Law And More

"U.S. v. Elizabeth Holmes" - Defendant Spotted in Court

Celebrity entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes was spotted at a court hearing in California.

No, she was not wearing her signature black turtleneck.

Yes, she the once superwoman who had founded Theranos. Here are more details from the media. 

The next time the cameras might pan on her will be either at her trial for alleged fraud scheduled for July 8th or at her wedding to hotel heir Billy Evans. 

Clearly, Holmes remains an enigma. 

If convicted at her trial she faces a sentence of 20 years. Yet she and Evans, reports the media, have sent out invitations to their wedding. 

He is in his 20s and rich. She is in her 30s and broke. At one time she had been a billionaire. 

Meanwhile, all kinds of wild scenarios dance in Holmes-watchers' heads.

Will she show up at her trial pregnant?

If imprisoned, will Evans be granted conjugal visits?

Or, more likely will he divorce Holmes and take the publicity and run? It's been observed that he is preoccupied with the attention he receives on social media. 

Of course, there is the possibility that Holmes will cut a deal before the trial date. 

In the history of Silicon Valley, her legacy as the millennial Bernie Madoff could make her more famous than Steve Jobs et al. 

Here is a copy of the indictment. The number-two at Theranos - Sunny Balwani - is included. In an interview he positioned and packaged his behavior as being part of a business failure, not a fraud. 

UPDATE:

Lawyers for Elizabeth Holmes get the judge to delay the trial date. Holmes and her legal team will be back in court on July 1st to discuss that trial date.

Here are details.

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

Legal Marketers: Beware LinkedIn Updates

Experts haven't come to any definitive conclusions about the surging rate of narcissism.

But, therapist and best-selling author Shahida Arabi has some hunches. She discusses them in her book "Power: Surviving & Thriving After Narcissistic Abuse." Although published more than two years ago, it continues to rank high on Amazon. This afternoon it's at 7,473. Here you can order it from Amazon.

Among the factors triggering the uptick in narcissism, observes Arabi, is the dominance of self-promotion on social networks. Sure, that self-promotion is often is positioned and packaged as information. Sometimes posters get away with appearing to post as a public service. For instance, they are providing documentation for the harm X or Y causes. And they may be totally sincere.

But self-promotion it is.

And, you bet, it's necessary.

That currently extends from the brutal world of high school alpha-strutting to the stealth games of professional life. For the latter, the must platform to post on is LinkedIn Updates.

I tell clients just that: They have to be there on LinkedIn Updates. And once there no such entity as excessive self-promotion exists. 

But the downside of that is a hardening of sensitivity about human interaction.

Soon enough in the seeming compulsive self-promotion process the poster loses any interest in if readers are interested.

During in-person interaction (which there is less and less of in digital times) there is the glazed-over look. Online, there may be no likes, shares, comments or views. But posters rarely take note. They just keep posting and posting. The mindset might be: I'm in business, I postpostpost. 

That reckless disregard of others is an attribute of narcissism. Eventually it could become a formal case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. 

Meanwhile, that extreme lack of social skills can actually hurt the business or the cause. That's what should scare those who have made LinkedIn Updates their platform.

Over and over again, especially in this digital economy, human resources leaders are singling out soft skills as what their organizations need. Here is Deloitte's white paper on that.

In my research/ghostwriting assignments on implementing Digital First, 90% has been focused on raising the organization's and the individual's Emotional Intelligence. The technology will succeed or fail based primarily on human factors. 

So, the irony may be: The business is an effective promoter on LinkedIn Updates but it winds up going bankrupt.

The autopsy at the bankruptcy uncoveres that it had lost touch with clients/customers, prospects, and third-party partners.

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

Ham-Handed Crisis Management - Jones Day

"Jones Day is proud of its success in promoting a diverse group of outstanding lawyers." Posted in April 2019, on Jones Day's website. Here is the entire statement.

From the get-go, law firm Jones Day blew crisis management 101.

