Law And More

Employment Contracts - Non-Disclosure Clauses and Other Mandates Which Must Be Made Bullet-Proof

The negotiation part of Megyn Kelly's exit from NBC ended last Friday. The former Fox political commentator got her full $69 million, despite an early departure from her contract. 

But the negative consequences of its ill-fated hire will play out for probably much longer than the television network could have anticipated.

At the top of the list of the fall-out could be the influence, power, and very career of network head Andy Lack.

In the New York Post article about the payoff to Kelly, Lack is cited for poor judgment. Among his "sins" was hiring this abrasive personality for a soft newsmagazine in the evening (which had been pitted against hard-hitting "60 Minutes") and the folksy late-morning segment of "Today." Kelly couldn't engage an audience.

Another error in judgment was allowing Kelly's compensation to be public. Success in television broadcasting requires team work among talent. Once the $69 million number reached insiders, it became the night of the long knives. Kelly was frozen out. That was when she had no depth of understanding of softball television. 

Could Lack wind up the scapegoat? That probably depends on how much mischief Kelly could indirectly cause.

The negotiations took so long because of the battle over what Kelly could disclose about her ordeal at NBC. That means she has an agenda to push back. She is also determined for a comeback through her strength: political reporting. With the 2020 election on the horizon, she should be receiving job offers. Any success she produces in her Next will reflect poorly on how NBC managed this star. 

A third negative spinoff could be a hit to the collective confidence at NBC. It's not difficult to conclude that it hasn't yet healed from the allegations surrounding the forced-out Matt Lauer.

Meanwhile, ABC keeps hitting homeruns.

With David Muir as anchor, its evening news programming is number-one.

Muir has taken on the mantle of a comforting Walter Cronkite for these unusual times.

Aging "20/20" is keeping the juices flowing with blockbuster two-hour segments about real-life puzzles.

Among the winners had been the probing of why Colorado husband and father Chris Watts might have committed the triple murder of wife and children. A smart move, there was no definitive explanation. More recently, we were left to connect the dots if "Baretta" actor Robert Blake was guilty of murdering his wife Bonny Bakley. 

The bottom line on the Kelly mis-hire is that she is proving to be no one to mess with. She seems to combine a Machiavellian mindset with training as a lawyer. For a while, she had been an associate at BigLaw firm Jones Day. Any organization hiring her better create a bullet-proof contract for everything ranging from the mandate to be a team player to non-disclosure before, during, and after the hiring.

Get amazing results through out of box communications strategies/content. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com. I help, not sell.

Dignity of Work Meme - Lordsdown Fate, Hard Times Could Help Sherrod Brown in 2020 Presidential Campaign

Here in Ohio, U.S. Senator (Democrat) Sherrod Brown is staring opportunity in the face.

Whether the GM Lordstown, OH plant idles, shuts down permanently, or remains operating, he has a high-profile platform for the dignity of work meme. He has been hammering that since he ran for re-election as U.S. Senator in the midterms.

More recently, he has been visible in lobbying GM to keep that plant open and the 1,500 well-paying jobs in the state. In terms of publicity, that has been a blessing for Brown.

Local, national, and global news outlets (here is The Guardian account) have been examining the direct and ripple effects of the plant closing.

Just before Christmas ABC local news presented how two mid-sized businesses would have to conduct a massive layoff if there is no more Lordstown plant. In addition, property values would plummet. Of course, the sheriff will be evicting plenty of tenants who could make rent.

As Politico reports and as rumors have been hinting, Brown is exploring a run for the U.S. President job in 2020.

Among his initiatives is looking to Barack Obama for support, hunting for talent to man the campaign, and introducing himself to the nation through the media. 

Hard times, which are predicted to hit us by the end of 2019, would help Brown.

His persona is The Uncharisma. A guy we perceive as sincere and seemingly unscripted could be exactly what we decide we want. He would be the analogue of the Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Already he has convinced voters in conservative OH to vote to him. A Lordstown shut-down and a whopper of an economic downturn could push Trump loyalists into his arms. 

He also would have unique appeal to the aging, nationwide.

As The Wall Street Journal outed, we older professionals aren't sitting pretty. The dignity of work Brown champions is less and less available to us.

In general earning power declines after age 35, that is, if we lose a job and finally land another one. The latter will tend to pay less than the job we used to have.

Currently, eight million of us are either unemployed or are employed in situations which pay peanuts. My 62-year-old neighbor earns a bit over eight bucks an hour at Marc's grocery in Austintown, OH. Sometimes her hours are cut. 

In short, age bias is real. Here, free to download, is my guide on how to keep working, no matter our age and how survival jobs can scale into new career paths Download Outwitting ageism

If Brown is wise, he will invite those of us over-50 to volunteer in his campaign. His staff can contact me for assistance with content-creation. 

