The Legal Intelligencer Blog

Think Different: What the Legal Community Can Learn from Steve Jobs

I’ll spare an industry that only recently abandoned Word Perfect another Steve Jobs eulogy detailing his “visionary” hardware and software design feats. Instead, I will say that we should look to Jobs for precedent. The public outpouring for Steve Jobs is not grief for the death of a man who created little computers and music machines. It’s a sense of gratitude and loss for one of the few remaining public figures who had big ideas—and could execute them.

Jobs filled a role otherwise absent in the modern American political and economic landscape. Spaces crowded with people of ordinary and small desires who produce accordingly: corporations only looking to quarterly earnings, banker drones creating wealth on paper with visions that don’t extend beyond the four corners of a yearly bonus check, and a Congress with the long term vision of a dog. Elected officials who roll over at the sight of next election season and pant eagerly in anticipation of lobbyists’ financial bones represent a source of national embarrassment, not leadership. So, a man with a desire for perfection, even if sometimes maniacally so, who produced small things that represented big ideas became a role model.

The world of law now resembles that of Welch, Wall Street and Washington, more than that of Jobs. Law firms focus on profits per partner. Law schools are concerned with revenue and enrollment rather than creating great lawyers. They lure students with numerical maneuvers, impressive even by Wall Street’s credit-default-swap-derivative-cocktail standards. Like the SEC, the ABA has let it all happen with a combination of limited regulatory power and coziness with the entities it regulates.

What law lacks is a leader that can inspire lawyers and clients. The tech industry of Jobs’s youth  resembles modern Big Law culture more than today’s Petri dish of creative genius. And just like the days of the Home Brew Computer Club, many are currently tinkering with the user experience for clients and lawyers. Currently, they are dismissed, just like Steve Wozniak when he presented Hewlett Packard with the prototype of the first Apple computer. What could the average person do with a computer? Yet today, consumers (and even some mayors) wait in line to buy its latest incarnation.

And, Apple wasn’t the only company to realize that treating people like adults while providing them with a sophisticated, fun and slightly educational experience is wildly profitable. Look at the regular long morning lines at Starbucks where people wait to spend $4 on coffee. Witness the bouncer at certain Whole Foods in Manhattan. The privilege of spending $100+ on 2 small bags of groceries can be designed so well that it warrants a gatekeeper. What is the similar magical formula that can transform legal services into a product that is useful, improves the life of the everyday client and inspires loyalty? Legal services may never be as exciting as iPhones. But, those who find a way to re-imagine the practice of law, to inspire clients and lawyers alike by packaging the complex and delivering it in an elegant, simple and perhaps even fun package will be the visionaries, or perhaps the Apple of the legal industry’s eye.

Julia Claire  is a co-founder of Hire an Esquire (hireanesquire.com), which enables law firms and legal departments to locate, manage and pay freelance attorneys with ease online. In addition to practicing law, she has taught legal writing as an adjunct professor in Temple Law’s International LLM Program and as an online lecturer at Quimbee.com.

Conahan's Sentencing Set for Sept. 23

By Zack Needles
Of the Legal Staff

Former Luzerne County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael T. Conahan's sentencing has been scheduled for Friday, Sept. 23, in Scranton.

The news comes less than two weeks after Conahan's alleged co-conspirator and fellow former Luzerne County Common Pleas Court Judge Mark A. Ciavarella was sentenced to 28 years in prison following his convictions on 12 of 39 counts of corruption filed against him, including racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, honest services mail fraud, money laundering conspiracy and a host of tax fraud charges.

Conahan (pictured above), who faced an equally damning indictment, opted to plead guilty last year to one racketeering charge in relation to the alleged crimes.

U.S. Attorney Peter Smith said following Ciavarella's Aug. 11 sentencing hearing that no one should underestimate the "major role" Conahan played in the scandal.
 
Zack Needles can be contacted at [email protected] or at 215-557-2493. Follow him on Twitter @ZNeedlesTLI.

Supreme Court Posts Amounts Paid to Luzerne County Victims

By Zack Needles
Of the Legal Staff

The state Supreme Court on Thursday posted three special master determinations that collectively listed the names of over 100 victims of juveniles whose convictions were tossed out following the Luzerne County "kids-for-cash" scandal and the amounts each will be compensated from the Special Juvenile Victim Compensation Fund, which was established in 2010 "solely to provide compensation to victims of juvenile crime in a county of the third class."

A quick scan of the lists shows the largest awards to be in the $1,200 to $1,500 range.

According to the documents, the amount to be paid to each victim is equal to what each would have been entitled to had a consent decree or adjudication of delinquency not been vacated in his or her case, minus any compensation that may have already been paid in connection with the alleged crime.

Watch The Legal's website Friday as well as Monday's print edition for more about the payments.

