Law And More

Post-Gender Era - But, Sanford Heisler Sharp Won't Be Out of Business

In some circles, the law firm Sanford Heisler Sharp's signature is the class action gender lawsuit against BigLaw.

A recent high-profile one has been "Tolton, et al. v. Jones Day." Here is a copy of the complaint.

However, if the post-gender era does come, Sanford has nothing to fear. A group or individual with power likely will always be treating unfairly those with less or no power. Lawsuits are in the cards.

Signs of a world without gender classifications seem to be taking shape. That includes language.

Berkeley, California has passed an ordinance banning all gender terms from the city code. Those terms range from "policewoman" to "manhole."

The popular book "Gender Outlaw" by Kate Bornstein envisions social norms which don't differentiate human beings according to the sex organs they were born with. There will be no male. There will be no female.

Increasingly the conventional notion of gender as male or female has broadened into a continuum understanding. On that continuum some human beings are at the points of being more or less male or female in attitudes and behavior.

So, there is no longer such a set notion of what's "female" or "male." On the popular network television series "Good Girls," Beth thinks strategically about criminal activity, like a man is expected to do. However, her deep love of her children would be considered a female trait. 

Also, and most importantly, with fertility rates plunging in developed economies, the female's reproductive role becomes less central to how the world operates. In The Atlantic, Derek Thompson chronicles how the future of cities - the main engine of economic growth - is childless. It might be conjected that the need for offspring could have resulted in a conspiracy to temper female career ambition. 

The time when human beings don't sort out anything based on the perception of gender could arrive sooner than traditionalists anticipate.

An unexpected consequence could be fewer serial killers. Many of those have been locked into sexual-identity distress. With that distress not taking hold any more, there would be no compulsion to kill and keep killing. If "Law & Order SVU" keeps being renewed for another season, it might feature a post-gender plot line. 

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"Boies is a bad person," Alan Dershowitz Tells Journalist Gabriel Sherman

Gabriel Sherman has fully moved on from capturing the Roger Ailes' era in conservative politics and media.

Perhaps Bob Dilenschneider, who had been Ailes' personal public relations representative, can now also move on to a post-Ailes era. Any interest in all that would represent time travel. And those in that time machine would be perceived as so yesterday. 

Sherman's latest target is this: Everyone in the Jeffrey Epstein loop. And there are plenty of BigNames in it. Those are flashed in Sherman's coverage of the latest developments in the unraveling of the Epstein alleged sex misdeeds in Vanity Fair. 

Among the most riveting tidbits is the feud between two superlawyers.

They are David Boies who represents Virginia Giuffre, a minor allegedly sexually exploited by Prince Andrew, et al.

The other is Alan Dershowitz, whom Giuffre has sued for defamation. In the vomiting up of gossip, Dershowitz has been crowded in among those allegedly receiving sexual behaviors.

In The Battle of Superlawyers, Dershowitz, reports Sherman, told the journalist, "Boies is a bad man." 

We smirk.

Clearly, Dershowitz is off his game. And maybe he has been since he retired from being a professor at Harvard Law School.

What Boies is is a lawyer. We know from the reporting of Ronan Farrow in The New Yorker that Boies will and does go to extremes in client advocacy. That's what lawyers do, at least the top ones. It's not pretty. And that could be a factor associated with the higher than average mental illness, substance abuse, and suicides among those practicing law. 

The Epstein scandal will have a long shelf life. The media will see to that.

The story meanders through New York, D.C., Palm Beach, and Prince Andrew's address in Britain. Lots of personal and professional brands could collapse.

Sherman is good at what he does and has access to the sources he needs to provide new information and insight about those in the Epstein loop.

Unfortunately, for those involved in milking the Ailes' rise and fall, the world has something much more juicy. Already ratings are disappointing for Showtime's series "The Loudest Voice in the Room."

But that's good news for Dilenschneider, et al. whose professional lives date back to a very different time. 

