Law And More

How I Got into Harvard Law School, But Not a Job with Hallmark

BusinessInsider's Prime Content (that is, behind a paywall) has information and insight from the Horse's Mouth how to get admitted to Harvard Law School. The sources include those in the Admissions Loop.

Sure, those interested in going that career route could pony up the prime subscription fee and gain access to that formula.

Or, they can make it their business (and engrossing hobby) to figure out on their own how to be admitted to the whatevers which could advance them on their careers. Yes, this goes way beyond doors opening and a welcoming wave at prestigious academic institutions.

Actually, it's the all-important edge in a world economy glutted with talent. Had I not honed this ability early in life I wouldn't be able to keep landing work currently.

My approach to getting the nod from Harvard Law School was multi-dimensional. Those tactics included:

• Waiting patiently until I could cash in diversity cards. The best card was age. I was 41 when I applied. The other card was extreme poverty. Not only did I grow up in a downtown tenement in (pre-gentrified) Jersey City, New Jersey. I was infected with exotic hood diseases such as whooping cough. As with current coronavirus patients, I did serious time in isolation.
• Being the smartest girl in the class, including in doctoral studies. The grades proved out that I could cut it in law school, even the Harvard Law version. No longer do I use that card. Instead I tout that, like Mark Zuckerberg, I am a Harvard dropout. The founders of Legalist are also Harvard dropouts. 
• Analyzing past LSAT tests. They were available from the testing folks for a small fee. I got down cold what kind of thinking the testers wanted. Usually. because I am creative, I performed poorly in those standardized tests. I killed it on the LSAT.
• A background ghostwriting about regulatory topics for executives in the Fortune 50. I was skilled in the art of persuasion.

On the other hand, I blew it in applying to Hallmark for a creative writing position. Too aggressively I presented my love of their greeting cards because my family couldn't afford them. Was I perceived as too rough around the edges?

Also, for the sample portfolio, I was, well, too hood. One greeting was "Birthdays are like roaches. Once you get one, they keep coming." However, not all was lost. I leveraged the roach story in an opinion-editorial published in The Wall Street Journal.

My next focus is to be admitted for complimentary lessons for riding a motorcycle. I am working on what would be the most persuasive pitch. If they don't bite?

The fun is the strategy. At this point of my life and career, the results are irrelevant. It's the game. 

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Starter Marriages - What Lawyers Could Be Pitching

Among the myriad institutions in play is marriage. 

There has been the legalization of the marriage between people of the same sex.

Marriages among different races are no longer atypical. 

In addition, there is growing acceptance of the concept of "starter marriages."

One traditional definition of that is the marriage which endures five years or less. Usually there are no children produced by that marriage.

However, there may be some minors who become a part of it through blended families. The new stepfather adopts his new wife's four-year-old daughter.

Way back in 2003, in the book "The Starter Marriage" Pamela Paul began analyzing that trend. Currently starter marriages are becoming embedded in the Millennial lifestyle. There are all kinds of versions of them.

Usually Millennials don't enter a marriage intending for it to be temporary. But, as the article in BusinessInsider explains, that's what it often turns out to be. Increasingly, its ending is being positioned and packaged in positive terms. The experience can be one of significant learning.

However, that learning, warns lawyer Amada Cubit in the BusienssInsider article, can come at a high price in terms of legal costs. 

For lawyers, all the legalities associated with starter marriages can be business opportunities. That is, if the lawyers are proactive in configuring and promoting their services for that niche.

For example, full-service law firms can advocate the importance of the pre-nuptial agreement. In itself that can reduce the expense of hammering out issues such as equitable distribution, alimony, custody, and child support. The service can be framed as consumer-centric: This will save you money and prevent so much stress.

In addition, the law firm can brand itself as affordable to those Millennials ending marriages. Usually their financial resources are limited. The law firm can become known for tutoring those contemplating divorce on how to choose their shots in order to drive down legal costs and actually cut their financial losses.

Of course, the elephant in the room is: With the reality of young marriages ending early why are Millennials, who are inexperienced in committed relationships, even going the marriage route?