Out of the Box Communications = Unexpected Results

Complimentary Consultation janegenova374@gmail.com – I help, not sell.

John Roberts' Public-Relations Mandate: Preserve Respect for SCOTUS

Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court John Roberts has been a busy guy - and not just with legal issues.

Since the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to SCOTUS, Roberts has embraced the public relations mission of preserving respect for the highest court in the land.

His message has been: The Court is not partisan. It is neither Democrat nor Republican. So devoted is Roberts to the meme that some anticipate he has replaced the retired Anthony Kennedy as the swing vote.

Here is the latest on that campaign from Adam Liptak at The New York Times. As Liptak reports, Roberts has the track record on rulings to back up his contention of the Court's not being partisan.

So much has this been the situation that there are conservatives who are angry at Roberts. That disenchantment probably occurred when the Court didn't rule ObamaCare illegal. 

Kavanaugh can also prove a disappointment. Recently, he refrained from pushing back on payments to Planned Parenthood. That could have been the operation of an open legal mind. Or it could have been a Machiavellian move to position and package him as objective. Therefore, when he rules on bigger issues such as abortion he won't be perceived totally as alt-right.

As many recall, SCOTUS doesn't have to be the last legal word on a matter. In 2007, it tossed the Lilly Ledbetter pay discrimination age on the grounds that the complaint should have been filed within 180 days of employment. The immediate push-back was that it is unusual if not downright impossible for new employees to be aware of compensation discrimination within that timeframe.

By 2009, Congress enacted the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Yes, it overrode SCOTUS. With that as precedent, surely Congress is aware of how it can effectively gut the power and influence of SCOTUS. 

Roberts' instincts are right. The legitimacy of the U.S. Supreme Court is in play. If both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate are controlled by progressives, they can make the highest court in the land be perceived as a kind of goofy toothless institution. 

Out of the Box Communications = Unexpected Results

Complimentary Consultation janegenova374@gmail.com – I help, not sell.

Media Outlets - They Could Be Playing Dershowitz

Brand Dershowitz. That had been considered among the the most powerful in criminal law.

Now, some watchers of retired Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz are speculating that he has put his branding at risk through his public statements about legal matters in TrumpWorld.

Actually, after his Monday tweeting about Michael Flynn, there has been a movement beyond speculation to downright puzzlement: What the hell is Dershowitz doing to his legacy? He asserted that lying to the FBI is not a crime unless lying is material. 

There may be a very simple explanation. Dershowitz, at age 80, seems determined to remain prominent on the legal radar.

Therefore, he's vulnerable to every trick by media outlets to play him. The media business is a brutal game.

That's exactly when crisis czar Gene Grabowski hammers the importance of communications training. A partner at kglobal public affairs, Grabowski recently issued this manifesto Download CommunicationTrainingGeneGrabowski

Put bluntly, Dershowitz seems to be outfoxed by the Fox-like journalists and commentators. They give him a platform to pontificate. He falls for it, all the time.

The 1.5 minutes of air time or the headline in text are gnawing away at his legacy. The first line in his obituary could read: "After becoming the informal legal apologist for the Trump Administration, criminal law expert Alan Dershowitz became vilified - and ridiculed." 

As a communications coach for the over-50 in their careers I have noted that a major threat is this: becoming invisible. Unless they are aware of that they can undermine their image by compulsively chasing attention. Constituencies, ranging from the media to their enemies, frequently move in to take advantage of their neediness.

Out of the Box Communications = Unexpected Results

Complimentary Consultation janegenova374@gmail.com – I help, not sell.

The End of TrumpWorld, Including Post-Analysis/Commentary - Media Outlets Will Lose Big Chucks of Their Audiences

TrumpWorld has created a sustained obsession with what is happening, what could happen, and supposed expert analysis of all that.

Media outlets, including digital native Abovethelaw.com, are scaling. 

That is now.

When TrumpWorld is all over and the world wearies of the deconstructions, the odds are that those same media players and platforms will suffer big losses in audiences. 

The members of the media which can't navigate the shift to provocative takes on other kinds of subject matter could actually go out of business. Already, much of print media and digital natives such as Buzzfeed and Vice are struggling.

Those like The New York Times, which have a print legacy but managed to get their heads around digital, have turned themselves around. However, the NYT has been invested heavily in TrumpWorld. That's a risk. In the months after the dust settles and the nation moves on, the odds of continuing to sustain a recovery for the media corporation may not be good.

Overall, more and more of us are plum exhausted by the gyrations of TrumpWorld.

Simultaneously, we are faced with losses in portfolio because of what the Dow is doing.

Those in the know predict a recession by the end of 1990.

Meanwhile, at least one third of retirees have returned to work. Most of them have to in order to make ends meet.  Only some are doing that for social reasons - that is, to flee the new kind of loneliness baby boomers are saddled with. The so-called Golden Years are playing out to be totally uncertain.

