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Legal Blog Watch Is a 'Super-Sized' Penalty Warranted for This Lawyer's Fast-Food Gaffe? A federal bankruptcy judge's recent show cause order against a lawyer who told her that she was "a few french fries shy of a Happy Meal" has generated quite a bit of food for thought around the blogosphere. According to this Law.com article, William Smith, a partner at the large, Chicago-based law firm of McDermott, Will & Emery, commented to Judge Laurel Myerson Isicoff during a hearing at the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida that "with all due respect, you're a few french fries short of a Happy Meal." The relevant portions of the transcript, available here at David Lat's Above the Law, show that the judge didn't say anything other than "proceed counsel" at the hearing, but subsequently, issued a Show Cause order asking Smith to demonstrate why his pro hac vice status shouldn't be revoked in light of his remarks. The judge also denied Smith's motion, and Smith's client has since replaced him with a local firm. So, was the judge's Mac[dermott Will and Emery] Attack deserved? Or did the lawyer deserve a  nugget of leeway? Beldar makes the interesting point that this case shows that real-life lawyering doesn't resemble TV shows, where lawyers make these types of quips all the time ... and get away with them. But Beldar also endorses the judge's response. He concludes: I don't know how this particular episode will turn out, but Mr. Smith ought to be glad I'm not on an Illinois bar committee reviewing his license. I'm a traditionalist and a curmudgeon, but just based upon this transcript excerpt, I'd likely start off thinking along the lines of a ninety-day license suspension, then maybe dialing that up or down depending on the remaining circumstances (and in particular, the degree of contrition expressed). I'd also be inclined to specify some onerous and creative public service requirements for Mr. Smith's path back to practice, along these lines. Volokh also posts the story for discussion, where reader comments are split on whether the judge's actions were appropriate. As for me, I've already posted on this at length at My Shingle, where I've taken some flak for my position that the judge's response was overkill. Let me be clearer here, however: I don't dispute that the lawyer's remarks were exceptionally rude and disrespectful. But it's clear from the transcript that the lawyer was upset at the judge's characterization of how events would play out, and he lost his cool -- something that all of us, if we're being honest, have done at least once in a professional context. To me, the more appropriate response would have been for the judge to either deflect the remark with a snappy response (and embarrass the attorney and diffuse any hostility) or to have simply called him on the carpet and demanded an apology.  All of us want to increase the civility of our profession. But to do so, we need to make an effort not to overreact to hostile or inappropriate remarks, or we simply bring the conflict to another level. To me, it's far more productive to ask attorneys to behave properly and give them a chance to mend their ways instead of just dispatching a sanction, in short order. Readers, your comments are welcome. Posted by Carolyn Elefant on June 1, 2007 at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) Moonlighting and Your Legal Career Stephen Seckler of Counsel to Counsel points to this interesting article by Peter Smith on why moonlighting for lawyers is the kiss of death. Of course, for associates putting in 60-to 80-hour weeks, it's hard to imagine finding time to take on another job, in the law or otherwise, outside of work hours. But if such a person were crazily inclined to do so, Smith advises unequivocally: Don't! For starters, moonlighting can create liability for your firm, even if you do the work on your own time. There's a potential for conflicts between your work and your day job at the firm. For example, the firm could lose a large chunk of business because it conflicts with a tiny matter that you're handling outside work hours. Other dangers include potential malpractice liability (and if your firm is sued and covered by malpractice, it can still go after you for damages) and possible ethics claims relating to fraud (for instance, if you use your firm's stationary when handling matters on your own, thereby giving a false impression that your firm is involved). Posted by Carolyn Elefant on June 1, 2007 at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) Google Street View Raises Privacy Issues My co-blogger, Bob Ambrogi, posts about how Google Maps' Street View feature rescued him after Amazon's A9 search engine dropped a similar feature. But will Bob lose a block view feature a second time? Right now, that possibility seems remote, but at the same time, some are making noises about whether Google's Street View feature unduly invades individuals' privacy, as discussed in this New York Times article,  Google Photos Stir a Debate Over Privacy (6/1/07; hat tip to Future Lawyer Rick Georges). The Times article describes how one Street View user, Mary Kalin-Casey, was horrified when she used the feature to view her building and was able to see her cat perched in the living room window. The article quotes Kalin-Casey as saying: The issue that I have ultimately is about where you draw the line between taking public photos and zooming in on people's lives," Ms. Kalin-Casey said in an interview Thursday on the front steps of the building. "The next step might be seeing books on my shelf. If the government was doing this, people would be outraged." However, Google does not perceive the privacy issues the same way. From the article: Google said in a statement that it takes privacy seriously and considered the privacy implications of its service before it was introduced on Tuesday. "Street View only features imagery taken on public property," the company said. "This imagery is no different from what any person can readily capture or see walking down the street." Google also took precautions to remove potentially sensitive locations from view, such as domestic violence shelters. Others quoted in the article, including Kevin Bankston, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the privacy issues could have been avoided or at least minimized.  What's your view?  Posted by Carolyn Elefant on June 1, 2007 at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) Will Lawyer With TB Face Civil Liability or Bar Charges? Turns out that the mysterious passenger with a rare strand of a highly drug resistant form of tuberculosis who, against warnings from various specialists, returned by plane to the United States from his European honeymoon, thus potentially exposing all passengers aboard to the illness, is a lawyer -- Andrew Speaker of Georgia. Speaker, who is now quarantined in a Denver hospital, has since apologized to the passengers aboard. But according to this news story from USA Today (6/1/07), Speaker defended his decision to travel: He says that CDC knew of his TB, but never ordered him not to leave the country nor warned that he was a risk. And when the CDC told Speaker not to return, he was already in Europe and feared that he might die if he could not fly to a special facility in Denver for treatment. Health officials dispute Speaker's version, saying that he was told that traveling is against medical advice. Professor Bainbridge explores Speaker's potential liability for FWI (flying while infected). First, Bainbridge wonders whether Speaker violated a federal criminal statute for flying, especially after having been warned not to do so. Next, Bainbridge considers the possibility of tort liability, analogizing Speaker's action to cases involving intentional or negligent infliction of venereal disease, which many courts recognize as an actionable tort. And Bainbridge digs up a case that's even more on point: a Pennsylvania matter where prisoners exposed to tuberculosis virus were held entitled to damages for mental suffering for fear of having contracted the disease or transmitted it to others. Aside from being able to understand the grounds for potential liability, is it relevant that Speaker was a lawyer? Should Speaker have assessed the risks any differently from a plumber or a doctor or a teacher because he was a lawyer (and presumably aware of potential liability)? Or will Speaker garner less sympathy because he is a lawyer, and his conduct -- which Bainbridge accurately describes as "selfish, narcissistic, and wholly lacking in regard for others" -- is regarded as typical for lawyers? I'm not sure about the answers to those questions, but I do know that Speaker's status as a lawyer matters in one respect, i.e., whether he can be subject to bar sanctions for his conduct. Bainbridge considered that possibility as well, though he notes that: Georgia doesn't appear to have a legal ethics under which Speaker could get in trouble. Nothing seems to address "conduct unbecoming" or "conduct that brings the proession into disrepute," at least outside the context of representation of a client."  But Bainbridge adds that if Speaker is convicted of any felony or "a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude where the underlying conduct relates to the lawyer's fitness to practice law," he could be disbarred on those grounds. Posted by Carolyn Elefant on June 1, 2007 at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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rodrigo gonzalez fernandez
consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586 of 10
fono:5839786
Santiago Chile

