Do You Care About "The Google"?

So it was fun last night yada yada yada but "Who Dat" officially jumped the shark for me at the 4000th onscreen shoutout, somewhere around 8:30 am yesterday.

Kids, if Boomer is yelling a "hip" catchphrase it either was never hip or stopped being hip a very long time ago.

Speaking of a long time ago, I enjoyed the history of the AFL they broadcast on Saturday, with Broadway Joe at the Miami Touchdown Club and that classic Hank Stram sideline commentary ("Just keep matriculatin' the ball down the field, boys.").

Old Hank was an awesome radio announcer too, btw, if you were stuck listening to latenight football under the covers on your little blue am radio after your folks told you to go to bed.

Or have I shared too much?

Foley & Lardner's Mark Neuberger thinks you should care about your online presence:

Some job candidates announce their desire for a new job on their LinkedIn or other networking site. But remember your boss might be looking at that site, too.

"You need to think about what your purpose is on there," says Mark Neuberger, a lawyer with Foley & Lardner in Miami.

"You can manage your persona and reputation online," he says. Neuberger is on LinkedIn, for example, but is careful not to reveal his clients through connections on the site.

Good advice.

Let's see what Mark actually does reveal about himself on his LinkedIn profile:

Management side labor and employment attorney handing all aspects of traditional labor relations as well as federal, state court and administrative agency litigation relating to anti-discrimination statutes and all other employment laws; advice and counsel on all aspects of human resource management; negotiation and preparation of executive employment agreements as well as separation agreements; conduct internal investigations; representation of management in collective bargaining, labor arbitration and matters before the NLRB; conduct in-house training on sexual harassment and diversity in the workplace.

Wow, impressive and all, but that reads to me like a really really long timesheet entry.

They don't allow block billing anymore!!

I'm gonna have to scrub all that stuff on mine about Gin Gibsons, windsurfing, Bo Derek, oh hail I better just scrub the whole danged thing.

Judges Still Mastering New "Email" Technology.

I was in a pretty surly mood when I came in this morning, what with the continued news of layoffs and terminations -- just this week we had Foley & Lardner, SSD, and the continued reports of drips and drabs at Akerman.

But like they say about the weather in New England, if you don't like it just wait a while:

Faber, elected in 2006, said in his memo that the old system, which would have ignored Arzola’s years on the county bench, was “demeaning” to Arzola. “As a fellow county court judge, it is demeaning to me,” he said.

Circuit Judge Reemberto Diaz fired off a terse response to Faber’s e-mail.

“Mr. Faber: In the past few weeks, I have received three (3) unsolicited e-mails from you. Let me respond in the order they were received:

1. NO. I don’t know an interior decorator to recommend to you;

2. NO. I don’t want to buy comedy tickets from you;

3. NO. I’m not interested in your misguided opinion about the chief judge’s decision.

This is not Craig’s list nor a blog. Have a good day.”

Why was I not copied on this email?

As a matter of fact, I happen to know several fine interior decorators; I am always up for good live stand-up (who was it, btw?); and I would indeed be very interested in Judge Farber's (or "Mr. Farber," I guess) "misguided opinion" on the Chief Judge's decision, interior decorators, comedy tickets or anything else.

And, for the record, this is in fact a blog.

To sum it up, Susannah A. Nesmith's story today is a must-read, filled with small charms at nearly every turn.

For example, there's this from Judge Cuerto, who is upset that he got passed over for criminal court by Judge Arzola:

“I do not want to bring any negative publicity to our branch of government, which is still held in high regard in the community,” he wrote in the e-mail to all judges in the county.

Ok, I think that's a fair statement, but will all these emails help?

At least someone has a sense of humor -- Judge Pineiro, in a nod to Three Stooges fans everywhere, called for the inevitable:

“Alright, I think it is definitely time to resolve this discussion and bring it to a dignified conclusion — one which will make us proud,” he wrote. “I suggest pies (preferably apple) at 10 paces.”

See, this Judge has both an appreciation of classic comedy and an understanding of the limits of email privacy.

Whichever way the pie crumbles, thanks for turning around my morning!

Leslie Smith Has A Comfy New Chair

To certain emailers, sorry I didn't get around to it as I was working on important windsurfing plans, but ok ok -- here you go:

Foley & Lardner partner Leslie Smith has been named to the newly created position of litigation chair in the firm’s Miami office.

Her new responsibilities include mentoring, training, assignments and associate career developments.

Smith, who is part of the firm’s distribution and franchise practice, litigates commercial matters at the trial and appellate levels in federal and state courts.

There, happy now? And by the way, congrats to Leslie, who we know will do a great job in this challenging position. Now, back to important planning.....