Sunday, November 18, 2012

Busy Mother Explains Her Untenable Schedule in Her Departure Memo from BigLaw

As a working mother, wife and lawyer, this post from Debra Cassens Weiss sums up the reasons women like us are leaving BigLaw to start our own firms with more flexible (not fewer) hours to pursue all the important parts of our lives: family, profession, continued learning, and, in my case, exotic gardening and gourmet cooking.  Read more below.

"If you’ve ever wondered why it can be so difficult to juggle motherhood and BigLaw, a Clifford Chance associate dubbed Ms. X explains it in a departure memo with a blow-by-blow account of her untenable daily routine.
Above the Law blogger Elie Mystal, himself a new father, posted the memo and commented on the contents. “In a way, it’s heartbreaking,” Mystal writes. “I don’t know this woman, and I don’t know what her hopes and dreams are or might have been, but it shouldn’t be so damn hard—in the richest country on Earth—to have a big-time job and be a loving parent.”
The departure memo reveals Ms. X’s struggle to find time to take care of her kids, meet client demands, and attend to necessities like sleeping, eating and bathing. It begins with an early morning awakening:
4:00am: Hear baby screaming, hope I am dreaming, realize I’m not, sleep walk to nursery, give her a pacifier and put her back to sleep
4:45am: Finally get back to bed
5:30am: Alarm goes off, hit snooze
6:00am: See the shadow of a small person standing at my bedroom door, realize it is my son who has wet the bed (time to change the sheets)
6:15am: Hear baby screaming, make a bottle, turn on another excruciating episode of Backyardigans, feed baby
7:00am: Find some clean clothes for the kids, get them dressed
7:30am: Realize that I am still in my pajamas and haven’t showered, so pull hair back in a ponytail and throw on a suit
8:00am: Pile into the car, drive the kids to daycare
8:15am: TRAFFIC
9:00am: finally arrive at daycare, baby spits up on suit, get kids to their classrooms, realize I have a conference call in 15 minutes.
Later in the day, there is a team meeting where the harried associate gets a 50-item to-do list, a late lunch, and a frantic email from a client who needs an answer to an urgent question by the close of business. Ms. X drafts a memo, and then submits it to a senior associate and partner who have conflicting advice. Her work day ends this way:
5:30pm: wait for approval to send response to client; realize that I am going to be late picking up the kids from daycare ($5 for each minute late)
5:50pm: get approval; quickly send response to client
6:00pm: race to daycare to get the kids (they are the last two there)
At home, Ms. X cooks a microwaved chicken nuggets dinner, then ticks off her next tasks: baths, pajamas, books and bed. At 9 p.m. she discovers 25 unread messages on her BlackBerry, and then begins work on task No. 2 on the to-do list, briefly nodding off at her desk. After task No. 3 is completed, she takes a shower at 1 a.m. and gets to bed at 1:30 a.m. Next on the list? “REPEAT.”"


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Saturday, November 10, 2012

Health law, child custody, contracts and grilled organic grassfed beef with grilled asparagus and baby squash



Appeals -- Appellate court lacks jurisdiction of appeal of final judgment where no notice of appeal was filed within thirty days of date judgment was final and appealable -- Motion for supplemental final judgment was not an authorized and timely motion that would suspend rendition of final judgment -- Supplemental final judgment ruling on entitlement to attorney's fees is not final or appealable where amount to be awarded has not been determinedCATALINA HALNAT, LLC, et al., Appellants, v. SUN CITY VENDING OF S.F., INC., Appellee. 3rd District.


Appeals -- Nonfinal orders -- Interpleader -- Action brought by plaintiff employed as stock-transfer agent and registrar of corporation's stock against corporation and transferee, alleging there was dispute between transferee and corporation concerning transferee's right to have certain restrictive legends removed from her shares and to have such shares certificated in her individual name -- Order which merely granted summary judgment declaring that transferee was entitled to have shares certificated in her individual name was a nonfinal, nonappealable order did not actually direct stock-transfer agent to do anything and did not dispose of all issues involved in the litigation -- Summary judgment determining entitlement but not actually ordering the transfer of shares did not have effect of granting stockholder the immediate possession of property -- Appeal dismissed for lack of jurisdictionFLORIDA ATLANTIC STOCK TRANSFER, INC., a Florida corporation, Appellant, v. ROBIN L. SMITH and NORTH CAPITAL PARTNERS, INC., Appellees. 4th District.


