Legal Blog Watch

Legal Blog Watch

In Monday's NLJ: Few Women Go Solo Women lawyers prefer to fly in flocks, suggests the headline from an article to appear Monday in The National Law Journal, Women Choosing Not to Fly Solo. Writer Leigh Jones reports on a massive, decade-long study tracking the careers of 4,500 lawyers. Of the lawyers in the study who went solo, just a third were women. This seems counterintuitive to the notion that a solo practice can be more family friendly than working at a larger firm. As my Legal Blog Watch co-author Carolyn Elefant puts it at her MyShingle blog: "You'd think that women looking for work life balance would find solo practice appealing, because when you work for yourself, you gain control over the hours you work and the hours you handle." The NLJ piece suggests that one factor keeping women at larger firms is that the reliability of steady pay and benefits outweighs the scheduling freedom that solo work can provide. Elefant has a different theory: "My own belief is that women themselves are driving lawyers away from solo practice. As I posted here previously, when women demand equality in the profession, they're usually referring to equality at big law firms. Women who start and head their own practices, no matter how prominent, simply don't count. As a result, younger women don't view solo practice as an option." Let me throw in one other thought: It is a fallacy to maintain that going solo is necessarily liberating. I can attest to the fact that many solos work hours equal to or greater than their larger-firm counterparts, and they do so without the safety net of partners and associates to fall back on. No doubt, a solo practice can be family friendly, but it can also be all-consuming. Whether you are trying to schedule a two-week vacation or simply slip away to your son's after-school recital, there is much to be said for having a partner to cover you. Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on September 14, 2007 at 01:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) The Aesop of Law? Dickinson School of Law professor Robert E. Rains is described in his professional biography as a prolific contributor to academic and professional journals, one of the law school's most widely published faculty members. His writings focus on serious issues of family, juvenile and disability law. But for some two decades, Rains has had a literary sideline, of sorts, writing humorous fables and verses drawn from real-life legal stories. Now, Rains has compiled his fables in a book, True Tales of Trying Times: Legal Fables for Today. The book is published in the United States by independent publisher Willow Crossing Press and was just released in the United Kingdom by Wildy & Sons Ltd. The book's Web site describes it as a humorous collection of modern-day parables drawn from actual court decisions. "The fables are short in length and long in wit, each concluding with a moral drawn from the tale, presented in verse." Rains' wife, a "recovering attorney," and sister-in-law contributed pen-and-ink drawings to illustrate the fables. It is a book, says the Web site, that is "for everyone: not just lawyers, but people too!" Rains tells The Carlisle Sentinel that he writes these fables in part as a way "to keep what's left of my sanity." Appropriately, the book's forward is written by Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice J. Michael Eakin, who himself gained notoriety as Pennsylvania's "rhyming judge" after issuing opinions written entirely in verse. The moral of the story: What's good for the professor may not be for the judge. Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on September 14, 2007 at 01:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) Nokia Trademarks Classic Guitar Score What's a phone company to do when a classical 19th-century guitar score becomes its most popular and recognizable ringtone? Trademark it, of course. Bill Heinze at I/P Updates delivers the news that on Sept. 4, Nokia received a U.S. trademark for "a sound comprising a C eighth note, E flat eight note, B flat eighth note, G quarter note, C eighth note and C quarter note." For the less musically inclined among us, that happens to describe the 14th bar of Gran Vals, a classical guitar piece composed by Spaniard Franciso Tárrega, described by Wikipedia as "one of the most influential guitarists the world has ever known." Unfortunately, perhaps, for Mr. Tárrega, his composition has also come to be known as the Nokia tune, thanks to its ubiquity as the company's default ring tone. For its part, Nokia -- not to be crassly commercial about all this -- offers this sample of the song as it was meant to be played, by guitar rather than phone. For those who prefer their music in MIDI format, there is this version. Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on September 14, 2007 at 01:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) How Football Parallels Copyright Law Sports pundits are weighing in from every angle on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's decision to fine New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick a half-million dollars for his team's videotaping of its opponent's defensive signals. But all we here at Legal Blog Watch care about is: What do the lawyers think? One lawyer with an opinion on all this is Boston College Law School professor Alfred Chueh-Chin Yen. Writing at the blog Madisonian.net, Yen finds -- as only a law professor could do -- parallels between the Patriots incident and copyright issues surrounding circumvention of digital rights management. One argument in Belichick's favor, Yen notes, is that deciphering signs is part of sports and perfectly legal. If deciphering signs is legal, the argument goes, what's the big deal about using a video camera to accomplish it? OK so far, but where is the parallel to circumvention of DRM? He explains: "Both the Patriots and some circumventers have a 'legal' objective. The Patriots want to decipher the opponent's defensive signals, and some circumventers want to make fair use of a copyrighted work. The only 'offense' is using technology to accomplish otherwise legal ends. So, if we think (as some do) that penalties for circumvention should be lenient or nonexistent when fair use is the purpose, shouldn't the Patriots and Belichick get off with less severe punishment?" Well, no, Yen says, in answer to his own query. The difference is that the Patriots had been called to task for this very offense before and had been given an express reminder this fall. The Patriots did not simply break a rule, Yen believes, but thumbed their noses at the league's authority. "With this in mind," Yen concludes, "I think the league has treated the Patriots and Belichick quite fairly." Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on September 14, 2007 at 01:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
www..Consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.el-observatorio-politico.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586
telefono: 5839786
santiago-chile

 

Escribanos, consúltenos, opine

'Ecuador: President Correa Unveils His Blog'

'Ecuador: President Correa Unveils His Blog'
by Eduardo Avila

The curiosity behind President Rafael Correa's preview of the creation of his personal blog finally subsided, when the head of state unveiled his new means of communication with the people of Ecuador.  The introduction of his personal blog [ES] was made through a video uploaded on YouTube (with English sub-titles)  Standing in front of a virtual background, Correa invited the people to become actively involved in the construction of the Constituent Assembly through the social networking. However, as Christian Espinosa of Cobertura Digital [ES] writes that Correa created the blog to counteract, in his own words, "the perverse manipulations of the traditional media."




