Law And More

Google and Social Justice

Yesterday was BigMonday for Google. There were two developments - oriented toward social justice, reports The Hill.

One was the decision by Google's NetPAC to halt donations to all in Congress who opposed the certification of election results. That was an unambiguous move. Some other companies have simply backed off on all donations, indicating it will review the entire matter. There was no singling out particular far-right loyalists. 

The other development was the announcement by employees around the world of the formation of a new global union alliance. It is called Alpha Global. Its mission is to hold Google accountable. So far, there are members from 10 countries.

Tech workers are highly marketable. They are in a position of strength to push their employers to change current policies and procedures. 

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Pile-on for MyPillow's Mike Lindell - Twitter Joins in

It is well known that major retailers ranging from Macy's to Kohl's have stopped selling MyPillow.

Dominican Voting Systems might sue MyPillow's founder Mike Lindell.

Mike Lindell felt it necessary to hire media powerhouse lawyer Charles Harder to get an alleged romance story straight with Daily Mail.

Now, the AP tells us that Twitter has permanently banned Lindell. That is for repeated violations of its civic integrity policies. Since the attack on the Capitol, Twitter has suspended about 70,000 accounts. 

However, Lindell doesn't seem to be stepping back from his contentions that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent. In fact, he seems to perceive himself operating from a position of strength. As the Star Tribune reports, Lindell is open to speculation that he could take on current Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in 2022. 

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Winston B. Sitton - Good Samaritan Sharing on Facebook, How to Murder, Get Away with It

On Facebook, a woman shared that her former lover was harassing her.

To the rescue came "Good Samaritan" lawyer Winston B. Sitton of Nashville, Tennessee. He gave explicit logistical and legal guidance on how she could murder that man and get away with it, reports the New York Post.

Essentially, he instructed her to lure the man to her home. Then, after killing him, contend he barged in and she had assumed her life was in mortal danger. He explained the legalities. Then he recommended she delete her post. Otherwise the murder could be classified as premeditated.

The TN Supreme Court was not impressed with Sitton's generous outreach. Earlier he had not been remorseful before the Board of Professional Responsibility. He positioned and packaged his advice as sort of dark humor. The Board suspended his law license for several months. That wasn't the first time that had happened. In 2018, it had also been suspended for failure to pay professional taxes.

The TN Supreme Court did not assess the Board's suspension as long enough. It slapped on Sitton a four-year one. One year would be an active suspension. The other three probationary in which he would undergo professional ethics training.

Obviously, lawyers should steer clear of any behavior, even in jest, that could be interpreted as potentially aiding a crime. Licensing is serious business. 

Will this true story wind up an episode on one or more of the growing number of true-crime programs? It could have the tone of go-figure. In this era of lockdown, those shows have become quite popular.

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Media Powerhouse Lawyer Charles Harder Represents MyPillow Mike Lindell

The Daily Beast  reports:

"MyPillow CEO and staunch Trump ally Mike Lindell has retained celebrity attorney Charles Harder to go after the Daily Mail over a story claiming he had a secret affair with 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star actress Jane Krakowski."

Lindell contends that coverage damaged his reputation as a Christian and his ability to help addicts through his Lindell Recovery Network.

In The Daily Beast article, Harder is quoted as saying Lindell plans to sue Daily Mail. Incidentally, that's the same publication which Melania Trump went after for defamation in 2017. Yes, Harder represented her. There had been a $2.9 million settlement, a retraction and an apology. 

But Harder is best known for winning a $140 million jury verdict in "Hulk Hogan v. Gawker." That litigation had been partly funded by venture capitalist Peter Thiel. Gawker, which made sport of undermining celebrities' reputations, went bankrupt. A chill went through the media world. 

Of course, Lindell has been playing a risky game becoming involved in the contention that the 2020 election had been fraudulent. This is the old issue of the chief executive officer as the corporate brand. If he falls so can the corporation. So far, retailers ranging from Macy's to J.C. Penney have stopped selling MyPillow. The question is will the product return to the shelves and will the public buy it.

