{"id":4119,"date":"2005-09-30T12:21:49","date_gmt":"2005-09-30T16:21:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2005\/09\/30\/too-much-disclosure-erin-go-b"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:54:33","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:54:33","slug":"too-much-disclosure-erin-go-bra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2005\/09\/30\/too-much-disclosure-erin-go-bra\/","title":{"rendered":"too much disclosure? (erin go bra!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The f\/k\/a Gang has always been in favor of full disclosure by <\/span><\/p>\n

lawyers and law firms (see, e.g.<\/em>, our posts on <\/span><\/span>fiduciary<\/span><\/a> duties, <\/span><\/p>\n

retainer<\/span><\/a> agreements, <\/span>malpractice<\/span><\/a> insurance, <\/span>JD<\/span><\/a> alma maters, <\/span><\/p>\n

self-help<\/span><\/a> resources). Longtime readers know that personal <\/span><\/p>\n

injury and class action tort lawyers have often been the subject <\/span><\/p>\n

of our disclosure <\/span>lectures<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>dreams<\/span><\/a>. Last night, however, we <\/span><\/p>\n

started to wonder about the limits of disclosure — just how much <\/span><\/p>\n

do we want to know or see<\/em>?<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

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\"magglass\"<\/span><\/p>\n

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Our journey into DDS (disclosure doubt syndrome) began quite <\/span><\/p>\n

innocently last night — simply following a pointer from PoL<\/em>‘s <\/span><\/p>\n

editor Walter Olson<\/span><\/a> about the “Harvard School of Public Health <\/span><\/p>\n

bestowing its Julius Richmond Award on glamour-puss toxic-tort-<\/span><\/p>\n

chaser Erin Brockovich.” From Michael Fumento’s <\/span>Town Hall<\/em> column<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

on the topic, we came to the <\/span>law firm profile page of Erin-Brockovich<\/span>–<\/span><\/p>\n

Ellis, at Masry & Vititoe<\/a>, in Westlake Village, California. And saw: <\/span><\/p>\n

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W&V Director of Research <\/span>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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update<\/span> <\/strong><\/em>(May 12, 2008): A post by Scott Greenfield at Simple Justice<\/em> — “Decolletage or Disaster?<\/a>” (May 10, 2008) — reminded us of our prior musing in this posting over Ms. Brockovich’s mugshot. Scott discusses the Wall Street Journal<\/em> column “Risky Business: Decolletage At a Work Dinner<\/a>” (WSJ, by Christina Binkley, May 8, 2008). If my rattled brain comes up with a useful reaction, I’ll report further in a new posting. <\/span><\/p>\n

[Your Editor was apparently mistaken when writing this update, as Brockovich’s webpage is back at M&V. Sorry for any inconvenience to our readers.] update<\/strong><\/em> (March 17, 2006): Ms. B is apparently no longer affiliated with Masry & Vititoe. <\/span><\/span>Her bio page is no longer available at the M&V website.<\/span> You can <\/span>see a picture of Ms. Brockovich similar to the one above at her “official” site<\/a> and on the cover<\/a> of her memoirs.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"EBustovich\"<\/span> \"tiny After the eponymous <\/span>film<\/span><\/a> in 2000 (which won <\/span>Julia Roberts<\/span><\/a> a Best Actress Oscar in the title role), Ms. Brockovich-Ellis is surely the world’s most famous (and rich<\/span><\/a>?) paralegal. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Just this week, we wrote <\/span>two posts<\/span><\/a> on<\/span> selecting law firms. Back in<\/span><\/p>\n

March, we also wrote about <\/span>decloaking associates<\/span><\/a>. Nonetheless, a<\/span><\/p>\n

close look at the Brockovich profile page raises the question: Just <\/span><\/p>\n

how much disclosure, decolletage and detail<\/em> is necessary or useful <\/span><\/p>\n

for the purpose of choosing a law firm? I’ve been a lifelong fan of <\/span><\/p>\n

feminine buxomness (in the sense of definition 1b, and not<\/em> 3., in<\/span><\/p>\n

this <\/span>dictionary<\/span><\/a>). But, exposure and disclosure start to overlap in <\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. B’s <\/span>mug<\/span><\/a> shot<\/span>. <\/span>Similarly, I like to know a little about the personal <\/span><\/p>\n

life of people I might work with, but hearing about two former husbands <\/span><\/p>\n

and jobs held for a few months, and minor beauty pageants, etc. etc.,<\/span><\/p>\n

seems a bit much. <\/span><\/p>\n

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\"tiny If you’re that<\/em> interested in Erin’s life, try her 2001 <\/span><\/p>\n

memoir<\/span><\/a>, which is available for as little as 23 cents <\/span><\/p>\n

at the Amazon.com <\/span>Marketplace. It appears that <\/span><\/p>\n

the <\/span>cover photo of the book was taken at <\/span>the same <\/span><\/p>\n

portrait session as her firm <\/span>picture.<\/span><\/p>\n

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unaware of the thief’s
\neyes, melons
\ncooling in water<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Kobayashi Issa<\/strong><\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

translated by <\/span>David G. Lanoue<\/strong><\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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So, I’m curious: (1) Does Erin Brockovich’s profile page make you \"ooh\" \"ooh\"<\/span><\/p>\n

want to hire M&V? (2) Has her style of firm photo started a trend <\/span><\/p>\n

among p\/i or other law firms — among lawyers, paralegals, or other <\/span><\/p>\n

support staff members? (3) Do <\/span>Dennis Kennedy<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Carolyn Elefant<\/span><\/a>, <\/span><\/p>\n

Kevin Heller<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>Bruce MacEwen<\/span><\/a>, who want more information on <\/span><\/p>\n

law firm websites <\/span>about associates, approve of the way M&V has <\/span><\/p>\n

featured its famous <\/span>paralegal? and (4) Is this website sweeps month?<\/span><\/p>\n

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I wonder what psychology professor and haiku poet George Swede would think of all this?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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through a hole<\/span><\/p>\n

in the fog billboard girl’s<\/span><\/p>\n

radiant face<\/span><\/p>\n

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one button undone<\/span><\/p>\n

in the clerk’s blouse I let her<\/span><\/p>\n

steal my change<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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\"penny \"penny <\/span><\/p>\n

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autumn clothesline<\/span><\/p>\n

his and her pyjamas<\/span><\/p>\n

frozen together<\/span><\/p>\n

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training bra<\/span><\/p>\n

on the clothesline<\/span><\/p>\n

half moon<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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George Swede<\/strong><\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

from <\/span>Almost Unseen<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/a> <\/span><\/span>(Brooks Books, 2000)<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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