Zack Needles is a reporter for The Legal. He can be contacted at [email protected] or 215-557-2493. Follow him on Twitter at @ZNeedlesTLI.

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal

By Jaime Bochet
Of the Legal Staff

Can't find a paper, but want a sneek peak at the stories inside The Legal this Monday morning? Simply read on! Click the links below to access stories directly, or head to The Legal homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

Today's top story is by U.S. Courthouse Correspondent Shannon P. Duffy, who writes that a Pennsylvania Marine who claims he was falsely branded as a cold-blooded murderer by the late Congressman John Murtha has lost his bid to revive his civil rights suit now that a federal appeals court has ruled that members of Congress are immune from such claims.

Sharing space at the top of the page, Amaris Elliott-Engel has the scoop on the new general counsel of the embattled Philadelphia Housing Authority, ex-Rendell GC Barbara Adams.

Senior reporter Gina Passarella's Page 1 story is sure to catch your eye: The Commonwealth Court has upheld nearly $2.35 million in damages and attorney fees a tax collection law firm was ordered to pay to a class of taxpayers who sued for the administrative costs they had to pay the firm for collecting the delinquent real estate taxes.

Inside, on Page 3, Zack Needles writes that when Kyle Arnold arrived at the offices of Philadelphia-based litigation defense firm Marks O'Neill O'Brien & Courtney Thursday for what he thought was a deposition in his civil suit against Pep Boys, he was surprised by more than just tough questions. Arnold was instead apprehended by police as a suspect in a May armed robbery that took place in the parking lot of the very same Philadelphia Pep Boys location at the center of his civil suit.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sister publications across the country are on our Page 4 National News page. 

The first of our contributed columns is an ADR piece on "The Role of Pre-Hearing Security in Arbitration," written by Charles F. Forer of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott.

And today's Real Estate column is by Alan Nochumson, who writes: "A recent decision handed down by the Western District of Pennsylvania portrays a landlord coming to grips with the realization that he cannot obtain the reimbursement of his fees and costs against his tenant in the absence of such a written contractual provision."

Have questions or comments about today's issue? E-mail me or any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal!

Jaime Bochet is the Magazines & Supplements Editor for The Legal. Follow her on Twitter at @JaimeBochetTLI or e-mail [email protected].

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal

By Jaime Bochet
Of the Legal Staff

Can't get  a copy of The Legal this morning? Here's a peek at the stories in today's paper. Check the blog every morning for the round-up, or head directly to The Legal homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

Topping today's front page, a corporation's attorney-client privilege may be extended to include a second company and its lawyers, but such a joint privilege covers only those communications that were truly made in furtherance of a shared legal strategy, a federal judge has ruled. Read U.S. Courthouse Correspondent Shannon P. Duffy's full article here.

Below the fold is a settlement story by Gina Passarella: The family of an 18-year-old man who died at The Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades when he was electrocuted while trying to repair a light fixture has reached an $8.5 million settlement with the school.

In our Page 3 Regional News story, Amaris Elliott-Engel writes that the state Superior Court has ruled that a Philadelphia judge should not have dismissed a plaintiff's case alleging he died from exposure to a toxic metal because a plaintiff expert witness did not rule out other medical conditions that could have caused the plaintiff's symptoms.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sister publications across the country are on our Page 4 National News page.

Our contributed column is a touching commentary by Joel Feldman of Anapol Schwartz Weiss Cohan Feldman & Smalley, who write about working toward an understanding of a client's loss. "For almost 30 years I have been representing people who have suffered life-altering injuries, as well as the family members of those who have died. Following my daughter's death in July 2009 I realized that, without personally going through a tragedy or suffering a loss, one cannot fully comprehend the experience, but being aware of the common elements of loss and being willing to listen to one who is suffering can lead to greater understanding."

Our Business of Law column, which appears courtesy of our San Francisco affiliate, The Recorder, lists 11 reasons why partners leave their law firms. Among the reasons: no marketing budget, lack of equitable compensation systems, and lack of diversity.

Have questions or comments about today's issue? E-mail me or any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal!

Jaime Bochet is the Magazines & Supplements Editor for The Legal. Follow her on Twitter at @JaimeBochetTLI or e-mail [email protected].

Judge Denies Stay of Production of PHA Legal Bills to HUD

By Gina Passarella
Of the Legal Staff

A federal judge in Philadelphia has denied a motion to stay the production of legal invoices from the Philadelphia Housing Authority to HUD while the PHA's former executive director appeals the order allowing the bills to be turned over.

Last month, Judge Anita Brody denied a preliminary injunction motion made by former PHA executive director Carl Greene, who argued the PHA's decision to give unredacted legal bills to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development could release privileged attorney-client information belonging to Greene.