PARIS HILTON ES PORTADA Y NO DEBE IR A LA CARCEL

Paris Hilton es portada de revista antes de entrar a prisión Jueves 31 de Mayo de 2007 Fuente :Agencias Ella considera que por ser millonaria atrae los reflectores y también los problemas. Las socialites Paris Hilton y Nicole Richie son portada de la edición de junio de la revista Bazaar, y en sus páginas muestran algo del glamour y del estilo de vida lujoso en el que viven. Paris Hilton aprovecha la entrevista para quejarse de lo que llama asedio de la prensa. Ella considera que por ser millonaria atrae los reflectores y también los problemas. "Sólo digo que creo que estoy en esta situación por ser quien soy", dijo en referencia a su condena de 45 días de prisión por manejar con su licencia suspendida. Paris Hilton deberá presentarse en la penitenciaría Century Regional Detention Facility a mas tardar el martes 5 de junio para cumplir su condena, que se reducirá a 23 días de internación por buen comportamiento.   YO CRREO QUE PARIS NO DEBE IR A LA CÁRCEL.ESTA MAL ASESORADA Y MAL DEFENDIDA. SI YO LA DEFENDIERA LA HUBIERA SACADO DEL PROBLEMA.

Paris Hilton junto a Nicole Richie en la última portada de Bazaar Foto: Bazaar

Saludos
rodrigo gonzalez fernandez
consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586 of 10
fono:5839786
Santiago Chile

Charla de lobby en SOFOFA CHILE Los teletubbies, el nuevo lobby gay para el Gobierno polaco

Rodrigo González Fernandez, director de lobbyingchile.blogspot.com ha señalado : De estos y otros temas hablaremos el 14 de junio en SOFOFA; una charla sobre los beneficios y desafíos del Lobby profesional en Chile a la luz de nueva legislacion que está por aprobarse. Las empresas tienen que capacitarse y los profesionales prepararse para un cambio cultural y optar por una nueva profesión, el Lobbying. Pueden reservar cupos en SOFOFA:Sr. Luis Reyes, fono 6884265 santiago Chile

 

Los teletubbies, el nuevo lobby gay para el Gobierno polaco
elplural.com - Barcelona,Spain
El Gobierno ultra conservador polaco investiga si los Teletubbies, la popular serie de dibujos animados de la BBC, fomenta la homosexualidad. ...
Ver todos los artículos sobre este tema

