Paul Jacobson Life, law and other stuff

Parody of large law firms by the Anonymous LawyerPosted by Paul on June 19th, 2006

I came across this blog when I was catching up on recent posts in The Greatest American Lawyer.  The Anonymous Lawyer is a parody on large law firms in the USA and is pretty funny.  According to GAL:

Jeremy Blachman’s Anonymous Lawyer satirizes life at a large law firm in a major city from the perspective of a fictional hiring partner.  The website is funny and the blog is hillarious.  However, if I had to live the anonymous lawyer’s life day-in and day-out, I do not think I would be laughing.  Is it time to change how law is practiced yet?

If you need to take a break, visit this blog for a few minutes.  Here is an extract from a recent post about Internet use in the firm:

Clearly someone is overreacting. I see no reason why the employees of this firm should be upset about this policy. Obviously the Internet only causes distraction and provides no value in a corporate law firm setting. It breeds lazy associates, who, despite how much more quickly they can find cases and statutes in the library, instead they sit in their office and waste time doing legal research on the Internet, as if that’s really more efficient and they’re not just too fat to get out of their chairs.

It used to be extremely efficient to get back to my office and have 14 phone messages to listen to, and a random pile of notes and papers on my chair to sort through, as opposed to “e-mail,” which is just an excuse for people to forward garbage, like that note from the partner at the firm about the uselessness of the Internet.

My associates miss talking to me on the phone. E-mail and the Internet have made it too easy to go through the day without yelling. It’s made it too easy for associates to ask questions. Too easy for people to order food on the company tab. Too easy for people to arrange “vacations” they’re never going to take. Too easy to check movie listings for showtimes they’re never going to get out of the office in time for. Too easy to make restaurant reservations they’re never going to keep. Too easy to keep in touch with friends they don’t have time to see. Too easy to focus on outside interests, like following the news, or checking the weather. No one should have outside interests. And no one should have access to the outside world at all.

I’m thinking we should follow the lead of this cutting edge firm that sent the e-mail I was forwarded. We should ban the Internet entirely. Take a bold step into the 18th century. I’m proposing it at the next partnership meeting. I can’t remember when the meeting is, but I know there’s an e-mail somewhere I can check. Thank goodness for e-mail. I mean, we should ban it. Yes, definitely.

As I said, definitely worth the read!

Technorati Tags: humor, humour, anonymous lawyer

China Law BlogPosted by Paul on June 19th, 2006

With all the recent excitement in the intellectual property sphere about disregard for companies’ intellectual property rights by Chinese companies, a blog like the China Law Blog is a tremendously useful blog to add to your bookmarks.

China Law Blog focuses on business law in China. It is written by Dan Harris, an international lawyer based in the United States and Steve Dickinson, an international lawyer based in China. Dan and Steve are both members of Harris & Moure, pllc, a boutique International Law Firm.

A recent post looks at innovation in China and the challenges China faces as businesses try to innovate.  It makes for very interesting reading:

China’s government recognizes China’s innovation problem, but I have seen little evidence indicting it understands the role its education system must play in solving that problem.  I have seen even less evidence of a willingness to encourage the free thought necessary for innovation.  The Chinese government has proven its adeptness at driving economic change, but it remains to be seen whether it can step far enough out of the way to allow innovation to develop and to flourish.

For those interested in reading more, Business Week blogger, Bruce Nussbaum, has an interesting take on this article, in his post, “Innovation in China.”

This blog should be part of your daily reading if you do business in China.

Technorati Tags: china, china law blog, innovation, intellectual property, patent

Art and schools clash in Austin, TexasPosted by Paul on June 19th, 2006

I noticed that there has been quite a bit of discussion about Tamara Hoover in the blogosphere lately.  I hadn’t heard of her so I spent a little time reading various blog posts and the story is as follows (this is taken from Tamara’s blog):

on may 19 i was called into my principals office.

She told me that I was being placed on administrative

leave and that it was as serious as it gets.

That morning a fellow teacher was talking poorly about

me to her class.

A student said , well if you really dont like Ms

Hoover you should check out the website she is on.

(celesta)

So she told the student to pull it up.

He did so in front of a class full of students.

(you actually have to search for pictures of me its not

right out in the open)

She then went to another teacher and they went to the

administration.

They administration met.