The bills in question were from Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis, Fox Rothschild, Duane Morris, Flaster Greenberg, Ballard Spahr and Wolf Block. Redacted bills from Schnader Harrison and Fox Rothschild have already been turned over under a previous order by Brody. The remaining bills were ordered to be reviewed to see if they contained any privileged information regarding Greene.

When the PHA's counsel, Barry Gross of Drinker Biddle & Reath, wrote a letter to the court, and later an affidavit, swearing his firm's review of the bills found no privilege belonging to Greene, Brody denied Greene's preliminary injunction motion and ordered the bills turned over to HUD.

Greene's attorneys, Clifford Haines and Lauren Cates of Haines & Associates, are now arguing on appeal that an affidavit signed by the attorney representing their opponents was not the type of review they envisioned. They argued they should also be allowed to see the bills or that a third-party review should be done. Greene requested a stay of their production until his appeal to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was complete.

In a one-paragraph order issued Tuesday, Brody denied that request. Haines said he was disappointed with the ruling and didn't think there was any particular urgency for the release of the documents.

He said he would guess the PHA would turn over the bills now without waiting for any appeal to conclude. Haines said if the 3rd Circuit looks at the issue and decides the bills shouldn’t have been handed over, HUD's Inspector General will have to forget what he has seen.

Gross has said that the bills that have been turned over to HUD and the ones that remain will all be redacted to some degree to protect the PHA's own privilege concerns.

Gross said Tuesday the PHA is ready to turn over the bills but will wait for an undetermined amount of time in case Greene files a stay request with the 3rd Circuit. Gross said he was pleased with Brody's decision.

HUD is investigating the PHA's spending of $38 million on outside legal fees between 2007 and 2010.

Gina Passarella is the senior reporter for The Legal. She can be contacted by e-mailing [email protected] or calling 215-557-2494. Follow her on Twitter at @GPassarellaTLI.

 

Meehan Testimony in Discrimination Case Delayed

By Shannon P. Duffy
U.S. Courthouse Correspondent

Until an unexpected glitch arose on Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa., had been expected to take the witness stand this week to testify about events during his tenure as Eastern District U.S. Attorney in a discrimination lawsuit brought by Paul Mansfield, a former assistant U.S. attorney who claims he was fired in retaliation for lodging complaints of age and disability discrimination.

But Meehan's appearance has now been delayed indefinitely because U.S. District Judge Legrome D. Davis has ordered Mansfield to turn over all of his medical records -- a process that Davis said could not be completed in a day.

Davis said the trial must go on hiatus until the medical records have been disclosed. When the trial resumes, Meehan (shown left) is expected to be called to testify about his role as the ultimate decisionmaker in the firing of Mansfield.

A former member of the elite Organized Crime Strike Force, Mansfield is the first prosecutor ever to be fired from the Philadelphia U.S. Attorney's office, according to the opening statement of his lawyer, Frank Finch.

The trial is offering a rare glimpse behind the scenes of the Eastern District federal prosecutor’s office. Testimony so far has revealed that Meehan's tenure was marked by controversy stemming from some of the prosecutors he promoted to high-ranking posts, especially First Assistant Laurie Magid and Criminal Division Chief Linda Dale Hoffa.

Both Hoffa and Magid have testified about their participation in the decision to fire Mansfield. Both said it was part of a system of "progressive discipline" and that Mansfield had been suspended or reprimanded several times before.

Mansfield claims that he was targeted for harsher discipline after he was hospitalized for more than a month with heart problems and that his complaints about the unfair treatment only led to harsher retaliation.

Hoffa's testimony was devastating. She said Mansfield's suspensions stemmed from missing deadlines in important cases. Once, she said, he told a superviser that his brief in an appeal was due the next day and that he had not yet done any work on it.

Mansfield had no valid excuses for making such glaring errors, Hoffa testified, because he was carrying a significantly lighter caseload than other lawyers in the office, and because he routinely insisted that he was capable of performing the job and did not need any accommodations.

But Mansfield also called attorney Robert Goldman, a former prosecutor in the office who gained notoriety for pursuing headline-grabbing cases about thefts of art and historical treasures from museums and national archives.

Goldman testified that he left the office because, in his opinion, Magid and Hoffa had created a hostile environment. He said the criticisms of his work were at times fabricated.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kate Mershimer, whose office is in Harrisburg, was specially assigned to defend the case. In her opening statement, Mershimer said Mansfield cannot prove that anyone involved in the decision to fire him was motivated by anything other than Mansfield's professional shortcomings and that his prior filing of discrimination complaints had nothing to do with it.

Shannon P. Duffy is the U.S. Courthouse Correspondent for The Legal. He can be contacted at 215-880-2700 or [email protected].