Congreso Mundial de la FIP respalda creación de comité de apoyo ...
Federación Internacional de Periodistas - Brussels,Belgium
El Comité, compuesto por familiares de los periodistas que han muerto por razones del oficio, realizará un fuerte lobby por justicia en el creciente número ...
Ver todos los artículos sobre este tema

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lobbyingchile.blogspot.com

consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586 of 10
fono:5839786
Santiago Chile

'Lebanon: More on the Crisis in the Country'

'Lebanon: More on the Crisis in the Country'
by Moussa Bashir

For the second week, Lebanese bloggers have posted anecdotes, reflections, updates, photos, videos, jokes, sarcasm and drawings on the issue that is taking precedence over all other topics. The issue is the ongoing violence which is taking the form of clashes in the north between the army and the militants and the terrorist explosions jumping from one location to another around the country.

So what are the bloggers saying?

In drawings
Mazen Kerbaj drew this art piece. The Arabic words inscribed in it are saying: "me and the Gemmayzeh (a street in Beirut where people hang out in pubs, etc) and the beer are waiting for the explosion...


About the relief efforts
A new blog was set up to post updates on the The Nahr el Bared Relief Campaign. The founders of the campaign describe their work as spontaneously formed following the tragic events in Nahr el Bared Camp. They declare that they are a grouping of unaffiliated individuals working on relief and civil action to end the violence and offer aid to those injured and displaced due to the Nahr el Bared conflict.

Upon visiting the Baddawi camp, Dr Rami Zurayk shares with us a couple of things that he learned "On War" and "On Needs":
I just got back from the Beddawi Refugee camp near Tripoli where most of the displaced from Nahr el Bared have found shelter. It is a tiny piece of land, no more than 1 km2, which, until May 22, used to be home to 18,000 people. Now they are 30,000. You can feel it in the streets: impossible to move by car without hitting someone.
Dr Marcy Newman  along with the Nahr el Bared Relief Campaign were also at the Beddawi camp in an effort to help the civilians fleeing the fighting and had this to share:
When we arrived at the camp, we saw that the aid relief in Badawi has improved in some ways, but deteriorated in other ways quite seriously. Groups seem to be better coordinated, but now the camp is flooded with journalists and NGO workers as well as a refugee population that continues to swell. Aid still is not reaching most families in houses, although this is what our group is working on in collaboration with civil society organizations in Badawi.
Golaniya posted a list of the civilian deaths and injuries inside the camps as a result of the clashes.

On the jokes
Diamond mentions some of the jokes that are spreading and also attempts analyzing the phenomenon of humor during conflicts:
After all, we teach children to deal with bogeymen and other fears by putting them into perspective with daylight and laughter - and I think that now it is equally important not to be bowled under by fear of militancy, in whatever form it may come.
On the other hand, we don't laugh at the graves of those who have died serving their countries, their families, or other ideals. As long as the laughter is life-affirming, rather than situation-denying, I think it can be a very healthy thing.
More jokes about the militants fighting the army can also be found at Liliane's blog.

From inside of the camps
Dr Asa'ad Abu Khalil made a phone call to a friend who was still inside the Naher al Bared camp. Excerpts from the conversation regarding the situation and analysis of the causes and expected results of the fighting were posted by Sophia.

Sietske also made a trip to the Palestinian refugee camps in North Lebanon after reporting on the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut.

And Kadmous posted a number of recent videos shot during the crisis in the North.

Against the bombs
There are also posts with arguments against the bombing of the Palestinian refugee camps. Among them are Leila who said:
This bombing is not good for the future of Lebanon. If Fatah al-Islam is such a problem, aren't there other ways to address it than by causing immense suffering among civilians, and thereby creating a whole new generation of future recruits to terrorism?
And Apokraphyte who wrote about the futility of such a measure as bombing the camps to get rid of terrorism:
I don't care if Fatah al-Islam is evil incarnate. I don't care if they are Hariri-funded or a front for Syrian mukhabarat or Islamaniacs from Tunis or aliens just landed from Mars. Artillery is NOT THE ANSWER. Worst of all, everyone knows this, especially the LAF. The problem of the camps (in its myriad forms) is not a mystery, not a new development. Direct military confrontation serves no purpose. In fact, if security and peace are the objectives, one can easily argue that such an assault is horribly counter-productive as it only increases the militance-misery quotient.
About the explosions
EDB and her friends thought that leaving one part of Beirut for another would keep them far from the expected terror bombs. But the explosion followed and occurred on the street that her friend passed several times during that day:
Now they have consecutively targeted both the upper crust Christian and Muslim areas in Beirut. I bet over in Achrafiye they're relieved its not in their neighborhood again," I remarked. "I passed by there twice today," L. muttered as we watched a chaotic scene unfold on TV.
Jamal satirizes what he terms as the "anonymization of the perpetrators of crime":
Part of the noise factor and the dangerous speculation battles taking place is the anonymization of the perpetrators of crime. So while Abou Hurayra, Abou Yazan, Abou Jandal, Abou Adass and Sejaan Saadeh are neck deep in accusations or dead; the people with faces who actually answer to registered triple names and might be involved in this mess remain unscathed and even run for office.
On worries of a new civil war
Maya[at]NYC starts her post by using the slogan of the anti–civil war campaigners which calls for the remembrance of the war so it can be avoided. She writes that that the civil war should be remembered because it will be repeated.
We are a country of poor people who think they can afford to indulge in great ideological beliefs. We define ourselves in our "moral" ideological ethical belonging. If there was a competition of gullible people, we would win the race. We each have chosen to believe in a different fight, in a cause "with our soul with our blood". An emotional morass of immature followers. We are all followers. Not questioners. Of course: it's easier.
On questions and answers
Here is Sean trying to make sense of some of the puzzles involved:
A few things don't make sense, though. If these guys were really pro-Syrian, why would they have splintered off from the very pro-Syrian Fatah al-Intifada? And if they were really a tool of Hariri, why would they be fighting the ISF? Of course both of these questions assume that whoever financed these guys is still in control -- which may not be the case at all.
And MFL answers and analyzes some of the questions and issues raised during the past weeks in this post that is titled: "Fatah el Islam and Lebanon: Between Reality and Conspiracy Theory."

