Law And More

In The Year of COVID-19: Voodoo, Gratitude, Social as Suicide, Making a Living

There are 12 coronavirus hotspots in the U.S.

Ohio, where I have been based since I fled New York Metro's high cost of living, is not one of them. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

But, overall, the mindset here is one of inevitability. Yes, many of us will probably become infected with COVID-19. We just hope that our individual case won't be severe or, nonono, fatal.

Will ours be treatable at home? The medical bills could be the tipping point in trying to grab onto financial security. 

So, it's another day in The Year of COVID-19.

Turning to Zen, Magic, and More.

Position and package this as the intersection of science and the paranormal. Researchers explain the role of thought processes in providing health benefits. Those range from optimism to the belief that X intervention will have Y effect (even if a placebo is involved).

In 2003, after I had lost my nest egg, business, and mind, the universe smiled on me. It directed me to Amy Karnilowicz, based in West Hartford, Connecticut, Her specialty is cognitive therapy. She guided me to focus on my thought processes. Not yesterday. Not my mother. Within four months I was back. 

Zen does the same thing. It helps make humans aware of how their minds operate, empowering them to wrestle those demons to the ground. From 2012 until 2014, I meditated at the New Haven Zen Center in New Haven, Connecticut. There, I gained the wisdom and strength to depart the New York Metro area which was no longer a good fit for me. 

Magic is, well, magical. More recently, in Toledo, Ohio, I wandered into Once in a Blue Moon, 4348 Monroe Street. I was stuck. American Buddhist nun Pema Chodron, even in her 80s, admits she too gets stuck.

There, at Once in a Blue Moon, Shadow counseled me with a tarot reading. Raven helped me select stones to "wake up" my energy. Within days I had navigated out of stuck into creating platforms for The Next. I am reimagining my businesses for this new era. 

The "more" is ritual. I light white candles. I burn incense. I get on my knees and surrender myself to the universe.

If I contract a fatal case of COVID-19 what I do know is that I will pass on to another dimension with inner peace.

Saluting the front lines. 

Kroger, at least not here on W. Alexis, hasn't put up plexiglass to protect the check-out workers. Let's tell them that we appreciate their serving us in these precarious times.  

Movement in the direction of someone experienced as a threat. 

Yesterday was unseasonably warm. A neighbor was sitting out in front of her door. As I walked my dog in her direction, she hurried inside.

Coincidence?

Maybe. 

More likely, it's that each of us has become The Enemy. The courtyard of the residential complex is empty. Social is suicide. Neighbors rush to their cars. 

Since the virus can linger on our shoe we won't be allowed to cross thresholds. 

Just making ends meet.

Careerism could be taking it on the chin. In operating my boutiques the shift is to being able to bring in enough revenue to be able to pay my bills. The old-line Manhattan careerism is going poof. And not just with me. I chat online with my colleagues and even clients. The meme is: Working is about making a living. 

What used to be considered The Weekend will soon start. But, with working at home, shut down from the world, being the new normal the concept of The Weekend is becoming an anachronism.

Those in our professional loop know we are at home and will contact us.

However, I am determined to take the time to be out there in the almost-deserted Home Depot parking lot re-learning how to ride a motorcycle.

The tough nut to crack is to lean into the turn. Each time I ride I am able, though, to add five more miles onto what I am comfortable going at. When will I be ready for prime time, that is, actually riding on the street? Decades ago, with my Honda 90, that took a month. Now, as the Ok, Boomer, all bets are off if I will be able to be on the road this summer. 

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Children of Flint - "60 Minutes" Reinforces Message of Lead's Hazards

One narrative has been about how the opioids epidemic distracts attention from the growing menace of alcohol abuse. Severe liver disease related to excessive consumption of alcohol is increasing, especially among the young. 

An emerging narrative should be that the COVID-19 pandemic reduces concern about the dangers of lead in the blood of children. Yet, according to the CDC, 535,000 children or 2.6% of those between ages 1 and 5 have risk-level amounts of blood in their blood. That level has been put at 5 micrograms per deciliter.