English sub-titles from Correa video:
Dear cyber-friends, Rafael Correa, President of the Republic of Ecuador greets you. You use the Internet as source and media for information and communication.  And you have found in the web 2.0 a democratic instrument to express yourselves without the normal restrictions and perverse manipulations that traditional mass media tends to apply.  To all of you, digital citizens that are in the same path with this citizenship project for a new, mass democratic and fairer country, I invite you to actively participate in the process of creating the new Constitution using the networks you have created. It's time to collaborate to join our minds, our capacities, let's use the complete range of technologies that Internet offers us to meet us and discuss the goals and the objectives that all the Ecuadorians have set for this historical and critical moment of our Country!
Ecuadorian bloggers react to the news with a bit of humor, skepticism, and optimism.

Gabby Corsalas wonders whether the subject matter will match other bloggers.  She writes that "Rafico now has his own blog" at De Todo Un Poco [ES]:
 Leí esta mañana que el Presidente Rafael Correa ya tiene su blog, es decir ya pertenece a los nuestros, pero me pregunto ¿qué tanto de blog tendrá? Nos contará que soñó anoche, que hizo al levantarse por la mañana, si se sintió frustrado al no ir al Beers & Blog o por lo contrario, nos compartirá la "ira" de no poder ejecutar sus ofrecimientos de campaña, y/o/u, será un ventana a la calle en el que nos contará "de todo un poco"…
I read this morning that President Rafael Correa now has his blog, which means that he now belongs to us, but I ask myself, "how much of a blog will it be?"  Will he tell us what he dreamt about last night, what he did when he woke up, that he felt frustrated to not have attended Beers and Blog or will it be the opposite, and share the "frustration" of not being to implement his campaign promises, and/or will it be a window out to the street where he will talk about "a little bit of everything"...
However, some think that it will hardly be a blog written by Correa himself.  Cronicacero [ES] has his own doubts about the blog's actual author and writes:
Con tanto viaje, con tanta reunión, con tanto problema y líos que resolver... ¿tendrá tiempo para un blog? Lo siento... sí, lo sé, siempre yo perverso, siempre dudando. Pero deben permitirme esa licencia. Aplaudo si la intensión es honesta y nace precisamente del mismo señor presidente Rafael Correa. Dudo mucho que él vaya a ser quien suscriba lo que en su blog allí se escribe. Pero es oficial, aparentemente el presidente Correa tiene su espacio en la blogosfera. Insisto, permitirme dudar.
 With so much traveling, with so many meetings, with so many problems to solve.... will he have time for a blog?   I'm sorry...yes, I know I am always cynical and always doubting.  But you should permit me that.  I am applaud it if the intention is honest and arises from the same President Rafael Correa.  I doubt very much that he will be the one that writes in the blog.  However, it is official, apparently President Correa has his own space in the blogosphere.  I insist, allow me to doubt.
The blogger at Saturn Attacks [ES] also holds doubts, but also questions the real motives behind this leap into the blogosphere.
¿Este blog se convertirá solo en un medio de propaganda por estas elecciones? ¿El Ciudadano Presidente Rafael Correa es quien en verdad escribirá en este blog? ¿Y será el mismo quien responda? ¿Es esta una puerta abierta para la comunicación mandatario - mandantes?
Will this blog become a means of propaganda for these elections?  Will the Citizen President Rafael Correa be the one who actually write in this blog?  Will he be the one that actually responds? Will this be an open door for communication between the President and his constituents?
Pablo Pérez Cahuenas of iPab [ES] is hopeful that the internet can be a tool for change.
Pero bueno Mr. Raphael esta haciendo el blog para construir una asamblea mejor, opinar sobre este gran proyecto que hablabamos mucho antes, como él mismo dice nosotros los Cyber-Amigos(porque no somos Cyber-Compañeros?), tenemos que usar el internet para poder crear un país mejor.
 Mr. Raphael is writing on the blog to create a better assembly, provide his opinion about this large project that we had been talking about, and as he calls us his Cyber-Friends (how come not Cyber-Companions?), we must use the internet to create a better country.
Finally at El blog de Palulo [ES], there is wonder what comes next and is looking forward to the information presented on Correa's blog.
 También el presidente de los ecuatorianos ha sacado su blog no tan personal, en donde incentiva a la blogósfera a unirse al cambio. Luego de darse a conocer en hi5 y en toda red social existente (¿ya llegaría a Facebook?) también pasa a ser un Ciudadano 2.0. Como siempre estaremos pendientes de las propuestas virtuales y reales.
The President of Ecuador published his not-so-personal blog, where he challenges the blogosphere to unite for change.  After making himself known in a Hi5 account and to the entire existing social network (is Facebook next?) he also becomes a Citizen 2.0. We are always on the lookout for the virtual and real proposals.
Special thanks to Christian Espinosa for help with the links.

