Anybody else confused by the world round us?
Punxsutawney Phil poked his head out, as he does each February 2, aka Groundhog Day, noticed his shadow, and declared that we might have six extra weeks of winter. Nicely, at the very least a part of the nation, freezing and snowing because it has been, would have six extra weeks. In California, not a lot.
Does anybody suppose that ICE’s ways in Minnesota (and elsewhere) are paying homage to the Gestapo in Nazi Germany within the Thirties? I do, and even Joe Rogan (not precisely on my wavelength) does. For these of you Gen Xers, Millennials, and others so younger that you simply don’t keep in mind 9/11, please take a couple of minutes to learn up on Nazi Germany and the Gestapo. Even higher, learn Erik Larson’s nonfiction guide, “In the Garden of Beasts,” about how Nazi Germany, each blatantly and insidiously, infiltrated the German psyche within the Thirties. Honest warning.
Nobody is above the legislation. (Pun not supposed.) Some individuals disagree. The judicial system is the final remaining bulwark in opposition to what 47 and his merry band of pranksters (not of the Ken Kesey selection) wish to do if they might have their manner unimpeded by anybody or something. Habeas corpus and all these pesky little amendments to the Structure fortunately stand in 47’s strategy to impose much more authoritarian measures than what we already expertise. The Supreme Court docket appears to look askance at precedents, ghosting it like a nasty on-line date.
And I might be remiss if I didn’t point out the newest installment of the Epstein information, which appears to have one thing for everybody, that’s, everybody who’s wealthy and well-known, or if not, then wealthy and well-known adjoining. Some legal professionals have been caught in Epstein’s internet, whether or not deliberately or not.
We’ve all admonished our shoppers over time to not put something in emails and texts that we wouldn’t need to see on the entrance web page of any newspaper, digital, print, or in any social media. Sadly the newest DOJ information dump of Epstein information has finished precisely that, and never simply on a regular basis legal professionals, however large “machers” (Yiddish for doer, a wheeler-dealer, somebody with connections.)
The primary to undergo the results of any reference to Epstein is Brad Karp, till very lately the chair of the Paul Weiss agency. Karp has been an excessive amount of in authorized information previously 12 months. Because the then-chair of Paul Weiss, he was one of many first, if not the primary, to bend a knee to 47’s govt order addressed to Biglaw. Karp feared the agency would sink if it didn’t agree. How ironic that lower than a 12 months later, Karp is now not chair, not due to his cope with 47, however due to his relationship with Epstein, a former buddy of 47 till a purported falling-out some years in the past.
In the meantime, take into account the language that some corporations use when shedding enterprise professionals to get replaced by AI. The phrase “we don’t take these adjustments calmly” doesn’t go the “straight face” check. Simply wait till AI reduces lawyer headcount. We know that may be coming.
AI in its varied present iterations doesn’t require compliance with wage and hour legal guidelines, FMLA, ADA, and a number of different employer-employee legal guidelines. Robots work 24/7, they don’t want trip or sick time or break day for the myriad human tasks. They don’t complain about an excessive amount of work, they usually don’t have interpersonal conflicts with coworkers. They simply work and work and work, not like people, even when some fancy themselves robotic of their work habits. Nevertheless, if you’re in search of any emotional intelligence in AI, you’re barking up the incorrect giant language mannequin.
Lastly, I might be remiss if I don’t inform anybody within the authorized world who doesn’t already know that the DOJ is hiring. Sure, that DOJ, which, for some cause (ahem) is having trouble recruiting lawyers to affix what was once a prestigious workplace and infrequently a stepping stone for Biglaw partnerships, judgeships, and political careers. As an alternative of swearing to uphold the Structure of the US, these new recruits should now swear allegiance, to not the Structure, however personally to the president, who believes that the DOJ is his private legislation agency. No marvel why the DOJ will in all probability must scrape the barrel’s backside to seek out legal professionals keen to sacrifice their ethics and reputations. Since 47 likes his identify on every part and he all the time desires his identify first (don’t get me began), maybe the extra acceptable identify can be Trump’s Division of Justice. Res ipsa loquitur.
Jill Switzer has been an energetic member of the State Bar of California for over 40 years. She remembers working towards legislation in a kinder, gentler time. She’s had a various authorized profession, together with stints as a deputy district legal professional, a solo observe, and a number of other senior in-house gigs. She now mediates full-time, which supplies her the chance to see dinosaurs, millennials, and people in-between work together — it’s not all the time civil. You may attain her by electronic mail at oldladylawyer@gmail.com.
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