TransformingYourCareerTransformingYourself

  The numbers aren't in yet. But since applications to accredited law schools were up 25 percent this year as compared to last year, there probably are a lot of students beginning their investment of time, energy and money in law school in 2025. In 2024, enrollment of 1Ls was at 39,689.  The question on the minds of those observing this surge is: What could happen to those entering law school in 2025? That is, if they intend to practice law. Of course, as law school deans hammer, there are myriad other uses for a law degree.  Those playing it cautious project that the future for new lawyers focused on practicing law can range from uncertain to definitely being on the wrong side of supply and demand. The significant variable is Generative AI. Not only is it already taking over document-heavy tasks. Another reality is that it's on those tasks that entry-level lawyers traditionally learned their trade.  Well, the chair of law firm Paul, Weiss Brad Karp orbits in the...

Did Ines Pineiro's unique background give her the perspective and courage to voice her concerns about beginning a career at the UK branch of law firm DLA Piper? She has completed training.  At one time she had been a cleaning woman able only to speak a few words of English. Then she had been a Miss Portugal contestant. Along the way she learned not only English but how not to think in Spanish because she knows that in her new line of work she will have to understand how the British elite thinks. Lately Pineiro has been busy sharing her concerns on LinkedIn. In an interview with Brit legal tabloid RollonFriday  she noted her fear about: " ... what corporate does to people. It’s a systemic problem. That is the reason I’ve decided to talk about this because we see a lot about impostor syndrome but not much about compulsive overachieving. Especially for junior professionals.” She makes clear that she is not referring explicitly to DLA Piper. But, of course, the knock on what the D...

In capitalism , business results will usually have more influence than what else might be going on. For large law firms which cut deals with the Trump administration that's exactly what has played out. So much for the railing by multiple constituencies against those transactions with the White House.  Also, something else factored in: Simply sitting out the heat. It's been speculated that had former New York governor Eliot Spitzer absorbed the lousy publicity about his contracting with escorts and sat tight he could have held on to his job. As we know, business has been brisk for dealmaking law firms Latham , Skadden , Paul, Weiss and more. Much of that has been high-profile. That's what dominating headlines.  As long as they didn't put out their news about accounts on the day Taylor, Travis got engaged they dazzled with their not only the volume of successful business development but also the power brands of the clients. For example, Paul, Weiss handled the work o...

  The headlines read that the parents of Adam Raine's - Matthew and Maria - filed a lawsuit today against OpenAI and its founder Sam Altman. Adam, 16, committed suicide after months of conversations with the paid version of ChatGPT - 4o.  Essentially the parents are alleging that the bot served as a kind of suicide coach. More specifically, reports NBC , their lawsuit contends: " ... wrongful death, design defects and failure to warn of risks associated with ChatGPT. The couple seeks 'both damages for their son’s death and injunctive relief to prevent anything like this from ever happening again ...'”  An earlier lawsuit filed about another boy's suicide against Character.AI , also alleging wrongful death, has been allowed to move forward. The court rejected the defendant's argument that the chatbot has the right to free speech.  But, the lawsuit against OpenAI, et al. may have a tougher time gaining standing. In a sense, the chatbot was duped. Adam told ChatGP...

Politics is fading. The focus is returning to the business of law firms . So, what's getting attention is which are landing the major global deals as corporations scramble to reset for unprecedented disruption . Bloomberg Law reports: "Paul Weiss and A&O Shearman are steering Keurig Dr Pepper Inc.'s plans to buy Dutch coffee company JDE Peet’s NV for €15.7 billion ($18.4 billion) to support its coffee business." M&A assignments are significant because they enhance the law firms' brands, are lucrative and, of course, attract new business. Nothing gets business like having business. The deal is projected to close during the first half of 2026. So what's Keurig Dr Pepper up to? Its strategy is to decouple its coffee and soft drinks units. They will become into two independent, US-listed companies.   In my coaching I tutor clients to spot where the big stuff is happening. Everyone else will be chasing the low-hanging fruit. Thrown off your game, maybe the...