You may view the latest post at
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2007/09/12/ecuador-president-correa-unveils-his-blog/

Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
www..Consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.el-observatorio-politico.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586
telefono: 5839786
santiago-chile

 

Escribanos, consúltenos, opine

'Japan: Protecting the Kyoto Cityscape'

'Japan: Protecting the Kyoto Cityscape'
by Hanako Tokita

While many countries around the world are struggling to tackle Kyoto at home, the city the environmental accord was named after is caught up in its own struggle. The capital of Japan for over 1,000 years (794-1868), Kyoto was once a picturesque ancient city surrounded by mountains. Today it is a major tourist destination, attracting about 47 million visitors every year, with a set of historic locations listed as World Heritage sites. At the same time, Kyoto is one of the major economic centers in the west of Japan. The economic boom in the 1980s and 1990s accelerated modern development in Kyoto, which turned the city into a big jumble of tall concrete buildings, glaring neon signs and rooftop advertisements. To clean up its negative image, the city of Kyoto recently passed a bill to introduce an ordinance protecting its cityscape and views. As the bylaw came into effect on September 1, raising some controversy, bloggers from Kyoto and elsewhere expressed various concerns and opinions.


Photo: Flickr user Jameswy Wang

One blogger writes:

と言うわけで、新景観条例には大いに賛同します。是非協力したいと思います。大体京都は観光客の多い町ですし、町が綺麗になれば、観光客が増える。つまり、「町を綺麗にすれば金が儲かる」わけです。極論すれば「町の美化＝金儲け」なんです、こんな図式が成り立つのは京都だけですよ。

Well, anyway, I totally support the new landscape bylaw. I would like to help by all means. Kyoto is a city which has a lot of tourists, and if the city becomes much cleaner, there will be even more tourists. In other words, "if the city is cleaned up, then there is money to be made". To put it in extreme terms, "beautification of the city = money making". Kyoto is the only place where this kind of scheme can be applied.

On the other hand, this blogger writes:
観光都市の京都なら仕方ないと思いますが、これがどこの街でも制定されるような状況になったら都市の発展が止まると思うのですが..。
変化を嫌う地方都市住民には歓迎されそうで不安です。


I think it's understandable in the case of Kyoto, a tourist city, but if this measure gets implemented in other cities, then I think it will prevent city development...
I am worried that this may be welcomed by people in regional cities who don't like change.



Controversial Kyoto Station

Fuji-chan Film is sceptical about the new bylaw.

規制するには遅過ぎると思う一方で、現状の景観の悪さはネオンや看板や電線だけではなく、京都駅や京都タワーや四条界隈のパチンコ屋等々複合的な要因が絡み合って構成されていますので、一部の景観規制をしてもどうしようもないような気がします。
そもそも観光客がイメージする所謂「京都」が残存している地域は、元々極一部なので、寺や歴史的建築物などをスポット的に保護するというのが現実的ではないでしょうか!?
京都の街並は日本のどこにでもあるような昭和を髣髴とさせる建物が大部分なので、結果的にそういったものを保護することになる景観政策には無駄が多いように思えます。


While I think the regulation came too late, I don't think you can do much by regulating some part of the city landscape. That's because the ugliness of the present landscape is made up of not only the neon signs and electric wires, but also Kyoto Station and Kyoto Tower as well as the pachinko places in the Shijo area and a combination of other elements.
The kind of areas that tourists think of as "Kyoto" are very scarce, so wouldn't be more realistic to pinpoint and protect temples and other historical architecture?
Because the city scape of Kyoto is largely made up of buildings that are reminiscent of the Showa era, which you see everywhere in Japan, the landscape policy seems to be a waste as these things will be protected as a result.


A pagoda with Kyoto Tower in the background
Photo: Courtesy of Chisaki Inoue

This blogger shares his/her experience and view.

京都市の景観条例。
建物の高さ制限や屋上広告の制限。
写真を撮るときどうしても屋上看板や高いビルが入ってしまうと、
地方の友人を京都案内した時いつも言っていた。
確かに歴史ある建造物や景色に無機質な物体が写っていれば、
何となく興ざめしてしまうだろう。
日本が誇る歴史的観光地として、
ひとつくらいは世界の歴史都市の真似をしてもいいと思う。

「ベランダから大文字焼きが見えるんです。」
高層マンションの住人が得意気に言う。
その高層マンションのために何人の人が、
大文字焼きを見ることが出来なくなったのだろうか。


Whenever I show my friends around Kyoto, they always say that rooftop signs and tall buildings are in the way when they try to take pictures.
Indeed, I can imagine that it could be a turnoff to see drab objects in pictures of historical buildings and landscapes.
As a historical tourist city that Japan boasts about, I think it should mimic at least one thing that other historic cities in the world do.

"I can see the Daimonjiyaki from my veranda,"
residents of high-rise condominiums boast.
As a result of these high-rise condos, how many people have lost the view of the Daimonjiyaki?


You may view the latest post at
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2007/09/12/japan-protecting-the-kyoto-cityscape/

Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
www..Consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.el-observatorio-politico.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586
telefono: 5839786
santiago-chile

 

