Law And More

In Bridgegate, Bridget Kelly Got Off the Hook - Big Implications, Legal and Political

"In the New Jersey scandal known as Bridgegate, the high court ruled last year that a political-retribution scheme that involved crippling a town with traffic jams didn’t constitute federal fraud. The decision already has prompted the reversal of most charges in a high-profile insider-trading case, and could hurt prosecutors’ efforts to preserve convictions in a case that exposed ethical failures at one of the Big Four accounting firms." - Dave Michaels, The Wall Street Journal, April 12, 2021.

That U.S. Supreme Court ruling reversed the conviction of former aide to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie - Bridget Kelly.

In an earler trial she had been found to be a key player in the traffic jam on the George Washington bridge, created for political retaliation. However, amid all those legalities Christie himself had not been prosecuted. That made the Bridgegate scandal all the more high-profile. There was also sympathy with Kelly as a mother. It was difficult to buy in that she had orchestrated the plan without input from above. What political aide has that kind of authority?

SCOTUS had reviewed whether unsavory behavior constituted criminal fraud. What was determined had been this: Federal criminal fraud can only be ruled when the behavior is intended to obtain funds or material goods in a underhanded manner. 

As the legalities currently work their way through the legal system, the whole matter of the 2013 Bridgegate has been resurrected to bite Christie in the butt. His current political comeback can be derailed. For example, on "This Week" he attacked U.S. Joe Biden's infrastructure initiative. 

In response, reports Keith Griffith at the Daily Mail:

"Chris Christie has accused President Joe Biden of 'lying' about the contents of a massive infrastructure spending proposal -- but quickly faced questions about his own credentials on infrastructure from critics who recalled his infamous 'Bridgegate' scandal."

The social network Twitter went wild with pushback on Christie. Again, he may have become radioactive. This is at a time when the GOP is struggling with its post-Trump Administration identity. Also, with the Democrats in control of the White House and the U.S. House, myriad constituencies are focusing on making friends and influencing the liberals. In itself, that could leave a yesterday politico like Christie out of 2021 looping. The media outlets could begin ignoring him. The focus will be the new GOP players.

Yes, place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Affordable rates. Please contact Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Paul Weiss - Will It "Do a Jones Day" and The Possible Implications

Back in April 2017, Joe Patrice did a long-form piece on Abovethelaw about how Jones Day was leveraging its association with the Trump Administration.

Of course, because of that Jones Day was in the catbird seat for developing new business and reducing client churn.

Some recall that the branding kicked in when Jones Day partner Don McGahn began representing the 2016 Make America Great Again campaign. He himself went on to be White House Counsel. With him parachuted into federal government about a dozen other Jones Day lawyers.

Power? A pile-on of it.

Now, Bloomberg Law detailed how embedded Paul Weiss is in the Biden Administration. So, it isn't a stretch to speculate how much of an edge that will be in landing new accounts, expanding the business from current ones and discouraging churn.

Bluntly put, Paul Weiss could the liberal version of Jones Day.

With that edge, though, comes fresh challenges.

For instance, the Bloomberg Law coverage pointed out that although Paul Weiss has a progressive culture its client list isn't totally that. On it are Exxon and private equity. Also, in this era of radical politics, being looped in with Biden Administration branding makes Paul Weiss a target for just about any extreme constituency. As well as the not-so-extreme ones.

Jones Day went through a lot of that. Iconic had been the anti-Trump media coverage of its role in questioning the results of the 2020 election in Pennsylvania.

Therefore, along with the huge plus of access to the Biden Administration, Paul Weiss will be slugging it out with myriad old and new enemies. Much of that will make it into the legal, business and political media.

As with all matters in the court of public opinion, how those headlines play out depends primarily on how the law firm manages its now number-one job of public relations. The door has been opened - a favorite phrase in the legal sector - to turn over Paul Weiss and inspect its underbelly. 

That public-relations "duty" also reaches inside the law firm. The leadership will have to persuade the Millennial lawyers to buy into both its ideological stances and whatever pops up on its client list. Otherwise there could be leaks to media and the exiting of talent. 