Yes, "Tolton v. Jones Day" has thrown it into a crisis. Unless handled well, that gender discrimination class action litigation could evolve into the 21st century equivalent of the O.J. Simpson murder legal media event. 

The fundamental of crisis communications is this: You focus on the alleged injured party. Instead, Jones Day starts out its manifesto with itself: "Jones Day is proud ..." 

Not a smart move.

Then, until the media broke the news, it did not discuss why former partner Eric Landau had left the firm before the litigation had been filed. Although not a defendant in the lawsuit, he is mentioned prominently. Here is yesterday's article in Law.com on the matter by Dan Packel. And, here is a copy of the litigation in which Landau has established a presence - and not a positive one. 

And, most to the point, Jones Day has allowed the law firm representing Tolton et al. - Sanford Heisler Sharp - to keep cranking away its well-oiled messaging machine. Jones Day has not established an equivalent. Maybe it hasn't because it is blinded by its own myopia as a white shoe firm. Sanford's persona is that of the feisty underdog. As such it has become a superhero in the employment category.

Meanwhile, Jones Day has had another kind of shade thrown on it.

That was the high-profile loss for Sherwin-Williams in the California public nuisance lead paint class action bench trial. When Jones Day appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to review the conviction, SCOTUS said "no."

As predicted, copy cat lawsuits broke out. Here is the Forbes' coverage. The dynamics could become contagious. Here comes "Another Tobacco."

So far, Jones Day's stumbles in crisis communications make it a useful case study for public relations courses. If it wants to halt the belly laughs - at its expense - it will hire top-flight crisis help.

Should it be using public relations assistance currently, that outreach is analogous to the situation in sales when someone blurts out: That dog don't hunt.

An immediate turnaround could occur if Jones Day donates a billion dollars worth of digital devices to female entrepreneurs in developing economies. That equipment will facilitate payments without the nation needing to set up other types of systems. 

Operating their own businesses gives females the flexibility to also care for their families - and themselves. When I was a contract columnist for PaymentWeek.com, I paid a lot of attention to that issue.

Complimentary consultation about exactly the right tone, content, and behavior. Janegenova374@gmail.com.

Check Twitter - The Usual Ranters Have Fewer Likes Now That Public Has Mueller Report

Now we can decide.

We have the Mueller Report (along with redactions).

It has become the loudest voice in the U.S, drowning out all the usual ranters on social media as well as in the blogosphere.

Check Twitter, check advocacy blogs. There has been a plunge in the typical number of likes, shares, and comments. 

This could be the tipping point in the power of social to control public opinion. Finally, given the Mueller Report, we can break free and decide for ourselves how to assess those in power, those clawing after power, and those rapidly losing power.

The Mueller Report could be the first giant step the nation takes toward critical thinking.

Need affordable help strategically planning and putting together content? That ranges from blog posts and e-books to planning/scripting podcasts and creating traditional speeches. Complimentary consultation on how to generate influence and sell without paying high rates, janegenova374@gmail.com. 

SmallLaw/Solos - Sure, Try Out LinkedIn ProFinder

LinkedIn dominates job search.

Increasingly, those looking to hire request the link to our LinkedIn Profile instead of a resume. And corporations such as Unilever which experimenting with digital recruiting have Artificial Intelligence scan our LinkedIn site. 

So, LinkedIn's paid service - ProFinder - is what gig workers, SmallLaw, and Solos can't ignore.

Sure, you in SmallLaw and those of you who are Solos should take advantage of the 30-day free trial. After that, you have decide whether to pony up about 60 bucks a month to become a subscriber. Here is a guide to what ProFinder is about. 

Essentially ProFinder is a match-maker between those needing projects done, including drawing up a contract, and vendors. The difference from other kinds of match-makers is that we the vendors do the paying. No, you don't pay to respond to a help-wanted in the Legal category on Craigslist.

In your email as well as on your LinkedIn homepage, there will appear the requests for proposals. LinkedIn puts a limit on how many vendors can submit proposals. That controls the competitive factor. For a help-wanted on Craigslist there can be 200 to 300 responses.