That's one for the psychologists, et al. Perhaps "Dateline" can fold that issue into one of their productions about the spouse offing the other spouse. 

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The Former Lawyers in the U.S. Senate Should Have Known Better

The ABC Evening News with David Muir dominates the category.

That's because those behind and in front the camera know how to conjure up drama.  Yes, all the world's a stage. 

Those in the U.S. Senate lack that theatrical know-how. Yet, as the New York Post reports, the Senators are baffled that the Senate spectator gallery is half empty.

Their back offices, which should be filled with public relations types, can't put together what should have been the Greatest Show on Earth for 2020.

That is weird since many of the Senators have a lawyering background. Lawyers are socialized to put on show, be it in the courtroom or across the negotiation table.

 Here are 4 tips to reverse this failure to engage.

Create mystery. Everyone anticipates an acquittal. To derail that mindset senators should posture voting for conviction. A wonderful side benefit of that is that they will receive lots of coverage in the media. The media is the most powerful institution in the world. 

Stop being so repetitive. The American people feel reduced to being a child whose adults in the loop continue to nag about the same things. Even in search engine optimization (SEO), Google is punishing posters who get stuck in one message phrased in an infinite number of ways. 

Raise the Emotional Intelligence (EI) double-digit points. The ugliness of extreme polarization is turning people off. Ranging from Dale Carnegie to Dan Goleman, those smart about how to win friends and influence people hammer the importance of being tolerant, respectful, and willing to listen. Actually that dates back to St. Francis of Assissi who preached the value of struggling to understand rather than being understood. Here is his iconic prayer. 

Render public service back home. The impeachment trial is typical inside the beltway, that is, looking inward. Break that spell by reaching out back in the home state and do good. Are the supplies for the food pantry running low? Organize an initiative to solicit and collect food from local restaurants and grocers. Part of the popularity of the ABC version of the news is the "American Strong" snippet at the end of the broadcast. It melts our hearts. Yes, 21st century humans still have hearts. 

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"In re: Application of Cynthia Marie Rodgers" - Not So Fast to Rant about Factoring in Student Loan Debt & Bar Admission

At a glance this development seems to be a solid reason for outrage about how a state bar factors in student loan debt for admission decisions. One major criterion is evidence of character. 

The legal situation is "In re: Application of Cynthia Marie Rodgers." The Ohio bar denied her application. Here is a copy of that ruling the Ohio Supreme Court Board of Bar Commissioners.

But the context is more complex than her student loan debt of $300,000. She had not paid on that debt, citing federal provisions for that because of low income. Since she had intended to only work part-time as a lawyer, it would be a slow repayment process. In addition, her husband owes $600,000 in student loans.

As Forbes explains, there was also this two-fold issue:

• She had filed nearly 60 civil lawsuits. Some were perceived as without merit.
• There was not full disclosure of these details to those who had recommended for admission to the OH bar. 

That might have indicated more about her character than the existence of a large student loan debt with no solid plan for repayment.

Meanwhile, there is the more urgent issue of how a record of being treated for mental illness can knock an applicant out of the box in the bar admission process. The reality is that anxiety and clinical depression have become the analogue of the common cold in America. 

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Displaced Lawyer Transitioning to Communications Career Path - Hits The Wall of The Audition (Passport Admissions)

For a high-profile, decent-paying full-time job with benefits, sure, go through the audition.

That's what Harvard Law School graduate Elie Mytal did in 2008.

He landed a position in the then-hot, getting hotter all the time digital native legal news platform Abovethelaw. There he rose to editor-in-chief. Along the way he became a media star. Recently he transitioned to another career path. 

And, then there are the kinds of work situations offered by Passport Admissions. Based in San Diego, it assists with the academic admissions process.

On the San Diego section of Craigslist, it had posted a help-wanted. The structure was a contract gig. The task: editing student personal essays. The pay $20 to $25 an hour. Here is that ad. Oh, there was a cute promise: Those accepted for assignments would have their photo featured on Passport Admissions website.

Well the audition consists of:

• Yes, the usual cover letter and resume.
• Replying thoughtfully to a series of questions. They range from how to manage hypothetical situations to what is a perfect day like for the gig applicant.
• A 30-minute exercise to evaluate two student essays. That must be done on Google Docs. No simple Tracking on Word.
• A 5-minute exercise to correct the grammar, spelling, and punctuation of the front end of one of the essays.