In media there will be no dog days of August. In legal circles, everyone will probably wind up bug-eyed following the Boies-Dershowitz feud. And we ordinary folks will again be reminded: Don't praise famous men. 

Questions: Will there be a suicide, as in the Profumo scandal in Britain? After all, Prince Andrew aka "Randy Andy" is in the loop. And, will a government topple, as had Macmillan's? 

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Jim Cramer - Maybe He's Just Not a Digital Wallet Kind of Guy

Law enforcement arrested a security guard - Elkin Heyward - at the Lower Manhattan Museum of Jewish Heritage. 

As the New York Post reports, Heyward has been accused of grand larceny and possession of stolen property. What was allegedly stolen was "Mad Money" star Jim Cramer's wallet. It contained, along with a credit card and ID, $1,065 in cash - yeah, that old-fashioned stuff.

When Cramer was going through security at the Museum, according to the media version, he put that wallet and phone in the bin, then forgot about them. When he remembered, there was the phone, but no wallet. 

This development leaves us with myriad questions.

On the former hit series "Law & Order Criminal Intent," Detective Robert Goren keeps hammering that what's important is the question. When trying to shake loose information from witnesses and suspects, Goren poses many questions, from many angles. The positions of his head follows along with those angles. 

Here, one major question is: What was Cramer doing in a major urban area with $1,065 cash in a real-life wallet? Isn't he, a BigName in money, a digital wallet kind of guy? 

One wonders if this association with cash currency will damage his brand. 

Another question is: Given that the security guard likely had been totally aware of the video surveillance why in the world did he allegedly engage in this crime? Yes, it was all there on video.

Cramer owes his audience an explanation of why he's not totally e-. Isn't he setting a bad example? 

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Dick Wolf's Genius in Bringing Together Characters from Different Shows

Producer Dick Wolf creates troubled and flawed characters we love. 

So, it's brilliant of him to cross-pollinate them on his three Chicago series: "Chicago P.D.," "Chicago Med," and "Chicago Fire." The audience gets double and triple treats.

For example, in one episode of "Chicago P.D.," Hank Voigt's son gets a bullet in his head. It's the hospital administrator from "Chicago Med" who gently talks Voigt into ending life support. In another episode of "Chicago P.D.," the "Chicago Med" psychiatrist parachutes in to help unlock details of crime from the mind of the victim. 

In addition, for big cases, Olivia Benson flies in from "Law & Order SVU." One involved serial killings which has started in New York, stopped for a while, then begun in Chicago. 

Wolf has given television some of the most iconic fictional characters. That began with Jack McCoy from "Law & Order." If Wolf lives long enough, that might not end with Voight. 

 

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Showtime's "The Loudest Voice in the Room," Episode 3 - Meme of Trust No One in Corporations

It's not unusual to resent one's boss.

But Roger Ailes' resentment of his - Rupert Murdoch - led him to dig up dirt on the boss' then wife - Wendi Deng Murdoch. The resulting piece was going to be published in the digital tabloid Gawker. But that never happened.

Such details of the Ailes-Murdoch conflict came out in Episode 3 of "The Loudest Voice in the Room." 

For viewers, the overall takeaway from Episode 3 might be that in corporate life no one is to be trusted. And no one can assume he or she is "safe."

The intrigue has layers and layers of deceit and manipulation. In the end, not even Ailes himself could count on job security. Subordinate Gretchen Carlson did him in. 

This notion of stealth moves brings the world back to when author of "The Loudest Voice in the Room" Gabriel Sherman first published the book.

It was then that Ailes' personal public relations representative Bob Dilenschneider spent $15K to place an ad in The New York Times Book Review section. It to promote a vanity biography of Ailes.

Likely the objective was to distract attention from Sherman's negative book. But, what happened was that the scheme backfired. And Sherman got plenty of unexpected publicity. That could go down in history as The Battle of the Books. Here are more details. 

No wonder so many smart people, of all generations, are opting for self-employment, including entrepreneurship.

