Law And More

Drudge Report - Business Seems to Trump Politics (pun intended & don't expect Matt Drudge to blink)

Matt Drudge and his new conservative digital political tabloid became household names in January 1998.

That's when the Drudge Report broke the "intern story," that is, that U.S. president Bill Clinton had some kind of sexual relationship with assistant Monica Lewinsky. 

The impeachment process eventually kicked in. 

Drudge's outing was no surprise. After all, he was a conservative player. 

What surprised some, but not everyone, has been this: In the past several months that conservative tabloid went negative on the Trump Administration. It was at the time that the U.S. president Donald Trump seemed headed toward possible impeachment.

Darkness was falling. And Matt didn't miss any of that in the aggregation.

Now, reports the Daily Beast based on its sources, Trump himself has noticed the shift away from blind loyalty. Of course, he doesn't like what he is reading. According to the Beast, he requested that his son-in-law Jared Kushner find out what's going on. 

Those who are not surprised understand both the influence game and the business of media. 

Given the Drudge Report's extreme influence, Matt would be a fool to limit support to any rigid ideology or a player whose own influence could be on a downward trajectory. The Drudge Report is read regularly not only by conservatives but also a growing number of liberals, as well as those on mainstream. Its reach keeps growing. Meanwhile, HuffPost, launched as a liberal push-back, is up for sale. 

In the volatile media industry, the Drudge Report also is one of the not very many of native digitals which continues to scale as a business. Axios is another.

Matt understands the business, whereas other players in the space seemed too caught up in increasing traffic, at any cost. That cost wound up ranging from losing advertisers to losing litigation, as had Gawker. In a sense, they are chasing exposure, not profits. 

Media is a business. Matt is a businessperson who is operating a media enterprise. 

If Trump is smart he will leave his relationship, if any, with the Drudge Report twitter-free. Matt has acquired too much power and is too independent (unlike the folks at Fox) to have to cave to Trump. 

Reflection: Given the undertow of tension between Matt and Trump, more readers will probably flock to the Drudge Report to check out the tone of all content associated with the Trump Administration or Trump himself.

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

The Rhetoric of Policy-Making - The Evolution of "Radical"

The headline in Thomson Reuters uses the term "radicalize" associated with Mohammed Saud Alshamrani.

Of course, in that context the connotation is negative. And, skilled policy-makers know to avoid that word.

But that wasn't also the situation.

Language, like all human institutions, keeps changing.

During the late 1960s counterculture, "radicalize" had a cool meaning.

The "enlightened" was the radicalized. They were the ones who attracted love, speaking engagements, and jobs in emerging industries such as counterculture retail. Being radical was also a lot of fun. All that theatre in the streets. 

The unenlightened became isolated, at least in some hubs of political and cultural activity such as Ann Arbor, Michigan. 

Recall also, the founding fathers of America were considered radicals.

Currently, radical scares. It does, however, grab media headlines. What the far-left proposes is always the top of the news, both in liberal and conservative media. 

Instead of being positioned and packaged as "radical," those struggling to get support for a policy or establish a presence should aim to be known as "innovative." That's now a platitude. But it still represents effective rhetoric. 

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

JD Class of 2020 - Exactly the Right Tone for Job Search (and career)

Tone is everything.

Trial lawyers and transactional negotiators have that down cold.

Especially effective are all the communications, in all formats and in all mediums, by law firm Sanford Heisler Sharp. On LinkedIn, for example, those lawyers are always there but never off-key. 

Those in the JD Class of 2020 need that same intuitive grasp of the exactly the right tone in a job search - and then making the transition to practicing law. 

Obviously, the Pelton holiday commercial "The Gift That Gives Back" failed to have the right tone. So far, there have been 15,000 dislikes on YouTube. BusinessInsider reports that its stock lost $1.5 billion in a handful of days.

How can you prevent the wrong tone? Being tone-deaf can put the kibosh on everything from a cover letter for a job to how the lunch interview goes.

Here are 3 tips:

•  Grab hold of the mindset of Eminem's iconic song "Lose Yourself." It's all about being in the moment, totally tuned into the people, the context, and the mood. As Eminem hammers, you just have one shot. Depending on who the expert is, it's documented that judgments get made about what you're all out in anywhere from 60 seconds to the upper limit of four minutes. Usually there is no coming back from a bad impression. In a job search, it's all about the needs of the employer. No, it's not about you. 
• Mirror. The most successful salespeople observe everything about the prospect, ranging from where their building is located in Manhattan to the organizational culture. Then they custom-make their everything, ranging from what they wear to how they pace their pitch, to those key points of identity. The best don't overdo it. That is, they continue to maintain their unique sense of self.
•  Be open. Everything changes. The wildly optimistic tone of the WeWork and Uber used to attract investors. Now, given their failure to make a profit, the tone of that rhetoric scares investors. A major part of high social intelligence is never entering a context with a set "script." Instead there is a rapid scanning of what is before putting anything out there. BTW, intimate relationships often go kaput when the parties stop scanning.

