Law And More

"Law & Order: SVU" - Meme of Power Differential

Tonight on "Law & Order: SVU" the plot took on a complex twist. 

Instead of the usual play-out of the accusation of rape, there was what Olivia Benson labeled "power differential."

In this Olivia  had been and was still personally involved. The man to whom she had been engaged as a young girl re-entered her life to free an innocent man from prison. His role was journalist. Olivia and he picked up on the love affair - which she came to regret.

It turned out that from the get-go he had used his assorted powers to seduce women. Those included Olivia who had been quite a bit younger than he. No, it wasn't rape. Just, yes, leveraging the power differential. 

Of course, Olivia is devastated. How wrong she had been. That included resenting her mother who had broken up the engagement. 

This twist was a refreshing change on the usual rape motifs. 

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Best 6 Halloween Costumes for Law Firm Junior Lawyers

Halloween might be the most enjoyable holiday in Americana.

For most, it can be celebrated in a relative-free zone. No drunken embittered Uncle Bob. 

It's also the unique opportunity to comment through a costume, just like "SNL," on the way of the world. 

Just as much fun is to shop for a costume for one's four-legged soulmate. He or she will need one for the mandatory party at the vet. No show? Damned to be judged as a bad pet parent.

So, here we go with the best 6 costumes for law firm junior lawyers.

Michael Scott (played by Steve Carell) from "The Office." There has been such a dustup about returning to the office.

Unlike the leadership at PwC, the brass at so many large law firms are mandating a return to the office. Some, like Baker & Hosteller, are even nudging back associates into the office before the official reopening date. 

And maybe associates are too young to recall Jeremy Blackman's "Anonymous Lawyer" priceless satiric post. It was about the partner who gleefully announced hot chocolate will be served in the kitchen during certain hours, as long as the cold weather persists. Meanwhile, associates are dragging out of office post-all-nighter. Well, Kirkland & Ellis folds into its reopening announcement the notice of free eats. Like, who have time to eat. Anyway, it can make one sleepy.

Yeah, let them eat cake.

Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani. The costume should be dated for when Cupid was still shooting arrows. Those texts from that time, read during the trial of "US v Elizabeth Holmes," showcase the Theranos founder's poetic ethos.

In prison, former Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen penned his best-selling book "Disloyal." If she is convicted and could serve up to 20 years Holmes can produce books of poetry. Maybe even teach poetry workshops. 

Class of 2024, Carrying "Hire me" sign. 55% of law school IL classes are overenrolled. Do the math. It will be tough, maybe even impossible, to land that first job.

Could there be another Lost Generation of JDs, as had played out in 2008 -2009? Not unthinkable.  

The Regulatory Sandbox. Recently in Arizona's regulatory sandbox, LegalZoom had been approved as an Alternate Business Structure. It will not only be permitted to provide legal services in the state. It also can hire lawyers as employees. Before that it could only operate with contract lawyers.

So this is the new non-law firm law firm. Maybe there should be a contest open to marketing communications players like myself to name this new entity. 

Karen Dunn, Best Poach done recently. Pulled off by Paul Weiss. And poaching is what brings the unique kind of prestige to a law firm. Media outlets make it big news, like they're announcing an award.

Those law firms which have been raided will lay low. It's a: Mirror, Mirror on the wall, I'm the most shameful of them all.

The law, like most lines of work, is a gossipy profession. There is endless speculation why the law firm lost a star or a group of stars.

Recently Dunn won for Uber, in an antitrust case brought by the Boston Taxi Conglomerate, its biggest legal victory so far. 

The young Tony Soprano, played in "The Many Saints of Newark" by Michael Gandolfini."  The genius of that portrayal was capturing the pain.

Remember the middle-aged Tony had been in psychotherapy. Yeah, that mother of his. 

Michael is, yes, James Gandolfini's actual son. He was with the father when he died. That pain could serve him well in his artistic career. There is an anecdote floating around that Jon Hamm had been hired to play Don Draper in "Mad Men" because those screening actors saw the pain in his eyes. 

