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

Ted Frank of Overlawyered and Point of Law usually approaches contingency fee

issues a bit differently than I do.  He is far more steeped in economics than I, and

he brings the perspective of a “tort reformer.”   As ethicalEsq said in July 2003,

tort reform is a matter of political and social policy, not legal ethics, and it is not

my fight.  My perspective — by temperament, and after a dozen years practicing

antitrust law at the FTC — is that of a consumer and competition advocate.  I want

legal clients to receive the benefits of both professional responsibility rules (with

related fiducial rights) and competition, and I believe that a well-informed client can

protect his or her interests far better than one treated like a mushroom (viz., kept

in the dark and covered with manure).

 

                                                                          ATLA: at least bar association

 

Personal injury lawyers, however, seem to get just as upset with me as they do with

tort reformers, even though I have never advocated limiting the right to sue (except when

a claim is truly frivolous — that is, without a colorable basis in fact or law), nor capping

the amount paid out in damages.  However, although I want clients to get all that they

deserve, that means having their lawyers take only the fees that they deserve.  That’s

what has gotten me in hot water with the personal injury bar from the very first time I

questioned whether application of a “standard” or customary contingency fee to virtually

every client is ethical — before I had ever heard of a tort reform movement.

 

What does this have to do with the title of today’s post?  Well, this week, Ted Frank

wrote at Overlawyered (“Search Engine Index,” March 27, 2006) about the interesting

(but not surprising) fact that:

“Six of the eight most expensive Google AdSense search terms are for

attorneys . . . with “mesothelioma lawyers” topping the charts.”  [per

 CyberWyre]

In addition, at Inside Opinions, Robert Ambrogi pointed to Ted and pointed out that:

Other chart-topping search terms include “tax attorney,” “car accident lawyer” and

“auto accident attorney.”

 

Ted concluded that the lawyers were willing to pay very high click-through rates

for AdSense “because there is a lot of easy profit to be made.”  He then asks:

“The interesting question is what market failure has occurred such that

this gigantic profit is not being competed away by, say, offering clients

a smaller attorneys’ fee. This is surplus that should be going to clients,

not to Google.”

“googleSign”

 

That’s where the tort-reforming economist in Ted starts sounding an awful lot

like the ethicist-trustbustin’ consumer advocate in me.. . . 

 

. . . . please click to read the rest of this post,

which is part I of a four-part series, that includes: 

• 
  
  contingency fees: risk matters April 3, 2006
  
  
• 
  
  contingency fees: do “standard” fees still exist?  April 5, 2006
  
  
• 
  
  contingency fees: ethical duties April 7, 2006

                                                                                                                         

 

.

Not all of my “gumbahs” are Italo-American.   Over dim sum, carrot cake,

haiku, and lawn bocce, John Stevenson and Yu Chang have become, in

the words of The American Heritage Dictionary:

Goombah: n. Slang.  A companion or associate, especially an

older friend who acts as a patron, protector, or adviser.  

[Think of “older” as in “wiser,” “more mature.”]

 

Let me tell you, these gumbahs can write haiku and senryu!

 

yu chang

 

 

sunrise

the new guppy

fans its tail

 

 

 

mountain trail

my heart beat

louder than I remember

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mountain pass

sun

on every windshield

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

waiting for you

another pair of headlights

through the fog

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

circuits lab

his mistake

in the air

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

evening silence

cat food for the stray

untouched

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

drainage ditch

first frog

of spring 

 

Yu Chang from Upstate Dim Sum   (2003/I)

except: “drainage ditch” – (2003/II)

 

 

 

                                                                               

 

 

his spotless

new office

my dermatologist

 

 

 

 

 

 

home

and homesick

all-night diner

 

 

 

 

 

satellite image

   of my childhood home

   . . . the woods

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday morning

putting the point

on a pencil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a touching movie

the ushers wait

for us to leave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

kayak

to the point

a bent reed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

dinner for one

a view

of the ocean

 

 

 

     John Stevenson Upstate Dim Sum   (2003/I)

 

 

Darn, I forgot all about Spring Break and swimsuits, when I

ate that entire bag of Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Kisses at 3 AM

last night.  Good thing the NYT reminded me to start dieting again.

“Before Spring Break, The Anorexic Challenge, April 2, 2006; via

Althouse).

 

 

Please: Spare me from power-hungry political webloggers and from

liberal Democrats who think we can win elections by becoming  ideological

purists and forming thought-police posses. See NYT and Althouse.

 

all fools day
my daughter gets in first
with a pinch and punch

 

      matt morden – morden haiku

  Gumbah-haijin Matt Morden linked yesterday to a piece discussing

the origins of April Fool’s Day – All Fools Day.