What about general role models for tone?

Among the most useful currently is psychiatrist on "Chicago Med" Dr. Daniel Charles, played by Oliver Platt. His effectiveness during crisis is his mission of custom-making a solution for every whatever. There are no formulaic approaches. In short, he is "there" for the human beings who have lost their ways.

Earlier it had been the late Steve Jobs. His theatrical MO essentially was, yes, "Lose Yourself." That covered all aspects of marketing, be it designing products for real people or winning over wary security analysts. 

The takeaway: In a job search and later becoming an employee, make the mantra "This is not about me."

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

In What Tony West Calls "New Approach," Uber Releases Sexual Assault Report

By doing this safety report and releasing it, Uber might assume it is positioning and packaging itself in a positive manner. And its head of legal Tony West is calling the initiative a "new approach."

But, the reality is that the sexual assault numbers are scary.

Uber points out that there has been a decline of 16% in the average incident rate. That is due to its putting in-place safety measures. In addition, the report includes assaults on both passengers and drivers. Drivers also have been victims.

However, what is obvious is this: The raw numbers show an increase. 

2017 - 2,936 sexual assaults

2018 - 3,045 sexual assaults

Of those: 

2017 - 229 rapes

2018 - 235 rapes.

In terms of both the courts of public opinion and of law, this report will likely further erode the Uber brand. Meanwhile, it still seems far from generating a profit.

Here in Toledo, Ohio, the cost of taking a traditional taxi and of ubering it is about the same. I go with the traditional taxi. 

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

How Green Is the Valley - And GM Branding

There were three shifts.

Then there were two shift.

Soon there was one shift.

And, the announcement came from GM that there would be no shifts at the Lordstown, Ohio plant, just outside Youngstown.  The vehicle produced there - the sedan Cruze - was too slow a seller in the era of the SUV and pickup truck. 

Unlike Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Youngstown Metro area, sometimes called "The Valley," never diversified after the steel industry went kaput. 

Lordstown became a symbol for rust-belt manufacturing decline. Pittsburgh had been for years the symbol of urban reinvention through nurturing industries such as healthcare, technology, and higher education.

But this wasn't the first time Lordstown had been used to send a negative message. Back in the early 1980s, it represented blue-collar blues. The assembly workers no longer exuded gratitude for being lifted into the middle class through auto industry jobs. They berated the kind of work they were doing.

Today, Lordstown transitions into another kind of symbol: Midwest extreme resilience in manufacturing. It might go by the meme: How Green Is the Valley.

As USA Today reports, GM and South Korea's LG Chem announced a $2.3 billion joint venture in Lordstown, OH to produce batteries for electric cars. Eventually that will generate 1,100 new jobs. And lots of favorable environmental PR will come GM's way. Leaders from around the world can tour the plant.

A reason why the partners choose the Youngstown area is the existence of an experienced production workforce with an amazing work ethic.

This initiative could, of course, attract other manufacturing projects. That means even more jobs.

Youngstown could evolve into an industrial hub. The dark side of that is that rents, so low even for the state of OH, could surge upward.

Right now, a 600-square-foot one-bedroom at Hillbrook Apartments, with all utilities included, in nearby Austintown, goes for $580. Peanuts. That could change as soon as the economic development gets traction.

Meanwhile, property owners in the region could experience a windfall profit if they sell to a professional or tradesman parachuting in to work at the battery plant. 

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

No Longer Unthinkable - What Drudge Report Poll Shouts Out Is Possible

She hasn't even entered the race.

Of course, there are hints out there that will happen.

But, already some people are assuming she will parachute in, even at this late date.

A sort of stunner: This morning (8:45 A.M., New York Times) the Drudge Report poll about who will be the Democrat nominee has Hillary Clinton come in second, with about 24% of the vote. Joe Biden comes in first, with almost 32% of the vote. 

If Hillary does declare herself a candidate, then it's likely the fun will start up again on Drudge. That conservative digital tabloid made an art of portraying Hillary, especially in what could have been photoshopped photos, as everything from very ill to very mean. 

When Hillary didn't matter much any more on the political stage (there came AOL), Drudge shifted its mean-spirited spotlight to Nancy Pelosi. There were links to articles focusing on Nancy's supposed moments of language confusion and memory loss. 

For followers of the Drudge Report Hillary could return to be the cartoonish main attraction. 

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

The Law Firm - 3 Can't-Ignore Trends (with a few exceptions)

Practicing law is a business.

So, the trends affecting law firms really are not unique. They reflect what is going on in business in general. 

Therefore, when Law.com describes the 3 prominent trends shaping the business of law firms, professionals in general find no surprises. Those same forces recently have preoccupied most leaders in most enterprises throughout America, including small businesses.

As Law.com points out, here are the 3:

Need to specialize. As corporate legal departments hold onto more work to cut expenses, what will be farmed out is what is so specialized that it can't be done effectively and cost-efficiently in-house. 