Escribanos, consúltenos, opine

Legal Blog Watch

Legal Blog Watch

Is Avvo the Amazon of Law? Mark Britton, the CEO of controversial lawyer-rating site Avvo, recorded an interview last week with the U.K. legal podcast OUT-LAW Radio. (For other podcasts about Avvo, see here.) In it, he discusses the lawsuit against his company and expresses his belief that Avvo's lawyer ratings are protected by the First Amendment. According to OUT-LAW's report on the interview, he also said that the lawsuit against Avvo poses a threat to all online product-rating systems, including those used by companies such as Amazon.com and Buy.com. "[Making] information flow more fluidly should be everyone's goal," the article quotes Britton. "To somehow strike against that hurts every site whether it's a site like Avvo or a site like Amazon or Buy.com." (Having listened to the podcast, I never heard him say those words, so perhaps the recording is edited. One thing he did say is this: "The lawsuit is a pretty silly attempt to bomb us back to the stone age.") Meanwhile, in this week's National Law Journal, Stanford Law School legal-ethics professor Deborah Rhode, a member of Avvo's advisory board, says that the emergence of lawyer-ranking companies such as Avvo is partly the result of secrecy in official lawyer-discipline systems. When it comes to states posting lawyer-discipline data online, Rhode tells the NLJ, "We're still a long distance from where we ought to be." As the NLJ piece by reporter Vesna Jaksic portrays, in providing public access to this data, many states remain in that stone age to which Britton alluded. The reason for that, Rhode says, in large part is because disciplinary systems are run by lawyers, who want to protect their own. With that self-imposed shroud of secrecy in place, she suggests, the door is wide open to consumer-ranking sites such as Avvo. Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on September 10, 2007 at 02:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) What Can Law Schools Do Better? David Giacalone points us to the latest issue of the online magazine The Complete Lawyer, which focuses on the question, What Can Law Schools Do Better? (Someone needs to update TCL's front page, which still lists the last issue as the current issue.) Among those exploring the need for reform of legal education are several highly regarded law school deans and legal educators. Their articles include: Practicing Lawyers Can Change Legal Education, by University of South Carolina School of Law professor Roy T. Stuckey. We Need to Produce Lawyers, Not Technicians, by Lisa A. Kloppenberg, dean of the University of Dayton School of Law. Law School Innovations Result In Broader Students, an interview with Stanford Law School Dean Larry D. Kramer. Educating Law Students For Leadership, by Donald J. Polden, dean and professor of law at Santa Clara University. Developing A Personal And Professional Identity In Law School, by Daisy Hurst Floyd, dean and professor of law at Mercer University's Walter F. George School of Law. Turning Law Students Into Lawyers, by Kenneth R. Margolis, professor of law, director of the CaseArc Integrated Lawyering Skills Program and co-director of the Milton A. Kramer Law Clinic Center at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. While at The Complete Lawyer, check out its new TCL Weblog Directory, an annotated list of some 110 blogs whose content  focuses on "the professionalism and quality of life and career issues that  impact every lawyer's success and satisfaction." Giacalone compiled the directory and welcomes suggestions of blogs to add. Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on September 10, 2007 at 02:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) Law Firms Outpace Porn Vendors in Tech It has become a truism that the porn industry has blazed the trail for technological innovation, particularly online. Even the history magazine American Heritage featured an article, When Sex Drives Technological Innovation, crediting the porn industry as the pioneering force in the development of such technologies as online payment systems and digital watermarking. Five years ago, Brooke Gladstone, co-host of the NPR program On the Media, examined the porn industry's key role in the development of new technology in her report, Is Pornography Driving Technology? So I was interested over the weekend to hear Gladstone's interview with Wired magazine's sex and technology correspondent Regina Lynn, who argues that porn "may be losing its innovation mojo." Most notably, Lynn points to the online porn industry's  failure to embrace the collaborative and social-networking features that define Web 2.0. With that interview fresh in my mind, I was struck by a sense of irony to read today's results of the 12th AmLaw Tech survey, which suggests that Am Law 200 firms are now, to a significant extent, becoming technology trailblazers. Does this mean that Biglaw is outpacing porn as an adopter and driver of new technology? The article cites Atlanta's Kilpatrick Stockton as "on the edge of a new frontier," having launched a variety of online collaboration initiatives, dozens of blogs and a sophisticated contact-mining tool. And Kilpatrick is not alone, says the survey, which compiled results from 126 of the 200 highest-grossing firms: "We found that many firms are ratcheting up their use of online collaboration tools. They're also using more mobile wireless technology and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), leveraging extranets to share information with clients, automating processes by using a host of software applications, and moving slowly to Microsoft's new Vista operating systems. Overall, firms report such benefits from online collaboration as increased productivity (cited by 77 percent of the survey respondents); better client service (75 percent); improved processes (44 percent); better access to ideas (38 percent); cost savings (38 percent); and greater innovation (26 percent)." Lynn tells On the Media that porn vendors have been slow to incorporate the collaborative features of Web 2.0 because it is hard for them to think of their users as partners. By contrast, Matt Kesner, CTO at Fenwick & West in Mountain View, Calif., tells AmLaw Tech that for law firms, "Collaboration is the name of the game today." So perhaps the truism is no longer true -- perhaps the legal industry is surpassing the porn industry as a driver of technological innovation. But there is one final irony to the comparison: Lynn believes that the most significant obstacles keeping porn producers from adopting more collaborative technologies are the many laws that curtail their activities. If so, then in the race towards tomorrow's technology, the legal industry may have an unfair advantage. Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on September 10, 2007 at 01:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
www..Consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.el-observatorio-politico.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586
telefono: 5839786
santiago-chile

 

