ABA Section of Business Law
ABA Section of Business Law
Business Law Today
July/August 2000
Snap judgments
Pity the poor millionaires
Money may not buy you happiness, but at least it can get you a good therapist, which is just what Money magazine recently suggested many of today’s overnight millionaires may need.
The folks at Money gave readers a therapist-authored checklist of warning signs for the dreaded "sudden-wealth syndrome."
The tell-tale signs include social isolation, out-of-control spending and embarrassment.
Throw in a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and it sounds more like a bad break-up than the aches and pains of instant wealth. Of course, throw in buying out the whole Ben & Jerry’s ice cream company and then it could be the neurosis of the nouveau riche.
Entrapment by e-mail
Don’t look for Paul Newman to make an appearance in the office any time soon, but the sting is back in vogue with a high-tech twist that has managers devising traps to catch wayward employees in the act.
According to a recent Fortune article, companies around the country are enlisting so-called "e-stings" to keep workers in line. With phony solicitations from prospective employers or competing firms, managers are looking to new technologies to give them the upper hand.
But, the article points out, the debate on whether these techniques are entrapment or smart business is about to begin.
Until the question is answered, however, workers are best to use caution when responding to outside e-mail. Of course, if the message says it’s from Paul Newman, we plan to open it regardless.
To share is . . . cheaper
Communal living comes to the firm? The idea may once have gotten no further than a casual discussion over lattes in Tribecca, but a recent survey found that today one in four law firms in and around New York City shares work space with another firm.
In fact, Offices2share
.com, which conducted the survey, found that in addition to shared space, most
co-habitating firms also made receptionist services, law libraries and fax machines part
of the co-op package.
But don’t get too concerned that this "It Takes a Village" approach has made NYC lawyers more concerned with Birkenstocks than the bottom line. Offices2share.com points out that the big reason for this new lifestyle is minimizing overhead and keeping the cost down on basic necessities like phones and maintenance.
Of course, buying in bulk also brings down the cost of those cool tie-dyed T-shirts.
How to lose book titles
Apparently Dale Carnegie forgot to include the final chapter "When All Else Fails, Try Suing," in his networking Bible "How to Win Friends and Influence People."
It seems Carnegie decided to throw his own winning advice out the window and sic his lawyers on writer and businessman Jonar C. Nader pending the U.S. release of his book "How to Lose Friends and Infuriate People" — a guide for those looking to take the cut-throat way to the top.
According to a statement from Nader, Carnegie’s lawyers called on him to immediately withdraw his plans to release his book or face a knock-down, drag-out lawsuit.
Nader, however, clearly a master of his subject matter, appears ready to rumble.
"Carnegie has no claim over my title nor its contents," Nader said in a statement. "If they think they can just smother eight years of work by bully tactics and aggressive demands, then they have underestimated the energy behind the book."
Surely there’s a personal-development book out there that could help settle this feud — something along the lines of "Self-Help Book Authors Are from Mars."
Pass the soap on a rope
The title of public relations exec James V. O’Connor’s new book may be hot on the lips of bookstore browsers across the country, but it’s not likely that even its most enthusiastic readers will make the paperback something they swear by.
In fact, if the tips in O’Connor’s book work their magic, readers won’t be swearing by or at anything.
Seems O’Connor got fed up with all the gosh-darned cursing going on today. So rather than instigate National Wash Your Mouth Out With Soap Day, he put pen to paper and came up with Cuss Control: The Complete Book on How to Curb Your Cursing , a how-to guide for potty mouths looking to mend their ways.
"Swearing is so commonplace, even in public, that many people think that it’s accepted, but it’s only tolerated," O’Connor said in a statement released by none other than his own PR firm.
Warning that others will judge the habitual swearer harshly, O’Connor says people need to change their attitudes and adopt a positive outlook to kick the cursing habit.
For those with specific word cravings, the book contains separate chapters on the "F-word" and the "S-word."
Did they see it coming?
CEOs who get the ax may feel blind sided, but according to those doing the cutting, the ex-execs would have to have been literally blind to have not seen it coming.
A recent Wall Street Journal article says in fact that had the CEOs recently nixed from posts at Coca-Cola, Mattel and Bank One paid attention, they would have known they were on the way out.
But between the pressures of power lunches and trips to the corporate skybox, how’s a busy bigwig supposed to keep a finger on the pulse of the company?
According the article, there are some telltale signs for CEOs to stay on top. The article advises the head honcho to take radical measures such as listening to the directors, listening to employees and not over-estimating earnings projections.
Perhaps the best piece of advice for those who don’t see it coming, however, is to invest the severance pay wisely.
A milestone for women law students
I am woman, hear me litigate! That’s the tune an increasing number of women are singing as law schools across the country see their classes filling up with females.
According to the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, when law students hit the books this fall, it could be the first time that women outnumber men in the classroom.
In the 1999-2000 academic year, the ABA found, 48.7 percent of the first-years were women. Because men’s enrollment has been dropping and women’s increasing over the past several years, the ABA projects that women will take the lead this coming year.
"If the current trend continues," says the ABA’s James P. White, "academic year 2000-2001 may be the first year in history in which female students represent the majority of the entering class."
Amazin’ (?) facts about lawyers
Lawyers around the country are surely scrambling to get their hands on a copy of an exciting new study by Abbott, Langer and Associates that has yielded three volumes worth of fascinating information, including the fact that some lawyers who work outside law firms make a lot of money and some don’t.
It’s true. According to a statement from the company, the 1,022-page survey report, "Compensation in Legal and Related Jobs," reveals the astounding fact that 10 percent of lawyers outside a firm make $220,000 or more a year, while another 10 percent have an annual income of $67,117.
But wait, there’s more: For just $265, you can get your very own copy of the report and start learning other fun facts that will astound and amaze your friends. For example, you’ll be the talk of the cocktail party when you let loose with the fact that legal secretaries who use shorthand have a median income of $34,597 while those who transcribe from dictation equipment have a median income of $35,563.
So, act now, operators are standing by at Abbott, Langer to take your order. We imagine supplies are limited, so call now to reserve your copy.
—Heather Brewer
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