Lawyer Layoffs

It’s getting ugly out there for lawyers. A profession that has been fairly well insulated from economic downturns in the past is now being roiled with unprecedented numbers of layoffs. Each day brings more bad news. I check sites like “Above the Law” or “AmLaw Daily” and read headline after headline of white shoe and [...]

Unprecedented Times

These are unprecedented times, at least for my lifetime. From where I sit at work, I can hear the hedge fund guys speak with our clients/investors and with other hedge funds. Things are bad across the board out there. Sure, the DJIA falls quite a bit each day, but there are so many other gauges [...]

Markets to Meetings

With all of the despair and uncertainty in the U.S. financial markets, it’s kind of nice to be here out of the country, unaffected. I hear from friends that New York is depressing right now. From this morning’s headlines, more carnage and consolidation is to come and no one’s job is safe. Thankfully I am [...]

Planning for Swizterland

So far, so good. I sit on the 39th floor in midtown and have a great view looking south over the island of Manhattan. This is my second day at my new job and while I am not sure what I am doing, I like the people, the environment and the work (from what I [...]

Dead to Them

I’m sitting in my almost-bare office with little work to do. It’s as if I am dead to my firm. Last week I gave my two-week notice and little by little the law firm has passed me by. I thought I was a part of a team and that by announcing unexpectedly that I was [...]

The Wisdom of the Crowd

The twenty-first century will see collective wisdom and peer-to-peer collaboration change the world as much as computers and increased communication changed the world in the twentieth century. While intellectual property is still a valid concept and will continue to live on, the businesses that will thrive in the years to come will be those that [...]

Constant Construction

Several years ago a professor told me to be cautious of any institution that is not constantly under construction because a lack of construction meant a lack of improvement and potentially money. I have kept his statement in my mind since and believe it has relevance across the board. Let me explain.
Construction, as used in [...]

The Attention Span of the Average Employee

I read an article earlier this week about how short the average employee’s attention span is at work – an estimated three minutes. I found the article to be true from my experience. Given that my computer is always in front of me, I can’t help to glance over every other minute to see if [...]

Energy – The Defining Issue of Our Time

Recently I have become extremely interested in the oil/gas and energy industry. I see it as one of the defining issues of the twenty-first century. From my perspective, the energy issue of today can be stated as follows: Will sovereign governments and corporations continue to find and exploit enough fossil fuels to provide affordable energy [...]

No Risk, No Reward

No risk, no reward. That’s the idea behind many of life’s decisions at home and in the boardroom. But how much risk is prudent? Should a steady job and paycheck be given up in the pursuit of one’s own interests and desires? Should a family be asked to sacrifice because of a potential opportunity that [...]

Doing it Right the First Time

A year ago my wife and I were trying to agree on what we would name our first child. We chose a name for her and think we made the right choice. Now, twelve months later, I am trying to agree on the right name for another baby of mine, my first company. Who would [...]

Manhattan Unleashed

Manhattan’s greatest achievement may also be its greatest downfall. Bordered by two rivers (the East River is actually an estuary or tidal straight, but whatever) and set back in a protected harbor, the island’s geographic location helped it become one the world’s foremost centers of business, finance, art, design, publishing and almost everything else. In [...]

The Tone at the Top

In life, sometimes little things can go a long way. This is especially true for communication in the workplace. Recently I was in a situation where everyone could sense something was afoot, but the few people in the know said nothing. Such an environment led to confusion, speculation and even bitterness. Such feelings could have [...]

Using Soccer to Get The Point Across

I recently read of an interesting survey of 23,000 employees across various industries regarding employee engagement and understanding of their business’s direction. Some of the results were as follows:

Only 37 percent said they have a clear understanding of what their organization is trying to achieve and why.
Only 20 percent were enthusiastic about their team’s and [...]

Dicky Fox

I have always liked the movie Jerry Maguire, the story of a sports agent who one night writes a memo on how the industry should function, gets fired from his job and convinces only one client to stick with him, a wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals. While there are several memorable characters in the [...]

Execution

In the book, Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, the authors describe seven essential behaviors in creating an environment of execution. The seven behaviors are: know your people and your business; insist on realism; set clear goals and priorities; reward the doers; expand people’s capabilities and know yourself (as a leader). These seven behaviors [...]

Enough is Enough

I have no problem paying taxes. I live a nice life in a great country and I understand that I have to do my part. But the more money my wife and I make the more I realize that a much larger percentage of our income is spent paying taxes. And because we don’t yet [...]

Uncertain Times

Traditionally, January has been a good time for lawyers to leave their jobs and begin looking for positions at other firms. This is true for many reasons, but primarily because very little movement takes place at firms between August and the end of the year; lawyers wait to receive their end-of-the-year bonus before they are [...]

Running From The Law?

I’m not sure we as a country can stomach eleven more months of this type of aggressive campaigning and media frenzy. The fighting going on now between potential candidates is all occurring within the same party. Just wait until the two front runners emerge in the coming weeks and begin attacking the opposing party. I [...]

The World in Dubai

There are some pretty ambitious people in Dubai right now trying to change the face of luxury and how we live in the future. Not only will Dubai soon be the site of the tallest building in the world when the Burj Dubai is completed, it will also be the home of The World. Similar [...]

The Definition of an Entrepreneur

I have never thought of myself as an entrepreneur, until that is, there was something worthwhile to pursue. A quick search came up with the definition of an entrepreneur as: One who assumes the financial risk of the initiation, operation and management of a given business or undertaking. That sure sounds a lot more exciting [...]

Small Companies = Big Opportunities

Some argue that if you are innovative, ambitious and creative you should not go to law school because being a lawyer will sap all of that energy away from you until you are miserable and are desperate to get out. The proof of such a statement is perhaps the number of lawyers in this country [...]

World Business. In one Place.

With as many people as New York has during its hectic morning rush hour, one tends not to see the same people on a daily basis. Sure, there is a group of people that I take the train with each morning, we all recognize each other and leave each other alone to our commuting ritual of [...]

Millicom International Cellular S.A. (MICC)

At the end of July I bought a thinly-traded NASDAQ stock of a telecommunications company based in Luxembourg named Millicom (MICC) that focuses on cellular phone growth in emerging markets and developing countries. The stock at the end of July was hovering around $80.00 and I happened to pull the trigger and buy some on [...]

Attention Employers

Loyalty is not what it used to be. Of course, one should be loyal to his or her spouse, family and friends, but the days of continual loyalty to his or her workplace for an entire career belongs to a bygone era. When older generations refer to my generation and younger, a constant complaint seems [...]