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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Two Lawyers, Two Troubling Mysteries

FROM LEGAL BLOG WATCH

Two Lawyers, Two Troubling Mysteries

Two tragic but unconnected stories of missing lawyers making the news.

In Plantation, Fla., the body of missing lawyer Melissa Britt Lewis was found floating in a canal Friday just a few miles from her house. Lewis, 39, a labor and employment partner with the Fort Lauderdale firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, was last seen alive Wednesday evening, leaving a local supermarket. Her firm is offering a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of anyone involved with her death. Speculation is that the attack resulted from a random robbery gone awry, but local blogger Bob Norman says that seems unlikely and believes the murder may have followed a planned abduction. "But that's just speculation," he adds.

Meanwhile, authorities remain baffled by the disappearance in South Carolina of Savannah, Ga., lawyer Elizabeth Calvert, a partner with the law firm Hunter Maclean. She and her husband disappeared a week ago from Hilton Head, where they live part-time on their yacht. On Friday, searchers found the couple's car and were searching it for clues. On Friday, her law partners spoke out about the mystery, with partner John Tatum telling a reporter, "Everyone is hoping and praying for a miraculously happy ending, but that would be a miracle." Calvert joined Hunter Maclean just five months ago, after 14 years in-house at UPS in Atlanta, where she rose to become a vice president.

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Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on March 10, 2008 at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Judge to Former Lawyer: Shovel Snow

When a former lawyer appeared last week before a Maine judge to explain why he had paid just $50 of $219,000 in court-ordered restitution, the judge told him to get a job, even if it is shoveling snow off roofs. The Sun Journal reports that the former lawyer, John Frankenfield, represented himself in the hearing over whether he had violated a condition of probation stemming from his conviction for skimming assets from the estate of his grandfather. Judge Thomas Delahanty II, after hearing that Frankenfield was jobless and had significant other debts, gave him a month to find work. "When you come back here ... I want you to have a proposal of payments," Judge Delahanty told him. "In the meantime, I expect you to find a job somewhere. There are a lot of roofs out there to be shoveled."

File under: Ways lawyers can use their shoveling skills.

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Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on March 10, 2008 at 09:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lawyerly Lingo: Witnesseth Brevity

Blogger Mister Thorne at Set in Style points us to to an article in the Georgetown (Kentucky) News-Graphic, Pleaseth Updateth Thy Language, in which the newspaper's intrepid copy editor lives to tell about multiple encounters with archaic legalese in the deed books of the local county courthouse. Here is one example Daniel Kelley cites in his piece:

I, Karen Boehm, Clerk of the Scott Circuit Court, do hereby certify that the foregoing Deed of Conveyance from Carolyn Carroway, Master Commissioner of the Scott Circuit Court, to Federal National Mortgage Association, was this day produced and was by her acknowledged to be her act and deed, and this deed having been examined and endorsed by the judge of the Scott Circuit Court and ordered to be certified to the Clerk of the Scott County Court for record, same is now done accordingly.

Queries Kelley, why not just say, "I, Scott Circuit Court Clerk Karen Boehm, confirm that this deed was made today"? After stumbling over the word "witnesseth"  at least 100 times in the deed books, Kelley wonders why the legal system persists "in using indecipherable language simply because it's the way Thurgood Marshall did, the way Oliver Wendell Holmes did, the way John Marshall did, the way John Jay did. Those men were all great legal minds, but they were not supposed to have set (and continue) a template for our legal language for all eternity."

When it comes to language, clinging to antiquity is hardly the legal profession's only vice: Witnesseth wordiness. U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl witnesses it daily. "Enough!" he declares in his essay, "The Virtue of Brevity," the most recent entry in the ABA Section of Litigation's "Tips from the Trenches" series. "Too many lawyers write too much too often. Some lawyers are even known to talk too much."

From where Koeltl sits in New York's southern district, the legal profession's wordiness is tangible, in the form of needless motions, unnecessarily lengthy motions, and briefs that circumvent page limits. Such verbal excesses are counterproductive, he writes, because they raise questions about the lawyer's credibility and convolute the lawyer's arguments.

The most effective lawyers know how to make the salient points and then sit down while maintaining the interest of the court. The truly impressive arguments are those in which it is plain that the lawyers thought about the issues, understood the truly critical points that make a difference, and are prepared to address those points succinctly.

The jurist concludes by offering the bar a bargain: "If they submit briefer and more focused motions, I will issue briefer opinions, neither too long nor too short -- opinions that are just long enough." Acknowledged, endorsed and certified as a fair deal, but one that begs the question, "Just long enough for what?"

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Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on March 10, 2008 at 09:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Do GCs Use Legal Directories?