A lawsuit could turn out to be a settlement or a win for Lindell. However, in the process, he could lose his business.

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Amazon and Parler - Issue of Contract Law

Amazon is approaching its shut-down of conservative social network Parler as an issue of contract law. Not one of politics or free speech.

Amazon, reports Daily Mail, contends Parler violated the terms of the legal agreement by ignoring repeated warnings. They were to address the growth of violent content on the social network. Parler attributes the decision to political animus. Others view it as a matter of putting a muzzle on free speech.

However, for now, the shut-down will remain in-place. U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein ruled that Parler had failed to provide evidence that the public interest was supportive of having an injunction to halt having Parler operate on Amazon.

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Northern California - Paul Weiss Takes Next Step in Building Presence

"Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison is expanding in Northern California with the addition of four partners from Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and Kirkland & Ellis, who will help open a San Francisco office." - Meghan Tribe, Bloomberg Law, January 20, 2021. 

This represents the second major step Paul Weiss is taking to create a presence in Silicon Valley. As Tribe notes, that particular initiative had not gone well for a number of other law firms. So, all eyes are on this venture. Yes, it represents a risk for this elite law firm chaired by Brad Karp.

Recently, Karp has been enhancing the Paul Weiss brand through an overall lateral strategy. One aspect of his genius is deal-making.

That has gone beyond this particular focus on San Francisco. For example, Karp had poached Sarah Stasny from Kirkland & Ellis' private equity practice.

Essentially, the Paul Weiss footprint has been concentrated in New York and Washington D.C. In the reach beyond, an earlier step in extending the brand to San Francisco, the law firm hired as laterals from Boies Schiller Karen Dunn and Bill Isaacson. Both had a deep background in tech.  

The lateral strategy has helped law firms with the financial resources to play that game become not only more prominent. It has been a platform for increased prosperity. 

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Florida - So, What's Going on There?

The world knows that the Trumps have headed to Florida, or an island nearby.

Now, as USA News Post reports, it is also known that tech billionaire and conservative Peter Thiel also purchased residential property in Florida. Actually two. One is the house in Miami which had been featured on MTV. That was for $18 million, acquired anonymously through Atlantic View Holdings. In addition Thiel purchased the house next to it.

So, what is going on in FL? Could it be the setting for a new conservative movement? And/or, could it be the location for shifting tech power from Silicon Valley south?

There are rumblings that Donald Trump could launch a new political party - The Patriots. 

Meanwhile, tech is receiving increasing push-back from diverse constituencies, ranging from federal and state government to its own employees. Regarding the latter, workers at Alphabet, the parent of Google, formed a union. That concept could catch on throughout the tech industry.

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Of Course, There Will Be No Retirement

"After improving slightly in 2019, the outlook for financial security in retirement for workers ages 30 to 59 deteriorated in 2020, according to a study released Tuesday by Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research." - Anne Tergesen, The Wall Street Journal, January 19, 2021.

According to that survey, the majority - 51% - risk not being able to maintain their lifestyle in retirement. That is up from 49% in 2019. 

The primary cause for the increase is the fallout from COVID-19. Both the present and the future are in play. No one knows what will really happen on the macro level of the world economy, national economies, industries and companies. There are also as many unknows on the micro level of the individual worker or the self-employed. 

Meanwhile, the Future of Work is scary for human beings. The robots seem to be getting the upper hand. 

Because of the extensive uncertainty, there are no absolute answers as there had been in our parents' work life. 

Back then, a comfortable retirement could be assured by sticking with one employer which guaranteed a job for life and a pension. In addition, sock something away for emergencies such as if the divorced son or daughter bounces home with grandchildren and you have to pitch in financially. And that was that. 

Currently the very possibility of not working for income seems elusive. Sure, some might be able to financially pull that off and live the good life. But most will discover, even before stopping work, retirement is 20th century. Those who do retire, the Federal Reserve found, frequently bounce back into the workforce. The common reason is that they cannot make ends meet. So far, one-third of retirees have returned to the labor market. 