Should Paul Weiss learn from Jones Day?

Just like its unique black box culture, that law firm has its own kind of public relations. For instance, it's not one for mea culpas. Unlike Chadbourne & Park did when settling with Kerrie Campbell, Jones Day didn't indicate it had learned useful lessons when gender bias lawsuit "Tolton, et al v. Jones Day" dissolved. 

Paul Weiss can, just as Jones Day does, also stand firm.

Or, given the amazing social skills of its well-connected chairperson Brad Karp, it can negotiate the whatevers.

What might guide us in watching this new game unfold in D.C. and New York is a classic in the theory and practice of human behavior. That's the book "Presentation of Self in Everyday Life" by famous sociologist Erving Goffman.

Its takeaway is this: The person or the institution with the most power sets the "definition" - that is the rules - for what goes down. That covers everything from what issue is on the table to who speaks first to who gets to speak last. 

What will be of most interest in the next four years is who or what really has the power in America. 

Could it be elite law firm Paul Weiss?

The media?

The Biden Administration?

The radical movements? 

The control of law firms by non-lawyers?

BigTech? (Paul Weiss now is establishing a presence in Silicon Valley.)

Yes, place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Affordable rates. Please contact Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com

 

Shift from Psychobabble to Old-Line Moral Categories - Implications for Trial Lawyers and Prosecutors

Back in the 1970s, clinical psychology doctoral programs were the most difficult to be admitted to.

Right into the Trump Administration psychobabble dominated. That represented the sophisticated way to deliver your take on whatever.

That was then.

Quite quickly the language of stereotyping has shifted to old-line morality.  

It should be obvious that this mutation will influence how defense lawyers and prosecutors position and package their cases. Forget psychologists as expert witnesses. Bring on those with ministry degrees from Harvard or Yale. Ethics thought leaders also. 

Let's look at what's playing out now.

Meghan, yeah the Harry's wife one, is sized up as "no good."

Andrew, the son of Mario, is written off as "a bad man."

And, David, the former Saint David who published a book on character, had been called a "hypocrite" even before the current Aspen Institute scandal. 

That utter simplicity, which doesn't require Psychology 101, could have unique impact in both the courts of law and that of public opinion. The trend could influence juries as much as the phenomenon of the CSI television programming.

Meanwhile, anyone who lapses into psychobabble will come across as pre-COVID. The world has changed. No more dancing around bad. Call it as it is. And champion good, like ABC's "American Strong" segment on the the World News.

Yes, place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Affordable rates. Please contact Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Legal Marketers: Public Relations & Its Risks (classic example of Harry and Meghan)

When the Puritans established Harvard in1636, higher education became the unofficial religion of America. 

That held for a long time.

Then evolved the tools of public relations. The new religion was the conviction that sophisticated forms of public relations could fix any reputational problem and launch any product, service, cause or career. No surprise, the field is growing faster than average.

Increasingly, help-wanted ads in the legal sector are for full-time or just-in-time public relations experts. Their function now includes marketing communications.

However, the results of public relations outreach can be negative.

The obvious case of that is the decline in popularity of Harry and Meghan. According to the YouGov poll, since the Oprah interview, the perception of Harry plummeted by 15 points. That was compared to a week before the interview. Almost half now have a negative take on him. As for Meghan, currently there is a 58% negative perception. 

Another classic case has been litigator David Boies. In his situation, others' public relations efforts have been used against him. In 2015, he was on the top of the public relations game. For instance, BloombergBusinessWeek published a major article on Boies. 

Then the tide turned. In 2017, Ronan Farrow published the reptuation-destroyer "Harvey Weinstein's Army of Spies" in The New Yorker. 

The most recent coverage such as by Law.com about Boies is the plunge of revenue and profits at the firm he co-founded Boies Schiller. That was attributed to the flight of partners. Of course, one business' bad publicity can be another's good publicity. A number of those partners found new homes in law firms such as Paul Weiss. That enhanced the brands of those hiring former Boies Schiller partners as laterals. 