Escribanos, consúltenos, opine

Legal Blog Watch

Legal Blog Watch

Is Avvo the Amazon of Law? Mark Britton, the CEO of controversial lawyer-rating site Avvo, recorded an interview last week with the U.K. legal podcast OUT-LAW Radio. (For other podcasts about Avvo, see here.) In it, he discusses the lawsuit against his company and expresses his belief that Avvo's lawyer ratings are protected by the First Amendment. According to OUT-LAW's report on the interview, he also said that the lawsuit against Avvo poses a threat to all online product-rating systems, including those used by companies such as Amazon.com and Buy.com. "[Making] information flow more fluidly should be everyone's goal," the article quotes Britton. "To somehow strike against that hurts every site whether it's a site like Avvo or a site like Amazon or Buy.com." (Having listened to the podcast, I never heard him say those words, so perhaps the recording is edited. One thing he did say is this: "The lawsuit is a pretty silly attempt to bomb us back to the stone age.") Meanwhile, in this week's National Law Journal, Stanford Law School legal-ethics professor Deborah Rhode, a member of Avvo's advisory board, says that the emergence of lawyer-ranking companies such as Avvo is partly the result of secrecy in official lawyer-discipline systems. When it comes to states posting lawyer-discipline data online, Rhode tells the NLJ, "We're still a long distance from where we ought to be." As the NLJ piece by reporter Vesna Jaksic portrays, in providing public access to this data, many states remain in that stone age to which Britton alluded. The reason for that, Rhode says, in large part is because disciplinary systems are run by lawyers, who want to protect their own. With that self-imposed shroud of secrecy in place, she suggests, the door is wide open to consumer-ranking sites such as Avvo. Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on September 10, 2007 at 02:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) What Can Law Schools Do Better? David Giacalone points us to the latest issue of the online magazine The Complete Lawyer, which focuses on the question, What Can Law Schools Do Better? (Someone needs to update TCL's front page, which still lists the last issue as the current issue.) Among those exploring the need for reform of legal education are several highly regarded law school deans and legal educators. Their articles include: Practicing Lawyers Can Change Legal Education, by University of South Carolina School of Law professor Roy T. Stuckey. We Need to Produce Lawyers, Not Technicians, by Lisa A. Kloppenberg, dean of the University of Dayton School of Law. Law School Innovations Result In Broader Students, an interview with Stanford Law School Dean Larry D. Kramer. Educating Law Students For Leadership, by Donald J. Polden, dean and professor of law at Santa Clara University. Developing A Personal And Professional Identity In Law School, by Daisy Hurst Floyd, dean and professor of law at Mercer University's Walter F. George School of Law. Turning Law Students Into Lawyers, by Kenneth R. Margolis, professor of law, director of the CaseArc Integrated Lawyering Skills Program and co-director of the Milton A. Kramer Law Clinic Center at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. While at The Complete Lawyer, check out its new TCL Weblog Directory, an annotated list of some 110 blogs whose content  focuses on "the professionalism and quality of life and career issues that  impact every lawyer's success and satisfaction." Giacalone compiled the directory and welcomes suggestions of blogs to add. Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on September 10, 2007 at 02:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) Law Firms Outpace Porn Vendors in Tech It has become a truism that the porn industry has blazed the trail for technological innovation, particularly online. Even the history magazine American Heritage featured an article, When Sex Drives Technological Innovation, crediting the porn industry as the pioneering force in the development of such technologies as online payment systems and digital watermarking. Five years ago, Brooke Gladstone, co-host of the NPR program On the Media, examined the porn industry's key role in the development of new technology in her report, Is Pornography Driving Technology? So I was interested over the weekend to hear Gladstone's interview with Wired magazine's sex and technology correspondent Regina Lynn, who argues that porn "may be losing its innovation mojo." Most notably, Lynn points to the online porn industry's  failure to embrace the collaborative and social-networking features that define Web 2.0. With that interview fresh in my mind, I was struck by a sense of irony to read today's results of the 12th AmLaw Tech survey, which suggests that Am Law 200 firms are now, to a significant extent, becoming technology trailblazers. Does this mean that Biglaw is outpacing porn as an adopter and driver of new technology? The article cites Atlanta's Kilpatrick Stockton as "on the edge of a new frontier," having launched a variety of online collaboration initiatives, dozens of blogs and a sophisticated contact-mining tool. And Kilpatrick is not alone, says the survey, which compiled results from 126 of the 200 highest-grossing firms: "We found that many firms are ratcheting up their use of online collaboration tools. They're also using more mobile wireless technology and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), leveraging extranets to share information with clients, automating processes by using a host of software applications, and moving slowly to Microsoft's new Vista operating systems. Overall, firms report such benefits from online collaboration as increased productivity (cited by 77 percent of the survey respondents); better client service (75 percent); improved processes (44 percent); better access to ideas (38 percent); cost savings (38 percent); and greater innovation (26 percent)." Lynn tells On the Media that porn vendors have been slow to incorporate the collaborative features of Web 2.0 because it is hard for them to think of their users as partners. By contrast, Matt Kesner, CTO at Fenwick & West in Mountain View, Calif., tells AmLaw Tech that for law firms, "Collaboration is the name of the game today." So perhaps the truism is no longer true -- perhaps the legal industry is surpassing the porn industry as a driver of technological innovation. But there is one final irony to the comparison: Lynn believes that the most significant obstacles keeping porn producers from adopting more collaborative technologies are the many laws that curtail their activities. If so, then in the race towards tomorrow's technology, the legal industry may have an unfair advantage. Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on September 10, 2007 at 01:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
www..Consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.el-observatorio-politico.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586
telefono: 5839786
santiago-chile

 

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Bloggers battered by viral storm

Bloggers battered by viral storm

Some blogs have been found hosting booby-trapped links

Google's Blogger site is being used by malicious hackers who are posting fake entries to some blogs.

The fake entries contain weblinks that lead to booby-trapped downloads that could infect a Windows PC.

Infected computers are being hijacked by the gang behind the attacks and either mined for saleable data or used for other attacks.

The Blogger attack is the latest in a series by a gang that has managed to hijack hundreds of thousands of PCs.

Attack pattern

Security researcher Alex Eckelberry from Sunbelt Software first noticed the booby-trapped links turning up on Blogger on 27 August.

Now many hundreds of blogs on the site have been updated with a short entry containing the link.

Mr Eckelberry said it was not yet clear how the links were posted to blogs. The bogus entries could have exploited a Blogger feature that lets users e-mail entries to their journal.

The blogs themselves could also be fake and set up solely to act as hosts for spam.

STORM WORM SUBJECT LINES are you kidding me? lol Dude dont send that stuff to my home email... Dude your gonna get caught, lol HAHAHAHAHAHA, man your insane! I cant belive you did this LMAO, your crazy man LOL, dude what are you doing man, who filmed this thing? oh man your nutz OMG, what are you thinking

Commenting on the attack a Google spokesperson said: "The blog posts are likely from users' whose machines have been compromised by a virus.