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Yesterday - The Chase After That, From "Mad Men" Kodak Carousel Pitch to Gen Z Fashion

The hunger for what was.

On "Mad Men," Don Draper captured that in his presentation for the Kodak carousel.

His specific pitch was the pain and confusion of transitioning from childhood to teenage years. So, there is the reaching back to the known. Here is that iconic pitch.

Now, in real life, reports Axios, Gen Z is experiencing that same pull force. TikTok is in sync with that. Yesterday's brandnames and fashions are, for example, back again. 

What youth most crave is the slower pace of a very different time.

Maybe they're onto something big. And they're not alone. In an interview with Bloomberg Law, it was the chairperson of elite law firm Paul Weiss Brad Karp who put it this way:

“'We have to push the brakes in today’s world to deal with the mental health and emotional stability of our community,' he said. 'It is probably the most important single issue I’ve grappled with during the pandemic.'”

The slow movement is, of course, not new. It originated in Italy in 1989. The meme is that faster isn't necessarily better.

One major way it has seeped into Americana had been through the embrace of eastern philosophy, especially Buddhism. Its central practice - meditation - slows down humans' "monkey mind" so that its workings can be observed. Those in that kind of trance get it: So, that's how I'm thinking and why I'm going wrong.

Every Thursday evening, the Tucson, Arizona Shambhala Buddhist Center provides a no-cost reading of text (often from the writings of American Buddhist nun Pema Chodron), a 20-minute meditation session, discussion, and another five minutes of meditation. Then there is a chant for the well-being of all sentient creatures.

Marketers are no slouches when it comes to leveraging trends into platforms for promotions. Expect plenty of yesterday to be featured during this holiday selling season. 

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Mental Illness & Racism in Diagnosis - "Chicago Med"

Producer Dick Wolf achieved success by configuring the plots of his television franchises "ripped from the headlines."

Well, there aren't enough headlines about assigning the diagnosis of schizophrenia more often to blacks than to non-blacks. On the Wolf series "Chicago Med," that was played out. The young black had been misdiagnosed and therefore not effectively treated. Dr. Charles took the time to evaluate the situation. The new diagnosis was bipolar. That has a more promising prognosis and carries less stigma.

The good news is that this issue is getting more attention. The New York Times published an article on how frequently blacks in nursing homes are assigned that label. 

With good reason, blacks and their loved ones shouldn't trust the mental health system in America. 

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True Story "The Last Duel" - Legal System Also Flawed in 14th Century (also big risk in contending rape)

"The Last Duel" takes up the soul-wrenching decision of a woman, along with her husband, to disclose her rape by a powerful well-connected man. Here is a video excerpt. 

Yes, that storyline could be the plot line for an episode of "Law & Order SVU."

However, it's set in the 14th century. As often happens in  "SVU," one takeaway is that the price of truth could be too high. So, think carefully about going out there to proclaim the "truth" of what you perceive your experience. Interestingly, the producer uses a Rashomon style screenplay. The audience is presented with different scenarios of what could have happened.

In asserting her claim of rape by squire Jacques Le Gris, Marguerite eventually is responsible for involving her husband Jean de Carrouges in a duel. A true story, that was the last official duel in France. If her husband doesn't win, the law has it that she will be stripped and burned to death. That process could take about 30 minutes of suffering before she died. Right before the duel she questions her decision. 

The husband does win. And Marguerite goes on to live a long happy life with her son. He might have been conceived during the rape. Before that during five years of marriage, she didn't become pregnant. Her husband, a skilled soldier, died a few years after the duel in the Crusades. 

Another meme in this film is that power and religion beliefs can derail justice. The duel wouldn't have had needed to have been if the legal systems hadn't been controlled by the existing power structure. Also, the orthodoxy had been that many legal verdicts  would be handed down by God. It had been religious dogma that if a woman contended rape and her husband couldn't prove that she would be burned alive. 

