Cliff Tuttle’s AVVO Profile is Tops with Google.

AVVO CEO Mark Britton wrote a post today on the importance to lawyers of updating their AVVO profile. When I saw my profile pictured, I assumed he had selected it as an example of a profile in need of an update. However, that was not the case. On the contrary, my profile was selected because it comes up first on a Google search of the search term “AVVO Profile”.

How interesting. I checked; its true.

I didn’t knowingly do anything special to make it happen. Yet, somebody has to be first. Why not me?

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Twittering Worth Reading: 22 Tweets.

In case you are still wondering what kind of twittering could possibly be worth it, may I suggest “22 Tweets“. This blog consists of live Twitter interviews with various practicing lawyers.Of course, I’ve added it to the blogroll on this site.

Category: Uncategorized

Unemployed Lawyers are Still With Us.

Eugene Volokh, a West Coast law prof who writes a heavily-read blog called Volokh Conspiracy, recently asked his readers to say something about themselves. A surprising (surprising to me) high percentage of the 309 lawyers and law students responding identified themselves as unemployed.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Modest Proposal: Putting the Responsibility for City Pension Funding Where It Belongs.

If you need to catch up on the controversy regarding the City’s proposed tuition tax, the New York Times provided a good summary this morning.

Of course, the chief irony is that the City is seeking to tax college students, most of whom have not yet joined the labor force, to pay deficits in an underfunded pension system for the benefit of those leaving the labor force.

The pension system was underfunded because prior generations of City politicians failed to levy enough taxes to pay for pension fund contributions at the time they were being earned by City employees. Thus, the older generation of taxpayers was not assessed enough when they received the benefit of services provided by City employees.

The solution is obvious. Tax pensions.

Plan B: postpone the retirement age to the point where accounts balance.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

New Blog on the Roll: Pittsburgh Injury and Disability Law by Lupetin

Its always great to discover a good, well-written blog. But a legal blog written in Pittsburgh by a lawyer who knows how to write is a real find.

Please visit “Pittsburgh Injury and Disability Law by Luptin.” This blog maintains a steady loyalty to its theme — personal injury and disability law. It is readable, interesting, yet dense with real information. Brendan Lupetin writes for the intelligent layman, but lawyers will find useful stuff here also.

Here is a sample of topics:

Category: Uncategorized

Legal Scriviner’s Night Before Christmas.

WHEREAS, on or about the night immediately preceding Christmas, there did occur at a certain improved piece of real property (hereinafter “the House”) a general lack of stirring by all creatures therein, including, but not limited to, a mouse.

A variety of foot apparel, e.g., stockings, socks, etc., had been affixed by and/or around the fireplace mantle in said house, in a diligent and workmanlike manner, in the hope, and/or belief, that St. Nick a/k/a/ St. Nicholas d/b/a/ Santa Claus(hereinafter “Claus”) would arrive forthwith. The minor residents, i.e., children, of the aforementioned House were situated on or about their individual beds and were engaged in sleep-induced hallucinations, i.e., dreams, wherein visions of confectionary treats including, but not limited to, candies, nuts, and/or sugar plums, did dance, cavort, frolic, and otherwise appear in said dreams.

Whereupon I (hereinafter “the party of the first part”), being the joint-owner in fee simple of the House with Mamma (hereinafter “the party of the second part”), and the party of the second part had retired for a sustained period of sleep and/or rest. At such time, both parties were clad in various forms of sleepwear and headgear, e.g., night gowns, kerchiefs and/or caps.

Suddenly, and without prior notice or warning, there did occur upon the unimproved real property adjacent and appurtenant to said House, i.e., the lawn, a certain aural disruption of unknown origin, nature, cause or circumstance, that did interfere with the parties’ quiet enjoyment of said property, so much so that the party of the first part did precipitously proceed to a nearby window of said House to investigate the cause of said disruption and disturbance.

At that time, the party of the first part did observe, with some degree of confusion, wonder and/or disbelief, a miniature sleigh (hereinafter “the Vehicle”) being pulled, propelled and/or drawn by approximately eight (8) diminutive reindeer. The driver of the Vehicle appeared to be, and in fact was, the previously referenced Claus.

Said Claus did then provide specific direction, instruction and/or guidance to the approximately eight (8) reindeer and, thus, expressly identified the antlered co-conspirators by name: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen (“hereinafter “the Deer”). Upon information subsequently received, it is believed and, therefore, further averred that an additional co-conspirator named “Rudolph” may have been involved.

