Do You Have Big "Books of Business"?

I do!

They consist of the following:

1.  All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten; and

2.  Mob Rules:  What the Mafia Can Teach the Legitimate Businessman.

Oh yeah, I forgot about this one (you'd be surprised how much business can get done with it).

So if you're like me and you have huge, heavy "books of business," you can apparently get hired by a big firm where nobody will ever try to steal or otherwise claim credit for your personal business books:

Law firms are hiring lawyers who can bring their "book of business," said Matt Gorson, president of Greenberg Traurig, which has offices in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and West Palm Beach.

The firm has hired 20 lawyers so far this year, compared with 14 lawyers in 2010.

Other South Florida law firms have been adding to their legal staffs as well.

Holland and Knight has hired 15 lawyers so far in 2011, up from 11 in 2010 at its Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach offices. Morgan Lewis in Miami hired seven lawyers in 2010, and five so far in 2011; that compares with only one lawyer in 2009, said law firm partner Mark Zelek. Bilzin Sumberg in Miami has hired 9 lawyers in the past month alone, according to a spokeswoman.

Even some firms that were hard hit by the recession are adding lawyers. Fort Lauderdale-based Ruden McClosky, which specializes in real estate and land use, has hired seven lawyers in the past four months, according to a spokeswoman for the firm.

Ruden?

Yes, absolutely -- if your books of business are big you should head immediately to Ruden -- just ask Julie Kay!

Bobby Brochin Explains Iqbal (Did I Just Write That?)

You know that whole new "conceivable" no, "plausible" yes pleading standard we've been talking about -- also known as one step over the line, sweet Iqbal?

Well my friend Bobby Brochin understands it --I mean really groks it -- and succinctly explains the otherwise curiously vague standard right here:

Added Robert Brochin of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, who represents Panamco: "The ruling reiterates that before you can file a lawsuit, particularly one brought under the banner of human rights abuses, you have to be able to plead facts that form a plausible legal theory. The plaintiffs in this case did not do that."

See how easy that was!

Too bad Iqbal was decided after the Coke case was argued to the 11th Circuit:

Plaintiffs lawyer Collingsworth told The Am Law Litigation Daily that the circuit court's reliance on Iqbal is troubling, given that the Supreme Court didn't issue its ruling until after this case was argued. "Iqbal drastically changes the pleading standard," he said. "At a minimum, we should get the chance to replead."

What a whiner!

Sorry Terry -- your timing do-over argument is conceivable, but not entirely plausible, making you completely SOL.