Till next week, stay well.

You may view the latest post at
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2007/05/29/lebanon-more-on-the-crisis-in-the-country/

Saludos
rodrigo gonzalez fernandez
consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586 of 10
fono:5839786
Santiago Chile

from "La historia Paralela" Argentina

On speeches and realities

Deje un comentario Publicado el 28 de May, 2007 en Editorial, Columnistas, Susana Sechi

In his "Ballad for a madman" Ferrer wrote that the little afternoons of Buenos Aires have an "I-don't-know-what". Today that "I-don't-know-what" has been replaced by violent crime, herds of picketers cutting the traffic flow and destroying everything in their way, riots and demonstrations of all sorts that alter the citizens' daily life.

A harassed society reacts suddenly and violently due to the lack of answers on the part of the government that has forgotten the sovereign's dignity and security.

Argentina is losing its identity behind a dreadful administration that plays government, affecting the community's life while getting more and more away from the national Constitution, and leaving the society unprotected, on the verge of the State of Right, without fulfilling the duties and obligations they, under oath, promised to respect.

This critical state has not only swelled in the capital area; the provinces have become affected by the same ailment and the progressive wave of a fierce delinquency is chastening the whole national territory.

Leer el resto »

Autor: Susana Sechi
Director of La Historia Paralela
Translation: Raquel Eugenia Consigli

Email: susanasechi@gmail.com

Saludos
rodrigo gonzalez fernandez
consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586 of 10
fono:5839786
Santiago Chile