What the film neutralizes is the current rage over the current legal system. For instance, The Wall Street Journal exposed that many federal judges hadn't recused themselves from presiding over cases in which they had a financial interest. That is prohibited by federal law.

Jusstice was also highly flawed in the 14 century.

Religion complicated that.

English majors might remember The Pardoner in Chauer's "Canterbury Tales." He sold fake indulgences which he promised would erase all sins on one's soul and facilitate a straight trip to heaven. Another pilgrim had been the lawyer who feigned being hyper-busy. That could have attracted new clients with a kind of "false advertising."

In addition to the takeaways, another reason to pop for the movie ticket is that array of stars. They include Ben Affleck.

Intuitive guidance about your career. Drop your story line and open to extreme possibility. Sliding Scale Fees. Please make an appointment for a complimentary consultation at janegenova374@gmail.com.

Baby Boomer Partners - Yeah, You Started This Hustle-Culture Mess in Legal Sector

Our parents simply went to work. Some even were in white-collar jobs like accounting or middle management. Then they came home each evening and that was that. No bringing work home. Instead they turned on the evening news.

On the popular televsion series of the 1950s "Father Knows Best" employee in the insurance industry Jim Anderson was home for dinner every night. And he was "there." He listened to everyone's problems and shared their joys. 

Then we baby boomers came along.

Low-cost college education and the opportunities of the post-war economy unleashed in us intense ambition. Law school tuition was relative peanuts. There was a shot at making it big and we went for it.

Along the way The Career Advice industry emerged to guide our every move.

Yes, it's all political. Work is only a defensive move.

Here's how to comport yourself if you sense the boss will be fired.

Dress like those do in the position you're heading toward.

We were our work.

Parents, both males and females, weren't home for dinner. There was a struggle to hire and retain the best nannies. Remember on "A Million Little Things" how Katherine, when offered partnership, asked to be allowed to go home to have dinner with her son and then return to the office. No dice, the partners said. 

Single women without children like myself were what employers wanted. We could hop on a plane without notice to solve a problem in the plant in Canada or Mexico. 

And born was what LinkedIn News calls "The Hustle Culture."

Even though many of us currentlyy are beyond normal retirement age we are still our work. We can't shake that our professional identify is the primary one. If there is mandatory retirement age at the law firm, lateral to another one. 

Those of our colleagues forced to retire and who can't put a Work Next together usually wither. I have observed that when I visited former college acquaintance Kathleen Huebner in Oro Valley, Arizona. Although she had had a succesful career she opted to retire in one of those retirement communities. Mostly what I had heard was those gushing about their previous careers. There was no there in the present. 

Now, The Hustle Culture, which we made glam, is being vilified. It's been fingered for everything from burnout to an inability to connect on a deep level. It could also trigger The Massive Attrition among associates. They don't want part of what we made the right thing to do.

In my coaching those over-50 the focus is on simply easing up, even a little, on the compulsion to keep achieving. There is no expectation of being totally liberated from an ethos which anointed work as sacred. The irony is that those letting go even just a bit become more successful. Essentially they drop the story line of past whatever and immerse themselves in the now.

As for younger generations, they are a fragmented bunch.

Some Gen Zers have decided work will be just a part of their lives and on their terms. Those include operating remotely.

Then there are the strivers captured in "Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life." It's by former Yale Professor William Dersiewicz. That subculture within youth is trapped in a constant hustle. They fear making a mistake or getting a bad grade. Therefore, they freeze into cartoon characters chasing what they have been told are the rules for success.

The good news is that hustle can be tamed. The silver lining in the pandemic was that, with one's life on the line, there was reflection about how that life was being lived. What has resulted is a deep rethinking about work. Insider reports that recently in one month five million workers quit. They refused to do The Hustle.

Since you started The Hustle, you can be in the front lines for reducing its influence. The first step is to humanize how you work. Be kind to associates and staff. Find satisfaction in serving clients, not just in winning. And, forgive yourself if you didn't make it as big as you envisioned. Doing this is in the public interest. America seems on the verge of a collective emotional meltdown.