John Wallbillich at Wired GC and Kevin O'Keefe at Real Lawyers Have Blogs are among the bloggers commenting on the article in the U.K. periodical Legal Week, "Corporate Counsel: Information Overload?" In it, writer Michelle Madsen considers whether corporate counsel view legal directories as valuable sources of information or wastes of lawyers' time and money. The question is fair game, she notes, having been raised by the directories themselves, with publisher Chambers and Partners producing a report last year, "Do Clients Use Chambers?" laden with testimonials from U.S. general counsel. But Madsen finds less enthusiasm for directories among GC in the U.K. Shell London legal head Richard Wiseman tells her:

I use them very, very rarely. I have the luxury of being able to consult with colleagues on the question of which outside counsel to speak to. I am horrified by the amount of money that firms spend on preparing submissions to these directories. I cannot imagine who they think is naive enough to use a directory in any other way than they would use the Yellow Pages.

Their one value, other GC tell Madsen, is as a reference point for entering a new market or "if you are completely stuck."

Madsen's findings are at odds with a recent Martindale-Hubbell survey reported Feb. 25 on the company's blog by John Lipsey, vice president for corporate counsel services. When he asked corporate counsel to rank, in order of importance, the resources they leverage when hiring outside counsel, more than 90 percent ranked personal referrals as first. Next on the list was Martindale-Hubbell, ranked as important by 42 percent of corporate counsel. That speaks well of Martindale, Lipsey suggests, given that only 18 percent cited Google as a resource and even fewer listed Best Lawyers, Chambers, SuperLawyers, Law Dragon or Avvo.

Blogger O'Keefe suggests that the Martindale survey lacks credibility as self-serving "and done to argue that Martindale remains relevant in the age of the internet." From his perspective, the Wired GC's Wallbillich sees these various directories as having some purpose, "but their influence is more like a citation from a Louisiana state court in a legal brief. It's better than nothing, but in my experience only in limited cases (such as a foreign jurisdiction or a minor matter for local counsel)." From my own conversations with corporate counsel, my sense is that they rely heavily on word-of-mouth referrals and references, but that legal directories provide corroboration and affirmation, as do other sources -- including blogs.

What do you think? Do legal directories serve a useful role in hiring?

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Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on March 10, 2008 at 09:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Air Force Lawyers Fire Strike at YouTube

A Reed Smith lawyer, acting on behalf of the U.S. Air Force, has sent YouTube a DMCA take-down notice demanding the removal of a 30-second recruiting video produced to promote its new Cyber Command, an operation aimed at gaining military dominance in cyberspace. But the letter raises the question: Is there any legal basis for it?

Kevin Poulsen first reported the take-down letter (PDF) Friday at Wired's Threat Level blog, which covers online privacy, security and crime. It was Poulsen who originally posted the video in February, after it was sent to him by the Air Force's head of marketing Keith Lebling. Notwithstanding Lebling's marketing efforts, Reed Smith associate Meredith D. Pikser certifies "under penalty of perjury" in her letter to YouTube that posting the video "infringes the U.S. Air Force's copyrights in this work."

But does it? U.S. government works cannot be copyrighted, Poulsen writes, and he cites Electronic Frontier Foundation lawyer Kurt Opsahl for pointing him to the Air Force's own privacy policy, which says: "Information presented on the Air Force Recruiting website is considered public information and may be distributed or copied." Yes and no, says IP law professor Wendy Seltzer at her blog Legal Tags, if the government created the video, then the DMCA claim is improper. However, the law allows the government to receive copyright assignments, so if an independent contractor created the video, the government may meet the technical requirements of the DMCA. That said, she continues:

Even if the Air Force's DMCA claim is truthful, however, it's still a policy overreach. Wired posted the video in order to report on government recruiting efforts; the video's dissemination is part of that First-Amendment protected discussion, whether it happens on or off government websites. The DMCA makes it too easy to takedown first, think later.

So it appears that as the Air Force seeks military dominance in cyberspace, the question remains whether it will prevail in the virtual battlefield of the law. Copyright experts out there: What say you?

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Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on March 10, 2008 at 05:56 AM | Permalink

Opinen, escriban  y ganen premios.
Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
DIPLOMADO EN RESPONSABILIDAD
SOCIAL EMPRESARIAL  DE LA ONU
www.Consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.el-observatorio-politico.blogspot.com
www.biocombustibles.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586
teléfono: 5839786
e-mail rogofe47@mi.cl
Santiago-Chile
 
Soliciten nuestros cursos de capacitación   y asesorías  en Responsabilidad social empresarial y LOBBY  eficaz a nivel internacional y están disponibles para OTEC Y OTIC en Chile

'Ecuador: Natural Forces Threatening the Country'

'Ecuador: Natural Forces Threatening the Country'
by Milton Ramirez

Picture by MennoGuy licensed under Creative Commons

The recent diplomatic crisis with its neighbor to the north, Colombia may have took most of the media spotlight off the effects of the heavy rains in Ecuador, but many are still suffering due to these natural disasters. The above picture corresponds to a Ecuadorian locality called Tosagua in the province of Manabi, which was one of at least 15 other provinces affected by heavy floodings. The crisis in this country is such that the President himself has said that for this type of natural events that the government is not well prepared, and what is worse, it has no money. Losses as consequence of the flooding are measured in millions of dollars and it is estimated that it will cost 1 billion dollars for the reconstruction of flooding zones.  Crops and livestock have been lost, and it has also claimed 23 lives. To make things worse and more tragic, it is now feared that epidemics, such as dengue will affect the flooded areas.