The requests for proposals are restricted to your overall geographical location in the U.S. The service only includes the U.S. If you're not in a booming economic region, that can operate against you.

There is no typical assignment or typical terms and conditions.

But, during the two free trials I participated in there were no real plums. For example, I picked up a lucrative assignment for researching background information for an online course for green associates on Craigslist. It was the "Boston" section. 

Reviews of ProFinder are mixed.

Some contend it is a consistent and well-paying source of business. That kind of success, I have found, is usually determined by:

•  Their category of expertise (career coaches do well)
•  The geographic location (of course, you want to be in Silicon Valley or Manhattan)
•  How they pitched (there's a wordcount max and no attachments allowed)
•  Whom they were competing with (the competition may have more of a track record)

Based here in Northeastern Ohio, with specializations in ghostwriting/scriptwriting and marcom, I haven't earned enough during the two ProFinder free trials to become a paid member. 

Overall, my best-paying assignments have come from my creating a marketing list and a pitch letter and doing cold emailing. Since the 1970s, "What Color Is Your Parachute?" has been recommending that as the most effective tactic in the search for work. 

After the Easter holiday, I am launching a fresh email campaign targeted at a market segment I hadn't developed as yet. Depending on the response or lack of it I'll keep modifying the list and the pitch. 

Incidentally, lawyers in my metro area also are pitching via snail mail. Given that the lawyer's name and address are on the envelope, you can bet I open it. Fear makes me do that. So, yes, snail mail can have reach. 

Need affordable help strategically planning and putting together content? That ranges from blog posts and e-books to planning/scripting podcasts and creating traditional speeches. Complimentary consultation on how to generate influence and sell without paying high rates, janegenova374@gmail.com. 

Through the Glassdoor - My Interview with Your Edge for Success (YES), the 1st Amendment & "Dying for a Paycheck"

Glassdoor has become the default for assessing how employers manage the workforce, ranging from hiring interviews to culture.

But itself may require some reviewing.

Not too long ago I had what I experienced as an odd interview with resume/cover letter preparation firm in the D.C. area - Your Edge for Success (YES). Had I continued with that hiring process I would have had to:

•  Submit to what I perceived to be a time-consuming test (that would be for 15 hours a week, the hours not guaranteed. The work was paid per project. The fee for service was $55 for editing a set of a resume/cover letter - not easy work).
•  Submit to a personality test (I had been admitted to Harvard Law School w/o a personality test). 
•  Submit references (Since references aren't trusted anymore it seemed peculiar that such a request had been made. Don't those in the know know they can't dish about job applicants without being nailed for defamation?) 

Here is my analysis of that recruitment policy.

Determined to protect other work applicants, I went to Glassdoor, for the second time in my career.

I posted in the Interview section.

I also erroneously posted in the employee section. Obviously I wasn't paying attention, which I should have. With good reason, Glassdoor yanked that. 

But, recently I discovered that it also had yanked the feedback on the Interview. By email I was informed that it had been notified that I was a competitor. It did offer me the opportunity to clarify that. Would it then, I wondered, reinstate the post after my clarification? Time will tell.

Clarify I did.

But, given my knowledge as a syndicated legal blogger of the 1st amendment, I was puzzled why the interview was removed before I could defend myself. Was I presumed guilty? Or is this Glassdoor's MO (which requires a review)?

Also, what documentation was provided as evidence that I am a competitor? I haven't prepared a resume for compensation in over five years.

The strategic career coaching I do is mostly that: macro.

I applied for a resume editing gig to find out if there was any high-end business left in that niche. After all, Your Edge for Success operates in the upscale D.C. market. Jumping back in via a gig assignment would have given me real-time data.

In addition, I posted on my three syndicated sites today how resume creators are going the way of the blacksmith in the era of Henry Ford. Here is one of those posts. If resumes were my business, I wouldn't be navigating the internet with a machete aimed at my own livelihood. 

The business, incidentally, is in LinkedIn Profiles. I haven't done one of those, aside from my own, in four years. The revenues for my communications boutique primarily are from researching and ghostwriting on global workplace issues.