Therefore, the generalist lawyer is going the way of the low-IQ phone.

The same phenomenon is taking hold in many other kinds of businesses, especially professional services. Clients usually need specific help in a very narrow category. They will only welcome proposals for that and those must be from vendors with documented experience in that niche. The game is about beefing up a track record in that niche so that the business is on the prospect's "short list." 

Scale to expand the footprint. That explains the intense activity in mergers/acquisitions and lateral hiring. Corporations are doing the same thing. That accounts for the consolidation, purchase of startups, and hiring of stars in the industry.

With a larger footprint, the law firm has a better shot at being on a short list. This is the era when corporate legal departments are struggling to reduce cost and simplify by reducing the number of law firms they use.

The exceptions range from Morris, Manning & Martin and Bartlet Beck.

There is also a counter trend in business. To save money, some searching for vendors specify they want solos or small firms. They do not want sophisticated brands.

Those vendors in that small-box game have to position and package themselves for the frugal kind of transaction. Incidentally, charging less no longer necessarily carries the stigma that one is second-class.

Requirement that more has to be paid for technology. In law, that includes the need to prevent cyber attacks on client data. In addition, more clients such as insurance companies are demanding that law firms use artificial intelligence in managing cases. If that AI capacity isn't integrated into the firm, then that law firm will not be invited to submit a proposal.

But this technology expense dominates all business. Those which can't buy, "rent." For example, small enterprises have to hire services - that is, Software as a Service or SAAS - which automate tasks and simultaneously protect security.

Of course, these 3 trends could become irrelevant if a severe global downturn occurs. That could change a lot. 

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Fintech - Can London Startup Fronted Reduce Landlord-Tenant Disputes?

In the many versions of "small claims court," the most common cases are landlord-tenant disputes. 

The London startup Fronted might eventually prevent a lot of those kinds of problems from happening around the world. Here in the U.S. some refer to the usual imbalance of power as "Landlord Nation."

Fronted can be a game-changer through the fintech tools they are developing. 

Fronted founders are kicking things off in the UK with their fintech product to assist renters in being able to have the funds for the rental deposit. In some situations, that could include a security deposit, the first month's rent, and the last month's rent. If pets are allowed, there could be more added on and that amount may not be refundable. 

If renters obtain the money through credit cards, payday lenders, or financial institutions making personal loans, the overall cost could be a lot. Fronted's mission is to lower that cost. That will provide more rental options for those needing a better place to live. Too many get stuck staying put because they can't pony up the deposit.

As TechCrunch reports, Fronted uses Open Banking and other fintech tools to check the background of the applicant and then, if things are okay, transfer the funds directly to the agent in charge of the transaction. The money never gets in the hands of the renter. That eliminates the possibility of fraud.

Factored into the programming is a feature called the "holiday mode." That temporarily reduces the payment schedule so that the borrowers won't fall behind when they find they are stretched too thin financially. 

This lending arrangement is only the first of Fronted fintech products. The others could level the playing field between landlords and tenants. Too many have experienced applying for a rental as much an ordeal as applying for a job. 

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

Those Nuclear Jury Verdicts - Insurance Sector Responds with AI

Some date the transformation of the jury to a kind of Greek Chorus sending a message to the O.J. Simpson criminal trial for two murders. In terms of monetizing that message, that kicked in with "Hulk Hogan v. Gawker." 

Now, it's obvious that jurors have transcended supposed objectivity to take on the role of change agents. Nuclear verdicts could become standard.

One response, reports Law.com, has been by insurance company Liberty Mutual Group. Its front-lines weapon is artificial intelligence. For that it has created its own proprietary software and also uses vendors Westlaw Edge, Lex Machina, and Gavelytics.

It is leveraging data to:

At the front end to determine if it should settle or go to trial.

What law firm to hire, given the venue and the particular judge. Incidentally, law firms not in the AI box could be knocked out of the box during the pitch for the account.

What partners in that selected law firm to use, given that venue and the particular judge. 

Pop culture, such as television programming like "Court TV" has enlightened jurors about their power. They get it that they are a key moving part in the legal system. And there is no indication that they will not use that power to reshape the world into what they assume is a better model.

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

Susan Wojcicki - Forget Putting Knock on Lawyers as Moral Relativists

On "60 Minutes," YouTube chief executive officer Susan Wojcicki shocked the world. And, probably never again, will anyone put the knock on lawyers for being moral relativists. She won that title.

Here is the coverage from Tech Crunch. And, here is video of the actual "60 Minutes" interview.

In her conversation with Lesley Stahl, Wojcicki made a distinction. 

She indicated that if a video on YouTube was assessed to cause harm, it would be pulled down.

However, if a video was evaluated to only spread hatred and disinformation it would not be pulled down. 

An example of what would not be pulled down is a video presenting the thesis that whites are superior. 

Any first semester first year law school would demand that YouTube be made to define "harm" in much more detail.

Bring in the regulators ...

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.