In addition, what crazy weather pattern will hit our region next?

Smart powers that be in media should already be strategically planning for the Post-Trump era.

Recall how quickly the preoccupation with Watergate faded when a whopper of an economic downturn hit America. Politics shifted to the pragmatism of landing, holding, and moving up in a work situation.

It was in the dramas of William Shakespeare that we bear witness to the universal: The crowd is fickle. Human beings seem to be wired with a teenage mirror neuron. We see something else. We respond it, as reflex. 

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

In addition, this blog welcomes sponsored content.

Free consultation janegenova374@gmail.com

 

RAT! - Will a Flipped Michael Cohen Deter Crime?

The question on many minds is: Why did a seasoned businessperson like Donald Trump trust anyone to allegedly transact illegal business? 

The answer to that question would be: Dumber than dumb move. And, that in itself could deter crime.

Many activities which violate the law require buy-in from other players. One kind of those players - lawyer Michael Cohen - turned out to be a rat. Big Time.

Now, it has been confirmed that even the most powerful men (and women) cannot prevent being ratted out. Therefore, prospective criminals might re-consider crossing that line from playing fast and loose to the illegal. Obviously, they can't trust anyone. 

That wasn't always the situation, of course.

Back in more simple times, there were no rats.

In exchange for not implicating others, my immigrant uncle had a string of newsstands funded near the PATH stations in Jersey City, New Jersey. The few years he invested in a prison stay paid off well. He was catapulted into the middle class. His mother, that is my grandmother, was able to relocate from a cold-water third-floor walkup to a centrally heated single-family house.

Another uncle, also not a rat, did one year in the joint and went on to head the manpower on the docks in Hudson County, NJ. Because of that influence and power, when his father, that is my grandfather, died there was STO at the funeral mass. Yes, he could provide a job for your cousin from the old country.

Those days had no e-devices for tracking so there were no e-trails or e-evidence.

Also, street justice was common. No one would dare break the code of silence. Legs would be broken, with a side show of slashed tires and maybe even a fire. 

That was then.

Currently the rat game can be the platform for a roaring comeback, even more financially rewarding and influential than that of the pre-snitch one. Cohen is laying a solid foundation for that with his media interviews. 

Therefore, anyone with a criminal mind who knows how to connect the dots will get it that the snitch no longer winds up in the ditch. Instead, there is an emerging RAT career path. That should rule out trust, which blows up grandiose plans for the against-the-law whatever requiring cooperation among parties.

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

In addition, this blog welcomes sponsored content.

Free consultation janegenova374@gmail.com

 

When Public Relations Firms Have Public Nuisance Defendants as Clients - The 5 Do-Nows

Here is the article I published today on Odwyerpr.com on how public relations firms have to manage clients' public nuisance litigation.

Being sued for creating a public nuisance automatically brands defendants the bad guys.

Litigation Communications

Making points of law, policy issues, and politics accessible and engaging for the public, media, investors, and more. Complimentary consultation. Please contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Those Two JDs from Yale Law School Whom We Can't Forgive

In Canada, Scotiabank Arena had lots of empty seats. They were vacant because, as Maureen Dowd points out, The Clintons have become irrelevant to Canadians. 

In America, in addition to becoming weary of that brainy duo from Yale Law School, we have decided not to forgive them their sins. We have waiting a long time willing to bestow on them redemption. But they simply haven't shown signs of having learned anything from the suffering that comes with sinning.

In contrast, there is Monica Lewinsky. Through myriad venues she has told us how suffering had changed her. Those psychic and external shifts are palpable.

She engages with her diverse audiences as a real human being who has been through the wringer. With self-forgiveness she confesses how she was culpable in the bizarre sexual encounter with The Big Creep (Bill Clinton). In turn, we forgive her. 

What is puzzling is why the two smart and manipulative Clintons can't conjure up images for themselves which would fit the times. Instead they cling to the personas which were power tools when they had influence. 

The influence has mostly faded. The movers and shakers are fresh faces such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and rebrands such as Barack Obama. 

The influence will be a total wrap when the Drudge Report ceases any link to media coverage about that. We can cover that one year of that non-coverage with a flashing blue light.

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

In addition, this blog welcomes sponsored content.

Free consultation janegenova374@gmail.com

 

Such a Different Time in American Culture - Currently, George H.W. Bush Wouldn't Be Electable or Marketable

George H.W. Bush represented the last of what might have been praiseworthy in WASP culture - that is the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant ethos.

WASPS, such as those living in upscale charming New England towns like Greenwich, Connecticut, were known for a code of conduct. That included good manners or decorum, devotion to establishment institutions including Ivy League schools, and public service. 

WASP influence had dominated until the counterculture of the late 1960s. It was then that other groups in America pushed for their values to be recognized. In English Departments in universities there began to be battles about including the works of non-WASP authors in the curriculum. Williams Shakespeare was a dead white man. 

