{"id":7611,"date":"2007-05-12T22:24:38","date_gmt":"2007-05-13T03:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2007\/05\/12\/life-is-short-get-one\/"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:53:48","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:53:48","slug":"life-is-short-get-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2007\/05\/12\/life-is-short-get-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Life is short. Get one."},"content":{"rendered":"

Life is short. Get a Divorce.<\/em> [big<\/a>] \"FGAad2\"\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0The legal profession’s Dignity Police are scandalized again.\u00a0 This time their focus is the billboard [tiny image above; click<\/a> for large version in color] that went up on May 1st in Chicago for the “boutique” divorce law firm Fetman Garland & Associates<\/a>. Besides showing teats-n-abs, the advertisement sports the slogan “Life is short. Get a Divorce.<\/em>” (via Robert Ambrogi at LegalBlogWatch<\/em>, “The Beefcake Approach to Marketing<\/a>,”\u00a0May 9, 2007, and Larry Bodine’s Law Marketing Blog<\/em>, “Using T&A” to sell Divorce<\/a>)\u00a0 An outraged Chicago alderman has already had the billboard torn down (video<\/a>), saying the necessary permit had never been obtained.\u00a0 Of course, I’m more interested in the legal community’s response.\u00a0 An ABC News<\/em> report<\/a> quotes John Ducanto, past president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers:<\/p>\n

“It’s grotesque. It’s totally undignified and offensive.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to ABC News<\/em>:<\/p>\n

“Ducanto called on the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Committee of Supreme Court of Illinois to sanction Fetman. “I don’t think they’ll just let this pass,” said Ducanto, who seemed genuinely hurt by the ad. “I have been in practice for 52 years, and I’ve worked my ass off to change the image of this particular area of the legal practice, and to see some punk try and pervert the whole image in the interest of lucre. \u2026 Sure, she’s got a lot of attention, but it’s like a guy who spits on a table \u2014 you got the attention, sure, but what kind of attention is it?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"FGAadG\"\u00a0 Happily, the same news report added: “But the ARDC’s deputy administrator James Grogan told ABC News that traditionally Illinois has been reluctant to sanction lawyers for anything short of false or misleading advertising.”\u00a0 We shall see whether pressure makes the Grievance Committee decide it has to take action against the Fetman firm\u00a0 As might be expected, Karen Enright, president-elect of the Women’s Bar of Illinois, agreed with Ducanto, saying “It’s actually a disappointment to the profession and to the institution of marriage, which is something our community holds as sacred.”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Enright added:<\/p>\n

“Our profession, and lawyers in general, have been under attack for advertisements similar to this and I think,” she said, pausing. “I think that it’s not in good taste.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"RaoulFelderMug\"\u00a0 I was amused and disappointed\u00a0to see that famous divorce lawyer Raoul Felder — who\u00a0was recented defended<\/a> here at f\/k\/a<\/em> against New York’s Dignity Police, who want his hide for writing\u00a0the book Schmucks<\/em> —\u00a0said the ad was a new low for the profession:<\/p>\n

“This has to be the Academy Award of bad taste,” Felder told ABC News. Fetman is “not your run-of-the-mill Perry Mason lawyer,” he opined. “Hell, that’s not even ‘L.A. Law.’ It’s bizarre,” he said. “I don’t think anybody walks away from that ad thinking more of the legal profession that they did before they saw it.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The billboard’s sponsor, saucy Corrie D. Fetman<\/a> had a fitting response to the critics.\u00a0\u00a0ABC News explains:\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Fetman defends the billboard, almost gleefully. Recycling popular catch phrases seems to come naturally to her. “Lawyers don’t cause divorces. People cause divorces,” she said. “If you think somebody’s going to look at a billboard and go out and get a divorce as a result, you’re insulting the intelligence of people. If that’s the case, our next billboard is going to read, ‘Gimme Your Money.'”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"FetmanCorri\"\u00a0Fetman had, in fact, issued a press release<\/a> the day before the billboard went up, touting the new ad campaign.\u00a0 Excerpts:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “Our “Life’s Short. Get a Divorce.” advertising campaign . . . is true to who we are, namely Aggressive, Non-Judgmental and Strategic.\u00a0 The ad portrays what we believe which is that everyone deserves happiness.\u00a0 In short, we believe that life is too short to stay stuck in an unhappy marriage.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0“The future of our ad campaign will also include other marketing tactics centered on the promotion of happiness without judgment.”<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “We think our advertising is fantastic and innovative and look forward to hearing your opinion.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Clicking around the Fetman Garland website, I discovered that Fetman was featured in a Chicago Tribune<\/em>\u00a0article in 2003 about women coping with the male environment at big law firms — by starting their own firms.\u00a0 “Leaving is the Best Way of Achieving<\/a>,” Aug. 13, 2003.\u00a0 It is worth clicking this link just to see the photo of Fetman and Lady Justice.\u00a0 The article notes:<\/p>\n

