windshield smashed a month later for seemingly no reason. 

That is one of the many lessons in staying alive native New Yorkers get down cold from the get-go. 

Had Kevin Tyrell Davis grown up on the mean and very unforgiving streets of New York or had developed an inner New York ethos he would never have cut the line in Popeyes. He would have dutifully waited his turn for the new Popeyes sandwich in Prince George's County, MD.

But he did cut the line.

As the Daily Mail reports, he was steered outside the food shop and stabbed. He died from those wounds.

A suspect is in custody. Some will not position and package Davis' death as a tragedy. Instead, they will, like a chant from a Greek Chorus, form the consensus that he had it coming. You don't cut the line.

Other lessons I learned in New York which has kept me on the right side of the daises include:

•  Don't take too long paying in change or returning to the aisles in the grocery store for a forgotten item, at least not when already in the process of checking out. That subway train has already left the station.
•  Acquire real money, that is, wealth.
•  Maintain a set jaw. If done right that discourages unwanted attention and conversation.
•  Avoid certainty. Everyone is different and everyone demands respect.

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

Starbucks & Alleged Failure to Warn

Horrors.

There was an outage one morning on Buckeye Broadband High-Speed Internet Service in West Toledo, Ohio.

Of course, since I operate two telecommuting enterprises I headed out to Starbucks for an internet connection. After all, with small businesses and gig economy workers Starbuck's branding was about free access to WiFi. Sit there plugged in as long as needed. 

Horrors, again. After I had unpacked my laptop, put my legal pad and pen next to it, and readied to check my email, my eyes bugged. No WiFi at Starbucks, housed in Kroger Supermarket, 833 W. Alexis Road, Toledo, OH. 

"Why isn't there WiFi?"

That's what I asked the clerk behind the Starbucks counter.

"This is a grocery store."

So, Starbucks in a grocery store isn't Starbucks?

Yet, there was no disclaimer that WiFi wouldn't be available. Suppose I had ordered one of the expensive coffees, then found out I wouldn't be having access to WiFi? In legal circles, that's known as "failure to warn." Would I be able to organize a class-action lawsuit?

I regrouped. I had to. Sure, I checked email on my smartphone but for the actual work I needed the programs on my laptop.

I gathered up my paraphernalia and high-tailed it to Target. That was at 817 W. Alexis Avenue, Toledo, OH. The café wasn't open yet. But I tried my luck. Yes, there was a WiFi connection.

I was back in business.

Buckeye Broadband wasn't back for hours and hours.

Those hours I spent in Target, nursing one large Diet Coke. The clerks, when the café turned on its lights, were friendly. They wished me well in my business. 

Target turns out to the superhero in internet provider blackouts. 

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

Professional Services Such as Law, New Business Development, Power Lunching

Everything changes. 

That includes power, or at least how it's played out.

Those with it or chasing it used to have to be "seen" lunching in pricey restaurants like Michael's in Manhattan. Currently, as the New York Post observers, that ritual is becoming extinct. Yes, when it comes to those long boozy, high carb dining experiences, what's occurring is a power outage.

The new establishment - Millennials - have put together different ways of demonstrating they are in power or should be factored in as heading there. 

So, how does power look in 2019? 

Well, it's too busy with work to go out to eat. Something, usually healthy, is consumed at a desk, next to some kind of digital device. Since Puritan times, work has represented salvation. Many Millennial souls are being saved in the always-on-duty ethos of digital times. 

Power is also transmitted through social networks. Digital influencers are those who count. On Twitter and Instagram they have plenty of followers. For the buttoned-down among the influencers, there have to be triple-digit likes and comments on LinkedIn Updates. 

Also, power is symbolized by wellness. It's at the gym. It's riding a bike to the office, even amid the scary streets of Manhattan. It's lean and hungry. Come on now, there has always been something decadent about too much food and alcohol in overpriced restaurants. 

What has been becoming the code for power is the phrase "I don't do lunch." That's even trickled down to the level of non-strivers.

The ladies who used to lunch know better or should know better not to do that any more. Instead, they should be out there trying to change the world. Protesting is good. Volunteering in an animal shelter is better. Best of all is active listening. Those who have recovered the ability to be there in real time for a friend in need are the current superheroes in society. Suicides are likely being prevented.

The crowd over-50 has been embracing minimalism. That's to insulate themselves when they are forced out of jobs. According to ProPublica and the Urban Institute, more than half will lose their jobs, mostly because of factors somehow related to age. When they do bounce back into the workforce, only one-tenth of them will be earning comparable compensation. Radical saving is mandated. Money for lunch is money wasted. 

Of course, there are still lines of business, especially in professional services, where the players wine and dine prospects. Actually, that's one reason so many brandname public relations agencies and law firms are based in Manhattan.

The head of whatever at Corporation XYX in Minnesota expects that special treatment by those competing for the account. And they want it to unfold in Manhattan. Not Fairlawn, New Jersey. Law partners have to build into their schedules time slots for power lunching to develop new business.

Exactly how to orchestrate all that should be provided as an elective in the T-14 law schools. Current business is so much less important to holding onto a job than rainmaking. 

But, overall, just like Airbnb disrupted the lodging industry, the decline of the power lunch will reconfigure the restaurant one. 

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