Soon enough the WASP style began to be derided. For example, "preppy" was positioned and packaged as stodgy. WASP rhetoric, including in corporate, elicited smirks. As a ghostwriter/speechwriter, I was on the front lines of helping business executives become conversational - that is, non-WASPY.

Today, of course, the WASP ethos is downright vilified, at least in a growing number of circles. The most aggressive voices in our society have made old wealthy Protestant men the symbol of oppression. And wrong values.

No, you don't want your children growing up in the seemingly closed society of Greenwich, CT. They will never survive the rough and tumble of life in the 21st century. Locate your family life in the diverse (now-gentrifying) Jersey City, New Jersey. The kids will have to be alert about crime. That's good. You will train them how to hop on the PATH train to Manhattan. No eye contact. 

In short, to get anywhere, at least anywhere that's fun, you can't be known as having relatives who came over on the Mayflower.

Instead the cool is for one's background to reach back to steerage in a ship docking at Ellis Island or one operated by those in the slave trade. Those are feeder pools for slots that are game-changers.

A classic example is African-American Elie Mystal who heads editorial at Abovethelaw.com. He started out doing the WASP thing: Harvard undergraduate, Harvard Law School, white-shoe law firm. That either broke him and/or he had the strength to break free.

Right now, Mystal represents the new code for right values, at least among the young or those who pride themselves on thinking young. 

Meanwhile, English departments find it increasingly hard to market what they represent - or used to. To survive, they would be smart to reposition and repackage themselves as "Communications" or "Media." 

In fact, the WASP tradition of the more education the better in elite institutions is being questioned. Sure, the college bubble hasn't burst yet. Sure, there's stiff competition to be admitted to those prep schools in New England. After all, George H.W. Bush had attended Phillips Academy. 

But applications to M.B.A. programs are down. Harvard Business School? The emerging meme is to view it as the laboratory for creating ethical Frankensteins.

For the next few weeks many in the nation will come together to honor former president Bush. But many others will think: Good riddance, that's the end to a system that kept us down or in the shadow.

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

In addition, this blog welcomes sponsored content.

Free consultation janegenova374@gmail.com

 

Bullying the 65+ - One for Congress

Somehow we made it through multiple economic downturns, including the whopper of 2008.

We did what it took to accommodate a workplace gone tech.

Many of us came from under debt.

Yet, some economists and many financial planners have been labeling us "Brand Dumb."

Come 65, announces the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis, 40% of us who are middle class will tumble into poverty. Read all about it in MarketWatch. 

That assumes we're relying primarily on Social Security. After we receive our 2.8% boost in the monthly payment, the average benefit will be $1,461.

Annually, that will total $17,532. Well, the supposed experts concede, that puts us way over the official government threshold of $12,060 for poverty.

However, the experts reply with this: Even at $17,532, many of us will be living in poverty.

But, will we? Or, more to the point, are we?

There are plenty of those in America 65 and over whom I coached who are living a fulfilling middle class life on their Social Security. They are doing that because they made it their personal finance business to adjust and keep adjusting to cost of living realities. 

For example, they knew to sell the family home when the real estate market was near the top. No, many of them haven't been caught in what could be another housing bust, especially in the northeast.

They shed a few tears about leaving all they knew but did the deed: They relocated from high priced locales to much lower priced ones such as Sierra Vista, Arizona, and Youngstown, Ohio. Renting isn't cheap but they know how to shop around in Landlord Nation. 

That's reality number-one.

Reality number-two is that not too many of us are winging it on Social Security, alone.

As The New York Times reports, more than half of us plan to or are already working beyond 65. Some have no intention of retiring at all.

In fact, the two age groups - 65 to 74 and 75 and older - have the fastest rate of growth in the U.S. labor market. That's why I have been a busy career coach for those over-50 who are determined to continue to earn income from work. The aging recognize that full retirement was their dad's and mom's game. A career path may end at age 65. Working rarely does in the current time.

No, we're not dumb. 

And, collectively, we should send this collective message to the economists and financial planners: We won't be bullied into assuming we played it all wrong during our peak working years.

Then and now there were problems. Often big ones, such as the collapse of our industry or medical bills.

But, we have emerged as The Scrambling Generation. Here is my guide, free to download, on how to make a buck, no matter what  Download Outwitting ageism.

And here is my e-book, also free to download, on how to keep finding the exit out of our comfort zone. 

Meanwhile, Congress should be investigating the tactics by professionals trying to establish reputations for brilliance or developing new business - at our expense. You bet, I will testify.

Coaching and Thought Leadership Ghostwriting about Issues Associated with Aging.

Complimentary consultation, sliding scale fees. Please contact Jane Genova at janegenova374@gamil.com.