Instead of planning for retirement per se, it is more realistic to create a strategy to have enough income as you age so that you don't have to work full-time and/or do what you hope not to do any more. For example, if you are putting in those hellish hours in professional services such as law or management consulting, focus on money-management so that eventually you can do that part-time or on a contract basis. 

With the gig economy on a growth trajectory it is easier to land just-in-time assignments in your field of expertise. Between gigs, you can enjoy living your life on your own terms, just as you daydreamed about during the peak years of your career. That phase of your work life can be labeled "semiretirement."

The Future is already underway. Ghostwriting/Marketing Communications and coaching on those issues. Sliding scale fees. Complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

Anna Sorokin aka Anna Devey, Prison Blogger, Has Promising Future - Deep Understanding of America's Success Ethos

Some people just got an instinct for success. 

Obviously, make-believe heiress Anna Sorokin aka Anna Devey is among them.

Sure, she wound up in prison for her attempted con of securing a multi-million-dollar loan and actually living the good life without paying the bill.

But in October she obtained parole and could be released next month. That will dovetail with the release of a Netflix film about her amazing life. For that she had been paid about one-hundred-thousand bucks. However, the law mandates the funds circle back to the victims she hoodwinked.

In the process of the Netflix undertaking, of course, she has strengthened her brandname. America, founded by a bunch of misfits who couldn't cut it in the old country, loves its outliers.

Her touch, this time on the legal side, will remain magic. The American Way is supposedly boyscoutish/girlscoutish. But the reality is that most who who made it big knew their way around the official rules. Those who stayed big did that within the parameters of the U.S. legal system - sometimes with the help of prominent lawyers.

Likely Sorokin has learned much about all that in a short time. Also, she has acquired the resources to operate within the system. Although born outside the United States, Sorokin had a deep understanding of its complex success ethos.

Of course, in prison she was no slouch when it came to creating a platform for her future. She launched a personal blog, reports Daily Mail. It's called "Anna Devey Diaries." That name, in itself, has become a powerful kind of trademark.  In it, she complains about the lack of luxury items such as gourmet salad dressing. Likely, when on the outside, she will start a podcast. Here is my article, published in Odwyerpr.com, on how that medium is doing in 2021 and how to make yours noticed.

It's not unthinkable that Sorokin could be invited to deliver a Ted Talk on making it big in America. 

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Hermit as Hero - Flight from Nuisances and Comforts of Civilization

Some personally remember what could be thought of as "The Fire This Time."

In 1967, urban areas such as Detroit, Michigan and Newark, New Jersey went up in flames. The front lines of those uprisings were alleged to be people of color.

Currently, the insurrections are very different. Instead of fire, there are firearms and bombs. Instead of people of color there allegedly are those championing the white race. Likely more lives will be lost this time around than back in the late 1960s. In addition, there could be greater fear of society unraveling. The veneer of civilization becomes just that - clearly an illusion.

How well the guardians of civilization - law enforcement - can uphold that concept will be on trial during the transition in Administrations. That will be played out both in D.C. and in the states.

What could attract more interest is the saga of a modern-day hermit who turned his back on the nuisances and comforts of civilization. That had been Christopher Knight. His story is told in "The Stranger in the Woods" by Michael Finkel. In 1986, he entered the woods of Maine. Until he was discovered there in 2013, Knight got by without human companionship, a job, medical care or technology. At 133,490, the book remains a best-seller.

More of the wealthy are doing a less radical version of what Knight pulled off. They are pivoting out of sophisticated urban areas and putting together a lifestyle beyond the parameters of what had been considered The Good Life. The New Paradise is a large ranch in Wyoming. Telecommuting makes that more and more possible. 

I found my Eden in the small town on the border of Mexico: Sierra Vista, Arizona. My vehicle had been vandalized in Toledo, Ohio. During the 1967 riots my parents' car had been pelted with rocks. The local police station had been invaded. Fires raged on main streets. 

A liberal arts major (along with picking up advanced degrees in literature and language) I align with the world view of William Shakespeare. He saw mankind as "cankered in the grain." In his tragedies and history dramas he captured that dark side. 

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