"Among the other recipients of spam e-mails generated by the virus are users' mail2blogger accounts, which allow them to update their blogs via e-mail," said the spokesperson.

"We are in the process of notifying impacted users and recommending that they scan their computers and run current anti-virus tools--good advice for all internet users," they added.

The entries on the blogs have the same text as some of the spam distributed by the group behind the attacks. These attempt to trick people into clicking on links and downloading booby-trapped files using cleverly crafted messages.

Some pose as YouTube links others claim to be looking for testers of software packages or digital greetings cards.

The group behind the attack on Blogger is thought to have mounted a huge series of attacks since January.

The first attack used a spam that purported to give recipients more information about the severe storms seen in Europe in January. This led to the virus used by the gang being dubbed the "Storm Trojan".

Since January the group has been sending out huge numbers of different spam messages in a bid to trick people.

"The criminals responsible for this spam campaign are experts at exploiting social engineering to propagate their botnets," said Bradley Anstis from security firm Marshal.

The spam messages have been changed to capitalise on news events and the viral payload has been updated many times to fool anti-virus programs.

Mr Anstis said the sheer number of messages being sent by the group was staggering. On some days, he said, 4-6% of all the junk messages seen by Marshal were sent by the group.

Security experts estimate that the group can send out so much junk mail because they have hijacked so many Windows PCs via successive campaigns. Some suspect that the group has infected more than one million PCs over the last eight months.

Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
www..Consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.el-observatorio-politico.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586
telefono: 5839786
santiago-chile

 

Escribanos, consúltenos, opine

What's Hot

What's Hot
What's Ahead for the Stock Market -- and Quant Funds
After weeks of skittishness and fear, investors showed signs on Tuesday of settling down. "Yesterday was one of the dullest days in the market that we've had in a while, and that's good in many ways," says Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel. Investors have been reeling from widespread problems in the subprime sector, stocks have fallen, yields on Treasury securities have dropped and some companies are finding it hard to borrow money -- all of which spurred the Federal Reserve last week to announce a cut in interest rates. Meanwhile, the upheaval has shown that quant funds, despite their computer power, aren't immune to mistakes and market downturns. So what can we expect in the weeks ahead?
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1797.cfm

Finance and Investment
(Podcast with Transcript)
Looking for a Company to Run? Search Funds Could Be the Answer
For those entrepreneurs who want to run a company but prefer to skip the start-up stage, search funds offer a possible alternative. A specialized form of private equity first launched in the mid-1980s, search funds are becoming increasingly popular -- and their supporters claim they can offer investors attractive returns and business owners a compelling exit strategy. What does this trend in private equity mean for investors, and for small businesses that might be acquisition targets for these funds? Robert Befidi, Jr., and Mark Sinatra, managing directors of Gordian Capital in New York City, spoke to Knowledge@Wharton about the pros and cons of search funds.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1793.cfm

Law and Public Policy
Trouble in Toyland: New Challenges for Mattel -- and 'Made in China'
Mattel's recall of more than 10 million toys in the U.S. over the past three weeks has done more than focus attention on the company's wide array of products, which include such household names as Elmo, Ernie, Big Bird, Barbie and Batman. It has also further raised public awareness of quality control problems in China and the relentless push to cut costs along every step of the supply chain. Knowledge@Wharton looks at Mattel's response to the crisis, its potential liability and the consequences for China.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1796.cfm

Managing Technology
Rivals Set Their Sights on Microsoft Office: Can They Topple the Giant?
It's open season on Microsoft Office. Google is distributing Sun Microsystems' StarOffice and also has its own web-based productivity suite. Apple has a new spreadsheet called Numbers to compete with Microsoft's Excel. Open source suite OpenOffice, along with several web-based products, are attacking as well. All these challengers emerge at a time when Microsoft's dominance in productivity software -- Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel -- remains strong. So why try to overthrow the leader? And how vulnerable is Microsoft to this assault?
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1795.cfm

Marketing
'If Brands Are Built Over Years, Why Are They Managed Over Quarters?'
Wharton marketing professor Leonard Lodish admits he is somewhat to blame for the erosion in brand pricing power that has hit many consumer-goods companies -- but not entirely to blame. In 1993, as store-level scanning data started to become widely available, Lodish coauthored an article outlining its power to gauge the effect of price promotions on revenue. But he also warned that these tools were not the only determinant of brand power. In a new paper, Lodish and co-author Carl F. Mela show how widespread adoption of easy-to-harness, short-term measures has altered consumer behavior and made it harder for brand managers to compete.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1790.cfm

Finance and Investment
The Art and Science of Measuring CEO Performance
The long-term performance of a company's stock may be the ultimate test of a CEO's talents. But that's not the only measurement used by boards of directors to gauge how well the boss is doing. Experts at Wharton and elsewhere say that companies use many different metrics -- all of which can be fine-tuned to fit a company's circumstances.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1794.cfm

Leadership and Change
Talking with the Receptionist, Pausing When You Speak and Other Secrets of Leadership Success
Several years ago, while visiting a regional branch of Lee Hecht Harrison, a global career management services company, then-president Stephen Harrison was stopped short by "Ray," his COO. "You didn't greet the receptionist," said Ray, who went on to explain that "a receptionist is a corporate concierge. They will talk to more important people in a day -- suppliers, customers, even CEOs -- than you will talk to all year." Harrison, speaking at the recent 11th annual Wharton Leadership Conference, contends that small acts like this are part of what makes for an ethical corporate culture. He was joined at the conference by public speaking coach Richard Greene, author of Words that Shook the World: 100 Years of Unforgettable Speeches and Events.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1792.cfm