Intuitive guidance about your career. Drop your story line and open to extreme possibility. Sliding Scale Fees. Please make an appointment for a complimentary consultation at janegenova374@gmail.com.

It's Been a Very Good Year - M&A Could Hit Record, Paul Weiss Heads to $6 million PPP, Williams & Connolly Stars in "US v Holmes"

"Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, a consistent leader among law firms handling M&A deals, has been dethroned by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett for the top spot in global transactions work for the first time this year." - Ruiqi Chen, Bloomberg Law, October 8, 2021.

That's news because M&A is the big news.

By the end of September 2021, around the world M&A activity totaled $3.8 trillion. If this keeps up, this year will be a record-setter in that niche.

About 20 law firms have been handling that business driven by investor confidence and private equity. Underlying the push have been low interest rates, cash accumulated during the worst of COVID, and angst about coming global antitrust action. Here in the U.S. new FTC chairperson Lina Khan has been quite the busy bee on that antitrust front. That includes refiling a lawsuit against Facebook that a judge had dismissed earlier. 

Overall, the transactional assignments are what are bulking up the business of law firms. Litigation hasn't yet recovered from the shut-down courts dating back to March 2020. For law students and new JDs focused on making money the career path is transactional. 

Yesterday in a Bloomberg Law interview, the Chairman of Paul Weiss Brad Karp crowed about PPP likely reaching and exceeding $6 million this year. That law firm specializes in transactional, especially related to Wall Street. 

However, white collar criminal law still brings prestige. And lawyers still are preoccupied with status. For 12 years, Vault has recognized Williams & Connolly as the number-one in white collar defense. Its strategies and courtroom skills are being showcased in "US v Elizabeth Holmes." 

The question, of course, is: How much longer will the good times roll? Many recall 2008 - 2009 when there had been massive reductions in force in the law-firm niche. Recovery had been slow. Could there be another round of that? Some global economy watchers have developed the jitters about what could go down. For instance, there are serious problems in supply chains. The U.S. jobs report wasn't so hot. And labor unrest has evolved from internal activism to actual strikes. 

Meanwhile, though, 55% of law schools are overenrolled. Youth is willing to take on six-figure debt to become lawyers. So, you bet, lawyering remains glam. No surprise, producer Dick Wolf is bringing back "Law & Order" after an 11-year hiatus. Law students had learned plenty about the procedures, politics, and passions of lawyering from watching that series. They will again, soon.

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TV Lawyer Advertising Spend Declines in 2021, But End Run for Catholic Child-Abuse Victims Before 8/14/21 Deadline

"Television advertising by law firms seeking clients to pursue lawsuits against the Catholic Church surged ahead of an August deadline [August 14] to bring decades-old child abuse claims under a landmark New York law, according to a new report [by X Ante]. Reuters Legal, October 1, 2021. - Nate Raymond, Reuters Legal, October 1, 2021.

During July and August, there had been 5,700 TV ads. That was 900 more than had been on television during the previous two months. 

Overall, though. lawyer TV advertising had been down during 2021. Since January advertising spend had been at $59.9 million, compared to $142 million during the comparable period the year before.

The top TV lawyer advertising had been associated with weedkiller paraquat. The spend had been $5.97 million. 

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"The Many Saints of Newark" - David Chase Doesn't Romanticize Gangsta Life

Maybe it was the tragic and premature death of James Gandolfini. That could have shortcircuited any infatuation with the power of the mob. In so many minds of the viewers of the HBO "The Sopranos" James was Tony Soprano. We sensed James fought some of the same demons Tony had struggled with.

Therefore, it's predictable that David Chase, creator of the "The Sopranos," would cast darkness on the background of how Tony came to be. His film "The Many Saints of Newark" doesn't romanticize gangsta life.