Then called an emergency meeting with the school board,

and police.

The school is saying that i was on a pornographic

website

deemed me ineffective

1. The website is artistic photogrphy and very good

at that.

2. I never told kids to “go see me” at the website.

3. The website is not mine and I have no control over

what the photographer posts, nor do i know what she

is going to post

4. The website is not pornographic.

5. I have been recognized by the board year after year (2 weeks before may 19 board recognized me again) for outstanding

achievments as an art teacher..YET I am supposedly ineffective.

??????

I am an artist and I am thankful that I have support from

parents and my former students.

A report came back from the investigation saying that I am well liked on my campus and have a good reputation of being a caring teacher who tries to help each student find their own artistic voice.

I hope this provides more info for you.

Of course this incident has sparked a debate about whether nudity can be considered art.  I don’t see why this debate is even taking place.  Of course nudity can be considered art and like many things that may or may not be art, it depends on the context.  What amazes me is that the school Tamara taught at is one of the top schools in Austin.  You would think they had an understanding that excellence sometimes comes from people who are unorthodox.  Besides, it isn’t like Tamara started handing the photos out in her classes.  CNN has more on this story:

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Until they found the topless photos, Austin High School officials considered Tamara Hoover an excellent art teacher with a knack for helping students find their creativity.

Now, she’s fighting for her job.

The photos, which were posted on Flickr.com by her partner, depict Hoover in the shower, lifting weights, getting dressed, in bed and doing other routine activities.

Hoover said Friday the photos are art and makes no apologies.

“I’m an artist and I’m going to participate in the arts,” Hoover said. “If that’s not something they want me to do then I want to be told that. I don’t feel as if I was doing anything that was beyond expectations.”

The school district said the photos were inappropriate and violate the “higher moral standard” expected of public school teachers. As she was escorted out of class last month she was told that she’s become an ineffective teacher.

In the meantime a teacher who is regarded as “an excellent art teacher” is forced to fight efforts to have her certification as a teacher removed and from being barred from teaching again.  This is just insane.  To add insult to injury, Tamara’s partner, Celesta Danger, has been dragged into this mess and labelled a pornographer for taking nude photographs.  Here is what she has to say about this said affair:

After Tamara was fired from her job as an AISD high school art teacher, I am removing many images of her for the time being. With all the media attention, I am now seen as a pornographer and unfortunately, Im getting many porn collectors and those wishing to use and post my images of Tamara in a crude, lascivious manner and not to mention the Austin American Statesman running an article this morning noting how quick and easy it was for them to break into my Flickr account and access my Private images. Flickr has also joined the wagon and removed many of my images as well. Ive received much criticism about my homosexual relationship with Tamara, removing my images, posting my images, and just being a poor artist in general. It is important to note that none of the criticism Ive received has affected my decision take down some of our images. Help her fight AISD here: http://www.myspace.com/mshoover

I am really disappointed that Flickr has also joined in and took down some of Celesta’s photos.  I haven’t seen the photos yet but judging by comments on John C Dvorak’s blog post, the photos were not explicit and seem to have been fairly tasteful.  Certainly no less offensive as many other nude photographs you can find on Flickr and elsewhere:

You’ll have to search, but there are some copies out there as thumbnail graphics. They are tasteful nudes, not porn, with artistic lighting.

The brouhaha is ridiculous, but this is Texas after all.

Actually, I don’t know why I am surprised.  As this comment points out, this is Texas, home state of George W Bush.  Whatever issues we have here in South Africa, incidents like this remind me how thankful I am not to live in such a conservative and intolerant environment that I see more and more in the United States.

Technorati Tags: aisd, art teacher, celesta danger, flickr, hoover, is nudity art, intolerance, tamara, tamara hoover

Crepe & Latte in Melrose ArchPosted by Paul on June 18th, 2006

I have been visiting a sidewalk eatery called Crepe & Latte in Melrose Arch in Joburg on and off pretty much since it opened.  It has been a great place to grab an awesome roll or smoothie when I get bored of all the usual places in my area.  Crepe & Latte is great for warm weather as it has a number of tables and chairs as well as wicker couches where you can spend an afternoon sipping smoothies and enjoying their awesome sandwiches.  Recently I was surprised to discover that this bistro had become Kosher and, as a result, had become incredibly busy servicing tenants and people in the area generally who prefer to eat Kosher food.  There is hardly a wide variety of Kosher restaurants in Joburg and I have found that the few restaurants around tend to exploit their customers who are really a pretty captive customer base.  Generally I find prices at Kosher restaurants to be exhorbitant and the food mediocre (there are exceptions).