Attorney's fees -- Interest -- Award of attorney's fees stating that sums would bear interest at rate of 6% per year from date of entitlement -- Award of attorney's fees is reversed where trial court failed to calculate full judgment due as well as pre-judgment interest -- Where entitlement to attorney's fees was established as of January 12, 2011, trial court should have calculated pre-judgment interest on attorney's fees award at 6% through date judgment was actually entered, which was interest rate under version of section 55.03, Florida Statutes, in effect at that time -- Because actual judgment was entered on January 12, 2012, post-judgment interest should be calculated using rate established at that time, and adjusted yearly thereafter until paid in accordance with current version of section 55.03JOAN GENSER and DAVID GENSER, Appellants, v. THE REEF CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC., LEWIS KATZ, JANET HUCKABY, and LANG MANAGEMENT COMPANY, INC., Appellees. 4th District.


Civil procedure -- Dismissal -- Service of process -- Timeliness -- Statute of limitations precluding refiling -- Trial court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing action where more than a year had passed without service of complaint or other record activity, and trial court gave full and appropriate consideration to pertinent factorsANTHONY POWELL, Appellant, v. MADISON COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT; DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE, DIVISION OF RISK MANAGEMENT and DOWN HOME MEDICAL, Appellees. 1st District.


Dissolution of marriage -- Child custody -- Appeals -- Jurisdiction -- Trial court was without jurisdiction to vacate modification order while an appeal of that very order was pendingLOY CAMPBELL, Appellant, v. SADANA CAMPBELL, Appellee. 4th District.

Federal Tort Claims Act: STEPSON WINS $211,000 FOR VA'S NEGLIGENT BEDSORE CARE, Delehant v. United States, 15 No. 9 Westlaw Journal Nursing Home 5, Westlaw Journal Nursing Home November 2, 2012
A federal judge in Oregon has ordered the federal government to pay $211,000 to the stepson of a deceased patient who developed severe bedsores during his stay at a VA hospital in Portland. U.S. Magistrate Judge John V. Acosta of the District of Oregon entered judgment for plaintiff Robert Delehant on personal injury claims but found for the government on wrongful-death allegations.


Transmissions: BWM PUSHING 'WEAK' SETTLEMENT TO BLOCK BETTER ONES ELSEWHERE, PLAINTIFFS SAY, Bonomo v. BMW, 32 No. 10 Westlaw Journal Automotive 7, Westlaw Journal Automotive November 6, 2012
Eight people who claim that 2005-2008 Mini Cooper convertibles have faulty transmissions say the automaker is pushing a Florida federal court to approve a "weak" settlement in order to preclude their similar class actions in California and New Jersey. The eight petitioners want to intervene in the Florida suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and have it transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.


Pacemaker: FLORIDA PACEMAKER DEATH CLAIM PREEMPTED BY FEDERAL LAW, McClelland v. Medtronic Inc., 19 No. 19 Westlaw Journal Medical Devices 9, Westlaw Journal Medical Devices November 5, 2012
Finding the causes of action barred by federal law, a Florida federal judge has dismissed negligence and failure-to-warn claims against Medtronic by the estate of a woman who died after her EnPulse pacemaker failed after five years of use. U.S. District Judge Charlene Honeywell of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida ruled that plaintiff Peggy McClelland's state-law- based claims are preempted by the Medical Device Amendments to the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act


Regulatory Violations: 6TH CIRCUIT: NURSING HOME PROPERLY CITED FOR SEXUALLY AGGRESSIVE RESIDENT, Somerset Nursing & Rehab. Facility v. U.S. Dep't of Health & Human Servs., 15 No. 9 Westlaw Journal Nursing Home 8, Westlaw Journal Nursing Home November 2, 2012
A federal appeals panel has ruled that state and federal agencies correctly found a Kentucky nursing home had put its female residents in "immediate jeopardy" by not controlling a sexually aggressive dementia patient. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to uphold the citations and immediate-jeopardy finding against Somerset Nursing & Rehabilitation Facility, but the panel reduced the number of days the facility should have been assessed a daily fine of $3,050.


Tires (Wrongful Death): DEATH CASE AGAINST COOPER GOES BACK TO LOUISIANA STATE COURT, Turpin v. Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., 32 No. 10 Westlaw Journal Automotive 6, Westlaw Journal Automotive November 6, 2012
A federal judge in Louisiana has remanded a wrongful-death tire defect case to state court, finding insufficient proof that the plaintiff improperly named an in-state car dealership as a defendant to avoid federal diversity jurisdiction. Under diversity jurisdiction, federal courts are authorized to hear cases when the opposing parties are citizens of different states, as long as the amount in controversy is at least $75,000.U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick J. Hanna.