  The headline in The Atlantic is "No One Likes John Bolton."  That follows the early-morning raid on his home by the FBI about supposedly matters of national security. And doesn't all that seem, well, so incongruent, at least in civilized nations. After all, how citizens are officially treated by the system should be separate from being liked or not liked. For centuries the sophisticated have respected defense lawyers representing very unlikeable characters. In "The Godfather," Michael Corleone has mutated into a hardened thug but, sure, he deserves competent counsel.  However, we all know better, don't we. Maybe the "unfriendly" Bolton got his.  In the classic by Hedrick Smith "The Power Game," likeability is classified as a source of power. Professional anonymous networks such as Reddit and Fishbowl warn how important being liked is in large law firms for very junior lawyers. Otherwise partners will probably not assign you work and y...

  Competitive pressures have driven law firms headquartered in the US to expand their footprint in England. Remember the dog fight for partner talent for the London offices of Kirkland & Ellis and Paul, Weiss. The latter conducted several raids. Why you may wonder what those firms are up to? Well, here is one factor. But, I will introduce another later.  As you probably know: On professional anonymous networks Reddit and Fishbowl there are often queries about openings in the London branches for junior lawyers. To stay current with what those firms are doing, especially in London, a useful source is Brit legal tabloid RollonFriday.   There is a special Newswire section which updates the firms' activities, both those US and London headquartered.   For example, here is a snippet about Paul, Weiss. At the end of July 2025: "Paul, Weiss advised Brinley Partners, LP, an alternative asset manager specializing in private credit, on a $4 billion commitment as part o...

  The dealmaking necessary to create those data centers for AI is liberating Big Law from the political abyss of administration whatevers. Now the clear focus is back on money and there's plenty of it in putting together the complex deals for the data centers, along with the infrastructure.  As Bloomberg Law details, those transactions demand the super expertise of myriad practices. Multiple teams have to parachute in. Smaller law firms can't offer that kind of package of services. The well-situated players range from Latham to Paul Weiss.  Even better times could be ahead. The Federal Reserve indicates that there could be interest rate cuts in the near future. The market responded euphorically to that hope: Dow Jones Industrial Average DJI: ^DJI 45,612.59 +827.09  (+1.85%) As of Fri. Aug 22, 2025 11:13 AM EDT · Free Realtime Quote (USD) · Market open And businesses could also be shifting to that mindset and figure they can afford to fund M&A strategies. Big La...

T he Federal Reserve hints at interest rate cut coming . That's enough to downsize the angst in BoomerVille of outliving our money.  The outlook for our getting paid work into our 80s is lousy and probably will become more and more lousy. So, it's more and more about our investments.  My coaching clients in their 80s who do get income from the sweat of their brow are self-employed. They found a gap in what folks need or want and created a way to fill it Today was a quite a good day for our investments. Maybe we can plan a stay-in-a-hotel Labor Day weekend instead of just day trips to the overcrowded state parks.  Dow Jones Industrial Average Index Index: DJI Compare 45,484.87 USD ▲  +699.37 (+1.56%) today August 22, 10:13 AM EDT  ·  Market Open Dow Jones Industrial Average DJI: ^DJI UPDATES: 45,720.99 +935.49  (+2.09%) As of Fri. Aug 22, 2025 11:34 AM EDT · Free Realtime Quote (USD) · Market open Dow Jones Industrial Average DJI: ^DJI 45,716.74 +931.24...

  Andy Coop, played by Jon Hamm of "Mad Men" fame, is a caricature of the very wealthy, those chasing getting there, holding on to it and, yes, ensuring they have the biggest house among the tribe (even it that involves nosebleed costs for added space).  That's the emotional, moral and spiritual plane Hamm is made to travel in the April 2025 Apple TV original series  "Your Friends and Neighbors."  Like that signature character Don Draper from "Mad Men," Coop is plenty flawed. Self-absorbed, no identity outside a work one, arrogant and drinking too much he should be positioned and packaged as needing salvation. And like Draper, Coop loses his marriage and his job. In the tarot that kind of collapse is symbolized by the tarot card. But the difference is this: As a  review  points out, we in the audience don't care about Coop. Or his family. In contrast, we did become involved with not only Draper but his daughter Sally. The child was unraveling becau...