 A displaced lawyer I coach who wants to transition to communications flagged me about this ad. Should he do the audition for what he described as an "opportunity" which paid "peanuts?" His gut screamed nonono.

I navigated to the ad. On the plus side, Passport Admissions did indicate there would be an audition.

Many other employers are guilty of a failure to warn. The applicants have already invested a hour or so in the process and then discover they will have to, for example, research a series of questions and then write a well-organized answer for each.

To help my client with his decision, I parachuted in and began the audition myself. I wanted to determine how time-consuming it would be. Too time-consuming, I concluded. After step two, I stopped. I had already invested plenty of time. My advice to him was: Choose your shots. This one, at least to me, isn't worth taking. 

Globally, capitalism has become controversial. Harvard Business School has an elective about Reimagining capitalism. This kind of required audition for a relatively low-paying gig seems to require a comprehensive reimagining.

My heart breaks for those who feel they have no choice but to comply with the audition for assignments which pay peanuts. In the American style of capitalism, 60% don't have $1,000 to pony up for an emergency. 

Coaching, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on human resources and careers.  

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The special area of expertise is the displaced over-50 professional. Please contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

Those Fake Influencers - Legal Action for Failure to Disclose, Infringement of Likeness

Influencer marketing is raising legal issues. At least when the ad, social network, customer service platform, or political campaign had used fake ones. Those go by myriad terms, ranging from "avatars" to "bots" to "virtual influencers."

The two key legal concerns, reports Law.com, is the failure to disclose that the influencers aren't human and infringement on someone's likeness. Regarding the latter, the virtual influencer could be configured to appear very much like Mr. Rogers. 

Meanwhile the technology behind the fakes is attracting venture capitalists. It's a promising business niche.

Already, last July, California passed the bot law. In that state the undisclosed use of fake influencers is now illegal if the purpose is to motivate a sale or mislead voters during an election. 

This example of lack of transparency in how technology is making new rules in the influencer game could be correlated with an emerging mind: diminished trust in technology. Would Steve Jobs still be a superhero in 2020?

The 2020 Edelman annual Trust Barometer documents the shift from perceiving technology as a positive force to extreme wariness. Of course, a driver for that is the fear that Artificial Intelligence will poach more and more jobs. 

Lawyers involved in jury trials regarding tech will have to work around that mindset. It's well known that jurors are sending a message about their ethical concerns through nuclear verdicts. Those tend to be reduced on appeal, as had the Johnson & Johnson $8 billion risperdal verdict. 

But the activist attitude persists.

If  lawyers are representing defendants in lawsuits about fake influencers they better be brilliant in establishing baseline trust with the jurors.

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Beyond the Usual Genteel Poverty of Student Life - Food Pantries, Clothes at Law Schools

Among the happy memories of student life for Ok, Boomer had been the genteel poverty.

There was the bunking in fire-trap boarding houses.

Everyone pitched in for the beer and chips.

It was print times and we went through the trash bins for discarded copies of The New York Times.

That was then. Tuition and fees had been manageable. 

Now, for some law students, who might already be carrying undergraduate student loan debt, the kind of poverty they live with is harsh. That is especially the situation at the end of the semester when their loan funding is depleted.

According to U.S. News, the average tuition and fees for the year at a private law school is $49,095. At a public one it's $21,500.

Law.com reports that four law schools have established food pantries. Those distribute not only jars of peanut butter and cans of tuna. There is fresh produce. The term for this situation is "food insecurity."

In addition, there are law schools which are making available the kinds of professional attire required for interviews and internships.

The poignant part of this hard-core financial neediness is that there might not be any light at the end of the tunnel, at least not in the near future. 

Consider the time invested, post-graduation, in preparing for the bar exam.

Often, it requires a year or more to land a job.

Meanwhile, after the six-month grace period, repayment on student loans starts, along with the meter on interest ticking. The average original amount is $145,500. With years of interest, it becomes funny money.