Finance and Investment
A Fish Tale on a Macro Scale: How Sushi Has Changed Globalization (and the World)
Over the past two decades, sushi -- a familiar, accessible and immensely desirable food that can be found in supermarket aisles and fast food outlets as well as high-end restaurants -- has become a staple of cultures around the globe. Indeed, far from signaling the snobbery of those who eat it, sushi today belongs to the masses. Yet sushi also says something important about how wealth, taste and markets interact, according to Sasha Issenberg. In his new book, The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy, Issenberg argues that sushi reveals the "complex dynamics of globalization" and shows, against all odds, that "a virtuous global commerce and food culture can exist."
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1791.cfm
_________________________________________________________________
Articles From Around the Network

India Knowledge@Wharton
Responding to the Rising Rupee: Why Indian Firms Must Rethink Their Business Models
In recent weeks, many Indian companies and industry organizations -- especially those that are export-oriented -- have been complaining about the strong rupee's negative effects on their operations. Some have urged the Reserve Bank of India to intervene. Jitendra V. Singh of Wharton's management department -- who takes over as dean of Singapore's Nanyang Business School on September 1 -- has a different view. In this opinion piece, Singh argues that Indian firms should use the rupee's strength to their advantage by adapting their business models in innovative ways, much as Japan's automakers did during the 1980s.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4218

China Knowledge@Wharton
Despite Good Intentions, China's New Labor Law Leaves as Many Issues Unresolved as It Addresses
The passage of a sweeping new labor law in late June by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) followed public outcry over the brick kiln slavery scandal in northern China's Shanxi Province. The new law aims to provide more protection for lower-level, unskilled workers by emphasizing written contracts, equal pay and long-term job security. Yet businesses operating on thin margins worry about increasing labor costs, and some multinationals fear they might be at a disadvantage when they observe the law while local competitors flaunt it. Although the two-year legislation process has been noted for its balanced inclusion of different views, labor law experts still hotly debate the validity, applicability and enforceability of the new law.
http://knowledgeatwharton.com.cn/index.cfm?fa=article&articleid=1685

Knowledge@SMU
Customer Versus Supplier Expectations: Bringing in Value Beyond Just the Widgets
In a highly competitive world where the customer expects to be king, why are so many firms unhappy with the products they purchase, sales staff who over-promise and don't deliver, and less than optimal after-sales service? In a recent paper published in the Journal of Marketing, Singapore Management University marketing professor Kapil R. Tuli and Emory University professors Ajay K. Kohli and Sundar G. Bhardwaj shed light on what appears to be a fundamental mismatch between customer expectations and what suppliers think their customers want.
http://knowledge.smu.edu.sg/index.cfm?fa=viewArticle&ID=1082

_________________________________________________________________

Articles and Links from Knowledge@Wharton Sponsors

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Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
www..Consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.el-observatorio-politico.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586
telefono: 5839786
santiago-chile

 

