Law And More

James, The Non-Murdoch - Transforming Media in Post-Trump Era

The end of the Donald Trump Political Phenomenon will likely mean a disruption of media.

Of course, a far right medium like Fox News will lost influence.

On the other hand, The New York Times could wobble badly, only kept alive through a foundation which parachutes in. Many (including Trump) contend the NYT has been kept alive by its signature push-back on Trumpworld.

In the ashes could rise a new kind of media presence: James Murdoch. Yes, he is the son of media tycoon Rupert.

In the NYT Maureen Dowd interviews James at length. (Both it and she could be on short time).

James had left the family business, labeling it as a source of disinformation.

His relationship with his father Rupert and his brother Lachlan is tense (understatement).

His pivot is to reforming fake news. That includes investing in startups whose mission is that. Also, he funds research studying the digital manipulation of society. In addition his wife Kathryn has a background in communications.

It wouldn't be a surprise if James and Kathryn evolve into the media power couple in a post-Trump world. They have the passion, knowledge, connections and money. 

The first collapse could come in gotcha journalism. Instead, as in scientific research, there will be a sincere effort to find the "truth." Not create sensationalistic headlines for their own sake or to manipulate human beings.

In the legal niche, Abovethelaw could face the need to change its tone and content. Having tipsters who share with ATL confidential material from law firms might no longer be saluted as heroic. The ethos of supposed whistleblowing could undergo a redefinition. Motivation could be factored in. Hey, why does this first-year associate, pulling down nearly $200k, have such a beef?

In general media, Buzzfeed could be "excommunicado" (to borrow that phrase from the film series "John Wick.") The fun could go out of exposes.

What more and more of us are aware of is that life is an existential tragedy. So, what relief do we receive from that through the unmasking of supposed miscreants? Bring on the lightness of being and we promise we will be able to bear it.

Actually, some of the unraveling is happening simply as a result of market forces.

Verizon is reported to be shopping around the far-left HuffPost. How predictable has been the angle on content. The tone is the exhaustion of MS. Magazine in its final days. The content is as stale as the plotting of "Desperate Housewives" when writers ran out of ideas. 

The conservative leaning (but toned down over the years) Drudge Report is said to be for sale or needing investors.

Simultaneously, paid newsletters like Substack, which strive for objectivity, are the new cool. Here is my article on that trend, published in O'Dwyer PR.

Therefore, obviously the world is ready for a James-type righting of the wrongs of media. 

In itself that could restore respect for the field of journalism. The sector could have a roaring comeback.

Help-wanted ads for journalists will multiply in number. Higher education will need to expand current journalism programs. In my career coaching for young people, I could encourage them to, yes, prepare for that vocation. It's not a job. - Download ReimaginingYourCareerWithJaneGenova.

You bet, a world suffering from COVID-19 and the worst of capitalism needs a fresh set of heroes. Kathryn and James could be among them.

In addition there are those in the legal community who already have the tools to assist with the carnage of the pandemic and to transform capitalism into a system that benefits all of us.

An example of that is the law firm Paul, Weiss, chaired by Brad Karp. It motivated the industry-wide collaboration creating the COVID Relief Center for victims of the pandemic.

Simultaneously, it has been an early adopter in The Triple Bottom Line, that is expanding capitalism from only chasing profits to the well-being of people and planet earth. That happens in its new practice:  Sustainability & Environmental, Social and Governance Advisory Panel (ESG).

Meanwhile global chairman of Dentons Joe Andrew has been on the front lines of media, looking out for the little guy. The earnestness mirrors the tone and content of a Frank Capra film. Give us more of that, Joe.

The legacy of the Black Plague, document historians, had been an era of regression. The Dark Ages.

It will take a fresh kind of leadership to avoid that globally after COVID-19 finishes with mankind. I have a hunch it is nearly in-place. 

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Burning Bridges: What We Have Learned From Aaron Charney (and why the risk is less in the wild 2020)

The old wisdom had been: Don't burn bridges. 

Much of that still holds. There is less possibility of a negative experience from the past intruding on your present if you exit it without push-back. 

But, in the volatile 21st century, more and more employees are profiting from burning bridges - and it's not hurting their careers. In fact, more and more are not only landing on their feet but winding up ahead of the usual game.

The classic case had been lawyer Aaron Charney. 

The world went bug-eyed when he sued his BigLaw employer for discrimination because of his sexual orientation. Media, ranging from The New York Times to Abovethelaw, closely followed that lawsuit. 