From that I am aware of the struggle of those who are working for a living. That has been grimly documented by Stanford Graduate Business School professor Jeffrey Pfeffer. His book is "Dying for a Paycheck." Here it can ordered from Amazon.

Although "Dying for a Paycheck" has been out there for over a year, it still ranks very high on Amazon: 39,612. No question, the conditions it describes resonate as on the money worldwide.

As someone who works, I strongly objected to the recruitment policies of Your Edge for Success. That is my opinion. As of now, Glassdoor has prevented my sharing it. Sad.

Need affordable help strategically planning and putting together content? That ranges from blog posts and e-books to planning/scripting podcasts and creating traditional speeches. Complimentary consultation on how to generate influence and sell without paying high rates, janegenova374@gmail.com. 

 

Resume Firms, Like Your Edge For Success (YES), Could Become Blacksmiths at Time of Henry Ford

Creating resumes, as they do at Washington Metro area Your Edge for Success (YES), is both an art and science.

The art part entails the arrangement of elements, just as in a skilled operation of Photoshop.

The science is the selection of the right keywords.

In the high stakes game of landing a job in the prestigious D.C. law market both are important - for now.

But, soon enough, even in the slow-changing field of legal services, those employed putting together resumes could become analogous to the master blacksmiths in the era of Henry Ford. 

Increasingly, just as with the technology of the automobile, the technology of digital is making resumes an anachronism. 

Resume creation could be the next industry hard hit by digitization.

On a very simple level, already help-wanted ads specify: In no more than four sentences tell us about you. Do not attach resume. 

That's the primitive play-out of the new order of job search. 

On the level of BigBusiness, corporations such as Goldman Sachs, Unilever, and WalMart's Jet are experimenting with digital alternatives to the old-fashioned resume.

Essentially the meme is: Resumes are out, algorithms are in.

As Fox reports, for example, Unilever has piloted a fresh way to recruit, test, and interview talent.

Essentially it goes like this.

Talent finds the help wanted notices with their smartphones. Those alert that a job or internship is available. They may be posted on Facebook or other social network.

When human beings respond, they are directed to a career database. There is a digital sorting for a fit. Much of the data will be retrieved from the LinkedIn profile. Incidentally, more and more of the contract ads I respond to request the URL for my LinkedIn profile, not a resume. 

The applicants who seem a fit then play a number of games online. Yes, gamification is proving to be a useful way to uncover skills. So, critics of video games should back off with the condemnation and point out how that mastery serves in trying to land a good job.

Those proving themselves through gaming then move on to an automated video interview. There is a digital assessment of everything from ability to handle pressure to problem-solving. 

Next for those who make the cut is the first human encounter: interaction with a human being.

The post-resume era can create a level playing field. It could eliminate the old-line kind of bias about age, race, sexual orientation, and gender.

In addition, there is low-cost access to a diverse talent pool.

Also, corporations can prevent litigation about discrimination during recruiting. Seasons 52 recently settled a $2.85 million lawsuit alleging that older wait staff were being screened out in the hiring process. 

Law firms in all global locations and of all sizes can embrace digital tools for recruiting, including for summer internships. This could be more cost efficient and effective than campus interviews and contracting with search firms. 

The mutually best work relationship in the history of my communications/coaching boutique has been with a human resources professional services firm. It picked me up digitally. There was no trotting out the clunky resume.

Full Disclosure: Not long ago I had a negative experience interviewing the old-fashioned way with a resume-creation firm. Somehow I got it: This wasn't where I needed to be in order to become more marketable. 

UPDATE: - Your Edge for Success through The Glassdoor

Glassdoor removed my posting on its site regarding my interview with Edge for Success.

It had been contended that I was classified as a competitor. I informed Glassdoor that I was not a competitor. I requested that it return the feedback to the site. 

I had not done a paid assignment for resumes for years and years. Moreover I have gone on record that the resume is an anachronism in job search. Here is one of those kinds of posts. 

In short, I am not in the resume business and hadn't been so for a long time. 