Tonight, the influential "60 Minutes" resurrected concern about lead in the blood of children. The specific focus had been the children of Flint. During a budget crunch, the source for the water for Flint was switched from the lake to the river. From then on the water did things like corrode GM auto parts. 

In addition, research documents it damaged the cognitive development of children. Some of that occurred when they were a fetus in the womb. Many of those children will need lifetime remedial services. 

Currently, the Flint water is being sourced back from the lake.

But, also currently, lead remains in much of housing built before the federal government banned the use of lead paint in residential property at the end of the 1970s.

A bench trial in California nailed the former manufacturers/marketers of lead paint. That was a class action lawsuit contending lead paint constituted a public nuisance. CA state courts didn't overturn the conviction. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review the conviction of the defendants such as Sherwin-Williams.

More recently there had been a win for three individuals in Wisconsin in a jury trial for damage suffered from lead paint when children. The defendants ranged from Sherwin-Williams to DuPont. The jury determined there had been a failure to warn of the hazards.

The Wall Street Journal had published an article documenting that Sherwin-Williams had been aware of the toxicity of lead in paint but promoted it for home use. That occurred more than a century ago. 

Because of the shortage of affordable housing those old structures can't be torn down. If that were the solution to lead paint then many of the residents would wind up homeless.

Therefore, the commonsense approach is to render the lead paint no longer a hazard to children. That takes money. That's the motivation for municipalities and plaintiff lawyers to file more lead paint litigation, both class action and personal injury.

One doesn't need to be a sociologist or urban planner to get it that as the nation slips into an economic downturn there will be a long waiting list for that kind of affordable housing. It's the responsibility of the state and local government to ensure that property, so sought after, provides a roof over families' heads without potentially impeding children's development. 

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Boston - Fed Approval for Quest Diagnostics, LabCorps To Do COVID-19 Testing

Boston, the city that is now in the big leagues of the legal sector, is struggling with the coronavirus just like other locations in which BigLaw firms practice.

Among the good news, though, reports Boston Magazine, is that there has been federal approval for Quest Diagnostics and LabCorps to participate, along with Massachusetts state in testing for COVID-19. So far there have been 20 presumptive or confirmed cases of the disease in Boston and 108 throughout the state. 

Also, good news is that September 14th will be declared a state holiday. That is the day on which the Boston Marathon, which has been postponed, has been rescheduled. The holiday aura is intended for the businesses of the state to get back on their feet after the revenue hit the pandemic inflicts.

Unlike much of the rest of the nation (including now New York City), Boston public schools remain open. For now. And, unlike Toledo, Ohio, the library system continues to function. But cultural institutions have been shut down. 

In nearby Cambridge, Harvard sent students out of campus housing. Probably for the rest of the Spring semester. Classes will be done online. That major rite of passage - that is, graduation = could also be conducted online.

It's not unthinkable that an unexpected impact of COVID-19 is to make the "College Experience" an anachronism. Those admitted for matriculation will do it from their childhood bedrooms via distance education. The pandemic has created the most significant marketing break for the online education industry. Players in it who are savvy will be publishing case studies of how distance learning performed during this global crisis. 

Campus facilities, including at iconic Harvard, can be reimagined for shelters for the homeless, retirement living, and offices for professional services. Regarding the latter, law firms that used to be in downtown Boston could relocate to what used to be the student housing on the Harvard Cambridge campus.  

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Coronavirus, Manhattan, BigLaw - Zen Mantra of "Clear Thinking, Don't Know"

The phrase "abundance of caution" is floating around.

Essentially, that characterizes how BigLaw has been responding to the threat of the coronavirus. Recently, that threat turned into reality in Manhattan. A healthcare worker has been diagnosed with the virus.

BigLaw is embracing the reality that this is a situation of almost complete uncertainty. There is a zen mantra for that: Clear thinking, don't know.

In an abundance of caution, Latham, reports Abovethelaw, has cancelled both a client meeting at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan and a partners' meeting.

Meanwhile, the stock market has bounced back. At 11:45 A.M. ET, it is up more than 600 points. That changes, at least for now, a dynamic of Election 2020. There too what applies is Clear Thinking, Don't Know. 