Sure, there is the challenge of getting, holding, and scaling business. Also, no employer is ponying up the money for the health insurance. But there is more control over more of the moving parts and the people than when one is an employee. 

In addition, parents might be warning their offspring, especially daughters, to steer clear of pursuing careers in broadcast media. 

The ratings for this series haven't been too hot. However, some enterprising group could repackage it and bring it back in a more profitable way. That would give greater exposure of the myriad ways Ailes abused power. 

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Alan Dershowitz Says - More Rhetorical Pratfalls

Is is that bad?

Has the once formidable (lawyers didn't want to be on the opposing side) brand - Alan Dershowitz - become clownish?

Maybe.

Since he retired as a professor at Harvard Law School, the Dershowitz brand has been deflating. Think about those interviews on Fox ...

Now, with the interview he gave to Daily Mail, the brand seems to have become downright open to ridicule. 

Dershowitz, as some recall, had been part of Jeffrey Epstein's legal Dream Team. Nothing wrong with that. The Sixth Amendment is all about the right to legal representation.

However, Dershowitz asserts that Epstein's dream team didn't receive a "sweetheart" deal from then-prosecutor Alex Acosta. Yeah, Acosta got it right.

In addition, Dershowitz argues that Epstein did not receive any special treatment because of BigContacts. They include Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew. 

As a result of this Daily Mail interview one wonders if members of the media will begin bypassing Dershowitz. Maybe he should head to Clown Alley. There he can continue his rhetorical pratfalls. 

Meanwhile his 2018 book "The Case Against Impeaching Trump" isn't doing so hot. On Amazon its rank is a low 124,641. 

Dershowitz's enemies, in the legal sector and beyond, must be smirking. 

UPDATE:

Labor Head Alex Acosta resigns. More details here from Axios. 

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The Roger Ailes Smirk - Was #MeToo Kicked Off by a Boy-Man?

Adolescent boys are practically delusional about where they can channel their sex drive.

They are also Masters of The Smirk. How many parents, even sophisticated ones, have barked out to their teenage sons: Wipe that smirk off your face.

Also, boys in those years between childhood and adult responsibility tend to be mean.

In addition, they frequently get into a pickle with the law.

As we watched Episode Two of Showtime's "The Loudest Voice in the Room" Sunday night, some of us had an ah-ha moment. Could the code about whom Roger Ails really was be broken by analyzing Ailes as a Boy-Man. The media tycoon with the smirk on his face.

Somehow Ailes might have missed that rite of passage which males undergo to leave boyish things behind. Yes, Ailes might well be a classic case of arrested development. Here is TV's summary of Episode Two. 

And, it was the play-out of that syndrome which might have kicked off #MeToo. Ailes died before any of the allegations of sexual misconduct at Fox could be proved in court. So, we will never know for certain if Ailes was the sexual predator he has been suspected to be. However the suspicions were enough for The Murdochs to oust him from Fox.

Meanwhile, this Showtime series, which re-interprets Ailes' rise and fall, could be affecting other careers. For instance, in Episode Two, Rupert Murdoch does not come across as the cunning fox he is usually portrayed as.

Here is speculation about losers and winners from Showtime's "The Loudest Voice in the Room." That programming, although not a ratings blockbuster, could havee long-term impacts on individual professional lives and media in America.

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"Blue Bloods" - Darkness Penetrates Boring Reagan Family Lightness of Being

In network television, Norman Rockwell values are out. An example of that is the hit series "Good Girls."

What is in is darkness. That ranges from the demons inherent in human nature to the curve balls from the external environment.

No fools, those shaping the tone and content of "Blue Bloods" have been reducing the sweetness and light. In their place has been more conflict, both within the characters and with the norms of the outside world.

Danny wonders about his vocation of ridding the world of bad characters. He should know by now that it has been his job which was responsible for the fire in his house and his wife Linda's death in what had been assumed to be a helicopter accident. Isn't he also worried that his sons will default into the family business and become crime-busters?

Erin re-thinks her relationship with former husband Jack. Were her criteria for assessing him too harsh.

