PALESTINIAN BLOGS

'This Week In Palestinian Blogs: World On Fire'
by Naseem Tarawnah

While the flames of war engulf Lebanon, Gaza is still under attack. Many of the victims have been Palestinian children, some barely a year old; and as their families prepare to burry them Haitham Sabbah asks the fundemental question: “How shall we forget? How shall we forgive?”

As sound of artillery shells resonated from the nearby Al-Magazi refugee camp, Mona El-Farra overhears one of the girls at the children’s center in the Nusseirat camp say: “Nobody can stop me from dreaming, nobody should take my dreams away.”

Mona has been touring the camps and hospital emergency rooms in Gaza the last few days with many stories to tell; stories of sadness , of freedom and of resilient children of Gaza whose dreams continue to dance.

Laila El-Haddad still finds it difficult to blog from the U.S. especially when the news from back home has been mixed. While her in-laws have fled to Syria her father’s cousin in Gaza tells her that with no electricity in the area people can eat only what they cook the same day as lack of refrigeration and sweltering summer heat add to the already accumulating frustration. Meanwhile Fida, Laila’s activist friend from Gaza, writes her an email along with some photos of the Rafah crossing: “I came back and thought I can do some thing , but the Israelis destroyed more and killed more , and now in Rafah a lot live in the schools after they lost there houses.”

Fayyad of KabobFest is not surprised at Zawahiri’s latest video as he attempts to jump on the recent wave of support for Palestine and Lebanon where traditionally resistance movements there have viewed Al-Queda with contempt.

While pictures of Israeli citizens signing missiles before they are launched into Lebanon and Gaza have become popularized on many Palestinian blogs, Fayyad wonders if this is considered “Jewish terrorism” since “When a Muslim commits a crime, the whole of his religion goes on trial.”

In Hebron, Katie from Postcards From Palestine describes a week full of harassment that starts with a Palestinian family trying to celebrate a birthday party despite the aggravation of neighbouring Israeli settlers and intervening Israeli army soldiers wondering “whether or not this birthday party was legal”  and ends with her frustration over the beating and jailing of her friend.

Collective punishment and scare tactics: Naj from Gaza translates leaflets dropped by Israeli planes from occupied skies. Naj also documents the amount of damage that can be done by just some of the Israeli incursions in three days.

Elsewhere, just west of Nablus, the Israeli Army closed off a checkpoint and opened it briefly to allow only Israeli settlers in, leaving dozens of frustrated Palestinians to stage a non-violent protest by lying down on the ground to close the road with their bodies. The Israeli army responded with excessive beatings and sound grenades.

Last March Haitham Sabbah published two interesting posts about Samia, just another Palestinian refugee trying to cross the border to see her homeland. Recently another Palestinian blogger, Reem, had the good fortune of meeting her to talk about what it means to be banned from entering one’s homeland.

Lastly, Hayam Noir writes an open letter to Kofi Annan, Dr. Marcy Newman writes one to Israel.

You may view the latest post at
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2006/07/31/this-week-in-palestinian-blogs-world-on-fire/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are posted.
If you no longer wish to receive notifications of new posts then please visit:

CARBON LIKE GREEN FUEL

Carbon cloud over a green fuel

An Iowa corn refinery, open since December, uses 300 tons of coal a day to make ethanol.

By Mark Clayton | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Late last year in Goldfield, Iowa, a refinery began pumping out a stream of ethanol, which supporters call the clean, renewable fuel of the future.

 The plant is burning 300 tons of coal a day to turn corn into ethanol - the first US plant of its kind to use coal instead of cleaner natural gas.

An hour south of Goldfield, another coal-fired ethanol plant is under construction in Nevada, Iowa. At least three other such refineries are being built in Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota.

The trend, which is expected to continue, has left even some ethanol boosters scratching their heads. Should coal become a standard for 30 to 40 ethanol plants under construction - and 150 others on the drawing boards - it would undermine the environmental reasoning for switching to ethanol in the first place, environmentalists say.

"If the biofuels industry is going to depend on coal, and these conversion plants release their CO2 to the air, it could undo the global warming benefits of using ethanol," says David Hawkins, climate director for the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington.

The reason for the shift is purely economic. Natural gas has long been the ethanol industry's fuel of choice. But with natural gas prices soaring, talk of coal power for new ethanol plants and retrofitting existing refineries for coal is growing, observers say.

"It just made great economic sense to use coal," says Brad Davis, general manager of the Gold-Eagle Cooperative that manages the Corn LP plant, which is farmer and investor owned. "Clean coal" technology, he adds, helps the Goldfield refinery easily meet pollution limits - and coal power saves millions in fuel costs.

Yet even the nearly clear vapor from the refinery contains as much as double the carbon emissions of a refinery using natural gas, climate experts say. So if coal-fired ethanol catches on, is it still the "clean, renewable fuel" the state's favorite son, Sen. Tom Harkin likes to call it?

