LAWYERSCHILE EL MUNDO INTERNACIONAL DEL ABOGADO

Rodrigo González Fernández y un grupo de egresados de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad la Republica en Chile ha decidido poner al alcance de todo el mundo de la profesion legal importantes materias en Ingles para ir practicando el trabajo en materia de Tratados internacionales y que nuestra profesión estará en primera linea. Invitamos a todos a opinar, debatir, participar activamente.Es el primer blog legal en inglés de latinoamerica.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Legal Blog Watch

Legal Blog Watch

After the First Law Firm IPO

Bruce MacEwen at the Adam Smith, Esq. blog recently interviewed Andrew Grech, managing director of Melbourne-based Slater & Gordon, which in May became the first law firm to be publicly traded.

During the conversation, Grech described the immediate aftermath of his firm going public, what obligations the firm holds to investors versus clients, the reasons for the IPO, whether the IPO process was more difficult than expected, the post-IPO firm culture and the benefits of nonlawyer regulators.

Posted by Jennifer Moline on August 17, 2007 at 02:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Orrick Raises the IT Bar

Many law firms have strategic-thinking CIOs, acknowledges Ron Friedmann at the Prism Legal Consulting blog, and some also have directors of knowledge management or directors of practice services. But now Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has all three: Patrick Tisdale is Orrick's CIO, Peter Krakaur is the chief knowledge officer, and Clark Cordner recently joined as director of practice and client services -- he will focus on delivering differentiated legal services enabled by IT.

"I suspect that few AmLaw 100 or 200 firms have such experienced people in all three roles," Friedmann posts. "Clients should see value in both efficiency and effectiveness. Orrick lawyers (and recruits) should find attractive a deep support organization that makes their lives easier."

Posted by Jennifer Moline on August 17, 2007 at 02:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cybersettle Helps NYC Settle Claims

Geoffrey Gussis posts at InHouseBlog that if you're looking for a new technology-based dispute resolution tool, then you should check out Cybersettle, which has assisted in over $1 billion in settlements. And according to a Law.com article, "Cybersettle, which allows for the negotiation of settlements over the Internet, has signed a new three-year contract with New York City."

Posted by Jennifer Moline on August 17, 2007 at 02:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
Renato Sánchez 3586 of. 10
Telefono: 2084334- 5839786
santiago-Chile
www.consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.biocombustibles.blogspot.com

'Medellín, Colombia: The Recipe'

'Medellín, Colombia: The Recipe'
by David Sasaki

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'La Receta' (;The Recipe") - a video production by the participants of the Rising Voices' project, HiperBarrio, in Medellín, Colombia. To watch the video with English subtitles click on the arrows on the lower-right-hand side of the video player.

In the last podcast introducing the HiperBarrio project in Medellín, Colombia, Jorge Montoya [ES] described the workshop he gave to young people in the working class neighborhood of La Loma San Javier as part of Medellín's 16th annual Seminario de Comunicación Juvenil [ES], or "Youth Communication Seminar." The goal of the week-long seminar, according to its website, is to "continue reflection of diversity and its manifestation as a form of inclusion of the persons that make up the city." Jorge led the workshop on new media and at the end of the week each young participant had his or her own weblog. They also collaborated on a group weblog [ES]. And, most impressive, they produced the incredibly creative video clip above about their experience in the workshop.

The clip of the young participants - produced using Microsoft's Windows Movie Maker - shows them explaining the 'recipe' of how to improve city-wide communication using participatory tools like blogs. At the end of the clip we are shown screenshots of the participants' weblogs (linked to at the right-hand side of the workshop website).

I asked Jorge to describe the process of making the video clip.

Cuando estuvo planeado el asunto, ellos se dieron a la tarea de hacer una ambientación mínimamente de acuerdo con un programa de cocina, grabamos en cuestión de una hora y luego nos dimos a la tarea de editar entre todos con Movie maker, agregándole algunas de las fotos y cerrando con la invitación a que leyeran cada uno de los blogs nuevos.

Todos disfrutamos mucho la experiencia, nos reímos bastante y creo que lo fundamental fue la reflexión sobre la importancia de informar e informarnos, lo que era nuestro objetivo antes que pretender mostrar detalles técnicos sobre la apertura de blogs pues sobre eso ya hay bastante info. Se quiso realizar algo más fresco, más del lenguaje de todos, con cierto sentido de invitación y para generar inquietudes.

Once everything was planned, they took to the task of putting together a set similar to a cooking program on TV. We recorded it in about an hour and soon we all started the task of editing with Movie Maker, adding some photos, and concluding the clip with the invitation to read each of the participants' new blogs.