Jamie bumps heads with dad. He becomes engaged to his partner and there is no rule on the book banning their continuing to be partners.

Dad is against that whole ball of wax. For example, do the Reagans want another cop in the family? Papa Bear Frank knows every time there is a radio call "officer down" the family members hold their breath.

Both Jamie and dad have to learn to walk through that darkness to some kind of light. However, the relationship has been changed forever.

Jamie has come into his own. He is Jamie, no longer primarily a Reagan. Frank no longer can be so certain of his point of view. In a sense, the torch has been passed to another generation. Grandpa Henry and patriarch Frank have lost some of their absolute power.

Also, the family men without female soulmates have to go in search of them. That is bound to introduce chaos in the traditional dynamics of the Reagan household.

The shift from happy clappy to conflict increases the odds that "Blue Bloods" will continue to be renewed season after season. 

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Fired BP Worker, NJ High-School Wrestler, Now CA Crown Act

California usually leads the way in progressive legislation and court decisions. 

Therefore, its new Crown Act may resonate through the nation. "Crown" stands for Creating a Respectful and Open Workplace Act.

CA governor Gavin Newsom signed into law that employers can't have human resources policies which discriminate against natural hairstyles. Those range from afros to braids. Yes, dreadlocks are included. Here are more details from The Guardian.

Many know this: "Hair" is a code term for race issues. Hair comes up in the context of black people at work. It does not come up (not usually) in context of other groups, be they hispanic or white. 

In 2013, a BP employee was terminated because of a hairstyle.

More recently, in 2018, New Jersey's 15-year-old wrestler Andrew Johnson was given a choice: Cut his dreadlocks or he would not be able to compete in the match.

He caved.

The world watched the video of his hair being cut. Our hearts broke for the kid.

As The New York Times reported, investigations, et al. were set in play.

In itself that might have been the tipping point for a legislative move to prevent future violations of human rights like that one. 

Takeaway: Bring Crown-like legislation to your state.

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Roger Ailes v. OJ Simpson - Why Some Antiheroes Get into Our Soul & Others Don't

Of course, conservative Drudge Report curated the news that Showtime's "The Loudest Voice in the Room" only attracted 299,000 viewers.

Ailes' former personal public relations representative Bob Dilenschneider is probably breathing a gigantic sigh of relief.

Obviously, those lousy ratings don't bode well for the rest of the Ailes' exposes which will be trotted out. 

That's very different from the non-stop attention showered on another antihero - OJ Simpson. The world can't get enough of him and his saga. When he started tweeting at @OJ_Simpson32, that was big news. The members of the media still are following his tweets and the responses to them.

This raises the issue - one important to all in the promotions loop - why some unsavory characters get into our soul and others aren't sticky.

I have some hunches about that.

To begin with, Ailes isn't likable. OJ is.

It was journalist Hedrick Smith who analyzed in the book "The Power Game" the correlation between likability and influence. That plays out over and over again in the criminals America turns into pop antiheroes and those who never make it into the collective memory bank. We like Ted Bundy. The pontificating crowd castigates that. We could care less. Announce that next deconstruction of Bundy's inner life and, you bet, we will tune in.

Next, trials cement legends.

We are visual creatures and the goings-on in courtrooms represent vivid live theatre. The scenes from the OJ criminal trial are hardwired into our culture.

Ailes died before any of the lawsuits against him were tried. It's unforgivable he denied us watching the camera pan on his forehead for any sweat. 

And, third, as heinous as alleged sexual harassment is, it isn't murder - not in the literal sense.

Of course, long-term abuse can kill the spirit. But, the actual alleged taking of a life is in a class by itself. Among the reasons the novel "Crime and Punishment" has become iconic is because it explores the thinking processes of a murderer.

Not all crimes are created equal. No surprise, "Dateline" specializes in murder, not #MeToo matters.

Reflection: Ailes may not be resting peacefully in his grace knowing that he isn't the big show.

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