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COVID-19 and Four-Leggers - Government Will Have to Make Policies

It's what parents of four-leggers most feared: Their pet children could contract COVID-19.

While the official scientific word is on hold about that, what is known is this: A pomeranian in Hong Kong has tested positive for the coronavirus and is in quarantine. His pet parent Yvonne Chow Hau Ye has also tested positive. Daily Mail provides more details.

This case could be an aberration. Or it could be the beginning of many more reports of dogs and perhaps other kinds of animals being diagnosed with COVID-19.

If the latter is what plays out then there will have to be an investigation of how the transmission takes place. Is it human to animal or animal to human? In addition, there will have to be government - national, state, local - policies on prevention, testing, treatment, and quarantine. 

Meanwhile, pet parents need lots more information on prevention. Should their four-leggers avoid other four-leggers and other humans? Should those walks outside be solitary? Will there be criminal action taken against pet parents who don't alert authorities about illnesses among their four-leggers? 

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WHO & Coronavirus - You Blew It, Now Your Brand in Play

Over the decades, those emigrating from the various versions of Russia to the U.S. have smirked: Of course, you don't believe anything official.

Such an extreme skepticism is taking hold more widely.

Of course, that's no surprise. For a while now Edelman Public Relations firm has been monitoring and measuring global trust. Recently, its Trust Barometer registered low for institutions. 

In the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer what could be cited as representing the decline of trust is the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Wall Street Journal features the arrow to the heart of WHO"s credibility. That was shot at it when more and more constituencies questioned its praise of how China was managing the actual coronavirus and information about it. 

The reality seems that China should be given the "F" grade for just about every aspect of its response to what is now experienced as a pandemic. Could a 21st century Spanish Flu be unleashed upon the world? Time will tell. "Downton Abby" captured how horrific that had been. Cora almost died. 

Here's what we know now: Those in the medical loop who informed the powers that be in China about the emerging peril were treated as criminals.

The statistics on how many have been infected and how many deaths trigger only a roll of the eyes. Yeah, sure.

The ham-handed measures such as assuming a geographical quarantine is effective in preventing the spread actually shake confidence in China's ability to conduct business. Do you want to rely on those folks for your supply chain?

If WHO becomes irrelevant, can any organization or any brand of leadership replace it? Or, will planet earth slip into another dark age? Civilization could dial back centuries. The glue holding a society together is trust. 

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Skepticism - The Mindset of Thinking Like a Lawyer

Strong traditional thinking had hardened into dogmatism - in some pockets of America.

One result might have been what Jennifer Hawes describes in her book "Grace Will Lead Us Home."

It was Dylann Roof's commitment to the doctrine of white supremacy that compelled him to conduct a massacre at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

Roof was so certain of his belief that, as he told law enforcement, he felt he had no choice but to gun down the African-Americans during their bible study. Because they had been so nice to him - and welcoming - he really didn't want to take their lives. But, in how he processed his thoughts, it was a must-do.

In Toledo, Ohio, the Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie - SHoWLE - is trying to prevent that kind of embrace of absolute certainty.

Its mission is to establish a mindset of skepticism. The leader is Doug Berger. He might be thought of as the Christopher Hitchens of the midwest. Or, the professor in law school you owe your successful career to.

Recently, Berger has introduced a podcast. The first, which you can listen to here, is "Skepticism with Matt McMahon of Toledo." Essentially, the meme is the need to test out one's own assumptions.

The tough nut to crack, points of McMahon, is to make questioning a daily habit. That's what every 1L in law school has to experience. Deep critical thinking is not a one-shot deal. 

Not only troubled human beings like Roof hunger for absolutes. It had been that chase after certainty that has been the platform for religions. Now, that platform is crumbling. When asked about their religions, more and more are answering: No religion.

Part of what is generating that "no religion" is education. The habit of thought which McMahon recommends is the scientific method. That's really another way to frame "thinking like a lawyer."

Since the advent of the GI Bill, more of those in America have been able to attend college. In some form, a required course has been on understanding the methodology of the scientific method. Meanwhile, education at all levels is searching for how to instill critical thinking versus transmitting a formalized body of knowledge.