Such questions arrive amid boom times for America's ethanol industry.

With 97 ethanol refineries pumping out some 4 billion gallons of ethanol, the industry expects to double over the next six years by adding another 4.4 billion gallons of capacity per year. Tax breaks as well as concerns about energy security, the environment, and higher gasoline prices are all driving ethanol forward.

The Goldfield refinery, and the other four coal-fired ethanol plants under construction are called "dry mill" operations, because of the process they use. The industry has in the past used coal in a few much larger "wet mill" operations that produce ethanol and a raft of other products. But dry mills are the wave of the future, industry experts say. It's their shift to coal that's causing the concern.

More plants slated for Midwest, West

Scores of these new ethanol refineries are expected to be built across the Midwest and West by the end of the decade, and many could soon be burning coal in some form to turn corn into ethanol, industry analysts say.

"It's very likely that coal will be the fuel of choice for most of these new ethanol plants," says Robert McIlvaine, president of a Northfield, Ill., information services company that has compiled a database of nearly 200 ethanol plants now under construction or in planning and development.

SOURCE: RENEWABLE FUELS ASSOCIATION; AP

If all 190 plants on Mr. McIlvaine's list were built and used coal, motorists would not reduce America's greenhouse gas emissions, according to an in-depth analysis of the subject to date by scientists at University of California at Berkeley, published in Science magazine in January.

Of course, many coal-fired ethanol plants on the drawing board will not be built, Mr. McIlvaine says. Others in planning for years may still choose natural gas as fuel to meet air pollution requirements in some states.

Other variations on ethanol-coal are emerging in Goodland, Kan., and Underwood, N.D., where ethanol plants are being built next to coal-burning power plants to use waste heat. Efficient, but still coal.

That could spell trouble for ethanol's renewable image.

"If your goal is to reduce costs, then coal is a good idea," says Robert Brown, director of Iowa State University's office of biorenewables. "If the goal is a renewable fuel, coal is a bad idea. When greenhouse-gas emissions go up, environmentalists take note. Then you've got a problem."

Ethanol industry officials say coal-power is just one possibility the industry is pursuing.

"I think some in the environmental community won't be all that warm and fuzzy about [coal-fired ethanol]," says Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, the national trade association for the US fuel-ethanol industry. "It's fair to say there's a trend away from natural gas, but coal is just one approach. Other technologies are part of the mix, too."

He cites, for instance, a new ethanol plant in Nebraska strategically located by a feed lot, using methane from cattle waste to fire ethanol boilers. Another new plant in Minnesota uses biomass gasification, using plant material as its fuel.

Coal for now, wood in the future

Coal may end up being merely a transitional fuel in the run-up to cellulosic ethanol, including switch grass and wood, says another RFA spokesman. While ethanol production today primarily uses only the corn kernel, cellulosic will use the whole plant.

Cellulosic ethanol, mentioned by President Bush in his State of the Union speech, could turn the tide on coal, too, by burning plant dregs in the boiler with no need for coal at all.

"It's a fact that ethanol is a renewable fuel today and it will stay that way," says Matt Hartwig, an RFA spokesman. "Any greenhouse-gas emissions that come out the tailpipe are recycled by the corn plant. I don't expect the limited number of coal-fired plants out there to change that."

Still, Hawkins insists that if ethanol is made using coal, the carbon dioxide should be captured and injected into the ground.

"We favor getting ethanol production up," Hawkins says. "But we obviously favor a cleaner process. We need large cuts in global warming emissions from transportation. It's not good enough for ethanol to simply be no worse than gasoline."