The Spanish government and the Pope were the first to bring humanitarian aid to the most affected, according to Ecuadorian media.  In Guayas and the rest of the Ecuadorian coast, water treatment plants are going to be installed to alleviate some of the possible intestinal problems of the residents of these areas. People from the government, such as Minister of Economic and Social Inclusion (MIES), Jeanneth Sanchez  said that 'this is not an emergency, it is a national tragedy' and invited others to join in the Campaign  "Return The Happiness" with the purpose of collecting food and clothes for the victims. In this crusade, Megamaxi, Diners Club International, the National Institute for Children and Families (INNFA), MIES have joined.


The truth is that public safety is threatened in Ecuador not only by floodings, but by other natural forces such as the eruptions of the Volcano Tungurahua and has been reported  by El Blog de Palulo [es] with pictures. He is not only using microblogging (Twitter) to keep Ecuador updated, but his last post about the volcano says it's calming down:

Genial! fue lo primero que dije al ver al Tungurahua lleno de nieve en su cúspide y con una fumarola saliendo de su cráter. Cuando niño era normal verlo con nieve hasta las faldas, pero ahora, con un proceso eruptivo en curso, imágenes como estas son impresionantes.

Great! It was the first thing I said when I saw the Tungurahua full of snow at its top and a fumes out of its crater. When I was a child,  it was normal to see it with snow skirts, but now, with a current eruptive process in progress, images as these pictures are impressive.

Ecuador Periodístico [es] writes about the Vice-President's campaign to get Ecuadorians' spirits high, makes up an history:

No es que la idea sea mala, sino que ¡qué oportuna!, me pregunto si la agencia de publicidad podrá adaptar unos nuevos artes en los que se vea a la gente de la Costa con el agua en el cuello, ¡pero sonriendo…! eso sí sería bueno, serían unos tipazos de positivos. Estamos en emergencia, 15 provincias inundadas, 22 muertos, 100 mil damnificados y... ahora hay que sonreír. Otro arte alterno podría ser aquel de las faldas del Tungurahua llenas de ceniza y las vacas sonriendo, genial no… unas vacas positivas, que le ríen a la adversidad.

Not that the idea is bad, but how timely!, I wonder if the advertising agency may adapt some new advertisement techniques in which the people of the Coast are shown with water up to their neck, but… smiling! So it would be such a great man of positive thinking. We are in an emergency, 15 flooded provinces, 22 dead, 100 thousand injured and . .. Now we have to smile. Another alternative could it be the sides of Tungurahua filled with ash and cows smiling, cool, right?… some positive cows, which will laugh at adversity.

Flooding is still expected to continue for at least one more month along the Ecuadorian coast and major newspapers as El Comercio, La Hora and El Universo confirmed this information. And now these people will suffer from illnesses as a result of the accumulation of mosquitoes bringing malaria and dengue fever due to the accumulation of water.  Don Xavier [es] is thoughful about what is expected to be done by national media, which he says is not informing and instead putting on a soap opera:

No sería más útil que se informe por los canales de televisión, que tienen mayor cobertura, donde se puede asistir para buscar refugio o mostraran  vías de evacuación y  zonas de impacto o por lo menos donde ir para poder abastecerse de alimentos, no he visto en ningún noticiero que estando la gente con el agua hasta el cuello, algún reportero ayudara a esta gente y no me digan que eso no es parte de su trabajo, creo que eso es simplemente HUMANIDAD, que porque puedo decir que no lo hacen, fácil ninguno lo ha mostrado y ya sabemos que por ganar rating cualquier cosa vale, menos informar imparcialmente y con claridad.

Wouldn't it be more useful to report on the television channels, which have greater coverage, where anyone can see where to look for refuge, escape routes, areas of impact, or at least know where to go in order to stock up on food. I have seen no broadcast news that when coming across people with water up to their neck,  where the reporter helps these people and don't come and tell me that this is not part of their work, I think this is simply HUMANITY, that why I can say they are not doing it; it is quite easy, nobody has yet to show it and we all know that to win ratings, anything counts, but at least inform impartially and clearly.

Ecuador needs help now, government will import 45 thousand tons of rice to recover the loss in production and with unemployment on the rise the situations calls for international assistance. If netizens can help it is time to do so and if the friendly governments can help, their help will be most welcome.

Opinen, escriban  y ganen premios.
Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
DIPLOMADO EN RESPONSABILIDAD
SOCIAL EMPRESARIAL  DE LA ONU
www.Consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.el-observatorio-politico.blogspot.com
www.biocombustibles.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586
teléfono: 5839786
e-mail rogofe47@mi.cl
Santiago-Chile
 
Soliciten nuestros cursos de capacitación   y asesorías  en Responsabilidad social empresarial y LOBBY  eficaz a nivel internacional y están disponibles para OTEC Y OTIC en Chile