The compensation for the majority of full-time positions isn't Wall Street stuff. U.S. News documents that the median for private sector jobs is $72,500 and for public sector ones $54,550. Meanwhile, those who do receive that $180,000 entry-level compensation are playing in an up or out system. Most will be out within a few years.

It's no longer the elephant in the room. It's out there: Is law school a financial investment which makes common sense?

Actually, that's being asked of myriad advanced degrees. A special target is the Ph.D. Way back in 2010, The Economist pointed out that it not only didn't yield higher earnings than an MA degree. It could actually reduce earnings. A common fate for those who complete the doctoral degree in humanities is to become an adjunct professor, earning peanuts, with no benefits and no job security.

Also being cited more and more is how the funds plowed into degree-getting could have been invested in something with better odds of building wealth. An example would be parachuting into real estate, residential and/or commercial. 

Along with that is the opportunity cost of the time locked into studying. Instead of taking on debt, there could be real income from wages and paid benefits. An ambitious youth could start out in fast food or a discount grocery and make it into middle management.

Reflection: The Sweet Suffering of matriculating for advanced degrees (or maybe even the undergraduate one) could be labeled as "crazy."

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Harry Sends Cease & Desist Letter to British Media, Including Sun

The world enjoyed a relaxed photo of Meghan on a hike. Archie was strapped to her chest. Two dogs walked alongside mother and child.  

That image could become iconic. That's because, according to Harry, it was published unsanctioned. New York Magazine reports that a photographer had been hiding in the bushes, then snapped the picture.

In response, Harry's lawyer sent a cease and desist letter to the British media. That includes the Sun, which Harry sued in September for alleged phone hacking.

Obviously, Harry fears that his wife could come to the same fata as his mother did because of the paparazzi. 

As many know, John F. Kennedy Jr.'s wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy was also hounded by the paparazzi. Some speculate that threw shade on the marriage because she couldn't handle it. 

For Meghan and Harry there might be no safe harbor. They could be as aggressively pursued in Canada as they had in the UK. 

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Law Firm Media Pitchers - Perfect Storm of Impeachment, Coronavirus, Weather

Even with the internet, the media doesn't have infinite capability for coverage.

After all, manpower is finite.

Right now humans are still needed to assess the news/public interest value of developments and format the selections for publication. That might someday be the tasks of robots. But not currently.

So, in-house media staff in law firms and at outside public relations agencies representing law firms might be hitting a wall. Their pitches are not getting developed into stories. That's both at establishment and digital native media.

What is being covered are those stories with strong, long legs. Today, they include:

• Impeachment - ABC's David Muir was onsite in the U.S. Senate. Drudge Report stood out for headlining not with that but the coronavirus. What media outlets are doing with the story has itself become a story. This is to be expected in an era when media is the most powerful institution in the world. 
• Coronavirus - The Spanish Flu in 1918 infected one-third of the humans on planet earth, It's estimated 20 million to 50 million died. That pandemic had been featured on "Downton Abbey." Remember when Cora almost died! The dominant mindset is: After more than a century, another pandemic is due. 
•  Climate change may or may not have brought the extraordinary cold, along with snow. But the cold is what most parts of the U.S. can't shake. How will this worsen the obesity epidemic and how many unwanted children will be conceived? Clever journalists have a God's Plenty of angles to pursue on this. Among them is this: The high energy bills for staying warm are eating into the ability to pay other kinds of bills. Will this trigger a consumer-driven recession?

No, this preoccupation of the media with just a handful of stories might not let up. Media outlets can get used to the efficiency of hunkering down with a small number of events and keeping the story running. That could further narrow the doorway for law-firm pitching.

One option is for media reps to excel at search engine optimization (SEO). Here is SEO guru Neil Patel's Advanced Cheat Sheet.

There are two killer SEO tactics:

Here is the scoop on getting Google to choose the law-firm posts for "featured snippets."

And, here is how to attract exactly the right attention through long-tail keywords. 

It was New York University professor Scott Galloway, an internet expert, who observed that, globally, media is a zero-growth game.