Back before public relations became a must for most organizations and careerists, there were those who made it their business to steer clear of all that. Permanently. Or temporarily. Often they were and are the behind-the-scenes king-makers. Or, as with IBM for years after the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit in 1969, they kept their heads down until the crisis receded from the global collective memory bank. 

It seems unthinkable but it is reality: Public relations can be a risky tool. The usual peril is that when leverged in excess it invites push-back. That dynamic could have played a role in the fall of the House of Cuomo.

Actually as media outlets become more and more competition, a low profile might be wise. The higher one could invite journalists and bloggers to find an opening for an expose. New business can be developed and a career moved forward through word of mouth on specialized networks. Yes, the law firm does outstanding work. Yes, that associate or partner has the X win rate, as all insiders know,

Yes, place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Affordable rates. Please contact Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Bestseller Interrupted - Andrew Cuomo's "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic"

"The publisher of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s book on his leadership during the pandemic said it had stopped promoting the title because of an inquiry into the withholding of data on the deaths of nursing home residents." - David Goodman and Jesse McKinley, The New York Times, March 8, 2021.

That publisher is Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House.

The book is "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic." It was published in October 2020. And, it was positioned and packaged as Cuomo "in his own voice."

That voice no longer resonates as the sound of trusted leadership during upheaval - medical, economic, social and emotional. 

Crown has axed the plan for reprinting the book and issuing it in paperback.

It is unknown how much money Cuomo did earn from contracting to write the book. In addition to the money, though, he had the opportunity to do an apologia of his decision-making - some of it controversial even when his brand was riding high. 

But prior to the scandals sales began to decline because the pandemic fallout worsened in the state. As William Shakespeare hammered in his dramas: The crowd is fickle. Julius Caesar certainly experienced that. 

 Amazon has not yet registered the sales disaster. The book still ranks on Amazon at 14,522. Any author would kill for that kind of showing on Amazon. 

1,390 readers took the time to rate the book and comment on it. They gave it almost a "5" out of a possible "5." 

Given the art and science of reputation restoration in America, Cuomo can still land on his feet. Or if he is knocked off his feet, he can have a comeback. He had pulled one off in 2002. It was then that he said the wrong things and had to withdraw from the New York governor's race. 

Like his brand or actually a reminaged brand, his book can also be given a second chance. However, right now the situation can best be described as "Bestseller Interrupted."

Those observing this unraveling could take the zen stance: Clear thinking, don't know. 

Yes, place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Affordable rates. Please contact Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Legal Media/Marketers - Less Opinion, More Data

Has the op-ed (opinion-editorial) peaked and is in a downward trajectory? If it is, that decline could be accelerated by The New York Times columnist David Brooks' fall from grace. 

In the business world, the op-ed as a public relations tool caught fire when Herb Schmertz leveraged it on behalf of his employer Mobil. That began as paid content (now called "sponsored content") in top-tier media. It was especially useful in the late 1970s when the oil industry was under attack for supposed windfall profits and allegedly withholding oil from the American people.

Over the years, as we in ghostwriting know well, the demand for op-eds by brandname thought leaders surged. We researched and produced the content. The media specialists landed the placements in The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

The technology of blogging opened that up to everyone who had a point of view.

Of course, glut took over. Not only has content peaked. So has the opinion piece.

If those in legal media and legal marketing will check their page views they are likely to find this pattern: Decline in interest in opinion. Increase in interest in data. 

That could be part of the reason for the influence of Bloomberg Law and Law.com. Both legal media outlets are full of facts. Of course, there will be in the article some speculation about the implications of those facts. But mostly, it's a return to the old Joe Friday mantra of "Just the facts ..." 

The same trend seems to be overtaking the advice industry. Less opinion, more data. Don't posit that my son will never be able to make partner at a large law firm. Instead, provide me with comprehensive data about that in general and then some about where it's more likely (e.g. at Weil).