from legal blog watch news

Legal Blog Watch

Never Too Early to Start Cultivating Patrons of the Arts There's a lot of marketing going on at law firm summer associate programs, though not in the way you might think. Sure, firms are wining and dining young law students and trying to sell them on all the benefits of working at the firm. But in New York, cultural and artistic institutes have been marketing themselves to summer associates, hoping that today's young law students will become tomorrow's patrons of the arts, as described in this NYT article, "For Top Law Students, A Sidebar with the Arts" (7/23/06). Kianga Ellis , founder of Avail Art, a for-profit company to support the arts, describes: "I hope to create a pipeline of new patrons for the arts. The challenge the arts are facing in terms of cultivating new patrons is how to make it interesting and relevant to the lifestyle of new professionals. It's about making it part of your lifestyle -- where you ate dinner, where you go on the weekend." Avail Art is not the only program to match lawyers with the arts. According to the article, last summer, the Appollo Theatre Foundation hosted summer associates for an amateur night at the Apollo, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland held a social networking party for local nonprofits and summer associates from Cleveland's top law firms.  The article asks whether "convincing young lawyers to buy art can ease the spiritual burden of 2500 billable hours a year." I wonder that myself. Will lawyers feel better about not having followed another passion, like art or writing, because they can afford to buy or sponsor it? Or does that simply make the longing worse? Posted by Carolyn Elefant on July 24, 2006 at 03:15 PM | Permalink 'Anonymous Lawyer' Hits the Book Stands Tomorrow July 25 , 2006 is the first day of the bar exam in most states, but it's also the day that Jeremy Blachman's novel, "Anonymous Lawyer," officially hits the bookstores. Though releasing a book about big-firm practice on the same day that the bar exam starts doesn't strike me as the best timing (particularly where the narrator expounds on the devastating consequences of failing the bar), the release date does allow AL to ride the coattails of recent movies like The Devil Wears Prada and other exposes of bad bosses. I was fortunate enough to have snagged an advance copy of "Anonymous Lawyer," which I've reviewed favorably, over at My Shingle. Posted by Carolyn Elefant on July 24, 2006 at 03:12 PM | Permalink Blawg #67 Is Out David Fischer of the Antitrust Review hosts Blawg Review #67. Not surprisingly, Blawg Review covers a range of antitrust topics, including a link to Fischer's co-blogger, Manfred Gabriel's analysis of Microsoft's Antitrust Principles and Fischer's post on the status of antitrust litigation against Bar Bri based on allegations of an illegal market division agreement with Kaplan. This week, notices to potential class members, i.e., those who took Bar Bri between 1997 and 2006, are being mailed out. But Blawg Review #67 contains much more than just antitrust; be sure to go over and take a look. Posted by Carolyn Elefant on July 24, 2006 at 03:10 PM | Permalink

IMPORTANT NEWS

'Blogs are Improving Citizen Concerns'
by Rosario Lizana

You’re riding on the highway at maximum speed (120 K/H), talking with a friend, calm. Suddenly a public bus passes you so fast that curiosity gets ahold of you: how fast is this bus is going? And the driver decides to follow the bus.

Carlos Verdugo (ES)  posts the experience: “We were literally between Tongoy and Los Vilos, at the maximum speed allowed, when a greased lightning was coming to our vehicle to pass us, and we ask Is a bird? No, is it a plane?, No. Is it superman? No, it's Ramos Cholele (a bus company in the region)”.

He continues describing that they followed the bus to discover the speed. 170 K/H. This is not the end of the story. They record it with mobile and post it, eliciting more than 60 comments sharing the concern. El Morroccotudo (ES), a weblog newspaper from the region posts it to.

So, various media outlets ask them for permission to use the video.

In the last few weeks, a house robbery inspired a man to build a blog (ES) for expressing his concern about the crime in Chile. Students coordinate national strikes by blogs and fotoblogs. Neighbourhoods that demand the release of a homeless man and for spread the information build a community blog and web page.  Last week, a bloggers campaigned for the victims of a flood in the south. Chile has 16 million citizens. So, for other countries these should be everyday responses, but for us it is a way of adjusting media to social concerns.

While the Chilean media have still been slow to adopt blogs and other technologies, citizens have started using them, and slowly blogs are starting to be the sources of information once occupied by the traditional media.

You may view the latest post at
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2006/07/21/blogs-are-improving-citizen-concerns/

CONFERENCIA SOBRE LOBBY EN SOFOFA MIERCOLES 26 DE JULIO

 

http://www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com/

 

CONFERENCIA DE LOBBY EN SANTIAGO - CHILE

 

LOBBY: PROXIMO MIERCOLES 26  DICTARÉ UNA CONFERNCIA SOBRE “ LOBBYING SIN CAER EN TRAFICO DE INFLUENCIAS” EN LA  SOFOFA                                                                                                                              

Quienes estén interesados en participar pueden llamar a SOFOFA  al fono 6884265 o e mail: cperez@fundacionsofofa.cl  

 

Atentamente, Rodrigo González Fernández    lobbyingchile.blogspot.com; WWW.CONSULTAJURIDICA.BLOGSPOT.COM

 

 