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From Legal Blog Watch

Legal Blog Watch

State Courts Favor Defendants on Appeal Via TortsProf Blog comes word of a new study of outcomes in state court civil appeals. Authors Theodore Eisenberg and Michael Heise of Cornell University Law School conclude that two findings dominate: first, appeals courts are more likely to disrupt jury verdicts than bench decisions, and second, trial defendants fare better than plaintiffs on appeal. These outcomes, on their face, are not so startling, given that prior studies of federal civil appeals have reached the same conclusion. But the authors find that the reversal rate in favor of defendants and against juries is much higher in state courts. "[W]e find that state court appellate reversal rates for jury trials and appeals by defendants exceed the reversal rates for bench trials and appeals by plaintiffs. The reversal rate for trials appealed by plaintiffs is 21.5% compared to 41.5% for trial outcomes appealed by defendants. The reversal rate for jury trials is 33.7% compared to 27.5% for judge trials." The authors say that the study, "Plaintiphobia in State Court? An Empirical Study of State Court Trials on Appeal," provides "the first statistical models of the appeals process for a comprehensive set of state court civil trials." It draws on data from 46 large counties consisting of 8,038 trials and 549 concluded appeals. Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on May 25, 2007 at 03:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) Legal Scholars Topic Du Jour: Menstruation It all started, as best as I can tell, with a post by University of Wisconsin law professor Ann Althouse, Stemming the Red Tide, in which she noted the FDA's approval of a birth-control pill that stops menstruation. UCLA School of Law professor Eugene Volokh picked up on Althouse's post, taking issue with one commenter who contended that it is not "right to sidestep" something that is "part of being a woman." Countered Volokh: "Why on earth should we want to accept natural but painful or unpleasant things?" Volokh's remark elicited a comment from a male med student who equated menstruation for women with the types of "shared experiences" from which "humanity derives meaning." This commenter asserted: "Deleting one of the most universal and central of all female experiences can subtract perceived meaning from people's lives." To that, Volokh responded that, yes, humanity can derive meaning from some shared experiences, but others -- hangnails, nearsightedness and tooth decay, for example -- we can get by just fine without. Menstruation, Volokh conjectured, falls in this second group. But, acknowledging no firsthand experience, he issued an invitation: "[L]et's hear from some people who actually menstruate, and have been pregnant. When you menstruate, do you feel that you're part of the 'in crowd'? ... Do you feel you derive meaning from the fact that you share menstruation as an experience with other women?" With me so far? I hope so, because we're just getting started. Althouse -- the one whose post started this ball rolling -- took Volokh's invitation as ludicrous. Writing at Feminist Law Professors, she promised to send Volokh a Judy Blume book describing a teen's first menstruation. "Then, when he seems to have grasped the thirteen year old perspective, in a decade or so, I'm going to send him a package of Always and a bottle of Pamprin, and urge him to enroll in an introductory course in Women's Studies. ... Eventually, I will put him in a dress, heels and make-up and force him to ride the subways in Chicago. There will be video, I promise." Feministing.com chimed in with equal ire, describing Volokh's post as condescending and patronizing. Belle Lettre at least gave Volokh the benefit of bona fides. For his part, Volokh labeled Bartow's response as patronizing. He wrote: "What sort of feminism is it that faults people for asking actual women about their experiences, and for trying to start a public conversation in which women's opinions are actively solicited, on the grounds that the questioner should instead have gone to the library or taken up the time of his colleagues?" Meanwhile, some women bloggers took Volokh's invitation seriously and offered answers. At Conglomerate, for instance, Christine Hurt equated pregnancy and childbirth for women to "sports for men, or Dungeons and Dragons." And, back over in the male camp, one commentator called Volokh's invitation "an entirely reasonable response." Having now read this exchange between these two noted legal scholars, my conclusion is this: Law professors have way too much time on their hands. Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on May 25, 2007 at 03:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) Cameras in the Court: Roll 'em -- Or Not I've never bought the arguments against televising Supreme Court proceedings. Cameras enhance public understanding and confidence and the justices and litigants will quickly forget they are there. But with legislation pending in Congress that would require the court to televise its proceedings, the topic takes on renewed urgency. For this reason, a symposium published this week, discussed at the blog Concurring Opinions, is well worth reading. Published by the Michigan Law  Review's online journal First Impressions, the symposium features a diverse group of authors exploring the implications of  the prospective legislation and the potential risks and benefits of  televising the court's proceedings. The contributors: U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Boyce F. Martin Jr. contends that cameras in the court would help educate Americans about how their government works and heighten awareness of important legal issues. University of Michigan Law Professor Christina B. Whitman argues that cameras would mislead viewers by providing only randomly useful insights about the court. Legal Times Supreme Court correspondent Tony Mauro argues that Sen. Specter is taking the wrong approach in the way he is promoting the bill. C-SPAN Corporate Vice President and General Counsel Bruce D. Collins describes C-SPAN's past efforts to televise Supreme Court proceedings and clarifies how if given the opportunity, C-SPAN would approach televising the court. Appellate litigator Kenneth N. Flaxman provides a practitioner's perspective, explaining why televising Supreme Court proceedings would make his job as arguing counsel easier. Fairleigh Dickinson University Professor Bruce Peabody assesses whether Sen. Specter's legislation would breach constitutional etiquette. University of Michigan law student Scott C. Wilcox proposes a compromise: to forestall congressional action, the justices should voluntarily introduce archival video recording. To download a PDF of the entire symposium, click here. Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on May 25, 2007 at 02:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) Marketers' Favorite Marketing Books Which books do the nation's top legal marketers consider to be the best on marketing, sales and strategy? Marketing consultant Amy Campbell put that question to a "select group" of law firm marketers and marketing consultants. While their responses named many different books, two authors' names came up again and again: Malcolm Gladwell for his business books The Tipping Point and Blink, and David Maister for The Trusted Advisor (co-authored with Charles Green and Robert Galford) and Managing the Professional Service Firm. Based on her admittedly "quick-and-dirty" survey, here are Campbell's top 10 books picked by legal marketers: The Tipping Point and Blink, Malcolm Gladwell. The Trusted Advisor and Managing The Professional Service Firm, David H. Maister. The Woman Lawyer's Rainmaking Game:  How to Build a Successful Law Practice, Silvia L. Coulter. Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing, Harry Beckwith. How to Win Friends & Influence People, Dale Carnegie. Legal Business Development:  A Step by Step Guide, Jim Hassett. SPIN Selling, Neil Rackham. Client at the Core: Marketing and Managing Today's Professional Services Firm, August Aquila and Bruce W. Marcus. Move the Sale Forward: Increase Your Sales Through Human Connections, John Klymshyn. Law Firm Associate Guide to Personal Marketing and Selling Skills, Beth Cuzzone and Catherine MacDonagh. That last one must be good; it made the top-10 list even though it will not be published until June. So read and prosper. Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on May 25, 2007 at 02:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saludos
rodrigo gonzalez fernandez
consultajuridicachile.blogspot.com
Renato Sánchez 3586 of 10
fono:5839786
Santiago Chile