Essentially, there is shift out of 21st-century romanticism (the first time around was with Lord Byron) to what the realities are, at the time. Emotional intelligence is important. After all the bullying executives at Deloitte and KPMG had to step back. But the cult of personality is petering out. It's dawning: Big personalities, ranging from Donald Trump to Andrew Cuomo, can mean Big trouble.

In coaching I lay out the facts to clients that those hiring are focused on what the applicant for work can get done for them. Not their engaging personality. And, since in most fields the shelf life of jobs and projects is shorter and shorter, relationships matter less and less. That's documented by "What Color Is Your Parachute?"

Yes, place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Affordable rates. Please contact Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

St. David (Brooks), Zealot about Character, Fingered for Possible Conflict of Interest

"Facebook Helped Fund David Brooks’s Second Job. Nobody Told The Readers Of The New York Times." - So goes the headline in Buzzfeed, March 3, 2021.

Essentially, New York Times columnist and PBS commentator Brooks had not disclosed that the project he started with the Aspen Institute - Weave - received money from Facebook. That was a $250,000 gift in 2018. Yet, Brooks publishes columns in The New York Times about Facebook, its head Mark Zuckerberg and its products.

Without informing The New York Times, Brooks also penned a blog on the Facebook corporate site. In it he said any problem was not with social media. It was with his users. Ironically, it's about trust. In addition, he had appeared on Facebook's video panel. Again, his "day job" was unaware of that. 

Until now, many thought of Brooks as St. David.

After all, he had the courage to publish, in this era of moral relativism, a book on character. That was "The Road to Character."

It leveraged the language of noble intent. For instance, Brooks contrasted "resume virtue" with "core principles." Those who perceived themselves in charge of national morality gushed it into best-seller status back then.

Now, this.

So far his primary employer has not commented.

Will this influencer go the way of Jeffrey Toobin? Only, not for the beast in man, but for his participation in a righteous cause he didn't tell The New York Times was being funded in part by Facebook.

Also at risk is his venue on PBS. 

Perhaps this human being lacks character. Could be as simple as that.

The bigger story here, though, is what that larger-than-life media institution the New York Times Co will do about this. Currently, it has been struggling in a very public way with other controversies. Likely, the brass is not in a good mood as it approaches the Brooks issue.

And, of course, the world will be all-eyes as to whether Brooks will be appearing on PBS. 

Yes, place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Affordable rates. Please contact Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

So, What Did "That" Mean? - Body Language, Facial Gestures, Early Wraps and More Ambiguity in Virtual Communications

Professionals, at least if they were determined to continue to make a good living, had down cold how to interpret the myriad signals of communications. Everything from the cloud coming over the partner's face in a law firm to the overly accommodating body language of the associate who (everyone knew) was due to be fired.

That was then.

Now, as The Wall Street Journal reports, WFH has changed much of that. It can be difficult to figure out what is going on in a Zoom meeting. The medium is still rather primitive. Much of the visual action isn't ready for prime time.

But, now only is there the challenge of struggling to "read" other members on the remote video transmission. There's also the angst involved in how you are coming across. Most of my communications and coaching clients are dismayed about, for example, "how old" they appear on Zoom. They particularly find that gravity has eaten into their chin line. 

So, what to do?

As always, play it safe. The fundamental in communications since the beginning of time is this: Those with the most power set the terms and conditions of the communications. Way back in 1956, sociologist Erving Goffman systemized that in his classic book "The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life." He called the dynamics "the defintion of the situation." 

The good news about that is that Goffman hammers that much of that is intuitive. Even the uneducated residents of the village understand the necessity of shaping their interactions to align with how the power structure such as the mayor is defining them. Light tone? or serious? The villagers followed that lead.

The same reality applies to meetings while WFH. Let the power players establish everything from agenda to when to leave. Errors in communications are costly, no matter if they occur in-person or virtually.

Small changes can trigger big success in your career and your business communications. Swing by for a complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

Humor, The Third Rail in Professional Life - Andrew Cuomo Should Have Known Better

"Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday tried to explain away allegations of sexual harassment as “jokes” that were misinterpreted as “unwanted flirtation” — as his office caved on the state attorney general’s request to appoint an investigator to probe the claims." - New York Post, February 28, 2021.