TOM PETERS NEWS

TOM PETERS TIMES! JULY 2006

	Executive Study Group Focusing on Your Internal Customer It's just past mid-year. How is your business doing? Is the strategy being executed to the fullest? Do your people and departments know how to think like a standalone business that can bring great value to the organization? Do they understand how to unleash the power of talent to fulfill the organization's vision? Do you? At the Tom Peters Company's first Executive Study Group, held on March 1, 2006, we addressed external business disruptions. The event was filled with stimulating conversation and ideas from a multitude of industries. Each participant walked away with enhanced perspectives about the dynamics of the 21st century business environment. We discussed the need to embrace innovation, uncertainty, even chaos, in the exploration of unimagined possibilities for transforming our businesses. Our next Executive Study Group will focus on leveraging the talents of your teams and departments to deliver value to your customers. Join us for a lively discussion that will help you: -Identify internal disruptions -Align each department to the mission, vision and values of the organization -Manage politics effectively -Acquire tools and skills to align your people and your objectives Where: British Consulate, One Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA When: Wednesday July 20, 2006, 9am - 4pm (Lunch Provided) Cost: $250 per person, $400 for teams of three or more Departments must think like standalone businesses to maximize the value they provide to clients/customers and prepare for the inevitable scrutiny they will face in today's relentless, bottom-line-oriented business climate. We urge you to take advantage of this opportunity. Click here to register or call Rachel Gaddy, Marketing Director at 617-242-5522 to discuss alternative payment options.
	Tom on Internal Customers Blog Entry Revisited Tom agrees that internal harmony is CRUCIAL to the success of your business, and the retention of your talent. Here's what he had to say on the subject: Winning Formula: Put the INTERNAL Customer First! A GE Energy salesperson reinforced this idea for me. Suppose you are making a complex "systems"/"solutions" sale. To pull it off (get it thoroughly implemented—the basis for repeat business) you need help—LOTS OF—from a host of folks inside GE—wherever. These folks are congenitally overworked—and have a queue of salespersons needing help. Your Goal #1: Get an UNFAIR SHARE (this is the way the GE guy put it) of these insiders' time and energy and attention. The time of the sale is way, way too late. These are Internal Relationships you should have been forming and minding long, long ago. The "simple" point: By developing a scintillating (extensive, deep) internal network you probably increase your external success dramatically. (I call all this—inside or out—ROIR. Return On Investment in Relationships.) Hint/Duh II: It takes a lot of time!
	Cool Friends, Part I Business As War Joe Finder (rhymes with cinder) started his career with a controversial expose about multi-millionaire Armand Hammer's ties to Soviet intelligence. His next book was The Moscow Club, a fictional work about a KGB coup against Gorbachev, which was considered far-fetched by many, until such a coup actually happened six months later. Five more novels followed, two of which made the New York Times bestseller list. He describes his latest release, Killer Instinct, as a story of ambition and the price of success. According to Joe, "In many ways, it is a takeoff on the notion of business as war. I'm taken by the extent to which you see books in the offices of top-ranking corporate executives with titles like Business Is Combat or SunTzu: The Art of War for Managers or Team Secrets of the Navy Seals, that sort of thing. I remember thinking, "What do these guys actually know about war? What if I took someone who had been in war and had read all these books, and was as ruthless as some of these books advocate that you be?" Our first Cool Friends interview with a novelist proved to be a fascinating and entertaining conversation with someone who has studied and researched the business world from a different perspective. Click here to read the full interview.
	Culture Fit Profile Reducing Turnover A bank client contacted the Tom Peters Company (TPC) for help with the high rate of attrition at their Call Center. In initial discussions, they reported 393 agents had left the Call Center in 2005, most within six months of being hired. At 69%, this turnover rate was more than double the industry average of 33% for call centers. The cost to the company: an estimated $2.5 million for the year! TPC provided a Culture Fit Profile for applicant selection to increase retention of the best talent and reduce the expenses of turnover. This tool reduces the investment of resources in applicants who do not fit the culture and do not stay in their positions beyond six to nine months. In addition to reducing turnover costs by up to 50%, the Culture Fit Profile is a highly effective tool for establishing the client's future call centers. To determine the culture of the call center, TPC used both on-site employee interviews and RCP assessment software, the only statistically valid measurement tool on the market. For the client bank, 532 employees completed the assessment in two weeks, describing their perceptions of the "existing culture" and the "ideal culture." TPC used the results to define the company's Culture Fit Profile. The TPC team also conducted confidential interviews with more than 70 call agents and 30 managers, supervisors, recruiters, and quality analysts. Interviewees offered their personal perceptions and general observations. Their comments were consolidated into nine topical areas (such as management style, talent acquisition, compensation) that will reinforce the successful management of turnover reduction. As part of the ongoing TPC commitment to solving this client's problem, we work with the hiring teams to establish effective interview techniques. By applying the Culture Fit Profile to all new applicants, the client can expect a dramatic reduction in the attrition rate. As a side effect, the Call Center has also developed a clearer guiding strategy that is aligned with the client bank's results-oriented, innovation-based growth plan. As Carlos Ghosn, Nissan president and CEO, has said, "Corporate culture should never be an afterthought. It is the key driver of value creation." To find out more about how TPC can help your business thrive, click here for an overview of our Change Mangement programs, or call us at 617/242-5522 in Boston or 1708 437380 in London.
	Cool Friends, Part 2 Naked Truths Robin Wolaner has had an eclectic career in publishing, with experience at Penthouse, Runner's World, and Mother Jones, and as the founder of Parenting magazine. She left a position as an executive committee member at CNET to write Naked In the Boardroom: A CEO Bares Her Secrets So You Can Transform Your Career, which recently came out in paperback. Tom blogged about the book, calling it, "by far ... the best book on strategy and tactics for women aiming to make it big in business—big biz or entrepreneurial biz. Moreover, I think any male ... can learn an enormous amount from this book." Robin's extensive list of "Naked Truths" begins with this one: "Sometimes in business, it's better to be female, sometimes it's worse, but it's rarely the same." Click here to read the interview.