Paul Weiss not only kicked off creating corporate investigations as a legitimate practice when it was called in by Fox in 2016. That was to apply its probing methodologies to determine if there had been sexual harassment at that cable business.  In addition, it also established itself as the go-to. Soon after the release of the findings Fox founder Roger Ailes left the corporation. In 2017, Fox called in Paul Weiss again. The focus was Bill O'Reilly. Soon after, O'Reilly also left.  So, it's was predictable that Citigroup contracted with Paul Weiss for this high profile assignment of investigating allegations about Andy Sieg's behavior on the job. The head of HR at Citi Sara Wechter started the ball rolling on this.  As Bloomberg News reports there had been complaints by current and former staff that Sieg exhibited a pattern of intimidation and sidelining as well as expletive-peppered rants. Specifically it had been reported that: "... at least six Citigroup m...

 Last Sunday, on the South side of Toledo, Ohio we woke to a power outage . That meant no way to make coffee . Given the limits of the battery, we wouldn't have too much time accessing the internet. Not on our laptops. Not on our phones. The outage wouldn't get resolved until about noon.  Where did I hustle off to? It was to a  McDonald's beyond the area of the outage. I didn't consider going to a Starbucks for the next five hours.  The price of coffee at McDonald's is no big deal.  There are electrical outlets by some tables.  No one seemed to notice that I was planted there so long. But the place was packed. My only gripe was this: There was background music playing. That got in the way of doing tarot readings on a psychic line I use in addition to conducting private sessions and doing parties. When a call came in for my psychic services I had to rush out to my car and close the door. In my haste, yes, a few times I left the laptop on the table. It w...

Smart? That is, setting the fictional  grassroots pushback against automation in Michigan. After all, it had been the manpower-intensive auto industry which helped create the middle class in America . Not only could auto workers own their own home. They could achieve the dream of a vacation cottage in Upper Michigan . Now, that, as with so many good jobs, is in play because of technology. The second season of the Canadian TV series "Departure"  on free streaming platform Tubi focuses on a high-speed train , operated with a new gee-whiz technology. It derails in Michigan. More than 60 lives are lost.  A candidate for Governor of Michigan rails against technology. Reinforcing how the America Michigan folks grew up with is vanishing, who's brought in to investigate the source of the derailment but a crash specialist from England - Kendra Malley . The Luddites work up the emotions of those sensing they are being left behind.  The point of view of the film, it turns ou...

  Seasoned players in public relations won't get replaced by Generative AI . They have a deep understanding about how bad press and even formal legal actions won't necessarily "hurt" a business. Actually the reverse could be true. Cagey watchers of the scandal can conclude: That's the kind of firm I want to work with, that's one which sizes up the angles and pushes against traditional boundaries. So, the recent very long form expose in Bloomberg Law  about lawyers at Paul Weiss and Reed Smith might not have a significant negative impact on the business development of either or scare off current clients. The raw story is essentially that Paul Weiss' Jeffrey Marell and Reed Smith's Michael Sanders structured the transactions without full disclosure. Here is a snippet: " ... accusations by Joel Cohen , a screenwriter best known for his work on “ Toy Story ,” [allege] that Sofie Biosciences Inc. bilked him and his wife out of at least $38 mill...

 Just a wee bit of a disappointment. Suppose we boomers make it to our mid-90s. Our investment funds have to be there for us. Social Security monthly benefit could be cut 20% to 25%. And will Medicare Advantage still be there. Dow Jones Industrial Average Index Index: DJI Compare 44,933.00 USD ▼  -13.12 (-0.029%) today August 18, 9:34 AM EDT  ·  Market Open

"Here, it's so expensive. Especially rent . The bitter pill to swallow is that I don't see it getting any more financially bearable." That's what more and more of clients for my coaching/tarot-reading services are telling me. Yes, they are experiencing increased financial distress linked directly to being rooted in a HCOL (high cost of living) area. A recent Yahoo/Marist poll bears that out. It found that 45%, that is almost half, of responders rated where they are based as not very affordable or not affordable at all.  The common sense solution would seem to be: Relocate to a LCOL (low cost of living) region. There's a ton of information about the cheap living spots both in the US and abroad.  But the actual situation is complex.  At the top of the list is this: You don't know if the move will pan out.  What about employment opportunities: the availability, compensation and sustainability?  Will rents rise as they did in one-time LCOL paradise like Tuc...