the archives of f/k/a . . .

April 19, 2005

a different dog

Filed under: pre-06-2006 — David Giacalone @ 6:22 pm

shadow

among shadow–

the day begins cold

huge trees in the park –
a different dog
chasing the stick

sun & moon

in the same sky

the small hand of my wife

Gary Hotham

“huge trees in the park–“ the heron’s nest (April 2001)

“shadow” – breathmarks: haiku to read in the dark

“sun & moon” Global Haiku: Twenty-Five Poets World-Wide



by dagosan:

cursing last year’s

unraked leaves —

the dogwood blossoms

                                                       [April 19, 2005]

potluck

On April 8, 2005, the legal reform group HALT submitted comments to the

D.C. Bar Board of Governors concerning revisions to its Rules of Professional

Conduct. In addition to supporting further unbundling efforts and the continu-

ation of multidisciplinary practice, HALT suggests that Rule 1.2(a) further

clarify the primacy of the client’s decision-making in civil matters (similar to

criminal matters). HALT also proposed the following addition to Rule 1.5:

1.5(g) A lawyer shall not enter into an arrangement for, charge,

or collect a value based (or percentage) fee in a probate matter.

As for access, HALT urged the District “to recognize in the commentary to

Rule 1.2 that limited scope representation is but one of several ways to increase access

for legal consumers. Lawyers have an ethical responsibility to be familiar with other

low-cost options for consumers and to help their clients find and use resources

such as mediation and arbitration, self-help legal materials and Web sites, and

nontraditional legal service providers.” [Ed. note: Amen.] See the full set of

Comments here.

I wish I had seen this Word History for “pants” (from the American-

Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed., 2000), when writing about the scandalous

truncation of the word “weblog”:

The abbreviation of pantaloons to pants met with some resistance

at first; it was considered vulgar and, as Oliver Wendell Holmes

[physicant-writer and dad of the famous jurist] put it, “a word

not made for gentlemen, but ‘gents.’”

I think Dr. Holmes would have gagged over the word “blog.”

In a Comment just posted, George Wallance was good enough to

remind us of the secret behind Albert Einstein’s hairdo: “Neglect!”

Comments (4)

ron baker replies to “ethics aside”

Filed under: pre-06-2006 — David Giacalone @ 2:42 pm

Ron Baker, who has been described as “an amazing visionary” by Matt Homann, responded this morning to my piece “ethics aside”, where I caution lawyers against blindly adopting Baker’s notion of “value billing.” Ron, who complains that “The problem with these blogs is they are a mile wide and half-inch deep,” wants me to “commit some serious intellectual capital to this debate,” by reading his [$149.00] book. Well, I decided to respond right away, any way, and at some length. You can read the entire thread — the original post, Ron’s Comment, etc. — by clicking here, and you’re encouraged to add your comments.

Here’s a key excerpt from my response to Mr. Baker

I continue to believe, however, that clients want alternative billing methods in order to have lower overall fees, not because they believe their lawyer is worth more than his or her hourly fee.

p.s. Thanks go out to Ron Coleman of Likelihood of Confusion for including the post “ethics aside” in Blawg Review #2 yesterday. Ron even tried his hand at writing haiku, proving — on Clarence Darrow’s birthday — Darrow’s adage that “Inside every lawyer is the wreck of a poet.”

this world today–
for one chrysanthemum
a gold coin

spring rain–
in the window they haggle
over fish

spring rain–
in the wife’s sleeve
coins jingle

- by Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue

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