Espero que le gusten las noticias de Tom Peters a nuestros lectores. Esperamos tenerlo pronto en Chile. Un caluroso abrazo a Tom desde Chile que cada día lo leen más ejecutivos y gente de la empresa. Saludos Rodrigo González Fernández  lawyerschile.blogspot.com; tambien en consultajuridica.blogspot.com Santiago Chile

LEGAL NEWS FROM LEGAL WATCH

LEGAL BLOG WATCH 

Flood of Litigation From Katrina Begins

Almost a year later, Hurricane Katrina is churning up something other than storms, broken levees and floods:  litigation. This AP article, Groundbreaking Trial Could Help Decide Katrina Insurance Claims (7/11/06), reports on a federal lawsuit that will address whether thousands of people who lost homes in Hurricane Katrina can recover damages from their insurance companies. Apparently, may homeowners did not have flood insurance, because their insurance representatives had misled them to believe that it was not necessary. Lawyers will also argue that even if policies exclude flood-related damage, the policies still cover wind-related damage -- and that the losses were caused by high winds, as high as 140 mph, rather than water.

 

Katrina may also spur pet lawsuits, as reported in this WTVNY News Report (7/6/06). Seems that some the families that took in pets lost during the hurricane have grown attached to them and want to keep them, even after new owners have surfaced. One source even said that some evacuees are now terrorizing those families who adopted the animals in hopes of getting their pets back. And lawsuits have been filed to recover the animals. 

 

We've heard estimates of the huge costs of Katrina's destruction. I wonder if any of those numbers included the cost of all of these lawsuits.

 

Posted by Carolyn Elefant

Gen X vs. Gen Y on the Jury

Mark Beese at Leadership for Lawyers has this post about the differences between Generation X  and Generation Y jurors, which is based on a recent article by Dr. Karen Lisko. Apparently, Generation X jurors want more data, focus on the pragramatic and are impressed with parties who take ethics risks in business. By contrast, Generation Y jurors want a case presented in an even more technologically savvy manner than Gen X, are well educated, are highly analytical thinkers, are interested in teamwork in the jury room and respect parties who abide by commitments.

 

All very interesting, but what about the Boomers? As Boomers turn 60 and retire, they're the ones who'll have more time to serve on juries as opposed to the younger generations who are now in the prime of their careers. I'd be interested in seeing how Boomers compare to the younger generation on a jury.

 

Posted by Carolyn Elefant

Being Nice Will Save You Money!

As I posted here at My Shingle, simply being courteous or hospitable to clients can spare you from a lawsuit. Same is true for employers; badmouthing an employee can result in megadefamation verdicts, as Mike Fox reminds us at this  Employers Lawyer post.

 

Fox reports on two anti-employer verdicts. The first, out of Maine, involved a $3 million verdict against Merrill Lynch. Apparently, Merrill Lynch was required by statute to report the conduct of one of its brokers, and she alleged defamation based on information in the report. In the second case, an employee was accused of stealing and won $1.5 million in damages.

 

As Fox points out, in both cases, the employer seemed to have justification for its actions. Still, I can't help but wonder whether the outcome would have changed if the employer had made the allegations more tactfully. In most, but not all cases, bedside manner can make the difference.

 

Posted by Carolyn Elefant

Can Lawyers Blink?

Human Law reports here that he's working his way through Malcolm Gladwell'sbook "Blink." Patten describes that in "Blink," Gladwell makes the case for snap judgments and mind reading, relying on "adaptive unconscious" to translate clues from our first two seconds of looking at a person or considering a problem. 

 

But do intuitive thinking and legal reasoning mix?  Patten opines:

 

The problem is that legal training makes you think again, again and again. The message of the book will not resonate with most lawyers.  

 

And that's unfortunate.  Because many times, we lawyers have only an instant to size up a judge's reaction or decide whether a prospective client is worth representing or figure out how a jury is responding to our arguments. It would be nice if we could learn to set our legal training aside and apply new skills to make these decisions in just a blink.

 

Posted by Carolyn Elefant

 

 

A Bad Few Weeks for Prosecutors

Peter Henning of White Collar Crime Prof Blog summarizes a series of setbacks and embarrassments for federal prosecutors during the past few weeks -- and also raises the tantalizing question about whether individual prosecutors who took the questionable action bear responsibility when they merely carried out office policy.