Legal Blog Watch

Legal Blog Watch

Current and Historical Blawg Rankings What is the measure of a blawg? Well, one is metrics, and the folks at Justia are using metrics derived from their blawg and podcast search tools to rank the most popular law blogs currently and historically. As Justia CEO Tim Stanley announces here, Justia has added historical snapshots of the most popular blawgs on a monthly basis dating back to its launch of BlawgSearch in October 2006. For each month, Justia lists the 200 most popular blawgs overall, as well as the top 20 blawgs in various categories. Justia ranks blawgs based on the number of visits or podcast plays the blawg receives from the BlawgSearch.com and Blawgs.FM sites. Stanley says that protections are in place to guard against rankings click fraud. He explains: "There are different weights depending on where the clicks occur, but basically if people see your blawg on BlawgSearch and decide to visit your Blawg, your blawg is ranked higher." The rankings reveal the most consistently popular blog to be Above the Law, which is at or near the top of the list nearly every day, Stanley says. Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on May 23, 2007 at 05:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) Pushback on Rising Lawyer Fees Have legal fees and associate salaries reached the tipping point where client pushback will force fees (and potentially salaries) back down? If the postings from this past week in the blogosphere are any indication, I'd say that law firms may need to make some modifications to their pricing structure if they want to keep clients happy. This post from the WSJ Law Blog cites an April survey by legal consulting group Altman Weil that found that GCs aren't too happy about associate salary increases -- which will put more pressure on associates to bill hours to justify the  increases. According to the posts, some in-house counsel are restricting firms from using first- and second-year associates on client matters. And other firms have already insulated themselves from the fee increase by using smaller, lower-cost firms. Next, there's this article, Ex BigLaw Associate, Now Fortune 500 GC Calls Pay Surge Ridiculous (NY Lawyer 5/23/07), which profiles John Chou, GC of Amerisource. Chou criticizes associate salaries as "ridiculous" and notes that his company has started looking for other representation because of fee increases by its existing firms. Finally, Larry Bodine writes here that large and small firms are abandoning the billable-hour method to attract new business. And as clients grow increasingly disatisfied with increasing rates, perhaps firms will turn to alternative billing to retain existing clients. Posted by Carolyn Elefant on May 23, 2007 at 05:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Renato Sánchez 3586 of 10
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Legal Blog Watch

Legal Blog Watch

Should Law School Curricula Go Global? In a guest post at The Volokh Conspiracy, Harvard Law School professor Einer R. Elhauge argues that law schools are failing to confront "the reality that the basic law applicable to much conduct simply is multinational." He explains: "In today's global markets, firms face the reality that they are subject to simultaneous legal regulation by many nations. Lawyers face the reality that they must advise clients subject to such multinational regulation. Yet law schools continue to teach and research basic legal subjects from the parochial perspective of whatever nation they are located in." This makes no more sense, he contends, than if Harvard Law were to offer a curriculum limited to the law of its home state of Massachusetts. Some law schools, Elhauge acknowledges, are introducing first-year courses in international and comparative law. But these courses tend to focus on resolving conflicts in national laws or on providing perspective on U.S. law. This approach "ghettoizes the laws of other nations, treating them as something to consider at the margins outside the basic legal subjects," he says. As it so happens, Elhauge has just finished co-authoring a casebook on global antitrust law that he  believes is the first casebook to take the approach that the law applicable to a basic legal subject is multinational. "We put US regulations and cases side by side with the EC regulations and cases that regulate the same conduct on global markets, without suggesting that one of them is more important or necessary to understanding basic antitrust law and that the other is only useful to add perspective. We designed the book to be able to replace parochial books on basic antitrust law and teach antitrust lawyers the global landscape they must face." This approach, he predicts, will be "the leading edge" of a wave of similar books. Together, "they will transform legal education more than anything else we have seen in the last few decades." While it makes sense to start this global approach to basic law with antitrust law, he adds, "I really should be teaching all my other subjects from a global perspective." Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on May 22, 2007 at 03:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) L.A. Legal -- The Blog The National Law Journal yesterday announced the launch of Legal Pad/LA, a blog devoted to coverage of news about law firms, courts, lawyers and law in the Los Angeles area. According to this announcement, the new blog is the first in a series of regional blogs the NLJ will roll out in major metropolitan areas to broaden and localize its coverage of law firms and legal trends. The L.A. blog is edited by NLJ blog editor Elizabeth Amon and will include posts from NLJ correspondent Amanda Bronstad. Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on May 22, 2007 at 03:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Renato Sánchez 3586 of 10
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Legal Blog Watch

