f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

. in which we try to keep our punditry as pithy as our poetry.                                                                                          

So, what happened in Smith v. Peterson?  Was son Sheldon able

to save the elderly Marvin and Goldie Smith from the abusive early-

bather upstairs?  As we reported on Feb. 28, the initial hearing before

Denver District Court Judge Ronald Mullins was set for March 22nd. 

I’ve been checking Google News, the Denver Post, Suz at Large, 

and Overlawyered, but haven’t learned a thing.   Could sanity have

prevailed and the case settled?  Do you know? 

 

  

update (April 26, 2006) see our water-torture bathtub suit still afloat 

 

 

  He usually gives advice (whether asked or not), but this week

Prof. Steve Bainbridge has been seeking advice.  Steve , who has

been trying out new mastheads had a poll seeking input on two new

designs, plus his original classic version.   His favorite — a swatch

of a waving USA flag — was not well received, and the classic version

was edged out by a slightly by an image of stock certificates.(yawn) 

Steve is going to experiment.  I really like the color-scheme, tagline

[“Law, Business, Economics, and Culture” — what’s left?] and image

on his newest attempt — which looks like Bacchus, the god of wine. 

Of course, it could be Steve tending his vineyards.   Let Prof. B know

what you think?

 

 

You may recall that, two weeks ago, I was checking whether we

had AA or AAA lawyers trying to get to the top of the Yellow Pages

listings in my local phone books.  At the time, I noticed that one

attorney was near the front of the cue, because he listed himself

as Abogado Warren Redlich — to let consumers know, I presumed,

that he speaks Spanish.   Serendipitously, I discovered this week

that lawyer Redlich is in fact the weblogger behind Albany Lawyer Blog.

At his firm website, Warren uses the tagline “a lawyer who speaks your

language,” and reports that he speaks Spanish, Japanese and French,

along with his native English.  Yes, I’m envious.

 

                                                                                   

Warren’s got an engaging style at his weblog, sharing

thoughts on criminal, personal injury, and traffic law, and

other legal topics, as well as life as an almost-solo practi-

tioner (see his the busy lawyer, where he’s doing an all-nighter

on a Saturday night — oh, to be young and healthy again.)

He has also started a Town Court Directory for counties in

our region (and hopes to go statewide and then spread to

NJ & MA).  Warren is finding many ways to differentiate

himself from the crowd, as he builds his law practice.

 

  The Wall Street Journal editorialized in favor of the Maytag –

Whirlpool merger on March 13, stating that antitrust merger enforce-

ment was irrelevant (and harmful) given globalization and the new

technology.  My friends at the American Antitrust Institute offered

an op/ed piece in rebuttal, which was rejected by WSJ.  Having their

own website, AAI Responds to WSJ Editorial on Whirlpool-Maytag

(March 23, 2006), even posting the WSJ’s “Antitrust Spin Cycle.”

Written by AAI Vice President, Diana Moss, the pro-antitrust piece

wins my vote. Among other insights, Moss points out two truths:

 

“One truth is that the consumer should matter. . ..  If busi-

nesses successfully serve consumers, stockholders will

have opportunities to profit. . . . And any merger that unduly

reduces competition is the enemy of the economy, even if

it benefits a limited number of shareholders. 

 

“Another truth is that not all mergers are good deals for the

shareholder. For the proof, we can look at Bruner’s Deals

from Hell or Scherer and Ravenscraft’s more academic–

but equally compelling–Life After Takeover. . . .

 

                                                                      

 

“If shareholder interests are paramount–as proponents of the

Whirlpool/Maytag dicta would attest—then the lessons of

history recommend caution in equal measure to the enthu-

siasm for eliminating antitrust oversight.

 

“. . . These truths also recognize the symbiotic relationship

between consumers and shareholders. Together, they drive

the need for antitrust policies that provide a flexible framework

for allowing pro-competitive deals to go through while stopping

the harmful ones. That is why one important component of

merger analysis is figuring out whether the cost savings a

merger’s proponents claim it will produce are genuine.”

 

Granted, this post got a little longer than I had hoped.  Let me make

it up to you with a handful of haiku from Lee Gurga, the midwest

dentist haijin:

 

fishermen’s cars

parked along the road . . .

cold rain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

spring horse auction —

a cluster of Amishmen whispering

through their beards

 

 

 

 

 

sweat steaming

from a team of geldings;

endless stars

 

 

 

 

 

farm dog calling

calling to her echo

deep in the forest

 

 

 

lee gurga from Fresh Scent (Brooks Books,1998)   

except: “fishermen’s cars” – The Haiku Anthology (3rd Ed); 

  The Measure of Emptiness (1991)

 

                                                                                                          Abogado Redlich