Fumo Arguments Rescheduled

By Shannon P. Duffy
Special to the Legal

The date for oral arguments in United States v. Fumo has been rescheduled and is now set for Wednesday, May 25, at 2 p.m. before 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judges Julio M. Fuentes, Richard L. Nygaard and Leonard I Garth.

The panel will be hearing arguments in two appeals. In the first, prosecutors are challenging the sentences of 55 months in prison for former state Sen. Vincent J. Fumo (pictured, left) and one year in prison for his longtime aide, Ruth Arnao, as too lenient.

Fumo has also cross-appealed and is seeking a new trial on numerous grounds, including a claim of juror misconduct stemming from a juror's postings on Facebook prior to the verdict.

The docket shows that as many as four lawyers may be stepping to the podium to argue -- Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert A. Zauzmer and John J. Pease III for the government, and Samuel J. Buffone of Buckley Sandler in Washington, D.C., and Peter Goldberger of Ardmore, Pa., for Fumo.

The court's announcement of the oral argument said that each side will have 20 minutes to argue.

Shannon P. Duffy is the U.S. Courthouse Correspondent for The Legal. He can be contacted at 215-880-2700 or [email protected].

Ballard Spahr Gets Former GC to Arizona Governor

By Gina Passarella
Of the Legal Staff

The former general counsel to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has joined Ballard Spahr's Phoenix office.

Joseph Kanefield will practice in the firm's government relations, regulatory affairs and contracting group. He is joining the firm as a partner.

As general counsel, he has advised Brewer on litigation involving the state budget, civil rights, immigration, gaming and health care issues. Before joining the governor's office, Kanefield served in the Arizona secretary of state's office as state election director and in-house counsel. He also was an assistant attorney general and an attorney with the Arizona Department of Revenue.

"Joe has a sterling reputation in Arizona and a set of skills developed over many years at the highest levels of state government," Ballard Spahr Chairman Arthur Makadon said in a statement. "He will be a terrific asset to our practice and for our clients. We are absolutely delighted to have him as part of the firm, our government relations group, and our Phoenix office."

At Ballard Spahr, Kanefield will concentrate his practice on government relations, civil and appellate litigation, public-private partnerships, administrative law, state and local tax matters, gaming, and election and campaign-finance law.

"This is a great opportunity to use my experience in the public sector to assist private-sector clients," Kanefield said in a statement.

Ballard Spahr has been focusing much of its growth in its western offices, bringing on several new laterals and adding a new San Diego office in recent months.

Kanefield's addition also follows the addition of another former government official to the firm -- former Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell. As will Kanefield, Rendell also spends a good portion of his time on public-private partnerships.

Gina Passarella is the senior reporter for The Legal. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @GPassarellaTLI.

The Legal's Diverse Attorneys of the Year

By Jaime Bochet
Of the Legal Staff

Every two years, The Legal Intelligencer recognizes outstanding minority attorneys from across Pennsylvania. We solicited letters of recommendation from bar associations, law firms, public interest groups, corporations and government offices and received dozens of responses. While all of them are certainly worthy of praise, the editorial staff has selected the following 20 individuals in recognition of their outstanding professional achievements in the two years since we last gave out the honor.

Following are the names of the 20 Pennsylvania attorneys who have been selected as 2011's Diverse Attorneys of the Year, in alphabetical order:

Robert L. Archie, Duane Morris
Joseph Centeno, Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel
Daniel J. Clifford, Weber Gallagher Simpson Stapleton Fires & Newby
Kenya Mann Faulkner, Pennsylvania Inspector General
Stephanie Franklin-Suber, Ballard Spahr
Rudolph Garcia, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney
Mohammad Ghiasuddin, Kaplin Stewart Meloff Reiter & Stein
Deborah Hong, Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young
Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas
Pearl H. Kim, Delaware County District Attorney's Office
Kassem Lucas, Pepper Hamilton
Glenn Mahone, Reed Smith
Zane Memeger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Richard Negrin, Managing Director of the City of Philadelphia
Will Sylianteng, Bennett Bricklin & Saltzburg
George B. Vashon (dec.)/ Nolan N. Atinkson Jr., Duane Morris
Seth Williams, Philadelphia District Attorney
Rhonda Hill Wilson, The Law Offices of Rhonda Hill Wilson
Judge Dwayne D. Woodruff, Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas
Judge Sheila Woods-Skipper, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas

Profiles and details about each attorney will be included in our "Diversity" supplement, scheduled to be published in The Legal on Tuesday, April 5. They will also be honored at a special luncheon in Philadelphia on Tuesday, June 7; for more information, contact Diane McCollum at 215-557-2335 or [email protected]. Congratulations to all!

Jaime Bochet is the Magazines & Supplements Editor for The Legal Intelligencer. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/JaimeBochetTLI or e-mail [email protected].