Most predicted that Charney would never work again, at least not in a good job practicing law. The Most were wrong. He received a settlement large enough to purchase a condo in Manhattan (condos are more expensive than coops in the Big Apple). He also pivoted to another wow position in another elite law firm.

But, not everyone is positioned right to burn bridges. Here are 3 questions to ask yourself:

• What is the risk/reward? For Charney the reward was great since BigLaw is a deep pocket. If the lawsuit ended in his favor, he had a shot at real wealth. Therefore, he did take the risk. In addition, he could look forward to the satisfaction of having done, at least according to his value system, the right thing.

 

• Do you have the emotional strength to endure what the enemies you create can do to you? According to the media reports, the defendants in Charney's lawsuit put him through the wringer. He suffered but he didn't become undone.

 

• If you are blackballed, do you have another way of making a good living? Charney could have launched his own law firm. The media exposure he received during the litigation would have provided a platform for marketing.

Recently, I had burned a bridge with search firm Heidrick & Struggles. Here is that backstory. 

Before, during and after making that move I didn't have one moment of doubt. The pain of not pushing back on what I perceived as inappropriate treatment of me was, I calculated, much greater than any which could come from taking a stand. Any way, in the wildness of 2020, the rules of professional life keep mutating. Burning bridges frequently doesn't have the severe consequences of more stable times. 

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California AB 2147 - Now, Inmates Trained as Firefighters Can Go Professional

Well, in a labor market in which many industries are collapsing, firefighters remain in demand.

So, California 2147, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom yesterday, would make it possible for prison inmates trained to fight fires to do that professionally. That is, as BusinessInsider reports, they can apply for that as a paid job. In order to help with that process they can petition for their record to be wiped clean, if their offenses had been nonviolent. 

In the CA prison system there is training in firefighting. When prisons pitch in they operate outside the prison facilities, bunk in tents and earn a few bucks a day. 

Historically they were barred from leveraging that experience for standard jobs with fire departments. Obviously, those hiring were wary of anyone with a criminal record.

Well, that record can go poof. Currently there are about 1,200 inmates taking on the blazes in CA.

Other states should study this model of how to provide convicts a real second chance. 

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To Stay, Delay, or Go - The Complex Science and Art of Quitting Whatever (career, job, relationship, addiction, nation)

The brandname partners struggle with the decision to stay with the devil they know or do a lateral, seeing a bigger playing field ahead.

Already, the ILs sense that law school was the wrong choice. Why not just parachute out and learn business as a manager trainee in a grocery chain? But all that sunk cost, including studying for the LSAT and moving to Los Angeles.

The marriage isn't working. But it's not that bad. The pragmatic thing would be to keep patching it up for five more years. 

Decisions about what's called "quitting" involve ponderous principles of science and social intelligence.

Those ordeals date back to biblical times. Eve encountered the option of sticking with authority or pursuing opportunity.

Since then, researchers have been busy bees mapping out what mechanisms in the brain and in socialization that shape the decision-making process associated with whether to stay or go. There is also the delay option.

An old book (at least in digital time), "Mastering The Art Of Qutting: Why It Matters In Life, Love, and Work" had been published on that. The year was 2014. The economy was bouncing back after The Great Recession. Professionals were ready to job hop again or risk launching a business. 

The authors Peg Streep and Alan Bernstein compile what was the latest thinking on the matter at that time. The read is useful.

What still seems relevant is the finding that most human beings find exiting whatever difficult or impossible. In itself that accounts for why it is too easy to get stuck and/or to handle poorly the actual exits.

Those, however, who master the art of quitting tend to achieve sustained success and inner peace.

Most professionals contact me for a complimentary coaching consultation because they find their job or whole career path a bad fit but can't let go the bird in the hand. Essentially they value what is but are obsessed with what could be.

"Mastering the Art of Quitting" outlines the ways human beings bungle quitting. Here are five of them.

• Lifetime shutdown. The going gets tough. The professionals never acquire skills to navigate the unexpected. The sandbox they are doomed to play in is very small. Not only do they exit everything prematurely. They stop looking for new situations to enter.
• The Noble Gesture. They can only come to pull the plug by positioning and package their decision as a ethical imperative. Most folks see through that. The career runway is shortened. 
• The preserving of the status-quo. They don't have the courage to leave, despite all the conflicts. But by threatening to leave they can extract some concessions in order to be able to stay. Those in the loop will tire of this and likely push them out.
• Still there, but disengaged. No way can they endure the stress of change. So, they stick around but aren't really there. Many firings happen as a result. In executive circles, those are classified as "brownouts," that is, the professionals lose the fire in the belly. Of course, that's noticed. 
• The Drama. They stay in beyond the point of endurance. Then blow. The exit is full of grand theatre, including emails distributed throughout the law firm. Media outlets eat that up. But after that, those indulging themselves that way frequently are finished in that line of work.