We all enjoyed the experience. We laughed a lot and I believe that the fundamental thing was the reflection of the importance of informing and of being informed, which was our main objective before trying to teach the technical details of how to open a blog. There is already plenty of info about how to do that. We wanted to make something more fresh, in a language more easily understood by everyone, with a certain sense of welcome, and to generate interest.

Although all the posts are written in Spanish, many of the HiperBarrio participants included photographs of their city. Some examples include:

De lo urbano a lo Rural, by Tifany Henao
Historias de Caminantes, by Catalina Restrepo
La Loma ¿rural o urbano?, by Mitchel Restrepo
Seminario de Comunicación: Las mejores fotos, by Johana Camargo
En el cielo de Medellín, by Marcela Arias
Bitácora personal de viaje, by Alexander

Like all of us, I am sure that these new bloggers would appreciate comments of encouragement and even just simple greetings from around the world.

Using dotSUB, you can also help make their video clip available in more languages by translating the brief transcript. Simply register for an account and choose the language you wish to translate the clip to on the far right of the video page. I have made a brief screencast describing how to translate and subtitle video on dotSUB.

You may view the latest post at
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2007/08/16/medellin-colombia-the-recipe/

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'Japan: Living With the Heat'

'Japan: Living With the Heat'
by Chris Salzberg

As Japan suffers through what likely will become its hottest summer on record, with temperatures in some places topping 40 degrees and humidity at all-time highs, and even as business owners happily celebrate skyrocketing sales of air conditioners, fans, and ice cream [Ja], worries of an energy crisis loom on the horizon. And while the Cool Biz campaign initiated by the Koizumi administration has gone some way to reducing the demand for artificial cooling and dehumidification, active participation in the campaign nationwide remains relatively low [Ja]. Add to this that inventions such as the recently released USB necktie allow salarymen to stay cool and keep their suits on, and the future of energy conservation in Japan looks less than promising.

August 16: Japan's Hottest Day On Record

One Japanese blogger, however, has taken matters into his own hands and done the unthinkable. Blogger Kenchan writes in his post of August 10th, entitled "The ultimate environmental measure, carried out in the middle of a scorching heat wave" (究極の環境対策。猛暑の中で実践中):

うちはエアコンを猛暑にかけません。車もそうです。毎日大汗かいています。とても暑い思いはしますが、新陳代謝が盛んになるので、体の調子は良くなりました。ダイエットにもなりますし。

We don't use the air conditioner during the heat wave. Don't use it in the car either. Every day sweating like crazy. Every day I think about the heat, but because my body metabolism picks up energy, my body condition has improved. It's become a kind of diet.

[...]

うちは事務所の窓を全開にしています。朝晩は植木に水をやります。涼しくなります。ゴーヤも大きくなればもっと日陰効果も出るというものです。たまにスーツ姿のセールスの人が来ますが、「暑いですね」と言われてすぐに退散します。客商売でないのでそれでいいのでは・・。パソコンも喘いでいるのｲで、時々消します。

We open all the windows in our office. In the morning and evening, we water the plants. And it cools down. If the goya [bitter gourd] tree gets bigger, there will be more shade. Sometimes these sales people come by wearing suits, but then they say: "Wow, it's hot, isn't it?" and leave right away. This is not a service business, so it's fine [that they leave]... The computers also gasp for air [because of the heat], so sometimes we turn them off.

暑いと言いつつエアコンをかけているのは人間だけ。蝉もトンボもカエルも犬も猫もエアコンの中にはいません。

Saying it's hot and then putting on the air conditioner -- it's only humans that do this. Cicada, dragonflies, frogs, dogs, cats, none of them live with air conditioning.

涼しい早朝に活動し、お昼はほんのすこし昼寝を昼休みにします。就寝は板の間で寝ます。夏場はお陰で体脂肪が減ります。暑い中ではビールも飲めませんね。よけいに大汗かきますから。

I get going early in the morning, when it's cool. At noon I take a lunch break and have a little nap. I sleep on the hardwood floor. Thanks to the summertime, I lose body fat. And you know, I don't drink beer during the summer, because it makes me sweat even more.

よさこいと高校野球が終われもれば、しのぎやすくはなります。それまでの我慢くらべが続いています。世間様がお盆休みの間も会社は休みなし。少し効率を落として暑さをやり過ごすしかありませんね。

Once the Yosakoi festival and high-school baseball finishes, it will become easier to bear [the heat]. Up until then, the patience contest continues. Even while the world celebrates the Bon holiday, companies go without a vacation. There is no option but to let efficiency drop a little bit in order to withstand this heat.