Escribanos, consúltenos, opine

Legal Blog Watch

Legal Blog Watch

Lawyers Could See Record Payday An Iowa court is expected to rule today on whether to approve two attorneys' request for $75 million in fees and costs for a class action lawsuit they brought against Microsoft Corp. According to an Associated Press report, the award, if approved, would be a record for the state. The fee request comes from lawyers Roxanne Conlin of Des Moines and Richard M. Hagstrom of Minneapolis, who settled the case in April for $179.95 million, but not before three trips to the Iowa Supreme Court and some seven years of litigation. In their motion asking to the court to approve the fees, the lawyers say they are warranted by  "the complexity and difficulty of the case and the excellent result obtained." According to AP, eight Iowans have filed letters with the court opposing the fee request. "How in the name of all that is sacred can you even imagine that to be equitable?" one wrote. Another called the request "an obscene amount of money to pay to Roxanne Conlin for bothering the court with this witch hunt." Conlin points out that the request includes $8 million the attorneys have spent in costs and more than 117,000 hours of work over seven years. Meanwhile, Conlin and attorneys from Hagstrom's firm Zelle, Hofmann, Voelbel, Mason & Gette have already won approval of $48 million in attorney fees for a similar class action in Minnesota. And Hagstrom is asking for another $24 million in fees in a related lawsuit against Microsoft in Wisconsin. Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on August 31, 2007 at 03:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) Honoring Lifetimes of Achievement For the fourth year running, I have failed to win one of The American Lawyer magazine's lifetime achievement awards. But that's OK: I've still got a few years left in me, and the magazine's editors have managed to find eight high-achieving lawyers who actually deserve the award. As announced yesterday, recipients of Am Law's fourth annual lifetime achievement awards are: James A. Baker III, Baker Botts, Houston. A former secretary of state and White House chief of staff, Baker's years of public service were bookended by stints as a partner at Am Law 100 firms. Despite his client commitments, he hasn't left the public sphere, most recently co-chairing the congressionally appointed Iraq Study Group. Thomas A. Gottschalk, Kirkland & Ellis, Washington, D.C. Gottschalk left K&E 13 years ago to become general counsel at General Motors Corp., where he set the in-house standard for promoting diversity and pro bono. He returned to his former firm after retiring from GM last year. Shirley M. Hufstedler, Morrison & Foerster, Los Angeles. A leader in the pioneer generation of women lawyers, she served as secretary of education under Jimmy Carter and for 11 years as a judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She and her husband, Seth, headed an elite litigation boutique known for its high-quality work and its willingness to take on difficult public interest cases. Nathaniel R. Jones, Blank Rome, Cincinnati. Jones was NAACP general counsel for a decade, beginning in 1969, taking several cases to the Supreme Court. President Carter named him to the 6th Circuit, where he served for 23 years. Ira M. Millstein, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, New York. Even his friends say that Millstein, one of the partners who built a small Manhattan shop into a global powerhouse, didn't invent corporate governance; he just keeps being asked to perfect it. Throughout his career, Millstein has served as one of New York's leading private citizens, coming to the aid of projects as diverse as restoring Central Park and redeveloping lower Manhattan. E. Barrett Prettyman Jr., Hogan & Hartson, Washington, D.C. A clerk to three Supreme Court justices and a leading appellate advocate in his own right, Prettyman also helped mentor a new generation of Supreme Court specialists, most notably John Roberts. Along the way, he was a pro bono stalwart, first president of the D.C. consolidated bar and a public servant, serving in the Kennedy Justice Department and as D.C.'s inspector general. Jerold D. Solovy and Thomas P. Sullivan, Jenner & Block, Chicago. Partners for decades, Solovy and Sullivan are cornerstones of Jenner's formidable litigation department and the firm's extraordinary pro bono record. Both have been at the forefront of a variety of criminal justice issues, ranging from promoting counsel for the indigent to arguing pro bono appeals to the U.S. and Illinois Supreme Courts. The honorees, said The American Lawyer editor-in-chief Aric Press, "have exemplified the legal profession's twin values of client service and public duty." They will be honored at an Oct. 24 dinner in New York City. Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on August 31, 2007 at 03:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) Rowe Today, Gone Tomorrow Today marks the last day of existence for the Chicago-based law firm Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw. Tomorrow it becomes just Mayer Brown. The reason for condensing its name, according to this Aug. 23 announcement: "To build a stronger and more defined brand in a fiercely competitive market." The firm's current name, as Brenda Sapino Jeffreys reminds us at Tex Parte Blog, came to be in 2002, when the Windy City's Mayer, Brown & Platt merged with London's Rowe & Maw. With this move to a shorter and sweeter name, the firm joins a trend that is increasingly popular among law firms, as Martha Neil observes at the ABA Journal's Law News Now. And with the new name comes, of course, a new logo, in which a diamond, not an ampersand, separates Mayer and Brown. In that, Peter Lattman at the Wall St. Journal's Law Blog see a trend towards firms not only shortening their names but also adding typographical symbols. Unfortunately for Mayer Brown, the name change will do nothing to change the $2 billion lawsuit it faces for allegedly helping to mislead creditors and investors of commodities and futures broker Refco Inc. Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on August 31, 2007 at 03:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) 6th Circuit Chides Lawyers on Law The case before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals questioned whether the state of Michigan could bar strippers from dancing bottomless. But in this Detroit Free Press report about the case, one sentence that stood out was this: "The judges also chided state lawyers for misapplying legal theories, relying on outdated law and inadequately explaining how the ban furthered state interests." That piqued my curiosity, so I pulled up the case, Hamilton's Bogarts Inc. v. Michigan, decided yesterday. As it turns out, that one paragraph from the Free Press sums up virtually the entire decision, which chastises the state's lawyers for the legal inadequacy of their case on three major points: The state "appears to confuse the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel." Even though the state's brief argued the former, the court "forgave" it and treated it as an argument for the latter, noting, "Latin is a dead language anyway." The state "relies almost entirely" on a 21st Amendment legal argument that, while once considered viable, the Supreme Court expressly disavowed a decade ago. Given this, the state's primary legal argument "is no longer correct." The state fails to address the most critical First Amendment issue, that of whether the regulations on nude dancing are content-based or content neutral. "We are left to guess about the governmental interest at stake ..., not to mention the critical question of which standard governs the case." The case is not over. The appeal to the 6th Circuit addressed only the lower court's refusal to enjoin enforcement of the nude-dancing ban pending litigation. The circuit court said the injunction should be granted and remanded the case for further proceedings, adding, "Hopefully the case will be litigated differently after remand." Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on August 31, 2007 at 03:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
www..Consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.el-observatorio-politico.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586
telefono: 5839786
santiago-chile

 

Escribanos, consúltenos, opine

Legal Blog Watch

Legal Blog Watch

It's Not Just Law Firms That Alter Wikipedia Entries -- Dutch Royalty Does It Too As we posted here, it's not just law firms that are altering their Wikipedia entries. According to this amusing article from The Associated Press (8/30/07), Dutch royals do it too. As the article describes, a Dutch prince and his wife revised their entry to give their version of the somewhat scandalous circumstances surrounding their marriage. As with the law firm edits, the Dutch couple's changes were discovered through Wiki Scanner. Posted by Carolyn Elefant on August 30, 2007 at 03:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) Transcript of Sen. Craig Police Interview Released Scary, is all I can think after reading (and hearing the audio) of the just-released transcript of Idaho Sen. Larry Craig's police interview. For those who haven't followed the story, Craig was arrested for lewd conduct in a Minneapolis airport bathroom back in June 2007 and, apparently without consulting a lawyer, plead guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct earlier this month. During the police interview, Craig's tone was (in my view) entirely respectful; he didn't try to pull rank, but the officer took umbrage just the same: I know you're not going to fight me. But that's not the point. I would respect you and I still respect you. I don't disrespect you but I'm disrespected right now and I'm not tying to act like I have all kinds of power or anything, but you're sitting here lying to a police officer. If a police officer can treat a United States senator in this manner, imagine how many run-of-the-mill, less-educated or -savvy criminals are intimidated into pleading guilty for what they might not have done. That's one aspect of this that's scary.  Of course,  what's also troubling is that Craig couldn't discern even from the interview how weak the police officer's case was and apparently didn't understand the value of calling a lawyer. Even if Craig did engage in lewd conduct, a skilled lawyer could have helped Craig understand the legal and political implications of a guilty plea. How can we expect our representatives to defend our rights when, apparently, some of them don't understand these rights themselves? Posted by Carolyn Elefant on August 30, 2007 at 02:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
www..Consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
www.lobbyingchile.blogspot.com
www.el-observatorio-politico.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586
telefono: 5839786
santiago-chile

 

Escribanos, consúltenos, opine