“A man also answers the phone at Corri Fetman\u2019s Chicago Women at Law Ltd., a matrimonial law firm she started in 1995, after practicing law at several firms. She left the last one, she said, because she experienced sexual harassment, salary inequities, and what she described as a demeaning environment.\u00a0 In contrast, she said she tries to create a comfortable environment for her two female associates and two male paralegal\/secretarial workers.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It seems to me that life is far too short for scare and underutilized lawyer discipline resouces to be used to shore up the profession’s image.\u00a0 Some quick thoughts:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u00a0\u00a0\"Fr.VentaloneS\"\u00a0\u00a0 As stated repeatedly here, it is the self-important, self-appointed role of Dignity Police that makes the profession look bad in the public’s eyes — Americans do not like hypocrisy and putting on airs.\u00a0 (see our prior post<\/a>)\u00a0 They also really dislike having their intelligence underestimated.<\/li>\n
  2. \u00a0\u00a0 Americans have the right to a divorce and lawyers have the right to remind the public of the availability of the law and their services.\u00a0 If we are going to start telling lawyers they may not promote the use of certain legal rights that are deemed antisocial, I’ve got a few other places to start.<\/li>\n
  3. \u00a0 A profession that gives you the next lawyer’s name on the list, when you call a Lawyer Referral Service, has no place telling lawyers in good standing with the bar what factors are deemed “relevant” in a client’s selection of a lawyer.\u00a0<\/li>\n
  4. \u00a0The public can’t tell much at all about the quality of a law firm from its ads (nor from an interview at a firm).\u00a0 But, it can at least learn a bit about a law firm’s style and attitude\u00a0from the ads it chooses to run.\u00a0 Some people will be attracted to the Fetman ad and others repulsed.\u00a0 That’s a lot more info than we get by pictures of Lady Liberty and the scales of justice in stock lawyer ads.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Life is indeed too short.\u00a0 The Dignity Police need to get a life.\u00a0 If they truly care about the profession’s image (not to mention the interests of their clients), they should concentrate on their own competence, diligence, service, commitment, and integrity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \u00a0\"sleuth\"\u00a0Possibly-Related Inadvertent Searchee<\/a> Adventures<\/em>:\u00a0 Search engines pointed their querists to f\/k\/a<\/em> this past week thousands of times, but here are a few I found amusing or bemusing (and even strikingly relevant to this posting):<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Speaking of dignity,\u00a0our presentation of Pape & Chandler’s\u00a0defense of their pit bull logo<\/a> was the #3 result in a search on Google for \/logo representing dignity<\/a>\/.\u00a0 [the first results two related to gay pride Dignity Day]\u00a0<\/li>\n
    2. \u00a0\u00a0 Whoever was looking to learn about \/abstinence after marriage<\/a>\/\u00a0was\u00a0probably led astray by our blurb<\/a> on teens using Clintonian loopholes when promising to abstain.\u00a0 Google made that post its #2 result, when we mentioned poor St. Joseph, who we dubbed the Patron Saint of Involuntary Celibates.\u00a0
      \n\u00a0<\/li>\n
    3. \u00a0\u00a0 Someone Googled\u00a0\/specious and example<\/a>\/ and the #1 result\u00a0was\u00a0a posting about irresponsible\u00a0bar advocates<\/a> in Massachusetts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n
    4. \u00a0\"sleuthSmF\"\u00a0 Another searcher wanted \/churchill liberal heart brain<\/a>\/ and the #2 Google result, out of almost 400,000\u00a0was our piece asking\u00a0“did Churchill coin that over-30 maxim?<\/a>“.\u00a0 We hope the quest brought our visitor to f\/k\/a’s 21st Century rewrite<\/a> on political maturation over age 30.<\/li>\n
    5. \u00a0\u00a0 A budding\u00a0linguist\u00a0Googled\u00a0“greek word for dog<\/a>”\u00a0and\u00a0clicked on\u00a0the #2 result — our explanation<\/a> that the word “cynic” comes from the Greek word for dog [\u201dkunos\u201d].<\/li>\n
    6. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sadly, we only came in 4th (out of more than a million results)\u00a0in the Google query\u00a0\/are lawyers, liars<\/a>\/.\u00a0 Let’s hope the visitor was duly edified by our look<\/a> at the\u00a0subject, which included a\u00a0discussion of the Bar’s scandalous misinformation about Shakespeare’s quote on killing all the lawyers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \u00a0\"BigSkyRMA2006\"\u00a0 Thanks to arts patron (and haijin extraordinaire) Roberta Beary, I came into possession this week of big sky<\/em>: The Red Moon Anthology 2006<\/a>\u00a0(Jim Kacian, Editor in Chief, Red Moon Press<\/a>, 2007).\u00a0 The RMA series “is a celebration of the best haiku and related work published in English around the world each calendar year.”\u00a0 It contains\u00a0 “Nearly 200 works of haiku, haibun, renku, criticism and analysis.”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There is a rigorous process and a board of distinguished editors who make the selections, and it\u00a0is an honor to have\u00a0even one\u00a0poem\u00a0included in the Anthology.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0f\/k\/a<\/em>‘s Honored Guest Poets can be found throughout each edition of RMA.\u00a0 Each year, only\u00a0a handful of especially fine poets have three of their haiku chosen for RMA.\u00a0 This year, almost all of the haijin with three poems in big sky<\/em> happen to be among our\u00a0Honored Guests — allowing me to share their poems with you.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