Pre-Paid Legal Services Are a Good Bet, but What About Investing in Biglaw? I was surprised to learn that Prepaid Legal Services comes recommended as a strong investment opportunity at two different stock market advice sites, Motley Fool and Seeking Alpha. I'd always believed that pre-paid services were so limited in scope, basically covering simple routine matters like will drafting or uncontested divorce, that they didn't interest many consumers. Plus, a few months ago, I posted on impending FTC regulations that would significantly restrict some of the multilevel marketing schemes employed by Pre-Paid Legal, thereby reducing sales. Finally, I'd often wondered how Pre-Paid Legal is able to attract enough attorneys to handle cases, given the substantial fee discounts that attorneys must offer for work covered by the plan. But apparently, I was wrong about many of these issues. A recent article in the National Law Journal reports that many solo and small-firm attorneys are drawn to providing service for pre-paid plans because the stable income outweighs the low rates. And analysts view pre-paid plans as a good investment for other reasons as well. At Seeking Alpha, Alex Shadunsky writes that Pre-Paid Legal has only one competitor (Hyatt Legal), and its target market consists of 100 million households, with only 1.5 million presently subscribing: This is a big opportunity. Litigation in the United States is a constant; I don't see how this market can shrink if the population of the United States does not shrink and grows at the steady pace it has been growing. If there becomes a Democrat majority in the government, this can also potentially grow PPD's member base in the short term since Democrats are more apt for litigation. I wonder whether the same considerations that make Pre-Paid Legal such an attractive investment opportunity would also apply if bloggers like Larry Ribstein have their way, and large law firms can go public.  Posted by Carolyn Elefant on May 18, 2007 at 04:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) Women Lawyers Opting In Used to be that once woman lawyers jumped off the career path, like Hansel and Gretel, they never found their way back. But in some small ways, that scenario may be changing, as more and more professional women are choosing to return to work after spending several years out of the work force to raise children. The trend, referred to as "opting in" is described in this New York Times piece by Lisa Belkin entitled After Baby, Boss Comes Calling (5/17/07; hat tip to Denise Howell). The article reports on many of the resources now available to professional women who seek to return to the work force, such as refresher courses and networking groups that weren't available even as recently as five years ago. Moreover, there's been a sea change in employers' attitudes: With high-skilled talent in demand, firms are actively targeting women who've left the work force for jobs. And even law firms are opting in: The law firm of Heller Ehrman, for instance, created a group called the Opt-In Project, which has spent the past year studying the way the firm does business. At the end of the month, the group plans to unveil a proposal to abandon the idea of billable hours that is deeply ingrained in the profession. "We can't afford to keep losing all these people," says Patricia Gillette, founder of the project. "The way we currently reward spending more and more hours at work makes no sense in a world where people demand balance." Still, Belkin herself remains skeptical, as do others in the blogosphere. Belkin writes: So I am too jaded to believe that this small handful of trendsetters will bring transformation overnight. They will not change the fact that too many employers still look at a résumé gap as a disqualifying mark; or that women who leave and return pay an average 18 percent salary penalty compared with those who never pause; or that men feel constrained from asking for flexibility because it carries a stigma; or that the only way to eliminate the stigma is for men to start to ask. At The Conglomerate, Christine Hurt questions whether you can ever really go home again after having left: Putting aside biases against employment gaps and the priorities reflected in opting out of the work force, how much does the work change in five years?  I left Skadden nine years ago to go into teaching.  My section isn't even called the same thing.  Does it do the same thing?  Would I be able to hit the ground running?  And forget about me, someone who has been in academia and at least following my industry from a distance.  What about a parent who has been rearing children and occasionally reading the WSJ? Likewise, Belle Lettres is skeptical that this is really a trend: But I can't say I trust such anecdotal evidence--just because a few elite firms are changing their policies, or just because there is a "many" or "most" shift in public opinion about work/life balance doesn't mean that there's really a change coming. I hope there is one. But I'll believe it when I see it--or rather, the empirical data and a pro-worker amended statute. Maybe opting in is a real trend, or maybe it's just an exaggeration, based on a handful of anecdotal stories as Belle Lettre suggest. And perhaps there are, as Hurt writes, barriers to re-entry. But at the end of the day, who cares? By highlighting the very possibility of opting in, difficult or limited in scope as it may be, we make women realize that there's a chance for second or third acts if they're willing to work hard enough for them. And that may be enough to inspire a talented woman (maybe even another Sandra Day O'Connor, who also left the work force to raise her children) to return to the law. Posted by Carolyn Elefant on May 18, 2007 at 04:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Quick Links Corporate Affiliate Program Search with knuru Subscribe to iTunes Change Password Update Email address Retrieve Password Content Licensing Get our XML/RSS feed Homepage May 16 - May 29 Note To Readers Knowledge@Wharton is pleased to continue its Corporate Affiliate Program which allows businesses to maintain consistent communication with their audience, including clients and employees, through their own co-branded version of Knowledge@Wharton. We are happy to report that many have successfully joined the program, and several more are in the process of doing so. To check out the Corporate Affiliate Program web site and its free demo, please visit: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/weblink/294.cfm -- The Knowledge@Wharton Team _________________________________________________________________ What's Hot Wireless Broadband Utopia: Are We There Yet? The wireless broadband pieces appear to be falling in place: Sprint Nextel says its next-generation high-speed network will be launched in a few markets