The party of the first part witnessed Claus and the Deer as they intentionally, willfully, and with reckless disregard for the safety of the occupants of the House and other neighborhood dwellings, did trespass upon the roofs of several dwellings located adjacent to and in the vicinity of the House, and it was noted that the Vehicle was heavily laden with merchandise, packages, toys, and other items of unknown origin or nature. Suddenly, and without invitation, permission or license, either express or implied, the Vehicle arrived at the House, and Claus did break, enter, and defiantly trespass upon said House via ingress through and down the chimney.

Said Claus was clad in a red, fur-trimmed suit, which was partially discolorured by charred residue from the interior of the chimney, and he carried a large sack with which he conveyed, transported or, otherwise, asported or carried a portion of the aforementioned merchandise, packages, toys, and other unknown items. He lit and began smoking what appeared to be tobacco, or some unknown substance, in a small pipe in blatant, open and notorious violation of local ordinances and public health regulations and, possibly, The Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act.

Claus did not speak, but immediately began to fill the afore-mentioned pre-hung stockings of the minor children with toys, and other small objects, however, said items may or may not constitute “gifts” as that term is defined in the applicable provisions of the U.S. Tax Code.

Upon completion of such task, Claus touched the side of his nose and flew, rose and/or ascended up the chimney of the House to the roof where the Vehicle and Deer waited and/or served as “lookouts” to further aid and abet the alleged nefarious enterprise. Claus then immediately fled and/or departed for an unknown destination, apparently to avoid apprehension. However, prior to said departure of the Vehicle, Deer, and Claus from the House, the party of the first part did hear Claus state, exclaim and/or spontaneously utter: “Merry Christmas to All, and to All a Good Night!”, or words to that effect.

Anonymous, or at least it ought to be.

Category: Uncategorized

Tiger Burning Bright.

As long as we are on sports topics, I would like to observe that Tiger Woods has already well-begun the task of getting his situation in hand. He is a natural winner and his instincts will guide him along. It may take a year or even two, but he will be back in the good graces of family, the public and advertisers.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

On Losing Streaks and Black Swans.

Summary: It may not be necessary to look beyond luck for an explanation of losing streaks and untimely events, sometimes described as “black swans.”

There is a great deal of discussion these days about how the Pittsburgh Steelers, who were being called the best team in football six weeks ago, could have lost five straight games, mostly to weak teams. The local sports writers, coaches, team members and talk show callers are all mystified. Yet, the answer is extremely simple.

A season with only sixteen games does not constitute a statistically valid sample. Chance alone can account for a five game winning or losing streak. Baseball teams, both good and bad, do it all the time. But baseball managers are not fired over a single five game losing streak. There are a lot more tomorrows in a baseball season.

We rarely give proper credit to luck. The last Superbowl was won by two astounding plays — Harrison’s 100 yard touchdown run at the end of the first half and Holmes’ acrobatic catch at the end of the game. The odds that the lumbering Harrison would be tackled by the pursuit (he had to run through the entire opposing team to score) seemed overwhelming. But it didn’t happen. So too, were the odds against Holmes pulling in the ball he over-stretched to reach while falling to the ground with both feet barely in bounds. But it happened and by a thread, the Steelers won the championship. The endless retelling of those two plays (at least in Pittsburgh) spoke of incredible skill. Luck didn’t make it into the story. The two heroes were showered with awards and will live in legend as long as Superbowl highlights are broadcast in Pittsburgh. In fairness, large amounts of both luck and skill were required to execute these game-winning plays.

By the way, from the point of view of the Cardinals, these two bolts of lightning, which cost them the Superbowl, could be described as “black swans.” That is, they were highly improbable sequences of events that were in hindsight unavoidable. On the positive side, the word “destiny” comes to mind. In the Sixties, we had another less lofty expression for it: “the fickle finger of fate.”

And now, the Steelers have been visited by a few black swans of their own.

Every lawyer over 40 can tell you about a case or two that resulted in an unexpected outcome, often contrary to overwhelming odds. But unlike sports teams, litigants can sometimes control their fate by making an acceptable settlement. Who knows when the next black swan will come swimming by?

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Harrison Barnes, Legal Recruiter, on Over-lawyering the Deal.

Posted by Cliff Tuttle

Harrison Barnes, the founder of the national legal recruiter, BCG Attorney Search, related the following story of how the extra-intense negotiation of an employment contract by the candidate’s attorney put a chill into the relationship between the parties that never went away.

Barnes hired a legal recruiter with an outstanding track record. When they shook hands on the deal, the candidate told Barnes to expect a call from his lawyer to firm up the contract. Barnes tells the story of what happened next:

A few days later I received a telephone call from an attorney in a major law firm, who had marked up the offer letter I had sent over to the recruiter. He had made so many notes that the document, which was formerly two pages long, now was around seven or eight pages long with all of the added comments. In addition, he had also attached a “suggested employment contract” that was over 45 pages long.