The preferred way of quitting? Exiting the whatever calmly and without aggressiveness, then never looking back. The Next may or may not pan out. But that's irrelevant. What was relevant is that a situation which was no longer satisfying has been left in the past.

The major obstacle in moving from where you are to where you assess you want to be is the pile-on of advice from The Watchers.

Most are committed to the status quo. They will tell the partner who wants to start her own IP boutique to see a shrink.

The others project their own level of discomfort onto you and champion you flee the situation. Here, free to read, is a book on comfort zones.

Because of those busy-bodies, it's wise, when considering quitting, to play your cards close to your vest. Sort out with one or two trusted human beings. 

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Olivia de Havilland, Legal Trailblazer, Dies at Age 104

As the world knows: Today, Olivia de Havilland passed gently into the night of natural causes in her residence in Paris, France.

She was 104 years old. Here is a backgrounder on her life and career.

Her sister Joan Fontaine, also a Hollywood big name, died at age 96. Family genes structured for longevity.

The Olivia de Havilland brand is most associated with her dramatic performances. They include the now-controversial "Gone with the Wind." Along the way, she picked up two Academy Awards.

But her legacy in the legal sector is quite different.

She was a trailblazer in using the law to reduce the power of Hollywood studios. Yes, she instituted a kind of power outage.

In 1943, she filed a lawsuit against Warner Brothers. It was confining her to ingenue roles. No fool, she got it that she wouldn't be an ingenue forever. Warner's management of her was keeping her career on a short runway.

In 1944, the court ruled that after seven years - calendar ones - the contract was fulfilled. That freed the actress to seek out roles at other studios.

Of course, Warner Brothers tried to blackball her in the industry. Obviously that didn't have the career-killing results Warner expected. Her career, though, like most in Hollywood, had its ups and downs. The universe wasn't always smiling on her. 

In this time of renamings, a law school should take on the new moniker of "The Olivia de Havilland School of Game-Changing Law."

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The UPS Store Website, Executive Parkway, Toledo, OH Gushes: WE ARE OPEN

But that branch of UPS wasn't this morning. That is, open.

Not when it was supposed to at 9 A.M.

Not around 9:25 A.M. when the many of us waiting on the sidewalk in the hot sun decided to give up.

Corridor of shame. 

Among ourselves we swapped information about alternatives.

One woman briefed me how I could get processed what I needed to at Fed Ex. And, that's exactly what I did.

At the Monroe Street store of FedEx in Toledo, Ohio, Jessica who manned the operations was a superhero. And the total cost was a bit over 2 bucks. For the same service, UPS usually charges a buck a page. 

No more doing (or even trying to do) business with UPS again. Not for me.

Life has become too hard. No business will stay in business long if it comports itself like a whatever in a banana republic. I am a businesswoman. I need reliability in the vendors I use.

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Dick Wolf in the BLM Era

Those brilliant fictional characters in law enforcement producer Dick Wolf created don't fit well with the BLM ethos.

Wolf became a brandname and wealthy through catchy police crime shows, ranging from "Law and Order SVU" to "Chicago PD."

The best known part of the formula is, of course, having plots ripped from the headlines. For example, "Law and Order SVU" had two episodes anchored around the Harvey Weinstein saga of expecting career women to pony up sexual favors in order to stay in the game.

But another part is positioning and packaging members of law enforcement as heroes. Given that status, they can operate according to their own rules. For instance, to save the day, Hank Voigt from "Chicago PD" will rough up suspects. As Dawn Chmielewski hammers in FORBES, both of these Wolf stock tactics are being put under the microscope during this era of BLM.

Consequently, Wolf will have to rethink how his writers put together plot lines, put boundaries on characters' behavior, and present the flaws of the law-enforcement system.

The elephant in the room on that one is if Wolf can function in that new box and still produce hot entertainment?

He could find himself too boxed in.