Quinn v. Louisiana Citizens Property Ins. Corp.,(La.)
Limitations - Suspension of prescription based on putative class action applies only when class action is filed in state's courts.
A Louisiana statute, providing for suspension of prescription for individual claims of a putative class member arising out of the transactions or occurrences described in a petition brought on behalf of a class, applies only to petitions brought on behalf of a class in the state courts of Louisiana and does not permit "cross-jurisdictional" tolling. Therefore, insureds who brought a state-court action against their homeowner's insurer to recover for alleged underpayment of compensation in connection with property damages from two hurricanes could not rely on a "recently dismissed" class action claim brought in federal district court to establish a suspension of prescription as to their individual claims.



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Saturday, November 3, 2012

Attorney's fees, injunctions, repeat violence and Medicare fraud, with arugula and Manchego cheese galettes



Attorney's fees -- Award of fees reversed and remanded with instructions to set forth basis for awardJEFFREY WAINTROOB ROBERTS, Appellant, v. MIRIAM RAPHAEL ROBERTS, Appellee. 3rd District.

Injunctions -- Repeat violence -- Injunction reversed where requisite instances of violence or stalking were not established at hearingCHRISTOPHER JOHNS, Appellant, v. DANIEL G. PENZOTTI, Appellee. 2nd District.

Medical Discount Plans: FLORIDA FEDERAL JUDGE HALTS MEDICAL DISCOUNT PLAN OPERATION, FTC v. AIB Mkg. Assocs., 20 No. 6 Westlaw Journal Health Law 6, Westlaw Journal Health Law October 24, 2012
A telemarketing operation must stop selling medical discounts plans and other health-related services pending resolution of charges it made "serious misrepresentations" in its marketing, a federal judge in Florida has ruled. The Federal Trade Commission alleges the telemarketers duped consumers into paying millions of dollars by telling them that the products were the equivalent of comprehensive health insurance.


Medicare Fraud: AUTHORITIES CHARGE 91 IN $430 MILLION MEDICARE FRAUD, 18 No. 4 Westlaw Journal Health Care Fraud 3, Westlaw Journal Health Care Fraud October 24, 2012
(Reuters) - Ninety-one people including doctors, nurses and other medical professionals were charged criminally in a new sweep of Medicare fraud involving seven U.S. cities and $430 million in alleged false billing, officials said Oct. 4. It was the government's second big raid in recent months after a similar effort in May alleged $452 million in fraud in Medicare, the U.S. health program for the elderly and disabled.


Medicaid Cuts: NEW YORK FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS STATE OFFICIALS TO HALT HOME HEALTH CARE CUTS, Strouchler v. Shah, 18 No. 4 Westlaw Journal Health Care Fraud 8, Westlaw Journal Health Care Fraud October 24, 2012
A federal judge in Manhattan has issued a preliminary injunction blocking state officials from reducing or terminating around-the-clock home health services to elderly or disabled Medicaid recipients in New York City without ample cause. The plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit will likely succeed on their claims that the state violated federal Medicaid law by cutting beneficiaries' access to "split shift" care for unfounded reasons


Medicare Advantage: MEDICARE ADVANTAGE ENROLLMENT PROJECTED TO GROW 11 PERCENT, 18 No. 4 Westlaw Journal Health Care Fraud 9, Westlaw Journal Health Care Fraud October 24, 2012
(Reuters) -- Enrollment in Medicare Advantage, the private insurance segment of the popular U.S. health care program for the elderly, is expected to grow 11 percent next year while premiums remain steady, government health officials said Sept. 19. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimated that 14.5 million people will enroll in Medicare Advantage plans in 2013, based on insurance industry expectations. That is up from 13.1 million people this year.


Medical Discount Plans: FLORIDA FEDERAL JUDGE HALTS MEDICAL DISCOUNT PLAN OPERATION, FTC v. AIB Mkg. Assocs., 20 No. 6 Westlaw Journal Health Law 6, Westlaw Journal Health Law October 24, 2012
A telemarketing operation must stop selling medical discounts plans and other health-related services pending resolution of charges it made "serious misrepresentations" in its marketing, a federal judge in Florida has ruled. The Federal Trade Commission alleges the telemarketers duped consumers into paying millions of dollars by telling them that the products were the equivalent of comprehensive health insurance.


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