Journalists and editors gotta do what they gotta do to hang on. That frequently means not investing resources in stories which won't be clickbait. Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessing is suing the New York Times Co. for allegedly creating a misleading headline and lede about his statement regarding Jeffrey Epstein's donations to elite universities. He contends that happened because the newspaper of record was chasing clickbait. 

Law-firm media folks have to create their own media. That's done brilliantly by the experts serving Sanford Heisler Sharp.

Takeaway: Media players at law firms and the pubic relations agencies which represent them can't "outsource" coverage, not any more. They have to be the media.

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Crazy - The Edge, Dating Back to Puritan Times

Johns Hopkins professor Kay Jamison documented the correlation between creativity and mental illness. That was in her breakthrough book "An Unquiet Mind," which remains a brisk seller. Although published way back in 1996, it still ranks 1,969 on Amazon. Here it can be ordered.

Incidentally, Jamison herself struggles with a bipolar disorder and had attempted suicide. In 2002, she won the MacArthur Genius Award ($500,000 was the monetary part).

Yet, those with various sorts of mental illness can't shake the stigma. Actually, that bias against mood disorders and intermittent faulty perception often eats deeply into their own self-esteem. They drag around that diagnosis like stink on their shoe. 

Help could be on the way. Really.

As the New York Post records, the Van Gogh Museum is in the loop of certifying two things. One is that Vincent Van Gogh's self portrait is not a fake. And, two it was created by him in a psychotic state. The authenticity had been debated because the color patterns were muted, not the usual vivid hues. Some contend that reflected the artist's pulling back from being so out-there. He recognized his psychic shift at the time.

On February 21st, the Van Gogh Museum opens an exhibit with that painting in it. If the public relations is sophisticated it will hammer that the artist was producing from what could be thought as another dimension. 

Given the rigidity of capitalism, dimensions other than the maximizing of profits aren't welcome. A current commercial about insurance makes fun about that. It's labeled "being your parents." The art-student waitress is asked how she intends to earn a living after she graduates. 

Experience in professional life, though, indicates that being in other dimensions, full-time or just now-and-then, doesn't exclude being self-supporting or a big success. 

Actually, success driven by mental illness might not be reserved for the creative arts. In 2011, psychologist John D. Gartner published an amazing book. It is "The Hypomanic Edge: The Link Between (a Little) Craziness and (a Lot of) Success in America." Here it can be ordered.

Gartner starts off with that misfit group from the Old Country - the Puritans. Certainly they were operating in another dimension. But once freed from the establishment rules in the UK, they went about putting together an economy which had been for centuries the most powerful in the world. 

Ever since the Puritans, it's likely that many of the brandname entrepreneurs in America would be classified by those in the "helping professions" as, well, crazy. And, yes, like the Puritans they created a new kind of economy.

The authentic reason for concern about mental illness is that it can open the doors to suicide. A theory of suicide is that the distressed keep traveling through a series of unthinkable scenarios. "What if I simply stopped trying" could then open the next door which could be the psychotic "Suicide would help me feel better." The final door is the decision to go for it.

It could be that former partner at law firm Sidley Austin Gabe MacConaill might have travelled that corridor.

He had confided to his wife Joanna Litt his perception of emotional deterioration. Simultaneously, he had a hunch that going for professional help would tarnish his professional branding. Lawyers I have spoken to about that agreed that MacConaill was right. The sharks would have smelled vulnerability, circled, and that could have been the end of a high-powered career.

If the stigma around mental illness can be blown up and those saddled with that disease able to forgive themselves for imperfection, the "career price" paid for being treated could be reduced. In time, it could disappear. 

After all, from "Genesis" on, civilization has recorded examples of aberrant thought processes. Eve had to be out of her mind to risk what she had for a dream of more autonomy. Even more crazy was for Adam to buy in. Of course, the history of ideas punished them harshly. That included inflicting on them a son who was a murderer. However, Eve got the worst of it. Crazy women are more unwelcome in society than crazy men.

An effective constraint for moving on to the next door is to contact the deep listeners at Samaritans. The hotline is confidential, free, and operates 24/7. The phone number is 212-673-3000.

Full Disclosure: I have taken on clinical depression since age 11. Despite the family suicide gene I am still here.  

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