The history of success is filled with players who operated brilliantly in one context. Then things changed. And they fell off a cliff. The well known example had been Henry Ford. His rigid approach in stylistics initially had been part of his strategic model. Then competitor GM went beyond that. It took a while for Ford's business to recover.

Both Wolf's supporters and his critics (currently they are growing in number) will be monitoring all his creations. Those include the newest one which brings back Christopher Meloni.

Can Wolf change and still get, hold, and grow audiences?

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Big Apple - In It Alone, Paul, Weiss Employs 832 Lawyers

Lots of watchers of business in the Big Apple might be declaring it over.

But one sector within Manhattan which continues to thrive, at least in manpower body count is law.

According to Law.com, reports Abovethelaw, at the top of the number list, in terms of lawyers, is Paul, Weiss.

In just Manhattan per se, Paul, Weiss employs 832 lawyers. 

Their presence generates plenty of revenue into the local economy.

And, wow, what about the taxes.

The government powers that be in Manhattan should institute a Paul, Weiss Day.

On the first one, Paul, Weiss Chairman Brad Karp can be saluted for his leadership in collaborative pro-bono initiatives. Across myriad law firms, Karp put together the unique Coronavirus Resource Center. 

To transform tensions with China into collaboration, the next Administration should catapult Karp into that loop.

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BigLaw + Unemployed Lawyers: Pro-Bono Front Lines for COVID-19 Victims w/o Health Insurance, Housing

BigLaw has been downright proactive in its pro-bono outreach during COVID-19 time.

Iconic is the example of Paul, Weiss, under the leadership of Brad Karp, of the Coronavirus Resource Center.

Unfortunately, the human fallout from COVID-19 is escalating. The pandemic, at least in a growing number of states in the United States, is unmanageable.

California had no choice but to return to lockdown. Say good-bye to jobs, again.

The result of that sustained unemployment has been the loss of employer-funded health insurance for 5.4 million.

It had been a leader with a legal background - Barack Obama - who gave America Obamacare. Currently, the current health insurance issues, triggered by COVID-19, could again become the focus of lawyer types. Lawyers understand not only legalities. They have deep experience in leveraging power, federal, state, and local. So much of that had been captured in Hedrick Smith's classic "The Power Game."

The problem which has been receiving more media attention than health insurance, of course, has been homelessness. After federal and state moratoriums on evictions are lifted, homelessness could become increasingly normal. Even before those deadlines, for example, courts in Tucson, Arizona, a coronavirus hotspot, there have been more than 50 daily evictions versus the previous 10 to 30 cases.

And homelessness is what "everyone" is talking about. That can make the lack of health insurance a sleeper. That doesn't have to happen if lawyers become the loudest (and most effective) voices in the room for social justice.

In history, lawyers could be celebrated, just like healthcare workers, for their selflessness during the time of COVID-19.

And those lawyers will not just be the big names.

The heroes could and should include the knocked-out-of-the-box lawyers.

As they (Hugh Simons predicts there will be plenty of layoffs) figure out The Next they can plow their expertise in law and power to make a difference for pandemic victims.

It is well known: Doing good leads directly to doing well.

Yes, that growing group of Lost Generation lawyers can be creating a fresh platform for success. Currently, on LinkedIn, displaced general counsel from  Salary.com Colin Levy is doing just that. He shares information and insight with the jobless, both from law and other sectors. From that have come contract assignments. But I have a hunch the longer-term payback will be career transition. 

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Criminal Prosecution of Amy Cooper - Not Everyone Aboard, Including Victim Christian Cooper

Major issues in criminal justice have emerged after Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. filed criminal charges against Amy Cooper - the Central Park "Karen."

Essentially, she is accused of a false police report. Her lawyer is Robert Barnes. Through him, she had indicated she is not guilty.

One obstacle for the prosecution is this: The victim - Christian Cooper - refuses to cooperate, reports The New York Times. He has made no assessment of the legalities involved. Instead his decision is based on values. He has decided that the woman who treated him with racial bias in Central Park has been punished enough. That has included losing a job and becoming a symbol of racial prejudice.

There are others who also perceive the criminal action as too much. What purpose would incarceration of this woman serve? Surely, since she has already suffered greatly for her behavior, the odds are that she has learned her lesson. In a sense, this further action is analogous to flocking a dead horse.

Also, there is the matter of deterrent. Will this high-profile legal move prevent others from similar acts of racial bias?

Meanwhile, the victim has become a hero of our times. He is a man of character. Let's lobby Congress for an official Christian Cooper Federal Holiday.

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