Need affordable help strategically planning and putting together content? That ranges from blog posts and e-books to planning/scripting podcasts and creating traditional speeches. Complimentary consultation on how to generate influence and sell without paying high rates, janegenova374@gmail.com. 

 

Lawyers Considering Side Hustles in Creating Resumes/Cover Letters

Resumes and cover letters?

Some employers are still using those in the hiring process.

But, they could soon enough be history - ancient history.

Grandma, what was a "resume?" 

Large corporations such as Unilever are experimenting with blowing up job search.

Out are resumes and cover letters.

In are Artificial Intelligence, gamification, and video interviews for solving hypothetical problems.

Playing the Job Search Game - Literally

Here is the Fox coverage on that disruption, already underway. So, yes, parents, encourage not discourage your offspring about mastering video games. 

And, yes, activists, this revolution can create a level playing field. It prevents bias at the front end. At least if the AI isn't coded to discriminate on the basis of sex, race, gender, or age. 

Gamification can uncover unique skills.

And what you can do for employers will factor in more in a hiring decision than a paper credential. Apple, Oracle, Airbnb et al. are hiring for well-paying jobs without imposing the college degree requirement. Here is the coverage on that from MarketWatch.

Resume/Cover Letter Creation Oppprtunity at Your Edge for Success (YES)

Meanwhile Your Edge for Success, based in Alexandria, Virginia, has posted on Mediabistro.com a help-wanted. This morning I received an alert about that on my gmail. Some content-providers  may have felt euphoric about the development of such an opportunity. 

Lawyers might be considering this as side hustle. Full-time lawyer Kevin Ha has 13 side hustles. Of course, his student loans are all paid off. Here are the details.

That Resume/Cover Letter creation enterprise - YES - needs three part-time remote writers or editors. The owner is Katherine Metres Akbar. Here is the post. Yes, this could be your future.

For developing a resume/cover letter the compensation ranges from $75 to $150.

For editing each set $55.

The ad requests at least 15 hours a week. 

My Interview with YES and The Hiring Process

Last week I interviewed with Akbar for this very part-time editing opportunity. Yet, the ad is being posted again so quickly.

Why did I apply? As long as the resume/cover letter earning category still exists, I figured: Why not take a peek?

Experience in the broader field of career transition is highly marketable. Learn more and earn more, I decided. 

The owner Akbar conducted the phone interview which lasted about half an hour.

From the get-go, she indicated that neither 15 hours a week or any hours a week were guaranteed. The full-time staff gets first shot at work since they are on salary. No, assignments aren't always available.

The reality: I may or may not get work. And I would be paid for a resume/cover letter editing assignment 55 bucks. Not a king's ransom.

But to move on to the next step in the hiring process I would have to:

•  Take what I perceived as a complex, time-consuming test. Unpaid.
•  Submit to a personality test. Why? I would not be selling or dealing directly with clients. Come to think of it, I didn't need to take a personality test to be admitted to Harvard Law School.
•  Provide references. Haha. One reason the hiring process is going digital is that references, by their nature, are not objective. If they were, those doing the dishing could be sued for defamation. And, come on, why would I give a list of references which would entail any risk to my ability to be hired?

If allowed to move along in the process, I would be watching training videos. Unpaid.

Sure, the knowledge could be priceless. But, as Ben Franklin observed: Time is money. 

Reflections of a Current Side Hustler

After consulting with my network of professional advisors, I decided to withdraw from the screening process.

Too much seemed to be invested at the front end. At least that was our take. Your assessment of this opportunity may be quite different.

One wonders what the American brand of capitalism, at least in some circles, has come to.

When I was hired for my first good part-time job in high school by New Jersey Bell, the process was conducted on an intuitive basis. Training was paid. I stayed with that job, which funded my college education, until I left for a doctoral program at the University of Michigan. 

When I was hired for my first professional job in a corporation ghostwriting/speechwriting for executives at Chevron, no, I didn't have to do a sample article - unpaid.