Pain is at the root of the behavior of the young Tony, portrayed by James' son Michael Gandolfini. His mother couldn't connect. His father is a lightweight criminal who winds up in prison for four years. Also, the young Tony himself leans out of social norms. Even in grade school he's in trouble for running a numbers racket. 

The young Tony's idol and mentor is his uncle Dickie Moltisanti, played by Alessandro Nivola. Dickie had been abused by his father and witnessed his mother also being treated so badly. The rage is palpable. It breaks out and Dickie murders that father and his mistress.

Also, sure there are the big dinners around the big table. But the aura of brotherhood isn't there. It is a fellow made man who offs Dickie. That's for laughing at him when he fell on steps. 

Meanwhile, the mob has to be as worried about competition as any orthodox Fortune 50 corporation. During that turbulent time young Tony is coming of age Blacks are becoming activists. Newark is on fire during the riots of 1967. One Black man who used to work for Dickie sets up his own racket. He also has sex with Dickie's mistress. When she confessed that to Dickie, he drowns her. He is never the same after that.

Rather than fascination with how power is acquired, protected, and grown, we probably experience this film with sadness. Social workers should see "The Many Saints of Newark" to understand how people get lost and maybe cannot be found. Psychotherapy didn't help the adult Tony. 

Intuitive readings about your career. Drop your story line and open to extreme possibility. Sliding Scale Fees. Please make an appointment for a complimentary consultation at janegenova374@gmail.com.

From Rajat Gupta to Katie Couric: Memoirs Put Legacies in Play (often careers too)

Will Katie Couric's memoir "Going There" destroy her legacy in media?

That's a real danger in opening up and putting whatever out there about a life lived.

What seems like sorting out and connecting the dots to you could be taken as anything from uncalled-for nastiness to even illegal. You may not be forgiven. What you assume will be a platform for creating your legacy and new professional opportunities, forget it.

In the influential New York Post, Maureen Callahan actually tells the world not to buy Couric's memoir.

As Callahan hammers and as students of literature always knew but authors might not realize: They disclose more about themselves than they realize. And readers might not like that, not at all. Yes, that could be how your memoir also plays out.

A recent example is fallen former McKinsey head Rajat Gupta's memoir "Mind Without Fear." It's a rehash of his tough beginnings in India (which we had already heard too much about) and his innocence of the crime of insider trader (for which he had been convicted and gone to prison). Likely that blew any chance Gupta had for a comeback in America. He does have his cheerleaders back in India. The marketplace gave Gupta's memoir a thumbs-down. Its ranking is in the Amazon abyss: 1,027,900. How humiliating. 

Here's what Callahan says about Couric's "Going There":

"Couric reveals more about herself than she seems to realize: Namely, that she is the kind of terrible woman who hates most other women and likes only those she considers inferior, not as successful, no threat in the looks department. It’s the kind of self-loathing that allows her to defend monsters like Matt Lauer and blame all the pretty young things for bringing this on themselves."

Of course, given the dark aspects of human nature, many will buy this book for the gossip. Due out there on October 26, 2021, it ranks on Amazon very high: 29.

But that can quickly peter out. Gossip has a short shelf life. Folks quickly move onto the next scandal. 

Meanwhile, those Couric vilifies in her book and their allies can turn on her - viciously. They are powerful people. Not only might she never eat lunch in this town again. She could find herself living the next 15 years or so (she's only 64 years old) without significant professional opportunities. We are tending to continue to work into our late 70s and beyond. Clint Eastwood is 91 years old. He recently produced the film "Cry Macho."

On the other hand, Couric could leverage "Going There" as the bridge to The Next. 

Nastiness is the ethos of this era. So many of the best-sellers vomit up ugliness. They range from "The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power" by Max Chafkin to "The Caesars Palace Coup" by Sujeet Indep and Max Frumes. And there are no signs that demand for books dishing the dirt will let up. 

Intuitive readings about your career. Drop your story line and open to extreme possibility. Sliding Scale Fees. Please make an appointment for a complimentary consultation at janegenova374@gmail.com.