The  tragedy of much of education in America is that, as some law students bluntly put it, it took going to law school for them to override conventional patterns of thinking.

Berger will conduct podcasts on a regular basis. Here you can keep up-to-date and provide feedback.

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First Bernie Ebbers, Now Bernie Madoff - How Much Elasticity Is There in Compassion

Religions such as Christianity and philosophies such as some schools of Buddhism have as a tenet: compassion. 

Recently, Bernie Ebbers was granted compassionate release for a medical condition. He died not long afterward. Through his machinations as chief executive officer at WorldCom investors lost everything. After the lawyers sued and then took their fee investors (including me) received peanuts.

Now, Bernie Madoff has applied for compassionate release because of a chronic kidney disease, reports The Wall Street Journal. He could be dead in 18 months.

Many of those who invested with Madoff did receive some or all of their funds. But, that was after their own enormous suffering. 

Essentially "compassion" is defined as a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for those who have encountered some misfortune. That generates a motivation to relieve that suffering.

That feeling, researchers have proved, is wired into humans via mirror neurons. To simplify that, mirror neurons are the source of empathy. 

However, the issue with the Ebbers and Madoff types can trigger the question: Should the capacity for compassion be stretched to the point of extending it to convicted criminals? 

In a prison's medical facilities, the criminals will receive the appropriate care. If there are people who still care about them, there will be visitors. Spiritual advisors are available. 

Why then should the be granted more than that?

It's interesting to reflect if mirror neurons can be exploited by the bad guys?

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Charlie Lieber - Those in the Pumpkin Patch Remain Loyal

Charlie Lieber's name is now associated with the alleged sale of proprietary research to the Chinese.

So, in some scientific communities, that brandname is now tarnished. That could include Harvard colleagues where he specialized in nanoscience.

But those in the pumpkin patch remain loyal to Lieber.

As Spencer Buell reports in Boston Magazine, Lieber had a double life.

That kicked in around 2007. He channeled his scientific brilliance into growing giant pumpkins. The initiative panned out so well that by 2010 he had entered the competitive arena. In that niche, he became recognized as a kind of Pumpkin Czar.

It was in 2014 at a competitive event in Rhode Island that he killed it. That was with a 1,870 pound pumpkin. Of course, given such a quirky story, national media went for it. 

Maybe the lesson in this is: If you want true friends, an alternative to adopting a dog would be to get into the pumpkin loop. 

Should Lieber, now out on a $1 million bail, be convicted, he could serve up to five years in prison. Hopefully the one he's assigned to will have a garden for inmates. He could produce all the pumpkin for Thanksgiving desert.

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Coronavirus - Black Swan (that Citi Bank, et al. didn't factor in for legal industry in 2020)?

Darkness can fall fast.

And that can start with derailing the bull run of equities markets. From there it's no predicting how long it will take for civilization to again discern light.

Yes, the Coronavirus could be one of those Black Swans which Nassim Nicholas Taleb defined as unexpected developments which have unexpected major implications. The classic example is the internet. Time travel before that and there had been the Black Plague. 

All those expert organizations such as Citi Private Banking which analyze the legal sector usually don't speculate about a factor such as a Black Swan. The latest Citi survey did find increased pessimism among law-firm leaders about the global and U.S. economy. 

That decline in confidence in the business outlook could turn out to be a cartoonish understatement. A pandemic could put most commercial activities, including generating Profits Per Partner, on hold. A triage would take place, with only the humanitarian necessities being conducted.

That kind of what-if scenario isn't sci-fi. A society that is globally connected is uniquely positioned for Black Swans. The worldwide recession of 2008 wasn't classified as one because there had been precedent: The Great Depression. Also, it wasn't unexpected that the financial gameplayers could and would cause havoc. 

The World Health Organization is meeting tomorrow. It will assess if the coronavirus has already established a global emergency. 

Meanwhile, law firms have to consider how to protect their chief assets - the human lawyers - from a disease that is transmitted human to human. No coughing in the office? Postpone traveling to Asia to conduct business? Parachute back personnel in affected areas? And, revise 2020 and beyond anticipated PPP?

Here is a peek at the 2013 film "All Is Lost."

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