So anyway, discovering that Crepe & Latte had become Kosher and were so busy really seemed to me to be a fantastic decision by the owners of the bistro.  They provide something that is really in demand and their food is not the usual fare.  They have fantastic fillings in their sandwiches and the rest of their menu really sets them apart from many bistros in Joburg, never mind the Kosher places.

Despite how good their food is (and it is pretty darn tasty), their quality of service can be really lacking.  We arrived there today just before 2pm to find they were pretty busy (which is great for them).  The tables were packed and we walked into the shop itself to order two rolls to take away with us.  We got to the counter, saw there were two rolls we wanted (one was an egg and may with tomato and the other was a pretty good looking tuna mayo) and then stood there with waiters and people who appeared to be the owners or managers wandering around us for about 10 minutes, apparently invisible.  There were no other customers around us and there were no tables inside.  Granted they were busy but they were hardly running to the tables and back.  There were waiters standing around and no one seemed to notice us.  Eventually I got the attention of one of the kitchen staff who took my order, managed to put it together for us and then handed it to one of the managers who was standing with his back to us.  Another woman who appeared to be a manager noticed us standing in front of her and asked if we had been helped.  My wife informed her that we hadn’t really been helped and explained that while one of the kitchen staff was preparing our order we had stood there for 10 minutes or so without being noticed.  The manager looked a bit surprised but apologised.

So anyway, by the time our order was handed to the male manager to ring it up, my wife had had enough and left me to pay for our order.  We probably would have left had their food not looked as good.  What happened next irked me even more.  I had to ask the guy holding our food (still standing with his back to me and not bothering to turn around to acknowledge my presence) whether the meal was for free or whether I would be permitted to pay.  He said he had to know what the order was and I told him.  He then stepped in front of the till (and, in the process, into my space forcing me to move out of the way) and eventually rang up the order.  I paid and left, very disappointed with their service.

If only their food wasn’t as good as it is …

Technorati Tags: crepe & latte, lousy service, melrose arch, kosher

Bananas as an argument for the existence of God?Posted by Paul on June 17th, 2006

This is brilliant.  It is a video of a guy explaining how a banana is an argument for the existence of God.  Regardless of your personal beliefs, this is a goodie!

Technorati Tags: holy banana, existence of God

Can’t compare SA to the USPosted by Paul on June 17th, 2006

I am beginning to think I should have called this blog “Grouching about Telkom”.  Telkom’s latest is that criticism levied against it for its mixed price changes are unwarranted and that what Telkom is really doing is “tariff rebalancing, the net effect of which was to decrease costs for voice usage”.  Basically Telkom’s price changes are not really intended to reduce costs overall but rather to charge more for services which Telkom feels it hasn’t been charging enough for and reduce prices in other areas.  The net effect is that you are not saving all that much if you use a range of Telkom’s services.  On the other hand if you only use those services which are getting cheaper then you will notice a reduction in price.  My difficulty with this approach is that Telkom’s prices are too high across the board and Telkom shouldn’t be “rebalancing” is charges across its range of products and services but rather cutting its prices.

The clincher for me was the following assertion:

At this stage it was difficult to benchmark South Africa against other international country examples given that it had not yet reached significant economies of scale, Hayward said.

Although with roughly 150 000 ADSL customers now, it was achieving some economies of scale, this would be much more so once it reached its target of more than a million customers in the next few years.

Another reason why it was not accurate to compare costs between South Africa and a developed country like the US - which was part of the basket of countries that Muller compared SA high usage ADSL pricing with - was that most internet content comes out of the US, placing SA at a huge cost disadvantage in terms of getting that into the country.

So, we would never achieve the same pricing structures as in the US, said Hayward, using the analogy of a burger. Because South Africa also has beef, the price of a burger in both countries can be compared, but this would not be possible if there were no cows.

So basically, we can’t compare the local market to overseas markets because we don’t have as many people using telecoms products and services, particularly data services.  That may well be the case if you look at it in isolation but if you consider that we have so few people using ADSL and other Internet access services because they are priced beyond the reach of the majority of South Africans by Telkom!  I have commented on this previously and I still maintain these arguments are nonsensical and that Telkom is missing a huge opportunity to expand its user base.