“Who are you?” I asked the attorney during our first phone call. I was a little astonished by the intensity with which he was negotiating some relatively small things. For example, the recruiter wanted to insure that his desk was positioned within 20 feet from “cold filtered spring water”, which would need to be in ready supply for him to drink during his workday.

“I actually do this for Fortune 500 CEOs all the time. This is my specialty, negotiating these sorts of things.”

I spent at least a week exchanging frequent phone calls with the attorney, and also had an in-house attorney from our company talking back and forth with the attorney every single day. After a week of this, I received a phone call from the recruiter:

“Can we wrap this up? This guy is charging me $750 an hour and I have already spent over $30,000 on this. I cannot afford to keep paying the attorney,” he said.

“I do not know how that is possible. He is negotiating every single little thing there is. We keep going back and forth,” I said.

When a Chief Executive Officer of a major corporation is hired, the executive typically has an attorney from a giant law firm negotiating on his or her behalf. The executive is offered the position and then, in response to the offer, the lawyer suddenly appears and starts negotiating. This is what the attorney we were talking with was doing. The list of points he was trying to negotiate with me and my attorney was so voluminous that it would be impossible for me to remember all of those points now. The list included things like being in “Class A” office space, having air conditioning on the weekend, first class airfare for all business-related travel, and more. When people get more powerful in the business world, they have a tendency to demand more. However, the other side to this is that they become more focused on taking and not giving value. They become more concerned with the accoutrements of success rather than focusing on what got them there, usually a lot of hard work.

Barnes went on to relate that this recruiter might still be working for him had this unfortunate event not occurred. Their relationship never recovered.

This story illustrates a trait often found among lawyers (not all, but many) to overkill a contract negotiation and unwittingly poison the relationship between the parties in the process. Frequently, the client doesn’t even want any of the 1001 changes suggested by counsel but goes along on the assumption that others must be getting all these perks. Over-negotiated contracts eventually lose their focus, consistency and purpose, becoming a meandering affair, full of lawyerly phrases like “notwithstanding the foregoing” and “including, without limitation.”

**********************************

For more information on BCG Attorney Search, click here.

Category: Uncategorized

Urgency.

SUMMARY: The common conception of what is an urgent task is too narrow.

Deadlines rule the life of a lawyer. Self-imposed, imposed by others, deadlines determine in great part what we must do on a given day.

The task with the closest deadline is viewed as the most urgent – – and perhaps it usually is. But what about the rest of them? Must there be a deadline for a task to acquire urgency?

What about opportunity?

Napoleon crossed the Alps in the winter, surprising and confounding the enemy. If you’re not into European history, George Washington crossed the Delaware on Christmas Eve in a raging snow storm with the same effect. If either had scheduled the event to a more convenient time, the element of surprise and the opportunity for victory would have been greatly diminished, even lost. Thus, it was urgent to cross the Delaware on that very day, not later in the week.

How about earlier completion of (and payment for) a more lucrative task, one without a deadline?

Frequently, completion, or at least satisfactory progress, is a prerequisite to getting paid. In such a case, it is urgent to make good progress to the goal. Otherwise, the expenses accruing during the period of complacency will eat up the profits. It is urgent to keep moving toward the goal, before it becomes too late.

What about pre-emption by next week’s urgent deadlines?

Next week you may be totally engaged with other urgencies. The chance to do other work may be postponed for some time. It is urgent to get things done while we can.

Carpe diem.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

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Welcome

CLIFF TUTTLE has been a Pennsylvania lawyer for over 45 years and (inter alia) is a real estate litigator and legal writer. The posts in this blog are intended to provide general information about legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus. However, this information does not constitute legal advice and there is no lawyer-client relationship created when you read this blog. You are encouraged to leave comments but be aware that posted comments can be read by others. If you wish to contact me in privacy, please use the Contact Form located immediately below this message. I will reply promptly and in strict confidence.

Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk

Legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus.

1410 Posts and Counting

Categories

Cliff Tuttle’s AVVO Profile is Tops with Google.

Twittering Worth Reading: 22 Tweets.

Unemployed Lawyers are Still With Us.

Modest Proposal: Putting the Responsibility for City Pension Funding Where It Belongs.

New Blog on the Roll: Pittsburgh Injury and Disability Law by Lupetin

Legal Scriviner’s Night Before Christmas.

Tiger Burning Bright.

On Losing Streaks and Black Swans.

Harrison Barnes, Legal Recruiter, on Over-lawyering the Deal.

Urgency.

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