 

Henning offers two examples of prosecutorial overreaching. First, there's federal district Judge Lewis Kaplan's findings in the KPMG case that prosecutors acted improperly when they intimidated KPMG into cutting off attorney fees payments for employees charged in the government's investigation. In his ruling, Kaplan had noted that the prosecutors were "economical with the truth" in their filings and testimony, a euphemistic way of calling them liars. After the ruling, U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia (who had handled the matter) asked the court to withdraw that statement and remove references to the prosecutors by name, explaining:

 

"The Government's stance in connection with this matter was an Office position, and the Government's submissions were approved by layers of supervisors.  If the Court continues to find fault with those submissions, the fault should not be attributed to individual prosecutors." 

 

Another example of prosecutors taking liberty with the facts came in a concurring opinion by Judge Kozinski, where a prosecutor tried to mislead the court about facts to support sentencing enhancement. The prosecutor had taken a sentence fragment out of context and characterized it as a finding of the court, when clearly it was not. What Henning finds interesting about the case, however, is that the slip opinion identified by name the AUSAs responsible for misstatements to the court, but the opinion in the bound volume had the names removed. In essence, the lawyer who was the subject of Judge Kozinski's concurrence obtained the same relief sought by Garcia from Judge Kaplan.

 

Henning asks whether a lawyer like Garcia had an obligation to speak out against perceived wrongdoing by his office and whether it was fair for his name to be attached to a decision that reflects office policy. Saying that a decision is a policy of "office policy" is merely a way of deflecting responsibility. Moreover, when individual prosecutors know that their name and reputation are on the line for questionable tactics, maybe it will give them incentive to speak out against them. 

 

As for the lawyer in the Kozinski decision, he committed the error individually. Had that prosecutor been an attorney in private practice who engaged in misrepresentation, I have no doubt that his name would have remained associated with the case. Why should government prosecutors, who carry an even greater burden of disclosure to the court, be treated any more favorably?

 

Finally, it bears noting that individual government attorneys aren't always let off the hook for misconduct. Tom Kirkendall of Houston's Clear Thinkers updates us on Carla Martin, the FAA attorney who violated a court order in the Moussaoui prosecution by allowing prosecution witnesses to read trial testimony. News sources report that Martin is "emotionally distraught, crying when she talks about the criminal investigation and feeling like a prisoner in her own apartment, Martin's mother said last week." And she remains subject to both state and federal investigations, which will determine her ultimate punishment.

 

Posted by Carolyn Elefant on July 11, 2006 at 12:43 PM | Permalink

 

 

    Legal Watch:

Sincerely yours Rodrigo González Fernández.

Fallos de Cortes importantes en Chile

 

JURISPRUDENCIA DE CORTE SUPREMA, CORTES DE APELACIONES Y ALGUNAS NOTICIAS RELEVANTES DE LA SEMANA. BOLETÍN DEL 30 DE JUNIO AL 06 DE JULIO

Civil

v       Recurso de Casación en el Fondo rechazado. Juicio Civil. Procedimiento sumario regido por el artículo 26 del D.L. 2695. Demanda de reivindicación. Infracción a los artículos 686, 702, 724, 728, 730 inciso final, 924 y 2505 del Código Civil, relativos a la posesión inscrita. No puede deducir oposición a aquella solicitud, quien haya prometido vender al peticionario, el todo o parte del predio que pretende reivindicar.

v       Recurso de Casación en el Fondo rechazado. Derecho de Minas. Juicio sumarísimo de constitución de servidumbres mineras. Infracción de los artículos 19 Nº 24 de la Constitución Política de la República, 8 de la Ley Orgánica Constitucional sobre Concesiones Mineras y 120 del Código de Minería. Autorizaciones exigidas en el artículo 17 del Código de Minería son previas a la solicitud de las servidumbres mineras.

v       Recurso de Casación en la Forma inadmisible, Recurso de Casación en el Fondo rechazado. Juicio Ejecutivo. Infracción al artículo 1º Nº 3 del Decreto Ley 3475, sobre Timbres y Estampillas, en relación al artículo 1º de la Ley Nº 18.010, sobre operaciones de crédito de dinero, por cuanto obligación que da cuenta la escritura pública que sirve de título a la ejecución, representa un mutuo, es decir una operación de crédito de dinero. Origen de la deuda reconocida emana de las adjudicaciones que se efectuaron obligación que asumió como deudora la demandada y como acreedora la demandante.

v       Recurso de Casación en la Forma acogido, en el Fondo, tenido por no presentado. Demanda en juicio sumario de cobro de honorarios. Artículo 768 Nº 4 del Código de Procedimiento Civil, esto es haberse dictado la sentencia ultra petita. Jueces de fondo incurren en la causal señalada.

v       Solicitud de exequator rechazada. Divorcio del matrimonio. Entre Chile y Australia no existe tratado sobre cumplimiento de resoluciones judiciales. Artículo 83 de la Ley Nº 19.947 prescribe que el divorcio estará sujeto a la ley aplicable a la relación matrimonial al momento de interponerse la acción.

v       Solicitud de exequator rechazada. Separación judicial del matrimonio. La resolución cuyo exequátur se solicita se pronunció mientras regía en Chile la antigua Ley de Matrimonio Civil. Sentencia contraviene las leyes de la República, en la medida que significa la separación matrimonial de los cónyuges mediante una vía no prevista por el ordenamiento patrio a la fecha en que se pronunció ese fallo.