      \u00a0 I’m most pleased, therefore, to present the chosen works from big sky<\/em>: The Red Moon Anthology 2006<\/a>,\u00a0of w.f. owen, John Stevenson and Yu Chang.\u00a0 To help soothe dagosan<\/em>‘s unselected ego, John and Yu allowed him to win a game of bocce this afternoon at Schenectady’s lovely Central Park.\u00a0 dagosan<\/em> is still hoping that John and Yu’s poetic muses will occasionally visit\u00a0him.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n

      unstrung pearls
      \nthe children divide
      \nher estate<\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n

      \ncity folks
      \nthe farmer gives directions
      \nin the dirt<\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      early spring
      \nchecking the balance
      \nof a new hammer<\/p>\n

      \n…….. by w.f. owen<\/a>\u00a0 from Big Sky: RMA 2006\u00a0 \"WFOwenG\"<\/em>
      \n“unstrung pearls” – Modern Haiku<\/em> 37:2
      \n“city folks” – Shiki Kukai January 2006
      \n“early spring” – Mariposa 14<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n

      Christmas party
      \nan old friend empties
      \nmy wine glass<\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n

      \nsmall town
      \nmy accents starts
      \na conversation<\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      starlit sky
      \nare you sure
      \nwe are alone<\/p>\n

      \n\"YChang\"\u00a0……… by yu chang
      \n<\/a>“small town” – Frogpond XXIX:1
      \n“Christmas party” – Upstate Dim Sum 2006\/1
      \n“starlit sky” – The Heron’s Nest VIII:2<\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      cold moon–
      \na moment of hestitation
      \nyears ago<\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n

      midnight sun
      \nI know for a fact
      \nthe bottle’s half empty<\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      almost spring
      \nshe tells the whole story
      \nin a single breath
      \n……… by       John Stevenson<\/a>\u00a0 \"JStevenson\"
      \n“midnight sun” – Modern Haiku 37:3
      \n“almost spring” – The Heron’s Nest VIII:3
      \n“cold moon” – The Heron’s Nest VIII:4<\/p>\n

      \"CellphoneApe\"\u00a0\u00a0 Finally, I’m\u00a0happy to see that the governor of Washington State signed the nation’s first ban on driving while texting<\/em> this week.\u00a0 “Hands on the Wheel, Not on the Blackberry Keys<\/a>,” New York TImes, May 12, 2007.\u00a0 It is a little discouraging, though, to read that states taking action against phoning while driving are still only banning held-held cellphones.\u00a0 Listen up, legislators: The problem<\/a> is having too much attention on the phone call, not<\/em> having only one hand on the wheel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Life is short. Get a Divorce. [big] \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0The legal profession’s Dignity Police are scandalized again.\u00a0 This time their focus is the billboard [tiny image above; click for large version in color] that went up on May 1st in Chicago for the “boutique” divorce law firm Fetman Garland & Associates. Besides showing teats-n-abs, the advertisement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[555,3513],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-haiku-or-senryu","category-lawyer-news-or-ethics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kP1R-1YL","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7611"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12542,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7611\/revisions\/12542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}