As any public relations expert would warn: Humor can be the third rail in professional communications. That's primarily because it's, like all communications, so subjective. What workers, for example, might consider worthy of a belly laugh, the boss perceives as anything from disrespectful to subversive. 

A seasoned politico like Andrew Cuomo should have known better. After all, the more the power position, the more the danger of being misinterpreted. Media outlets operate on receiving tips about what was said, either through talk or a memo which turns out to be infamous. In the court of public opinion, that might not be considered funny. In the court of law, it could be positioned and packaged as defamation. 

However, no power player wants to come across as lacking in humor. That's where wit comes in.

Forever, for example, cautious academics have made a business of leveraging wit and a half smile to both play it politically safe in the classroom and yet provide needed entertainment in instruction. 

The interesting question is: Why did Cuomo allow himself to get into this pickle? Hubris? There is a more likely explanation. See, many of us in coaching know of the syndrome: Screwing up in order to be forced out of what it's too hard to let go of voluntarily. Perhaps like the 50s television personalities Dale Evans and Roy Rogers, this part of a political dynasty wanted to ride into the sunset, singing "Happy Trails to You, Until We Meet Again."

It happens all the time: Cuomo could have simply gotten tired.

Small changes can trigger big success in your career and your business communications. Swing by for a complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

Legal Marketers - 2020 Great Year for Book Sales, But Past Isn't Prologue

"Sales volume of print books sold in the United States in 2020 totaled 751 million units, according to NPD’s analysis, accounting for an 8.2 percent year-over-year increase from 2019. NPD reports that these figures account for the best year for print book sales in the U.S. since 2010." - Jon Gingerich, Odwyerpr.com, February 26, 2021.

Top sellers ranged from the inspirational "A Promised Land" by Barack Obama to the expose "Too Much and Never Enough" by Mary Trump. 

The sales driver was COVID-19. Not only were we locked in. There came a tipping point in how much screen time we could or would absorb. We longed to go old-fashioned and read. Sprawl on the couch. However, many public libraries were closed for walk-ins. Books could only be checked out in off-putting ways. So, sure, pop again to buy books. They arrived right at the door. 

However, legal marketers who assume they are savvy about trendwatching shouldn't parachute in to nudging clients to publish a print book. As that adage screams, the past isn't prologue.

When COVID-19 pulls out of town the pent-up demand for activities outside the walls of the home is bound to explode.

According to Deloitte, reports AP, the coming of vaccines has boosted planning for travel.

Bad news for Peloton, gyms could reopen. The message is out: Sitting is the new smoking. In the UK that could be in April 2021. Don't count on gym rats to bring a print book to read during a complex workout.

In "South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom," SCOTUS ruled the reopening of churches in California, with some guidelines. Religious organizations are social. The congregations will be out and about singing in the choir, doing good works and fundraising in innovative ways. 

Print books could return to being a fading medium.

The circling back to a downward trajectory could be accelerated by podcasting. Talk is easier to do than the intricate systems of the print medium. Also it's more fun. And it can be absorbed in a mobile way.

I published a major article on Odwyerpr.com about podcasting trends in 2021. Sure, Obama has out there a bestseller print book. But recently what has been his media magnet is his Spotify podcast with Bruce Springsteen. It's called "Renegades: Born in the USA." 

There's more than that, though, to marketability.

Also, legal marketers have to persuade clients to be more engaging on social networks, be they LinkedIn or Twitter. That requires thought leadership or going beyond the platitudes, along with catchy headlines. Embed old-fashioned soul in posts. What's sincere has become the new pull force. 

E-books? Glutted territory. 

White papers. They're back. That's because they are data-rich, straightforward and being developed by blockbuster brandnames such as those in management consulting and think tanks. The template is standard. Lean into it, like an old shoe.

 Meanwhile, advocacy platforms such as Abovethelaw keep the tone of legal communications, both internal and external, from excessive arrogance. 

Small changes can trigger big success in your career and your business communications. Swing by for a complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)