Laboral

v       Recurso de Casación en el Fondo acogido. Juicio Laboral. Derecho del actor a jubilar en conformidad con el artículo 12 del decreto ley Nº2.448, de 1979, ha infringido este precepto legal en relación con las normas del Código del Trabajo, el decreto con fuerza de ley Nº3/2758, de 1980 y el artículo 71 de la ley Nº18.482. Calidad de empleado de la Empresa de Ferrocarriles del Estado, sujeto a la normativa laboral privada, es decir, por el Código del Trabajo, en virtud del decreto con fuerza de ley Nº3/2758, de 1980.

v       Recurso de Casación en el Fondo rechazado. Juicio Laboral. Práctica antisindical. Quebrantamiento del artículo 2 del Código del Trabajo, que consagra el principio de la no discriminación. Artículos 2, 3, 8 y 11 de la Convención Nº 87 de la Organización Internacional del Trabajo, la que reconoce el derecho a los trabajadores y empleadores a constituir las organizaciones que estimen pertinentes. Infracciones extemporáneas.

Comercial

v       Recurso de Casación en la Forma y en el Fondo. Sentencia de reemplazo. Juicio Ejecutivo. Acción hipotecaria de desposeimiento. Pagaré por mandato. Prescripción tanto de la acción ejecutiva, como de la deuda. Prescripción de la acción hipotecaria había sido interrumpida con la notificación practicada al deudor personal del pagaré garantizado con hipoteca.

Penal

v       Recurso de Casación en el Fondo rechazado. Juicio Criminal. Delito de uso malicioso de instrumento privado mercantil falso. Infracción a los artículos 488 del citado cuerpo legal, 197 y 198 del Código Penal, leyes reguladoras de la prueba, infracción que ha impedido tener por establecida, en mérito de prueba legal, la participación del acusado. Hechos han quedado asentados de manera inamovible por los jueces del fondo.

v       Recursos de Casación en la Forma y en el Fondo rechazados. Juicio Criminal. Cuasidelito de homicidio. Infracción a los artículos 1, 2, 391 Nº 2º, 399 y 490 Nº 1º del Código Penal y la Regla 14 del Reglamento Internacional Para Prevenir Los Abordajes. Hechos consignados en el basamento anterior deben considerarse inamovibles.

v       Recurso de Casación en el Fondo tenido por no presentado. Sentencia invalidada de oficio por el Tribunal. Juicio Criminal. Delito de estafa. Causal de casación formal que contempla el artículo 541 Nº 9, en relación con el artículo 500 Nº 4, ambas del Código de Procedimiento Penal, por cuanto el fallo en análisis, carece de las consideraciones en cuya virtud se dan por probados o no probados los hechos que se atribuyen al procesado y aquellos que este alega en sus descargos.

Elaborado por Humberto Carrasco- areajuridica;  Gracias Humberto SALUDOS Rodrigo González Fernández consultajuridica.blogspot.com

ATENCION UNIVERSITARIOS DE CHILE

¿Saben ustedes lo que LOBBY SIGNIFICA? y más aun  “ LOBBYING SIN CAER EN TRAFICO DE INFLUENCIAS “ Este es un tema que actualmente se está legislando en Chile y daremos una conferencia en SOFOFA Teléfono: 6884265 e-mail. cperez@fundacionsofofa.cl  ( corregir anterior  mail )

 

n      La palabra lobbying deriva de lobby – literalmente : pasillo, corredor, antecámara, “ salón de pasos perdidos” - , que en los Estados Unidos de América designa las partes del edificio del Congreso o de las legislaturas de los Estados, en las que está permitido el acceso de personas ajenas al respectivo cuerpo. Era comúnmente en esos lobbies donde los personeros de los grupos de presión – por eso denominados lobbyists – desarrollaban su actividad de convencimiento o “ ablandamiento” de los legisladores, la cual precisamente recibía en nombre de lobbying.