とにかくビルのなかでエアコンに浸りながら環境問題を語るのは偽者。屋外へ出て猛暑の中で考えてみるべき。指導者はそうあるべきですね。

Anyway, people who stay inside their building soaked in air conditioning while talking about environmental problems are nothing but imposters. They should go outside into the scorching heat and then think about it. The leaders should do this.

You may view the latest post at
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2007/08/16/japan-living-with-the-heat/

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Did You Violate Copyright Law Today?

Did You Violate Copyright Law Today?

All of us have done this at least once, I'm sure: circulated an electronic article from an e-newsletter or other publication to which we subscribe. But what you probably didn't know is that re-circulating these articles may violate copyright laws -- and according to this story from CNET, publishers are starting to crack down on offenders.

According to the article, the Software Information & Industry Association (SIIA) entered into a $300,000 settlement with a research company over distribution of the company's "press packages" without a license or permission. But while widespread circulation of information might violate copyright law, what about fair use? Generally, fair use allows reprinting for non-commercial purposes, which means that occasionally passing on a story to inform a colleague could fall within fair use exceptions. However, regular forwarding of a copyrighted electronic publication suggests that the material is being used for business purposes (because of the regularity of transmission) rather than education.

So the next time you send those articles off to an associate or colleague, give some thought to copyright issues.

Posted by Carolyn Elefant on August 16, 2007 at 04:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Legal Blog Watch

Legal Blog Watch

Why Does the ABA Oppose Mandatory Retirement... But Not Other Alternatives for Older Lawyers

With the graying of the bar and an increasing number of law firms implementing mandatory retirement programs (topics that we posted on here and here several months ago), it's not surprising that the ABA just addressed the issue of mandatory retirement at last week's annual meeting. As reported by the WSJ Law Blog, the ABA adopted a recommendation that law firms reject mandatory retirement programs. Right now, 57 percent of firms with more than 1000 lawyers have such policies in place, but the ABA is asking these firms to rethink their policy. According to the WSJ post, those opposed to mandatory retirement argued that it is inconsistent with other industry workplaces, where mandatory retirement is unlawful. But opponents argued that the ABA should not tell law firms how to run their operations.

Though I have issues with the ABA adopting political positions, I don't find it inappropriate for the ABA to make recommendations to law firms about work-life balance, diversity or mandatory retirement -- since these issues directly impact practicing lawyers. (I draw the line at ABA recommendations carrying any weight, but see nothing wrong with the ABA offering advice or recommendations as it did here).

At the same time, I find it ironic that while the ABA opposes mandatory retirement programs, it has also issued an ethics opinion holding that law firms can ethically make retirement benefits contingent on a lawyer's agreement to sign a non-compete clause (as a general rule, law firms cannot bind lawyers to non-compete agreements because to do so would violate the client's unfettered right to a lawyer of his or her choosing). In other words, the ABA is willing to say that mandatory retirement is wrong. But the ABA won't do anything to provide real relief to lawyers who are the victims of mandatory retirement who would like to retain their rightfully earned retirement benefits and at the same time, open a law firm that may compete with their former firm. To me, this inconsistency suggests that while the ABA opposes mandatory retirement officially, in the end, it doesn't really care much about the plight of older lawyers.

Posted by Carolyn Elefant on August 16, 2007 at 04:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Padilla Found Guilty

Well, it may have taken over half a decade, but Jose Padilla's long, strange, Kafka-esque journey through the legal system has finally come to some resolution, with today's jury verdict finding Padilla guilty of supporting Islamic terrorism overseas.

Though the verdict is only a couple of hours old at this posting, preliminary thoughts on its meaning are already circulating in the press. In this CNN story, Kendall Coffey, a former US Attorney viewed the verdict as a "critical vindication" for DOJ and at the same time, raises questions about whether military tribunals are necessary.

The New York Times also characterized the Padilla verdict as a "major victory" for the Bush administration in this report,
Jose Padilla Convicted on All Counts in Terror Trial. But the <i>Times</i> also quoted Anthony Natale, Padilla's lawyer as stating that:

"In this case, you will see how in the absence of hard evidence, a suspicion can be fueled by fear, nourished by prejudice and directed by politics into a criminal prosecution."

Not much commentary from the blogosphere, yet...but we expect that by tomorrow, the blogs will be popping with thoughts on the meaning of the verdict and predictions about what comes next.

Posted by Carolyn Elefant on August 16, 2007 at 04:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)