by the end of 2007. Intel plans to embed so-called "WiMAX" enabled semiconductors in laptops by the end of 2008, and startups like Craig McCaw's Clearwire hope to blanket much of the nation with WiMAX service. Other companies are supporting hybrid wireless networks so that devices can hop between technologies. Where is all this heading, and what does it mean for the "Anywhere Consumer"? http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1739.cfm Leadership and Change (Podcast) Presidential Politics: What to Expect from France's Nicolas Sarkozy On May 6, conservative Nicolas Sarkozy won the French presidential election, defeating socialist Segolene Royal and taking over from Jacques Chirac, who had held the positon for 12 years. The election drew a very high 85% turnout, which many saw as a sign that French voters recognize the need to get out from under their economic stagnation and social unrest. Sarkozy is depicted as a friend, but also a critic, of the U.S.; as a supporter, to some degree, of the European Union; and as a reformer bent on changing France's burdensome labor laws, but also willing to meet with union leaders. Knowledge@Wharton asked Jeff Weintraub, a visiting scholar with the University of Pennsylvania's political science department, to give us his views on the possible consequences of Sarkozy's election. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1742.cfm Innovation and Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition 2007: The 'Eight Great' Make Their Pitch In a perfect world, there would be faster computers, less lower back pain, more accurate ways to detect the warning signs of a heart attack and even better-fitting business attire for female executives. And that would mean more comfort and time to enjoy the sweet things in life, like a gourmet chocolate bar. If the "Eight Great" finalists in the 2006-2007 Wharton Business Plan Competition -- who recently competed for more than $70,000 in prize money -- are able to achieve their entrepreneurial schemes, the world would indeed become such a place. Knowledge@Wharton summarizes the presentations and announces the winners. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1738.cfm Executive Education Middle Eastern Businesswomen Discuss Challenges They Face at Home and Abroad This spring, Wharton and the Penn law school hosted 37 professional women from the Middle East for a four-week legal and business fellowship program offered in partnership with America-Mideast Educational and Training Services (AMIDEAST) and the U.S. State Department. The women studied management and business skills at Wharton executive education and legal skills at the law school. Knowledge@Wharton asked three women from the program to talk about their experiences in the U.S. as well as in their home countries, including their views on such topics as workplace ethics, business opportunities for women and the role of Islam in society. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1740.cfm Marketing Are Your Customers Dissatisfied? Try Checking Out Your Salespeople The sales associate, noticing the approach of a customer, is suddenly intent on restocking merchandise or discussing when she will take her next break -- anything to avoid actual contact with the shopper. It's the type of behavior that dominates the list of complaints cited in the second annual Retail Customer Dissatisfaction Study. The study, conducted by Wharton's Jay H. Baker Retail Initiative and the Verde Group, found that disinterested, ill-prepared and unwelcoming salespeople lead to more lost business and bad word-of-mouth than any other management challenge in retailing. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1735.cfm Human Resources Workplace Loyalties Change, but the Value of Mentoring Doesn't In Homer's poem "The Odyssey," Odysseus had a tough time finding his way home after the Trojan War, what with all those monsters threatening to derail his journey. But Odysseus at least had left a wise and trusted fellow named Mentor to be the guardian and teacher of his son, Telemachus. Modern employees need mentors as much as Telemachus, especially in these times of upheaval. In fact, mentoring is just as important as ever for younger workers -- and for organizations themselves -- according to experts at Wharton and elsewhere. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1736.cfm Marketing Serving Up Smaller Restaurant Portions: Will Consumers Bite? The average person, according to the experts, makes 200 food-related choices a day. Actually, make that 201 choices. Courtesy of a new campaign by a leading restaurant chain, diners who are used to choices that make their meals bigger can now actually choose to order portions that are significantly smaller. This spring, T.G.I. Friday's announced what it called an "unprecedented move in the casual dining industry" when the restaurant chain began offering smaller portions at lower prices for select dishes. The question now becomes: Will consumers bite? Or, in this case, bite less? http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1737.cfm Managing Technology Shantanu Narayen on Adobe's Future Direction: Product Strategy for the Next Generation of the Web A key element of what has been called "web 2.0" -- along with ideas such as user-generated content and social networks -- is the concept of "rich Internet applications," which use the web as a platform for innovative types of online experiences. A new generation of Internet-connected applications is beginning to emerge led by such companies as Adobe Systems. Knowledge@Wharton recently interviewed Adobe president and COO Shantanu Narayen about the company's latest product introductions. In the second part of this interview, published in India Knowledge@Wharton, Narayen talks about the key role that India will play in the company's global growth strategy. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1741.cfm _________________________________________________________________ Survey on Idea Creation The Wharton management department is conducting research on how creative ideas advance from the conceptual stage to the funded development stage. Below is a link to a survey asking readers -- who are either idea advancement decision-makers or idea creators -- to describe factors surrounding one great idea that advanced, and one great idea that did not, as a way to identify factors that might help or hinder the idea advancement process. The survey will not require readers to disclose any personal data or proprietary information about their ideas. Those who participate can receive the study results, if they choose. Please take a moment to click here to complete the survey. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/weblink/316.cfm _________________________________________________________________ Articles from Around the Network