When I was hired as a contract marcom provider at a global career transition firm last year, there were no hoops to jump through. From the get-go, all work was paid. All work is still paid - well-paid and steady.

Takeaway

How much should side hustlers be willing to invest in the front end of a search for gigs, at least for now?

Soon enough the process could all be a fun game that we don't experience as "work" per se.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I shared this experience on the Interview section of GlassDoor. In error I also shared it in the section for actual employees, mistakeningly clicking on the box that I had actually worked for YES. Mea culpa. 

UPDATE: - Your Edge for Success through The Glassdoor

Glassdoor removed my posting on its site regarding my interview with Edge for Success.

It had been contended that I was classified as a competitor. I informed Glassdoor that I was not a competitor. I requested that it return the feedback to the site. 

I had not done a paid assignment for resumes for years and years. Moreover I have gone on record that the resume is an anachronism in job search. Here is one of those kinds of posts. 

In short, I am not in the resume business and hadn't been so for a long time. 

Need affordable help strategically planning and putting together content? That ranges from blog posts and e-books to planning/scripting podcasts and creating traditional speeches. Complimentary consultation on how to generate influence and sell without paying high rates, janegenova374@gmail.com. 

Julian Assange - Irrelevant That We Don't Like Him

It's the classic on how the world (including inside the beltway) really works: "The Power Game" by Hedrick Smith. 

In it, Smith explains that one source of power is likability. 

Well, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is perceived to lack that. Much of the media coverage and films made portray him as a self-seeking Machiavellian player. So? 

That really is irrelevant - or should be.

Many positive game-changers in the history of civilization were not likable.

America's freedom fighter John Adams comes across as pompous. Also, it seems he was jealous of the gregarious Ben Franklin who had a way with the ladies, both here and in Paris.

Steve Jobs was not a nice guy. 

Can the U.S. legal system separate out Assange the person from his motivations and behavior?

He is charged with conspiracy to commit computer crime. More specifically, he teamed up with Chelsea Manning to steal and publish classified U.S. government documents.

Here is a copy of the grand jury indictment against him, issued March 2018 but kept under wraps until his arrest today.

The question, as with Ed Snowden (who is more likable), is: Were the "crimes" committed with the greater good in mind? 

Assange legal defense team should hammer in the courts of law and public opinion that, no, we don't like the guy. But his actions might have been acts necessary to protect democracy.

Need affordable help strategically planning and putting together content? That ranges from blog posts and e-books to planning/scripting podcasts and creating traditional speeches. Complimentary consultation on how to generate influence and sell without paying high rates, janegenova374@gmail.com. 

 

It's Come to This: National Enquirer on the Block

Crime novelist, courtroom reporter for Vanity Fair, and lover of gossip - Dominick Donne - used to swear by the National Enquirer. Every Thursday he showed up at the supermarket to pick up his copy. 

Many also recall that it was the National Enquirer which broke the story on presidential hopeful John Edwards' affair and child out of wedlock. 

That was then.

Now, that iconic gossip tabloid is up for sale by its parent American Media. Here are details from Bloomberg. It is a victim of three developments.

One is that the whole gossip industry has been disrupted. Businesses noticed how in-demand those juicy tidbits, especially about celebrities, are. The industry became flooded with competition. Much of that is available on the internet free and on network television. 

Another cause for the end of the National Enquirer is that it itself became enmeshed in scandal. Those range from allegations that it killed off potentially damaging articles about Donald Trump to accusations by Amazon's Jeff Bezos of attempted extortion.

The third trigger aimed at its head has been its high debt load. That's not uncommon for publications which date back to print days. Conde Nast lost about $170 million in a recent year. One wonders if that publishing empire will be around in five years.

Obviously, editorial types and photographers will be losing their jobs or gig assignments when a new owner comes in. This blog wishes them the best in their job search. 

Need affordable help strategically planning and putting together content? That ranges from blog posts and e-books to planning/scripting podcasts and creating traditional speeches. Complimentary consultation on how to generate influence and sell without paying high rates, janegenova374@gmail.com.