Consider how gaming consoles are priced.  The upcoming PS3 is going to be the most expensive gaming console on the market when Sony releases it.  Notwithstanding its cost, the device probably costs $100 to $200 more than its proposed retail price to manufacture.  The reason it is effectively being sold at below cost is because Sony hopes to hit certain sales targets at which point it may well bring the cost of manufacture down below the retail price.  In addition, Sony hopes to use sales of the PS3 to distribute its Blu-Ray player as widely as possible in an effort to make it the dominant standard over HD-DVD.  I see no reason why Telkom could not employ a similar model and charge less for its services and, in the process, grow its user base substantially.  Instead, Telkom seems to be fixated on making its massive profits and not at growing its business in any meaningful way.  That just creates opportunities for competitors.

Speaking of comparing SA to overseas markets, Slashdot has a post which discusses the low prices overseas telcos charge for data services.  It quotes a News.com article which states the following:

A year-and-a-half ago, pricing of DSL and cable modem service was roughly the same. But over the past year, the phone companies have launched an aggressive assault by dropping prices. At the end of 2005, the average price of DSL service was about $32 per month, roughly $9 less than cable, according to research firm IDC. AT&T has twice lowered the price of its DSL service and now offers its 1.5Mbps service for $12.99 for the first year.

Consider that at today’s exchange rate AT&T’s 1.5Mbps DSL service would cost less than R90 per month for the first year.  Then consider Telkom’s proposed price reductions in that context, bearing in mind the bandwidth you get for those “lower” prices.  Let’s face it, South Africans are being screwed over in the name of rampant profiteering.

Technorati Tags: adsl, dsl, ps3, Telkom

Constructive dismissal claims are problematicPosted by Paul on June 17th, 2006

Do you find yourself in an intolerable position at work?  Is it so bad that you feel you have no choice but to resign?  Chances are you may be looking at the basis for a constructive dismissal claim.  To prove that you have been constructively dismissed you must establish that you, as the employee, terminated the employment contract; that the reason for terminating your employment contract was that the employer “rendered the prospect of continued employment ‘intolerable’” (Dismissal, Discrimination and Unfair Labour Practices by John Grogan) and that the employee had no reasonable alternative but to terminate the contract.  Ultimately the employee must prove that there was a constructive dismissal.

The difficult part can be establishing that the prospect of continued employment was “intolerable”.  The arbiter of the dispute will look at the circumstances at the time of termination of employment and will also consider the reasonableness of the allegation.  The last requirement can also prove challenging.  If the company has an internal grievance procedure, for example, then the arbiter may ask whether the employee invoked this procedure in an effort to address the cause for complaint.  Has the employee exhausted every reasonable option available before arriving at the decision to terminate his/her employment?

Some of these difficulties as well as other difficulties were discussed in a Sunday Times article reproduced on Bregman Mitchley’s website:

Employees would be well advised to exercise caution before electing to resign in the face of seemingly “intolerable??? working conditions.

An employee’s point of view that he has been unfairly treated and made to endure intolerable working conditions is not in itself sufficient to shift the onus.

It is even more difficult when an employee could reasonably have lodged a grievance about the cause of the unhappiness and failed to do so.

A person adjudicating in such a case is required to look at the conduct of the employer as a whole, and to ask whether its conduct, judged reasonably and sensibly, was such that the employee could not be expected to put up with it.

But even if a disgruntled litigant establishes that a constructive dismissal took place, this does not automatically guarantee a successful claim. The courts have determined that a constructive dismissal is not inherently unfair.

Even though employers are then obliged to demonstrate that their conduct was fair, they are usually given considerable scope to show that their actions were justifiable.

Pursuing a constructive dismissal claim can be difficult and it is a good idea to take legal advice before handing in notice.  While compensation can be awarded for a constructive dismissal, it is hardly a case of submitting the claim and waiting for the cheque.  There may be better alternatives which shift the burden on to the employer to prove why certain conduct is not unfair or there may be other avenues available which can be far more effective than a constructive dismissal claim.

Technorati Tags: constructive dismissal, unfair labour practice, sunday times, unfair dismissal