 

Acá hay un campo de futuro trabajo importante para los universitarios Chilenos, pero hay aprenderlo. Los invito a esta conferencia … a conocer más sobre esta especialidad que puede llegar a cambiar tu vida laboral,

Saludos Rodrigo González Fernández, lobbyingchile.blogspot.com

ATENCION UNIVERSITARIOS DE CHILE

¿Saben ustedes lo que LOBBY SIGNIFICA? y más aun  “ LOBBYING SIN CAER EN TRAFICO DE INFLUENCIAS “ Este es un tema que actualmente se está legislando en Chile y daremos una conferencia en SOFOFA Teléfono: 6884265 e-mail. cperz@fundacionsofofa.cl

 

n      La palabra lobbying deriva de lobby – literalmente : pasillo, corredor, antecámara, “ salón de pasos perdidos” - , que en los Estados Unidos de América designa las partes del edificio del Congreso o de las legislaturas de los Estados, en las que está permitido el acceso de personas ajenas al respectivo cuerpo. Era comúnmente en esos lobbies donde los personeros de los grupos de presión – por eso denominados lobbyists – desarrollaban su actividad de convencimiento o “ ablandamiento” de los legisladores, la cual precisamente recibía en nombre de lobbying.

 

Acá hay un campo de futuro trabajo importante para los universitarios Chilenos, pero hay aprenderlo. Los invito a esta conferencia … a conocer más sobre esta especialidad que puede llegar a cambiar tu vida laboral,

Saludos Rodrigo González Fernández, lobbyingchile.blogspot.com

FROM ADAM SMITH NEW YORK

July 5, 2006
New York City

rodrigo gonzalez fernandez
director, consultajuridica

Dear rodrigo:

June on "Adam Smith, Esq." seemed to feature—unintentionally, I might add—an emphasis on both strategy and leadership.  

Actually, strike the "unintentional" part.  My focus is strategy and leadership, along with all of the moving parts they entail:  Finance, IT, marketing, cultural considerations, partnership structures, compensation, globalization, and M&A.  So perhaps it was not accidental after all.

Continuing with my commitment to bring subscribers to the "Adam Smith, Esq." newsletter original content which has not been and will not be published on the site, you will find at the end of this edition a link to a piece recounting a conversation I had in London with Tony Williams, former global managing partner of Clifford Chance, subsequently global managing partner of Andersen Legal (when it was, briefly, the ninth largest law firm in the world by revenue), and now head of his own City-based consultancy, Jomati.

As a result of that conversation, I would like to think Tony is a friend, and he is nothing if not a provocative and sometimes contrarian thinker about where our beloved industry is heading.

So, without further preliminaries, to this past month's "greatest hits:"

• In "Strategy Formulation in an Unknowable Universe," I discuss how to liberate your strategic planning process from the annual creation of turgid 3-ring binders symbolically stamped "file and forget" to a living, breathing, invigorating reality at your firm.  Hint:  Try lots of little bets, not a few big ones.
• In "Great Managers Fail," I recur to the wisdom of the medieval apprenticeship system, and what lessons it might hold for our current career-track-challenged environment.
• "Making Decisions like an Associate...?" cites new Harvard Business School findings on how a leader's decision-making style needs to evolve over the course of one's career—in fact, how it must "do a complete flip."
• I borrow from the wise observations of my friend Rich Gary (former chair, Thelen-Reid) in "A Pop Quiz for your CMO," where the moral is that managing partners get the C-level executives they deserve.
• The all-important issue of associate dissatisfaction and even alienation from the traditional Cravath Model career track gets double billing in "How Many Hours Would Elihu Root Bill?"  and in "'Is This Model Sustainable...'", where David Childs, newly elected managing partner of Clifford Chance, poses precisely that question.  The inimitable David Maister also seems to having some of the same thoughts, and he alludes to me and takes them for his own brilliant wild ride.

Finally, to the synopsis of my conversation with Tony Williams.  Please click here to read Tony's wonderfully humane, but challenging, thoughts on the sea changes affecting our profession, the US/UK divide (and whether any US firm is really making money in London), and the truly differentiating value of leadership at the start of the 21st Century.  Lest you be tempted to skip over Tony's thoughts, let me tempt you with this brief excerpt: 

Bruce:  "What do you say to those who feel that running a firm like a business is unprofessional?"
Tony: "Arrant Nonsense!  Arrant Nonsense!"

As always, I invite thoughts, comments, and observations.  

That wraps up the "Adam Smith, Esq." monthly newsletter for July 2006.

My parting wish for you all is that: (a) you share this with friends and colleagues who might find it of at least incidental interest; and (b) of far greater importance, that you let me know how I can make it sharper, more useful, more helpful.

 

Conferencias en SOFOFA: lobbying sin caer en trafico de influencias

LOBBY: PROXIMAMENTE DICTARÉ UNA CONFERNCIA SOBRE “ LOBBYING SIN CAER EN TRAFICO DE INFLUENCIAS” EN LA  SOFOFA

                                                                                                                             

Quienes estén interesados en participar pueden llamar a SOFOFA  al fono 6884265 o e mail: cperez@fundacionsofofa.cl

 

Atentamente, Rodrigo González Fernández

 

 lobbyingchile.blogspot.com